NOTES   ON  TRACK 


CONSTRUCTION  AND 
MAINTENANCE 


BY 


W.  M.  CAMP, 


Editor  of  the  Railway  and  Engineering  Review;    Member  of  the 
American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers. 


More  than  600  Illustrations 


PUBLISHED    BY   THE   AUTHOR, 

AT 

AUBURN    PARK,  CHICAGO. 
1903 


GENERAL 

Copyright,   1903,   by   W.   M.   Camp. 


PREFACE. 


What  I  have  attempted  to  do  in  the  following  pages  is  to  treat  the  con- 
struction and  maintenance  of  railroad  track  from  the  standpoints  of  both 
the  trackman  and  the  engineer.  I  am  led  to  this  from  the  belief  that  the 
thorough  trackman  must  necessarily  be  able  to  comprehend  some  of  the 
principles '  of  engineering,  and  that  a  knowledge  of  some  of  the  important 
•details  of  track  work  is  essential  to  the  qualifications  of  a  track  engineer. 
As  between  these  two  classes  of  men,  both  being  responsible  parties 
concerned  with  the  subject,  the  aim  is,  of  course,  to  select  from  both 
views  the  elements  which  harmonize  with  what  would  seem  to  be  the  best 
practice.  I  think  I  understand  the  difficulty  of  producing  literature  en- 
tirely suitable  to  all  readers  who  might  find  interest  in  a  book  on  track. 
For  the  purposes  of  some  it  might  answer  sufficiently  well  to  condense  and 
digest  the  larger  portion  of  the  information  into  generalized  statements, 
merely  hinting  now  and  then  at  explanations,  or  leaving  such  to  be  acquired 
by  inference.  While  writings  of  this  character  may  be  entertaining,  they 
usually  fail  to  cover  extensive  practice,  and  I  regard  them  as  of  little  value 
to  those  readers  who  wish  to  make  a  thorough  study  of  the  subject.  I 
have  therefore  addressed  myself  to  the  class  of  readers  whom  I  thought 
were  most  in  need  of,  and  who  would  make  the  best  use  of,  a  thorough- 
going treatment  of  details,  as  well  as  of  general  principles. 

Considering  that  men  in  responsible  charge  of  track  may  differ  widely 
in  learning,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  a  comprehensive  treatment  of  the 
subject  should  involve  some  things  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  average  track- 
man, while,  in  order  that  the  book  may  accomplish  the  highest  usefulness, 
the  learned  engineer  must  occasionally  find  what  to  him  is  unnecessary 
explanation;  or  he  may  find  the  use  of  some  terms,  common  among  track- 
men and  necessary  to  make  the  matter  understood,  which  to  him  are  not 
in  keeping  with  what  he  might  consider  the  parlance  of  his  profession. 
It  is  hoped,  however,  that  what  has  been  deemed  necessary  for  the  track- 
man to  know  or  use  will  be  found  intelligible  to  him ;  and  what  unnecessary 
explanation  the  engineer  may  find  certainly  cannot  mislead  him.  There 
is  much  knowledge  that  is  useful  to  the  trackman  which  is  not  commonly 
sought  by  engineers,  yet  which,  nevertheless,  they  ought  to  have.  To  deal 
with  a  structure  so  simple  as  track  necessarily  calls  for  many  statements 
of  details  which  may  seem  trivial  to  those  not  in  touch  with  the  work;  but 
where  ignorance  of,  or  neglect  to  give  proper  attention  to,  such  apparently 
trivial  matters  is  commonly  found,  and  must  inevitably  result  in  needless 
expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money,  it  would  certainly  seem  that  a  refer- 
ence to  the  same  in  a  public  utterance  cannot  be  out  of  place  and  that  no 
mistake  can  be  made  in  pointing  them  out  here. 

Some  of  the  simple  problems  in  switch  work  and  curves  have  been 
taken  up,  not  because  they  are  not  as  clearly  set  forth  in  other  books  to 
be  had,  but  because  books  on  engineering  which  deal  fully  with  these  prob- 
lems are  not,  as  a  rule,  to  be  found  with  trackmen  and  are  not  sought  by 


IV  PREFACE 

them,  principally  because  one  not  conversant  with  such  books  in  their 
entire  scope  is  liable  to  mistrust  his  ability  to  pick  out  those  parts  which, 
he  might  comprehend.  A  few  problems  commonly  met  with  are  therefore 
included,  with  the  rules  and  formulas  applying  thereto,  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  arithmetic  and  the  use  of  tables.  Beyond 
this,  some  general  problems  which  have  not  yet  appeared  in  field  books,, 
generally,  have  been  worked  out  for  surveyors  and  engineers.  For  the- 
benefit  of  persons  seeking  to  familiarize  themselves  with  the  mathematics  of 
easement  curves,  some  of  the  problems  involved  have  been  demonstrated,, 
as  in  a  text-book,  one  object  in  view  being  to  show  that  the  use  of  such 
curves,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  is  not  so  complicated  with  mathematics  as 
some  may  have  supposed. 

A  considerable  volume  of  descriptive  matter  that  is  used  largely  in, 
illustration  of  practice  or  of  principles  discussed  has  been  arranged  in  the 
form  of  supplementary  notes.  While  most  of  this  matter  is  regarded  as 
essential  to  a  comprehensive  treatment  of  the  various  subjects  to  which  it 
relates,  and  therefore  exceptional  to  the  class  of  matter  customarily 
reserved  for  use  in  an  appended  form,  there  were  two  reasons  for  the 
arrangement.  In  the  first  place,  it  serves  the  convenience  of  the  general 
reader,  who  may  wish  to  omit  extended  reference  or  numerous  concrete 
applications;  and,  secondly,  it  gave  opportunity  to  make  use  of  a  smaller 
size  of  type  than  seemed  appropriate  for  the  purpose  of  a  general  treat- 
ment, thereby  effecting  some  economy  in  space,  the  need  of  which  was 
suggested  by  the  prospect  that  the  amount  of  matter  in  view  might  expand 
the  volume  to  an  inconvenient  size. 

The  manuscript  for  the  book,  in  its  present  form  and  scope,  went  seek- 
ing a  publisher  more  than  six  years  ago,  but  for  a  time  it  seemed  that  the 
chase  would  end  unsuccessfully.     By  a  fortunate  circumstance,  however, 
I  was  finally  enabled  to  embrace  the  opportunity  of  publishing  the  matter- 
on  the  piecemeal  plan, 'as  a  series  of  articles  in  the  Eailway  and  Engineer- 
ing Review,  with  which  I  became  identified  as  editor.     Under  this  arrange- 
ment the  publication  of  the  matter  continued  weekly  for   about  three - 
years.     It  is  due  to  say  that  my   position  in  an  editorial  capacity  has 
afforded  exceptional  opportunities  to  enlarge  upon  my  original  work,  the 
basis  of  which  was  notes  and  observations  taken  during  years  of  practical 
experience  as  a  trackman  and  an  engineer.     I  have  also  profited  by  the- 
criticism  of  readers  upon  the  matter  published  serially,  and  in  the  revision: 
of  the  same  for  its  final  appearance  in  book  form  I  have  increased  by  about 
70  per  cent  the  volume  of  matter  contained  in  the  series  of  articles.     These- 
successive  processes  of  elaboration  have  necessarily  put  much  new  cloth 
into  the  old  garment  and  have  greatly  expanded  its  size,  without,  I  trust,, 
bringing  this   feature  of  the  work  within  the  meaning  of  the  parable. 
One  constant  aim  has  been  to  follow  practice  down  to  date,  and  give  ref- 
erence to  all  new  improvements  which  seemed  likely  to   assume  future ~ 
importance.     One  particular  object  in  view  has  been  to  cover  as  widely  as 
possible  the  development  of  labor-saving  machinery.     In  this  line  there- 
has  been  much  improvement  within  the  past  few  years,  and  this  phase  of 
the  subject  is  destined  to  be  one  of  increasing  interest. 

In  acknowledging  sources  of  information  I  must  concede  due  credit  to- 
several  hundred  railway  officials  and  employees  and  to  the  many  manufac- 
turers of  track  supplies,  who  have  kindly  responded  to  inquiries  for  infor- 
mation by  interview  or  through  correspondence.  While  I  cannot  under- 


PREFACE  V 

take  to  refer  personally  to  each  and  every  one  who  has  rendered  valuable 
.assistance,,  I  wish  to  acknowledge  particular  indebtedness  to  Mr.  D.  M. 
'Taylor,  of  the  engineering  department  of  the  Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie  Rail- 
Toad,  who  has  kindly  favored  me  with  a  large  amount  of  data  and  with  a 
•careful  criticism  of  the  matter  published  serially  in  the  Railway  and  Engi- 
neering Review. 

Finally,  I  shall  feel  obliged  to  any  reader  who  will  notify  me  of  typo- 
.graphical  or  other  imperfections  discovered,  or  who  will  give  me  the  benefit 
•of  his  criticism  upon  any  statement  or  matter  of  opinion^  in  which  he 
may  find  interest,  or  send  me  data  or  records  of  work  to  compare  with 
similar  data  herein  contained.  Having  treated  of  many  questions  on 
which  there  are  conflicting  opinions  among  expert  trackmen  and  engineers, 
I  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  now  and  then  venture  my  own  opinion 
on  such  matters.  I  am  very  sure,  therefore,  that  certain  opinions  herein 
•expressed  are  contrary  to  the  views  of  some  maintenance-of-way  men.  To 
.a  very  large  extent,  however,  I  have  accorded  questions  of  this  character 
full  discussion,  presenting  the  views  of  both  sides,  believing  that  those 
interested  in  a  work  of  this  kind  would  appreciate  the  enumeration  of 
•established  opinions  fully  as  well  as,  and  perhaps  better  than,  the  conclu- 
sions which  any  one  person  may  have  drawn  from  the  same.  It  is  needless 
to  here  dwell  upon  the  advantages  of  discussion,  for  much  benefit  is  some- 
times derived  in  the  way  of  suggestion,  even  though  the  result  may  fall 
short  of  definite  conclusions.  In  this  light  it  is  sometimes  profitable  to 
launch  an  opinion,  notwithstanding  that  opposition  to  the  same  can 
readily  be  anticipated.  A  writer  on  track  who  would  confine  his  remarks 
to  matters  of  settled  opinion  would  necessarily  have  to  omit  many  inter- 
esting features  of  practice. 

W.  M.  CAMP. 

Chicago,  January,  1908. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
Track  Foundation. 
1,  Introduction;  2,  Meaning  of  Terms;  3,  The  Roadbed;  4,  Ditches;  5,  Cul- 


verts. 


CHAPTER    II. 
Track    Materials. 
6,  Rails;  7,  Splices;  8,  Bolts;  9,  Spikes;  10,  Ties;  11,  Tie  Plates;  12,  Ballast. 

CHAPTER    III. 
Track-Laying. 

13,  General  Remarks;  14,  Outfit  Train;  15,  Material  Yard  and  Side-Tracks; 
16,  Unloading  Material;  17,  Organization  of  Forces;  18,  Placing  Ties;  19,  Spacing 
Ties;  20,  Supported  or  Suspended  Joints?;  21,  Rail  Car;  22,  Placing  Rails;  23, 
Square  or  Broken  Joints?;  24,  Curving  Rails;  25,  Allowance  for  Expansion; 
26,  Splicing;  27,  Spiking;  28,  The  Track-Laying  Crew;  29,  Tools  for  Laying 
Track;  30,  Track-Laying  Machines;  31,  Highway  Crossings. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Ballasting. 

32,  General  Remarks;  33,  Rail  Grade  Stakes;  34,  Raising  New  Track;  35. 
Tamping;  36,  Ballast  Cars;  37,  Lining;  38,  Filling  in  and  Dressing;  39,  Quan- 
tity of  Ballast  Required. 


CHAPTER    V. 

Curves. 

40,  General  Principles;  41,   Simple  Curves;  42,   Some  Ways  of  Laying  Out 
Curves;  43,  To  Find  the  Degree  of  'Curve;  44,  Action  of  Car  Wheels  on  Curves;   0 
45,    Curve   Elevation;    46,    Reverse    Curves;   47,    Compound    Curves;    48,    Curve 
Monuments;  49,   Rail  Braces;  50,  Transition  Curves;  51,  The  Cubic  Parabola; 
52,  Tapering  Curves;  53,  Searles  Spiral;  54,  The  Holbrook  Spiral. 

CHAPTER   VI. 
Switching  Arrangements  and  Appliances. 

55,  Turnouts;  56,  Stub  Switches;  57,  Laying  Stub-Switch  Turnouts;  58, 
Frogs;  59,  Guard  Rails;  60,  Switch  Rods;  61,  Headshoes;  62,  Switch  Stands;  . 
63,  Headblocks;  64,  Switch  Ties;  65,  Foot  Guards;  66,  Switch  Lamps;  67,  Clear- 
ance Posts;  68,  Point  Switches;  69,  Laying  Point-Switch  Turnouts;  70,  Chang- 
ing Stub  Switch  to  Point  Switch;  71,  Three-Throw  Switches;  72,  The  Lap 
Switch;  73,  The  Wharton  Switch;  74,  Derailing  Switches;  75,  Side-Tracks;  76, 
Crossovers;  77,  Crossings;  78,  Slip  Switches;  79,  "Y"  Tracks;  80,  Turntable 
and  Drawbridge  Joints;  81,  Yard  Tracks;  82,  Machine  Operation  of  Switches; 
83,  Interlocking  Switches  and  Signals;  84,  Switch  Protection. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
Track  Maintenance. 

85,  Raising  and  Tamping  Low  Track;  86,  Lowering  Track;  87,  Lining  Old 
Track;  88,  Tie  Renewals;  89,  Renewing  Ballast;  90,  Cutting  Grass  and  Weeds  in 
Track;  91,  Mowing;  92,  Cutting  Brush;  93  Ditching;  94,  Shimming;  95,  Renew- 
ing and  Relaying  Rails;  96,  Broken  and  Bent  Rails;  97,  Regaging;  98,  Righting 


VIII  CONTENTS 

Canted  Rails  on  Curves;  99,  Cutting  Rails;  100,  Expansion  in  Rails;  101, 
Stretching  Steel;  102,  Adjusting  Bolts;  103,  Creeping  Rails;  104,  Shoveling 
Snow;  105,  Oil-Coated  Ballast;  106,  Laying  Tie  Plates;  107,  Bank-Edging. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
Double-  Tracking. 

108,  General  Considerations;  109,  Advantages,  Etc.;  110,  Comparative  Cost 
of  Construction  nnd  Maintenance;  111,  Preparation  for  Double  Track;  112, 
Construction  of  Double  Track;  113,  Danger  to  Workmen;  114,  Sidings  for 
Double  Track. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Track  Tools. 

115,  General  Remarks;  116,  Tools  Required;  117,  Shovels;  118,  Picks;  119, 
Hammers;  120,  Wrenches,  121,  Claw  Bars;  122,  Pinch  Bars;  123,  Tamping 
Bars;  124,  Chisels;  125,  Rail  Saws;  126,  The  Gage;  127  Level  Boards;  128, 
Track  Jacks;  129,  Raising  Bars;  130  Rail  Tongs;  131,  Rail  Drills;  132,  Rail 
Benders;  133,  Hand  Cars;  134,  Push  Cars;  135,  Other  Tools;  136,  Use  and  Care 
of  Tools;  137,  Tool  Houses;  138,  Tool  Repairs;  139,  Section  Houses. 


CHAPTER    X. 
Work  Trains. 

140,  General  Remarks;  141,  The  Train;  142,  The  Crew;  143,  Boarding  Ac- 
commodations; 144,  Ditching  with  Trains;  145,  Distributing  Ties;  146,  Handling 
Rails;  147,  Loading  Logs;  148,  Handling  Ballast  and  Filling  Material;  149, 
Wrecking;  150,  Fighting  Snow. 

CHAPTER    XI. 
Miscellaneous . 

151,  Fence;  152,  Cattle  Guards;  153,  Bridge  Floors;  154,  Snow  Fence;  155, 
Snow  Sheds;  156,  Fire  Guards;  157,  Bumping  Posts;  158,  Sign  Boards;  159, 
Signals;  160,  Slides;  161,  Washouts;  162,  Change  of  Line;  163,  Policing;  164, 
Repairing  Telegraph  Wires;  165,  Disposition  of  Old  Ties;  166,  Taking  up  Track; 
167,  Purchasing  and  Handling  Ties;  168,  Tie  Preservation;  169,  Metal  Ties; 
170,  Lag  Screws  vs.  Spikes;  171,  Effects  of  Bad  Counterbalancing;  172,  Longer 
Rails;  173,  Compound  Rails;  174,  Rerolling  Rails;  175,  Rail  Trimming;  176, 
Track  Elevation  and  Depression;  177,  Track  Tanks;  178,  Ash  Pits;  179,  Track 
in  Tunnels;  180,  Resurveys;  181,  Rail  Deflection;  182,  Variations  from  Standard 
Gage;  183,  Automatic  Block  Signals  and  Track  Circuits;  184,  Crossing  Gates; 
185,  High  Speed. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Organization . 

186,  General  Remarks;  187,  The  Roadmaster;  188,  Section  Foremen;  189, 
Section  Labor;  190,  Watchmen;  191,  Length  of  Section;  192,  Floating  Gangs; 
193,  Discipline;  194,  Reports  and  Correspondence;  195,  Track  Inspection. 

Supplementary  Notes  and  Tables. 

1,  Tile  Drainage;  2,  Some  Details  of  Steel  Working  and  Departures  in  Rail 
Design;  3,  Material  Yards  in  Track-Laying;  4,  Rules  on  Care  of  Lamps,  A.,  T. 
&  S.  F.  Ry.;  5,  Distributing  Ties;  6,  Tie  Preservation  in  Europe;  7,  Tree  Plant- 
ing; 8,  Metal  Ties  in  Foreign  Countries;  9,  Locomotive  Counterbalance  Experi- 
ments; 10,  Track  Elevation  and  Depression;  11,  The  Training  of  Roadmasters; 
12,  Limit  of  Capacity  of  Single  Track;  Table  V,  Sines,  Cosines,  Tangents,  Co- 
tangents, Versed  Sines  and  External  Secants;  Table  XI,  Measurements  for  Stub- 
Switch  Turnouts;  Tables  XIII  and  XIV,  Measurements  for  Point-Switch  Turn- 
outs; Table  XV,  Distances  between  Points  of  Frogs  in  Crossovers;  Table  XVI, 
Direct  Distances  between  Frog  Points  on  Ladder  Tracks. 


NOTES   ON  TRACK, 


OF  THE 

VNIVERSITY          CHAPTER   I, 

or 

RH^ 

TRACK  FOUNDATION. 

1.  Introduction. — The  proper  construction  of  railroad  track  arid  the 
efficient  and  economical  maintenance  of  the  same  involve  the  science  of 
engineering.  There  are  so  many  definitions  of  the  term  "engineering  v 
that  a  new  one  will  not  be  attempted  here,  for  almost  any  of  them  apply. 
One  which  fits  the  case  very  well  may  be  comprehended  by  saying  that 
to  properly  construct  or  maintain  track  is  to  know  how  to  "make  a  dollar 
go  the  farthest."  Of  the  three  recognized  stages  having  to  do  with  track  in 
service,  either  construction  or  maintenance  is  a  field  of  engineering  of  no 
less  importance  than  that  of  track  location.  Considering  the  specializing 
tendency  of  the  times,  which  has  created  such  professions  as  bridge  engi- 
neering, hydraulic  engineering,  sanitary  engineering,  and  other  departments 
included  within  the  scope  of  .civil  engineering,  why  should  there  not  be 
recognized  a  distinct  class  of  work  known  as  "track  engineering?"  Track 
and  roadbed  represent  a  much  larger  investment  than  do  bridges,  water- 
works, or  sewers,  or  more  than  all  combined,  and  the  problems  which  have 
to  be  studied  and  solved  in  relation  to  track  are  about  as  difficult  as  one 
will  find  in  any  line  of  engineering  work. 

Track  engineering  begins  with  the  reconnoissance  or  preliminary  sur- 
veying and  must  be  followed  through  the  location  and  the  construction  of 
the  roadbed,  the  building  of  the  track  proper,  and  continue  with  the  main- 
tenance and  repairs  ever  afterward ;  for  in  no  sense  can  it  be  excluded  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  any  of  these  steps.  In  locating  the  line  for  a  railroad 
track,  it  may  often  happen  that  a  choice  may  be  had  between  soils  or  substra- 
ta of  different  kinds,  without  sacrificing  anything  in  matters  pertaining  to 
right  of  way,  grades  or  curvature ;  or  the  local  conditions  peculiar  to  one  side 
of  a  valley  may  differ  so  widely  from  those  of  the  opposite  side,  in  such 
respects,  for  instance,  as  exposure  to  wind  and  drifting  snow,  slides,  falling 
rocks,  surface  drainage,  springs  of  water,  stream  encroachments  on  the 
roadbed,  the  shading  of  the  right  of  way  by  steep  hills  or  by  forest,  as  to 
materially  affect  the  cost  of  maintenance.  Although  the  relation  of  such 
matters  to  the  work  and  expense  of  track  maintenace  is  apparent  yet  it 
has  not  always  been  considered  during  that  part  of  the  work  so  often 
regarded  as  preliminary  in  a  too  strict  sense.  If  things  are  allowed  to 
shift  too  much  for  themselves  during  construction  it  will  usually  be  found 
that  methods  of  work  will  be  permitted  which  will  result  in  inferior  service. 
In  these  days  when  so  much  of  industry  is  dependent  upon  the  activities 


2       .  TKACK    FOUNDATION 

of  corporations,  and  when  labor  is  becoming  more  and  more  divided,  men 
in  general  will  take  less  and  less  interest  in  that  which  they  engage  to  do, 
except  in  what  may  appear  to  promise  them  more  or  less  direct  returns  in 
higher  compensation  or  in  reputation.  Obviously,  then,  there  will  be  a 
larger  demand  for  men  whose  occupation  it  shall  be  to  maintain  a  close 
watch  on  details,  with  a  view  to  turn  aside  all  the  undirected  and  mis- 
directed tendencies  which  might  lead  to  extravagance,  inefficiency,  or  what- 
ever in  the  end  might  operate  depresaingly  upon  dividends,  which  consti- 
tute the  ultimate  aim  of  the  projectors  of  railroads. 

Now,  it  does  not  matter  by  what  name  we  choose  to  call  this  occupa- 
tion— whether  it  be  intelligent  foremanship,  good  railroading  or  engineer- 
ing— there  is  room  for  it;  but  if  any  system  of  work  or  management  which 
can  be  applied  to  track  supervision  in  a  manner  to  make  track  more  durable, 
safer,  or  less  expensive  to  maintain,  be  not  engineering,  then  I  know  of  no 
appropriate  term  to  apply  to  it.  In  almost  all  industrial  lines,  particu- 
larly those  identified  with  mechanical  or  electrical  engineering,  it  is  the 
chief  consideration  of  the  science  that  questions  of  economy  in  maintenance 
or  running  expenses  shall  not  only  share  equally  with  the  attention  usually 
given  by  the  engineer  to  contsruction  in  general,  but  that  they  must  be 
entertained  by  him  particularly  and  studiously  in  coexistance  with  his  plans 
of  construction.  Already  a  great  deal  more  study  is  being  devoted  to 
track  engineering  than  was  the  case  when  60-ton  locomotives  and  20-ton 
freight  cars  were  typical  of  rolling  stock,  and  the  tendencies  indicate  a 
still  larger  application  of  engineering  principles  to  this  line  of  work. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  explain  the  situation  in  the  past.  Track  is  so 
extended  over  distance,  when  compared  with  other  works  or  structures; 
the  roadbed,  the  ballast  and  the  materials  of  which  the  track  is  constructed 
are  subject  to  such  inequalities  and  irregularities;  the  track  structure  is 
so  simple  and  deteriorates  by  such  insensible  degrees;  and  the  wide-spread 
but  mistaken  idea  that  "main  strength  and  awkardness"  are  as  efficient  in 
its  service  as  intelligence  and  skill,  has  so  prevailed,  that,  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  the  officials  not  directly  responsible  for  the  condition  of  the  track 
were  slow  to  grasp  the  idea  that  track  should  be  studied  as  thoroughly  as 
other  engineering  structures.  The  simplicity  of  the  track  structure  is  the  de- 
ceptive element  in  questions  relating  to  maintenance  economy,  for  ideas  con- 
cerning the  stability  of  track  are  too  fequently  confined  merely  to  the 
question  of  approved  qualities  of  rails,  ties  and  ballast.  The  fact  that  the 
track  structure  lies  upon  the  surface,  exposed  to  the  extreme  action  of  the 
natural  elements,  is  a  very  important  consideration  in  track  engineering. 

One  of  the  most  expedient  resources  available  for  moving  people  out  of 
a  rut  is  to  make  them  feel  the  disadvantages  of  their  position  from  a  finan- 
cial point  of  view..  Opportunities  for  applying  this  principle  to  railroad 
track  are  easy  to  find.  For  the  sake  of  illustration,  let  us  for  a  moment 
contrast  the  track  with  some  other  engineering  structure  in  use  on  rail- 
roads— gay  an  iron  or  steel  bridge.  Now  the  average  bridge  is  considered  a 
costly  structure,  and  much  care  is  taken  with  every  detail  which  goes  into 
its  make-up.  The  foundation  upon  which  it  rests  is  usually  built  to  stand ; 
all  materials  going  into  it  are  of  the  most  substantial  quality;  all  the  pieces 
goinc1  into  the  superstructure  are  not  only  carefully  made  and  inspected 
but  are  carefully  handled  when  being  put  together;  connections  or  joints 
between  pieces  are  made  stronger  than  the  pieces  themselves;  every  piece 
in  the  whole  system  is  carefully  adjusted  to  its  place,  so  as  to  bear  its  proper 
stress,  and  that  before  any  load  is  allowed  to  come  upon  the  bridge.  The 
structure  is  supposed  to  be  kept  well  painted;  it  is  watched  and  inspected 
frequently ;  and  should  there  be  found  deflections  much  exceeding  those  cal- 


INTRODUCTION  3 

culated  upon,  or  any  behavior  tending  to  show  the  least  weakness,  the  whole 
thing  is  counted  a  failure.  *  Such  is  engineering,  and  such  is  what  makes 
weak'  railroad  bridges  scarce  and  bridge  accidents  of  seldom  occurrence. 
All  the  care  exercised  costs,  but  everybody  knows  that  it  is  money  saved 
and  that  it  is  good  economy.  As  for  the  track,  who  does  not  know  that  ten 
miles  of  average  track  costs  more  than  the  average  bridge  of  several  hun- 
•dred  feet  length,  foundation  and  all?  Yet  who  does  not  know  that  when 
put  together  the  work  has  too  frequently  been  done  with  a  rush  and  that 
reckless  work  due  to  this  cause  has  been  too  frequently  overlooked?  In 
liow  many  instances  has  one  not  seen  the  work  improperly  finished,  as, 
for  instance,  when  ditching  and  such  necessary  work  was  Mt~to  be  com- 
pleted at  a  time  when  its  cost  must  necessarily  amount  to  much  more  than 
what  it  would  have  been  in  the  first  place  ?  How  many  have  been  the  cases 
where  costly  materials  are  worn  out  or  rendered  useless  'through  lack  of 
attention,  or  through  ignorant  supervision,  long  before  they  should  be? 
Now  all  this  costs  money  and  it  is  known  to  be  false  economy,  yet  it  has  not 
been  so  generally  conceded  as  have  like  mistakes  in  some  other  lines  of 
engineering.  What  then  is  needed?  I  maintain  that  the  same  strict  and 
intelligent  engineering  is  needed  that  is  usually  applied  to  some  other 
railway  affairs. 

It  is  popularly  supposed  by  some  trackmen  that  the  term  "engineering" 
relates  to  matters  in  which  they  are  not  concerned ;  while  on  the  other 
hand,  to  some  railroad  surveyor  or  draftsman  the  employment  of  the  word 
in  connection  with  trackmen's  work  is  to  disparage  his  occupation  and  its 
relative  importance  to  the  occupation  of  a  trackman.  Where  such  is  the 
presumption  both,  parties  have  a  mistaken  conception  of  the  word  engineer- 
ing. I  consider  that  there  are  many  roadmasters  and  section  foremen  who 
have  more  to  do  with  track  engineering  than  some  men  commonly  known 
as  civil  engineers,  yet  whose  experience  has  been  nothing  more  than  survey- 
ing or  drafting,  no  matter  how  extended  their  experience  ftthin  such  limits 
may  have  been.  Eeally,  surveying  and  mathematical  calculations  cut  but  a 
small  figure  in  track  maintenance.  It  is  true  that  in  some  respects  track 
location  can  be  fairly  well  learned  from  books,  drawings  and  office  work, 
but  how  to  build  and  maintain  track  to  best  meet  diverse  conditions  cannot 
be  learned  between  covers  or  in  an  office.  The  experience  necessary  to 
teach  such  knowledge  must  be  had  by  actual  contact  with  the  work.  Ac- 
cording to  some  men's  ideas  track  engineering  is  largely  a  matter  of  sur- 
veying and  the  ability  to  select  good  materials,  but  in  the  following  pages 
it  is  attempted  to  show  that  it  also  requires  intelligent  manipulation  and 
an  adjustment  of  parts  involving  no  mean  order  of  skilled  labor. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  some  prestige  is  lost  to  the  engineer- 
ing profession  from  the  fact  that  so  many  men  who  have  a  general  knowl- 
edge of  engineering  principles  attempt  to  make  their  applications  too 
specific,  without  having  acquired  that  view  of  things  which  comes  only  by 
patient  and  earnest  devotion  to  the  partiuclar  line  of  duty,  with  some 
responsibility  therein ;  and  so  it  is  with  track  engineering.  There  are  men  • 
who  have  never  so  much  as  sweat  a  drop  in  any  kind  of  service  calculated 
to  impart  a  knowledge  of  track  work,  or  lost  a  moments  sleep  caring  for 
the  safety  of  track,  who,  nevertheless,  are  ever  eager  to  propose  what  they 
think  to  be  some  track  improvement;  and  as  a  rule  their  ideas  on  improve- 
ments amount  to  about  as  much  as  their  services  have.  And  so,  many  prac- 
tical railway  men  who,  in  reality,  do  most  of  the  thinking  and  perform 
most  of  the  work  that  is  worthy  to  be  called  engineering,  hold  in  a  sort  of 
contempt  the  very  term  which  best  describes  the  results  of  their  own  efforts. 
Between  these  two  classes  there  has  existed  to  no  small  extent  an  attitude 


4  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

which  has  tended  to  discourage  practical  men  in  what  they  ought  to  seek, 
after  more  than  they  do;  and  as  a  partial  result  of  this  there  is,  at  least,, 
a  misconception  of  terms. 

Almost  everywhere  one  hears  it  said:  "Theory  is  not  practice,"' 
"Theory  will  not  work  in  practice,"  etc.  The  term  theory  is  too  often  used 
with  that  looseness  of  expression  synonymous  with  inference,  guesswork,, 
speculation,  etc. ;  whereas  in  its  proper  sense  it  applies  only  to  those  ideas- 
which  have  not  been  known  to  fail  under  any  reasonable  test,  and  for  which 
there  are,  therefore,  good  grounds  for  putting  them  to  further  test  wherever 
they  can  reasonably  be  applied.  Again,  what  would  be  theory  in  a  sense  pure 
and  simple  might  not  be  theory  as  applicable  to  every  case  where  one  might 
wish  to  make  it  hold ;  example :  One  may  find  tables  giving  the  outside 
rail  on  curves  as  much  as  14  ins.  elevation,  for  a  certain  degree  of  curve  and5 
a  certain  speed  not  uncommonly  made.  Now,  as  for  some  specially  built 
vehicle  running  upon  some  specially  built  track,  this  application  may  be 
theory;  but  it  is  not  theory  which  has  to  do  with  the  conditions  which 
obtain  in  railroading;  when  applied  to  such  it  is  not  theory  but  nonsense, 
because  no  account  is  taken  of  circumstances  which  might  be  known.  Some 
man's  ideas  about  the  application  of  some  mathematical  formula  or  scien- 
tific principle  does  not  necessarily  constitute  a  theory. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  all  competent  men,  commonly  called 
"practical"  men,  use  more  theory  than  they  may  think  they  do;  it  guides- 
them  in  much  or  all  of  their  work,  although  they  may  never  have  thought  to- 
express  it  in  so  many  words,  perhaps.  What  men  need  to  have  in  order  to  ac- 
complish the  highest  results  in  any  line  of  work  is  a  clear  understanding  of" 
the  principles  they  are  using.  And  then,  too,  unless  men  understand  such 
principles,  or  the  theory  of  their  own  work,  they  are  unable  to  apply  them- 
selves to  such  changing  conditions  as  may  arisa  in  any  business  experience 
of  a  few  years.  Practice  without  some  knowledge  of  the  principles  involved 
is  like  working  blindfolded,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  knowledge  of  princi- 
ples without  some  practical  ideas  of  applying  them  is  useless.  And  thenr 
in  order  to  get  a  proper  conception  of  the  principles  underlying  a  case  it  is 
essential  that  right  premises  be  taken.  Theory  cannot  be  formed  upon 
faulty  observation,  neither  is  it  derived  by  defective  reasoning,  nor  does 
it  necessarily  follow  from  hit  or  miss  speculations.  Correct  theory  (mean- 
ing theory  correctly  applied)  and  good  practice  are  always  in  strict  accord ; 
and  where  they  apparently  are  not,  an  investigation  will  always  lead  to 
some  interesting  disclosure;  generally  showing  that  there  was  either  a 
misconception  of  principles  or  an  attempt  to  make  a  wrong  application 
of  them.  Or,  in  every  case  where  an  idea  is  said  to  work  well  in  practice 
it  is  needless  to  say  that  it  conforms  to  principle;  and  if  seemingly  not, 
then  the  legitimate  principles  involved  are  not  well  understood.  The  only 
essential  difference  between  correct  theory  and  good  practice,  in  one  way 
of  expressing  it,  is  that  practice  so  called,  must  employ  a  knowledge  of  de- 
tails, while  theory,  in  distinction  therefrom,  may  stand  entirely  upon  a 
knowledge  of  principles — which,  of  course,  must  be  learned  from  details, 
although  not  necessarily  from  the  details  of  the  thing  or  practice  to  which 
the  application  is  made.  Hence  it  is  that  a  knowledge  of  principles,  as 
applying  to  some  particular  practice,  sometimes  precedes  a  knowledge  of  its 
details  and  sometimes  vice  versa.  Good  practice  is  theory  rightly  applied ; 
or  theory  may  be  called  the  explanation  of,  or  the  reason  for,  the  practice. 
They  both  represent  truth,  when  rightly  comprehended;  and  how  to  com- 
prehend the  two  in  their  right  relations  and  to  carry  them  out  in  appli- 
cation is  engineering. 

2.     Meaning    of   Terms. — A    railroad    is    made    up    essentially    of: 


MEANING    OF    TERMS  %  5 

'three  parts:  the  foundation,  the  ballast  and  the  track.  The  foundation 
is  the  earth  support,  the  upper  surface  of  which  is  usually  brought  to  an 
-established  line  known  as  sub-grade.  In  the  case  of  an  embankment  or  a 
fill  the  foundation  is  the  earthwork:  in  a  cut  it  is  the  lower  limit  of  the 
-earthwork.  Ballast  may  be  considered  to  be  some  kind  of  material  placed 
upon  the  foundation  to  put  track  in  surface  and  afford  drainage,  and  per- 
haps also  to  hold  the  track  in  alignment.  In  the  case  of  dirt  or  "mud"  bal- 
last the  foundation  might  be  considered  as  extending  to  the  track,  the  ballast 
being  in  that  case  only  that  portion  of  the  material  which  lies  between 
the  ties ;  and  the  drainage,  so  far  as  accomplished,  taking  place  on  the  sur- 
face. The  track  is  the  rails,  with  their  fastenings,  and  the  -ties.  While, 
.as  regards  only  the  path  of  the  wheels,  the  rails  alone  might  be  considered 
.as  constituting  the  track,  the  fact  that  the  tie  serves  as  a  means  of  holding 
the  rails  to  proper  .gage,  as  well  as  serving  for  a  support,  and  that  the 
whole  is  a  separate,  distinct  structure,  would  make  it  seem  that  the  tie 
ought  to  be  considered  an  integral  part  of  the  track.  For  purposes  of 
general  description  it  is  also  more  convenient  not  to  subdivide  the  portions 
of  the  road  further. 

As  names  for  these  parts  several  terms  have  grown  out  of  practice, 
.some  of  which  do  not  express  the  real  meaning,  and  as  a  result  there  is 
more  or  less  interchange  in  their  application,  and,  consequent  confusion. 
Tor  instance,  the  term  "grade"  is  in  common  usage  among  contractors  and 
track-layers  to  denote  the  upper  surface  of  the  foundation,  when,  as  all 
know,  the  same  term  is  the  universally  accepted  expression  for  rate  of 
-ascent  or  descent  with  respect  to  level.  The  term  "roadbed"  is  sometimes 
used  to  denote  the  foundation,  sometimes  the  ballast,  and  sometimes  the 
surface  of  contact  of  the  ballast  with  the  ties;  that  is,  in  the  last  case 
it  is  used  in  the  same  sense  as  when  the  bottom  of  a  river  is  spoken  of  as 
its  "bed."  The  term  "track"  is  sometimes  used  to  denote  both  the  super- 
structure and  the  ballast.  In  imitation  of  the  English,  some  members  of 
the  engineering  profession  choose  to  call  the  combined  track,  ballast  and 
foundation  "the  permanent  way,"  which,  by  the  way,  is  something  of  a 
misnomer.  There  is  nothing  about  American  railroad  track  that  is  par- 
ticularly permanent,  except,  perhaps,  the  line  establishing  the  location;  but 
to  maintain  the  track  to  this  requires  constant  or  continued  labor;  while 
the  materials  in  track  and  ballast  (and  foundation,  too,  sometimes)  require, 
in  course  of  time,  more  or  less  frequently,  either  changing  or  replenishing. 
Even  stone  arch  bridges,  on  some  of  our  roads,  have  failed  after  less  than 
fifty  years  of  service. 

In  the  present  connection  it  is  instructive  to  enquire  into  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  term  "permanent  way"  as  it  is  used  in  England.  In  that 
•country  the  application  of  the  term  arises  from  the  manner  in  which  track 
is  constructed.  After  the  roadbed  is  completed  a  stretch  of  "temporary" 
track  is  laid  with  old  materials,  and  after  the  ballast  is  hauled  in  this  track 
is  lifted  approximately  to  the  final  grade  and  ballasted.  The  ballast  is  then 
leveled  to  the  bottoms  of  the  ties,  the  new  rails  and  ties  are  strung  out  along 
each  side  of  the  track,  the  temporary  track  torn  up,  the  ballast  dressed 
off  to  a  smooth  surface,  the  new  or  "permanent"  track  is  laid  and  thoroughly 
tamped  and  the  ballast  filled  in  and  dressed  off  to  standard  section.  Thus 
the  road  is  extended  by  first  laying  temporary  track,  a  section  at  a  time, 
and  repeating  the  process  just  descibed,  using  the  old  materials  over  and 
over.  By  such  practice  the  lifting  of  new  track  through  any  considerable 
hight  is  avoided  and  trains  are  not  permitted  to  run  upon  the  same  until 
it  is  put  into  final  condition.  The  term  "permanent  way"  is  thus  used 
in  a  comparative  sense,  to  distinguish  the  road,  as  completed  for  traffic. 


()  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

from  the  temporary  track  laid  down  for  the  purpose  of  forwarding  materials 
and  placing  the  ballast.  As  applied  to  American  roads,  however,  the  term 
loses  its  English  significance,  for  we  do  not  build  track  in  the  manner 
described.  As  the  term  is  also  without  application  in  a  literal  sense  it 
is  both  un-American  and  in  bad  taste  to  speak  of  American  railroad  track 
as  "permanent  way." 

In  view  of  possible  misunderstanding,  some  of  the  terms  used  in 
this  book  are  here  defined  as  follows:  Track  foundation  is  called  the 
roadbed,  and  its  upper  surface,  sub-grade.  The  material  between  the 
ties,  and  between  the  ties  and  the  sub-grade  line  constitutes  the  ballast. 
The  rails  and  ties,  when  united,  are  called  track.  The  combination  of  these 
fairee  parts,  the  roadbed,  the  ballast  and  the  track,  is  known  as  a  railroad 
or  railway;  or,  simply,  the  road.  The  term  "rail,"  or  "the  rail,"  is  some- 
times used  to  denote  a  piece  of  rail  of  standard  length,  say  30  ft.,  and  some- 
times to  denote  all  such  pieces  on  one  side  of  the  track  taken  collectively, 
the  same  as  though  the  rails  were  jointless.  The  term  "steel"  and  "the 
steel"  have  the  same  significance.  A  "piece  of  rail"  refers  to  a  piece  shorter 
than  standard  length,  or  shorter  than  30  ft.  Maintenance  of  way  is 
commonly  understood  to  mean  or  include  the  maintenance  of  all  the  fixed 
property  of.  a  railroad,  such  as  track,  bridges,  buildings  and  water  supply. 
Where  nothing  is  said  to  the  contrary,  the  gage  of  all  track  herein  con- 
sidered is  understood  to  be  standard,  or  4  ft.  8-J  ins.  The  word  "ton" 
without  qualification  means  the  American  ton  of  2000  Ifos.  Wherever 
locomotive  weights  are  referred  to  the  weight  of  the  tender  is  not  included. 
The  term  "ends  of  the  ties"  is  commonly  used  to  refer  to  that  part  of  the 
ties  which  extends  outside  the  rails. 

3.  The  Roadbed. — It  is  not  the  purpose  to  deal  here  with  those 
problems  of  locating  the  roadbed  which  belong  properly  to  surveying, 
treatment  of  which  can  be  found  in  the  many  books  on  field  engineer- 
ing. Neither  can  there.be  included  the  discussion  of  a  subject  of  such 
scope  as  the  more  intricate  engineering  problem  known  as  the  economic 
theory  of  roadbed  location,  where  the  topography  of  the  country  gives  rise 
to  such  questions  as  compensation  between  distance,  grades  and  curvature. 
The  object  is  to  take  up  only  those  features  of  the  roadbed  which  may  in 
some  way  affect  the  condition  of  the  track  built  upon  it,  either  during  the 
construction  of  the  track  or  after  it  is  put  to  its  use. 

Unlike  almost  all  other  foundations  prepared  to  sustain  a  great 
weight,  the  roadbed  of  railroad  track  is  largely  of  an  unstable  nature. 
Instead  of  seeking  for  a  solid  substratum,  as  is  done  when  laying  the 
walls  of  a  building  or  when  constructing  a  pier  or  abutment  for  a  bridge, 
it  is  found  expedient  to  take  the  surface  of  the  ground  pretty  much  as  it 
is  and,  in  excavation,  go  only  so  far  as  a  predetermined  grade  line  has 
been  established,  without  reference  to  the  nature  or  depth  of  the  yielding 
soil ;  while,  when  this  same  established  grade  line  lies  above  the  ground 
there  is  added  to  the  top  surface  such  material  of  the  same  yielding 
nature  as  lies  most  conveniently  for  movement:  Such,  at  its  best,  is  the 
roadbed.  This,  with  a  comparatively  thin  layer  of  ballast  material  of 
such  quality  as  the  available  expenditure  will  admit  of  (and,  often,  no 
better  than  common  soil  itself),  must  not  only  bear  up  a  ponderous 
load,  but  bear  it  intermittently,  and  under  conditions  which  increase  the 
effects  to  a  degree  not  possible  with  the  same  burden  imposed  as  a  sta- 
tionary object.  How,  then,  to  construct,  with  such  material,  a  formation 
extending  over  long  distances,  in  a  manner  to  endure  not  only  the  weight 
above  but  also  the  natural  forces  expending  themselves  around  it,  is  the- 
work  of  building  a  roadbed. 


THE    ROADBED  7 

Roadbed  Cross  Sections. — Almost  every  railway  lias  a  standard  cross 
section  for  roadbed,  at  least  on  paper,  and  among  different  o-oads  these 
so-called  "standards"  vary  considerably  in  form  and  in  dimensions.  So  far 
as  fills  are  concerned  the  width  of  the  roadbed  at  sub-grade  should  afford  at 
least  a  sufficient  base  for  the  ballast.  Taking  the  depth  of  the  ballast 
not  to  exceed  8  ins.  below  the  bottoms  of  the  ties,  and  allowing  for  a 
narrow  shoulder  of  ballast  against  the  ends  of  the  ties,  the  ballast  will 
overspread  a  strip  of  roadway  about  14  ft.  wide.  The  least  permissible  width 
for  single-track  roadbed  at  sub-grade  is  then  about  14  ft.,  after  shrinkage; 
and  since  the  top  width  of  an  embankment  should  increase  with  hight  it 
might  be  well  to  settle  upon  16  ft.,  after  shrinkage,  as  the^ieast permissible 
width  of  roadbed  at  sub-grade  on  embankments  exceeding,  say,  10  ft.  in 
hight.  A  width  of  14  ft.  allows  for  no  shoulder  on  the  roadbed  outside  the 
ballast;  and  although  good  track  can  be  maintained  upon  roadbed  without 
such  shoulders,  the  conditions  are  by  no  means  ideal,  and  the  highest 
efficiency  of  support  cannot  be  looked  for  on  these  dimensoins.  As  for 
economy  of  maintenance,  however,  that  is  a  matter  having  to  do  with 
the  amount  of  surface  repairs,  which,  of  course,  depend  mostly  upon  the 
volume  of  the  traffic.  The  situation  with  many  railroads  in  this  country 
is  such  that  it  would  hardly  be  found  economical  to  adopt  such  dimensions 
for  roadbed  as  might,  from  the  standpoint  of  efficiency  alone,  measure 
closely  up  to  the  ideal.  For  roads  having  but  few  trains  daily  it  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  minimum  widths  of  roadbed  here  given  may  be  exceeded 
with  any  economy.  On  roads  carrying  heavy  traffic  18  ft.  is  usually  con- 
sidered the  least  available  width  of  roadbed  for  fills,  and  a  maintained 
width  of  20  ft.  is  sometimes  found  to  be  standard.  On  the  Southern  .By. 
the  standard  permanent  width  of  single-track  roadbed  on  embankments, 
at  sub-grade,  is  14  ft. ;  on  the  Great  Northern  Ry.  it  is  14  ft.  on  tangents 
and  16  ft.  on  curves;  on  the  Southern  Pacific  (existing  high  embankments) 
and  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  (branch  lines)  roads,  it  is  .15  ft.; 
on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  (main  line),  Baltimore  &  Ohio, 
New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River,  Northern  Pacific,  Southern  Pacific 
(for  construction  of  new  lines)  and  Louisville  &  Nashville  roads  it  is  16 
ft. ;  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ry.  it  is  17  ft. ;  on  the  Burling- 
ton, Cedar  Rapids  &  Northern  and  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans  &  Texas 
Pacific  roads  it  is  18  ft.;  on  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.  it  is  18 \ 
ft. ;  on  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  it  is  19  ft.  2  ins. ;  on  the  Illinois  Central 
and  Union  Pacific  roads  it  is  20  ft. ;  wrhile  on  some  cheaply  built  roads 
it  is  only  12  ft.  The  width  of  roadbed  for  double  track  exceeds  the 
width  for  single  track  by  the  distance  between  track  centers.  Sirtce  in 
excavations  the  roadbed  must  be  made  wide  enough  to  afford  room  for 
proper  drainage  parallel  with  the  track,  the  width  of  roadbed  in  cuts  is 
considered  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  ditches. 

The  advantage  of  increasing  the  width  of  roadbed  with  depth  of  fill  is 
that  after  the  embankment  has  settled  it  can  be  built  up  to  grade  again  by 
dumping  material  on  top  without  having  to  replenish  the  slopes  in  order  to 
get  the  necessary  width  of  base.  This  principle  of  construction  is  adhered 
to  on  a  number  of  roads.  On  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  the 
standard  maintained  width  of  roadbed,  at  sub-grade,  on  embankments  is  18 
ft.,  but  on  branch  lines,  a  narrower  roadbed  has  sometimes  been  constructed. 
In  construction  of  new  lines,  however,  it  is  the  practice  of  this  company  to 
increase  the  width  of  roadbed  at  sub-grade  2  ft.  for  each  10  ft.  in  hight 
of  the  embankment.  On  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.  the  roadbed  is  made 
1  ft.  wider  for  each  5  ft.  increase  in  hight  of  embankment.  The  standard 
width  of  embankments  on  the  Kansas  City,  Pittsburg  &  Gulf  R.  R.  is  16 


0  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

ft.  for  fills  up  to  15  ft.  in  hight  and  18  ft.  for  embankments  higher 
than  15  ft. 

It  is  poor  economy  to  make  a  fill  so  narrow  that  it  must  be  widened 
while  the  work  of  ballasting  is  in  progress,  in  order  to  keep  the  ends 
of  the  ties  from  overhanging  the  ballast,  which  has  slidden  down  the 
bank.  It  is  poor  economy  for  two  reasons:  first,  ballast,  be  it  gravel  or 
other  material,  is  rather  too  expensive  to  use  for  widening  embankments, 
if  it  must  be  hauled  some  distance;  and  secondly,  gravel  deposited  upon 
a  hard  slope  will  slide  off.  The  slope  of  an  embankment  cannot  therefore 
be  maintained  in  a  manner  to  sustain  the  weight  above,  by  depositing  loose 
gravel  upon  a  firmer  substratum,  without  using  a  quantity  of  it  which 
is  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  filling  required.  Track- 
men can  recall,  the  familiar  spectacle  of  having  seen  half  the  ballast,  which 
had  been  hauled  for  the  purpose  of  ballasting  and  surfacing  the  track, 
lying  either  at  the  foot  of  the  embankment  slope  or  along  its  sides,  to  be 
crowded  farther  down  by  every  workman  stepping  out  of  the  way  of  a  pass- 
ing train,  thus  weakening  the  support  which  the  ends  of  the  ties  ought  to 
have.  Insufficient  support  for  the  retention  of  the  ballast  is  the  most 
frequent  cause  of  center-bound  track.  The  first  cost  of  extra  material 
required  to  make  the  fill  of  proper  width  at  sub-grade,  which  such  materials 
as  will  lie  stably  along  the  slope,  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  cost  of 
afterwards  wasting  a  large  amount  of  more  costly  material  which  is  not 
so  well  suited  for  the  purpose  of  an  embankment. 

The  roadbed  should  be  brought  to  full  width  and  completed  before 
track-laying  begins.  Cuts  and  fills  are  often  left  to  be  widened  after  the 
track  is  laid,  but  it  is  nearly  always  one  of  those  mistakes  which  cost. 
Engineers  usually  aim  to  have  the  cuttings  make  the  fills,  without  hauling 
farther  than  can  be  done  to  advantage  with  teams.  But  in  rare  instances, 
where  fills  cannot  be  finished  out  from  borrow  pits,  and  material  must  be 
hauled  a  long  distance,  it  is  advisable  sometimes  to  leave  the  widening  of  a 
cut,  now  and  then,  to  be  done  with  the  work  train  rather  than  to  waste 
it  at  the  first.  In  such  cases,  however,  it  should  be  done  as  soon  as  a  work 
train  can  be  put  on  after  the  track  is  laid.  Where  some  exceptional  case 
of  this  kind  is  calculated  upon  and  the  practice  does  not  become  general 
for  the  whole  line,  there  may  be  found  a- saving;  but  in  the  main,  where  the 
road  is  rushed  through  with  earthwork  only  partly  completed  there  usually 
follows  much  waste  of  ballast,  which  is  lost  by  sliding  off  the  narrow 
shoulder,  and  the  track  is  flooded  in  cuts  for  want  of  proper  ditches.  In  at- 
tempting to  widen  an  old  embankment  having  hard  slopes,  stones  and  lumps 
dumped  from  the  top  will  roll  to  the  bottom  and  out  of  the  fill ;  and,  when 
lying  upon  a  harder  surface,  the  quantity  of  material  of  any  kind  which 
must  be  used  is  disproportionate  to  the  quantity  which  would  be  needed, 
during  construction,  just  as  in  the  case  with  gravel,  above  explained, 
because  the  weight  from  above  will  push  the  bottom  of  the  slope  out 
and  the  earth  will  not  then  stand  at  the  same  slope  as  when  the  fill  is 
made  with  loose  material  all  at  one  time.  Work  trains  being  always  more 
or  less  hindered  in  their  work  by  regular  trains,  it  is  well  to  do  all  that 
can  be  done  on  the  roadbed  before  the  track  is  laid,  for  it  is  nearly  always 
the  cheapest,  the  most  economical,  and  by  far  the  best  plan.  Where  an 
embankment  is  deficient  in  width  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  raise  the 
track  to  grade  in  ballasting,  because  track  boosted  upon  a  narrow  heap 
of  material  obtained  by  robbing  the  side  slopes  will  quickly  settle,  from 
want  of  lateral  support  to  retain  the  ballast.  It  is  just  as  well,  and 
indeed  better,  in  such  cases,  to  permit  the  track  to  remain  at  such  hight 
as  is  consistent  with  the  width  of  the  supporting  base,  even  though  there 


THE    ROADBED 

jnay  be  local  depressions  below  the  established  grade  line.  In  widening 
out  an  embankment  on  which  ballast  has  already  been  deposited,  the 
material  added  to  extend  the  shoulders,  unless  it  be  the  same  material  as 
the  ballast  itself,  should  never  be  built  up  higher  than  the  bottom  of  the 
.ballast,  as  to  do  so  will  obstruct  the  drainage. 

For  drainage  purposes  the  roadbed  ought  to  be  somewhat  higher  in 
the  middle  than  at  the  sides.  Unless  such  is  the  case  the  water  which 
..settles  through  the  ballast  will  find  its  way  into  the  roadbed,  soften  the 
material  and  cause  it  to  settle  under  the  pressure  of  the  traffic  and  heave 
during  freezing  weather.  On  standard  cross  sections  it  is  customary  to  show 
the  roadbed  crowned  3  to  6  ins.  in  the  middle,  but  the  scheme^  is  seldom 
carried  into  practice.  Such  negligence  is  one  of  the  worst  mistakes  that  is 
made  in  railroad  construction.  In  cuttings  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  crown  the 
roadbed  at  the  center,  without  extra  expense,  and  on  the  natural  earth  the 
material  is  usually  firm  enough  to  preserve  the  sloped  surfaces  permanently. 
On  embankments  filled  from  trestles  and  in  filling  up  ravines  by  dumping 
-over  the  slopes  it  is  impracticable  to  do  this,  but  in  filling  an  embankment  by 
working  from  the  bottom  with  teams  the  material  can  be  so  placed  that 
the  top  of  the  roadbed  will  shed  water  fairly  well.  The  standard  roadbed 
of  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Ry.,  which  is  16  ft.  wide  on  embankments 
and  18  ft.  wide  in  cuts,  is  flat  for  a  distance  of  4  ft.  each  side  of  the 
^center  line — that  is,  over  a  width  corresponding  to  the  length  of  the  ties — 
-but  from  a  line  directly  under  the  ends  of  the  ties  there  is  a  slope  ,of 
^6  to  1  out  over  the  shoulder.  In  curves  the  surface  of  the  roadbed  may  be 
made  flat  and  inclined  to  the  same  slant  as  that  to  which  the  track  is  to 
be  elevated.  This  arrangement  allows  of  an  equal  depth  of  ballast  under 
both  sides  of  the  track  and,  therefore,  an  equal  settlement  for  both  sides, 
because  all  kinds  of  ballast  in  new  track  will  settle  some.  It  also  effects  an 
•economy  in  the  use  of  ballast.  Eoadbed  which  is  not  made  to  slope  in  this 
manner  on  curves  should  be  widened  on  the  outer  side  of  the  curve  to 
provide  the  extra  width  of  shoulder  required  for  the  higher  and  longer 
-slope  of  the  ballast  on  that  side.  Such  extra  width  is  especially  needed 
where  the  roadbed  is  narrow  or  of  minimum  allowable  width. 

Grading. — The  manner  in  which  a  fill  is  made  has  much  to  do  with  the 
•efficiency  with  which  it  will  support  the  track.  The  most  solidly  compacted 
work  is  had"  when  horses  are  driven  continually  over  the  fill  during 
the  progress  of  its  construction,  as  when  hauling  in  carts,  wagons  or 
scrapers.  Earthwork  constructed  by  such  means  will  usually  settle  but 
very  little  afterward.  Shrinkage  is  greatest  on  embankments  formed  by 
dumpings  from  wheelbarrows,  by  machine  graders  or  by  casting  the  mate- 
rial by  hand  from  side  ditches.  The  method  of  depositing  the  material  in 
roadbed  construction,  affecting  so  largely  as  it  does  the  question  of  shrink- 
age, is  a  matter  of  no  small  importance;  for  when  a  fill  settles,  the  track 
must  be  put  again  to  surface  with  ballast.  By  providing  against  future 
settlement  as  far  as  possible  there  is  curtailed  an  item  of  considerable 
expense.  In  the  present  connection,  therefore,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
•consider  briefly  some  of  the  methods  and  means  employed  in  roadbed  con- 
struction. 

Wheelbarrows  and  plank  runways  are  used  where  the  material  to  be 
moved  must  be  taken  across  a  ravine,  or  across  a  track,  as  at  a  side-hill 
<jut  in  filling  for  a  second  track;  or  in  moving  material  from  borrow  pits 
across  ground  that  is  too  rough  for  team  work;  or  in  short  hauls  where 
the  material  is  broken  rock  or  is  too  -largely  intermixed  with  large  stones 
•or  boulders,  or  where  the  ground  is  too  thickly  set  with  stumps  to  be  easily 
taken  up  with  plow  and  scrapers.  Speaking  generally  of  team  work,  drag 


10  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

scrapers  or  slips  are  considered  the  best  vehicles  for  hauls  up  to  about 
90  ft.;  wheel  scrapers  for  hauls  between  90  and  300  ft.  in  length;  and 
dump  carts  or  dump  wagons  where  the  material  is  to  be  moved  more  than, 
300  ft.  The  capacity  of  drag  scrapers  is  4J  to  5-J  cu.  ft.,  and  on 
a  short  haul,  like  25  or  30  ft.,  a  team  will  move  in  one  day  about  70  cu.  yds. 
of  earth  or  other  material  that  can  be  loosened  up  with  a  plow  and  readily 
picked  up  by  the  scraper.  On  a  haul  of  90  ft.,  a  team  and  drag  scraper 
will  move  about  50  cu.  yds.  in  a  day,  and  on  a  haul  of  125  ft.  about  40  cu. 
yds.  The  capacity  of  wheel  scrapers  is  9  to  12  cu.  ft.,  where  an  extra  team 
is  not  required  for  filling,  and  12  to  16  cu.  ft.  where  an  extra  or  "snatch"' 
team  is  generally  used  in  filling.  In  ordinary  material  and  under,  ordi- 
nary conditions  a  team  and  wheel  scraper  will  move  50  to  55  cu.  yds.  of 
earth  per  day,  on  a  haul  of  90  ft. ;  about  40  cu.  yds.  on  a  haul  of  300  ft.,  and 
about  30  cu.  yds.  on  a  haul  of  450  to  500  ft.  On  the  longer  hauls,  it 
pays,  of  course,  to  use  the  large-size  scrapers.  The  capacity  of  a  two-wheel 
cart  hauled  by  one  horse  is  J  to  J  cu.  yd.,  according  to  the  character  of" 
the  roadway,  and  this  vehicle  is  economical  on  hauls  up  to  1500  or  1800 
ft.  The  capacity  of  four-wheel  wagons  hauled  by  two  horses  is  generally 
about  1  cu.  yd.  and  these  are  generally  economical  on  hauls  up  to  about 
3500  ft.  Where  a  large  quantity  of  material  is  moved  into  one  embankment 
a  temporary  track  and  dump  cars  is  a  very  common  arangement.  Over 
moderate  distances  the  dump  cars  can  be  hauled  to  advantage  with  horses, 
but  for  distances  exceeding  2000  ft.  a  small  locomotive  is  generaly  more 
speedy  and  economical.  Where  the  fill  is  to  be  made  from  a  temporary 
trestle  the  use  of  dump  cars  is  necessary.  They  are  also  generally  used 
where  the  excavation  is  made  with  a  steam  shovel,  although  teams  and 
wagons  are  occasionally  employed  in  hauling  from  a  steam  shovel. 

In  districts  where  the  ground  can  be  plowed  and  the  surface  is  not 
badly  broken  up  grading  machines  are  much  used  in  railroad  earthwork: 
The  New  Era  grader  consists  of  a  strong  vehicular  frame  mounted  upon 
low  wheels  with  wide  tires.  Suspended  from  the  frame  and  connected  to- 
the  front  axle  is  a  plow,  with  hand  wheel  and  chains  for  regulating  the- 
depth  of  furrow.  Eunning  from  the  moldboard  of  the  plow  there  is  a  side 
belt  conveyor  which  moves  at  right  angles  with  the  course  of  the  machine. 
The  hight  of  delivery  from  this  conveyor  is  regulated  by  hand  wheel  and 
chains,  and  the  conveyor  may  be  extended  in  sections  to  deliver  the  mate- 
rial as  far  as  22  ft.  from  the  plow.  The  machine  is  drawn  by  eight  or 
twelve  horses  hitched  four  abreast,  or  by  a  traction  engine.  On  prairies, 
or  on  comparatively  even  ground,  embankments  4  ft.  high  and  full  width 
for  single  track  may  be  built  up  from  the  sides  by  deposits  direct  from  the 
machine,  or  the  machine  may  deliver  into  wagons  driven  alongside,  as  in 
making  fills  from  cuts  or  wherever  it  is  desired  to  deposit  the  material 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  conveyor.  A  driver  and  two  attendants  are 
required  for  the  operation  of  the  machine  and  it  is  said  that  under  favorable 
conditions  1000  to  1500  cu.  yds.  of  earth  can  be  handled  in  10  hours.  The 
handling  of  filling  material  with  trains  is  treated  at  length  in  Chapter  X,. 
§148. 

The  amount  of  shrinkage  or  settlement  of  embankments,  in  hight, 
after  completion  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  material,  the  method 
of  placing  it  and  the  weather  conditions  during  construction.  Embank- 
ments made  of  rock  either  loosely  thrown  down  or  deposited  in  any  other- 
way  consolidate  rapidly  and  do  not  shrink  appreciably  after  completion. 
Among  earth  materials  sand  and  gravel  shrink  least  of  all,  and  next  in  order 
come  clay,  loam  and  loose  vegetable  mould  or  surface  soil,  the  last  named 
shrinking  or  settling  the  most.  As  for  methods  of  handling,  the  results; 


THE   ROADBED  11 

are  about  in  the  following  order:  Embankments  built  with  (1)  drag  scrap- 
ers are  tramped  most  thoroughly  by  the  teams  and  settle  the  least;  and 
next  in  order  come  (2)  wheel  scrapers  and  carts;  (3)  wagons,  when  the 
material  is  deposited  in  horizontal  layers;  (4)  cars  unloaded  from  trestles; 
( 5 )  carts,  wagons  or  cars  dumped  over  the  side  or  end  of  the  embankment ; 
and  (6)  wheelbarrows  and  hand  casting  with  shovels.  The  condition  of 
the  material  when  it  is  put  into  the  embankment  may-  depend  largely  upon 
the  weather  conditions,  and  this  is  another  factor  of  the  shrinkage.  An  em- 
bankment put  up  during  wet  weather  will  stand  better  than  one  of  the 
same  material  made  in  the  same  way  during  dry  weather ^in^iact  many 
embankments  constructed  during  very  wet  weather  settle  but  little  after 
completion.  Frozen  material  deposited  in  any  manner  will  always  settle 
a  great  deal  when  it  thaws  out.  Embankments  made  of  any  dry  material 
except  rock,  by  any  o£  the  methods  will  not  shrink  to  their  final  volume 
until  after  they  have  been  pretty  thoroughly  soaked  with  rain  water. 

Practically  all  of  the  shrinkage  in  earthwork  takes  place  vertically, 
and  in  railroad  construction  it  is  customary  to  build  the  embankments  high 
enough  above  the  permanent  grade  line  to  allow  for  settlement.  In  consid- 
eration of  the  several  varying  factors  as  above  explained,  it  is  readily  seen 
that  the  amount  of  shrinkage  to  allow  in  any  particular  case  must  be 
determined  largely  in  the  judgment  of  the  engineer  acquainted  with  the 
conditions.  This  explains  why  different  persons  of  limited  experience  who 
have  sought  to  reduce  such  problems  to  set  rule  have  produced  widely 
varying  or  conflicting  figures.  All  rules  on  shrinkage  of  earthwork  must 
be  construed  liberally  and  in  light  of  the  attending  conditions.  With  this 
understanding  the  following  allowances  may  be  considered  approximate 
guides  in  general  cases  under  normal  conditions:  for  sand  and  gravel 
embankments  put  up  with  drag  scrapers,  1  to  3  per  cent ;  for  clay  and  loam 
i  I  .an  died  in  the  same  way,  3  to  5  per  cent;  for  wheel  scraper,  cart  and  wagon 
work  in  horizontal  layers,  2  to  7  per  cent,  according  to  the  character  of  the 
material;  for  material  dumped  from  cars  on  trestles,  6  to  8  per  cent;  for 
embankments  extended  by  dumping  over  the  end,  from  grade,  out  of 
carts,  wagons  or  cars,  6  to  10  per  cent.,  according  to  the  character  of 
the  material;  for  wheelbarrow  work  or  hand  casting,  12  to  25  per 
cent.  Embankments,  made  with  grading  machines  are  at  first  fluffy 
and  covered  with  lumps,  but  it  is  customary  to  follow  up  such 
work  with  a  harrow  and  a  road  roller,  to  even  up  and  compact  the 
surface.  There  is  some  disagreement  as  to  whether  or  not  the  percent- 
age of  settlement  with  high  embankments  is  greater  than  with  low  ones, 
after  completion,  and  data  have  been  produced  to  prove  either  view.  It 
is  quite  probable  that  here  again  the  method  of  construction,  and  also  the 
time  factor,  may  have  much  to  do-  with  the  question.  For  instance,  the 
comparison  of  high  and  low  embankments  built  up  by  team  work  in 
horizontal  layers  might  not  be  the  same  as  with  embankments  of  corre- 
sponding nights  built  with  material  dumped  over  the  end,  from  grade.  In 
the  one  case  the  material  throughout  the  embankment  becomes  quite  solidly 
compacted  as  the  earthwork  rises,  while  in  the  other  the  compression  of 
the  material  in  the  bottom  of  the  bank  depends  entirely  upon  the  weight 
of  material  above,  which,  of  course,  is  greater  the  greater  the  hight  of 
the  embankment.  It  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that,  ultimately,  the 
percentage  of  settlement  must  increase  with  hight  of  embankment,  but  if. 
might  not  occur  in  every  case  that  the  disproportion  would  be  discover- 
able after  the  completion  of  the  work.  The  time  consumed  in  constructing 
the  higher  of  two  embankments  might  also  be  so  long  that  much  of  the 
ir.aterial"  would  find  its  bearing  in  considerable  measure  before  the  com-- 


TRACK    FOUNDATION 

pletion  of  the  work.  Another  matter  to  consider  in  this  connection  is  the 
•character  of  the  bottom  on  which  the  embankment  is  built.  On  a  yielding 
bottom  the  settlement  of  the  natural  surface  under  the  weight  of  the 
embankment  may  be  very  considerable  or  even  exceed  the  shrinkage  of  the 
material  of  which  the  embankment  is  composed.  Such  effects,  of  course, 
increase  with  hight  of  embankment. 

The  allowance  for  shrinkage  of  embankments  has  frequently  been 
.«,  source  of  trouble  between  contractors  and  the  parties  for  whom  the 
work  was  done,  but  if  the  plan  is  followed  of  paying  for  earthwork  in  the 
-excavation  the  shrinkage  is  not  then  a  matter  of  live  concern  with  the 
•contractor.  In  relocating  parts  of  the  line  on  its  .Wyoming  division  the 
Union  Pacific  R.  R.  built  a  number  of  very  high  embankments,  and  on 
'these  allowance  was  made  for  shrinkage  without  carrying  the  earthwork 
-above  the  established  sub -grade.  The  plan  followed  in  this  case  was 
io  estimate  the  probable  shrinkage  or  settlement  and  then  make  the  top 
width,  at  sub-grade,  equivalent  to  what  the  width  of  the  embankment 
would  be  at  this  level  if  the  earthwork  was  built  up  sufficiently  high  to 
allow  for  the  estimated  shrinkage  and  made  standard  width  at  that  level. 
This  provided  an  embankment  which  would  be  wide  enough  after  settle- 
ment to  hold  the  filling  material  required  to  raise  it  again  to  the  estab- 
lished sub-grade.  The  extra  width  of  the  top  of  the  embankment,  as  con- 
structed, was  provided  for  by  making  the  slopes  steeper  than  the  standard 
inclination,  which  was  1-J  to  1.  This  scheme  in  no  case  increased  the 
slope  beyond  1.4  to  1,  and  as  these  slopes  flattened  as  the  embankments 
settled  there  was  no  trouble  in  maintaining  them.  The  idea  in  this  plan 
•of  work  was  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  getting  the  embankments  perma- 
nently too  high  by  overestimating  the  shrinkage,  and  also  to  avoid  widen- 
ing the  base  of  embankments  to  provide  for  shrinkage,  which,  from  the 
fact  that  shrinkage  is  vertical  in  every  case,  is  not  necessary. 

Embankments  built  up  in  layers  extending  the  full  width  of  the  cross 
-section  shed  water  much  better  than  those  made  by  dumping  over  the 
end  or  side;  and  if  these  layers  are  crowned  at  the  middle  the  embank- 
ment will  drain  out  better  than  it  will  if  the  layers  are  horizontal  or 
dishing.  It  is  well,  in  any  method  of  building  an  embankment,  to  keep 
the  middle  of  the  filling  all  the  while  somewhat  higher  than  the  sides,  so 
that  any  tendency  to  the  formation  of  layers  will  result  in  lines  or  courses 
which  slope  toward  the  exterior.  This  matter  may  be  placed  in  charge  of 
the  man  who  trims  out  the  fill  and,  by  a  little  attention,  is  easily  looked 
•after  at  no  additional  expense.  It  helps  toward  the  regularity  of  the 
layers  to  roughly  level  down  the  peaks  of  heaps  of  material  dumped, 
although  no  considerable  amount  of  time  need  be  spent  at  it.  The  filling 
in  rear  of  abutments  and  retaining  walls  should  be  deposited  in  layers  gen- 
erally not  to  exceed  1  ft.  thick,  well  compacted  and  inclined  away  from 
the  masonry. 

Particular  care  should  be  exercised  to  avoid  the  formation  of  hard, 
steep  slopes  or  cleavage  planes  within  an  embankment.  Such  faulty  con- 
struction is  most  likely  to  occur  where  different  kinds  of  materials,  or 
materials  from  different  sources,  are  used  for  filling  at  various  stages  of 
the  work.  A  brief  account  of  an  interesting  experience  in  this  line  on  the 
Minneapolis  &  St.  Louis  R.  R.  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  practical  work- 
ings of  a  case  in  point.  The  facts  were  kindly  supplied  me  by  Mr.  H. 
••1.  Kelly,  chief  engineer  of  the  road.  An  embankment  about  1000  ft.  long 
°nd  25  ft.  high,  constructed  less  than  four  years,  began  to  give  trouble 
1>y  sliding,  and  in  attempting  to  remedy  the  matter  by  dumping  more 
material  upon  the  slidden  portions  of  the  embankment  something  like 


THE   ROADBED  1$ 

$10,000  was  expended  without  accomplishing  the  purpose  sought.  Investi- 
gation disclosed  that  the  embankment  had  been  formed  of  light  clayey 
loam  hauled  from  cuttings  and  deposited  upon  a  substratum  of  heavy 
blue  clay  scraped  up  from  borrow  pits.  The  seat  of  all  the  trouble  was 
found  by  excavating  into  the  bank,  when  it  was  discovered  that  a  well 
denned  plane  of  cleavage  existed  between  the  two  materials,  coinciding 
with  the  inclined  runway  of  the  scrapers  used  during  construction.  The 
sliding  of  the  embankment  had  taken  place  upon  this  inclined  plane.  The- 
t rouble  was  permanently  cured  by  heroic  treatment,  at  a  total  cost  of 
$1200,  in  the  following  manner :  During  dry  weather  longitudinal  trencher 
were  excavated  on  the  side  slopes,  near  the  foot  of  the  embanldnent,  on 
either  side,  and  between  these  two  trenches  cross  trenches  2  ft.  wide  and 
10  ft.  apart  were  cut  through  the  embankment  and  carried  down  below  the 
so-called  plane  of  cleavage.  Meanwhile  the  track  found  support  upon  ait 
improvised  trestle  formed  by  placing  long  stringers  upon  two-pile  bents 
which  had  been  driven  when  the  sliding  became  serious,  prior  to  the  exca- 
vation work,  resort  to  this  means  of  support  being  taken  to  carry  the 
trains.  The  trenches  were  then  filled  with  pile  heads  and  old  ties  and 
covered  over  with  the  clay  excavated  from  them.  This  mass  was  then  fired,, 
more  clay  being  added  as  the  burning  material  in  the  trenches  settled  down. 
The  embankment  smoldered  away  like  a  charcoal  pit  for  six  weeks  and 
the  bank  was  burned  into  a  solid  mass  of  brick,  never  to  slide  again.  Fol- 
lowing the  result  of  this  experiment  the  same  method  of  treatment  has 
been  applied  to  other  embankments  on  this  road  containing  clay,  with  uni- 
formly successful  results.  Where  filling  is  to  be  done  on  a  steep,  hard 
slope,  as  on  side  hill,  it  is  well  to  break  up  the  cleavage  plane  by  cutting 
lines  of  steps  in  the  slope,  to  bind  the  new  material.  In  most  cases  this 
may  be  done  sufficiently  well  by  plowing  deep  furrows  several  feet  apart. 
To  prevent  the  slopes  of  filling  material  from  sliding  it  is  sometimes  the 
practice  to  dig  a  trench  just  inside  each  toe  line  of  the  embankment,,  but 
with  material  of  approved  quality  such  precaution  is  not  necessary. 

Large  stones  should  not  be  placed  in  shallow  fills,  and  when  such  are 
found  above  the  surface,  on  location,  within  2  ft.  below  sub-grade,  they 
should  be  broken  up,  rolled  into  pits  or  rolled  outside  the  slope  stakes. 
Stumps  should  be  cut  off  at  least  2  ft.  below  sub-grade,  but  wood  which 
rots  quickly  should  not  be  permitted  to  remain  in  a  fill  at  all,  except,  per- 
haps, in  the  case  of  an  embankment  formed  upon  a  steep  hillside — where 
the  trunks  of  all  large  trees  which  stand  within  the  slope  stakes  should 
remain  standing,  to  assist  in  retaining  the  earth  and  prevent  sliding.  Just 
before  the  embankment  is  completed  or  at  that  time  the  trees  may  be  cut 
off  at  proper  distance  under  sub-grade,  or  even  with  the  slope.  It  is  usually 
required  that  large  trees  shall  be  cut  so  that  the  tops  of  the  stumps  shall 
not  be  more  than  3  ft.  above  the  ground,  and  that  where  embankments  are 
less  than  3  ft.  in  hight  all  trees  and  stumps  shall  be  cut  close  to  the  ground. 
The  surface  of  ground  to  be  excavated  and  where  embankments  less  than  2  ft. 
in  hight  are  to  be  bniilt  should  be  grubbed  free  from  stumps,  roots  and  other 
perishable  material,  and  all  brush  should  be  cleared  away.  In  some  cases 
where  the  materials  vary  considerably  it  is  advisable  to  reserve  the  best  of 
them  for  finishing  and  dressing  the  surface.  In  a  wooded  country,  where 
grading  is  done  by  contractors,  especially  when  sublet  to  numerous  subcon- 
tractors, it  is  well  to  keep  close  watch  to  see  that  logs  are  not  rolled  in  and 
covered  up.  One  is  justified  in  being  suspicious  of  all  filling  done  at  night 
or  not  during  regular  working  hours.  Aside  from  rotting  and  weakening 
the  fill  years  afterward,  or  burning,  in  case  the  ends  get  uncovered,  a  fill 
containing  many  logs,  especially  where  several  are  rolled  together  in  a  heapv 


14  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

or  are  near  the  top  in  any  shape,  will'  be  springy  or  humpy  and  a  positive 
hindrance  to  good  surface  for  a  long  time. 

The  top  surface  of  roadbed  should  be  graded  off  smoothly,  filling  up 
all  pockets  or  depressions  which  would  otherwise  remain  to  collect  and 
hold  the  water  which  sinks  through  the  ballast,  where  it  can  freeze  in 
in  winter  time  and  heave  the ,  track.  For  this  reason  ruts  from  wagon 
wheels  driven  over  the  roadbed  should  be  filled  and  the  material  compacted 
before  the  track  is  laid  or  the  ballast  deposited.  The  practice  of  running 
material  trains  over  newly  laid  track  before  it  is  surfaced  or  ballasted 
also  requires  that  the  roadbed  surface  be  made  smooth,  to  afford  an  even 
embedment  of  the  ties  and  thus  avoid  kinking  the  rails. 

As  far  as  possible,  embankments  or  other  made  ground  should  be  com- 
pleted early,  so  as  to  have  time  to  settle  before  the  track  is  laid.  Em- 
baiiJonents  seldom  settle  evenly,  and  track  laid  thereon  before  'settlement 
does  take  place  is  sure  to  require  considerable  labor  to  keep  it  in  fair  surface 
soon  after  the  trains  begin  running.  Where  a  short  fill  comes  between  two 
cuts  or  next  to  a  bridge  it  should  be  put  high  enough  to  allow  for  settle- 
ment. If  not,  the  fill  will  settle  below  the  established  grade,  while  the 
roadbed  in  the  cuts  or  the  track  on  the  bridge  will  not,  and  there  will  then 
result  an  ugly  sag. 

The  slope  of  railway  embankments  varies  from  1  to  1  for  rock  fills 
to  H  to  1  for  ordinary  earth,  and  easier  slopes  for  soft  material  like 
clayey  soil,  when  such  must  be  used.  By  building  up  a  rough  dry 
Avail  on  the  exterior  of  a  rock  fill  it  may  be  made  to  stand  at  a  slope 
somewhat  steeper  than  1  to  1.  Ordinary  earth  will  stand  for  a  time 
at  a  slope  steeper  than  l.£  (horizontal)  to  1  (vertical),  but  under  the 
action  of  the  rains,  the  winds  and  frost  it  will  gradually  wear  dpwn  to  about 
1J  to  1.  In  excavations,  solid  rock  which  will  not  disintegrate  by 
exposure  will  stand  to  a  vertical  face.  "  Firm  dry  earth  well  protected  from 
water  seepage  is  sometimes  sloped  1  to  1  in  cuttings,  but  under  less  fav- 
orable conditions  it  will  not  always  stand  at  even  1J  to  1.  Under  ordinary 
conditions,  however,  1^  to  1  is  considered  safe.  Where  excavation  is  made 
through  rock  overlaid  with  earth,  the  earth  slope  should  be  cut  back  to  leave 
a  berm  of  3  to  4  ft.  from  the  brink  of  the  rock  slope,  to  retain  loose  material 
which  slides  or  rolls  down  in  moderate  quantities.  The  slope  of  earth  in 
such  places  should  be  made  easier,  if  anything,  than  elsewhere,  because  rock 
cuts  are  usually  made  so  narrow  that  only  a  relatively  small  amount  of  mate- 
rial sliding  into  the  same  is  liable  to  fill  the  ditch  and  obstruct  the  rail. 

Sub-Drainage. — A  question  which  has  received  but  little  attention 
from  American  railway  engineers  as  yet  is  the  sub-drainage  of  roadbed. 
Although  the  value  of  sub-drainage  in  wet  cuts  is  recognized,  and  in  com- 
paratively few  cases  something  has  been  done  to  put  the  principle  into 
practice,  but  little  or  nothing  has  been  done  to  carry  the  water  from 
embankments  by  under  drains.  In  selecting  material  for  ballast  the  drain- 
age feature  is  considered  one  of  the  most  important  properties,  but  it  should 
be  understood  that  drainage  as  applying  to  ballast  refers  to  the  drainage 
-of  water  from  the  ties  to  the  roadbed.  Through  stone  ballast,  for  example^ 
water  sinks  to  the  roadbed  as  through  a  sieve,  and  in  gravel  ballast  the  same 
thing  occurs  after  the  material  becomes  thoroughly  soaked.  The  sanrl. 
contained  in  gravel  has,  of  course,  some  capacity  for  holding  the  water  back. 
Such  being  the  case  the  roadbed  undei  most  of  the  track  which  is  considered 
well  ballasted  must  receive  a  good  deal  of  water.  So  far  as  ballast  is 
concerned  it  reaches  its  limit  of  settlement  within  a  comparatively  short 
time,  and  those  who  will  investigate  matters  closely  will  find  that  rough 
surface  in  old  track  is  caused  largely  by  settlement  of  the  roadbed  or  settle-- 


THE   ROADBED  15 

rnent  bilow  sub-grade.  One  very  responsible  cause  for  this  condition  is  the 
seepage  of  water  through  the  ballast  and  into  the  roadbed.  .While  much  of 
this  might  be  drained  off  on  the  top  surface  of  the  roadbed,  if  the  same 
was  properly  crowned,  it  is  known,  nevertheless,  that  only  a  comparatively 
small  amount  of  roadbed  construction  is  brought  to  such  a  top  surface  and 
compacted  sufficiently  to  hold  its  slope  until  the  ballast  is  placed  upon  it; 
and  in  many  cases,  as  already  shown,  it  is  impracticable  to  do  this.  As  a 
rule,  then,  a  good  deal  of  water  must  find  its  way  into  the  interior  of  the 
roadbed  to  soften  the  material  and  keep  it  continually  settling,  and,  in 
cold  weather,  to  freeze  and  heave  the  track.  Moreover,  as  most  double- 
tracking  is  done  by  building  a  second  track  beside  the  old  ohe~it~is  imprac- 
ticable to  crown  the  roadbed  midway  between  the  tracks  and  slope  it  to 
either  side,  since  the  roadbed  at  sub  grade  under  the  old  track,  if  prop- 
erly formed,  is  highest  underneath  the  center  of  the  track  and,  in  any  case, 
it  is  not  accessible.  Such  being  the  case  one  has  good  reason  to  think 
that  most  of  the  water  which  finds  its  way  through  the  ballast  on  double 
track  percolates  through  the  roadbed  material  to  considerable  depth. 

The  value  of  tile  drainage  being  well  understood,  there  would  seem  to 
be  no  difficulty  in  keeping  the  interior  of  the  roadbed  reasonably  dry  by 
resorting  to  the  usual  methods  of  sub-drainage.  It  would  certainly  be  worth 
the  cost  of  thorough  trial,  on  any  railroad  where  the  annual  rainfall  is 
•considerable,  to  see  if  a  longitudinal  tile  drain  laid  a  few  inches  under 
sub-grade,  with  cross  drains  leading  to  the  surface  at  frequent  intervals, 
would  not  intercept  the  larger  portion  of  the  water  which  ordinarily  sinks 
through  the  roadbed.  On  single  track  such  a  drain  might  be  laid  under 
the  center  of  the  track,  preferably  in  sections  draining  into  the  cross  drains 
•at  a  considerable  fall  rather  than  in  a  continuous  line  laid  to  the  grade 
•of  the  track,  except,  perhaps  on  the  steepest  grades.  On  double  track,  where 
the  roadbed  is  constructed  before  either  track  is  laid,  and  properly  crowned 
in  the  middle,  a  line  of  tile  might  be  laid  under  the  center  of  each  track, 
but  otherwise,  as  in  the  case  where  the  two  sides  of  the  embankment  or 
cut  were  formed  at  different  times,  only  one  drain  would  likely  be  used, 
and  that  could  be  placed  to  best  advantage  midway  between  the  tracks,  or 
about  on  the  dividing  line  between  the  old  and  new  embankments.  On  tho 
double-track  lines  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R.,  where  stone  ballast  is 
used,  an  8-in.  tile  drain  is  laid  upon  the  roadbed  midway  between  the  tracks 
-and  the  ballast  is  filled  in  level  with  the  tops  of  the  ties.  The  roadbed  is 
•crowned  6  ins.  in  the  middle  and  the  depth  of  ballast  at  this  point  is  12 
ins.  below  the  bottoms  of  the  ties. 

Sodding  and  Seeding. — Still  another  line  in  which  the  maintenance 
-of  earthwork  is  open  to  improvement  is  the  protection  of  slopes  against 
washing  or  sliding,  by  the  growth  of  vegetation.  Barren  embankment 
slopes  are  continually  eroded  by  rains,  and  ditches  at  the  bottom  of  bare 
slopes  in  cuts  become  obstructed  by  sediment  washed  down  by  the  rains 
or  which  rolls  or  slides  down  when  loosened  by  the  thawing  of  the  ground. 
On  English  railways  the  sodding  of  slopes  is  a  feature  of  general  practice, 
but  in  this  country  it  has  been  considered  too  expensive  to  have  succeeded 
to  anything  like  extensive  trial.  Here  and  there  the  slopes  of  a  cut  will  be 
found  sodded,  but  in  general  practice  the  natural  growth  of  weeds  or  grass, 
without  any  attempt  at  encouragement  or  cultivation,  is  all  that  can  be 
found  on  either  cuts  or  fills.  A  healthy  growth  of  grass  on  slopes  requires 
nourishment  by  a  coating  of  soil.  In  cuts  this  may  sometimes  be  obtained 
by  stripping  the  top  surface  some  distance  back  from  the  cut.  The  best 
-opportunity  to  obtain  the  material  on  the  right  of  way,  however,  is  before 
"the  cut  is  excavated.  Tlui  top  Foil  is  scraped  back  beyond  the  slope  stakes 


16  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

into  heaps  and  after  the  excavation  has  been  completed  it  can  then  be  spread!' 
over  the  slopes  that  are  to  be  sodded  or  seeded.  On  embankments  the  strip- 
pings  from  gravel  pits,  material  cleaned  from  ditches,  the  bedding  from 
stock  cars,  and  other  fertile  material  which  must  be  hauled  off  for  disposal 
may  be  utilized  to  encourage  the  growth  of  vegetation.  Sweepings  from 
streets  are  also  good  material  for  this  purpose,  as  they  contain  a  large  per- 
centage of  fertilizing  matter  and  a  considerable  mixture  of  seeds  of  various 
kinds. 

Before  sodding  or  seeding  is  begun  the  slopes  should  be  dressed  off  rea- 
sonably smooth  and  angular  shoulders  and  intersections  at  the  top  and 
toe  of  slopes  should  be  rounded  off  to  a  natural  contour.  Sods  about  five- 
years  old  are  the  most  vigorous  for  transplanting,  and  those  from  high, 
well  drained  ground  are,  from  previous  condition  of  growth,  better  able- 
to  thrive  on  dry  slopes  than  sods  from  swampy  or  wet  localities.  As  a 
means  of  assisting  the  sod  in  getting  started  some  recommend  sowing  a 
mixture  of  timothy  seed  and  oats  over  it  the  first  year.  These  will  quickly 
spring  up  and  form  strong  roots  to  help  hold  the  sod  in  place.  To 
strengthen  the  growth  later  on,  Kentucky  blue  grass,  white  clover,  perennial. 
rye,  red  fesco  and  red  top,  in  the  proportions  of  8,  4,  9,  3  and  8,  respectively,. 
are  considered  a  good  mixture  for  supplemental  seeding.  In  the  South 
the  slopes  of  embankments  are  frequently  set  with  tufts  of  Bermuda  grass 
in  rows  1J  to  2  ft.  apart,  as  referred  to  in  §148.  This  grass  will  thrive- 
in  sand,  and  in  a  short  time  it  forms  a  thick  sod  entirely  covering  the 
ground.  Its  characteristics  are  described  in  §12,  in  connection  with  sand 
ballast.  Where  sod  is  placed  on  steep  slopes  it  is  customary  to  drive  stakes,,. 
in  rows,  staggered,  to  hold  it  in  place  until  the  roots  take  firm  hold.  The 
stakes  are  usually  driven  flush  with  the  surface  of  the  sod  and  permitted 
to  remain.  Seeding  is,  of  course,  cheaper  than  sodding,  but  some  time 
is  required  for  the  growth  to  form  a  sod.  The  variety  of  seed  best  suited 
to  the  'climate  and  soil  is  perhaps  best  ascertained  by  observation  of  the- 
natural  growth  or  of  the  grasses  grown  under  cultivation  in  the  locality.. 
Willows  and  scrub  brush  indigenous  to  the  locality  are  also  planted  OB 
slopes  to  check  the  tendency  to  slide  or  wash  away.  An  advantage  in  a 
growth  of  willows  is  that  their  great  vitality  permits  close  trimming,  form- 
ing in  time  heavy  stumps  and  strong  roots  to  permeate  the  ground  and 
hold  it  in  place,  without  the  presence  of  an  excessive  or  troublesome  growth 
above  the  surface. 

Borrow  Pits. — A  matter  which  ought  to  receive  more  attention  than  it 
sometimes  does  with  fills  made  from  borrow  pits,  is  the  nearness  of  the  pit 
to  the  foot  of  slope.  At  the  foot  of  slope  of  shallow  embankment* ,  say  up 
to  3  ft.  in  hight,  there  should  be  a  berm  at  least  4  ft.  wide ;  and  for  higher 
embankments  the  berm  should  be  wider.  The  removal  of  earth  in  nearness 
to  the  foot  of  slope  increases  the  hight  of  the  embankment  by  the  depth  of 
the  pit  excavated,  and  if  the  pit  is  too  near  it  of  course  weakens  the  embank- 
ment. It  is  also  to  be  considered  that  with  a  narrow  berm  ties  and  other 
materials  thrown  off  the  cars  will  slide  or  roll  out  of  reach;  and  besides,  if 
the  embankment  must  ever  be  widened,  a  "pit  at  the  foot  of  slope  must  first 
be  filled  before  an  addition  can  be  made.  In  improving  the  grades  of  a 
line  it  is  not  unusual  to  raise  the  track  as"  high  as  4  ft.,  increasing  the 
hight  of  the  embankment  that  much,  which  means  a  widening  at  the  foot 
of  slope  of  about  6  ft.  It  would  seem  like  good  policy,  therefore,  to  be 
mindful  of  a  good  factor  of  safety  in  establishing  the  width  of  berm,  mak- 
ing it  at  least  8  or  10  ft.,  wherever  practicable,  and  always  leaving  room 
for  a  double  track  on  one  side.  The  standard  cross  section  of  the  Union? 
Pacific  R.  R.  provides  for  a  berm  6  ft.  wide  on  one  side  and  18  ft.  wide- 


THE   ROADBED  17 

on  the  other  side,  as  the  probable  base  for  a  widened  embankment  for  a 
second  track.  The  standard  plans  of  the  Kansas  Gity,  Pittsburg  &  Gulf  E. 
E.  require  berms  6  ft.  wide  for  banks  15  ft.  high  or  less  and  12  ft.  wide 
for  banks  higher  than  15  ft.  The  standard  berm  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral &  Hudson  Elver  E.  E.  is  not  less  than  6  ft.  wide  in  any  case,  nor  less 
than  double  the  depth  of  the  pit  or  ditch,  always  leaving  room  for  double 
track  on  one  side.  On  the  above-mentioned  considerations  it  is  just  as 
important  that  the  berm  should  be  guarded  against  depletion  as  that  it 
should  be  established  at  proper  width  in  the  beginning — which  is  to  say 
that  the  berm  should  not  be  cut  away  to  "build  up"  the  bank.. 

Borrow  pits,  or  ditches  from  which  material  is  taken  for  shaping  up 
banks,  are  frequently  left  by  the  construction  forces  in  an  unsightly  con- 
dition, being  excavated  on  irregular  lines  and  to  irregular  depths,  and  with- 
out sloping  the  sides.  Properly,  the  sides  of  borrow  pits  should  be  trimmed 
up  parallel  with  the  alignment,  and  the  side  next  the  track  should  be  given 
a  natural  slope,  according  to  the  character  of  the  material,  never  steeper 
than  1  to  1  for  earth,  and  usually  1-|  to  1  or  the  same  as  the  slope  of  the 
•embankment.  The  drainage  of  borrow  pits  close  to  embankments  should  also 
be  looked  after,  and  the  proper  time  to  do  this  is,  of  course,  when  the  pit 
is  being  excavated.  In  most  instances  the  pit  may  be  so  located  that  the 
excavation  of  the  same  will  provide  an  outlet,  or  the  excavation  for  an 
outlet  to  the  pit  may  be  made  to  supply  part  of  the  borrowed  material.  Wa- 
ter standing  in  a  borrow  pit  at  a  higher  elevation  than  the  surface  of  the 
right  of  way  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  embankment  will  naturally  seep 
strongest  in  that  direction,  thus  tending  to  soften  the  earthwork  founda- 
tion. 

Roadbed  over  Marsh  Land. — Aside  from  the  nature  of  the  fill  itself 
the  ground  upon  which  it  is  made  is  sometimes  so  unstable  that  proper  sup- 
port for  the  track  cannot  be  easily  obtained.  Such  is  frequently  the  case  in 
swampy  or  boggy  land  and  on  quicksand.  On  an  easily  yielding  surface  a 
shallow  fill  will  roll  up  ahead  of  a  train  and  give  way  underneath  it,  with- 
out remedy.  Under  such  circumstances  it  becomes  a  difficult  matter  to 
maintain  the  track  in  fair  surface,  and  the  rails  will  creep  badly.  There 
are  several  measures  which  may  be  taken  to  overcome  difficulties  or  improve 
the  conditions  in  a  situation  of  this  kind.  In  the  first  place,  before 
attempting  to  fill  across  a  swamp  or  bog  the  region  should  be  drained  as 
thoroughly  as  may  be  feasible,  and  in  order  to  accomplish  this  it  is  some- 
times necessary  to  undertake  the  drainage  of  a  large  area,  by  extensive  ex- 
cavation distant  from  the  right  of  way.  The  hope  of  accomplishing  results 
on  this  line  of  operations  lies,  of  course,  in  the  amount  of  fall  obtainable. 
It  is  then  important  to  look  carefully  to  the  drainage  n.ear  the  track,  usually 
by  cutting  ditches  of  good  depth  a's  near  the  embankment  as  the  conditions 
of  stability  will  allow.  The  Galway  .&  Clifden  Ey.,  in  Ireland,  runs  through 
long  stretches  of  bog  land  and  the  matter  of  drainage  and  types  of  roadbed 
•construction  have  been  closely  studied.  On  this  road  the  standard  arrange- 
ment for  drainage  consists  of  two  longitudinal  ditches  22  ft.  apart  on  each 
side  of  the  track.  The  inner  ditch  on  each  side  is  4  ft.  wide  at  the  top 
and  3  ft.  deep,  and  is  cut  at  a  distance  of  6  ft.  from  the  toe  of  the  em- 
bankment. The  outer  ditch  is  6  ft.  wide  at  the  top  and  5  ft.  deep.  The 
-side  slopes  of  these  ditches  is  1  in  3  and  the  two  are  connected  by  cross 
drains  every  100  ft. 

In  filling  over  boggy  land  it  will  usually  pay  better  to  haul  the  filling 
material  some  distance  than  to  use  the  top  surface  of  the  swamp,  as  it  is 
seldom  fit  for  constructing  embankments.  The  best  results  are  obtained 
by  leaving  the  top  surface  nndc-r  the  roadbed  undisturbed,  as  it  usually 


18  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

consists  of  matted  vegetable  matter  which  will  carry  a  considerable  weight 
without  breaking.  To  secure  a  proper  distribution  of  the  weight  the  filling 
material  for  the  embankment  is  sometimes  deposited  upon  a  corduro}'  foun- 
dation, but  more  frequently  upon  a  brush  mattress.  In  making  embank-, 
ments  over  marshy  land  in  Holland  it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to 
first  lay  a  mattress  of  willow  boughs,  2  to  4  ft.  thick,  extending  from  toe 
to  toe  of  the  embankment  slopes,  before  the  earth  filling  is  begun.  On 
the  Galway  and  Clifden  Ky.  a  layer  of  brushwood  and  poles  3  ft.  thick  ha? 
been  used  as  a  foundation  for  embankments  on  bog  land,  with  satisfactory 
results ;  but  the  most  successful  construction  in  this  line  is  reported  to  have 
been  obtained  by  building  the  embankment  with  turf,  without  brushwood,. 
and  then  covering  it  with  an  18-in.  layer  of  stiff,  marly  clay,  which  hardens 
upon  exposure  to  the  air  and  becomes  water  proof.  A  source  of  trouble  to- 
be  guarded  against  with  embankments  made  by  filling  over  a  peat  bog  is 
fire.  In  extremely  dry  weather  peat,  especially  in  a  bog  which  has  been 
drained  out,  will  sometimes  take  fire  and  burn  over  large  areas,  smoldering 
away  for  weeks.  It  is  something  of  a  task  to  extinguish  such  a  fire,  as  it 
will  burn  on  in  spite  of  light  rains,  and  if  not  stopped  in  some  way  will 
burn  right  under  an  embankment  and  let  it  down.  About  the  only  way 
to  fight  it  is  to  dig  a  trench  across  its  path. 

Where  the  yielding  material  in  marshy  land  is  shallow  or  extends  but 
a  few  feet  below  the  surface,  the  stability  of  an  embankment  constructed 
thereon  improves  with  increase  in  hight;  but  if  the  yielding  material  ex- 
tends to  considerable  depth  any  increase  to  the  hight  of  an  embankment 
only  makes  matters  worse.  In  the  latter  case  the  weight  of  the  superim- 
posed embankment  causes  it  to  sink  into  the  mass  of  yielding  material^ 
the  displacement  of  which  usually  takes  an  upward  course,  bulging  the 
ground  on  either  side  of  the  embankment.  Not  infrequently  a  large  mound 
will  be  formed  at  either  side  of  an  embankment  which  has  settled  in  this 
manner,  sometimes  overthrowing  right-of-way  fence  and  teiegraph  poles 
or  carrying  them  out  of  line.  A  remedy  sometimes  applied  is  to  drive  a 
row  of  piles  a  few  feet  apart  along  the  foot  of  each  slope  of  the  embank- 
ment. As  a  better  means  of  preventing  settlement  it  has  been  proposed 
to  construct  a  sort  of  pier  as  a  foundation  for  the  embankment,  by  driving 
a  row  of  piles  outside  each  line  of  slope  stakes  and  placing  a  line  of  timber 
inside  each  row  of  piles  as  backing  for  a  row  of  sheet  piling.  It  is  proposed 
to  then  tie  the  two  rows  of -piling  together  with  rods  and  in  this  way  prevent 
the  mucky  material  underneath  from  getting  away.  The  practicability  of 
this  scheme  would,  of  course,  depend  a  good  deal  upon  the  depth  of  the 
marsh.  On  ground  of  this  nature,  however,  it  is  sometimes  better  not  to 
fill  at  all  but  to  build  the  track  on  piling. 

Where  the  track  must  run  but  a  few  feet  above  the  surface  of  a  marsh, 
and  piling,  for  some  special  reason,  is  impracticable,  a  substructure  which 
will  bear  up  evenly  under  the  track  may  be  made  in  the  following  manner : 
Grade  off  the  top  surface  just  enough  to  get  a  fair  bearing,  and  upon  it  lay 
closely,  thick,  wide  cross  ties  12  or  15  ft.  long.  Upon  these  place  deep 
stringers  of  good  length  and  lay  them  to  break  joints.  Use  about  as  many 
as  would  be  required  to  support  the  track  on  piling.  Upon  the  stringers 
place  sawed  cross  ties  and  drift-bolt  them,  and  lay  the  track  about  as  it 
would  be  laid  on  a  bridge  floor.  Each  bottom  tie  should  be  made  to  lie 
in  as  good  a  bed  in  the  mud  as  may  be,  without  special  reference  to  the 
other  ties  each  side  of  it.  The  stringers  can  be  evenly  supported  by  spiking 
shims  of  proper  thickness  to  the  tops  of  such  ties  as  are  not  touched  by  the 
stringers  after  they  are  put'  to  place  and  leveled  up.  In  this  manner  the 
stringers  transmit  the  weight  over  a  larger  surface  than  a  shallow  earth 


THE  ROADBED  1£ 

fill  can  and,  when  properly  made,  will  maintain  track  in  quite  even  sur- 
face. The  stringers  should  be  braced  to  a  portion  of  the  ties  underneath 
them  to  keep  the  track  in  alignment.  The  structure  is  simply  a  track  built 
with  a  double  course  of  cross  ties  with  stringers  between  the  two  courses. 
It  is  to  be  expected  that  there  will  be  more  spring  in  such  a  structure  than 
in  track  supported  on  piles. 

Before  roadbed  construction  through  marshy  land  is  undertaken  sound- 
ings should  be  made  by  a  portable  pile  driver,  or  other  means,  to  ascertain 
the  conditions  underneath.  If  the  material  underneath  is  found  to  be  ex- 
tremely soft  or  readily  yielding  to  a  considerable  depth,  it^is_svell  worth 
while  to  consider  the  alternative  of  either  abandoning  the  location  or 
resorting  to  pile  construction.  The  sinking  of  embankments  into  marshy 
ground  is  not  of  unusual  occurrence.  It  has  frequently  happened  that  fills 
made  through  swamps  or  bog  land  or  over  strata  of  quicksands  have  dis- 
placed the  underlying  materials  and  entirely  disappeared.  Difficulties  of 
this  kind  have  sometimes  been  met  by  continuing  to  deposit  filling  material 
until  equilibrium  was  obtained  between  it  and  the  material  which  it  dis- 
placed, but  in  numerous  instances  large  sums  of  money  have  been  expended 
in  this  way  only  to  abandon  the  work  in  the  end.  In  cases  of  this  kind 
the  most  serious  trouble  has  not  usually  developed  until  after  the  roadbed 
was  subjected  to  the  weight  and  jar  of  passing  trains,  but  proper  examina- 
tion beforehand,  at  nominal  expense,  might  have  disclosed  tne  exact  nature 
of  the  conditions.  The  perplexity  of  dealing  with  such  conditions  has,  in 
a  large  number  of  instances,  convinced  maintenance  of  way  men  that  the 
most  satisfactory  practice  lay  in  the  permanent  use  of  piling  and  in  fore- 
going any  attempt  at  earthwork.  It  will  be  interesting  to  give  here  the 
particulars  in  a  case  or  two  of  the  kind  under  consideration. 

In  the  summer  of  1897  the  Chicago,  Indianapolis  &  Louisville  ("Mo- 
non")  Ey.  made  extensive  changes  in  the  location  of  its  line  in  the  vicinity 
of  Cedar  Lake,  Ind.  A  stretch  of  track  about  300  ft.  long,  on  the  'old 
location,  crossed  the  eastern  side  of  a  marshy  basin,  generally  circular  in 
shape  and  about  1,000  ft.  across.  In  eliminating  a  curve  the  track  at  this 
point  was  relocated  farther  over,  so  as  to  cross  about  800  ft.  of  the  marsh, 
on  a  line  running  125  to  200  ft.  distant  from  the  old  location.  Filling 
material  was  obtained  from  a  heavy  cutting  to  the  south  and  work  had 
progressed  on  the  construction  of  an  embankment,  'with  teams,  for  a  period 
exceeding  a  month,  during  which  time  a  fill  about  7  ft.  in  hight  had  been 
extended  nearly  half  way  across  the  marsh.  No  unusual  settlement  had  ap- 
parently taken  place,  when,  upon,  taking  up  the  work  one  morning,  it  was 
found  that  150  ft.  of  the  fill  had  sunk  about  16  ft.  and  disappeared  under 
a  depth  of  7  ft.  of  water.  This,  the  first  subsidence,  is  shown  in  Fig.  1, 
the  bottom  picture  being  a  nearer  view  looking  down  into  the  depression. 
The  track  appearing  in  the  background  of  this  view  was  the  old  main  track, 
about  125  ft.  distant,  which  had  carired  traffic  for  years  without  extraordi- 
nary settlement.  The  work  of  filling  was  next  taken  up  from  the  north  side 
of  the  basin,  the  material  being  hauled  out  on  'cars  which  were  unloaded 
from  a  temporary  trestle.  After  considerable  progress  had  been  made  this 
embankment  also  disappeared,  carrying  the  trestle  and  track  with  it  so  sud- 
denly that  a  train  of  cars  which  was  being  unloaded  at  the  time  was  barely 
saved  from  sinking  with  the  track.  This  part  of  -the  fill  also  sank  beneath 
the  water  and  no  trace  of  the  track  was  afterward  discovered.  The  sink- 
ing of  the  embankment  caused  the  surrounding  surface  to  bulge  upward, 
and  large  cracks  6  or  7  ft.  deep  were  opened  up  along  the  lines  where  the 
top  stratum  was  sharply  broken  off  and  deflected  downward  by  the  sinking 
of  the  earthwork.  These  cracks  revealed  a  bed  of  peat  extending  the  whole 


"20  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

-depth  and  below.  The  surface  of  the  water  which  covered  the  sunken  em- 
bankment was  2  or  3  ft.  below  the  general  surface  of  the  marsh.  Moisture 
was  absent  on  the  top  surface,  as  may  be  surmised  from  the  fact  that  at 
the  time  the  photographs  were  taken  the  peaty  surface  was  afire  and 
was  burning  over  a  considerable  area.  The  hazy  appearance  in  the 
background  of  the  illustrations  is  due  to  smoke  arising  from  this 
burning  peat.  There  was  no  water  in  sight  at  any  point  on  the 
marsh  and  the  land  was  enclosed  and  used  for  pasture.  Judging  of 
the  nature  of  the  deeper  earth  structure  from  the  foregoing  suggestions  of 
instability  it  was  decided  to  abandon  the  project  of  filling  and  carry  the 
track  across  on  piling.  Something  of  the  nature  of  the  underground  sup- 
port may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  piles  had  to  be  driven  to  depths 
•varying  from  75  to  150  ft.  in  order  to  secure  bearing  of  sufficient  supporting 
power.  The  piles  used  were  of  oak  in  25-ft.  lengths,  spliced  by  cutting  off 
squarely  and  joining  end  to  end,  using  a  drift  bolt,  and  two  iron  straps 
bolted  through  and  through  at  each  joint.  The  pile  driver  which  appears 
in  the  illustrations  had  progressed  with  the  work  of  bridging  across  about 
•one-half  of  the  affected  territory. 

A  most  remarkable  and  strange  circumstance  associated  with  the  sink- 
ing of  this  earthwork  was  that  immediately  following  the  first  subsidence 
"the  water  covering  the  sunken  embankment  was  thickly  populated  with 


Fig.   1. — Sunken   Embankment,  C.   I.  &  L.   Ry. 


THE   ROADBED 


Fig.  2. — Sink   Hole,  Grand   Rapids,   Holland  &   Lake  Michigan   Ry. 


fish  and  frogs.  The  fish  were  of  all  sizes,  from  minnows  to  fish  6  or  8  ins. 
in  length,  and  there  was  no  peculiarity  of  eye  structure  such  as  is  commonly 
found  with  subterranean  varieties.  There  was  apparently  no  grounds  for  ex- 
plaining the  presence  of  these  aquatic  inhabitants  on  the  theory  of  an  under- 
ground passage,  for  there  was  no  near  body  of  water  on  the  same  level 
containing  fish.  The  surface  of  the  water  in  Cedar  Lake,  one  mile  dis- 
tant, is  28  ft.  below  the  water  level  at  the  point  of  subsidence,  as  deter- 
mined by  the  railroad  surveys,  and  the  track  between  the  two  points  is  on  a 
grade  of  26  ft.  per  mile.  The  only  satisfactory  explanation  is  that  at  one 
time  an  open  body  of  water  existed  in  this  basin,  and  that  within  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  it  was  gradually  overgrown  with  a  thick  bed. of 
peat  moss,  the  surface  of  which,  over  the  whole  area,  is  now  found  in  the- 
decomposed  state,  or  in  the  form  of  peat.  The  looseness  of  structure  in 
places  would  admit  sufficient  air  to  maintain  the  life  of  fish  descended  from 
the  earlier  inhabitants  of  the  open  water,  and  enable  frogs,  by  burrowing, 
to  exist  on  water  which  did  not  appear  at  the  upper  surface.  There  are- 
lakes  in  this  country  where  growths  of  this  kind  may  now  be  seen  in 
progress.  Beds  of  moss  of  astonishing  depth  have  become  extended  from 
•the  shores  and  are  slowly  spreading  over  the  surface  of  deep  water.  In 
some  cases  these  floating  beds  are  so  firm  and  their  buoyancy  so  great  that 
one  might  readily  mistake  them  for  the  real  shore  of  the  lake.  This  fact 
explains  why  railway  embankments  sometimes  sink  so  suddenly.  So  long 
as  the  floating  crust  can  bear  up  the  material  filled  upon  it,  the  settlement 
may  not  be  excessive,  but  when  the  conditions  of  support  or  the  increase 
of  load  become  such  that  the  crust  breaks  through,  the  sinking  of  the  em- 
bankment then  takes  place  suddenly. 

A  case  similar  to  the  foregoing,  but  more  nearly  in  line  with  ordinary 
experience,  occurred  some  miles  west  of  Chicago,  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Quincy  Ky.,  in  1890.  In  making  a  fill  for  an  additional  track  beside  - 
an  old  embankment  the  earthwork  settled  1  to  3  ft.  per  day.  By  persist- 
ently filling,  however,  until  the  track  had  settled  altogether  about  40  ft. 
and  95,000  cu.  yds.  of  gravel  and  dirt  had  been  dumped  into  an  embank- 
ment 1000  ft.  long,  the  settlement  finally  ceased.  The  earth  on  each  side- 


22  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

of  the  embankment  was  crowded  outward  and  rolled  upward  in  a  ridge  10 
ft.  high,  and  the  telegraph  poles  were  moved  12  ft.  farther  from  the 
track.  It  is  probable  that  the  settlement  did  not  cease  until  the  new  em- 
bankment found  bottom  on  bed  rock  or  upon  a  hard  stratum.  In  filling 
for  an  embankment  on  similar  ground  at  Barclay,  Ontario,  on  the  Can- 
adian Pacific  Ry.,  it  was  estimated,  from  the  amount  of  material  required, 
that  the  depth  of  the  "muskeg"  must  have  been  200  ft.  Figure  2  shows  a 
sink  hole  on  the  Grand  Rapids,  Holland  and  Lake  Michigan  Ry.,  near  the 
-city  limits  of  Holland,  Mich.  Only  a  short  time  after  the  tracks  had  been 
laid  the  entire  roadbed  sank  completely  out  of  sight  in  the  marsh,  only  a 
pond  of  water  remaining  visible  at  the  surface.  The  distance  across  this 
sink  hole  was  700  ft.,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  fill  it  with  sand  and 
gravel,  but  seemingly  there  was  no  bottom,  and  this  method  had  to  be 
abandoned.  Support  for  the  track  was  finally  provided  by  building  a  pile 
trestle  with  30-ft.  piles  spliced  together. 

Instances  of  extraordinary  settlement  or  sinking  of  roadbed  in  marshes 
have  been  numerous.  An  account  of  several  occurrences  of  this  kind  in 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  and  New  York  may  be  found  in  the  Railway 
Review  for  Nov.  21,  1891.  The  usual  remedy  is  either  a  pile  trestle  or 
filling  material  in  sufficient  quantity  to  "strike  bottom."  A  plan  followed 
on  the  Detroit  &  Milwaukee  R.  R.  in  crossing  a  sink  hole  2600  ft.  long  and 
60  ft.  deep,  6  miles  east  of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  was  to  make  a  slab  raft 
10  ft.  thick  and  fill  on  top  of  this  with  sand.  There  was  some  difficulty 
from  the  tipping  of  the  raft  in  sinking,  but  in  the  end  the  work  was  suc- 
cessful. 

4.  Ditches. — By  proper  drainage  of  the  roadbed  and  track  much 
expense  which  otherwise  might  be  incurred  in  keeping  the  track  to  surface 
can  be  saved.  Water  must  be  kept  out  of,  or  drained  away  from,  the  bal- 
last as  much  as  possible,  to  keep  it  from  softening  and  settling  or  to  pre- 
vent it  from  freezing  and  heaving  in  winter;  the  roadbed  must,  for  the 
same  reasons,  be  protected.  The  proper  form,  depth  and  size  of  a  ditch 
and  its  distance  from  the  ties  depend  a  good  deal  upon  surrounding  con- 
ditions. First  of  all,  most  of  the  ditches  that  are  needed  are  located 
in  or  around  cuts.  A  very  important  ditch  at  a  cut,  if  it  be  a  side- 
hill  cut  or  wherever  the  general  surface  of  the  ground  slopes  toward 
the  cut,  is  the  surface  ditch,  along  the  upper  side,  the  purpose  of  which 
is  to  intercept  surface  water  and  divert  it  from  the  cut.  The  size  of 
a  surface  ditch  must  depend  upon  the  amount  of  land  to  be  drained. 
Ditches  of  this  kind  must  sometimes  be  made  as  deep  as  5  or  6  ft., 
and  correspondingly  broad,  in  order  to  afford  sufficient  capacity  for  the 
large  amount  of  water  which  comes  in  torrents  during  hard  rain  storms. 
The  ditch  should  stand  a  good  distance  back  from  the  top  of  slope,  say  10 
or  15  ft.,  and  the  dirt  taken  out  of  it  should  be  heaped  up  on  the  side 
toward  the  cut.  Where  such  ditches  are  too  close  there  is  danger  that  the 
seepage  of  water  from  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  will  soften  the  earth  and 
cause  slides.  Spoil  banks  or  material  wasted  in  the  excavation  of  cuts 
should  be  a  good  distance  clear  of  the  slope  stakes,  say  at  least  15  ft.  In 
matters  of  this  kind  it  is  well  to  have  in  view  a  safe  margin  to  cover  possible 
improvements,  such  as  the  widening  of  cuts  for  more  ditch  room  or  for 
laying  a  second  track  or  to  obtain  easier  slopes.  The  surface  or  "top" 
ditch  should  be  run  each  way  from  the  lateral  watershed  to  the  nearest 
culvert  or  other  opening  under  the  track;  or,  at  all  events,  the  ditch 
should  be  so  diverted  that  the  water  discharged  will  not  find  its  way  into 
the  roadbed.  Where  the  slopes  of  a  cut  are  springy  it  is  sometimes  the 
practice  to  cut  diagonal  ditches  down  the  slopes,  at  easy  grades,  to  prevent 


DITCHES  23 

excessive  ^vash.  Where  springs  of  considerable  size  gush  out  of  the  slope 
the  best  way  to  take  care  of  them  is  to  lay  lines  of  drain  tile  to  conduct 
the  water  directly  or  diagonally  down  the  slope  and  into  the  ditch  or 
under  drain.  If  the  slope  of  the  hillside  is  a  long  one  it  is  well  to  have 
a  second  surface  ditch  farther  up  the  hill,  to  catch  the  larger  part  of  the 
flow  during  heavy  storms.  By  properly  ditching  the  region  above  the 
track  much  water  which  would  not  appear  upon  the  surface  directly  above 
the  cut,  but  which,  nevertheless,  would  find  its  way  out  at  the  face  of  the 
cut,  can  be  turned  aside.  Cases  of  this  kind  are  on  record  where  cuts, 
which  beforehand  had  been  wet  and  bothersome,  have,  by  surface  ditching, 
been  made  nearly  or  quite  dry. 

Drainage  Conditions  as  Affecting  Land-Slides. — Roadbed  in  side- 
hill  cuttings  through  clay  sometimes  gives  way  and  slides  down  the  hill, 
carrying  the  track  along ;  likewise  slides  from  above  become  troublesome 
when  water  gets  between  the  strata  underneath  the  surface.  In  cases  of 
this  kind  it  is  well  to  keep  water  out  of  the  cut,  as  far  as  possible,  and  make 
search  to  see  if  by  draining  out  some  pond  or  swamp  at  a  higher  level  the 
water  can  be  prevented  from  soaking  through  the  ground  toward  the  cut. 
Clay,  if  kept  dry,  is  tough  and  will  sustain  pressure  very  well,  but  when 
wet  it  becomes  plastic  and  will  slide  down  the  slightest  grade  if  not  confined 
in  some  way.  Much  of  the  region  surrounding  the  Puget  sound  is  of 
clay  formation  and  has  presented  special  difficulties  to  many  kinds  of 
engineering  work  requiring  good  foundations ;  all  the  more  so,  too,  because 
of  the  large  and  long  continued  rainfall  in  that  region.  Railroad  ditch- 
ing properly  done  means  the  draining  of  a  large  area,  sometimes. 

A  good  illustration  of  the  influence  of  seepage  on  earth  movements 
is  to  be  seen  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ry.,  along  the  Thompson  river,  about 
200  miles  east  of  Vancouver,  B.  C.  Owing  to  the  irrigation  of  terrace 
lands  some  remarkably  large  land-slides  were  developed  in  this  locality 
before  the  railroad  was  built.  One  of  the  slides  was  about  -J  mile  wide  and 
£  mile  long,  back  from  the  river,  and  covered  on  area  of  155  acres.  This 
enormous  mass  of  earth  dropped  vertically,  in  one  movement,  to  a  depth 
exceeding  400  ft,  at  the  back  edge,  and  the  lower  portion  was  pushed 
ahead  until  it  came  to  rest  against  a  steep  bluff  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  damming  the  river  to  a  hight  of  160  ft.  and  forming  a  lake 
12  miles  long.  •  As  soon  as  the  river  rose  above  this  dam  the  water  cut 
its  way  through  and  the  loose  material  was  all  swept  away.  About  a  mile 
distant  another  slide  occurred  having  a  width  of  1880  ft.,  a  length 
back  from  the  river  of  1575  ft.  and  covering  an  area  of  66  acres.  Within 
a  distance  of  6  miles  there  were  four  other  large  slides,  across  all  of  which 
the  road  had  to  be  constructed,  following  closely  the  contour  of  the  river 
bank  at  an  elevation  of  50  to  80  ft.  above  low-water  level.  The  material 
composing  these  slides  consists  of  soil  overlying  strata  of  sandy  loam  and 
clear  sand,  below  which  the  material  is  stratified  gravel  and  boulders.  The 
whole  rests  upon  a  stratum  of  clay  silt,  arid  it  was  upon  this  material  that 
the  sliding  took  place.  The  slide  at  each  point  occurred  between  three 
and  six  years  after  irrigation  began.  The  largest  slide  above  referred  to 
was  hastened  by  the  bursting  of  a  reservoir  two  miles  distant  in  the  hills, 
which  poured  a  flood  of  water  upon  fields  that  had  already  become  well 
soaked.  As  all  the  arable  land  at  this  point  was  caried  down  with  the  slide 
the  irrigation  was  stopped  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  water 
drained  out  so  completely  that  movement  ceased  and  no  trouble  with  the 
track  has  occurred.  At  the  other  slide,  however,  there  has  been  con- 
tinued application  of  large  quantities  of  irrigation  water  upon  the  culti- 
vated fields  above  the  slide  and  in  consequence  the  track  has  been  continu- 


24:  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

ally  pushed  toward  the  river,  sometimes  at  the  rate  of  8  ft.  in  one  night., 
the  roadbed  sinking  at  the  same  time  as  much  as  4  ft.  As  the  material  has- 
been  forced  forward  the  river  has  washed  it  away,  and  from  time  to  time 
a  new  roadbed  has  been  built  further  back  and  the  track  moved  over  to  it. 
This  portion  of  the  road  has  had  to  be  carefully  watched,  and  in  order  to 
maintain  a  safe  passage  across  the  line  dividing  the  stable  from  the  moving 
material  the  track  has  had  to  be  continually  shifted. 

Track  Ditches. — The  office  of  a  ditch  near  the  track,  sometimes 
called  the  "track  ditch,"  is  to  drain  off  the  water  which  falls  upon  the- 
track  and  that  which  runs  toward  it  from  the  side.  As  the  roadbed 
is  subject  to  seepage  from  the  water  collected  the  drainage  conditions 
naturally  improve  with  increase  of  distance  between  the  ditch  and  the 
track.  Eeference  is  limited  to  comparatively  near  distances,  of  course,. 
and,  standing  in  some  relation  to  depth  of  cut,  there  is  a  limit  of  exca- 
vation to  be  calculated  upon,  at  which  the  interest  on  extra  capital  invested 
to  save  repairs  will  balance  with  the  saving  so  made.  Beyond  this  limit: 
engineers  are  not  supposed  to  go,  unless  the  extra  material  excavated  can  be 
disposed  of  to  advantage.  An  important  study  in  problems  of  track 
engineering  is  to  find  the  proper  balance  between  efficiency  and  economy. 
Thus,  under  certain  circumstances,  it  might  pay  better  to  leave  some  cuts 
at  a  minimum  allowable  width  and,  with  the  saving  in  expense  so  effected,, 
widen  others  out  to  exceed  standard  dimensions,  possibly,  than  to  make- 
all  of  the  cuts  the  same  width  merely  for  the  sake  of  appearance  or  of  con- 
forming to  some  adopted  standard.  To  put  upon  paper  the  form  and 
dimensions  of  a  ditch,  called  a  "standard"  ditch,  and  to  suppose  that  it 
will  meet  all  the  conditions  economically,  may  be  landscape  gardening  but 
it  may  or  may  not  be  good  engineering.  The  idea  of  standardizing  is  a 
valuable  one  if  it  goes  far  enough  to  provide  a  standard  for  each  of  the- 
se veral  conditions  requiring  different  methods  of  treatment. 

Forms  of  Ditches. — In  a  general  way  ditches  take  two  forms,  ac- 
cording as  the  roadbed  is  shouldered  or  not.  Where  the  roadbed  is  not 
shouldered  the  ditch  is  formed  by  sloping  the  roadbed  at  the  sides  to- 
meet  the  toe  of  the  slope  of  the  cut.  At  the  ditch  it  is  usual  to  increase- 
somewhat  the  general  side  slope  of  the  roadbed  due  to  the  crowned  center, 
so  as  to  gain  depth  for  the  ditch.  Ditches  of  this  form  are  most  com- 
monly found  in  narrow"  cuts,  where  there  is  not  room  to  shoulder  the- 
roadbed  and  cut  a  ditch  beyond  the  same.  On  some  roads,  however, 
this  form  of  ditch  is  preferred  for  any  width  of  cut,  the  advantage 
claimed  being  that  such  is  the  natural  form,;  and  that  if  a  shoulder  is  inter- 
posed between  the  track  and  the  ditch  it  will  eventually  become  rounded 
off  or  worn  down  to  a  common  slope  from  the  track  to  the  back  side  of  the 
ditch.  The  following  are  some  of  the  roads  on  which  this  form  of  ditch  is- 
standard,  the  width  of  single-track  roadbed,  from  toe  to  toe  of  slope, 
and  the  depth  of  ballast  under  the  bottom  of  the  tie  being  given  in  each 
case:  Southern  Pacific,  roadbed  16  ft.  (18  ft.  in  regions  where  rainfall  is 
heavy)  ballast  8  ins.;  Erie,  roadbed  18  ft.  8J  ins.,  ballast  12  ins.;  Atchi- 
son,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  roadbed  26  ft.,  ballast  10  ins.;  Cincinnati, 
New  Orleans  &  Texas  Pacific  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  roads,  roadbed  18 
ft.,  ballast  12  ins.;  Pennsylvania  (light-traffic  lines),  roadbed  19  ft.  2' 
ins.,  ballast  8  ins.;  Philadelphia  &  Beading  (in  dry  cuts),  roadbed  18^ 
ft.,  ballast  8  ins. ;  Southern  By.,  roadbed  18  ft.,  ballast  6  ins. ;  Mis- 
souri, Kansas  &  Texas,  roadbed  18  ft.,  ballast  6  ins.  On  this  road  a 
middle  strip  of  the  roadbed  8  ft.  wide  is  flat,  the  slope  into  the  ditch 
('6  to  1)  starting  under  the  ends  of  the  ties.  On  each  of  these  roads  except 
the  Southern  Pacific  the  ballast  is  either  shouldered  out  beyond  the  ends- 


DITCHES  25 

of  the  ties  or  at  least  filled  in  against  the  ends.  On  that  road  broken 
rock  ballast  is  dressed  in  this  way  but  gravel  ballast  is  not. 

The  other  of  the  two  forms  of  ditches  here  considered  is  'made  by  con- 
structing a  roadbed  of  ordinary  width,  at  sub-grade,  as  on  embankment, 
and  then  excavating  the  ditch  beyond  the  shoulder.  The  idea  in  construct- 
ing a  ditch  in  this  manner  is  to  remove  the  water  as  far  as  possible  from 
the  ballast.'  Ditches  of  this  form  are  either  V-shaped  or  trough-shaped, 
the  latter  having  a  flat  bottom.  As  between  two  ditches  with  the  same 
side  slopes  the  flat-bottomed  one  will,  of  course,  carry  more  water  for  the 
same  depth  than  the  one  that  is  V-shaped'.  Some  prefer  the  V-shaped 
ditch,  however,  because  it  takes  up  less  room  and  so  ^conrrerrtrates  the 
flow  of  water  that  it  is  more  likely  to  keep  itself  clear,  especially  where 
the  flow  is  small.  On  different  roads  the  width  of  single-track  roadbed 
with  V-shaped  ditches  varies  from  about  19  ft.  to  28  ft.  from  toe  to  toe 
of  slope,  although  in  some  cases  it  is  less  than  19  ft.  The  toe-to-toe  width 
of  roadbed  with  trough-shaped  ditches  varies  from  about  22  to  28  ft., 
for  single-track  roads,  although  both  wider  and  narrow'er  measurements  may 
be  found,  in  cases. 

Size  of  Ditches. — The  width  of  roadbed  in  cuts  and  the  size  of 
ditch  should  be  governed  to  some  extent  by  the  depth  of  the  cut,  because  a 
long  slope  brings  more  water  to  the  ditch  than  a  short  one,  and  conse- 
quently more  sediment;  hence  the  larger  the  ditch  the  less  will  be  the 
trouble  to  keep  it  clear.  In  cuts  of  extensive  length  it  may  also  be  found 
advisable  to  increase  the  capacity  of  the  ditches  toward  the  outlet.  AJ1 
things  considered,  18  ft.  should  be  about  the  least  allowable  width  of 
roadbed  in  cuts,  and  then  the  conditions  must  be  favorable.  A  width  of 
18  ft.  gives  a  space  of  5  ft.  each  side,  clear  of  the  ties,  to  include  £he 
ditch;  and  it  is  about  the  least  room  that  will  allow  for  taking  out  ties 
in  renewals,  after  assuming  that  the  bank  slopes  well  away  from  the 
ditch  and  that  'the  track  will  be  raised  above  sub-grade  when  ballasted. 
Under  less  favorable  conditions,  as  when,  for  instance,  the  cut  is  high 
and  long  and  much  water  is  to  be  carried  in  the  ditch,  or  when  the  cut 
is  through  wet  material  or  material  of  the  nature  of  clay,  18  ft.  is  entirely 
too  narrow.  As  far  as  I  am  able  to  discover,  the  largest  practice  with 
trackmen,  wherever  the  ballast  does  not  exceed  12  ins.  in  depth  under  the 
ties,  seems  to  be  to  maintain  ditches  at  a  distance  of  7  ft.  from  the  rail 
to  the  foot  of  slope  at  the  back  side  of  the  ditch.  This  measurement  gives 
a  roadbed  about  19  ft.  wide;  and  right  here  it  should  be  explained  that 
the  roadbed  constructed  or  maintained  by  trackmen  does  not  always 
measure  fully  up  to  the  blue-print  drawings  in  the  chief  engineer's  office. 
In  order  to  treat  the  subject  comprehensively  one  should  not  fail  to  in- 
vestigate the  least  width  of  roadbed  upon  which  good  track  can  be  main- 
tained, because  it  is  upon  roads  of  small  earning  capacity  that  questions 
of  this  kind  must  receive  the  most  studious  consideration.  On  roads  with 
large  earnings  at  disposal  the  question  of  the  most  economical  width  of 
roadbed  largely  disappears,  and  a  width  may  be  selected  which  is  known  to 
be  sufficient  to  afford  desirable  conditions.  I  have  therefore  outlined,  in  a 
general  way,  what  I  consider  to  be  typical  conditions  or  situations  to  be 
met  in  ditching  and  the  least  width  of  roadbed  which  may  apply  to  each 
case. 

In  a  dry  gravel  cut  there  is  seldom  need  for  a  ditch,  because  ordinary 
rainfall  does  not,  on  such  ground,  run  off  on  the  surface.  As,  however,  the 
material  ought  to  be  removed  far  enough  back  from  the  ends  of  the  ties  to 
make  room  for  taking  them  out  without  too  much  digging  during  renewals, 
or  without  having  to  raise  the  rail,  it  is  well  to  slope  it  away  gradually 


TRACK    FOUNDATION 


somewhat  lower  than  the  bottoms  of  the  ties,  as  far  as  there  is  room.  This 
will  provide  for  those  extraordinary  rainfalls  when  water  comes  in  quan- 
tities faster  than  it  can  soak  away,  and  also  for  winter,  when  snow 
melts  on  frozen  ground.  Six  inches  is  far  enough  to  go  below  the  level 
of  the  bottoms  of  the  ties  in  this  instance.  Of  course  it  improves  appear- 
ances to  make  the  ditch  deeper,  but  as  the  whole  foundation  is  porous  this 
is  a  case  where  the  requirements  for  ditches  under  almost  all  other  condi- 
tions do  not  arise.  Engraving  A,  Fig.  3,  is  an  illustration  of  this  ditch. 

In  all  other  cases  the  ditch  ought  to  fulfill  the  following  requirements : 
it  ought  to  carry  the  water  away  below  the  level  of  the  bottom  line  of  the 
ballast,  because  all  ballast  except  common  dirt  is  porous,  and  if  the  ditch 
be  not  lower  than  the  bottom  line  of  the  ballast  the  latter  will  be  soaked 
with  water  whenever  there  is  any  in  the  ditch;  the  ditch  should  also  have 
at  least  a  slight  grade,  which  can  be  maintained,  even  on  level  ground,  by 


8 

D/t 

Cut,  Ballast  12 m.Deep. 


c 

Ditch  in  DryFarth 
Cuf<  Ballast  6 ins.  Deep. 


_  <tch  in  Wet  Earth  orGranl, 
12  JflS  Stone  orGrorel  Bal/ost. 


Fig.  3. — Half  Sections  of   Roadbed  and   Ballast. 

making  the  ditch  deeper  at  one  end  than  at  the  other.  In  such  a  ditch  the 
water  has  a  chance  to  run  off;  whereas,  in  a  level  ditch  water  is  liable  to 
be  dammed  and  held  to  soak  through  the  roadbed,  causing  the  track  to 
heave  in  winter  time  and  require  shimming. 

In  rock  cuts  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  need  not  be  more  than  6  ins. 
below  sub-grade  unless  the  quantity  of  water  to  be  carried  off  cannot  be 
accommodated  by  such  shallow  depth.  In  shallow  rock  cuts  the  toe-to-toe 
width  of  roadbed  should,  for  convenience  of  tie  renewals,  be  at  least  18  ft. 
Engraving  B,  Fig.  3,  shows  the  amount  of  ditch  room  available  in  such 
a  cut  where  12  ins.  of  .ballast  is  used.  In  deep  rock  cuts  the  expense  of 
excavation  becomes  a  paramount  consideration,  and  in  such  places  16  ft. 
is  a  very  common  width  of  roadbed. 

In  a  dry  cut  the  only  water  to  be  carried  out  of  it  is  that  which  falls 
between  the  slopes,  and  under  ordinary  conditions  a  ditch  9  ins.  deep  below 


DITCHES  27 

sub-grade  will  answer.  In  such  a  cut  the  quantity  of  ballast  required  does 
not  exceed  that  required  for  fills.  For  a  depth  of  ballast  not  exceeding  G 
ins.  below  the  ties  a  toe-to-toe  width  of  18  ft.  will  answer.  Engraving  C, 
Fig.  3,  shows  such  a  roadbed  for  dry  earth  cuts,  the  term  "earth"  in  this 
connection,  meaning  common  loam  or  sand'  in  distinction  from  gravel  and 
unmixed  clay.  If,  however,  there  is  more  or  less  water  in  the  cut  coming 
from  springs  which  flow  out  of  its  slopes  the  ballast  and  the  ditch  should 
both  be  deeper  than  in  the  case  just  referred  to,  and  the  cut  must  therefore 
he  wider.  The  ditch  should  be  at  least  a  foot  lower  than  sub -grade  and  the 
ballast  a  foot  deep  'above  sub-grade.  Twenty  feet  between^  the  slopes, 
toe  to  toe,  will  give  ditch  room  for  single  track,  as  shown  by  Engraving  D, 
Fig.  3.  Where  springs  come  up  through  the  roadbed  there  is  usually  much 
difficulty  in  keeping  the  ballast  dry  and  the  track  to  surface.  The  only 
remedy  lies  in  widening  out  the  cut  to  make  room  for  a  ditch  which  slopes 
away  from  the  track  gradually,  and  in  putting  in  a  good  depth  of  ballast, 


Fig.  4. — Half  Sections  of  Roadbed  and   Ballast. 

ihe  bottom  course  of  which  is  rather  coarse  rock.  About  18  ins.  of  ballast 
should  be  used  and  the  cut  should  be  at  least  22  ft.  wide  at  sub-grade,  as 
shown  in  Fig  4,  Engraving  E. 

In  a  clay  cut  a  deep  ditch  cannot  l>e  maintained,  for  the  reason  that 
when  the  top  of  the  roadbed  becomes  wet  it  will  slide  laterally,  under  the 
weight  and  shock  of  passing  trains,  and  fill  the  ditch,  if  there  be  much 
of  a  slope  toward  the  same.  Mistakes  are  often  made  in  cases  of  this  kind. 
When  the  track  is  found  to  be  settling  and  the  ditch  filling  up,  in  such 
cuts,  some  trackmen  will  deepen  the  ditch  accordingly,  making  allowance 
in  depth  for  the  plastic  clay  which  they  evidently  think  cannot  be  kept  out. 
Such  treatment  only  makes  matters  worse,  for  it  weakens  the  roadbed  by 
taking  away  its  lateral  support,  and  the  material  under  the  track  will  keep 
pushing  into  the  ditch  and  the  track  will  continue  to  settle.  The  proper 
thing  to  do  is  to  widen  out  the  cut  to  make  room  for  a  roadbed  which  slopes 
so  gradually  that  it  will  not  slide  out — a  flat  roadbed,  comparatively  speak- 


TRACK    FOUNDATION 


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6 'echo/?  of  Earth //?  cu. 

\ 


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Grave/ Mast  //?  cu} 


Qecf/o/7  of  cementing 
Grave/ Jfaf/ffsf  on  E/ntofiAmeflt 


Seer/Oft  of  coarse  fff?d  /0ose> 


9'0'~ 


S&cf/on  o f coarse- a /7 d  /0cs& 
Grave/  fiaf/asf  or?  Em  bank  men. 


Sect/on  of  Stone  £a/ fast  M  cut 


-2'6'-+-~£'0^ 


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k -.-9'0"- - y  '' 

!   Serf/on  of  Stone  Bal/ast  or? 

I  Eiittenkfmflt  "^^ 


DITCHES  29 

ing,  or  one  which  crowns  just  enough  to  drain  the  water  into  a  broad,  shal- 
low ditch  next  to  the  slope.  In  clay  cuts  ditches  should  never  be  formed 
by  shouldering  the  roadbed.  Eight  inches  below  sub-grade  provides  depth 
sufficient  to  carry  off  the  water,  and  the  toe  of  the  slope, — that  is  the  far 
side  of  the  ditch — should  be  at  least  12  ft.  from  the  center  of  the  track. 
Engraving  F,  Fig.  4,  illustrates  this  arrangement.  The  depth  and  nature 
of  the  ballast  required  is  discussed  in  §12. 

One  more  case  invites  consideration,  namely  the  ditch  for  dirt-ballasted 
track.  Of  course  it  goes  without  saying  that  such  is  not  suitable  ballast 
where  there  are  springs  under  the  track,  but  a  ditch  can  be  made  which 
can  drain  the  track  of  water  coming  from  the  side.  .  A  cut ~bf"20-ft.  width, 
for  single  track,  will  allow  a  shoulder  about  2  ft.  wide  outside  the  tie  ends, 
sloping  away  2  ins.,  and  a  ditch  about  18  ins.  deeper,  at  an  ordinary  slope 
of  8  to  3,  as  illustrated  by  Engraving  G,  Fig.  4. 

The  foregoing  seven  conditions  cover  perhaps  all  the  general  problems 
which  arise  in  ditch  construction,  or  those  which  call  for  different  methods 
of  treatment.  The  depth  of  ballast  needed  and  depth  of  ditch  should, 
after  the  nature  of  the  cut  is  known,  determine  largely  the  width  of 
cut,  and  not  the  width  of  cut  the  depth  of  ballast  and  depth  and  slope 
of  ditch.  Bearing  in  mind  that  the  variety  of  roaabed  and  ditch  meas- 
urements here  presented  is  due  to  a  close  study  of  conditions,  to  ascertain 
what  might  be  considered  the  least  measurements  applicable  to  conditions 
which  obtain  in  common  practice,  it  may  be  explained  that  it  is  not  usual 
to  find  so  many  standards  in  practice  with  one  company.  It  is  more 
frequently  the  case  that  a  single  set  of  measurements,  large  enough  to 
answer  the  requirements  of  the  worst  supposable  conditions,  is  made  stand- 
ard. The  roadbed  sections  shown  in  Fig.  5  are  an  illustration  of  such 
practice,  there  being  but  one  wridth  (18  ft.)  for  roadbed  at  sub-grade, 
both  on  embankments  and  in  cuts,  and  but  one  toe-to-toe  width  of  roadbed 
in  cuts  (28  ft.).  These  sections  represent  liberal  roadbed  measurements 
in  cuts.  The  standards  of  the  Illinois  Central  R.  R.,  even  though  more 
liberal,  are  yet  quite  similar,  the  only  differences  being  in  width  of  roadbed 
at  sub-grade,  which  is  20  ft.  both  for  embankments  and  in  cuts,  making  the 
width  of  ditch  6  ft.  3  ins.  instead  of  7  ft.  3  ins.,  as  shown  in  the  illustra- 
tions. The  gravel  ballast  is  shouldered  out  18  ins.  beyond  the  ends  of  the 
ties,  instead  of  6  ins.,  and  stone  ballast  is  shouldered  out  to  12  ins.,  instead 
of  6  ins. 

In  excavating  ditches  the  angular  form  of  the  standard  cross  section 
at  the  meeting  lines  of  slopes  (drawn  that  way  for  convenience  of  indicat- 
ing dimensions  clearly),  should  not  be  followed.  The  various  slopes  form- 
ing the  outlines  of  the  ditch  should  meet  by  curved  surfaces;  as,  for 
instance,  the  bottom  of  a  V-shaped  ditch  should  be  rounded  out  and  not 
brought  to  a  sharp  corner.  The  rounded  corner  is  the  shape  which  results 
from  the  forces  of  nature  and  it  applies  to  the  edges  of  embankment  slopes 
and  the  top  edges  of  slopes  in  cuts  as  well  as  to  ditches. 

Where  it  can  be  done  the  ditch  should  be  given  grade  sufficient  to 
carry  off  the  water  with  some  rapidity;  a  fall  of  at  least  4  ins.  per  100  ft. 
is  desirable,  and  6  ins.  per  100  ft.  is  a  common  specification.  The  dimen- 
sions of  ditches  shown  on  the  standard  drawings  of  railroads  are  usually  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  cross  section  of  the  ditch  at  the  highest  point.  In  case 
it  becomes  necessary  to  deepen  the  ditch  to  obtain  a  grade,  as  on  level 
ground,  the  standard  dimensions  must  then  be  exceeded.  The  standards  of 
the  Louisville  &  Nashville  R.  R.,  are  different  in  this  respect.  On  this  road 
the  ditches  are  made  with  a  flat  bottom  and  the  width  of  roadbed  between 
ditches  is  16  ft.  The  grade  of  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  must  not  be  less 


SO  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

than  6  ins.  per  100  ft.,  wherever  such  is  practicable.  In  summit  cuts  the- 
ditches  are  3  ins.  deep  at  the  summit  and  in  level  cuts  they  are  3  ins.  deep 
at  the  middle  of  the  cut,  increasing  to  the  standard  depth  o.  12  ins.  toward 
the  ends.  In  cuts  where  the  grades  are  steeper  than  -J  per  cent  the  grade 
of  the  ditch  is  made  parallel  with  the  grade  of  the  track  and  12  ins.  deep. 
This  practice  seems  proper,  because  at  a  summit  in  a  cut  or  at  the  middle 
of  a  level  cut  from  which  the  ditches  slope  either  way,  there  should  be  but 
little  water  in  the  ditches,  and  in  long  level  cuts  they  must  be  made  shallow 
at  this  point  in  order  to  avoid  running  too  deep  in  obtaining  the  necessary 
grade.  Deep  ditches  in  soft  material  are  objectionable,  as  already  ex- 
plained, and  in  any  material  the  deepening  of  ditches  in  deep  cuts  requires 
the  removal  of  large  quantities  of  material  in  making  the  slopes. 

Ditches  should  be  made  regular  in  width,  and  smooth,  so  that  puddles 
of  water  will  not  stand  in  them,  to  afford  a  source  for  seepage.  If,  owing 
to  the  shape  of  the  cut  or  for  any  other  reason,  a  ditch  cannot  be  made 
regular  in  width  it  is  well  to  make  the  track  side  of  it  straight  and  par- 
allel with  the  rails.  Where  there  is  an  embankment  or  fill  adjoining  a 
cut  the  offtake  ditch  or  ditches  should  be  diverted  from  the  made  ground 
and  carried  around  on  solid  material.  Neglect  of  such  precautions  has 
been  the  cause  of  many  a  bad  washout  during  times  of  excessive  rainfall  or 
sudden  thawing.  The  track  ditch  may  be  turned  into  the  surface  ditch 
and.  the  channel  formed  by  the  two  combined  may  be  run  to  the  nearest 
culvert  or  stream.  If  the  ditch  must  be  carried  over  or  near  made  ground 
the  embankment  may  be  protected  against  scour  by  paving  or  riprapping. 
Another  arrangement  having  the  same  purpose  in  view  is  to  conduct  the 
water  from  the  end  of  the  cut  through  a  line  of  large  drain  tile  or  sewer 
pipe  laid  to  a  good  grade.  Tile  as  large  as  15  ins.  in  diameter  has  been 
used  in  cases  of  this  kind.  In  long  side-hill  cuts  it  is  seldom  necessary  to 
carry  the  water  the  entire  length  of  the  cut,  as  the  ditch  may  be  turned 
under  the  track  at  intervals,  through  box  drains  or  culverts.  In  through 
cuts  the  ditches  should  be  of  the  same  depth  on  both  sides  of  the  track,. 
on  curves  as  well  as  tangents. 

Tile  Drains. — Valuable  assistance  to  the  drainage  can  be  obtained  by 
laying  drains  of  farm  tile  under  the  ditches  (Engravings  E  and  F,  Fig.  4). 
Especially  is  this  the  case  in  wet  cuts  or  in  cuts  where  there  is  not  room  for 
a  ditch  of  proper  width  and  depth,  and  in  cuts  where  there  is  trouble  in  keep- 
ing the  ditch  clear  of  sliding  material.  The  utility  of  tile  dram?  or  "blind 
ditches"  has  long  been  demonstrated  by  farmers,  and  the  use  of  tile  in  rail- 
way work  is  increasing.  The  ditch  serves  to  carry  off  water  when  it  comes  in 
quantities,  as  during  storms  or  thawing  weather,  and  seepage  into  the 
tile  drain  prevents  water  from  standing  jn  the  ditch  at  ordinary  times  and 
also  drains  out  the  roadbed  to  the  level  of  the  tile.  Where  under  drains 
are  used  the  ditches  may  be  made  shallower  than  otherwise,  and  in  some 
lands  of  material  this  is  a  considerable  advantage.  To  put  the  tile 
below  frost,  or  at  least  below  the  action  of  hard  frost,  it  is  laid  2-J  to  -1  ft. 
deep.  Water  running  continually  in  a  tile  drain  will  compromise  the 
action  of  frost  to  some  extent.  In  tile-draining  a  through  cut  it  is  usual  to 
lay  drains  under  both  ditches.  If  practicable  the  drain  should  have 
some  fall,  3  ins.  per  100  ft.  or  -J  in.  per  rod,  being  desirable.  Tile  is 
made  in  1-ft.  and  2-ft.  lengths,  but  the  1-ft.  lengths  are  preferable  for 
the  sizes  up  to  12  ins.  in  diameter.  Bound  tile  at  least  5  ins.  in  diameter 
is  preferred  for  railroad  service.  It  is  frequently  used  in  sizes  up  to  8  ins, 
in  diameter,  where  the  quantity  of  water  so  requires,  and  6-in.  tile  is  com- 
monly in  use.  In  very  long  cuts  it  may  be  necessary  to  increase  the  size 
of  the  tile  toward  the  end  of  the  cut  or  to  lay  two  lines  of  tile  in  the- 


DITCHES  31 

same  trench,  but  resort  to  either  plan  is  unusual  in  practice.  Glazed  tile 
is  stronger  than  the  unglazed  article  for  the  same  thickness,  but  if 
the  unglazed  tile  is  properly  burned  it  is  considered  quite  strong  enough 
for  practical  purposes,  and  just  as  durable.  Water  enters  a  tile  drain 
through  the  joints.  Water  under  pressure  will  percolate  through  thu 
wall  of  the  tile  in  some  quantity,,  but  in  ordinary  drainage  all  that  gets 
through  in  this  manner  amounts  to  but  very  little,  and  cuts  no  figure  in 
drainage.  Unglazed  tile  will  absorb  water  until  the  pores  become  filled, 
but  without  some  force  behind  it  there  is  but  little  tendency  to  pass 
through. 

Experts  in  tile  drainage  work  have  special  tools  for~digging  the 
trench  and  laying  the  tile.  For  excavating  the  top  portion  and  body  of 
the  trench  a  long  and  narrow  shovel  or  post-hole  spade  (Engraving  B,  Fig. 
6)  is  used.  The  blade  measures  5-|  ins.  wide  at  the  step,  6  ins.  at  the 
cutting  edge  and  is  18  or  20  ins.  long.  For  sticky  soil  the  skeleton  ditching 
spade  shown  as  Engraving  A,  with  a  blade  18  or  20  ins.  long  and  6^  ins. 
wide,  is  preferred.  For  taking  out  the  bottom  spading  a  round-pointed 
spade  (Engraving  D)  with  a  blade  18  ins.  to  22  ins.  long,  5J  ins.  wide  at  the 
step  and  about  4^  ins.  wide  at  the  cutting  edge,  is  used  for  ordinary  soil,  and 
for  sticky  soil  the  round-pointed  skeleton  spade  shown  as  Engraving  C,  with 
a  blade  18  or  20  ins.  long  and  4J  ins.  wide,  is  used.  These  tools  enable  the  ex- 
cavation of  a  narrow  trench  but  little  wider  than  the  tile,  if  desired,  thus 


Fig.  6. — Tools  for  Tile  Drainage. 

saving  something  in  material  handled  and  expediting  the  work.  To  clean  up 
the  bottom  of  the  trench  for  laying  the  tile  a  drain  cleaner  (Engraving  E), 
consisting  of  a  scoop  with  a  long  handle,  arranged  to  draw  toward  the  user,  is 
employed.  The  blade  is  made  of  shovel  steel,  15  ins.  long  and  4  to  6  ins. 
wide,  according  to  the  size  of  the  tile.  The  handle  can  be  adjusted  to 
any  angle  convenient  to  the  user,  by  raising  the  spring,  and  when  the  spring 
is  in  position  the  blade  is  locked  against  rocking.  As  a  guide  for  dressing 
the  bottom  of  the  trench  to  a  uniform  grade  it  is  customary  to  set  grade 
stakes  at  intervals  of  aboHit  30  ft.  alongside  the  line  of  the  trench,  using 
an  engineer's  level.  A  ditch  line  is  then  tightly  stretched  from  stake  to 
stake,  to  the  grade  for  the  tile,  and  after  the  trench  has  been  nearly  com- 
pleted in  depth  measurements  are  taken  from  this  line  for  dressing  up 
the  bottom.  A  measuring  instrument  commonly  used  consists  of  a  vertical 
staff  graduated  to  feet  and  inches,  with  a  horizontal  sliding  arm  made 
fast  by  means  of  a  thumb-screw.  The  arm  carries  a  spirit  level  and  is 
long  enough  (about  2  ft.)  to  reach  the  ditch  line  when  the  staff  is  stood 
in  the  trench.  In  railroad  work  where  the  track  is  in  good  surface  the 
rail  might  be  used  as  a  reference  for  the  grade  of  the  trench.  In  order  to 
have  the  trench  in  smooth,  condition  for  laying  the  tile,  the  workmen 
dress  it  to  grade  without  stepping  on  the  bottom.  The  sections  of  tile 
are  laid  to  place  with  a  hook  on  the  end  of  a  long  handle.  For  laying  tile 
through  quicksand  a  sheet  iron  box,  open  top,  bottom  and  rear,  and 
commonly  known  as  a  "coffin,"  is  used.  This  box,  and  the  use  of  the  same 
are  descibed  in  §  1,  Supplementary  Notes. 


32  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

The  tile  should  be  laid  to  a  straight  line  and  uniform  grade,  with  the 
joints  fitting  closely.  Some  use  a  pole  of  round  or  square  timber  somewhat 
smaller  than  the  inside  diameter  of  the  tile,  to  keep  the  tile  properly  lined 
up  while  it  is  being  tamped  and  covered  over.  Each  advance  section  of 
tile  is  strung  upon  the  pole  as  it  is  pulled  ahead  one  section  at  a  time,  the 
rear  end  of  the  pole  remaining  continually  within  the  covered  tile.  When 
laying  tile  on  very  soft  ground  the  precaution  is  sometimes  taken  to  lay  a 
narrow  board  in  the  bottom  of  the  trench,  to  prevent  displacement  of  the 
tile  sections.  When  filling  in  the  trench  with  loose  material  it  is  the 
practice  with  some  to  cover  the  tiling  with  inverted  sods,  moss,  slough  grass, 
hay,  straw  or  some  such  material,  to  exclude  fine  particles  of  filling  which 
might  be  washed  into  the  tile \through  the  joints.  As  a  means  of  aiding 
seepage  toward  the  drain  some  recommend  filling  the  trench  with  coarse 
gravel  or«  cinders,  but  not  with  loam  or  sand;  while  others  of  long  experi- 
ence claim  that  the  water  will  readily  find  its  way  into  the  drain  through 
any  material,  however  compact,  and  for  filling  in  the  trench  such  men 
prefer  to  use  only  the  material  excavated,  without  straw  or  other  screening 
material.  The  bottom  spading  is  considered  the  best  material  to  place 
directly  upon  and  surrounding  the  sides  of  the  tile.  Stiff  blue  clay  is 
considered  excellent  material  for  covering  over  tile.  In  cuts  with  wet 
slopes,  where  the  bank  is  liable  to  slide,  it  is  sometimes  the  practice  to 
cut  ditches  diagonally  down  the  slope  to  ease  the  grade  for  the  running 
water.  A  better  plan,  where  there  is  tile  sub-drainage  for  the  ditch,  is  to 
conduct  the  water  down  the  slope  through  covered  diagonal  branch  drains 
leading  into  the  main  line  of  tiling.  A  pile  of  loose  stones  or  wire  netting 
should  be  placed  over  the  outlet  of  a  tile  drain  to  keep  out  muskrats  and 
other  small  animals.  To  lay  drain  tile  properly  requires  experience,  and 
some  railway  companies  find  it  cheaper  and  productive  of  better  results  to 
employ  experts  who  have  worked  among  the  farmers,  to  do  this  work. 
Twenty-three  cents  per  rod  for  the  work  of  digging  the  trenches  (3J  ft. 
deep)  and  laying  the  tile  is  a  price  that  has  been  paid  by  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Ry.  to  contractors.  Mr.  Alexander  Birss.  Prairie,  Wash., 
who  was  formerly  engaged  for  a  great  many  years  as  a  tile-drainage  con- 
tractor, in  Iowa,  has  kindly  favored  me  with  some  interesting  information 
on  tile  drains  and  the  work  of  laying  them,  which  may  be  found  in  §1, 
Supplementary  STotes,  in  the  back  part  of  this  book. 

As  a  substitute  for  tiling  a  continuous  bundle  of  poles,  trimmed  of  their 
branches  and  placed  butts  and  tops,  is  sometimes  laid  in  the  bottom  of  the 
trench  and  covered  over.  Blind  ditching  may  also  be  done  by  partly  fill- 
ing the  trench  with  broken  stones,  preferably  placing  a  plank  in  the 
bottom  of  the  trench.  A  form  of  blind  ditch  much  used  by  farmers  in  the 
eastern  states  is  laid  with  flat  field  stones  as  a  bottom  paving,  and  on 
top  of  these,  flat  stones  are  stood  edgewise  leaning  toward  the  middle  of 
the  trench  from  both  sides,  to  form  an  inverted  V-shaped  opening  2  or  3 
ins.  wide  at  the  bottom.  Over  these  stones  other  stones  are  thrown  in 
loosely  and  covered  with  the  soil. 

The  most  desirable  way  to  ditch  yards  is  by  sub-drainage  with  tiling 
or,  if  the  area  to  be  covered  is  extensive,  with  branch  drains  of  tile 
feeding  into  sewer  pipe  mains.  Catch  basins  at  points  where  water  is 
liable  to  collect  are  desirable,  as  they  prevent  the  formation  of  puddles 
of  water  between  the  tracks,  which  get  covered  with  ice  during  freezing 
weather.  The  work  of  switching  may  be  considerably  expedited  by  main- 
taining the  footing  in  good  condition  in  all  kinds  of  weather. 

Ditch  Paving. — The  paving  of  ditches  with  cobble  stones  is  practiced 
to  some  extent.  Where  coarse  gravel  is  on  hand  the  paving  material  is 


CULVERTS  33 

easily  obtained  and  the  work  of  laying  it  is  not  very  expensive.  Paved 
ditches  retain  their  shape  better  than  unpaved  ones,  because  they  are 
flushed  by  heavy  rains,  and  if  filled  by  sliding  material  or  sediment 
washed  down  there  is  a  good  bed  to  shovel  upon  when  cleaning  out  the 
ditch.  To  improve  the  appearance  of  ditches  in  the  vicinity  of  stations 
the  paving  is  sometimes  whitewashed.  Whitewash  will  keep  the  paving  clear 
of  grass,  and  if  salt  is  mixed  with  the  lime  the  whitewash  will  adhere 
better  «to  the  stones.  Concrete  paving  or  lining  is  also  applied  to  ditches 
on  a  number  of  roads.  Brick,  cement  and  asphalt  are  materials  used  for 
paving  some  of  the  ditches  on  the  Pennsylvania  R.  E.  In  ditches  through 
soft  material  on  steep  grades  some  kind  of  paving  is  necessary-  to  prevent 
gullying  in  time  of  hard  rain  storms.  On  some  roads  old  ties  have  been 
used  to  good  advantage  in  ditches  where  such  protection  is  necessary. 

Retaining  Walls  for  Ditches. — Various  means,  some  of  which  are 
mentioned  in  §  160,  are  resorted  to  for  maintaining  open  ditches  along 
sliding  banks.  A  common  method  of  securing  the  foot  of  a  sliding  bank 
is  to  build  a  thick  masonry  retaining  wall  and  lay  tile  drains  at  the 
back  side,  under  back  filling  of  coarse  gravel  or  broken  stone.  Such  walls 
are  usually  built  to  a  heavy  batter,  like  £  to  1,  and  topped  out  with  heavy 
coping  stones.  The  bank  is  then  sloped  from  the  top  of  the  wal],  reduc- 
ing the  general  slope  and  lessening  the  tendency  to  slide.  In  order  to  make 
sure  provision  for  drainage,  weep  holes  through  the  wall  with  a  ditch  in 
front  of  it  are  recommended.  An  interesting  piece  of  work  that  may 
properly  be  referred  to  in  the  present  connection  is  a  concrete  slope  fac- 
ing constructed  at  Chestnut  street,  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  to  protect  the  tracks 
of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  from  falling  rock  and  other  mate- 
rial. At  this  point  there  is  a  side-hill  cut  through  soft  sandstone  for 
several  hundred  feet,  the  sandstone  being  overlaid  with  a  limestone  ledge 
and  the  latter  surmounted  by  a  glacial  drift  formation  of  sand,  gravel, 
boulders,  etc.  The  bank  rests  at  a  slope  of  about  1  horizontal  to  2 
vertical,  and  a  cut-stone  masonry  retaining  wall  had  been  built  along  part 
of  the  distance  to  support  the  limestone  ledge,  which  was  constantly  being 
undermined  by  the  disintegration  of  the  sandstone.  As  a  means  of  cheap- 
ening the  construction,  a  concrete  facing  wall,  writh  brick  pilasters  at 
intervals  to  support  the  limestone  ledge,  was  substituted  for  the  remainder 
of  the  distance,  it  being  assumed  that  if  the  sandstone  could  be  protected 
against  rain  and  frost  its  stability  would  be  secured.  The  foundation  for 
the  facing  wall  and  pilasters  was  put  into  the  sandstone  4  ft.  below  rail 
level.  The  facing  is  256  ft.  long  and  56  ft.  high,  and  was  built  up  by 
depositing  concrete  behind  a  wrooden  form  built  from  the  foot  of  the 
slope  by  stages  and  supported  on  bolts  anchored  to  the  standstone.  These 
bolts  were  jointed  about  the  middle  of  their  length,  and  after  the  con- 
crete had  hardened  the  outer  half  of  the  bolt  was  withdrawn,  the  hole 
filled  with  cement  mortar,  the  concrete  facing  thus  remaining  bolted  to  the 
sandstone  bluff.  The  average  thickness  of  the  concrete  facing  below  the 
ledge  is  2  ft.  5  ins.,  and  above  the  ledge,  3  ft..  2  ins. 

5.  Culverts. — The  drainage  of  roadbed  comprises  ditches  and  cul- 
verts, the  purpose  of  the  latter  being  to  convey  ditch  water  or  small  streams 
underneath  the  track  or  to  permit  the  escape  of  rain  water,  melted  snow  or 
springs  draining  toward  an  embankment.  To  be  serviceable  under  all  con- 
ditions a  culvert  must  answer  the  requirements  of  size,  and  be  secure  in 
foundation  and  end  construction  against  washing  out.  Respecting  the  first 
essential,  engineers  when  laying  out  culverts  should  exhaust  every  resource 
available  for  estimating  the  quantity  of  water  liable  to  flow  aloiio-  the 
streams  crossed,  especially  those  which  are  found  dry  at  times.  Where 


34  TRACK    FOUNDATION 

opportunities  are  at  hand,  as  in  settled  districts  or  where  roads  or  railways 
traverse  the  country,  the  most  satisfactory  way  to  estimate  the  size  of  cul- 
vert openings  is  by  observation  of  the  volume  of  now  during  high  water, 
either  at  the  time  or  by  high-water  marks.  To  find  the  latter,  observation 
may  be  made  of  Existing  openings  on  the  stream  or  by  examination  of  the 
banks,  preferably  where  the  stream  is  contracted;  or  by  inquiry  of  parties 
familiar  with  the  locality.  Along  wTith  every  party  doing  the  preliminary 
surveying  for  a  railroad  there  should  be  some  man  experienced  in  exploring 
or  "cruising,"  who  should  scour  the  country  surrounding  for  such  infor- 
mation regarding  the  rainfall  and  the  streams  as  will  be  of  benefit  to  the 
company  in  the  proper  construction  of  its  bridges  and  culverts.  In  placing 
culverts  on  an  old  road  the  determination  of  the  sizes  of  the  openings  is 
less  problematical,  because  exact  records  of  high  water  should  then  be 
obtainable.  In  constructing  railways  in  this  country,  and  particularly  in 
the  West,  it  is  extensively  the  practice  to  bridge  the  water  courses  with 
timber  trestles,  so  that  the  construction  of  permanent  works  at  the  drainage 
openings  is  usually  postponed  until  the  wooden  structures  need  renew- 
ing. This  gives  a  period  of  some  eight  or  ten  years,  during  which  time  it  is 
customary  for  both  the  frridge  and  track  departments  to  keep  record  of 
high  water  at  the  various  openings,  as  reported  by  the  bridge  inspectors  and 
the  section  foremen.  In  a  large  proportion  of  the  cases,  therefore,  there 
need  be  no  uncertainty  regarding  the  capacity  of  culvert  openings.  The  con- 
tingency does  sometimes  arise,  however,  that  the  capacity  of  culvert  openings 
must  be  determined  upon  where  reliable  information  concerning  the  streams 
cannot  be  had.  Under  such  a  circumstance  the  engineer  is  compelled  to  resort 
to  some  basis  for  estimating  the  maximum  rate  of  discharge  through  each 
opening.  The  investigation  of  such  problems  proceeds  so  largely  upon  mat- 
ters of  judgment  that  many  are  disposed  to  regard  the  accepted  methods  of 
calculation  as  in  large  degree  conjectural,  or  as  processes  more  or  less  en- 
tangled with  guesswork.  While  it  is  true  that  much  of  the  data  made  use 
of  in  such  cases  are  necessarily  assumed,  or  even  guessed  at,  it  is  also  true 
that  some  determination  is  compulsory,  and  guessing  by  method  is  certainly 
preferable  to  guessing  at  random.  The  amount  of  confidence  to  be  reposed 
in  calculations  of  this  kind  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  experience  and 
observing  capacity  of  the  engineer  in  charge. 

Calculation  of  Maximum  Flow. — Where  reliable  information  cannot 
be  obtained  regarding  the  maximum  flow  of  the  streams  the  size  of 
opening  or,  what  leads  to  the  same  end,  the  maximum  flow  through  the 
opening,  is  determined  by  some  empirical  rule  or  method  of  calculation. 
One  of  the  simplest  rules  is  to  base  the  unit  of  opening  area  upon  acreage. 
For  instance,  it  is  commonly  the  practice  to  allow  a  s'liiave  foot  of  culvert 
opening  for  some  certain  number  of  acres  drained,  the  relation  of  drainage 
area  to  the  unit  size  of  opening  being  ascertained  from  experience  with 
the  topographical  conditions  and  rainfall  of  the  particular  section  of 
country.  To  give  one  or  two  illustrations  of  such  practice,  the  Chicago, 
Eock  Island  &  Pacific  Ky.  allows  for  drainage,  in  Nebraska,  Kansas  and 
eastern  Colorado,  as  follows,  a  single  line  of  cast  iron  pipe  being  referred 
to  each  case:  16-in.  pipe  for  20  to  40  acres;  20-in.  pipe  for  30  to  60 
acres;  24-in.  pipe  for  45  to  -90  acres;  30-in.  pipe  for  70  to  140  acres;  36-in. 
pipe  for  110  to  220  acres;  48-in.  pipe  for  180  to  3GO  acres.  These  allow- 
ances are  based  upon  14.3  to  28.6  acres  per  square  foot  of  opening,  or  an 
average  of  about  21^  acres  per  square  foot  of  opening.  The  wide  latitude 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  party  in  charge  of  construction  enables  him  to 
take  into  account  the  variability  of  the  topographical  features,  such  as  the 
slope  of  the  ground,  the  state  of  the  soil  (whether  cultivated  or  not),  and 


CULVERTS  35 

the  shape  of  the  drainage  basin;  as,  other  features  being  similar,  water 
•draining  out  of  a  circular  valley  will  flow  off  more  rapidly  than  from  a  long, 
narrow  valley  of  the  same  area.  The  rules  in  force  on  the  New  York  Central 
•&  Hudson  Eiver  R.  E.  when  reliable  records  of  the  flow  of  water  to  be  taken 
-care  of  at  any  new  culvert  cannot  be  had,  are  similar.  For  5  acres  of  steep 
land  or  10  acres  of  flat  land,  10-in.  pipe  is  used;  12-in.  pipe  for  10  acres; 
l()-in.  pipe  for  20  acres,  and  so  on  up  to  36-in.  pipe  for  110  acres.  Com- 
pared with  rules  in  force  on  some  other  roads  for  small  culverts  these  open- 
ings seem  small.  On  the  Missouri  Pacific  Ry.  it  has  been  the  practice 
to  allow  one  square  foot  of  opening  to  drain  four  acres  of  steep  or  moun- 
tainous land  or  six  acres  of  flat  or  rolling  land. 

Another  way  of  determining  the  area  of  culvert  openings  is  by  the  use 
of  an  empirical  formula,  in  which  the  factors  are  the  drainage  area  and 
a  variable  coefficient  to  suit  the  conditions  of  the  locality.  The  best  known 
formula  of  this  class,  or  the  one  which  has  been  most  extensively  used  in 
American  railway  practice,  is  the  Myers  formula,  proposed  many  years 
ago  by  Mr.  E.  T.  D.  Myers,  since  then  president  of  the  Richmond,  Fred- 
-ericksburg  &  Potomac  R.  R.,  by  which 

Area  culvert  opening  in  sq.  ft.  =  C  X  V  (Drainage  area  in  acres) 

The  values  usually  given  to  C  are :  for  flat  or  slightly  rolling  ground, 
1 ;  for  hilly  ground,  about  1.5 ;  and  for  mountainous  and  rocky  ground,  4. 
The  important  respect  in  which  this  formula  differs  from  the  foreging 
rules  is  that  the  size  of  opening  varies  as  the  square  root  of  the  drainage 
area  instead  of  by  a  straight  proportion;  which  would  make  it  appear  that 
the  so-called  "rules"  require  an  opening  too  large  for  the  larger  drainage 
-areas.  Such  is  probably  the  case,  for  it  is  well  established  that  the  rate 
of  flood  discharge  from  a  large  area  compared  with  the  rate  from  a 
small  area  for  the  same  rainfall  and  same  duration,  is  not  as  great  as  the 
ratio  of  the  two  catchment  areas.  In  the  Talbot  formula  the  size  of 
opening  is  made  to  vary  as  the  fourth  root  of  the  cube  of  the  drainage 
area,  thus : 

Area  culvert  opening  in  sq.  ft.  =  C  X  4 V  (Drainage  area  in  acres)s 

In  this  formula  the  coefficient  C  takes  a  value  varying  from  f  to  1  for 
steep  and  rocky  ground;  and  -J  for  rolling  agricultural  country  subject  to 
floods  at  times  when  snow  melts,  where  the  valley  is  three  or  four  times  as 
long  as  it  is  wide;  if  the  valley  is  longer  in  proportion  to  width  the  value 
of  0  is  decreased  still  further.  In  districts  where  snow  does  not  accumulate, 
•C  is  taken  at  £  or  -J,  or  even  less,  for  oblong  valleys.  In  the  case  of 
either  of  these  two  formulas  it  is  quite  apparent  that  experience  and  good 
judgment  are  essential  to  a  proper  choice  of  coefficients.  In  any  case  of 
uncertainty  in  this  respect  the  opening  should  be  given  the  benefit  of  the 
•doubt. 

The  most  thorough  way  of  getting  at  the  proper  size  of  waterway, 
where  authentic  report  concerning  the  maximum  flow  of  the  stream  is 
not  procurable,  is  by  a  survey  of  the  drainage  basin  and  the  various  con- 
•ditions  which  affect  the  situation.  Such  work  is  sometimes  undertaken  for 
openings  of  considerable  importance.  On  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
Ry.  it  is  the  practice  when  constructing  new  culverts  to  send  an  engineer- 
ing party  around  the  watershed  and  have  a  rough  survey  made  of  the 
drainage  basin.  Although  there  are  numerous  formulas  which  may  be 
applied  to  some  of  the  elements  concerned  in  an  investigation  of  this  kind,  I 
think  I  can  do  no  better  than  follow  the  sense  of  a  paper  on  this  subject  pre- 
sented before  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  by  Mr.  George  Chamier, 
in  1898.  The  elements  which  must  be  taken  into  account  as  a  basis  for  cal- 
culating the  maximum  discharge  are  (1)  drainage  area,  (2)  rainfall,  (3) 


36  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

amount  of  surface  discharge  and  (4)  the  diminution  in  proportionate  flood 
discharge  due  to  area.  Regarding  the  drainage  area  the  form  and  greatest 
length  of  the  catchment  basin  are  all  important,  as  well  as  the  extent,  for 
upon  these  features  depends  the  time  required  for  the  flood  water  to  reach 
the  outlet  from  all  parts  of  the  drainage  basin.  Thus,  with  surrounding 
ridges  of  the  same  elevation,  in  either  case,  the  discharge  of  flood  water 
from  a  circular  basin  takes  place  more  rapidly  than  from  an  oblong  basin, 
for  the  reason  that  the  distances  traversed  by  the  various  streams  are  shorter 
and  the  declivities  greater.  The  general  slope  of  the  ground  over  the 
catchment  area  and  the  outlines  of  the  valley  traversed  by  the  main 
stream  are  also  important,  as  affecting  the  velocities  of  the  streams.  The 
estimation  of  the  time  required  for  the  flood  water  to  reach  the  outlet 
from  the  farthest  point  of  the  basin  calls,  of  course,  for  the  judgment  of  the 
investigator.  The  velocity  of  the  water  increases  as  it  collects  into  well 
defined  channels.  The  time  required  for  rain  water  to  flow  off  the  surface 
into  the  brooks  is  rather  conjectural,  in  any  case,  but  the  rate  of  flow  over 
grassy  surface  may  be  taken  at  -J  mile  per  hour  for  moderate  slopes,  and 
1  mile  per  hour  for  steep  side-hill.  Under  average  conditions  the  velocities 
of  streams  range  from  2  to  4  miles  per  hour,  but  in  mountain  torrents  and 
rapid  rivers  much  higher  velocities  have  to  be  considered.  The  velocity  in 
any  case  can  be  ascertained  approximately  from  the  dimensions  and  inclina- 
tion of  the  channel,  with  some  assumption  as  to  the  probable  volume  of  flow 
at  times  of  flood.  The  reliability  of  all  such  estimates  depends,  of  course, 
upon  the  experience  and  judgment  of  the  calculator. 

As  to  rainfall  it  is  desired  to  know  the  maximum -downpour  during  a 
period  corresponding  to  the  size  of  the  drainage  area — that  is,  for  such  a 
time  as  is  required  for  the  flood  water  to  reach  the  outlet  from  the  farthest 
extremities  of  the  basin.  The  maximum  rate  of  precipitation  occurs  only 
during  short  periods,  of  an  hour,  or  a  few  hours,  at  most,  so  that,  for  the 
smaller  drainage  areas,  for  which  the  duration  of  fall  to  be  considered 
is  necessarily  short,  it  would  be  incorrect  to  estimate  the  maximum  fall 
in  proportion  to  the  maximum  daily  fall.  Thus,  for  instance,  it  is  not  un- 
commonly the  case  that  25  per  cent  of  the  maximum  daily  fall  is  registered 
in  an  hour.  In  order  to  get  at  flood  discharge  it  is,  of  course,  essential  to 
have  some  record  of  the  rainfall  for  the  section  of  country,  and  in  order  to 
anticipate  the  greatest  rainfall  for  short  periods  with  a  reasonable  degree  of 
assurance  it  is  necessary  to  have  approximate  data  as  to  the  diminution  of 
the  rate  of  fall  with  the  duration. 

As  to  surface  discharge,  it  is  known  that,  owing  to  absorption  of  the 
soil,  evaporation  and  percolation  into  subterranean  passages,  only  a  portion 
of  the  rainfall  need  be  taken  into  account.  The  ratio  of  the  water  which 
flows  off  the  surface  (and  finds  its  way  into  streams)  to  the  total  amount 
of  rainfall  is  known  as  the  "coefficient  of  surface  discharge."  For  countries 
where  heavy  rains  are  liable  to  occur  when  the  ground  is  frozen  this 
coefficient  is  usually  assumed  at  f,  while  for  rocky  mountain  slopes  with- 
out fissures,  very  steep  ground,  or  paved  streets  the  assumed  value  may 
exceed  0.80.  As  a  general  rule  the  coefficient  of  surface  discharge  is 
taken  at  some  value  between  J  and  f .  Mr.  Chamier's  estimates  are  as 
follows:  For  flat  country,  sandy  soil  or  cultivated  land  the  coeff.  disch.  is 
faken  at  0.25  to  0.35 ;  for  meadows  and  gentle  declivities,  absorbent  ground, 
0.35  to  0.45;  for  wooded  slopes  and  compact  or  stony  ground,  0.45  to  0.55; 
for  mountainous  and  rocky  country  or  non-absorbent  surfaces,  0.55  to  0.65. 
Tt  is  clear,  of  course,  that  the  maximum  ratio  of  surface  discharge  to  rain- 
fall does  not  obtain  until  the  ground  has  become  thoroughly  saturated. 


CULVERTS  37 

Aside  from  the  diminution  of  the  discharge  due  to  the  above  causes 
there  is  also  a  diminution  due  to  causes  which  act  upon  the  water  after  it 
has  collected  into  streams,  such  as  evaporation,  which  in  hot  climates 
is  great;  and  absoption  by  overflowed  lands  or  by  irrigation;  or  percolation 
through  the  banks.  In  limestone  countries  streams  of  considerable  size 
sometimes  entirely  disappear  into  underground  channels.  And  then  the 
flow  of  some  streams  is  impeded,  and  the  rate  of  discharge  diminished,  by 
obstructions  in  the  form  of  dams  or  accumulations  of  flood  debris,  while 
lakes  and  swamps  are  well  known  regulators  of  flood  discharge.  For 
average  cases  Mr.  Chamier  gives  (4~\/M3)  -j-  M  as  the  ratio  of-  decrease 
•of  flood  discharge  due  to  area,  where  M  denotes  the  area  of  the  drainage 
basin  in  square  miles.  Observation  of,  and  experience  with,  the  condi- 
tions in  particular  localities  would  quite  likely  find  different  powers  of  M 
suitable  to  the  various  conditions  obtaining.  Thus  it  appears  that  in  deter- 
mining upon  the  data  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  the  judgment  of  the 
investigator  is  called  into  service  at  every  step. 

Having  considered  the  various  elements  of  the  problem  in  some  detail 
the  formula  for  flood  discharge  at  the  outlet  follows  by  the  simplest  logical 
process,  being 

Q  =  A  X  R  X  C, 

where  Q  denotes  the  maximum  discharge  in  cubic  feet  per  second;  A, 
the  number  of  acres ;  R,  the  average  rate  of  greatest  rainfall  anticipated,  in 
inches  per  hour,  for  such  duration  as  will  bring  flood  water  to  the  out- 
let from  the  most  distant  point  of  the  drainage  basin ;  and  0,  the  coefficient 
of  surface  discharge.  If  the  drainage  area  exceeds  1  square  mile,  the 
formula  must  include  the  factor  for  diminution  of  discharge  according  to 
area,  and  it  then  becomes 

Q  =  A  X  R  X  G  X  (V  ^3)  +  M; 

or,  substituting  for  A  in  terms  of  square  miles,  the  factor  (A  -f-  M )  disap- 
pears and  we  have 

Q  =  6-40  XRXC  X  V^3 

One  inch  of  rainfall  per  hour  over  a  surface  of  1  acre  is  at  the  rate 
of  1  cu.  ft.  of  water  falling  per  second,  which  is  the  rate  of  discharge, 
supposing  all  the  water  to  flow  off.  Having  ascertained  the  maximum  dis- 
charge to  be  anticipated  at  the  outlet,  the  area  of  the  opening  will  depend, 
of  course,  upon  the  velocity  of  flow,  which  is  frequently  assumed  at  10  ft. 
per  second.  In  the  case  of  moutain  torrents  and  rapid  streams,  where  the 
velocity  exceeds  this  figure,  the  error  is  on  the  safe  side;  and  if  the 
natural  velocity  is  less  than  the  figure  assumed  the  amount  of  head 
necessary  to  produce  a  velocity  equivalent  to  the  difference  is  but  small, 
and  if  the  foundation  of  the  structure  is  secure  against  scour  there  need  be 
no  concern  if  discharge  occurs  under  moderate  pressure. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  calculating  culvert  openings  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  rainfall  is  not  always  the  only  source  of 
flood  water  to  be  taken  into  account.  In  regions  where  snow  accumulates 
or  falls  to  considerable  depth  the  highest  floods  may  occur  when  the  snow 
melts,  as  then  the  flow  of  water  may  be  due  to  heavy  rainfall  and  melting 
snow  combined.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  some  parts  of  the  State  of  Washing- 
ton, on  the  western  slope  of  the  Cascade  mountains,  the  most  troublesome 
freshets  occur  late  in  the  fall,  when  heavy  rains,  accompained  by  a 
"Chinook"  wind,  fall  upon  heavy  accumulations  of  October  snow.  To 
know  the  extent  to  which  melting  snow  contributes  to  the  volume  of  flood 
Wiitcr  requires  special  knowledge  of  the  climatic  conditions  obtaining  in 
particular  sections  of  country,  and  the  matter  is  so  important  that  it 
•should  never  be  lost  sight  of  in  fixing  upon  culvert  areas.  In  building  a 


38  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

road  through  a  wooded  country  waterways  should  be  made  about  double1 
the  size  found  necessary  for  use  at  the  time  they  are  built,  so  as  to- 
allow  for  the  increased  rate  of  drainage  after  forests  are  cleared  away,, 
swamps  drained,  etc. 

Open  Culverts. — Where  the  track  crosses  small  rapid  streams  which 
wash  down  large  quantities  of  drift,  and  the  track  is  close  to  the  bed  of 
the  stream,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  construct  an  open  culvert,  in  order 
that  the  opening  may  be  accessible  for  cleaning  out  when  it  becomes  filled  or 
obstructed.  Formerly  it  was  much  the  practice  to  construct  such  culverts 
by  merely  laying  two  stringers  across  walls  of  masonry  or  heavy  sills,  to 
carry  the  rails.  In  some  sections  such  is  known  as  a  "beam"  culvert. 
Such  openings  in  the  track  are  not  to  be  advised,  as  in  the  case  of  a  derailed 
car  or  truck  running  into  the  same  there  is  certainty  of  wreck  to  the 
train.  Where  an  open  culvert  is  unavoidable  a  standard  bridge  floor 
should  be  built  over  the  opening.  When  it  becomes  necessary  to  clean  out 
out  such  an  opening  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  remove  some  of  the  ties  or 
spread  them  apart.  Another  occasion  for  shallow  openings  under  the- 
track  arises  in  irrigation  districts,  where  the  right  of  way  is  crossed  by 
ditches  or  canals  in  which  the  water  level  is  but  slightly  lower  than  the 
track.  On  the  El  Paso  division  of  the  Southern  Pacific  road  trough 
stringers  have  been  used  for  the  support  of  the  track  rails  over  irrigation 
ditches.  This  stringer  is  formed  by  riveting  two  12-in.  channels  (placed 
back  to  back)  to  a  third  channel  of  same  width  placed  open  side  down- 
ward between  them.  The  rail  rests  upon  4xl2xl2-in.  creosoted  blocks  placed 
in  the  trough,  the  depth  of  which  is  such  as  to  bring  the  top  of  rail  flush 
with  the  top  of  the  stringer.  The  fastening  for  the  rail  consists  of  clips,, 
with  bolts  passing  through  block  and  bottom  channel.  For  15-ft.  spans  the 
sides  of  the  trough  are  formed  of  channels  each  weighing  50  Ibs.  per 
foot,  and  for  12-ft.  spans  the  channels  weigh  30  Ibs.  per  foot;  the  bottom 
channel  used  in  either  case  weighs  30  Ibs.  per  foot.  At  the  ends  the 
stringers  are  anchor-bolted  to  12xl2-in.  caps  with  bearing  plates  1  in.  thick 
between  the  two.  On  the  Pacific  system  of  the  same  road  a  similar  method 
of  support  is  employed  in  crossing  irrigation  ditches,  the  stringer  supporting 
each  rail  in  this  case  consisting  of  two  pieces  of  T-rail  5  ft.  long,  spaced 
just  far  enough  apart  to  permit  the  flange  of  the  track  rail  to  lie  in  the 
opening  between  their  webs.  The  flange  of  the  track  rail  fits  closely  under - 
the  heads  of  the  two  stringer  rails  and  is  supported  upon  bolts  passing 
through  the  webs  of  the  stringer  rails  at  intervals  of  18  ins.  In  some 
places  there  are  as  many  as  three  consecutive  spans  of  these  T-rail  stringers. 

Wooden  Box  Drains. — Box  drains  made  of  plank  of  durable  lumber, 
like  cedar,  are  admissible  for  small  cross  drains  where  the  depth  under 
the  track  is  not  sufficient  for  masonry  or  pipe  culverts.  Such  a  box  may  be 
made  by  spiking  together  four  3xl2-in.  planks,  standing  the  side  planks 
within  the  edges  of  the  bottom  and  cover  planks.  It  should  be  made  15 
or  16  ft.  long  for  single  track  roadbed,  or  long  enough  to  reach  to  the  ditch 
line.  The  ends  may  be  sloped  to  conform  to  the  side  of  the  ditch  or  slope 
of  the  shoulder.  When  placed  between  the  ties  such  boxes  are  usually  left 
open  on  top,  the  sides  being  held  apart  by  flat  strips  nailed  across  the  top 
edges.  If  there  is  much  fall  in  the  water  directly  upon  leaving  the  box 
the  ground  should  be  paved  with  stones  for  a  safe  distance,  or,  if  the  quan- 
tity of  water  amounts  to  nothing  more  than  a  trickling  stream,  as  from  a 
permanent  spring,  it  may  be  conducted  away  by  a  V-shaped  trough  made  by 
nailing  together  two  Ix6-in.  boards.  Where  one  box  of  this  kind  is  not 
large  enough  to  carry  all  the  water  which  may  come  at  times,  and  the- 
track  is  not  high  enough  above  the  stream  to  admit  of  a  deeper  closed  cul- 


CULVERTS  39 

vert,  a  partitioned  box  may  be  used,  spacing  the  partition  planks,  say,  12 
or  15  ins.  apart,  the  number  of  partitions  made  depending  upon  the  width 
of  opening  desired.  In  this  case  the  bottom  and  cover  planks  should  be 
spiked  on  crosswise  the  box.  All  such  small  passageways  should  be  at 
least  6  ins.  below  the  bottoms  of  the  ties.  The  use  of  a  box  drain  is  superior 
to  the  practice  of  leading  small  streams  or  springs  under  the  track  by  an 
open  ditch  and  placing  the  track  upon  stringers  thrown  across  the  ditch. 
These  stringers  will  continually  settle  and  give  trouble.  For  unimportant 
side-tracks  such  a  makeshift  may  answer  well  enough,  using  ordinary  8-ft. 
ties  for  stringers.  To  prevent  the  track  ties  from  slewing  out  of  their  proper 
positions  they  may  be  drift-bolted  to  the  stringers,  or  cleats  may~be  nailed 
to  the  stringers  between  the  ties*,  or  a  board  may  be  laid  outside  each  rail, 
parallel  to  the  same,  and  nailed  to  the  ties.  A  substitute  for  a  box  drain 
is  sometimes  made  by  building  a  walled  trench  about  12  ins.  wide  in  the 
clear  and  paved  on  the  bottom.  The  trench  opening  comes  in  the  space 
between  two  ties,  and,  being  open,  can  readily  be  cleaned  out  when  clogged 
with  mud  or  ice.  To  prevent  people  from  stepping  into  such  openings 
in  the  dark  they  should  be  provided  with  a  removable  plank  cover. 

Along  side-hill  cuts  it  is  a  good  plan  to  carry  springs  (where  there  are 
but  a  few  of  them  some  distance  apart)  directly  across  the  track  at  the 
point  where  each  comes  out,  instead  of  allowing  two  or  more  to  flow  together 
before  leading  them  across.  In  long  through  cuts  where  the  track  is 
curved  and  water  runs  continually,  it  should  be  carried  under  the  track  from 
the  ditch  on  the  outside  of  the  curve  to  the  ditch  on  the  inside  of  the  curve, 
at  frequent  intervals,  so  that  it  may  run  against  the  bank ;  if  it  was  to  run 
altogether  in  the  ditch  on  the  outside  of  the  curve  it  might  cut  into 
the  roadbed  or  into  the  ballast  on  the  shoulder. 

Timber  Culverts. — In  districts  where  timber  has  been  plentiful  it 
has  been  used  in  culverts  a  great  deal,  especially  where  difficulties  have 
stood  in  the  way  of  delivering  permanent  materials  at  the  site  of.  the 
culvert  in  time  for  the  graders.  In  timber  countries  such  culverts  can  be 
quickly  and  cheaply  built,  and  under  certain  circumstances  such  construc- 
tion is  undoubtedly  economical.  As  most  kinds  of  wood  placed  in  the 
ground  will  rot  out  in  8  or  10  years  the  larger  number  of  timber  culverts 
have  been  built  only  with  the  idea  of  temporary  construction.  In  such  cases 
it  is  intended  to  make  ample  allowance  in  size  for  reconstructing  the  culvert 
at  some  future  time  with  durable  materials,  as  of  masonry  or  pipe,  placing 
the  new  structure  inside  the  old  one  without  disturbing  the  embankment, 
which,  during  the  life  of  the  wooden  culvert,  should  become  well  settled. 
Where  durable  timber,  such  as  cedar,  is  obtainable,  however,  wooden  culverts 
are  sometimes  built  with  a  view  to  permanency.  On  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Ey.  cedar  timber  is  used  in  small  culverts  quite  extensively  and  in  the  west- 
ern parts  of  Washington  and  Oregon,  where  such  timber  is  abundant,  it  is 
largely  used  for  railway  culverts.  The  estimated  life  of  such  timber  is  150 
to  200  years,  as  determined  by  the  fact  that  almost  everywhere  in  the 
cedar  forests  trees  may  be  found  lying  in  the  ground  partially  or  wholly 
covered,  in  perfectly  sound  condition,  with  other  trees  growing  on  top  of 
them  as  old  as  the  age  stated.  Some  consider  that  timber  of  this  quality 
will  outlast  many  kinds  of  stone,  where  the  masonry  is  exposed  to  mois- 
ture and  freezing.  On  the  Southern  Pacific  road  timber  barrel  culverts 
built  of  creosoted  staves  are  used  to  some  extent.  The  material  for  the 
culvert,  including  the  portals,  is  cut  according  to  plan  before  creosoting. 
Culverts  of  this  material  are  built  in  sizes  of  24  ins.,  36  ins.,  48  ins., 
66  ins.  and  72  ins.  diameter,  the  cost,  for  material  and  labor,  not  including 
the  portals,  ranging  from  $1.06  to  $4.90  per  lineal  foot  of  pipe.  There 


40  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

are  also  some  locations  where  timber  culverts  are  applicable  to  better  sat- 
isfaction than  others,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  suitable  founda- 
tions. Such  is  the  case  on  marshy  ground,  where,  in  considerable  depth  of 
peat,  the  cost  for  masonry  foundations  would  be  heavy.  Furthermore,  peat 
is  said  to  have  a  preserving  effect  on  timber,  while  in  some  cases  bog  water 
has  been  found  to  act  injuriously  on  cement  and  concrete. 

Timber  culverts  of  large  size,  or  when  placed  under  high  embankments, 
are  usually  built  on  a  flooring  of  6x8-in.  or  6xl2-in.  timbers  laid  on  flat, 
and  in  contact,  crosswise  the  channel.  These  floor  timbers  usually  project 
some  distance  beyond  the  sides  of  the  culvert — all  the  more  so  if  the  foun- 
dation is  soft  or  yielding.  The  side  walls  or  partitions  (if  any)  are  formed 
of  8x8-in.,  10xl6-in.  or  12xl2-in.  timbers -laid  on  top  of  one  another  and 
drift-bolted  together  and  to  the  floor.  In  some  cases  the  floor  timbers  are 
gained  out  for  the  side-wall  timbers  about  1  in.,  forming  a  shoulder  to 
prevent  the  side  wall  from  being  crowded  in  by  earth  pressure.  The  thick- 
ness of  the  cover  timbers  may  vary  from  6  ins.,  under  the  outer  portions 
of  the  slope,  where  the  depth  of  filling  is  shallow,  to  8  ins.  farther  in,  and 
to  10  or  12  ins.  under  the  central  part  of  the  embankment,  where  the  fill- 
ing is  deepest.  Of  course  the  span  and  depth  of  filling  has  all  to  do  with 
the  thickness  of  the  cover  timbers,  which  are  laid  crosswise  the  culvert,  with 
every  fourth,  fifth,  or  sixth  piece  notched  2  ins.  over  the  side  timbers  to 
take  the  thrust  of  the  side  walls.  The  span  of  opening  in  timber  culverts 
usually  ranges  from  3  to  6  ft.,  partitions  being  used  if  a  single  opening  of 
the  larger  dimension  does  not  afford  sufficient  area.  Old  bridge  timbers  are 
riot  infrequently  utilized  in  culverts  of  the  kind  here  considered,  and  what 
are  known  as  "bridge-tie"  box  culverts  are  sometimes  built  of  new  tim- 
ber. Such  are  constructed  of  6x8-in.  bridge  ties  laid  on  flat  in  the  floor 
and  walls,  and  edgewise  in  the  covering.  On  the  Tennessee  Central  Ry  cul- 
verts are  constructed  of  oak  timber,  the  largest  openings  so  built  _being 
4  ft.  wide  and  5  ft.  high.  The  sub-sills  are  10x1 2-in.  timbers  laid  flat  and 
the  side  walls  are  12x1 2-in.  timbers  drift-bolted  together  and  stepped  off 
on  the  faces.  The  floor  is  laid  with  2-in.  oak  plank  and  the  covering  of  the 
culvert  consists  of  8xl2-in.  timbers  laid  flat,  or  12xl2-in.  timbers,  varying 
with  the  hight  of  the  embankment. 

An  interesting  application  of  the  scheme  of  building  a  wooden  culvert 
to  be  reinforced  later  with  more  durable  material  inside  is  to  be  found  on 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  By.,  where  a  heavy  timber  barrel  culvert 
is  first  constructed,  and  after  the  embankment  has  settled  the  barrel  is  lined 
with  brick.  These  culverts,  which  are  made  as  large  as  6  and  8  ft.  in 
diameter,  are  built  of  staves  10  or  12  ins.  thick,  according  to  the  size  of 
the  structure,  and  8  ins.  wide  at  the  outer  circumference.  The  staves  are 
drift-bolted  together  and  formed  over  heavy  rings  made  of  old  rails,  spaced 
10  ft.  apart.  These  rings  remain  in  the  culvert,  and  to  prevent  distortion 
of  the  barrel  where  the  pressure  of  overlying  material  is  excessive  it  is 
propped  with  heavy  posts,  and  cross  bolts  are  placed  to  prevent  bulging  at 
the  side.  After  the  embankment  has  ceased  to  settle  the  barrel  is  lined  with 
a  single  ring  of  brick  placed  edgewise  and  faced  with  a  layer  of  cement  mor- 
tar, and  parapet  walls  of  stone  masonry  are  built. 

Stone  Box  Culverts. — Masonry  culverts  of  suitable  weathering  stone, 
if  properly  built,  are  very  durable,  and  in  localities  where  such  material 
is  obtainable  within  convenient  distance  it  is  frequently  selected  for  per- 
manent work.  The  side  walls  of  stone  box  culverts  are  usually  laid  with 
rubble  stone,  and  preferably  in  cement  mortar,  so  as  to  provide  for  discharge 
under  head.  Water  discharging  under  head  through  a  dry  stone  box  will 
be  forced  behind  the  walls,  gradually  carry  out  the  back  filling  and 


CULVERTS  41 

eventually  cause  a  washout.  Sand  in  embankments  will  also  find  its 
Avay  through  the  openings  in  such  culverts,  leaving  cavities  which  will  cause 
the  roadbed  to  settle  or  lead  to  a  washout  should  the  culvert  become 
surcharged.  Right  in  this  connection  attention  should  be  called  to  the 
importance  of  filling  over  and  around  the  culvert  with  material  which 
will  become  compact  and  form  a  barrier  against  filtration  through  the 
bank.  If  the  space  about  a  culvert  is  filled  in  with  loose  stones  and  the 
water  becomes  dammed,  part  of  the  flow  will  take  place  outside  the  culvert 
opening,  and  where  the  loose  stones  meet  the  earth  filling  the  water  will 
cut  a  hole  for  itself  and  cause  a  washout.  Some  remarks  contained  in  a 
letter  from  Col.  E.  T.  D.  Myers  to  a  committee  of  the  Association  of  Rail- 
way Superintendents  of  Bridges  and  Buildings,'  in  1897,  bearing  on  this 
matter,  are  to  the  point.  He  says,  in  part : 

"I  am  persuaded  that  it  is  rather  in  the  superior  construction,  the  infin- 
ite painstaking  to  insure  the  safety  of  a  culvert  when  it  ceases  to  be  a  mere 
covered  channel  and  becomes  a  pipe  discharging  under  pressure.  When  this 
takes  place  the  ordinary  culvert  is  too  apt  to  fail  to  do  its  duty.  Between  the 
hastily  constructed  dry  stone  box  and  the  thoroughly-built  concrete,  brick,  or 
stone  culvert  there  is  room  for  a  legion  of  catastrophes.  .  .  .'  .  I  am 
of  the  opinion  that  it  is  more  often  the  crude  method  of  construction  than 
the  underestimation  of  the  area  of  the  waterway  that  gives  us  trouble  on  the 
railroads.  When  a  railway  embankment  is  called  upon  to  act  as  a  dam,  as  it 
may  be  in  great  floods,  it  should  possess  the  qualities  of  a  dam,  and  the  outlet 
from  the  piled-up  waters  above  it  should  possess  the  same  integrity  as  the 
drainage  culvert  of  a  reservoir.  Its  foundation  should  be  as  secure,  its 
masonry  as  impervious,  the  embankment  immediately  surrounding  it  as  free 
of  voids,  the  inlets  and  outlets  as  carefully  protected  from  abrasion." 

Whatever  the  size  of  opening  required  the  culvert  should,  if  the  depth 
of  filling  will  admit,  be  made  high  enough  to  permit  a  man  to  walk  through 
it — say  4  ft.,  if  possible,  although  a  less  hight  will  answer.  On  some  roads 
the  minimum  size  of  masonry  box  culverts  is  limited  to  convenient  propor- 
tions, as  on  the  Northern  Pacific  Ry.,  where  the  smallest  opening  allowed  is 
9  sq.  ft.  clear  of  all  obstructions,  the  hight  of  the  opening  never  being  less 
than  the  width.  In  other  cases  it  is  considered  that  nothing  is  saved  in 
making  stone  box  culverts  smaller  than  3  ft.  square,  for  streams  however 
small.  As  to  width,  the  natural  channel  of  sluggish  streams  may  be  con- 
tracted to  some  extent,  where  ordinary  conditions  prevail,  but  in  building 
over  rapid  streams  or  ravines  it  is  not  safe  to  encroach  upon  the  natural 
width  of  the  stream  as  indicated  by  the  channel  which  it  has  cut  for  itself. 
The  hight  of  the  culvert  floor  relatively  to  the  surrounding  surface  is 
important.  In  the  case  of  a  well  defined  stream  it  is  of  course  necessary 
to  go  at  least  as  deep  as  the  bed  of  the  stream,  in  order  to  secure  a  suit- 
able foundation,  but  in  any  case  the  culvert  should  be  low  enough  to  drain 
low-lying  land  without  backing  the  water,  particularly  where  the  land  is 
under  cultivation.  But  unless  the  land  falls  away  immediately  from  the 
outlet  the  culvert  floor  should  not  be  lower  than  this.  Submerged  culverts 
are  unsafe,  as,  sooner  or  later,  they  are  almost  sure  to  silt  up  and  become 
reduced  in  effective  area  if  not  completely  obstructed.  If  a  channel  be  cut 
from  the  outlet  deep  enough  to  drain  the  culvert  floor  the  culvert  may 
be  placed  lower  than  the  situation  would  otherwise  permit. 

The  foundation  work  of  culverts  signifies  all  that  the  term  implies 
in  connection  with  other  structures  of  permanent  character.  On  a  solid 
substratum,  such  as  rock,  hardpan,  gravel  or  firm  clay,  the  matter  is  easily 
decided  upon,  as  then  it  is  only  necessary  to  prepare  a  smooth  bed  for  the 
footing  courses.  On  yielding  ground  some  additional  means  of  support 


42  TKACK  FOUNDATION 

should  be  resorted  to.  This  may  consist  of  a  timber  platform  or  grillage,. 
to  distribute  the  weight  of  the  walls  over  more  surface  than  would  he-- 
possible with  the  footing  courses ;  or  it  may  consist  of  a  bed  of  concrete ; 
or  a  brick  or  concrete  invert;  or,  if  the  ground  is  yielding  to  an  unusual 
degree,  it  may  consist  of  piling  overlaid  with  a  timber  platform  or  bed  of 
concrete.  The  use  of  timber  is  not  advisable  unless  the  foundation  is- 
continually  submerged.  For  light  walls  the  timber  foundation  may  consist 
of  a  simple  flooring  of  timbers  laid  in  contact,  crosswise  the  direction  of 
the  walls,  but  for  heavy  work  a  framework  of  crossed  courses  is  usually 
required.  Old  bridge  timbers,  ties,  floor  beams  or  stringers  still  in  fairly 
sound  condition  answer  for  such  work  just  as  well  as  new  timber.  On 
firm  ground  concrete  is  much  used  in  footing  courses,  and  on  yielding- 
ground  it  is  used  in  beds  or  in  the  form  of  an  invert.  Except  in  rock  or 
hardpan  the  excavation  for  culvert  foundations  should  extend  at  least  & 
ft.  below  the  surface.  It  is  a  common  fault  with  culverts  that  the  side 
walls  do  not  extend  deeply  enough  into  the  ground,  the  result  of  which  is- 
that  in  freezing  climates  the  frost  heaves  them  up  at  the  ends. 

The  original  and  most  common  covering  for  stone  box  culverts  is  large 
flat  stones.  In  practice  the  thickness  of  cover  stones  is  independent  of 
the  hight  of  embankment,  being  about  12  ins.  for  openings  of  3-ft.  span, 
15  ins.  for  4-ft.  spans  and  2  ft.  for  6-ft.  spans,  which  is  about  the  widest 
clear  opening  under  stone  covering  in  general  practice,  although  in  excep- 
tional cases  there  are  openings  as  wide  as  8,  and  even  10,  ft.  covered  in. 
this  manner.  It  is  usually  required  that  cover  stones  shall  have  a  bear- 
ing upon  the  side  walls  of  at  least  12  to  15  ins.  and  be  laid  to  close  joints^ 
which  should  be  filled  and  spread  over  with  cement  mortar,  to  form  a 
tight  covering,  lest  the  filling  material  might  become  softened  and  ooze  out 
through  the  openings  should  the  culvert  discharge  under  head. 

Late  years  old  rails,  laid  across  the  opening  and  covered  with  concrete,, 
have  been  much  used  for  culvert  covering,  as  on  most  roads  the  material  is- 
conveniently  available  and  such  a  covering  gives  the  maximum  permissible 
headroom  under  a  shallow  embankment.  Another  advantage  is  that  in. 
case  of  an  unstable  foundation  the  rail  top  adjusts  itself  better  to  settlement 
of  the  walls  than  is  the  case  with  stone  covering  or  arches.  The  rail 
top  is  proportioned  somewhat  roughly  to  the  load  or  amount  of  filling- 
material  supported.  This  may  be  done  in  one  way  by  spacing  the  rails,  lay- 
ing them  close  together,  with  the  flanges  touching,  under  the  central  portion 
of  the  embankment,  and  spreading  them  apart  under  the  sloping  parts  of  the- 
embankment.  For  heavy  loads  the  rails  may  be  laid  in  a  double  course 
by  inverting  the  top  rails  so  that  their  heads  hang  downward  between  the 
rails  of  the  lower  course,  which  stand  workwise.  Over  long-span  openings 
it  is  customary  to  reinforce  the  rails  with  two  or  more  I-beams  of  good 
strength  laid  among  the  rails  directly  under  the  track,  old  bridge  girders 
or  floor  beams  being  suitable  for  such  purpose.  Openings  up  to  12  ft.  and 
sometimes  14  ft.  clear  span  are  covered  in  this  manner,  while  rails  alone, 
laid  in  a  single  course,  are  considered  sufficiently  strong  for  openings  up  to 
8  ft.  span.  For  spans  longer  than  12  ft.  two  openings  may  be  used  with 
a  common  pier  between  them.  On  the  Portland  &  Eumford  Falls  Ey.  four- 
pairs  of  rails  riveted  together  base  to  base,  to  form  girders,  are  placed  under 
each  track  rail  to  strengthen  the  covering  for  openings  of  10-ft.  span.  Kails 
under  the  shallower  parts  of  the  embankment  are  usually  spaced  6  to  1£ 
ins.  apart,  according  to  the  span  of  the  opening,  and  the  intervening  spaces 
are  planked  or  set  with  paving  brick  placed  side  by  side  upon  the  flanges- 
of  the  rails  (endwise  between  the  webs)  to  form  a  bottom  for  the  concrete 
before  it  has  set.  The  rails  usually  extend  12  to  18  ins.  over  the  culvert 


CULVERTS  43' 

walls,  according  to  the  span.  To  protect  the  rails  from  rust  they  are  usually 
given  a  coating  of  hot  coal  tar  and  filled  in  between  the  heads  and  over  the- 
tops  with  cement  mortar,  which  is  then  covered  with  concrete.  On  the  Chi- 
cago, Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey.  rail  tops  for  culverts  are  laid  in  6-ft.  sec- 
tions, separate  from  the  walls,  so  that  if  it  should  become  necessary  to- 
remove  the  same  in  places  it  can  be  done  without  badly  breaking  up  the 
culvert.  The  concrete  covering  for  rail-top  culverts  is  mad 3  4  to  1.8  ins. 
thick  above  the  tops  of  the  rails,  according  to  the  culvert  span  and  hight 
of  fill,  and  to  provide  for  drainage  the  top  surface  is  sloped  either  way  from 
the  center  of  the  embankment.  This  increase  in  thickness  of  cover  from 
the  ends  of  the  culvert  toward  the  middle  also  accords  with  the  increase 
of  pressure  from  the  embankment  and  provides  some  margin  against  a  dished' 
top  in  case  of  excessive  settlement  under  the  central  portion  of  the  embank- 
ment. Weep  holes  are  somtimes  left  to  permit  the  escape  of  such  water  as 
may  collect.  Where  the  grade  of  a  culvert  is  very  steep,  as  on  a  rock  slope, 
the  covering  of  the  culvert,  instead  of  being  laid  parallel  with  the  floor, 
may  be  stepped,  so  as  to  better  retain  the  filling  on  top.  At  the  ends  of" 
the  culvert  an  I-beam,  channel  iron,  stone  or  concrete  parapet  is  placed 
upon  the  rails  to  retain  the  foot  of  the  embankment;  slope.  This  parapet  is 
backed  up  by  the  top  step  or  top  course  of  the  wing  wall,  the  first  stone  of 
which  is  doweled  to  the  wall  underneath  to  resist  the  pressure  of  the  em- 
bank against  the  parapet. 

On  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  R.  R.  rail  tops  are  used  on 
concrete  or  masonry  culvert  walls  for  spans  of  4  to  14  ft.,  the  larger  open- 
ings that  are  covered  in  this  way  being  under  the  higher  banks.  Old  rails  in 
weights  of  60  to  100  Ibs.  per  yd.,  according  to  the  length  of  span,  are  used, 
being  first  thoroughly  cleaned  and  then  painted  with  a  coat  of  red  lead, 
and  oil  and  a  second  coat  of  bridge  paint.  The  rails  are  set  workwise, 
close  together,  and  under  each  track  rail  the  cover  is  reinforced  with  six 
inverted  rails  with  the  heads  matched  in  between  those  of  the  bottom  laj^er. 
The  spaces  between  the  rails  are  then  filled  with  concrete  made  of  finely 
broken  stone  or  gravel,  deposited  in  a  layer  1^  ins.  higher  than  the  tops  of " 
the  rails  at  the  center  and  -J  in.  higher  at  the  sides.  The  concrete  layer- 
is  covered  with  a  J-in  coating  of  American  straight  run  coal  tar  pitch.  The 
edges  of  the  covering  are  finished  with  a  concrete  curb  2  ft.  wide  and  1  ft. 
thick,  and  in  shallow  banks  the  space  above  the  culvert,  as  far  as  sub- 
grade,  is  filled  in  with  gravel. 

For  spans  of  16  and  21  ft.  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  Ry.  has  used  a  covering  that  is  known  as  "concrete  girder"  con- 
struction. It  consists  of  two  layers  of  old  rails  embedded  as  a  reinforce- 
ment to  a  thick  bed  of  concrete,  one  layer  of  rails  being  near  the  bottom 
and  the  other  near  the  top.  For  a  clear  span  of  16  ft.  the  covering  is  2  ft., 
thick,  and  the  two  layers  of  rails  are  molded  in  2  ins.  from  the  bottom 
and  top,  the  top  layer  standing  workwise  and  the  bottom  layer  inverted. 
Under  the  tracks  the  rails  in  each  layer  are  spaced  9  ins.  centers,  but 
between  this  and  the  parapets  the  spacing  increases  to  11|  ins.  and  17  ins. 
To  give  the  rails  holding  power  in  the  concrete  J-in.  dowels  8  ins.  long 
were  inserted  in  holes  drilled  in  the  rails  12  ins.  apart.  In  the  construc- 
tion of  a  covering  for  a  double-track  structure,  70  rails  of  60-lb.  section,  20J 
ft.  long,  were  used.  For  a  double-track  structure  of  21  ft.  clear  span, 
a  composite  steel  and  concrete  covering  2-J  ft.  thick  is  used.  Under  the 
tracks  the  rails  are  spaced  at  9  ins.  centers,  as  in  the  design  for  the  16-ft. 
span,  but  outside  the  tracks  the  spacing  increases  to  11^  ins.,  17  ins.,  and 
18  ins.,  centers.  The  rails  in  this  case  are  25  ft.  long.  These  concrete- 
steel  coverings,  which  have  been  applied  to  culvert  or  bridge  openings  on 


44  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

the  St.  Louis  division,  were  constructed  at  the  side  of  the  track  and  rolled 
into  place  afterwards.  These  side  walls  are  of  concrete. 

Under  deep  embankments  the  walls  of  culverts  may  be  proportioned 
to  the  load,  with  some  economy  of  masonry,  the  thickness  being  gradually 
increased  from  the  ends,  where  the  load  vanishes,  to  a  maximum  under  the 
•central  portion,  where  the  load  is  greatest.  Means  must  also  be  provided 
to  prevent  the  walls  of  culverts  from  being  forced  in  by  the  pressure 
•of  the  earth  filling.  On  rock  foundation  the  bottom  of  the  wall  may  be 
secured  by  doweling,  and  in  the  case  of  other  foundations  the  paving  acts 
as  a  strut  to  prevent  crowding  of  the  walls  at  the  bottom.  It  is  cus- 
tomary, however,  to  build  cross  walls  or  concrete  struts  between  the  foot- 
ings, at  intervals,  to  resist  the  side  thrust  against  the  walls.  To  secure 
the  walls  at  the  top  it  is  usual  to  abut  the  rail  top  or  stone  covering  against 
-a  shoulder  on  the  top  face  of  each  wall. 

In  building  culverts  where  the  ground  freezes  to  good  depth  in  winter 
some  attention  should  be  directed  to  the  conditions  influenced  by  the  qual- 
ity of  filling  material  over  the  top  of  the  culvert.  If  this  filling  is  shallow 
it  will  freeze  deeper  or  harder  than  other  parts  of  the  embankment,  being 
•exposed  both  top  and  bottom.  In  such  cases  the  filling  directly  over  the 
culvert  should  be  made  with  broken  stone,  coarse  gravel,  slag  or  other 
material  which  does  not  heave  when  frozen.  The  range  of  depth  to  which 
the  necessity  for  such  filling  material  applies  depends,  of  course,  upon  the 
severity  of  the  winters,  or  upon  the  thickness  of  material  that  will  be  frozen 
entirely  through,  from  top  to  bottom.  Then,  too,  when  not  deeply  covered 
up  the  culvert  itself  is  liable  to  be  disturbed  by  the  action  of  the  frost, 
if  the  filling  material  is  retentive  of  moisture.  Owing  to  the  action  of 
frost  and  the  jarring  effect  of  trains  it  is  desirable,  at  least  with  large 
culverts,  to  have  a  good  depth  of  filling  over  the  top.  It  is  sometimes 
necessary,  however,  to  make  it  as  shallow  as  1J  or  2  ft.  Where  the  available 
headroom  under  the  track  is  not  sufficient  for  a  single  opening  of  the 
required  area  and  of  desired  proportions  the  requirements  may  usually  be 
fulfilled  in  the  construction  of  a  wider  culvert  of  less  hight,  by  partition- 
ing. In  such  event  the  movement  of  ice  and  flood  trash  and  the  matter 
of  protecting  the  culvert  against  the  same  may  have  to  be  taken  into 
account. 

End  Construction,  Paving  etc. — Culverts  without  end  walls  should 
extend  from  toe  to  toe  of  the  embankment  slopes.  It  improves  the  general 
appearance  of  things  to  have  the  end  construction  conform  to  the  slope  of 
the  embankment.  In  the  case  of  box  culverts,  of  either  timber  or  masonry, 
or  arch  culverts  of  short  span,  this  is  usually  done  by  stepping  the  side 
walls  beyond  the  parapet,  which  is  placed  about  where  the  top  of  the 
culvert  meets  the  embankment  slope.  With  masonry  culverts  the  walls 
are  not  usually  stepped  lower  than  3  ft.  above  the  floor,  at  the*  end.  The 
stepped  portion  of  the  wall  should  be  coped  with  stones  of  good  size,  each 
step  being  formed  by  a  single  stone  (Fig.  7  C),  block  rubble  or  roughly 
dressed  stones  being  used  for  rubble  masonry.  Such  end  construction  leaves 
the  walls  in  convenient  shape  for  the  extension  of  the  culvert  should  occa- 
sion arise  in  double-tracking  the  road  or  in  the  construction  of  side-track. 
In  rare  instances  the  sloping  of  stone  culvert  walls  beyond  the  parapet  is 
-done  by  laying  the  coping  stones  to  the  slope  of  the  wall  (Fig.  11)  instead 
-of  stepping  them,  while  with  concrete  walls  the  sloped  coping  is  found 
more  frequently  than  the  stepped  coping.  To  increase  the  capacity  of  a 
-culvert  built  with  straight  side  walls  from  end  to  end,  as  presently  con- 
sidered, the  face  of  the  wall  is  sometimes  splayed  by  gradually  decreasing 
the  thickness  of  that  portion  of  the  wall  lying  between  the  parapet  and  the 


CULVERTS  45 

end  of  the  culvert,  the  wall  remaining  straight  on  the  back  side.  Where 
drift  is  bothersome  stepped  culvert  walls  which  run  straight  beyond  the 
parapet  are  not  considered  as  safe  as  walls  carried  to  full  bight  all  the  way 
to  the  end,  for  the  reason  that,  should  the  opening  become  clogged  the  full 
hight  at  the  end  of  the  wall  the  water  may  still  pour  into  the  culvert  through 
the  open  top  between  the  parapet  and  the  end  of  the  wall. 

Culverts  built  to  carry  streams  which  overflow  their  banks  at  times 
-should  be  provided  with  end  walls  to  protect  the  embankment  from  scour 
by  the  currents  which  converge  to  the  opening.  End  walls  for  culverts  are 
of  two  kinds:  head  walls,  which  stand  at  a  right  angle  to  the  axis  of  the 
culvert  (Fig.  12)  ;  and  wing  walls,  which  stand  at  an  oblique  -angle  to 
said  axis — 15  to  45  deg.,  but  usually  about  30  deg.  (Fig.  8).  In  either  case 
the  end  wall  usually  serves  to  retain  the  embankment,  as  it  usually  stands 
on  or  starts  from  the  meeting  line  between  the  top  of  the  culvert  and  the 
embankment  slope  (or  some  little  distance  back  of  such  a  meeting  line,  de- 
pending upon  the  hight  of  the  parapet).  The  coping  of  the  wing  wall  is 
usually  stepped  to  conform  to  the  embankment  slope.  All  coping  stones 
should  extend  the  full  width  of  the  wall.  The  earth  which  slopes  past 
or  around  the  flanks  of  a  head  wall  is  usually  retained  and  protected  by 
hand-placed  riprap.  To  prevent  undermining,  head  and  wing  walls  should 
be  carried  down  to  good  depth.  For  large  culverts  such  walls  usually  stand 
at  a  batter. 

The  junction  between  a  wing  wall  and  the  body  of  a  culvert  should 
'be  on  line  with  the  face  of  the  side  wall;  that  is,  at  the  point  where  the 
side  wall  of  the  culvert  joins  the  wing  wall  there  should  be  no  re-entrant 
angle  or  projection  of  the  side  wall  into  the  splayed  opening  between  the 
wing  walls,  such  as  occurs  in  Fig.  8.  The  projecting  corners  or  shoulders 
impede  the  flow  of  water  at  the  entrance  between  the  side  walls,  thereby 
diminishing  the  discharging  capacity  of  the  culvert,  other  condi- 
tions remaining  the  same,  and  they  also  form  lodging  places  .  for 
drift  material.  A  plank  or  stick  of  timber  floating  against  such 
a  projection  will  swing  around  with  the  current  and,  if  it  be  longer  than 
the  width  of  the  culvert  opening,  will  meet  the  opposite  wall  and 
become  lodged  across  the  channel  and  held  there  with  great  force 
by  the  pressure  of  the  current.  Danger  of  obstruction  in  this  manner  is 
greater  with  small  culverts  than  with  large  ones,  but  such  construction  is 
inadvisable  in  any  case,  because  the  extra  corners  increase  the  cost  of 
the  masonry.  One  way  of  avoiding  this  projection  is  to  build  the  side 
walls  of  the  culvert  to  a  batter,  as  in  Figs.  8  A  and  12  A.  To  avoid  such 
projections  with  battered  wing  walls  and  plumb  side  walls  it  is  necessary 
to  set  the  wing  wall  inward  far  enough  to  bring  it  flush  with  the  face 
of  the  side  wall  at  the  top  of  the  culvert  or  springing  line  of  the  arch,  and 
then  form  to  a  vertical  face,  on  line  with  the  side  wall,  that  portion  of  the 
wing  wall  corner  which  would  otherwise  project  into  the  waterway.  For 
rapid  streams  of  considerable  volume  wing  walls  are  preferable  to  a  head 
wall,  on  the  up-stream  end,  as  they  increase  the  discharging  capacity  of  the 
opening  and  facilitate  the  passage  of  drift  material.  The  intermediate 
walls  of  partitioned  culverts  should  be  pointed  or  formed  into  a  cutwater  on 
the  up-stream  end  to  split  the  current  and  increase  the  flow  at  the  entrance. 
On  the  down-stream  end  flared  walls  are  not  usually  necessary. 

The  floor  of  a  culvert  should,  if  practicable,  be  laid  to  a  grade,  a  fall 
of  at  least  3  or  4  ins.  per  rod  being  desirable.  The  grade  actually  required 
is  something  more  than  the  average  fall  of  the  stream  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  culvert.  If  this  is  exceeded  the  increased  velocity  of  the  stream  through 
the  culvert  will  keep  it  clear  of  sediment  and  increase  the  discharging 


46  TKACK  FOUNDATION 

capacity.  In  deeply  covered  culverts  the  grade  should  be  increased  over'  the 
lower  third  of  the  length  so  as  to  drain  the  middle  portion  in  case  the  cul- 
vert sags,  which  is  quite  liable  to  happen,  owing  to  the  preponderance  of 
earth  pressure  over  the  middle  portion.  This  arrangement,  in  effect,  gives 
the  culvert  a  camber,  with  down  grade  all  the  way.  If  the  culvert  stands 
level  it  should  be  cambered  a  few  inches  to  allow  for  sagging.  Should  set- 
tlement at  the  middle  not  take  place  to  the  extent  anticipated,  the 
camber  that  remains  will  do  no  harm,  as  it  will  only  run  the  water  to 
the  ends  in  case  the  culvert  goes  dry,  and  possibly  cause  the  culvert  to 
silt  up  a  little  at  the  upper  end,  which  is  not  so  objectionable  as  to  have 
the  culvert  sag  and  silt  up  nearly  its  whole  length,  and  deepest  at  the 
middle.  The  sagging  of  culverts  sometimes  stretches  the  walls  apart,  but 
where  the  walls  are  cambered  this  is  not  liable  to  happen  unless  the 
settlement  exceeds  the  amount  of  cambering  put  in.  In  order  to  prevent 
parting  of  the  walls  in  this  manner,  in  culverts  where  unusual  settlement  is 
-anticipated,  resort  is  sometimes  had  to  means  for  tying  the  walls  together 
longitudinally.  For  this  purpose  old  bridge  rods,  old  chain,  or  old  rails 
with  drift  bolts  through  the  bolt  holes,  have  been  embedded  in  the  concrete 
footings  for  the  walls. 

Culvert  bottoms  are  sometimes  paved  with  flagstones,  but  more  fre- 
quently with  rubble  stones  set  on  edge  crosswise  the  culvert.  Such  paving 
-should  be  at  least  12  ins.  deep  and,  for  security,  the  interstices  should  be 
grouted  with  cement  mortar.  A  bed  of  concrete  6  to  12  ins.  thick  is  also 
-commonly  used  for  culvert  paving.  Where  timber  grillage  is  used,  as 
in  submerged  foundations  (Fig.  8),  it  usually  answers  for  the  culvert  floor 
without  paving.  Where  stone  paving  is  used  it  should  be  laid  between  the 
side  walls,  and  not  as  a  foundation  for  them,  as  in  the  latter  case  the  walls 
are  easily  undermined  if  the  paving  becomes  washed  out.  A  very  secure 
way  of  paving  a  culvert,  sometimes  resorted  to  where  the  current  is  strong, 
is  to  build  masonry  cross  walls  into  the  side  walls,  6  to  10. ft.  apart  through- 
out the  length  of  the  culvert,  These  cross  walls  extend  from  the  founda- 
tion up  to  the  floor  level  and  the  paving  is  set  in  between  them.  At  the 
outlet  of  a  culvert,  particularly  where  the  water  falls  away  rapidly,  there 
should  be  a  paved  apron  or  spillway,  extending  some  distance  down  stream, 
to  prevent  undermining  of  the  foundation;  and  if  the  current  is  strong 
the  bed  of  the  stream  for  some  distance  approaching  the  up-stream  end 
should  also  be  paved.  The  end  of  culvert  paving  which  extends  beyond 
the  opening  should  be  protected  against  undermining  by  deeply  set  curb- 
stones. The  paving  at  the  outlet  is  usually  the  more  important,  as,  in  the 
absence  of  the  same,  the  outflow  of  water  is  liable  to  scour  out  a  hole 
and  then  begin  to  eddy  back  under  the  pavement  or  masonry,  causing  sec- 
tion after  section  to  fall  in,  until  the  culvert  is  finally  washed  out  or  par- 
tially destroyed.  To  fortify  against  trouble  in  case  the  paving  should 
l>e  washed  out  the  end  wall  or  foundation  at  this  end  of  the  culvert  should 
be  run  down  to  good  depth  or  to  solid  bottom.  To  prevent  culverts  from 
being  clogged  with  ice  or  driftwood  a  fender  of  small  piles  or  old  rails 
is  sometimes  driven  across  the  stream  a  little  distance  above  the  culvert. 
The  piles  are  usually  spaced  12  to  18  ins.  apart,  in  a  semicircular  row 
-extending  up  stream.  By  making  the  fender  V-shaped  up  stream  it  will 
-carry  the  drift  to  the  shores  and  maintain  a  clear  channel  in  the  middle  of 
the  stream.  If  old  rails  are  used  the  driftwood  can  be  burned  during  dry 
weather  without  destroying  the  fender. 

Pipe  Culverts. — For  small  culverts  vitrified  clay  pipe  and  cast  iron 
pipe  are  in  extensive  service.  In  shallow  embankments,  where  there  is  not 
sufficient  hight  to  build  a  masonry  culvert,  pipe  is  commonly  used,  while 


CULVERTS  47 

on  some  roads,  vitrified  pipe  is  used  under  banks  of  considerable  hight  and 
•cast  iron  pipe  under  banks  of  almost  any  hight.  The  chief  considerations 
in  the  use  of  these  materials  are  cheapness  and  the  rapidity  with  which 
they  can  be  laid.  In  filling  open  culverts  the  use  of  pipe  affords  a  con- 
venient means  of  maintaining  an  opening,  and  iron  pipe  is  extensively 
used  inside  old  wooden  culverts  that  are  about  to  fail.  Vitrified  clay 
culvert  pipe  is  used  in  sizes  up  to  36  ins.  (and  even  48  ins.)  diameter, 
although  many  roads  limit  the  maximum  size  to  24  ins.  diameter  and 
some  roads  have  established  18  ins.  diameter  as  the  largest  size.  The 
quality  used  in  railroad  culverts  is  known  as  "extra  thick"  or  "double 
strength"'  pipe,  being  25  to  33  per  cent  thicker  than  the  clay  pipe  commonly 
used  in  sewers.  The  standard  thickness  of  shell  for  railroad  culvert  pipe 
is  one  twelfth  of  the  inside  diameter  of  the  pipe,  while  for  sewer  pipe  the 
standard  thickness  is  one  fifteenth  or  one  sixteenth  of  the  inside  diameter. 
The  most  common  length  of  section  is  2J  ft.,  net,  for  all  sizes,  but  2-ft.  and 
3-ft.  lengths  are  made. 

Experience  teaches  that  culvert  pipe,  both  vitrified  and  iron,  but  par- 
ticularly vitrified,  must  be  very  carefully  laid  if  good  results  are  to  be 
expected.  The  pipe  must  be  thoroughly  bedded  and  given  a  uniform  bear- 
ing. In  firm  earth  the  trench  should  be  rounded  out  to  fit  the  lower  half  oi 
the  pipe,  as  well  as  may  be,  and  the  earth  (or  preferably  sand)  should  be 
well  tamped  about  the  pipe  up  to  the  center  line.  The  precaution  should  also 
be  taken  to  excavate  suitable  depressions  for  the  pipe  sockets,  so  that  no  por- 
tion of  the  under  surface  of  the  pipe  will  have  to  sustain  more  than  its  due 
proportion  of  pressure.  The  too  common  way  of  laying  the^  bottom  of  the 
pipe  on  solid  bearing,  with  only  a  narrow  segment  of  the  bottom  wall  of  the 
pipe  supported,  and  then  filling  in  loose  earth  carelessly  about  the  pipe, 
causes  almost  the  entire  pressure  to  fall  upon  a  comparatively  small  por- 
tion of  the  pipe  surface,  thus  operating  to  crush  the  pipe.  The  same 
results  follow  from  the  use  of  boards  or  timber  laid  in  the  trench  to  .sup- 
port the  pipe.  It  is  usually  recommended  that  on  soft  ground  the  bedding 
ior  the  pipe  should  be  rammed,  but  the  reliability  of  such  work  is  question- 
able. On  soft  ground  a  platform  of  timber,  or  cross  timbers  rounded  out 
to  fit  the  bottom  of  the  pipe,  or  a  bed  of  broken  stone,  or  a  pile  bent  under 
or  just  ahead  of  each  socket,  or  a  brick  or  stone  pier  under  each  joint,  is 
sometimes  used  for  the  immediate  support,  but  is  not  generally  approved 
of.  A  timber  platform  covered  with  2  ft.  of  sand  for  the  embedment  of 
the  pipe  is  a  better  arrangement,  but  a  bed  of  concrete  caried  up  half  the 
diameter  of  the  pipe  is  still  better,  and  probably  the  best  foundation  for 
either  vitrified  or  iron  pipe  laid  on  yielding  ground.  Without  such  a 
foundation  the  advisibility  of  using  vitrified  pipe  on  ground  of  the  char- 
acter referred  to  is  questionable.  The  pipe  should  be  laid  with  the 
sockets  up  stream  and  the  joints  should  be  filled  with  cement  mortar;  on 
iome  roads  both  cement  mortar  and  oakum  are  used.  If  the  joints  are  not 
made  tight  roots  may  enter  and  choke  the  pipe,  or  when  discharging  under 
head  the  pressure  of  water  may  wash  out  cavities  around  the  joints,  leaving 
the  pipe  unevenly  supported  and  liable  to  break.  The  cementing  of  the 
joints  also  strengthens  the  pipe  at  the  spigot  end,  which,  being  thin  and 
not  fitting  the  socket  snugly,  obtains  a  bearing  on  the  bottom  only,  and 
is  liable  to  spring  under  the  pressure  and  crush  if  not  firmly  packed  about. 
Some  manufacturers  of  vitrified  clay  pipe  groove  or  corrugate  the  inside 
of  the  socket  and  outside  of  the  spigot  end  circumferentially,  to  give  the 
cement  a  better  bond  in  the  joint.  After  a  joint  has  been  made  the  cement 
should  be  wiped  clean  from  the  inside  of  the  pipe,  else  if  allowed  to  harden 
in  place  it  may  remain  a  permanent  obstruction.  Defective  pieces  of  pipe, 


48  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

if  at  all  suitable  for  use,  should  be  laid  next  the  ends  of  the  culvert,  where 
the  pressure  is  light  and  where  they  can  be  easily  removed  in  case  of  failure. 

As  the  ground  under  the  center  of  a  high  embankment  is  bound  to- 
settle,  the  pipe  should  be  cambered,  if  anything  more  than  in  the  case 
of  masonry  culverts,  because  the  foundation  of  a  pipe  culvert  is  seldom 
carried  much  below  the  surface.  As  previously  explained,  the  best  way 
to  do  this  is  to  lay  the  center  sections  somewhat  higher  than  a  plane  grade 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  or  lay  the  upper  half  level  and  then  drop  off 
from  the  center  to  the  lower  end.  The  amount  of  camber  to  be  used  in 
any  case  is  a  matter  of  judgment,  as  it  depends  upon  the  hight  of  the 
bank  and  the  bearing  ~ properties  of  the  top  strata.  Two  to  four  per 
cent  of  the  hight  of  the  fill  is  sometimes  allowed.  The  cambering  of 
pipe  culverts  produces  the  desired  effect  of  forcing  the  joints  together,  in 
case  of  settlement  at  the  middle,  whereas  the  sagging  of  pipe  laid  to  an  even 
grade  stretches  it  apart,  tending  to  disjoint  the  sections.  The  water  which 
stands  in  a  sagged  pipe  will  cause  the  pipe  to  silt  up  to  the  same  depth 
and  reduce  the  area  of  opening  by  that  much,  and  if  water  freezes  in  a 
virtified  pipe  standing  more  than  half  full  the  expansion  of  the  ice. 
will  burst  the  pipe.  This  consideration  makes  it  undesirable  to  use 
vitrified  pipe  on  low-lying  ground  or  wherever  water  is  liable  to  stand  in 
the  opening. 

Owing  to  the  heavy  expense  of  replacing  vitrified  clay  pipe  in  case 
it  becomes  crushed,  the  use  of  the  same  under  high  embankments  does 
hot  meet  with  general  approval,  even  among  roads  where  such  pipe  is  ex- 
tensively used  under  different  conditions.  Most  roads  limit  the  use  of  it 
to  embankments  not  higher  than  20  ft.,  and  many  roads  to  banks  of  still  less 
hight,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Pennsylvania  and  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St. 
Paul  roads,  where  7  ft.  is  the  maximum  fill  in  which  vitrified  pipe  is  used. 
On  the  St.  Louis  Southwestern  By.  the  limiting  hights  of  embankment  for 
the  use  of  vitrified  pipe  are  4  ft.  and  18  ft.  On  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga 
&  St.  Louis  Ry.  the  limiting  fill  for  18-in.  vitrified  clay  pipe  of  double 
strength  is  2o  ft.  high;  for  24-in.  vitrified  pipe  it  is  15  ft.  high.  This 
leads  up  to  the  question,  frequently  raised,  as  to  the  load  sustained  by 
pipes,  arches  and  other  structures  which  stand  under  earth  filling. 
Although  earth  pressure  on  unit  areas  is  much  of  an  uncertainty,  the  only- 
reasonable  assumption  is  that,  with  settled  embankments,  the  load  bear- 
ing upon  any  interior  area  is  equivalent  to  the  weight  of  a  prism  of  the 
material  having  a  base  equal  to  the  given  area  and  length  equal  to  the 
hight  of  material  above  said  area.  Before  the  embankment  becomes  set- 
tled the  load  may  be  more  or  less  than  this,  according  to  the  amount  of 
friction  set  up  between  masses  of  settling  material  and  the  manner  of 
distribution  of  the  forces  arising  from  such  friction.  Of  these  we  can 
know  nothing.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  a  tunnel  through  an  embankment 
will  stand  for  some  time  without  supports  under  the  roof  it  has  bem 
erroneously  supposed  by  some  that  the  weight  upon  a  culvert  ceases  to  in- 
crease after  a  certain  hight  of  fill  is  reached,  or,  in  other  words,  that  the 
load  upon  a  culvert  is  not  proportional  to  the  hight  of  fill  above  it.  A  little 
reflection  will  dispel  the  fallacy.  According  to  the  tunnel  hypothesis  there- 
should  be  no  load  at  all  upon  the  top  of  a  culvert  under  a  high  fill.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  arching  or  beam 
-effect  of  the  earth,  as  displayed  over  the  roof  of  a  tunnel,  existed  before 
the  material  was  removed  from  the  space  occupied  by  the  tunnel.  If  it  did 
we  might  then  suppose  that  some  portions  of  the  interior  of  an  embank- 
ment stand  under  no  pressure.  But  this  cannot  be,  for  once  pressure  is 
removed  from  the  material  at  any  point  there  is  a  gradual  movement  of 


CULVERTS  49 

material  toward  the  point  relieved,  as  evinced  by  the  bulging  of  the  floor 
in  deep  coal  mines  and  in  tunnels  through  soft  material.  And  then,  if  we 
were  to  assume  that  the  distribution  of  earth  pressure  takes  place  through 
beams  or  arches  of  material,,  why  is  it  not  just  as  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  culvert  will  stand  under  the  end  of  span  of  such  beam  or  arch  as  that 
it  should  stand  between  the  end  supports?  A  simple  illustration  may 
serve  to  clarify  this  matter.  In  a  pile  of  "boards  laid  in  crossed 
'courses  there  is  a  beam  over  every  board  in  the  interior  of  the  pile, 
and  a  large  percentage  of  the  boards  in  any  course  may  be 
removed  (if  not  consecutively)  without  perceptibly  affecting^  the  sta- 
bility of  the  pile;  yet  if  one  attempts  to  pull  boards  from  the  interior 
of  the  pile  he  will  find  them  harder  to  pull  as  he  proceeds  towards  the  bot- 
tom, showing  that  the  beam  covering  any  board  is  not  called  into  action 
as  such  until  the  board  is  removed.  So  far  as  my  reading  has  extended 
those  who  hold  to  the  claims  here  disputed  have  not  propounded  any  argu- 
ment to  show  that  the  case  is  different  with  earth  in  an  embankment.  An 
impropped  tunnel  through  earth  stands  more  firmly  under  a  high  embank- 
ment than  a  low  one  because  the  earth  at  the  bottom  of  the  high  embank- 
ment is  more  solidly  compacted,  and  therefore  better  constituted  to  hold 
together  in  a  large  mass.  The  pressure  due  to  live  load  (the  trains)  is 
transmitted  through  earth  filling  in  diverging  lines  and  approaches  uni- 
formity with  depth.  It  therefore  acts  with  greatest  concentration  through 
shallow  embankments  and  the  crushing  effect  upon  culvert  pipe  increases 
with  nearness  to  the  track.  According  to  one  rule,  followed  to  some  extent 
for  vitrified  pipe,  1^  times  the  diameter  of  the  pipe  is  taken  as  the  mini- 
mum allowable  depth  of  fill  over  the  pipe,  while  on  some  roads  3  ft.,  and 
•on  other  roads  4  ft.,  is  considered  the  least  allowable  depth  for  pipe  of  any 
diameter.  Where  the  action  of  frost  must  be  taken  into  account  either 
<lepth  seems  small  enough,  in  any  case. 

Culvert  pipe  made  of  concrete  has  been  used  to  small  extent  on  the 
Texas  Midland,  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern,  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  & 
St.  Paul  and  other  roads,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  on  the  Chicago,  Rock 
Island  &  Pacific  Ry.  In  some  cases  the  results,  due  perhaps  to  improper 
design  or  workmanship,  have  been  reported  unsatisfactory,  but  on  the  road 
last  named  this  kind  of  pipe  has  given  good  service.  One  advantage  is  that, 
-concrete  being  comparatively  cheap,  the  pipe  can  be  made  of  any  desired 
thickness  requisite  for  strength,  and  as  the  materials  of  which  it  is  made 
are  easily  transported  the  pipe  sections  can  be  readily  made  at  the  culvert 
site,  thus  overcoming  any  objections  on  the  score  of  handling.  Culverts 
•of  this  material  that  have  been  built  in  municipal  and  highway  work 
have  given  satisfactory  service.  The  pipe  is  made  in  sizes  up  to  3  ft.  diam- 
eter, the  thickness  corresponding  to  this  size  being  4  ins.  The  pipe  is 
molded  in  the  annular  space  between  two  steel-plate  cylinders  stood  on 
end,  concentrically.  The  concrete,  which  is  formed  of  cement  mortar 
and  screened  gravel,  is  tamped  into  the  mold  and  allowed  to  set.  Each 
-cylinder  is  formed  with  an  open  seam  and  closes  to  a  butt  joint,  but  the 
edges  of  the  plate  will  spring  to  an  overlapping  position  if  forced  out 
of  abutment.  When  the  molding  process  is  complete  the  cylinders  arc 
made  removable  by  starting  their  joints  with  iron  wedges,  springing  the 
outer  one  to  larger  diameter  and  displacing  the  edges  of  the  inner  cylin- 
der, which  permits  it  to  spring  to  smaller  diameter.  As  the  implements 
are  simple  and  inexpensive  and  skilled  labor  not  required,  such  pipe  can 
be  cheaply  manufactured. 

On  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ry.  it  was  found  that  24-in. 
pipe  in  3-ft.  lengths  was  best  adapted  for  culverts,  and  one  to  seven 


50 


TRACK  FOUNDATION 


lines  of  it,  according  to  the  amount  of  water  to  be  carreid,  have  been  used 
at  numerous  points.  The  forms  for  molding  the  pipe  are  shown  in  Pig 
7.  They  consist  essentially  of  an  outer  and  inner  shell  formed  of  wooden 
staves  and  hinged  together  in  sections,  the  outer  shell  in  two  sections  and 
the  inner  one  in  three.  The  form  for  the  bottom  end  of  the  mold  shapes 
the  spigot  end  of  the  pipe  and  a  bevel-shaped  form  for  the  top  of  the 
mold  shapes  the  socket  end.  The  concrete  is  rammed  into  the  annular 
space  between  the  two  wooden  shells,  and  after  setting  48  hours  the 
forms  are  removed  from  the  pipe,  the  outer  shell  opening  outward  and 
the  inner  shell  collapsing,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  The  manner  of  join- 
ing the  sections  together  is  shown  at  the  right.  The  thickness  of  the  pipe 
wall  is  3J  ins.  The  concrete  mixture  consists  of  4  parts  of  clean  sand 
and  gravel,  just  as  it  is  taken  from  the  pit,  and  1  part  of  Portland  cement. 
The  cement  and  gravel  are  first  thoroughly  mixed  in  the  dry  condition 
and  then  water  is  added  and  the  mixture  is  placed  in  the  forms  and 
rammed  hard.  Prom  experience  it  has  been  learned  that  the  pipe  should 
iiot  be  placed  for  filling  before  it  is  three  months  old.  This  kind  of 


Form  ir}PoS/f/o/iforf/////?0 


form  ftesnoretf  from  Pipe 


ffl 

<-  — 

iO-3- 

*^ 

*?  / 

//// 

\ 

\ 

\V^ 

A     r 
1 
1 

, 

T 

*^N 

i  ' 

1 

1 

1 

ii 

h 

1 

, 

v    If 

fl\y 

Fig.  7. — Concrete  Culvert  Pipe  and   Forms  for  Molding. 

pipe  was  adopted  for  the  class  of  structures  in  which  cast  iron  pipe 
was  formerly  used,  and  at  a  cost  which  is  only  about  one-sixth  of  that 
of  iron  pipe.  The  following  are  the  data  of  materials  used  and  costs :  The 
solid  contents  of  a  section  of  24-in.  pipe  3  ft.  long  is  6.57  cu.  ft,,  and  the 
weight  is  872  Ibs.  The  material  used  per  section  is  8  cu.  ft.  of  gravel  and 
2  cuv  ft.  of  Portland  cement,  the  discrepancy  between  the  cubical  con- 
tents and  the  amount  of  material  required  being  due  to  the  process  of 
tamping.  The  average  cost  per  lineal  foot  of  24-in.  concrete  pipe  is 
55  cents,  of  which  the  cost  of  the  Portland  cement  is  35  cents,  the  cost 
of  the  gravel  2  cents,  and  the  labor  18  cents.  The  weight  of  a  3-ft.. 
section  of  18-in.  concrete  pipe  is  444  Ibs.,  and  the  cost  per  lineal  foot 
about  29  cents.  The  weight  of  a  3-ft.  section  of  30-in.  concrete  pipe  is- 


CULVERTS  51 

1207  Ibs.,  and  the  cost  per  lineal  foot  about  77  cents.  At  $30  per  ton.,, 
the  cost  of  cast  iron  pipe  in  that  locality  at  the  time  concrete  pipe  wa& 
adopted,  18-in.  pipe  cost  $2.6£  per  lineal  foot,  24-in.  pipe  $3.75  per 
lineal  foot,  and  30-in.  pipe  $5.30  per  lineal  foot. 

Cast  iron  pipe  is  used  for  culverts  in  sizes  up  to  6  ft.  diameter,  and 
segmen  tal  cast  -iron  culverts  are  made  as  large  as  7  ft.  diameter.  The 
Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Ry.  has  segmental  culverts  of  this  kind  and 
size,  and  previous  to  1890  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ry.  placed  a 
number  of  such  culverts,  the  largest  being  7  ft.  in  diameter.  With  the^ 
latter  road  the  practice  was  then  abandoned,  for  several  reasons,  the 
principal  one  being  the  expense.  On  a  number  of  roads  cast~irmi  pipe 
of  20  ins.  diameter  is  the  smallest  size  used,  as  such  is  about  the  smallest 
pipe  that  a  man  can  crawl  through  and  clean  out.  Water  pipe  is  com- 
monly employed  for  this  purpose  and  it  is  quite  largely  the  practice  to- 
select  condemned  water  pipe,  or  pipe  rejected  for  some  defect  which  does 
not  impair  it  for  use  in  culverts.  Such  pipe  is  commonly  cast  iiL 
lengths  of  12  ft.,  net — that  is,  exclusive  of  the  socket — but  for  con- 
venience of  adjusting  the  length  of  the  culvert  to  the  width  of  the  em- 
bankment more  closely  lhan  could  sometimes  be  done  with  12-ft.  lengths, 
odd  pieces  are  sometimes  furnished  in  half  lengths;  otherwise  the  pipe- 
must  be  cm,  which  is  usually  done  by  nicking  around  the  circumference 
with  hammer  and  cold  chisel.  Pipe  of  large  diameter  is  sometimes  cast 
in  lengths  of  8  ft.  Following  are  the  usual  thicknesses  for  water  pipe 
of  different  sizes:  12-in.  pipe,  f  in.  thick;  18  and  20-in.  pipe,  J  in.  thick; 
24-in.  pipe,  1  in.  thick;  30-in.  pipe,  1^  ins.  thick;  36-in.  pipe,  1J  ins. 
thick;  40-in.  pipe,  1^  ins.  thick;  42-in.  pipe,  If  ins.  thick;  48-in.  piper 
If  ins.  thick;  60-in.  pipe,  2  ins.  thick;  72-in.  pipe,  2J  ins.  thick.  Stand- 
ard gas  pipe  is  25  to  35  per  cent  lighter,  for  the  various  sizes,  than 
water  pipe  of  these  thicknesses,  pipe  2  ft,  3  ft.,  4  ft.,  5  ft.,  and  6  ft. 
in  diameter  being  respectively  J  in.,  J  in.,  1-Jins.,  Ifins.  and  1J  ins.  thick. 
The  culvert  specifications  of  quite  a  number  of  roads  call  for  cast  iron 
pipe  of  gas  weights,  and  some  for  even  lighter  pipe.  To  prevent  rust 
the  pipe  is  coated  inside  and  out  with  coal  tar  or  asphaltum.  The 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  uses  cast  iron  culvert  pipe  extensively, 
the  number  of  culverts  of  this  material  in  1898  being  2879.  This  com- 
pany manufactures  its  own  pipe,  from  scrap  material,  on  an  independent 
design.  The  pipe  is  handled  at  the  foundry  as  a  by-product,  a  few  lengths- 
being  cast  at  each  melting.  The  pipe  is  made  in  6-ft.  lengths  and  is  about 
35  per  cent  lighter  than  the  water  pipe  above  referred  to,  the  thickness  of 
24-in.,  36-in.  and  48-in.  pipe  being  f  in.,  £  in.  and  1-J  ins.,  respectively. 
This  pipe  is  intended  mainly  for  service  in  settled  banks  within  old  wooden 
culverts.  When  used  in  this  manner  the  pipe  has  been  found  strong  enough, 
but  it  is  not  intended  for  use  under  high  embankments  newly  made.  Pipe 
GO  ins.  in  diameter  and  1J  ins.  thick  is  also  cast  by  this  company,  but  owing^ 
to  breakage  under  earth  filling  it  is  now  used  only  occasionally. 

As  cast  iron  culvert  pipe  of  the  larger  sizes  is  heavy  (a  12-ft.  length 
of  48-in.  water  pipe  weighs  about  4^  tons,  and  of  60-in.  pipe  about  8  tons) 
it  is  usually  lifted  to  place  with  a  pile  driver  or  derrick  car,  if  laid  -under 
track  that  is  already  built,  and  on  new  construction  it  is  handled  with 
block  and  tackle  and  rollers.  Cast  Iron  pipe  should  not  be  dropped 
from,  cars  upon  frozen  or  stony  ground,  and  when  rolling  it  down  a  bank 
care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  pieces  from  striking  against  each  other. 
It  is  always  safer,  of  course,  to  unload  it  from  the  cars  with  skids  and 
parbuckle  and  to  restrain  it  with  ropes  in  the  same  manner  when  rolling 
it  down  an  embankment.  To  prevent  crushing,  it  is  customary  to  prop 
the  inside  of  large  culvert  pipes  (3  ft.  diameter  and  larger)  at  intervals- 


52  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

of  a  few  feet  and  leave  the  supports  until  the  embankment  has  settled. 

In  placing  iron  pipe  inside  a  timber  culvert  the  pipe  is  usually 
pulled  into  place  from  either  end  of  the  old  culvert  by  means  of  block  and 
tackle  and  rollers.  If  the  opening  is  not  large  enough  to  admit  the  pipe 
the  timber  is  either  cut  away  or  the  top  and  one  side,  and  sometimes  the 
bottom,  of  the  timber  box  are  removed  and  the  bank  kept  from  caving 
by  props,  if  necessary.  Where  this  is  done  and  the  bottom  not  removed, 
or  where  there  is  room  within  the  old  culvert  when  none  of  the  timbers 
are  removed,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  raise  the  pipe  off  the  floor  and  pack 
the  space  underneath  with  earth.  If  this  is  not  done  the  bottom  timbers 
of  the  old  culvert  should  be  rounded  out  to  fit  the  pipe,  and  for  a  short 
distance  from  each  end  all  the  timbers  of  the  old  culvert  should  be  re- 
moved, so  that  no  opening  may  exist  for  the  entrance  of  water  outside 
the  pipe.  In  some  instances  where  the  old  culvert  is  wide  enough  to 
receive  the  pipe  a  foundation  of  sand,  gravel  or  hard  clay  is  laid  upon 
the  old  floor  as  a  cushion  for  the  pipe  and  the  top  is  then  removed  to  make 
room  for  the  pipe.  In  any  case  earth  is  firmly  rammed  into  the  open 
space  about  the  pipe.  This  work  must  be  done  as  each  section  is  pulled 
to  place,  and  it  is  a  tedious  operation,  but  easier  done  with  6-ft.-  lengths 
than  with  12-ft.  lengths. 

In  laying  pipe  culverts  through  embankments  where  no  previous 
opening  existed  the  most  general  practice  is  to  make  an  open  cut,  sup- 
porting the  track  on  long  stringers  resting  upon  sills  or  pile  bents.  In 
order  to  keep  the  width  of  the  cut  within  the  limits  of  a  desirable  span 
for  the  stringers  it  is  necessary,  in  deep  embankments,  to  protect  the  sides 
of  the  excavation  with  braced  planks.  Under  high  embankments,  however, 
it  is  frequently  the  practice  to  drive  a  tunnel,  excavating  an  open  cut 
well  into  the  slope  at  either  side,  to  shorten  the  tunnel,  cutting  to  such 
slope  as  the  earth  will  stand  or  cutting  straight  down  and  holding  the 
faces  of  the  cut  from  caving  by  braced  sheeting.  The  tunnel  should 
be  made  only  large  enough  to  admit  the  pipe  or  afford  working  room. 
The  roof  may  be  supported  by  4-in.  plank  or  old  bridge  ties,  propped  with 
center  posts  or  side  planks  standing  upon  plank  running  lengthwise  the 
opening,  and  held  up  to  a  snug  bearing  with  wedges  at  the  foot  of  eacli 
post.  The  pipe  may  be  drawn  into  the  tunnel  on  rollers  or  dollies,  on 
planks  laid  side  by  side.  The  open  space  around  the  pipe  should  then 
be  well  rammed  with  earth  or  gravel.  If  old  bridge  or  other  timber 
is  available  for  this  work  it  may  as  well  remain  in  place,  but  otherwise 
it  would  most  likely  be  removed  and  made  use  of  in  laying  other  culverts. 
Cases  have  been  reported  of  forcing  cast  iron  culvert  pipe  through  an  em- 
bankment of  soft  material  with  hydraulic  jacks,  putting  the  pieces  end 
to  end  as  they  are  pushed  in,  the  material  being  removed  in  advance  by 
working  it  back  inside  the  pipe. 

It  of  course  looks  best  and  seems  safest  to  see  the  ends  of  pipe  cul- 
verts walled  up,  and  where  the  current  is  rapid  or  the  intake  liable  to 
be  submerged  at  times  a  wall  at  one  or  both  ends  is  usually  provided. 
Such  walls  are  built  of  rubble  stone,  brick  or  concrete  masonry.  They 
should  extend  below  the  action  of  frost,  which  will  usually  be  low  enough 
to  prevent  undermining.  Protection  from  undermining  is  also  largely 
a  matter  of  paving  outside  the  culvert  ends,  particularly  at  the  down- 
stream end,  as  already  explained.  By  laying  end  walls  something  can 
be  saved  in  length  of  pipe,  as  the  wall  is  usually  set  back  from  the  foot, 
of  the  embankment  a  sufficient  distance  to  bring  the  top  of  parapet  on 
line  with  the  slope.  The  best  arrangement  is  to  lay  flared  wing  walls 
from  the  opening  to  the  foot  of  slope,  as  then  the  current  is  converged 
into  the  channel  and  the  foot  of  the  embankment  is  protected  against 


CULVERTS  53 

side  currents.  Such  walls  are  sometimes  arranged  about  the  opening  in 
the  form  of  a  semicircle.  In  cases  where  the  pipe  does  not  quite  reach  the 
desired  length  of  the  culvert,  the  end  walls  are  built  to  project  a  foot 
or  two  beyond  the  end  of  the  pipe.  The  bank  around  the  upper  end  of 
a  small  vitrified  pipe  culvert  is  sometimes  protected  against  wash  by 
a  plank  -bulkhead,  formed  by  spiking  plank  across  two  posts,  set  on 
either  side  of  the  pipe,  with  a  circular  hole  through  the  plank  for  the 
culvert  pipe.  Such  protection  is  usually  set  at  the  slope  of  the  em- 
bankment, or  at  least  with  a  considerable  inclination  toward  the  roadbed. 
In  cases  such  a  substitute  for  an  end  wall  may  answer  better  than  no 
protection  at  all,  and  thus  serve  a  purpose,  as  when,  for  instance,  the 
need  of  an  end  wall  is  seen  where  none  has  been  built.  In  that  case 
the  use  of  a  plank  bulkhead  until  a  convenient  time  for  building  a 
masonry  wall  might  be  advisable. 

The  necessity  for  end  walls  is  conceded  to  be  greater  with  vitrified 
pipe  than  with  iron  pipe  culverts,  owing  to  the  more  numerous  joints 
in  the  former  and  the  greater  possibility  that  the  filling  may  be  washed 
from  around  the  end  sections.  Owing  to  the  short  length  of  a  vitrified 
section  the  displacement  of  only  a  small  amount  of  supporting  material 
will  cause  it  to  fall  down,  obstruct  the  flow  of  water  and  open  the 
way  for  the  undermining  of  the  other  sections,  one  by  one.  Without 
end  walls  such  action  is  liable  to  take  place  at  either  end  of  the  culvert, 
even  where  there  is  good  paving,  because  the  filling  over  the  sections  near 
the  ends  of  the  culvert  is  shallow,  and  a  slight  displacement  of  one  of 
these  sections  may  start  water  through  a  point  which  will  undercut  the 
pipe.  The  shallow  filling  over  the  up-stream  end  of  the  culvert  is  also 
exposed  to  the  swirl  of  water  about  the  end  of  the  pipe  when  such 
becomes  submerged.  At  such  times  the  scouring  action  of  the  water 
is  particularly  strong.  Another  occasion  for  an  end  wall  at  the  up- 
stream end  of  the  culvert  is  where  the  stream  meets  the  pipe  obliquely. 
In  a  case  of  this  kind  a  strong  current  will  tend  to  flow  past  the  pipe 
into  the  bank  and  then  eddy  into  the  pipe.  In  order  to  minimize  in 
length  it  is  customary  to  place  culverts  at  right  angles  to  the  embankment, 
without  regard  to  the  direction  of  the  stream.  This  arrangement  brings 
head  walls  parallel  with  the  track,  when  such  are  built,  but  when  a 
stream  is  crossed  obliquely  the  end  wall  should  be  disposed  in  a  manner 
to  protect  the  bank  from  the  impingement  of  the  current,  which  can  best 
be  done  by  means  of  a  wing  wall  to  deflect  the  water  toward  the  opening. 
Speaking  of  practice  generally,  it  seems  to  be  the  rule  to  dispense 
Avith  end  walls  fully  as  far  as,  if  not  farther  than,  conditions  will  war- 
rant. As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  not,  in  many  cases,  essential  to  any 
large  economy  of  construction  to  decide  upon  the  matter  of  end  walls 
for  vitrified  pipe  culverts  when  the  pipe  is  laid.  Such  can  be  built  as 
indications  of  the  necessity  for  the  same  become  apparent,  without  large 
expense  for  excavation  in  excess  of  first  requirements,  and  the  few 
lengths  of  pipe  removed  in  setting  the  ends  of  the  culvert  farther  into 
the  bank,  as  when  end  walls  are  built,  can  usually  be  of  service  elsewhere. 
The  postponement  of  end  wall  construction  also  gives  opportunity  to 
await  the  settlement  of  the  culvert  under  the  deep  part  of  the  embank- 
ment. Should  such  settlement  exceed  the  allowance  for  the  same  there 
is  still  opportunity  to  lower  the  outer  sections  to  correspond,  at  no  great 
amount  of  excavation  or  expense,  before  the  end  walls  are  laid.  Owing 
to  the  longer  sections  of  iron  culvert  pipe,  such  a  change  is  not  as 
readily  made  with  it  as  with  vitrified  pipe.  Should  the  end- walling  of 
iron  pipe  culverts  be  deferred  conditionally  it  would  be  well  to  lay  half 
lengths  for  the  end  sections,  to  be  removed  in  case  end  walls  are  event- 


54  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

ually  built.  In  practice  one  finds  various  substitutes  for  end  walls, 
as  on  the  West  Shore  R.  R.,  where  the  bank  surrounding  the  end  of  the 
pipe  is  roughly  dry-paved;  and  on  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  li.  K., 
where  the  ends  of  pipe  culverts  are  not  protected  by  masonry  of  any 
kind,  broken  stone  being  filled  in  to  stop  washing  when  it  occurs. 

In  official  reports  on  pipe  culverts  one  may  learn  of  many  cases 
of  breakage,  more  frequently  with  vitrified  pipe,  but  to  larger  extent 
with  cast  iron  pipe  than  some  might  suppose.  Undoubtedly  one  very 
responsible  cause  for  this  can  be  traced  to  the  manner  in  which  work 
on  pipe  culverts  is  skimped,  particularly  with  respect  to  the  foundation. 
It  is  quite  common  experience  to  see  culvert  pipe  rolled  in  and  covered 
up  on  foundations  which  no  man  would  think  of  accepting  for  masonry 
culverts.  Almost  all  breakages  occur  under  settling  embankments,  but 
where  the  foundation  is  looked  to  carefully  and  the  precaution  taken 
to  prop  or  shore  up  the  pipe  inside  until  the  embankment  has  ceased 
to  settle,  good  results  are  usually  reported.  A  method  of  strengthening 
cracked  or  broken  culvert  pipe  of  large  size  that  is  quite  commonly  fol- 
lowed is  to  line  it  with  a  ring  of  paving  brick  set  edgewise;  i.  e.,  the  4- 
inch  way. 

To  keep  flood  water  from  backing  through  pipe  culverts  and  flood- 
ing property  on  the  other  side  of  the  roadbed  a  backwater  valve  is 
sometimes  used  at  the  outlet  end  of  the  pipe.  This  device  is  very  simple, 
consisting  merely  in  a  circular  piece  of  boiler  plate  hinged  to  a  pair 
of  lugs  cast  or  molded  on  at  the  top  of  the  pipe.  The  plate  covers 
the  end  of  the  pipe,  which  is  cut  off  at  an  inclination,  so  that  water  flowing 
out  of  the  pipe  can  easily  lift  the  cover  and  escape,  but  when  water 
backs  against  the  end  of  the  pipe  the  cover  is  held  down  by  the  pressure 
and  water  in  quantity  is  prevented  from  flowing  backward  through  the 
culvert. 

Under  a  low  embankment  where  there  is  not  room  for  a  single 
pipe  of  the  desired  size,  two  or  more  smaller  pipes  affording  an  equiv- 
alent area  of  opening  are  sometimes  laid  in  a  "nest."  Two  or  more 
pipes  are  used  also  in  place  of  a  single  opening  of  equal  discharging 
capacity  where  the  backing  up  of  the  water  in  order  to  obtain  the  full 
discharge  is  inadmissable.  Division  of  the  waterway  in  this  manner 
does  not  permit  the  passage  of  driftwood,  corn  stalks  and  other  flood 
trash  so  readily  as  a  large  opening  of  equivalent  area,  and  the  danger 
of  clogging  is  an  important  matter  to  be  taken  into  consideration. 
From  a  construction  point  of  view  the  divided  waterway  costs  more  for 
the  same  area  of  opening,  as  the  aggregate  weight  of  the  small  pipes 
exceeds  that  of  the  large  ones;  and  the  labor  of  excavating  and  laying 
is  something  more  for  the  small  pipes,  but  not  nearly  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  pipes.  When  two  or  more  pipes  constituting  a  culvert 
are  laid  side  by  side  they  should  be  placed  far  enough  apart  to  permit 
the  earth  filling  to  pack  solidly  between  them  in  a  column  of  good  thick- 
ness, say  as  thick  as  the  diameter  of  the  pipe.  The  pipes  shown  in  Fig;. 
7A  are  not  far  enough  apart.  The  earth  should  be  thoroughly  rammed 
between  the  pipes,  as  well  as  underneath  their  outer  quarters,  and  owing 
to  the  liability  of  one  of  the  pipes  becoming  clogged  and  throwing  the 
duty  of  dischargeing  upon  the  others  the  ends  of  the  pipes  should  be 
encased  in  masonry  or  concrete  end  walls. 

Figure  7A  shows  a  concrete  end  wall  for  a  pair  of  cast  iron  culvert 
pipes  running  through  an  embankment  at  a  skew.  The  end  of  the 
pipe  farthest  from  the  observer  is  farthest  from  the  toe  of  the  embank- 
ment, but  the  construction  of  the  end  wall  brings  the  two  outlets  on  line 
with  the  general  direction  of  the  embankment.  The  plan  of  this  end  wall 


CULVERTS  55 

is  therefore  A-shaped.  An  idea  suggested  by  this  simple  structure  is 
ihat  a  culvert  pipe  which  ends  a  few  feet  short  of  the  toe  of  an  embank- 
ment does  not  require  a  high  end  wall,  which  would  be  the  case  were 
it  necessary  to  terminate  the  slope  of  the  embankment  directly  over  the 
end  of  the  pipe.  By  laying  a  form  with  a  core  the  size  of  the  culvert 
pipe  out  as  far  as  the  toe  of  the  embankment  and  depositing  concrete 
within  the  same  the  waterway  may  be  cheaply  extended  to  the  toe  and  ter- 
minated by  a  low  end  wall.  The  usual  arrangement  provided  for  the  dis- 
charge of  a  culvert  which  serves  as  a  cross  drain  from  the  ditch  in  a  side- 
hill  cut  is  a  paved  ditch  or  slope,  which  is  quite  liable  to  be  washed  out 
if  the  water  gets  to  cutting  under  it.  About  the  only  safe  arrangement 
of  this  kind  is  had  by  grouting  the  paving  with  cement  mortar.  Figure 
7B  shows  a  concrete  spillway,  consisting  of  a  waterway  18  ins.  wide 
and  14  ins.  deep,  at  the  top,  with  side  walls  9  ins.  thick.  It  takes  the 
discharge  from  a  24-in.  pipe  and  conducts  it  down  a  slope  about  100  ft. 
long.  The  view  shows  only  the  upper  end  of  the  spillway,  the  end  wall 


Fig.  7  A. — Concrete  End  Construction  for  Pipe  Culverts — Fig.  7  B. 

of  the  pipe  culvert,  also  of  concrete,  appearing  at  the  top  of  the  view. 
As  the  speed  of  flow  increases  toward  the  bottom  of  the  slope  the  depth 
of  the  waterway  was  made  shallower  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top. 

Wrought  iron  and  steel  plate  pipes  are  also  used  in  railroad  cul- 
verts. The  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R.  has,  in  a  few  instances,  used  riveted 
wrought  iron  pipe  in  culverts  standing  partly  full  of  water,  the  freez- 
ing of  which  would  subject  vitrified  or  cast  iron  pipe  to  danger  of 
bursting.  The  Union  Pacific  R,  R,  has  in  use  a  large  number  of  pipe 
culverts  as  large  as  60  ins.  in  diameter  made  of  steel  plates  £  to  -J  in. 
thick  riveted  together  with  lap  joints,  like  a  boiler.  This  pipe  cost 
about  75  per  cent  of  that  of  cast  iron  pipe  of  the  same  diameter.  The 
pipe  was  heavily  coated  inside  and  outside  with  coal  tar  before  laying 
and  recoated  inside  and  outside  after  being  laid.  On  the  Erie  R.  R. 
there  are  in  service  some  steel  plate  pipe  culverts  60  ins.  in  diameter,  weigh- 
ing 283  Ibs.  per  foot.  The  pipe  is  in  riveted  sections  of  30  ft.  length 
bolted  together  by  flanged  joints.  The  flange  at  each  end  of  each  sec- 
tion is  formed  by  a  3x3-in.  angle  bent  around  the  pipe  and  'riveted  to 
the  outside.  Six  inches  from  each  end  there  is  also  riveted  around  the 
outside  of  the  pipe  a  3x5-in.  angle  to  serve  as  a  stiffener  and  prevent 
water  from  coursing  along  the  outside  of  the  pipe.  The  cost  of  this 
pipe  is  given  in  the  lower  line  in  Table  I,  which  was  taken  from  a  com- 
mittee report  to  the  Association  of  Railway  Superintendents  of  Bridges 
and  Buildings,  in  1898.  The  other  costs  in  the  same  tabulation  (24-in. 


56 


TRACK  FOUNDATION 


to  48-in.  pipe)  are  for  steel  pipe  culverts  on  the  Wisconsin  Central  Ey. 
The  costs  for  cast  iron  pipe  in  the  same  table  are  the  extreme  figures  (low 
and  high)  taken  from  a  large  number  of  replies  to  a  circular  of  in- 
quiry sent  out  to  different  roads.  The  cost  of  cast  iron  pipe  ranged 
from  $14.50  to  $16.80  per  ton,  and  the  cost  of  stone  masonry  end  walls 
from  $4  to  $8  per  cubic  yard.  The  "total"  columns  do  not  include  the 
cost  of  masonry  end  walls.  The  Nichols  "portable"  culvert  is  of  trape- 
zoidal cross  section,  with  the  widest  side  on  the  bottom.  It  is  made 
of  steel  plates  riveted  to  angle  irons  and  is  stiffened  with  angle  irons 
on  the  outside,  giving  a  smooth  surface  inside.  At  each  end  there  is  'a 
steel  plate  portal  and  wing  walls.  This  structure  is  brought  to  the  site 
of  the  culvert  ready  made,  to  be  placed  upon  a  prepared  foundation. 
The  steel  is  painted  with  some  preparation  to  protect  it  from  rust. 

Brick  Barrel  Culverts. — Hard  burned  brick  is  very  durable  mate- 
rial, and  well  designed  structures  built  therewith  are  practically  ever- 
lasting. In  municipal  work  brick  barrel  sewers  are  very  commonly  found, 
and  where  conditions  will  permit  of  laying  them  they  are  consid- 

TABLE  I. 

COST  PER   LINEAL   FOOT  OF  CAST-IRON    PIPE   CULVERTS. 


Size  of  pipe. 

Material. 

labor. 

Total. 

Cost    of    stone 
masonry  ends. 

18-inch.. 
20-inch. 
24-inch. 
30-inch. 
36-inch. 
42-inch. 
48-inch. 
60-inch. 

$1.11 
1.00  to    1.62 
1.20  to    3.32 
1.22  to    2.90 
2.51  to    3.69 
3.35  to    5.00 
4.30  to    7.70 
7.94  to  10.61 

$0.16 
.0910    1.08 
.17  to    1.82 
.23  to    1.42 
.30  to    1.64 
.70  to    1.98 
.36  to    3.12 
1.26  to    2.66 

$1.27 
1.76  to    2.08 
2.0910    5.19 
3.09,  to    4.67 
2.81  to    6.50 
5.08  to    5."0 
5.29  to  10.32 
10.60  to  11.82 

$43.00 
53.00  to  69.12 
66.00 
78.00 
90.00 
100.00 

COST  PER  LINEAL  FOOT  OF  STEEL  PIPE   CULVERTS. 


Diameter  of  pipe. 

Material. 

Labor. 

Total. 

$1.12 

$0.12 

$1.24 

30-inch           

1.55 

.17 

1.72 

36-inch                  .          

2.28 

.25 

2.53 

3.00 

.30 

3.30 

48-inch  
60-inch      

4.13 

8.25 

.46 
.45 

4.59 

8.70 

ered  the  best  waterways  that  can  be  built  for  the  purpose.  To  some 
extent  such  work  has  been  imitated  in  railway  culverts.  The  culvert  is 
laid  by  rounding  out  the  bottom  of  the  trench  to  give  shape  to 
the  lower  half  of  the  "barrel,"  and  then  the  brick  rings  are  laid  in 
cement  mortar  directly  upon  the  rounded  surface  of  the  ground,  up  to 
the  hight  of  the  horizontal  diameter,  when  forms  are  placed  and  the 
cylindrical  structure  is  completed  by  arching  over  the  top.  Of  course 
such  culverts  can  be  built  to  give  satisfactory  service  only  where  there 
is  firm  earth  to  support  the  bottom  and  under  quarters  of  the  structure. 
Such  culverts  are  used  extensively  on  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St. 
Louis  Ey.,  in  sizes  from  3  to  5  ft.  in  diameter,  and  on  ground  which  is 
not  firm  enough  for^such  construction  brick  barrel  culverts  backed  up  with 
haunch  walls  are  used  in  sizes  from  3  to  6  ft.  diameter.  The  thickness  of 
the  barrel  culverts  is  one  ring  less  than  the  diameter  of  the  culvert  in 
feet,  the  brick  being  laid  edgewise  in  each  ring.  The  bricks  used  are  all 
very  hard  burned,  but  those  having  vitrified  surfaces  are  selected  for  the 
paving  of  the  bottom  semicircle.  Table  II.,  taken  from  a  paper  by  Mr. 
Hunter  McDonald,  chief  engineer  of  this  road,  presented  before  the 
Engineering  Association  of  the  South,  gives  the  cost  data  of  these  cul- 
verts, as  well  as  of  vitrified  and  cast  iron  pipe  and  stone  box  culverts. 
The  term  "brick  arch"  found  in  this  tabulation  is  not  applied  in  the 
strict  sense,  as  the  opening  in  these  culverts  is  circular,  the  same  as  with 


CULVERTS 


57 


the  brick  barrel  culverts.  The  distinction  between  the  two  designs  is 
in  the  use  of  haunch  walls  in  the  so-called  ffbrick  arch"  culverts,  to 
strengthen  the  barrel,  as  above  stated.  These  haunch  walls  are  of  such 
thickness  that  the  width  of  the  culvert  masonry  over  the  haunch  walls, 
is  equal  to  twice  the  diameter  of  the  interior  of  the  barrel.  The  haunch 
walls  are  carried  up  full  width  as  high  as  the  horizontal  diameter  of  the 
barrel,  above  which  they  slope  off  rapidly  to  meet  the  top  of  the  barrel 
on  tangent.  The  reason  for  substituting  this  design  for  a  brick  arch 
with  straight  side  walls  and  an  invert  of  comparatively  large  radius 
is  that,  for  a  usual  thing,  the  foundations  are  in  alluvial,  soil  jind  are 
somewhat  treacherous.  By  using  the  semicircular  invert,  or  rather  a 
circular  culvert  with  haunch  walls,  the  load  on  the  culvert  is  distributed 
over  the  entire  bottom  surface,  with  the  certainty  that  the  invert  will 
not  be  pushed  up  into  the  culvert,  which  might  be  the  case  if  the  in- 
vert was  flat — that  is,  of  comparatively  large  radius.  Where  it  is  neces- 
Table  II.— Data  on  Culverts,  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry. 


~4^§ 

Lin.  ft.  of  Culvert  bet  ween  Parapets. 

Pa'p't  complete  for  i  Cul. 

<«   bi 

i«  *o3 

bo 

bb 

n*3  bi> 

«j 

bb 

bb 

CULVERT 

o  c 

S  rt'c"" 

O    '£ 

t~.S 

u  rt 

c 

1« 

P.O  C 

^  s 

§** 

§  v 

-SU*^ 

S  ~ 

S*""  rt 

&  0 

*§ 

CS  0 

*•£  g 

*ji! 

Sf, 

,22 

<  o* 

§'•3  at 

<  e 

2 

o  5 

2  * 

1 

5  sfo 

u  S 

3d 

•SJ 

g 

Clay  pipe; 

i-ig  in. 
2-18 

1.77 
3-54 

464-7 

929  4 

'°8 

06 

$   08 
16 

M? 

$  .305 

$777 
IA  8a 

$        20 

$  2   28 

$     10  25 

1-24 

3  T4 

958  3 

86 

3  45 

2-24 

6.28 

1916  6 

I   72 

9  43 

3  °3 

30 

4.91 

1679  3 

I  58 

06 

12 

i  yy 
I   76 

•?6o 

12   78 

16  48 

1.77 

Iron  pipe: 

18  in. 

464.7 

Iron. 
150  Ibs. 

$  I   24 

$  03 

$    18 

$i  45 

$  .82 

$777 

$        20 

$2  28 

$     10  25 

24 

3-H 

958-3 

208 

i  72 

06 

24 

2  02 

.643 

9  43 

24 

3  03 

12   70 

30 

4.91 

1679-3 

300 

2  48 

07 

36 

285 

•58 

12  78 

40 

3  3° 

16  48 

36 

7.07 

2651.0 

417 

3  44 

07 

36 

3  87 

•547 

H  79 

52 

428 

J9  59 

43 
60 

12-57 
19.63 

54i6.o 
9444.0 

750 
1250 

6  19 
10  31 

09 

IO 

48 
60 

6  76 

II   01 

20  80 

36  37 

I    22 

2  60 

6  72 
14  40 

28  74 

7? 

28.27 

14816.0 

1500 

12   38 

12 

72 

13   22 

.468 

3880 

3  80 

16  02 

58  62 

Brick  bbl.: 

36  in. 

7.07 

2651.0 

132  brick 

$        85 

$    09 

$   85 

$i  79 

$  -253 

$22    II 

$      66 

$ro  oo 

$    32  77 

48 
Brick  arch: 

12-57 

54i6.o 

286 

I   83 

ii 

i  30 

3  24 

.258 

45  92 

i  54 

20  56 

68  02 

36  in. 

7.07 

2651.0 

250 

I    60 

10 

i  33 

3  03 

.428 

22   II 

66 

IO  OO 

32  77 

48 

54i6.o 

372 

238 

16 

I  8q 

4  43 

•352 

42  68 

I  54 

18  16 

6238 

60 

19-63 

9444.0 

560 

358 

22 

2  49 

6  29 

.320 

62  81 

2  20 

28  50 

93  5i 

72 

28.27 

14816.0 

840 

32 

3  30 

9  oo 

.318 

73  65 

4  20 

33  15 

III   OO 

Stone  box: 

Mason  'y 

2x4   ft 

8.00 

1684.0 

i.  33yds 

$  3  36 

$     II 

*252 

$599 

$  -75 

$56  45 

$  I  92 

$42  43 

$   100  80 

3x4 

12.00 

3903.0 

1.463 

369 

13 

2  77 

6  59 

•55 

60  98 

2   20 

45  59 

108  77 

4x5 

20.OO 

7920.0 

1.77 

4  45 

18 

3  34 

7  97 

7888 

4  oo 

57  93 

140  8  1 

4x6 

24.00 

10145.0 

2.065 

5  25 

23 

3  81 

9  29 

.388 

108  36 

6  oo 

79  05 

193  4i 

DATA  USED  IN  COMPUTING  ABOVE  COSTS. 


CLAY   PIPE. 

IRON   PIPE. 

BRICK  CULVERTS. 

STONE  CULVERTS. 

18  in.  Pipe  $1.07  per     ) 
2^  ft.  joint/ 

i8inatiSooft>s{Pteyt2 

Brick  2^x4x8  at  $4.50 
perM. 

per  cu  yd. 

Stone              $2.00 

24  "      "    $2.15  per       f 
2V2  ft   joint  f 

24    "     2500  "        '• 

Brick  perc  ft.  16.4 
allowing  %  in.  joint 

Cement  ^bbl    .45 

Building  Parapets  $3  ) 
per  M.  brick  f 

30    "     3600  " 

Mortar,  i  part  Cement 
2  parts  sand 

Sand  i  bbl.          07 

Coping  Stone  27  and  \ 
•JIG  per  Hn.  ft.  j 

36    "     5000  "        " 

Cement  .81  bbls.  per 
cu  yard,    or: 

Labor                1.98 

Apron  Stone  25C  per  ) 
liu.  foot) 

48    "     9000  "        " 

Cement  1.83  bbls  per 
M  b-ick 

Total  $4.50 

60    '     15000  "        " 

Coping  Stone  3ic  per 
lin.  foot 

72    "    18000  "        " 

Apron  Stone  $1.50  per 

All  at  $16.50  per  2000  Ibs 

cubic  yard 

NOTE.— All  prices  F.  O.  B.  Nashville,  February.  1898. 


58 


TRACK  FOUNDATION 


sary  to  increase  the  bight  of  these  culverts  for  any  purpose  other  than 
that  .of  increasing  the  area  of  the  culvert  opening,  as,  for  instance,  to 
allow  for  the  passage  of  cattle,  straight  side  walls  2  ft.  high  are  put 
in  between  the  upper  and  lower  semicircles  of  the  culvert  and  the  haunch 
walls  are  carried  up  in  proportion.  Wherever  the  nature  of  the  founda- 
tion will  permit,  brick  arches  with  straight  side  walls  and  a  compara- 
tively flat  invert  are  built.  A  particular  culvert  of  this  class  (Fig.  70) 
under  a  60  ft.  embankment  has  a  semicircular  arch  of  7  ft.  span,  straight 
side  walls  3-J  ft.  high,  and  an  invert  of  7  ft.  radius.  The  foundation 
consists  of  five  rows  of  piles  driven  about  3  ft.  apart  in  each  row,  around 
the  tops  of  which  is  placed  a  bed  of  concrete  2  ft.  deep.  Haunch  walls 
are  carried  "up  to  a  hight  of  7  ft.  9  ins.  above  the  foundation  and  then 
sloped  off  rapidly  to  meet  the  top  of  the  arch  on  tangent.  The  width 
over  the  haunch  walls  at  the  foundation  is  14  ft.  and  the  batter  on  the 
back  sides  of  these  walls  about  1  in  10,  making  the  top  width  12  ft. 
5  ins.  The  plain  barrel  culverts  are  used  only  on  hard,  firm  ground, 
where  the  natural  surface  is  above  the  axis  of  the  culvert  and  where 
the  hight  of  the  earth  above  the  culvert  does  not  exceed  30  ft.  Haunch- 
wall  circular  culverts  are  used  wherever  the  brick  barrel  will  not  answer, 


Fig.  7C. — Brick  Arch  Culvert,  N.,  C.  &  St.   L.   Ry. 

and  an  extra  ring  of  brick  is  added  to  the  arch  for  every  15  ft.  of  fill 
over  20  ft.  high.  On  solid  rock  bottom  semicircular  arches  with  straight 
side  walls  are  used.  The  minimum  grade  of  the  culvert  floor  is  -J  per 
cent.  In  the  haunch-wall  circular  culverts  the  barrel  is  not  made  as 
strong  as  in  the  plain  barrel  culverts,  as  in  the  former  only  two  rings 
of  brick  are  used  up  to  and  including  culverts  of  5  ft.  diameter.  The 
culvert  of  6  ft.  diameter  of  this  class  has  3  rings  of  brick.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  culvert  shown  in  Fig.  70  has  vertical  wing  walls  and 
that  there  are  no  re-entrant  angles  at  the  end  of  the  arched  opening. 

Arch  Culverts. — Well  constructed  stone  arches  are  considered  the 
highest  class  of  masonry  for  culverts  and  bridges,  and  on  many  of 
the  best  built  roads  such  is  the  standard  construction.  Particularly  is 
this  the  case  on  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.,  where  many  fine  examples  of 
heavy  arch  construction  are  to  be  found.  It  cannot  be  expected  to  here 
go  into  the  subject  of  arch  construction  and  masonry  specifications  com- 
prehensively, but  some  ruling  principles  may  be  considered.  In  railway 
work  semicircular  and  segmental  arches  predominate,  with  an  increas- 
ing preference  for  the  segmental  reach.  This  for  the  reasons  that  the  seg- 
mental arch  permits  of  a  wider  opening  where  the  depth  of  embankment  is  a 


CULVERTS 


59 


limiting  feature  (Fig.  7D,  for  example),  and  the  amount  of  sheeting 
in  the  semicircular  arch  is  the  greater  and  therefore  the  more  expensive, 
particularly  in  cut-stone  work.  First-class  work  calls,  of  course,  for 
dressed  sheeting  stones,  but  roughly  dressed  and  rubble  stones  are  very 
commonly  used  in  arches  of  short  span,  having  quarry-faced  stones  with 
•chisel  draught  edge  lines  for  ring  stones.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Ey. 
builds  rubble  masonry  arches  as  large  as  60  ft.  span,  the  only  cut  stone 
used  being  in  the  ring  courses  or  those  which  show  at  the  ends  of  the 
arch.  This  kind  of  work  laid  in  Portland  cement  mortar  has  cost 
-about  $6  per  cubic  yard,  and,  owing  to  the  long  distance  -over  which 
cement  must  be  hauled,  is  considered  cheaper  than  concrete.  For  abut- 
ments and  wing  walls  rock-faced  ashlar  masonry  is  quite  frequently 
found  in  high-class  work,  while  range  work  and  broken  ashlar  are  very 
common.  In  the  smaller  culverts  rubble  masonry  throughout  is  quite 
general. 

Figure  8,  showing  the  plans  of  a  stone  arch  culvert  of  20-ft.  span 
located  near  Watervliet,  Mich.,  on  the  Chicago  &  West  Micigan  division 
of  the  Pere  Marquette  R.  R.,  represents  a  good  example  of  durable  con- 


Fig.  7  D. — Flat  Arch  Culvert  Construction. 

struct  ion  for  openings  of  this  size.  The  arch  is  29  ft.  long,  and  the  total 
length  of  the  structure,  from  end  to  end  of  wing  walls,  is  76^  ft.  The 
arch  is  segmental,  with  moderate  rise  to  span,  the  arc  or  central  angle 
being  139  deg.  58  min.,  the  rise  7  ft.  and  the  radius  at  the  intrados  10 
ft.  7j  ins.  The  arch  sheeting  is  2  ft  thick  and  the  spandrel  walls  2J 
ft.  thick  and  3  ft.  llf  ins.  high  at  the  crown.  The  filling  over  the  arch 
-crown,  or  the  distance  from  the  crown  to  the  base  of  rail  is' 9  ft.  4  ins. 
The  i\  hutment  walls  of  the  arch  are  9  ft.  9  ins.  high  to  the  springing 
line.  The  excavation  was  carreid  4J  ft.  below  the  surface  of  the  water 
and  the  foundation  consists  of  timbers  placed  at  3  ft.  centers  and  over- 
laid with  two  crossed  courses  of  3-in.  plank.  The  wing  walls  are  24|  ft. 
Jonu',  and  open  out  at  an  angle  of  30  deg.  with  the  center  line  of  the 
arch.  The  footing  course  of  the  wing  wall  where  it  joins  the  arch  abut- 
ment is  8  ft.  wide,  and  at  the  base  of  the  battered  portion  the  wall  is 
<j  ft.  wide.  The  outward  face  of  the  wing  wall  is  battered  1  in  12  and 
on  the  back  the  batter  is  1^  in  12.  The  material  is  sandstone,  from 
Oraftoii,  Ohio.  The  stone  was  scabbled  at  the  quarry  and  required  but 
little  cutting  to  prepare  the  top  and  bottom  beds.  The  joints  and  beds 
for  10  ins.  back  from  the  face  were  laid  in  Portland  cement  mortar 


60 


TRACK  FOUNDATION 


a  ad  the  balance  in  Louisville  cement  mortar,  except  that  all  the  joints 
in  the  arch  were,  laid  entirely  in  Portland  cement.  The  centers  were 
struck  nine  days  after  the  keystone  was  set.  The  arch  was  built  under 
a  long  trestle  which  was  filled  in  after  the  work  was  completed.  The  cost 
of  the  work  was  as  follows:  Stone  at  the  quarry,  $1986.06;  freight, 
$1298.21;  foundation  timber,  $502.20;  foundation  plank,  $453.34;  1041 
cu.  yds.  dry  excavation,  @25c,  $260.25;  617  cu.  yds.  wet  excavation, 
@  75c,  $462.75;  594  cu.  yds.  channel  excavation,  @  25c,  $148.50;  495.£ 
cu.  yds.  stone  cutting  and  laying,  @  $7.50,  $3719.25;  extra  labor  $31.90. 
The  cost  for  material  was  then  $4239.81,  the  cost  for  labor  $4622.65 
and  the  total  cost  $8862.46.  The  cost  of  the  stone  work  was  $14.12  per 


Fig.  8. — Plans  of  Stone  Arch  Culvert,  Pere  Marquette  R.   R. 

cubic  yard,  of  wnich  the  cost  of  the  stone  at  the  quarry  was  $4,  the  freight 
$2.62  'and  the  cost  of  the  cutting  and  laying  $7.50. 

Figure  8 A  shows  the  general  plans  of  the  stone  arch  culverts  of  15 
ft.  span  built  ton  the  reconstructed  Wyoming  division  of  the  Union  Pa- 
cific R.  R.  The  wing  walls  flare  out  at  an  angle  of  25-J  deg.  with  the- 
axis  of  the  culvert  and  they  extend  24  ft.  5  ins.  from  the  face  of  the 
arch.  The  reader  will  take  notice  of  the  inclined  side  walls  of  the  cul- 
vert, an  arrangement  which  avoids  the  objectionable  re-entering  angles 
at  the  mouth  of  the  opening,  or  where  the  side  walls  meet  the  wing  walls. 

In  most  localities  where  suitable  building  stone  is  not  to  be  had 
within  convenient  distance  good  brick,  being  so  widely  manufactured 
that  long  shipments  are  seldom  necessary,  are  usually  cheaper  for  mas- 
onry construction  and  quite  as  satisfactory,  so  far  as  durability  is  con- 
cerned. Aside  from  the  cost  of  material  there  is  also  the  important 
advantage  that  brick  can  be  handled  without  derricks.  In  building 
culverts  under  track  already  laid  the  brick  can  be  delivered  to  conven- 
ient points  about  the  work  by  unloading  from  the  cars  into  chutes, 


CULVERTS 


61 


whereas  in  unloading  and  setting  stone  of  the  larger  dimensions  derricks 
are  a  practical  necessity;  and  the  expense  of  moving  derricks  from  place 
to  place,  erecting,  and  operating  the  same  is  a  considerable  figure.  Where 
the  bench  and  wing  walls  of  brick  arches  are  laid  with  brick  or  rubble  stone 
the  only  heavy  stones  to  be  handled  are  the  coping  stones,  and  these, 
being  comparatively  few,  can  be  moved  to  place  with  hand  tools.  Instance 
where  this  principle  is  carried  into  effect  may  be  found  with  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.,  where  some  arch  culverts  of  consid- 
erable span  are  constructed  entirely  of  brick  except  for  the  coping  stones. 
Brick  for  culverts  should  be  hard  burned,  laid  in  Portland  cement  mor- 
tar, and  the  various  rings  composing  the  arch  sheeting  should  be  bonded 
together  at  intervals.  For  large  contracts  the  brick  are  sometimes,  but 
infrequently,  molded  bevel-shape,  to  fit  the  radial  lines  of  the  arch. 
The  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  makes  extensive  use  of  rubble 
arches  with  brick  sheeting.  Figure  9  shows  Bridge  No.  200  on  the 
Chicago  division,  near  Chillicothe,  111.  The  span  of  this  culvert  (or 
"b ridge")  is  30  ft.  and  the  arch  is  semicircular  or  "full  centered/'  with 
6-ft.  bench  walls,  making  the  headroom  21  ft.  at  the  center.  The  arch 
sheeting  has  six  rings  of  Galesburg  paving  brick  laid  on  edge  in  Portland 
cement  mortar.  The  footing  for  each  abutment  wall  consists  of  a  bed 
of  Portland  cement  concrete  7  ft.  deep,  on  a  gravel  bottom.  The  rub- 


END    ELEVATION 


VRANSVE^JE  S'ECTION. 


Fig.  8  A. — Standard  15-ft.  Arch  Culvert,  Union  Pacific   R.   R. 

ble  masonry  is  laid  with  natural  cement  mortar.  Owing  to  the  com- 
pactness of  the  gravel  in  the  bed  of  the  stream  the  culvert  is  not  paved 
and  has  not  shown  any  need  of  paving.  This  culvert  drains  5.38  sq. 
miles  of  broken  country  and  at  times  water  10  ft.  deep  has  flown  through 
it.  Bridge  No.  201  is  a  semicircular  arch  of  14  ft.  span,  with  8-ft.  bench 
walls,  through  an  embankment  54  ft.  high.  There  are  four  rings  of 
brick  in  the  arch  and  the  remainder  of  the  masonry  is  rubble  stone.  The 
foundation  for  each  abutment  wall  is  a  bed  of  concrete  3J  ft:  deep  resting  on 
piles  driven  13-J  ft.  into  hard  clay.  The  piles  are  not  capped  and  extend 
H  ft.  into  the  concrete.  Bridge  No.  202  is  the  same  size  as  No.  201  and  is 
built  like  it  except  that  only  three  rings  of  brick  are  used  in  the  arch,  the 
embankment  being  but  21  ft.  high.  Each  abutment  foundation  consists  of  a 
bed  of  concrete  3J  ft.  deep  resting  upon  hard  blue  clay.  Both  of  these  cul- 
verts are  paved  with  stone,  14  ins.  deep,  between  concrete  head  walls 
2  ft.  wide  and  3  ft.  deep,  to  hold  the  paving  in  place  and  protect  it 
against  undermining.  The  tops  of  the  head  walls  come  flush  with  the 
top  of  the  paving.  Between  Chicago  and  Kansas  City  on  this  road  there 
are  65  arches  ranging  from  8  to  30  ft.  span,  built  similarly  to  the 
ones  here  described. 

Figure  10  is  a  progress  view  of  a  brick  culvert  of  8  ft.  span  under 
a   63-ft.   embankment  on   the   Cincinnati   Southern   Ry.     The  culvert  is 


62 


TRACK  FOUNDATION 


Fig.  9.— Brick  and  Stone  Arch  Culvert,  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  Ry. 

207  ft.  long  and.,  owing  to  banks  at  either  side  of  the  fill,  the  culvert 
had  to  be  built  on  a  skew  of  65  deg.  with  the  alignment  of  the  road. 
The  foundation  of  the  culvert  consists  of  concrete  walls  4  ft.  9  ins.  wide 
and  4  to  7  ft.  deep.  Upon  these  walls  there  are  brick  bench  walls  3  ft. 
5  ins.  wide  and  4  ft.  high.  The  arch  is  semicircular  and  consists  of 
four  rings  of  brick  set  on  edge,  backed  up  with  brick  haunch  walls  car- 
ried out  to  the  full  width  of  the  bench  walls  and  carried  up  nearly  to 
the  top  of  the  arch.  These  haunch  walls  had  not  been  laid,  when  the 
photograph  was  taken.  The  end  of  the  arch  is  finished  with  brick  broken 
to  the  face  line,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  The  culvert  is  paved  with 
one  layer  of  brick  set  on  edge  on  a  concrete  foundation  12  ins.  deep.  The 
paving  is  sloped  from  either  side  to  form  a  depression  along  the  middle 
line  of  the  culvert.  Figure  11  shows  a  culvert  of  8  ft,  span  under 
a  freight  yard  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  E.  E.,  at 
Montello,  Mass.  The  culvert  is  700  ft.  long,  and  has  a  solid  concrete 
invert  and  foundation,  with  granite  side  walls,  brick  arch  with  concrete 
backing,  and  end  walls  of  granite: 

Concrete  Culverts. — Late  years  railroad  masonry  work  has  been  run- 
ning much  to  concrete,  this  material  being  found  particularly  well 
adapted  for  foundations,  retaining  walls  and  culverts.  Monolithic  work 
is  the  rule,  large  abutments,  arch  culverts  and  the  like  being  formed  in 
a  single  mass.  An  important  advantage  with  concrete  masonry,  from 
the  standpoint  of  economy,  is  that  skilled  labor  is  not  required  in  laying 
it,  which  is  not  the  case  with  stone  masonry  or  brickwork.  Carpenters 
are  usually  employed  to  erect  the  forms  and  ordinary  laborers  mix  and 
deposit  the  material.  In  ordinary  work  the  forms  are  easily  set  up  and 


CULVEKTS 


G3 


Fig.  10. — Brick  Arch  Skew  Culvert,  Cincinnati  Southern  Ry. 

the  lumber  used  in  the  same  may  be  taken  down  and  used  over  and  over. 
The  usual  form  is  made  by  standing  a  row  of  posts  in  line  and  lightly 
nailing  on  boards  or  2-in.  planks  horizontally  for  each  face  of  the  wall, 
using  planks  surfaced  one  side  and  two  edges  if  smooth  work  is  desired. 
The  posts  usualy  stand  higher  than  the  wall  and  are  braced  to  stakes 
driven  into  the  ground ;  to  posts  or  piles  in  trestle  bents,  in  case  the  cul- 
vert is  built  under  a  bridge;  or  to  other  stable  objects.  To  prevent 
spreading  the  form  apart  as  the  concrete  is  deposited  and  rammed  the 
posts  on  opposite  sides  are  held  together  with  tie  rods,  top  and  bottom, 
the  latter  remaining  in  the  concrete  when  the  form  is  removed.  On 
extensive  work  the  concrete  is  generally  mixed  with  portable  machinery. 
Concrete  culverts  are  usually  built  either  as  arches  or  with  rail  tops,  with 
any  form  of  end  wall  construction  that  is  desired.  The  coping  of  wing- 
walls  in  concrete  masonry  is  usually  sloped  to  conform  to  the  embankment 
slope. 

An  example  of  a  rail-top  culvert  built  with  concrete  side  and  end 
walls  is  shown  in  Fig.  12.  It  has  two  openings  each  4  ft.  wide  and  8  ft. 
high,  with  a  3-ft.  partition  between.  The  head  wall  on  either  end  of  the 
culvert  is  36  ft.  long,  2%  ft.  wide  on  top  and  1-i  ft.  deep,  the  back  of  the 


Fig.  11.— Brick  Arch  Culvert,  Stone  Trimmed,  N.  Y.,  N.  H.  &  H.  R.  R. 


TRACK  FOUNDATION 


Fig.   12 — Concrete   Culvert,   C.,    B.  &  Q.   Ry. 

wall  being  vertical  and  the  face  battered  1J  ins.  to  the  foot.  The  side 
walls  of  the  culvert  are  24  ft.  thick  at  the  top,  next  the  covering,  vertical 
on  the  inside  and  battered  1  in.  to  the  foot  on  the  back.  The  top  of 
the  culvert  is  covered  with  old  rails  in  7-ft.  lengths  spaced  12  ins.  centers 
and  filled  over  with  a  concrete  covering  18  ins.  deep.  This  covering  was 
laid  on  forms  placed  in  the  top  of  the  openings  and  left  in  place  until 
the  concrete  had  set,  so  that  the  concrete  forms  a  solid  mass  both  between 
and  over  the  rail  supports.  The  entire  masonry  work  of  the  culvert  is 
laid  upon  a  grillage  of  old  stringers.  The  photograph  from  which  this 
view  was  reproduced  was  taken  over  the  edge  of  the  bank,  so  that  the 
stream  and  its  channel  are  hidden  from  sight. 

•    Concrete  arch  culverts  of  ordinary  spans  are  now  extensively  found  on 
railways  throughout  the  country,  but  not  as  numerously  east  of  the  Alle- 


| 


Fig.   12  A. — Concrete   Culvert,  20-ft.   Span,   Union    Pacific   R.   R. 


CULVERTS 


65 


gheny  mountains  as  west  of  them.  A  good  example  of  snch  construction 
is  illustrated  in  Fig.  12 A,  being  one  of  the  standard  structures  of  this 
class  on  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  The  side  or  bench  walls  of  this  culvert 
are  8  ft.  thick  at  the  bottom,  and  are  battered  on  the  inside  face  1  in 
12,  so  as  to  meet  the  battered  wing  walls  without  making  a  re-entrant 
angle.  The  arch  is  full  centered  or  semicircular  and  is  24  ins.  thick  at 
the  crown.  The  clear  opening  under  the  crown  of  the  arch  is  20  ft.  and 
the  length  of  the  culvert  is  97  ft.  The  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
By.,  on  its  Iowa  divisions,  has  built  numerous  arch  culverts  having  con- 
crete side  walls,  wing  walls  and  face  walls,  but  with  brick  rings.  Under 
high  embankments  these  culverts  are  built  in  sections  not  to  exceed  40  ft. 
in  length,  with  tarred  paper  between  the  sections,  so  that  unusual  settle- 
ment will  not  break  up  the  solid  masonry.  This  principle  of  construction 
is  applied  to  both  arch  and  rail-top  culverts  on  this  and  other  roads.  In 
some  of  the  culverts  of  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Ry.  burnt  clay 
ballast  has  been  used  as  a  substitute  for  broken  stone  in  the  concrete 
Reinforced  Concrete  Arch  Cuhirts. — A  recent  development  in 
the  use  of  concrete  in  arch  construction  is  the  reinforcement  of  the  ma- 
sonry with  steel  members.  This  scheme  saves  something  in  concrete,  at 
least  in  large  structures,  and  binds  the  material  together  in  such  a  way 


Ha/f  Cross  Secf/on 
Fig.  12  B. — Reinforced  Concrete  Arch  Culvert,   L.,   E.  &  D.   R.   Ry. 

that  it  is  not  liable  to  be  greatly  weakened  in  case  of  settlement  under 
high  embankments  or  from  lack  of  uniformity  in  foundations.  In  prac- 
tice there  are  various  types  or  designs  of  reinforcement.  In  some  cases 
expanded  metal  of  No.  10  gage  and  3-in.  mesh  has  been  embedded  in  the 
arch  ring,  side  walls,  face  and  wing  walls  of  concrete  culverts.  In  the 
standard  concrete  arch  culverts  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  R.  R.  a  netting  of  No.  8  galvanized  wire,  mesh  1x2  ins.,  is  em- 
bedded in  the  arch  ring. 

On  quite  a  number  of  roads  the  reinforcing  members  consist  of 
steel  rails  embedded  in  the  arch  ring.  As  used  on  the  Lake  Erie  &  Detroit 
River  Ry.  these  rails  are  curved  to  the  arch,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  12B, 
which  is  a  part  section  and  end  elevation  of  a-  culvert  over  Little  Cedar 
creek,  29  miles  east  of  Walkerville,  Ontario.  The  arch  is  51  ft.  long, 
face  to  face,  and,  covering  a  width  of  24  ft.  divided  across  the  middle 
line,  there  are  ten  track  rails,  -curved  workwise  and  embedded  in  the 
concrete.  The  abutment  and  wing  walls  stand  upon  a  foundation  of  four 


6G 


TRACK  FOUNDATION 


rows  of  live  oak  piles,  spaced  2^x3  ft.,  driven  to  a  depth  of  about^  16-  ft. 
and  cut  oft'  at  an  elevation  6  ins.  above  the  lower  limit  of  the  concrete 
work.  The  principal  dimensions  appear  on  the  drawing.  The  spandrel 
walls  are  2^  ft.  thick  and  extend  1^  ft.  above  the  crown  of  the  arch. 
The  wing  walls  are  22  ft.  long  and  open  out  at  an  angle  of  12  deg.  Up 
to  the  springing  line  of  the  arch  the  face  of  each  wing  wall  stands  verti- 
cal, thus  permitting  it  to  meet  the  face  of  the  abutment  wall  at  a  vertical 
corner  and  avoiding  a  re-entrant  angle.  Above  the  springing  line  the 
wing  walls  are  slightly  battered  and  finished  without  coping  at  a  slope  of 
1.7  to  1  from  the  ground  line,  which  is  6  ft.  above  foundation.  The  pav- 
ing of  the  culvert  is  a  flat  inverted  arch  of  concrete  12  ins.  thick  on  the 
center  line  and  20  ins.  thick  at  the  abutment  walls.  The  paving  extends 
the  entire  length  of  the  opening  between  the  wing  walls,  or  95  ft.  from 
end  to  end,  and  is  curbed  at  either  end  with  a  concrete  wall  2  ft.  thick 
and  2J.  ft.  deep.  The  material  of  which  the  arch  is  composed  consists 
of  1  part  of  Portland  cement  to  2  parts  of  clean,  sharp  sand  and  3  parts 
of  crushed  stone.  The  concrete  in  the  remainder  of  the  work  is  com- 
posed of  1  part  Portland  cement  to  3  parts  of  sand  and  5  parts  of 
crushed  stone.  To  protect  the  back  of  the  arch  and  abutment  walls • 
those  surfaces  were  covered  with  a  layer  of  asphaltum  applied  hot.  The 
volume  of  masonry  in  the  structure  is  785  cu.  yds.  The  total  cost  of  the 
culvert  was  $6700.  On  the  Grand  Trunk  Western  Ey.  segmental  arch 
concrete  culverts  are  reinforced  with  straight  pieces  of  old  rail  embed- 
ded in  the  arch  ring  crosswise  the  barrel  of  the  arch.  In  this  manner 
they  pass  close  to  the  intrados  at  the  top  of  the  arch  and  extend  out 
toward  the  extrados  at  the  haunches,  being  cut  to  such  length  that  the 
ends  of  the  rail  do  not  project  from  the  arch  ring.  The  spacing  of  these 
reinforcing  rails  is  2  ft.  centers  under  the  tracks,  increasing  to  2J  ft. 
and  then  to  3  ft.  centers  towards  the  ends  of  the  barrel. 

The  Luten  type  of  reinforcement,  which  has  been  applied  to  a  num- 
ber of  culverts  on  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago.  &  St.  Louis  Ey., 
consists  in  the  use  of  single  rods  passing  through  those  portions  of  the 
arch  which  are  in  tension  when  the  structure  is  under  live  load.  The 
arrangement  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  12C.  The  span  of  this  arch  is  18  ft., 
the  clear  opening  9  ft.;  the  curve  of  the  intrados  is  three-centered,  with 
radii  of  5  ft.  at  the  haunches  and  a  radius  of  12  ft.  under  the  crown. 
The  thickness  at  the  crown  is  17  ins.,  at  the  springing  line  30  ins.  and  at 
the  base  of  the  abutments  7  ft.  The  reinforcing  rods,  which  are  smooth, 
round  and  1  in.  in  diam.,  are  embedded  near  the  intrados  at  the  crown 
and  near  the  extrados  at  the  haunches,  crossing  the  ring  at  points  of 
minimum  bending  moments.  They  are  thus  arranged  with  the  intention 

I 


Fig.  12  C. — Reinforced  Concrete  Culvert  at  Acton,   Ind.,  C.,  C.,  C.  &  St.   L.   Ry. 


CULVERTS  67 

of  putting  them  in  tension  their  entire  length.  They  are  spaced  at  inter- 
vals of  2  ft.  To  resist  the  horizontal  thrust  of  the  arch  steel  tie  rods 
running  from  abutment  to  abutment  are  joined  to  the  arch  rods  and 
embedded  in  the  pavement  of  concrete  in  the  bed  of  the  stream.  Each 
horizontal  tie  rod  is  bent  around  its  corresponding  upper  rod  and  then 
hooked  to  the  adjacent  or  the  second  rod  from  that  one,  thus  bonding  the 
bench  wall  together  longitudinally  by  either  a  single  or  a  double  row 
of  rods  at  the  base  of  the  wall.  The  arch  and  bench  walls  were  built  in 
radial  sections  of  10  ft.,  corresponding  to  the  work  of  each  day,  and  at 
the  base  of  the  abutment  or  bench  walls  the  sections  are  bonded  together 
with  old  steel  rails  embedded  lengthwise  the  arch  or  paraftel-to  the 
opening.  The  arch  replaced  an  old  timber  trestle,  and  was  constructed 
around  a  pile  bent  which  remained  standing  in  openings  through  the 
arch  ring  until  the  centers  of  the  arch  were  struck.  The  track  was  then 
supported  by  blocking  the  stringers  directly  upon  the  crown  until  the 
openings  were  filled  with  concrete,  the  traffic  being  permitted  to  pass  at 
ordinary  speeds  while  the  work  of  filling  was  under  way. 

The  Illinois  Central  R.  R.  has  built  a  large  number  of  concrete  cul- 
verts and  bridges  (in  spans  up  to  60  ft.)  in  a  variety  of  forms.  One 
class  of  structure  used  for  culverts  of  10  to  15  ft.  span  consists  of  a  very 
flat  type  of  concrete  arch  reinforced  with  straight  I-beams.  It  is  the  rail- 
top  principle  of  construction  with  the  concrete  finished  to  a  three-centered 
flat  arch  underneath.  The  15-ft.  spans  have  seven  9-in.  I-beams  17J  ft. 
long  spaced  at  18  ins.  centers  under  each  track  and  embedded  in  the  con- 
crete, which  is  18  ins.  thick  at  the  crown — 3  ins.  thick  below  the  beams 
and  6  ins.  thick  above  them.  The  top  surface  of  the  concrete  is  flat,  ex- 
cept at  the  sides,  where  it  slopes  to  4-in.  drain  tiles  through  the  parapet  or 
face  wall.  Over  a  segment  of  11  ft.  the  intrados  is  curved  to  a  radius 
of  20  ft.,  and  at  the  haunches  the  radius  is  2  ft.  The  culverts  of  12  ft. 
span  have  a  radius  of  16  ft.,  for  a  chord  of  8  ft.,  and  haunch  curves  of  2 
ft.  radius.  The  reinforcement  in  these  culverts  consists  of  five  10-in.  or 
12-in.  I-beams  16  ft.  long  under  each  track,  spaced  2  ft.  apart.  In  one 
double  arch  culvert  the  12-in.  I-beams  are  continuous  over  both  of  the 
12-ft.  arches.  For  the  10-ft.  spans  the  reinforcement  consists  of  five  lines 
of  10-in.  I-beams  14  ft.  long,  spaced  2  ft.  apart  under  each  track.  The 
radii  of  the  intrados  are  16  ft.  for  a  chord  of  6  ft.,  and  2  ft.  at  the 
haunches.  Many  of  these  culverts  have  concrete  inverts  8  ins.  thick.  In 
many  instances  the  depth  of  filling  over  the  culvert  is  only  18  ins.  of 
ballast,  measuring  from  the  top  of  the  concrete  to  the  bottom  of  the 
ties.  On  this  road  numerous  stone  arch  culverts  and  bridges  have  been 
repaired  with  a  lining  or  casing  of  concrete  to  protect  the  stone  from 
further  disintegration.  At  one  place  the  arch  of  a  culvert  of  16  ft.  span 
was  lined  with  concrete  8  ins.  thick  and  the  bench  and  wing  walls  were 
encased  with  concrete  of  the  same  thickness.  In  some  cases  a  concrete 
invert  has  been  placed  and  the  bench  and  wing  walls  have  been  'faced  with 
concrete,  without  lining  the  arch.  An  account  of  lining  a  stone  arch  of 
50  ft.  span  with  concrete  (Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.)  was  published  in 
the  Railway  and  Engineering  Review  of  March  31,  1900. 

General  Considerations. — By  way  of  general  conclusion  on  the  sub- 
ject of  culverts  it  may  be  said  that,  as  far  as  is  feasible,  all  structures 
under  the  track  should  be  made  permanent.  The  cost  of  renewing  a 
structure  at  the  end  of  a  period  more  or  less  certain  is  not  the  only  factor 
to  be  taken  into  consideration  when  figuring  out  the  economy  of  tempor- 
ary construction.  The  service  rendered  by  a  temporary  structure  usually 
calls  for  a  good  deal  of  the  time  of  the  section  men,  sooner  or  later,  whicli 


68  TRACK  FOUNDATION 

means  interruptions  to  the  track  work,  but  which  are  not  always  counted 
upon  in  reckoning  the  ultimate  cost  of  a  temporary  structure.  In  build- 
ing a  road  where  the  culverts  must  be  constructed  of  material  shipped  in^ 
and  particularly  if  of  large  stone  or  heavy  pipe,  temporary  trestles  are 
usually  constructed  at  the  openings  in  the  roadbed  and  the  culvert  work 
and  filling  are  taken  up  in  convenient  season. 

One  object  which  should  be  continually  before  the  mind  of  the 
engineer  of  construction  should  be  to  reduce  as  far  as  may  be  practicable 
the  number  of  openings  under  the  track.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  locations 
for  cattle  passes  may  frequently  be  selected  at  points  where  culverts  are 
required,  although  to  do  this,  in  some  cases,  may  require  a  little  diplomacy 
with  the  farmers,  perhaps.  Otherwise  there  is  liable  to  be  a  temptation, 
and  one  too  frequently  yielded  to,  to  dispose  of  such  openings  with  inferior 
construction,  such  as  pile  bents  with  plank  bulkheads,  open  culverts,  or 
other  openings  which  answer  to  the  same  description.  If  the  location  of 
a  cattle  pass  does  not  call  for  construction  adapted  to  the  now  of  water 
it  should  nevertheless  measure  up  to  the  standard  of  requirements  for  the 
roadbed  and  track,  and  rail-top  culverts  or  arched  masonry  openings  are 
to  be  recommended.  The  opening  of  ordinary  size  for  this  purpose  is  7 
ft.  high  and  5  ft.  wide.  Where  no  water  is  to  be  carried  wing  walls  are 
not  provided.  On  some  concrete  arch  cattle  passes  the  barrel  of  the 
arch  is  carried  out  to,  and  finishd  off  at,  the  plane  of  the  embankment 
slope. 

In  some  situations  it  is  possible  to  do  away  with  culverts  entirely, 
even  where  a  stream  must  be  taken  care  of,  as  in  the  case  where  the  road 
crosses  a  loop  in  a  stream  and  the  scheme  of  cutting  a  channel  to  shunt  the 
stream  across  on  the  up-stream  side  of  the  track  is  practicable.  In  each 
case  of  this  kind  two  culverts  can  be  avoided.  A  remarkable  applica- 
tion of  this  scheme  of  engineering  may  be  seen  just  east  of  Ft.  Steele, 
Wyo.,  on  the  Union  Pacific  E.  E.  Here  the  road  crosses  a  bend  in  the 
bed  of  a  stream  emerging  from  a  canyon  through  which  a  great  deal  of 
water  passes  when  snow  melts  in  the  spring.  Within  the  loop  the  road 
cuts  across  the  end  of  a  rocky  bluff,  and  in  order  to  divert  the  course  of 
the  stream,  so  as  to  save  two  culverts,  a  tunnel  360  ft.  long,  6  ft.  high  and 
5  ft.  wide  was  cut  through  the  rock. 

There  is  also  a  scheme,  sometimes  resorted  to,  for  shortening  the 
length  of  a  culvert  where  a  fill  is  made  across  a  narrow  and  deep  ravine. 
In  place  of  a  culvert  through  the  lowest  part  of  the  embankment,  which 
in  some  cases  would  have  to  be  several  hundred  feet  long,  the  ravine  is 
filled  with  loose  rock  for  some  distance  up  from  the  bottom  and  provision 
is  made  for  carrying  off  flood  water  by  putting  in  a  culvert  at  a  high 
level  and  cutting  a  drain  into  the  solid  bank,  on  one  or  both  sides  of  the 
ravine,  so  that  in  case  the  water  cannot  all  find  its  way  through  the  per- 
meable embankment,  the  upper  opening  or  openings  will  prevent  the  flood 
from  rising  to  dangerous  night.  With  such  an  arrangement  however, 
there  is  some  question  as  to  whether  the  ravine  would  not  in  time  fill  with 
sediment  and  debris  to  the  level  of  the.  culvert.  With  a  culvert  of  ample 
size  there  would  appear  to  be  no  particular  objection  to  this  plan  of  con- 
struction, but,  except  in  rock  formation,  the  necessity  for  providing  a  sub- 
stantial pavement  or  spillway  to  prevent  wash  from  the  outlet  might  entail 
enough  expense  to  offset  what  wras  saved  in  length  of  culvert.  It  is  to  be 
considered,  however,  that,  as  between  two  openings  of  the  same  size,  the 
water  will  flow  away  more  rapidly  through  the  lower  one,  should  the  open- 
ing prove  to  be  inadequate  to  pass  the  water  freely,  owing  to  the  greater 
head  possible.  It  is  also  true  that  the  lower  the  culvert  is  placed,  the 


CULVERTS 


69 


less  likely  is  the  flood  water  to  rise  to  the  level  of  the  track,  owing  to  the 
increase  of  flow  with  head. 

A  notable  example  of  the  application  of  this  principle  of  construction 
is  the  Cascade  rock  fill  on  the  Erie  E.  E.,  near  Gulf  Summit,  184  miles 
from  New  York  City.  Here  the  road  crosses  a  narrow  gorge  formerly 
spanned  by  a  bridge  275  ft.  long  and  175  ft.  high  above  the  stream.  In 
1850  this  gorge  was  filled,  the  bottom  part  with  slaty  rock  in  thicknesses 
up  to  18  ins.  The  embankment  is  480  ft.  wide  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine,  and  the  sides,  which  are  faced  with  earth,  gravel  and  cinders,  stand 
at  slopes  varying  from  1.58:1  to  1.44:1.  This  ravine  drains  about  5  sq. 
miles  of  territory,  and  during  ordinary  times  the  permeable  roclTfill  passes 
the  water.  Usually  the  water  stands  in  a  pool  about  15  ft.  deep,  but  at 
times  this  goes  almost  dry.  To  provide  for  floods  a  tunnel  320  ft.  long 
and  10x1 3 J  ft.  in  section  was  cut  through  the  rocky  bluff  on  one  side  of 
the  ravine,  53  ft.  above  the  normal  water  level  in  the  pool  (the  bottom  of 
the  tunnel  is  96  ft.  below  grade),  and  in  times  of  heavy  rain  or  rapid 
thawing  the  water  rises  to  this  tunnel;  frequently  the  discharge  has  been 
known  to  almost  fill  the  tunnel.  The  spillway  from  the  tunnel  is  over 
solid  rock.  Apparently  the  rock  in  the  bottom  of  this  embankment  has  not 
been  silted  to  a  level  higher  than  10  or  15  ft.  Observation  during  a  period 
of  12  years  (1888  to  1900)  showed  no  change  in  the  normal  level  of  the 
water  passing  through  the  fill. 


Building  Track  Foundation  Under  Difficulties,   White  Pass  &  Yukon  Route. 


CHAPTER  II. 


TRACK  MATERIALS. 

6.  Rails. — Among  track  materials  the  rail  has  received  more  study 
or  careful  attention  at  the  hands  of  engineers  than  any  other  one  thing> 
and  it  has  been  greatly  improved  and  cheapened.  Improvement  in  the 
quality  of  the  metal  and  the  decline  in  cost  of  manufacture  began  with 
the  introduction  on  a  commercial  scale  of  that  great  invention,  the  Besse- 
mer process  of  making  steel.  A  Bessemer  steel  rail  was  laid  on  the  ]\I  id- 
land  Ky.,  in  England,  as  early  as  1857,  but  the  behavior  of  most  of  the 
Bessemer  steel  rails  rolled  at  about  "that  time  is  reported  to  have  been, 
unsatisfactory,  and  for  seven  or  eight  years  their  manufacture  was  aban- 
doned. The  first  steel  rails  made  in  the  United  States  were  of  Bessemer 
steel  and  were  rolled  in  Chicago  in  May,  1865;  the  first  Bessemer  steel  rails 
to  be  produced  on  commercial  order  were  rolled  in  Johnstown,  Pa.,  in 
August,  1867.  Practically  all  of  the  rails  now  in  service  in  main  tracks  in 
this  country  are  of  Bessemer  steel.  Iron  rails  have  gone  out  of  use, 
except  possibly  on  a  few  unimportant  roads  where  the  volume  of  the 
traffic  has  not  been  sufficient  to  wear  them  out,  or  where  they  have  been 
taken  from  main  tracks  and  put  into  side-tracks.  The  introduction  of  the 
Bessemer  process  fairly  revolutionized  the  art  of  rail  manufacture  and  the 
ultimate  effect  upon  railway  building  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The 
cheaper  product  has  made  possible  the  heavier  rail  of  recent  years,  not  to- 
speak  of  thousands  of  miles  of  new  lines  which,  in  all  probability,  but 
for  this  cheaper  product  would  not  now  exist;  and  this  heavier  rail,  with 
its  increase  of  strength,  has  made  possible  the  heavier  locomotives  and 
cars  of  greater  carrying  capacity  now  everywhere  employed.  The -amount 
of  historical  data  essential  to  anything  like  a  comprehensive  statement  of 
rail  development  would  overs  well  convenient  limits  of  space  in  this  book; 
hence  the  story  can  only  be  touched  upon,  and  that  in  a  rather  disconnected 
way. 

Weight  of  Rails. — Looked  at  directly  from  a  financial  standpoint,  the 
question  which  first  arises  in  construction  is  the  weight  of  rail  to  be 
used.  Concerning  this  matter  fixed  rules  are  not  in  fashion,  nor,  except  at 
more  or  less  wide  extremes,  can  conclusive  evidence  be  deduced  from  prac- 
tice which  will  decide  upon  anything  like  a  definite  weight  for  the  case 
in  hand.  First  of  all,  with  new  roads  a  prediction  of  the  amount  of  business 
for  the  first  few  years,  at  least,  must  always  be  something  of  an  uncer- 
tainty; but  even  with  old  roads  which  do  a  good  business,  and  where  the 
amount  of  it  is  fairly  well  established,  there  is  not,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  opportunity  to  clearly  demonstrate  the  most  economical  weight  of 
rail  within  perhaps  15  or  20  Ibs.  per  yard.  To  appreciate  the  force  of  this 
statement  one  must  be  able  to  understand  how  numerous,  how  varying,  and 
how  indeterminate  are  the  conditions  which  must  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion. It  is  a  question  depending  more  upon  judgment,  as  the  term  is 
commonly  understood,  than  upon  direct  Or  conclusive  demonstration.  Some 
general  principles  are  recognized,  however,  which  cannot  be  far  from  the 
facts. 


RAILS  71 

Views  respecting  the  minimum  weight  which  can  he  profitably  used 
accord  pretty  closely.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  standard-gage  steam  road 
constructed  to-day  with  a  view  to  permanency  could  afford  to  use  in  main 
track  a  rail  lighter  than  60  Ibs.  per  yard.  Eoads  not  operating  more  than 
ten  trains  per  day,  unless  the  locomotives  were  unusually  heavy,  would 
probably  not  save  anything  in  the  end  by  going  much  above  this.  Within 
limitations  quite  generally  understood,  the  logical  guide  in  weight  of  rail 
is  volume  of  traffic.  When  the  amount  of  traffic  is  known,  something 
approximate  to  the  increased  service  in  years,  per  added  weight  of  rail,  can 
be  ascertained,  but  just  what  saving  in  repairs  can  be  effected  by  an 
additional  outlay  for  so  many  extra  tons  of  rail  per  mile,  as  required  by 
the  section  of  increased  weight,  cannot  be  stated  with  any  degree  of  cer- 
tainty. It  is  known  that  there  is  a  saving  in  repairs  by  any  increase  of 
section,  but  where  such  increase  reaches  the  point  at  which  saving  in  re- 
pairs plus  the  saving  due  to  added  life  of  rail,  is  balanced  by  interest  on 
additional  outlay,  plus  depreciation  on  the  extra  weight  which  must  go 
to  scrap,  cannot  be  stated  with  any  greater  accuracy.  Any  road  making 
the  change  to  larger  section  can  appreciate  the  results,  and  a  road  doing 
a  paying  business  is  not  so  liable  to  feel  the  cost,  even  though  it  may  use 
a  rail  somewhat  heavier  than  actually  results  in  economy.  A  company 
earning  large  profits  could  the  more  easily  be  induced  to  adopt  a  rail  of 
heavy  section;  and  profits  have  been  made  the  basis  for  judgment  in 
more  instances,  perhaps,  than  has  the  amount  of  traffic.  Increase  in  size 
or  weight  of  rails  has  been  an  empirical  growth.  Increase  in  wheel  loads 
and  in  speeds  was  necessarily  accompanied  by  increased  deflection  in  the 
rails  and  greater  depression  of  the  track  into  the  ballast,  thus  calling  for 
more  work  to  maintain  the  track  in  surface.  When  observations  of  this 
character  made  the  rail  appear  too  weak  the  section  would  be  made 
somewhat  heavier,  until  it  seemed  to  answer  the  requirements  fairly  well. 
It  is  true  of  practice  to  say  that  the  relative  amount  of  work  required  to 
keep  the  rails  in  desired  surface  has  been  the  index  which  has  governed 
rail  design  so  far  as  the  weight  was  concerned.  The  conditions  of 
rail  support  are  such  that  stresses  in  the  rails  from  the  loads  imposed 
by  the  traffic  are  not  determinable  from  'mathematical  calculations — 
at  any  rate  no  man  of  experience  has  made  bold  to  propose  a  method  of 
theoretical  investigation  of  the  problem.  It  remained  for  Mr.  P.  H. 
Dudley,  within  recent  years,  to  show,  by  means  of  his  "stremmatograph," 
what  the  magnitude  of  the  stresses  in  rails  really  were.  This  is  done 
by  actual  measurement  of  the  strains  in  the  fibers  of  the  rail  base, 
from  which  the  stresses  are  deduced  by  a  well  known  process.  The  sub- 
ject is  dealt  with  in  some  detail  in  §  181,  Chap.  XI. 

With  no  attempt  at  complying  with  formulated  rules  it  seems  a 
striking  coincidence  that  the  average  weight  of  rails  has  maintained 
a  pretty  nearly  fixed  relation  with  the  average  weight  of  locomotives. 
It  is  not  far  out  of  the  way  to  express  this  relation  by  saying  that 
the  average  weight  of  rail  in  pounds  per  yard  has  corresponded  to  the 
average  weight  of  locomo lives  in  tons.  In  the  days  of  50-ton  locomotives 
we  had  the  50-lb.  rail,  and  later  on  there  were  60-lb.  and  70-lb.  rails 
to  meet  a  corresponding  increase  in  weight  of  locomotives.  At  present 
we  have  80-ton  locomotives  and  80-lb.  rails  in  pretty  general  service,  while 
100-lb.  rails  are  in  use  011  about  as  many  roads  as  are  100-ton  locomotives. 
On  a  comparatively  few  roads  locomotive  weights  have  advanced  a  good  deal 
beyond  100  tons,  but  such  cases  are  too  rare  for  the  purpose  of  the  present 
comparison.  While  it  may  be  true  that  increase  in  weight  of  rails  rela- 
tively to  the  increase  in  weight  of  locomotives  may  have  been  a  little  tardy, 


72  TRACK    MATERIALS 

at  times,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  the  developments  along  the  two  lines 
have  moved  parallel. 

Kails  weighing  75  or  80  Ibs.  per  yard  are  ordinarily  found  on  lines 
of  heavy  traffic.*  A  few  years  ago  it  appeared  that  tendencies  were  strongly 
set  toward  the  general  use  of  100-lb  rails  in  the  near  future,  but  the  gain  in 
that  direction  has  been  slower  than  was  expected.  As  a  matter  of  history  80- 
Ib.  rai's  (5-inch)  were  first  used  in  1884,  on  the  New  York  Central  & 
Hudson  Eiver  R.  R. ;  95-lb.  rails  (5-inch)  in  1891,  on  the  Boston  &  Albany 
R.  R.;  and  100-lb.  rails  (6-inch)  in  1892,  on  the  New  York  Central  & 
Hudson  River  R.  R,  Tht  entire  line  of  the  Boston  &  Albany  road  (202 
miles  o[  double  track)  was  completely  laid  with  95-lb  rails  in  1897,  the 
latest  section  then  used  having  the  following  dimensions:  hight,  5V32  in.; 
width  of  bast,  54  ins. ;  width  of  head  at  bottom  corners,  3  ins. ;  sides  of 
head  sloping  1  in  16 ;  depth  of  head,  19/16  in. ;  depth  of  flange,  1  in. ;  thick- 
ness of  web  at  middle  f  in. ;  radius  of  top  of  head  and  of  side  of  web, 
14.  ins.;  fishing  angles,  14  deg.;  radius  of  top  corners  of  head  and  of 
bottom  fillets,  5/16  in. ;  radius  of  top  fillets,  ^  in. ;  radius  of  bottom  corners 
of  head  -J  in. ;  radius  of  corners  of  flange,  1/16  in. ;  edge  thickness  of  flange 
5/ie  in. ;  web  -J  in.  thicker  next  the  base  than  under  the  head.  The 
earliest  roads  besides  the  N.  Y.  C.  &  H.  R.  R.  R.  to  begin  the  use  of 
100-lb.  rails  were  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford;  the  Penn- 
6}rlvania;  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio;  the  Pittsburg,  Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie; 
the  Duluth  &  Iron  Range;  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburg;  the 
Pittsburg  &  Western ;  the  Canadian  Pacific  and  the  Lehigh  Valley.  In 
1900,  eight  years  after  100-lb.  rails  were  first  put  into  service  in  this 
country,  the  total  length  of  track  laid  with  the  same  was  only  about 
2200  miles,  of  which  the  Penna,  R.  R,  had  1085  miles  and  the"  N.  Y., 
N.  H.  &  H.  R.  R.  500  miles,  but  since  then  the  increase  in  the  mileage 
of  rails  of  this  weight  has  perhaps  been  more  rapid.  Some  of  the  100-lb. 
rails  are  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers'  standard  section  and 
others  are  of  independent  design.  The  rail  in  use  on  the  New  York  Central 
£  Hudson  River  R.  R.  is  6  ins.  high,  5J  ins.  wide  on  base"  and  3  ins.  wide  at 
the  bottom  corners  of  the  head.  The  depth  of  head  is  If  ins. ;  depth  of 
flange,  31/32  in.;  edge  thickness  of  flange,  9/32  in.;  thickness  of  web  at 
narrowest  part,  19/32  in-j  wgb  7/32  in-  thicker  next  the  base  than  next 
the  head;  radius  of  bottom  corners  of  head  1/16  in.  In  other  respects 
the  section  is  shaped  like,  and  has  the  same  dimensions  as,  that  of  the 
95-lb.  rail  of  the  Boston  &  Albany  R.  R.,  above  referred  to.  The  remark- 
able features  of  the  section  are  the  broad  and  shallow  head  and  the 
unusual  hight,  the  latter  contributing  to  increased  stiffness.  The  metal 
is  distributed  in  head,  web  and  flange  in  the  proportion  of  40.8,  23.5  and 
35.7  per  cent.  The  section  of  the  100-lb.  rail  in  use  on  the  Pennsylvania 
R.  R.  (Fig.  19)  differs  materially,  the  dimensions  being  as  follows:  hight, 
5-|  ins. ;  width  of  base  5-J  ins. ;  width  of  head  at  bottom  corners,  213/16  ins. ; 
sides  of  head  slope  4  deg.;  depth  of  head  1J  ins.;  depth  of  flange,  15/1(; 
in. ;  thicknes  of  web  at  middle  £  in. ;  radius  of  top  of  head,  10  ins. ;  radius 
of  top  corners,  7/16  in ;  radius  of  fillets,  J  in. ;  radius  of  side  of  web,  8  ins. ; 
fishing  angles,  13  deg. ;  distribution  of  metal  in  head  46  per  cent,  in  base 
34  per  cent,  in  web  20  per  cent.  The  100-lb.  section  of  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  R.  R.  has  the  same  general  dimensions  as  that  of  the  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R.,  except  that  the  head  is  narrower  and 

*Heavy  traffic,  as  determined  by  a  committee  of  "reporters"  to  the  Inter- 
national Railway  Congress,  in  1900,  is  supposed  to  comprise  a  movement  of 
10,000  or  more  trains  per  year  (27  or  more  trains  per  day)  on  one  track,  or 
that  number  on  each  track  of  a  double-track  line. 


RAILS  73 

deeper,  the  width  at  bottom  corners  being  2f  ins.  and  the  depth  l23/a2 
ins.  The  radius  of  top  corners  is  T/16  in^  nllet  radius  £  in.,  fishing  angles 
13  deg.,  radius  of  side  of  web  and  top  of  head  12  ins.,  depth  of  flange 
15/16  in.,  web  same  thickness  at  base  as  under  the  head.  The  distribu- 
tion of  metal  is  as  follows:  head,  41.65  per  cent;  web,  23.65  per  cent; 
flange,  34.70  per  cent. 

Rail  Design. — For  convenience  the  cross  section  of  the  rail  is  quite 
•easily  divided  into  three  distinct  parts — head,  web  and  base  or  flange.  Con- 
ventionally described,  the  head  includes  all  the  metal  above  its  under  sides 
produced  to  meet  in  the  vertical  axis  of  the  section,  the  greatest  depth 
being  shown  by  dimension  Et  Fig.  13.  The  base  or  flange  includes  all  the 
metal  under  its  upper  sides  produced  to  meet  in  -the  vertical  axis  of  the 
section,  the  greatest  thickness  being  shown  by  dimension  G  in  the  figure. 
The  web  includes  the  remaining  metal,  or  that  between  the  head  and 
flange,  the  hight  of  which  is  shown  by  dimension  F  in  the  figure.  Kegard- 
ing  the  relative  proportions  of  these  three  parts  there  has  been  much 
discussion.  Inasmuch  as  but  little  of  the  metal  is  usually  lost  by  oxida- 
tion or  rust,  the  head  is  the  only  portion  which  usually  wears,  out,  and 
the  idea  which  prevailed  for  a  long  time  was  to  put  into  it  as  much  metal 
as  conditions  affecting  the  other  parts  would  allow.  The  most  important 
of  these  conditions  arises  during  the  process  of  manufacture.  As  the 
flange  is  thinner  than  the  head  it  naturally  cools  more  rapidly,  both  dur- 
ing and  immediately  after  the  rolling  process,  and  if  the  quantity  of 
metal  in  the  head  greatly  preponderates  that  in  the  flange  the  disparity 
in  the  rate  of  cooling  of  the  two  parts  is  correspondingly  large.  In  order 
to  produce  a  straight  rail,  therefore,  it  must,  after  the  last  pass  through 
the  rolls  and  before  it  is  placed  upon  the  hot  bed  to  cool,  be  given  an 
amount  of  camber  or  upward  curvature  which  varies  with  the  excess  of 
metal  in  the  head  over  that  of  the  flange;  so  that  at  high  heat  the  head 
is  made  longer  than,  or  is  curved  around,  the  flange.  Now  while  steel 
is  cooling  down  from  the  rolling  or  finishing  temperature  there  are  cer- 
tain stages  at  which  there  is,  for  an  instant,  a  retardation  in  the  falling 
of  the  temperature,  and  sometimes  there  i&  a  perceptible  increase  of  heat. 
These  stages  are  known  as  "points  of  recalescence"  or  "critical  points." 
Steel  containing  less  than  0.20  per  cent  carbon  has  three  of  these  points, 
at  1580,  1365  and  1200  deg.  F.,  while  ordinary  rail  steel,  with  0.45 
to  0.55  per  cent  carbon,  has  only  one,  which  lies  between  1290  and  1340 
deg.  F.  The  phenomena  observed  in  the  cooling  of .  a  rail  from  the 
finishing  temperature  are  about  as  follows :  After  cooling  a  little  there  is 
at  first  a  recalescence  of  the  flange,  straightening  the  rail  and  giving 
it  a  slight  downward  curvature,  and  later  a  recalescence  of  the  head,  giv- 
ing the  rail  camber  or  upward  curvature,  frequently  exceeding  the  amount 
first  put  into  it,  until  finally  it  begins  to  straighten  for  the  third  time, 
and  after  40  to  45  minutes,  when  cool,  the  rail  is  approximately  straight 
and  is  finished  by  gagging,  or  straightening  under  a  press. 

_  The  effect  of  this  unequal  cooling  is  to  produce  strains  in  the  metal, 
as  indicated  by  the  flexure,  and  so  far  as  permanent  set  takes  place  in 
the  interior  of  the  metal  the  strength  of  the  rail  is  affected.  That 
permanent  set  does  occur  in  cooling  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  rail  does 
not  cool  straight;  and  then  to  get  it  straight  it  must  be  bent  in 'the  cold 
condition  and  be  given  more  permanent  set.  It  thus  occurs  that  in  order 
to  produce  rails  of  desired  quality  the  design  must  in  large  measure  suit 
the  conditions  of  manufacture.  These  conditions  improve  as  the  quan- 
tities of  metal  in  head  and  flange  approach  an  equality,  and  the  pre- 
ponderance of  enlightened  opinion  stands  for  that  form  of  section  in 


74  TRACK    MATERIALS 

which  these  two  parts  are  as  nearly  balanced  as  the  purposes  of  the- 
rail  and  economy  of  material  will  seem  to  permit.  With  this  twofold 
object  in  view  the  aim  respecting  the  distribution  of  the  metal  is  to 
minimize  the  necessary  amount  of  initial  camber,  and  therefore  the  sever- 
ity of  the  cooling  strains  and  the  amount  of  gagging  necessary;  for  the 
greater  the*  amount  of  camber  used  the  greater  is  the  liability  to  kinking 
while  the  rail  is  cooling.  Experience  has  also  shown  that  the  life 
of  a  rail  depends  but  relatively  little  upon  the  amount  of  metal  in  the 
head  available  for  wear,,  as  is  explained  further  along — the  dependence- 
in  this  respect  is  rather  upon  the  wearing  properties  of  the  metal,  for  in 
practice  the  rail  usually  becomes  unserviceable  after  only  a  relatively 
small  portion  of  the  head  has  worn  away.  The  old  idea  that  the  rail 
head  should  be  deep  has  been  pretty  thoroughly  explained  away.  Exam- 
ples in  the  distribution  of  the  metal  over  the  section  have  already  been 
referred  to,  and  further  along  the  subject  is  again  taken  up. 

After  settling  upon  the  distribution  of  the  metal  in  the  three  parts- 
of  the  rail,  the  next  matter  for  consideration  is  the  exact  form  and  dimen- 
sions of  these  parts.  Perhaps  first  in  importance  is  the  relation  between 
the  hight  of  the  rail  and  the  width  of  the  flange.  As  strength  and 
stiffness  increase  very  rapidly  with  increase  in  hight  of  section,  that  dimen- 
sion should  be  as  large  as  is  consistent  with  stability  and  the  proper  pro- 
portioning of  the  parts.  The  idea  sometimes  advanced  that  a  rail  can  be 
too  stiff  for  the  rolling  stock  is  absurb.  This  idea  probably  takes  its  in- 
ception from  the  fact  that  rough  track  in  stone  ballast  (which  is  the 
hardest  and  stiffest  ballast)  is  more  severe  on  rolling  stock  than  in  other 
kinds  of  ballast;  but  stiff er  rails  in  such  a  case  would  be  beneficial.  Eails 
of  available  weight  cannot  be  made  as  stiff  as  it  is  desirable  to  have 
them.  Assuming  that  the  cross  sections  of  rails  of  different  weights  are 
similar  (This  is  not  strictly  true,  but  the  approximation  is  close  enough 
for  practical  considerations),  it  follows  from  mechanical  laws  that  the 
strength  (measured  by  safe  load)  varies  as  the  cube  of  the  hight  andjthe 
stiffness  (measured  inversely  by  deflection)  as  the  fourth  power  of 
the  hight.  For  example,  a  rail  5  ins.  high  is  practically  twice  as  strong 
and  2A  times  as  stiff  as  one  4  ins.  high,  although  it  is  only  1-J  times 
as  heavy.  An  80-lb.  rail  (hight  5  ins.),  which  is  33^  per  cent  heavier 
than  a  60-lb.  rail  (hight  4£  ins.),  is  62  per  cent  stronger  and  91  per  cent 
stiffer.  The  increase  of  stiffness  with  hight  of  section  in  rails  of  the 
same  weight  is  also  surprisingly  large.  Although  the  stiffness  of  the 
track  .does  not  increase  in  proportion  to  increase  of  stiffness  in  tfre  rail 
(the  supporting  power  of  the  ballast  and  roadbed  having  to  be  taken 
into  account),  nevertheless  the  relative  stiffness  of  the  rail  is  an  important 
matter  in  maintenance  economy.  Increase  of  stiffness  in  the  rail  dis- 
tributes the  load  farther  from  the  bearing  point — that  is,  over  more  ties — - 
thus  reducing  the  pressure  per  unit  area  of  the  ballast  and  roadbed,  which 
reduces  the  rate  of  settlement  of  the  track.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that 
stiff  rails  do  not  cut  into  the  ties  as  badly  as  the  more  flexible  ones. 
That  stiffness  could  be  carried  much  farther  than  it  is  in  practice,  with- 
out making  the  rail  too  weak  laterally,  is  true;  but  to  do  so  would  neces- 
«arily  draw  metal  from  and  weaken  the  flange,  which,  for  reasons  to  be 
stated,  is  not  advisable. 

The  points  of  advantage  in  a  wide  flange  are  that  it  distribute?  the 
load  over  more  tie  surface,  thus  operating  less  destructively  upon  soft  ties ; 
it  gives  the  rail  side  stability  and  it  also  gives  it  stability  against  canting 
or  tilting  on  curves.  Of  such  importance  are  the  claims  for  both  high 
rail  and  wide  flange  (and  the  fact  that  one  cannot  be  carried  far  without 


V 


RAILS  75 

affecting  the  dimensions  of  the  other)  'that,  in  the  largest  practice,  a  com- 
promise has  been  struck  at  making  the  two  equal.  Any  variation  in  this 
relation  is  usually  in  favor  of  the  hight,  but  not  more  than  -|  in.,  in  the 
largest  rails. 

As  to  the  proportions  of  the  head,  everything  seems  to  favor  the 
broad  head  as  against  the  deep  one.  The  wider  the  head  the  wider  is  the 
bearing  for  the  wheel  tread,  the  effect  of  which  should  be  to  prolong 
the  life  of  both  rail  and  wheel.  The  shallower  head  broadened  out  adapts 
itself  much  better  to  rolling,  as  it  cools  more  quickly  than  the  deep  one 
and  thus  reduces  the  cooling  strains.  The  broader  and  thinner  Jhead  also 
makes  room  for  deeper  and  thicker  angle  bars — a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance as  affecting  the  stiffness  of  rail  splices. 

Concerning  the  top  of  the  rail  head  some  claim  that  it  should  be 
flat,  while  others  go  farther  and  say  that  it  should  be  flat  and  also 
inclined  to  correspond  to  the  coning  of  the  wheels.  It  is  supposed  that  there- 
by the  tractive  power  of  locomotives  would  be  slightly  increased  and  that 
the  treads  of  wheels  instead  of  wearing  concave  and  reversing  the  con- 
icity,  as  really  does  happen,  would  better  retain  their  original  form  as 
wear  takes  place.  It  is  also  claimed  for  the  flat-top  rail  that  flow  of 
metal  and  consequent  scaling  of  the  head,  from  wheel  pressure,  cannot  so 
readily  take  place.  Against  these  claims  it  is  argued  that  while  the  flat- 
top rail  would  undoubtedly  increase  to  some  extent  the  tractive  power  of 
the  locomotive,  at  the  same  time  the  resistance  which  such  a  rail  would 
offer  to  rolling  wheels  would  be  greater,  so  that,  after  all,  the  effectiveness 
of  the  locomotive  would  not  be  increased,  if  indeed  it  would  not  be  very 
much  diminished.  As  a  reason  for  this  it  is  explained  that  on  flat-headed 
rails  wheels  run  with  considerable  noise,  while  with  the  same  wheels  on 
a  rail  having  a  radial  top  the  noise  is  very  much  less.  As  noise  in  machin- 
ery indicates  wear  and  loss  of  power,  it  is  inferred  that  such  is  the  case 
with  wheels  running  on  a  flat  surface;  and  hence  a  compromise  between 
reduced  locomotive  traction  on  the  one  hand,  and  added  rail  resistance  to 
wheels,  on  the  other,  is  arrived  at  by  shaping  the  top  of  the  rail  head  to 
a  comparatively  long  radius,  10  and  14  ins.  being  the  minimum  and 
maximum  in  common  use. 

It  was  formerly  taught  that  friction  is  independent  of  extent  of 
surface  except  at  limits  of  abrasion.  It  is  generally  conceded  now, 
although  not  well  formulated  as  yet,  that  this  does  not  apply  to  roll- 
ing friction,  at  least,  but  that  rolling  friction  decreases  with  decrease  of 
bearing  surface,  and  hence,  for  car  wheels,  both  train  resistance  and  wear 
on  the  rail  are  less  for  the  radial-top  rail.  Eegarding  the  traction  of  the 
locomotive  it  is  well  known  that  driver  tires  soon  wear  to  fit  any  shape  of 
rail  head,  for  which  reason  any  loss  in  tractive  power  due  to  small  bear- 
ing surface  for  the  driver  will  take  place  during  only  a  short  time  while 
the  tire  is  new,  or  immediately  after  it  has  been  turned  down.  It  is  also 
pointed  out  that  the  side  play  in  the  wheel  is  bound  to  wear  the  tread 
hollow,  and  the  hollow  tread  will  in  turn  wear  the  rail  head  to  a  curve. 
Repeated  observation  of  this  mutual  wear  has  shown  that  the  rail  top 
is  worn  approximately  to  a  curve  of  12  ins.  radius,  whatever  the  shape  of 
the  head.  While  this  consequence  may  not  follow  as  quickly  with  a  flat- 
to])  as  with  a  radial-top  rail  the  same  result  is  nevertheless  eventual.  So 
far  as  bearing  is  concerned  the  worn  tread  obtains  full  bearing  upon  rails 
with  curved  top,  but  as  for  new  wheels  on  a  radial- top  rail  the  ideal  con- 
ditions nro  supposed  to  obtain,  so  that,  taking  conditions  as  they  are  bound 
to  occur,  p  very  thing  seems  to  favor  the  rail  with  a  curved  top.  'Facts  above 
stated  explain  why  a  curve  of  12  ins.  radius  is  considered  the  natural 


76  TRACK    MATERIALS 

shape  of  the  rail  top.  The  practice  of  increasing  this  radius  is  defended 
by  those  who  favor  it,  on  the  ground  that  the  larger  the  top  radius  the 
less  severely  is  the  head  indented  by  the  gags  in  the  straightening  press 
•during  manufacture. 

There  is  another  argument  put  forth  to  prove  that  the  rail  having 
the  radial  top  reduces  the  rolling  friction  of  wheels  to  a  minimum.  The 
coning  of  wheels  is  practiced  for  two  reasons;  viz.  to  effect  a  slight  gain 
of  speed  of  the  outer  wheel  over  the  inner  one  on  curves,  and  to  facilitate 
the  adjustment  of  the  speed  difference  of  two  wheels  on  the  same  axle 
having  slightly  different  diameters.  It  is  the  latter  reason  which  it  is 
•desired  to  consider  here.  It  will  occur  to  any  one  that  to  always  get  two 
wheels 'of  exactly  the  same  diameter  on  the  same  axle  must  be  a  difficult 
matter;  also  that  a  difference  in  hardness  between  the  metals  in  the  two 
wheels  will  result  sooner  or  later  in  a  difference, in  diameters  from  the 
unequal  wear.  Were  the  wheel  treads  cylindrical  this  diffrence  of 
diameters  would  cause  the  wheel  of  larger  diameter  to  constantly  outrun 
its  mate,  so  that  the  axle  would  always  take  a  position  somewhat  diagonally 
to  the  track,  keeping  the  flange  of  the  wheel  of  smaller  diameter  con- 
stantly grinding  against  the  rail.  If-  the  tread  of  the  wheel  is  coned,  how- 
ever, there  is  a  constant  adjustment  of  the  wheels  from  one  side  to  the 
other;  for  just  as  soon  as  one  wheel  is  crowded  over  against  its  rail  it  is 
then  rolling  on  a  portion  of  its  tread  which  is  of  larger  diameter,  and  it 
sooner  or  later  is  able  to  gain  on  the  other  wheel  and  swing  the  axle 
back  into  line.  This  action  can  be  observed  of  any  pair  of  coned  wheels 
running  on  straight  track.  The  movement  of  the  wheels,  first  to  one 
side  and  then  to  the  other,  is  not  therefore  an  indication  of  a  wrong  con- 
dition, but  that  the  wheels  are  properly  adjusting  themselves  to  difference 
in  speed,  and  therefore  to  least  resistance.  If  the  wheels  take  a  straight 
course,  keeping  always  to  one  side,  it  may  be  inferred  that  their  diame- 
ters are  not  the  same,  and  that  the  co-nstant  running  of  one  flange  against 
the  same  rail  increases  the  resistance.  Now  this  coning  of  the  wheels 
will  give  the  desired  effect  on  a  rail  head  of  any  uniform  shape,  but 
another  point  arises  in  connection  with  the  coning.  Suppose  the  rail  head 
be  flat  and  beveled  to  correspond  to  the  coning  of  the  wheel.  The  contact 
between  tread  and  rail  may  then  be  likened  to  a  straight  line  drawn 
squarely  across  the  rail  head.  Now  the  points  of  the  tread  in  contact 
with  the  rail  at  opposite  ends  of  this  line — that  is,  at  the  gage  side,  and  at 
the  outside,  of  the  rail  head — are  points  on  the  extremities  of  unequal  diame- 
ters. This  means  that  in  running  a  bevel-treaded  or  coned  wheel  on  a 
bevel-headed  rail,  one  part  of  the  tread  in  contact  with  the  rail  must 
constantly  slip  ahead  or  else  the  opposite  part  slip  back,  or  else  both 
forward  and  backward  slippings  take  place  at  the  same  time,  as  with 
reference  to  a  point  at  the  center  of  the  line  of  contact,  thus  increasing  the 
rolling  friction  of  the  wheel  to  some  extent  and  consequently  the  abrasion  of 
the  rail.  The  force  necessary  to  constrain  a  conical  pail  to  roll  straight 
across  the  floor  furnishes  a  familiar  illustration  of  the  wasted  power  here 
referred  to  in  the  action  of  the  wheel  on  the  flat-top  rail.  With  regard 
to  the  matter  of  abrasion,  however,  it  might  be  disputed  that  the  flat-top 
rail  suffers  the  more  in  the  end,  especially  when  considering  the  effect  of  lo- 
comotive drivers ;  or  it  might  be  shown  that  locomotive  drivers  operate  more 
severely  on  the  radial-top  rail,  while  ordinary  car  wheels,  which  are  not 
so  heavily  loaded  and  which  hold  the  coning  longer,  are  more  severe  on 
the  flat-top  rai).  Where,  however,  the  top  surface  of  the  rail  head  is  curved, 
the  contact  between  wheel  tread  and  rail  is  a  point,  or,  more  correctly,  a 
small  circle  or  ellipse,  and  consequently  a  speed  difference  between  the 


RAILS  77 

outer  and  inner  portions  of  the  rolling  tread  in  contact  does  not  occur. 
The  radial-top  head  undoubtedly  contributes  toward  a  minimum  of  roll- 
ing friction  between  wheel  and  rail  as  long  as  the  coning  lasts.  After  that 
the  conditions  would  seem  to  be  about  the  same  'in  either  case. 

Ideas  on  the  necessity  for  wide  contact  between  wheel  and  rail  have- 
led  to  the  practice  of  tilting  the  rail  to  fit  the  coning  of  new  wheels.  On 
European  roads  and  in  India  it  is  the  general  practice  to  adz  the  ties  to- 
give  the  rail  an  inward  cant  of  1  in  20.  This  practice  has  been  adopted  on 
the  Lehigh  Valley  road,  in  this  country,  where  the  rail  (90-lb.)  is  canted 
-J  in.  toward  the  inside.  Aside  from  the  increased  traction  which  this 
arrangement  is  supposed  to  afford,  it  does  give  considerable  side  stability 
to  the  outer  rail  on  curves,  some  claiming  that  it  answers  every  purpose  of 
the  use  of  rail  braces.  On  European  roads  it  is  found  that  on  straight 
track  the  pressure  of  the  wheel  on  the  canted  rail  has  a  tendency  to  cant 
the  rail  more,  and  does  actually  narrow  the  gage.  On  curves  the  tendency 
to  cant  toward  the  inside  is  opposed  by  the  centrifugal  pressure  from  the 
wheel  flanges  and  the  gage  tends  to  widen. 

Another  point  in  rail  design  upon  which  opinions  differ  is  in  regard 
to  the  side  of  the  head — whether  it  should  be  vertical  or  sloping.  It  was 
formerly  the  practice  to  use  sloping  heads  more  than  it  is  now,  the  idea 
being  that  the  side  of  the  head  should  fit  the  wheel  flange  and  thu& 
remove  the  cause  of  vertically  worn  flanges.  On  this  point  opinion  has 
largely  changed,  and  there  are  now  but  comparatively  few  who  endorse 
the  principle  of  the  flaring  head.  The  evil  effect  of  flange  wear  lies  not 
necessarily  in  vertically-worn  flanges  more  than  any  other,  but  in  flanges 
so  worn  as  to  grind  against  the  side  of  the  rail  head.  As  such  takes  place 
sooner  on  rails  with  a  sloping  or  flaring  head-  than  on  rails  having  a  head 
with  vertical  sides,  the  preference  would  seem  to  be  with  the  vertical  side, 
As  between  wheels  worn  to  fit  the  rail  the  state  of  things  would  seem 
to  be  the  more  favorable  with  the  vertical-sided  rail  head  and  vertically- 
worn  wheel  flange,  because  on  a  sloping  head  there  must  be  greater 
tendency  for  the  wheel  to  climb  the  rail.  For  the  same  quantity  of  metal 
in  the  head  the  sloping  side  narrows  the  bearing  for  the  wheel  tread,  and 
unless  such  rails  are  gaged  at  the  top  corner  of  the  head  there  is  per- 
mitted a  considerable  amount  of  side  play  in  the  wheels  in  addition 
to  the  customary  clearance  of  f  in.  +  wear  °f  flange.  It  should  be 
noted  that,  by  reason  of  the  closer  fit  of  the  wheel  to  the  rail,  this  excess- 
play  is  greater  than  the  amount  of  slope  or  batter  in  the  side  of  the  head. 
With  gages  of  the  usual  form  (having  vertically  depending  lugs)  it  is  not 
practicable  to  gage  the  rails  from  the  top  corners,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
practice,  they  are  not  so  gaged.  In  some  cases  the  gage  lugs  are  shortened 
and  the  gage  of  the  track  is  taken  at  a  point  midway  up  the  side  of  the 
rail  head.  In  other  cases  gages  with  ordinary  lugs  are  used,  and  conse- 
quently the  gage  is  measured  at  the  lower  corner  of  the  rail  head,  such 
being  the  case  on  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  It  has- 
been  the  practice  on  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.  to  measure  the  gage  from  a 
point  J  in.  below  top  of  head. 

The  rail  section  designed  by  Mr.  Eobert  H.  Sayre  for  the  Lehigh  Val- 
ley E.  E.  many  years  ago  has  always  been  the  criterion  of  rails  with  side- 
sloping  heads.  Formerly  the  side  slope  in  the  head  of  this  rail  was  10  deg., 
but  in  1891  a  modified  section  was  adopted  in  which  the  slope  was  reduced 
to  5  deg.  In  1899  this  design  was  abandoned  by  the  Lehigh  Valley  com- 
pany for  the  American  Society  standard  section,  described  farther  along. 
The  extreme  of  designs  opposed  to  the  wheel-fitting  idea  is  found  in  the 
"pear-head"  rail,  in  which  the  sides  of  the  head  slope  inward  from  the  top. 


78  TRACK    MATERIALS 

Rails  of  this  shape  are  standard  on  some  of  the  roads  in  Europe,  but  in 
American  practice  the  idea  has  never  been  strongly  entertained,  although 
it  has  been  tried  to  a  small  extent. 

The  point  over  which  the  largest  amount  of  discussion  has  taken 
place  is  in  regard  to  the  radius  of  the  top  corners  of  the  head.  Authorities 
on  the  subject  now  advocate  radii  varying  all  the  way  from  J  to  f  in.,  the 
largest  number,  if  not  a  majority,  apparently,  being  in  favor  of  J  in.  In 
earlier  years  the  upper  limit  of  preferences  was  much  larger,  being  J  or  £ 
in.  Those  who  approve  of  the  longer  radii  incline  to  the  wheel-fit  idea, 
-and  point  out  that  the  use  of  a  small  radius  produces  more  nearly  the 
effect- of  a  sharp  corner  in  the  wear  of  the  wheel  flange;  that  inasmuch  as 
the  wheels  and  rails  on  curves  eventually  wear  to  fit  each  other,  anyhow, 
were  the  corner  radius  of  the  rail  in  the  first  place  made  more  nearly  that 
of  the  wheel  flange  fillet  (f  in.)  the  flange  could  longer  retain  its  shape. 
Those  who  incline  to  the  opposite  view  explain  that  when  the  corner  of 
the  rail  fits  the  fillet  of  the  wheel  flange  there  are  parts  of  the  wheel  mak- 
ing contact  with  the  rail  which  are  not  of  the  same  radius ;  which  means 
.grinding  action  between  the  surface  in  contact  and  hastening  of  the  time 
when  the  worn  flange  will  grind  against  the  side  of  the  rail  head.  While 
it  is  true,  as  those  who  favor  a  longer  radius  claim,  that  on  curved  track 
the  flanges  will  in  time  wear  down  the  corner  of  the  head  to  their  own 
curve,  still  with  the  small  radius  such  time  is  necessarily  prolonged.  It 
is  also  to  be  said  in  favor  of  the  small  corner  radius  that  on  straight  line, 
where  there  is  but  little  tendency  to  side  wear  from  the  wheels,  the  cor- 
ner of  small  radius  will  keep  the  wheel  flanges  from  grinding  in  the  fillet 
and  from  contact  with  the  side  of  the  rail  head  for  a  long  time,  possibly 
as  long  as  the  rail  remains  in  service,  whereas  if  the  corner  is  of  compara- 
tively long  radius  the  wheel  fillet  will  grind  against  it,  and  grinding  of 
the  flange  against  the  side  of  the  head  will  take  place  much  sooner.  In- 
crease in  length  of  radius  of  the  top  corners  has  also  the  effect  of  narrow- 
ing the  top  bearing  surface  of  the  rail,  and  it  permits  increase  in  side 
play  of  the  wheels,  as  is  explained  in  connection  with  the  side-sloping 
head.  Mr.  M.  N.  Forney  has  shown  that  as  between  a  corner  radius  of 
11/32  in.  and  one  of  f  in.  the  latter  permits  f  in.  more  side  play  in  the 
wheels  (3/16  in.  on  each  side  of  the  track)  than  the  former,  on  rails  gaged 
the  same  in  either  case. 

In  order  to  afford  the  greatest  practicable  bearing  surface  for  the 
-splice  bars  the  lower  corners  of  the  rail  head  should  be  rounded  but  little, 
and  a  radius  of  1/16  in.  for  these  corners  meets  with  general  approval. 
The  radius  for  the  corners  of  the  rail  base  should  also  be  small  and  the 
-sides  of  the  base  vertical,  so  as  to  afford  good  bearing  surface  for  the 
-spikes.  In  some  rails  of  the  older  designs  the  top  corner  and  whole  side 
of  the  base  were  rounded  off  to  meet  a  sharp  bottom  corner  which  cut 
the  spikes  badly.  For  the  further  reason  that  rails  with  sharp  corners 
are  uncomfortable  to  handle  it  is  desirable  to  avoid  such  features  in  rail 
design. 

As  to  the  shape  of  the  web  three  forms  are  used :  the  web  with 
-straight  sides ;  the  web  with  concave  sides,  the  thickness  at  head  and  flange 
being  equal,  the  least  thickness  coming  then  at  the  middle;  and  the  web 
with  concave  sides  but  thicker  next  the  flange  than  next  the  head.  It  is 
-claimed  that  concave  or  radial  sides  work  an  advantage  in  rolling,  inasmuch 
as  the  web,  being  thinner  than  either  the  head  or  flange,  should  be  thicker 
next  those  portions  of  the  rail,  which  cool  more  slowly,  since  it  is  in  those 
portions  of  the  web  that  the  greatest  cooling  strains  occur.  Radii  which 
have  been  used  for  this  purpose  vary  from  8  to  30  inches.  The  web  with 


RAILS  79 

concave  sides  and  thicker  at  the  base  than  under  the  head  has  largely 
£one  out  of  use.  The  object  aimed  at  in  this  design  is  perhaps  to  give 
the  section  the  appearance  of  stability,  which,  of  course,  is  unnecessary. 
Kails  with  straight-sided  webs  have  been  used  extensively,  and  the  diffi- 
culties supposed  to  attend  the  rolling  of  the  same  without  undue  cooling 
strains  are  not  generally  concurred  in.  In  rails  of  the  same  weight,  with 
the  same  distribution  of  metal  and  fillets  of  the  same  radius,  the  web 
with  straight  or  parallel  sides  leaves  more  bearing  surface  for  the  splice 
bars  on  the  under  sides  of  the  head  than  does  the  web  with  radial  sides. 

There  seems  to  be  an  idea  somewhat  prevalent  that  rails  are  rolled 
to  be  used  as  "rights"  and  "lefts/5  and  some  have  professed  to~uriderstand 
that  the  side  bearing  the  rolling-mill  brand  is  intended  for  the  gage  side. 
This  is  a  mistaken  idea.  Both  sides  of  a  rail  are  supposed  to  be  rolled 
-alike,  and  if  the  rolling  is  properly  done  the  rails  may  be  laid  without 
reference  to  the  branded  side.  The  custom  of  regarding  the  sides  of  a 
rail  with  respect  to  the  manufacturer's  mark,  for  any  good  reason,  has  been 
•due  to  carelessness  in  manufacture,  by  permitting  the  rolls  to  remain  in 
use  after  they  have  become  unequally  worn  (as  between  top  and  bottom 
rolls),  thus  producing  a  rail  of  unsymmetrical  section.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances it  is  necessary  to  lay  contiguous  rails  uniformly  with  respect 
to  the  position  of  the  brand,  else  there  will  be  lip  at  the  joints.  In  such 
•cases  the  position  of  the  brand — whether  inside  or  outside — is,  of  course, 
immaterial,  so  long  as  it  is  not  changed  on  the  same  line  of  rails.  It  is 
perhaps  needless  to  remark  that  if  the  rails  were  properly  inspected  at  the 
mill  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  the  trouble  of  sorting  them  or  of 
•changing  them  from  side  to  side  of  the  track  when  they  are  laid.  Bolt 
holes  should  be  drilled,  and  not  punched,  lest  the  web  may  be  fractured. 
In  the  old  iron  rails  the  bolt  holes  were  sometimes  punched  and  made 
oblong,  so  as  to  allow  the  rail  to  expand  or  contract  without  straining  the 
splice  bolts,  but  with  steel  rails  provision  for  this  requirement  is  made 
by  drilling  the  holes  in  the  rails  larger  than  the  bolts  and  in  punching 
oblong-  holes  in  the  splice  bars. 

Xot  so  many  years  ago  the  designing  of  rail  sections  had  become  a 
fad.  Most  engineers  in  position  to  do  so  felt  called  upon  to  get  up  an 
independent  design,  and  nearly  every  road  had  its  own  standard  section, 
which  would  undergo  modification  as  often  as  changes  took  place  in  the 
personnel  of  the  engineering  department.  The  result  was  an  almost  end- 
loss  variety  of  designs  differing  to  suit  individuaj  ideas,  but  comprising 
many  collections  which  were  practically  identical  except  for  slight  and 
unimportant  differences  in  dimensions.  In  keeping  with  this  situation 
each  rail  manufacturer  was  obliged  to  carry  a  numerous  assortment  of 
rolls  in  stock,  and  attempts  to  reduce  rail  making  to  desirable  standards 
were  confusing.  As  a  matter  of  record  the  rail  mills  at  one  time  had  no 
less  than  188  different  patterns  which  were  considered  standard,  and  119 
patterns  of  27  different  weights  per  yard  were  regularly  manufactured. 
The  situation  was  investigated  by  the  American  Socitey  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers and,  in  1893,  after  deliberating  more  than  three  years  a  committee* 
of  the  society  reported  upon  a  general  type  of  section  and  series  of  sections 
•conforming  thereto,  for  rails  varying  in  weight  by  5-lb.  increments,  from 
40  to  100  Ibs.  per  yard.  This  report  was  accepted  by  the  society  and 

"This  committee  was  composed  of  the  following  eminent  engineers:  G. 
Bouscaren,  Foster  Crowell,  S.  M.  Felton,  Jr.,  J.  D.  Hawks,  Robt  W.  Hunt 
< Secretary),  Geo.  S.  Morison,  E.  T.  D.  Myers,  Samuel  Rea,  H.  Stanley  Good- 
win, Thos.  Rodd,  A.  M.  Wellington,  Virgil  G.  Bogue  and  F.  M.  Wilder. 


80 


TRACK    MATERIALS 


recommended  to  the  railway  companies  for  adoption  in  practice,  and  the 
type  of  section  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  "American  Society  standard/' 
The  form  of  this  section  is  shown  by  Fig.  13,  together  with  the  fol- 
lowing constant  dimensions  for  all  the  sections  embraced  by  the  range  of 
weights:  Kadius  of  top  corners  of  head,,  5/16  in.;  radius  for  bottom  cor- 
ners of  head  and  corners  of  flange,  Vie  in- ;  radius  of  fillets,  J  in. ;  radius- 
for  top  of  head  and  side  of  web,  12  ins.;  fishing  angles  13  deg. ;  distribution 
of  metal,  in  head  42  per  cent,  in  web  21  per  cent,  in  flange  or  basa 
37  per  cent.  The  dimensions  which  vary  with  weight  of  rail  appear  in 
Table  III.  The  hight  of  rail  and  width  of  base  for  each  section  are 
equal.  It  may  prove  a  matter  of  some  interest  to  state  that  out  of  10  Sets- 
of  preliminary  designs  for  standard  sections  submitted  by  11  of  the  115 
members  of  this  committee,  independently,  in  1891,  and  previous  to  any 
discussion  or  comparison  of  views,  all  were  in  agreement  upon  12  ins.  as 
the  top  radius  and  nine  were  for  J  in.  as  the  top  corner  radius  and  for 
a  head  with  vertical  sides.  Three  sets  of  designs  favored  a  web  with 
.straight  sides  and  five  favored  concave  sides  on  a  radius  of  12  ins. ;  the 
two  other  sets  of  designs  offered  radii  of  9  and  30  ins.  Only  two  of  the  1O 
sets  of  designs  proposed  uniform  percentages  of  metal  in  head,  web  and 

Table  III. 


DlSTRIBUT/ON  Of 


Head,  42  Percent 
Web,    21  "      ' 
Flanqe.37  " 


U S 


100 


95 


90 


80 


75 


7O 


t>0 


50 


45 


40 


4% 


4f/6 

~3W 


J  "Sfe 


4s 


4?/6 


406 


3% 


3"//6 


Z'/z 


Z'/6 


D        I 


9//6 


916 


De/y 

ofrte 


Z 


23/8 


2'%* 


2 


Z'//6 


S7/64 


Fig.  13. — Standard  Rail  Sections,  Am.  Soc.  C.  E. 

base  throughout  the  several  sections  of  a  set.  The  average  distribution 
of  metal  for  all  the  sections  submitted  stood  42.49  per  cent  for  the  headr 
20.92  per  cent  for  the  web  and  36.59  per  cent  for  the  base,  or  practically  the 
percentages  finally  decided  upon.  The  fishing  angles  proposed  varied 
from  11  to  14  deg.  Six  of  the  10  sets  of  designs  (7  members)  stood  for 
a  width  of  head  exceeding  2f  ins.  for  the  100-lb.  rail,  the  maximum  width 
proposed  being  2£  ins.  (three  designs).  Seven  sets  of  designs  stood  for 
equality  in  hight  of  rail  and  width  of  base;  one  set  of  designs  (two  mem- 
bers) made  the  hight  of  rail  J  in.  less  than  the  base  width  and  two  sets  of 
designs  made  it  greater  for  the  heaviest  sections  (100  Ibs.  in  one  case  and 
90  and  100  Ibs.  in  the  other  case).  The  final  decision  upon  5/1(J  in.  as 
the  top  corner  radius  was  the  result  of  a  compromise  to  get  the  two  mem- 
bers who  favored  a  larger  radius  (7/16  in.  for  rails  of  50  Ibs.  per  yard 
and  lighter,  and  -J  in.  for  heavier  rails)  to  agree  to  other  features  of  the- 
proposed  sections.  Mr.  Morison  presented  a  minority  report  proposing  the* 
same  width  of  head  (2J  ins.)  for  all  sections  from  50  Ibs.  and  upward, 
with  a  uniform  distribution  of  metal  at  41-J,  21  and  37-J  for  all  weights 
of  rail.  His  argument  was  that,  owing  to  interchange  of  car?,  the  same 


RAILS  81 

Avheels  must  run  upon  rails  of  various  weights,  and  in  order  that  uni- 
formity of  wear  on  wheels  and  rails  might  obtain,  the  wearing  surface  of 
rails  of  all  weight  should  be  of  the  same  shape  and  width;  and  in  order 
that  the  wheels  might  properly  track  down  the  center  line  of  each  rail, 
the  distance  between  the  center  line  and  the  gage  line  should  be  kept 
constant  on  all  rails.  Mr.  Wellington's  views  on  this  point  admitted 
that  on  flat-top  rails  the  application  of  the  principle  would  be  important, 
but  he  believed  that  on  rails  with  a  12-in.  top  radius  the  side  play  in 
the  wheels  would  naturally  cause  the  treads  to  wear  to  a  12-in.  radius 
for  a  width  exceeding  that  of  the  widest  rail  head,  so  that,  "on  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  ball-and-socket  joint,"  the  worn  tread  should  fit  any  rail 
head  not  over  3  ins.  wide.  Coming  down  to  fine  points,  the  ball-and-socket 
principle  could  hardly  apply  with  rigid  axles,  but  the  scheme  of  constant 
width  of  head  is  somewhat  objectionable  from  another  viewpoint,  in  that, 
for  sections  heavier  than  80-lbs.  the  relative  depth  of  the  head  is  increased. 
The  student  of  rail  design  should  not  fail  to  carefully  read  the  progress 
report  (1891)  and  final  report  (1893),  with  the  appended  correspondence, 
submitted  by  this  committee  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers. 

The  adoption  of  rail  sections  of  the  American  Society  standard  is 
on  the  increase.  During  the  year  1901  rails  of  this  type  of  section  con- 
stituted fully  75  per  cent  of  all  rails'  rolled  in  American  mills.  The  general 
adoption  of  a  standard  type  of  section  should  work  for  economy  in  several 
ways :  As  mills  can  keep  running  steadier  in  dull  times-,  owing  to  the 
certainty  that  the  product  will  find  sale  when  orders  begin  to  come  in.' 
and  as  there  is  less  expense  in  fitting  up  rolls  and  less  time  lost  In 
changing  them,  the  rails  should  be  made  cheaper.  Kails  should  also  be 
made  better,  because  the  mills  can  more  frequently  avoid  rush  of  work, 
and  constant  manipulation  of  rails  of  the  same  form  gives  a  better  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  section  and  the  require- 
ments of  rolling  it. 

Chemical  Composition. — Regarding  the  chemical  composition  of  steel 
rails  it  may  be  said  that  the  impurities  inherent  in  the  iron  or  introduced 
into  the  same  must  be  regulated  to  form  a  combination  of  physical  prop- 
erties not  usually  associated  together  in  such  degrees  in  any  other  arti- 
cle of  manufacture.  A  railroad  rail  must  be  hard,  in  order  to  resist  flow 
of  metal  under  wheel  pressure,  and  at  the  same  time  it  must  necessarily 
possess  great  toughness,  in  order  to  withstand  the  sudden  and  severe 
shocks  of  ponderous  rolling  loads.  The  impurities  commonly  found  in 
the  raw  material  are  carbon,  manganese,  silicon,  phosphorus,  and  sulphur. 
The  first  three  are  easily  within  the  control  of  the  manufacturer  and  are 
desirable,  in  more  or  less  certain  proportions,  in  order  to  give  the  rail  its 
requisite  properties;  while  the  other  two,  as  a  matter  of  expense,  cannot 
be  entirely  eliminated. 

Carbon  is  first  in  importance  among  the  desirable  elements.  By  itself, 
alone,  up  to  1  per  cent,  it  increases  hardness  and  tensile  strength  but  de- 
creases the  ductility  or  toughness.  It  was  formerly  used  in  proportions 
varying  from  0.25  to  0.50  per  cent,  but  late  years  the  tendency  is  to  higher 
carbon,  in  order  to  effect  gain  in  hardness  required  to  meet  the  increased 
wheel  pressures.  The  properties  of  the  metal  also  depend  largely  upon  the 
manner  of  mechanical  treatment,  as  frequent  rolling  at  compartively  low 
temperatures  will  produce  a  fine  grain  and  compact  structure  which  will 
improve  the  wearing  qualities  of  the  rail,  whatever  amount'  of  carbon  is 
used,  and  the  same  treatment  will  make  up,  to  a  degree,  the  toughness 
lost  by  the  use  of  higher  carbon.  Generally  speaking,  0.40  per  cent  or 
Tinder,  of  carbon,  is  now  consider*  d  low;  0.40  to  0.55  per  cent,  medium; 


82  TRACK    MATERIALS 

and  above  0.55  per  cent,  high.  The  most  common  practice,  perhaps,  is  to 
use  0.45  to  0.55  per  cent  of  carbon,  but  even  as  high  as  0.70  per  cent 
is  sometimes  used.  It  is  deemed  to  be  safe  practice  to  increase  the  car- 
bon with  increase  in  weight  of  rail,  for  the  larger  rail  is  stronger,  andr 
as  less  work  is  done  upon  it  under  the  rolls,  the  hardness  due  to  the  extra 
carbon  is  needed  to  make  up  for  loss  in  compactness  of  structure,  in  order 
that  the  wearing  qualities  may  not  be  impaired.  The  proportion  of  car- 
bon must  also  depend  somewhat  upon  the  percentage  of  phosphorus  pres- 
ent: the  higher  the  phosphorus  the  lower  the  allowance  of  carbon,  and 
vice  versa.  A  uniform  specification  for  all  grades  of  steel  is  not  considered 
good  practice. 

Manganese  is  necessary  to  take  up  the  oxides  of  iron  formed  while 
the  metal  is  in  the  molten  state,  the  products  of  the  combination  pars- 
ing off  in  the  form  of  slag.  It  also  tends  to  prevent  the  formation  of  oxides 
while  the  heated  metal  is  being  worked  into  shape.  In  sufficient  quantity 
it  assists  toward  a  more  uniform  distribution  of  the  carbon  through  the 
iron.  It  facilitates  the  chemical  combination  of  the  carbon  with  the- 
iron,  at  high  temperature,  and  tends  to  prevent  separation  into  .graphitic 
carbon  or  graphite  HS  the  iron  cools  down.  If  not  used  to  excess  it  im- 
parts strength  and  toughness.  If  the  iron  is  low  in  carbon  the  ciieet 
of  manganese  is  similar  to  that  of  carbon  alone,  but  diminishes  the  duc- 
tility in  less  degree:  it  may  therefore  replace  carbon  to  some  extent.  It 
is  considered  an  effective  antidote  for  sulphur.  When  used  in  high  per- 
centages it  has  the  effect  of  making  the  rail  hard  and  coarsely  crystalline, 
and  its  tendency  is  to  brittleness,  much  the  more  as  it  exists  in  unneces- 
sary quantity.  Its  use  varies,  according  to  circumstances,  from  0.70  to 
1.40  per  cent. 

Silicon  is  useful  in  that  it  acts  as  a  flux,  and,  like  manganese,  and  in- 
the  same  manner,  tends  to  prevent  injury  by  oxidation  of  the  iron.  In 
this  way  it  prevents  the  formation  of  blow  holes,  and  imparts  to  the  metal 
a  solid  structure  of  small  crystallization.  When  of  just  sufficient  amount 
it  gives  added  toughness,  but  any  increase  "beyond  this  tends  to  brittleness. 
It  has  a  hardening  effect  and,  to  a  limited  extent,  may  replace  carbon.  Its- 
use  ranges  from  .10  to  .20  per  cent. 

Sulphur  and  phosphorus  are  both  objectionable  elements,  but  diffi- 
cult to  eliminate  entirely  from  the  metal.  They  perform  no  useful  com- 
binations in  any  way  not  more  satisfactorily  obtained  by  other  elements, 
and  must  be  kept  low,  sulphur  generally  not  to  exceed  .07  per  cent,  and 
phosphorus  not  to  exceed  .085  per  cent.  Eails  high  in  either  cannot  be 
so  high  in  carbon,  as  already  stated.  Sulphur  produces  red-shortness  or 
hot-shortness  (brittleness  at  high  temperature),  thus  imparting  to  the- 
metal  a  tendency  to  crack  and  form  seams  in  rolling.  Phosphorus  increases 
the  size  of  the  crystallization  and  causes  cold-shortness,-  making  the  metal 
hard  and  brittle  and  liable  to  crack  or  break  in  cold  weather.  It  shoulcj, 
be  said,  by  way  of  parenthesis,  however,  that  for  steel  very  low  in  carbon  a 
small  percentage  of  phosphorus  (not  to  exceed  .04  per  cent)  is  claimed  to- 
be  beneficial,  in  that  it  seems  to  add  strength  to  the  metal.  In  the 
metallurgy  of  iron  and  steel  there  is  apparently  no  rule  which  holds  good 
throughout  the  range  of  combination  of  any  one  of  the  alloys,  and  this 
fact  in  respect  to  phosphorus  would  seem  to  be  only  one  of  the  exceptional 
cases. 

Traces  of  copper  are  frequently  found  in  rail  steel,  and  sometimes  it 
runs  as  high  as  0.80  per  cent,  although  specifications  do  not  usually  require 
it  or  place  limitations  upon  the  percentage  used.  It  was  formerly  under- 
stood that  the  tendency  with  copper  was  to  produce  red-shortness,  but 


KAILS  83 

recent  experiments  (by  Stead  and  Evans)  made  known  to  the  Iron  and 
Steel  Institute,  and  others,  are  offered  to  prove  that  between  0.5  and  1.3 
per  cent  copper  has  no  deleterious  effect  on  either  the  hot  or  cold  property 
of  steel.  In  small  quantities  it  slightly  raises  the  tenacity  and  elastic  limit, 
without  tendency  to  brittleness,  but  reduces  the  toughness,  although  this 
effect  is  not  pronounced  when  the  quantity  is  small. 

Oxide  and  slag  generally  exist  to  the  extent  of  0.10  to  0.12  per  cent, 
but  are  not  usually  determined.  When  present  in  quantity  sufficient  to- 
render  the  metal  spongy  the  wearing  qualities  of  the  metal  are  impaired. 
In  the  molten  metal  the  tendency  of  these  constituents  is  to  float  jtojthe  top 
of  the  ingot,  and  formerly  it  was  the  practice  in  the  mills  to  cut  off  and 
reject  sufficient  material  from  the  top  part  of  the  ingot  to  discard  these 
impurities.-  In  later  practice,  however,  owing  to  the  cheap  price  of  rails 
and  the  rapid  handling  of  the  metal,  this  has  not  been  done  unless  required 
by  the  specifications.  Authorities  on  steel  manufacture  recommend  that 
this  precaution  should  be  insisted  upon,  for  they  say  that  the  upper  por- 
tion of  an  ingot  in  cooling  intercepts  considerable  quantities  of  gaseous 
matter.  These  are  retained  in  small  spherical  cavities  which  roll  out  flat 
during  the  blooming  process  without  welding  together  at  the  sides,  thus- 
leaving  cracks  in  the  metal. 

In  a  general  way  rail  steel,  exclusive  of  the  iron,  has  about  the  follow- 
inag  range  of  composition : 

Limits.  Most  General  Practice. 

Carbon,          .30  to     .70  per  cent 45  to     .55    per  cent. 

Manganese,  .70  to  1.40  per  cent 80  to  1.00     per  cent. 

Silicon,          .10  to     .20  per  cent 10  to     .15     per  cent. 

Phosphorus,  not  to   exceed  .10  per  cent 06  to    .085  per  cent. 

Sulphur,          not  to  exceed  .07  per  cent 05  to     .07    per  cent. 

Chemical  specifications,  however,  are  considered  only  an  approximate- 
guide,  because  much  depends  upon  the  mechanical  and  heat  treatment  of 
the  metal  during  the  process  of  manufacture.  During  late  years  chemical 
specifications  have  not  been  considered  as  highly  important  as  they  once 
were.  More  stress  is  now  being  laid  upon  the  production  of  rails  to  meet 
certain  tests  of  strength  and  stiffness,  or  on  the  guarantee  of  serviceability 
for  a  stated  period,  than  upon  the  chemical  composition.  It  has  come  to- 
be  the  custom  with  many  roads  to  leave  the  chemical  composition,  within 
wide  limits,  or  entirely,  to  the  discretion  of  the  manufacturer. 

Physical  Properties. — The  wearing  qualities  of  a  rail  are  dependent 
in  large  degree  upon  the  fineness  of  the  grain  and  the  compactness  of  the 
metal  in  the  head.  In  order  to  produce  rails  of  this  character  and  secure 
the  best  results  it  is  necessary  that  the  metal  shall  pass  the  rolls  at  a 
coparatively  low  temperature,  and  a  relatively  large  number  of  times; 
that  is,  meet  with  a  small  reduction  at  each  pass.  In  fact,  the  consensus 
of  expert  opinion  now  maintains  that  the  question  of  chemical  composi- 
tion is  subordinate  to  the  physical  treatment  of  the  metal.  It  is  a  fact 
well  established  that  equally  good  service  has  been  obtained  from  rails- 
with  widely  varying  chemical  components,  not  excepting  the  carbon. 
When  steel  'cools  from  a  high  temperature  without  being  worked  it  takes 
on  a  coarse  crystalline  structure.  The  higher  the  initial  temperature  and 
the  slower  the  cooling,  the  larger  the  crystals  and  the  coarser  the  gr^iri 
of  the  metal;  and,  as  above  intimated,  coarse-grained  steel  is  inferior 
from  the  point  of  view  of  rail  wear.  If  the  metal  is  frequently  worked 
while  cooling  from  the  hi  eh  temperature  the  crystallization  into  laree- 
erains  is  prevented,  but  if  the  work  ceases  before  the  heat  has  fallen  to 
a  certain  point  known  as  the  "critical  temperature,"  crystallization  will 
take  place  until  the  critical  temperature  is  reached ;  in  cooling  below  this 


84  TRACK    MATERIALS 

critical  temperature  there  is  no  further  crystallization  or  perceptible 
change  of  structure.  It  is  therefore  desirable  to  continue  working  the 
metal  until  the  temperature  has  dropped  nearly  to  the  critical  point. 
Relatively  speaking,  work  on  the  metal  at  high  temperature  merely 
changes  the  form  of  the  mass  without  changing  the  structure.  If  the 
work  is  stopped  before  the  critical  point  is  reached  there  will  be  some 
crystallization,  the  amount  or  degree  of  which  will  depend  upon  the  range 
of  temperature  through  which  the  metal  cooled  in  an  undisturbed  con- 
dition. This  critical  temperature  for  ordinary  rail  steel  is  about  1300  deg. 
F.,  as  already  shown.  At  temperatures  below  the  critical  point,  or,  at 
all  events,  much  below  that  point,  it  is  undesirable  to  do  work  on  the 
metal,  for  the  structure  cannot  be  changed  in  any  desirable  respect  and 
there  is  possibility  of  distorting  the  crystals  and  producing  -permanent 
strains  in  the  metal,  which  results  in  brittleness.  If  work  is  done  upon 
the  metal  at  successively  lower  temperatures  until  it  cools  to  the  critical 
point  the  crystallization  becomes  smaller  and  smaller  and  the  result  is  a 
metal  of  fine  granular  structure  best  fitted  to  stand  the  abrasive  action  of 
heavily  loaded  car  and  locomotive  wheels.  The  bad  effects  of  finishing 
steel  at  high  heat  seem  to  increase  with  increase  of  carbon  and  other 
impurities;  in  other  words  the  proper  regulation  of  the  heat  treatment 
permits  the  use  of  higher  carbon  than  otherwise.  The  foregoing  seems 
to  be  the  gist  of  the  question  of  producing  good  wearing  rails. 

It  is  a  trite  saying  that  the  wearing  qualities  of  rails  made  during  late 
years,  particularly  the  rails  of  heavy  section,  have  been  disappointing ;  that 
they  do  not  compare  with  the  service  obtained  from  the  50-lb  and  60-lb. 
rails  rolled  about  the  year  1880.  The  reasons  explanatory  of  this  experi- 
ence have  been  discussed  until  the  situation  is  quite  generally  understood. 
Making  due  allowance  for  the  effect  of  the  largely  increased  wheel  loads 
and  train  speeds,  the  currently  accepted  views  of  the  situation  may  be 
summed  up  briefly  in  the  statement  that  competition  and  the  desire  of 
the  railway  companies  to  purchase  rails  at  the  lowest  possible  price  forced 
the  manufacturers  to  resort  to  quicker  and  cheaper  methods  of  handling 
the  metal  in  process  of  rolling,  with  the  result  that  the  rails  were  finished 
at  a  too  high  temperature  to  obtain  the  benefits  of  the  rolling  action  on 
the  steel,  or  the  "working"  of  the  steel,  as  it  is  called.  In  course  of 
time  the  competition  largely  disappeared  and  the  manufacturers  fixed 
their  own  price  for  rails,  but  the  quality  of  the  metal  was  not  improved. 
More  in  detail,  it  may  be  explained  that  rails  are  now  run  or,  according  to 
Mr.  D.  J.  Whittemore,  "squirted"  through  the  rolls  in  nine  to  eleven 
passes  from  the  bloom,  at  a  speed  of  900  ft.  per  minute,  and  finished 
(or  nearly  finished)  at  temperatures  of  1800  to  2000,  and  even  2200  deg. 
F.,  whereas  in  former  practice  the  rail  was  given  13  to  15  passes  after 
blooming,  at  a  speed  of  400  ft.  per  minute,  and  finished  at  a  temperature 
of  1300  to  1600  deg.,  or,  say,  about  500  degrees  cooler.  And  then,  in  the 
former  practice  the  metal  was  permitted  to  cool  and  consolidate  itself 
after  each  operation  of  casting  the  iron  from  the  furnace,  blowing  in  the 
converter,  and  blooming  the  ingot;  while  now,  with  the  modern  appliances 
in  service,  the  melted  metal  is  handled  by  direct  processes  and  so  rapidly 
that  it  does  not  get  a  chance  to  cool  or  come  to  rest  molecularly,  from 
the  time  it  is  cast  from  the  furnace  until  the  finished  rail  is  run  upon 
the  hot  bed  to  cool.  In  fact  the  process  is  hastened  at  every  stage.  The 
furnace  is  hard  driven  in  smelting  the  ore  and  the  metal  is  blown 
more  rapidly  and  in  larger  quantity  in  the  converter.  It  is  supposed 


RAILS  85 

that  in  either  case  less  opportunity  is  given  for  the  thorough  combination* 
of  the  various  chemical  elements.  The  old  method  of  permitting  the 
metal  to  cool  between  the  successive  steps  of "  manufacture  is  believed 
to  have  improved  the  molecular  structure  or  crystallization  of  the  metal, 
and  it  gave  opportunity  to  carefully  examine  the  blooms  fors  flaws,  which, 
if  discovered,  were  chipped  out  with  hammer  and  chisel.  In  present 
practice  16xl8-in.  ingots  (the  average  size,  some  being  as  large  as  20x 
24-ins.  on  the  base)  are  rolled  down  to  8x8-in.  blooms  in  11  passes,  as 
against  reducing  14xl4-in.  ingots  to  7x7-in.  blooms  in  13  passes,  in  the 
old  practice,  or  of  slowly  hammering  the  ingots  into  blooms,  as  in  the 
still  earlier  practice.  While  there  is  more  reduction  from  ingot"  to  bloom 
in  present  practice  than  formerly,  the  rate  of  reduction  is  faster  per 
pass  through  the  rolls,  not  considering  the  higher  speed  of  the  rolls. 
The  bloom  of  ordinary  length  will  now  roll  three  or  four  30-ft. 
rails  in  one  piece,  or  a  rail  90  to  120  ft.  long.  In  some  mills '  the 
ingot  is  long  enough  (4  or  5  ft.)  to  roll  into  a  5-rail  bloom, 
which  is  then  cut  in  two,  one  piece  making  three,  and  the  other  two, 
30-ft.  rails.  Taking  into  consideration  the  increased  weight  of  rails  the 
reduction  from  bloom  to  rail  at  the  present  time  is  just  about  the  same 
as  formerly,  but,  as  above  shown,  the  rate  of  reduction  is  much  faster, 
as  regards  both  diminution  of  section  per  pass  through  the  rolls  and  the 
actual  speed  in  traveling  through  the  rolls.  All  this  haste  leaves  the 
rails  hotter  at  the  finish. 

On  the  part  of  the  manufacturer  it  is  desired  to  handle  the  metal 
at  high  temperature,  so  that  it  will  roll  easier,  or,  in  a  measure,  compen- 
sate for  the  extra  work  imposed  upon  the  rolls  by  the  faster  rate  of  reduc- 
tion of  the  metal  at  each  pass  and  the  higher  speed  c.t  which  the  roll  train  is 
driven.  Although  the  change  from  the  old  to  present  methods  and  the 
effects  thereof  are  well  understood  by  both  consumer  and  manufacturer, 
there  is  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  latter  to  return  to  lower  initial 
temperatures  or  to  slower  rolling.  To  start  the  rolling  at  a  relatively  low 
temperature  would  throw  more  work  upon  the  rolls,  and  to  reduce  the 
speed  of  the  machinery  would  decrease  the  output  of  the  mills.  As 
either  plan  of  improvement  would  increase  the  cost  of  the  rail,  the  manu- 
facturers have  not  been  inclined  to  adopt  it. 

The  agitation  among  railway  engineers  over  poor  rail  metal  and  the 
demand  upon  manufacturers  to  produce  better  wearing  rails  induced 
the  latter  to  increase  the  proportion  of  carbon  and  other  hardening  ele- 
ments to  as  large  percentages  as  they  thought  could  be  used  -without 
making  the  rails  brittle,  but  these  chemical  changes  did  not  give  the 
desired  results.  For  many  years  railway  engineers  had  been  demanding 
of  the  mill  men  that  rails  should  be  rolled  at  lower  temperatures,  and 
eventually  some  of  the  railway  companies  began  to  introduce  into  their 
specifications  what  is  known  as  the  shrinkage  allowance  clause,  requiring 
that  on  leaving  the  rolls  at  the  final  pass  the  temperature  of  the  rail 
should  not  exceed  that  which  requires  a  certain  shrinkage  allowance  at 
the  hot  saws,  and  that  no  artificial  means  of  cooling  the  rails  should  be 
used  between  the  finishing  pass  and  the  hot  saws.  The  idea  in  fixing  the 


*  Somewhat  in  this  connection  it  is  a  significant  fact,  discovered  through 
microscopical  examination,  that  rail  steel  is  not  a  homogeneous  material. 
Certain  constituents  formed  by  the  chemical  union  of  two  or  more  elements 
separate  out  from  the  mass  as  it  cools  down,  leaving  the  steel  in  some  degree 
a  mechanical  mixture.  Whether  this  condition  may  result  wholly  or  in  part 
from  a  too  hasty  manipulation  of  the  metal  in  the  molten  state  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  investigated. 


S6  TRACK    MATERIALS 

shrinkage  allowance  was  that  the  railway  companies,  through  their  in- 
spectors, could  thereby  control  temperature  at  the  last  pass.  The  plan  of 
rolling  from  a  lower  maximum  temperature  was  not  in  favor  with  the  mill 
men.  because  the  metal  would  be  harder  to  roll,  and  some  difficulties 
might  be  introduced  which  would  either  reduce  the  output  or  require 
heavier  machinery,  as  above  explained.  It  was  therefore  represented  that 
if  the  metal  was  brought  to  the  desired  temperature  before  making  the 
last  pass  through  the  rolls,  all  the  benefit  that  railway  men  were  looking 
for  could  be  accomplished  without  reducing  the  output.  This  plan  was 
put  to  trial.  During  December,  1900,  the  Carnegie  Steel  Co.  introduced 
at  its  Edgar  Thomson  Works  what  is  known  as  the  Kennedy-Morrison 
rail  finishing  process,  whereby  the  rail,  after  the  next  to  the  last  pass, 
is  held  on  skids  until  it  can  cool  to  a  point  from  which  it  will  make  the 
last  pass  at  a  desirably  low  temperature.  The  details  of  the  process  are 
described  below. 

The  Kennedy-Morrison  Process. — The  process  known  as  the  Ken- 
nedy-Morrison method  of  rolling  rails  consists  in  allowing  the  rails  to 
accumulate  on  a  cooling  table  located  just  in  advance  of  the  finishing 
rolls,  where  they  are  held  for  a  short  interval  of  time  to  regulate  the 
heat  condition  of  the  metal  for  the  last  reduction.  The  bloom  is  first 
passed  forward  and  backward  through  five  passes  in  the  roughing  rolls 
and  then  run  to  the  intermediate  or  "short"  rolls,  where  it  receives  five 
passes  in  the  same  manner.  The  partially  rolled  rail  is  then  run  upon 
the  special  cooling  table,  being  laid  on  its  side  with  the  head  against 
the  flange  of  the  rail  next  ahead.  Four  to  six  or  more  rails  are  held  on 
the  cooling  table  at  one  time,  and  as  each  rail  is  drawn  on  it  pushes  over 
all  the  rails  before  it,  a  rail  being  taken  off  the  far  side  and  sent 
through  the  finishing  rolls  as  each  one  is  drawn  on  the  front  side. 
The  idea  in  placing  the  rails  head  to  base  is  that  the  flange  being  thinner 
tends  to  cool  quicker  than  the  head,  but  since  it  is  in  contact  with  the 
head  of  the  rail  lying  next  behind  it  will  receive  heat  therefrom,  so  that 
the  heat  in-  heads  and  flanges  is  maintained  more  nearly  at  a  balance 
than  would  be  the  case  if  the  rails  were  placed  workwise  or  were  allowed 
to  cool  separately.  And  then  as  each  rail  arrives  at*  the  outside  of  the 
table  its  head  lies  exposed  (but  the  base  does  not)  while  it  awaits  its  turn 
to  enter  the  finishing  pass.  The  difficulty  of  cooling  down  the  head  to  a 
desirable  temperature  without  getting  the  base  too  cold  for  working  is 
therefore  to  some  extent  overcome.  The  rails  enter  the  cooling  table  at 
a  temperature  of  1750  to  1900  deg.,  and  are  held  about  1^  minutes,  the 
temperature  meanwhile  falling  to  somewhere  about  1500  deg.,  when  they 
are  put  through  the  finishing  pass.  As  this  method  of  rolling  does  not 
interfere  with  the  rapidity  or  continuity  of  action  of  the  mill  the  produc- 
tion is  not  diminished. 

This  departure  in  rail  rolling  has  been  a  subject  of  much  discussion, 
and  for  a  time  railway  men  seemed  to  rest  under  the  impression  that  they 
had  gained  their  point.  While  it  is  thought  that  rails  held  to  cool  before 
finishing  have  shown  some  improvement  in  wearing  qualities  it  is  an 
open  question  whether  the  process  is  as  effective  as  direct  rolling  from 
a  lower  maximum  temperature  to  reach  the  same  temperature  at  finish- 
ing. The  practice  of  holding  the  rails  for  the  last  pass  has  no  particular 
regard  to  the  initial  temperature  of  the  ingot,  or  the  temperature  when 
rolling  starts  on  the  bloom.  The  criticism  of  the  metallurgists  is  that 
the  rails  may  be  allowed  to  cool  undisturbed  through  such  a  large  range  of 
temperature  during  the  time  they  are  held  for  the  last  pass  that  the  work 
performed  in  the  final  reduction  has  only  a  superficial  effect.  The  amount 


RAILS  87 

of  reduction  at  this  last  pass  is  5  to  10  per  cent.  In  this  way  90  to 
95  per  cent  of  the  reduction  is  car^.d  on  at  relatively  high  temperature, 
and  only  5  to  10  per  cent  at  the  lower  or  "finishing  temperature."  It 
is  explained  that  this  final  working  does  not  break  up  the  granular 
structure  deep  enough.;  that  it  toughens  the  steel  only  "skin  deep,"  so 
to  speak,  producing  a  case-hardening  effect  on  the  exterior,  but  leaving 
.a  coarsely  granular  structure  in  the  interior;  that  not  enough,  work 
is  done  after  the  cooling,  and  that  much  better  results  might  be  obtained 
if  the  material  was  held  for  cooling  at  an  earlier  stage  in  the  rolling 
process;  some  suggest  immediately  after  the  bloom  is  cut  off,  so  that  a 
very  large  reduction  may  take  place  while  the  metal  is  cooling~down  to  a 
point  near  the  critical  temperature;  a  reduction  sufficient  to  work  the 
steel  thoroughly  to  the  center.  Another  principle  of  rail  manufacture 
in  this  same  connection  is  that  the  rolling  of  rails  direct  from  the  ingot 
produces  better  structure  than  rolling  from  reheated  blooms,  the  reason 
being  that  the  bloom  goes  through  the  roll  train  at  a  lower  temperature 
than  is  the  case  in  a  reheating  mill  where  the  bloom  is  rolled  at  a  high 
temperature  to  the  final  pass  and  is  then  held  a  sufficient  time  to  obtain 
the  desired  shrinkage  allowance.  Mills  built  to  roll  direct  are  of  heavier 
construction,  with  rolls  which  will  stand  the  harder  work  of  the  cooler 
rolling.  In  this  country  there  are  only  a  few  mills  that  roll  rails  in 
this  manner,  but  abroad  the  practice  is  more  generally  followed. 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  wearing  qualities  of  the 
rail  may  be  greatly  affected  by  the  rail  design.  As  the  desirable  end  is 
to  have  the  rail  head  obtain  a  large  amount  of  work  (large  reduction 
slowly  performed)  from  the  rolls  at  relatively  low  heat  it  is  apparent 
that  a  rail  of  the  best  structure  cannot  be  rolled  with  a  deep  head  and 
thin  flange,  because  on  such  a  design  the  rail  head  must  be  finished  at  a 
comparatively  high  heat  in  order  to  avoid  working  the  more  rapidly 
cooling  flange  after  it  has  become  too  cool.  In  order  to  hold  the  flange  at 
a,  proper  temperature  for  rolling  to  the  finish  the  tendency  is  to  heat  the 
bloom  too  high  to  produce  a  head  that  is  physically  hard  and  compact.  On 
these  grounds  there  has  been  some  agitation  for  a  change  in  the  section  of 
the  heavier  rails — 85  Ibs.  per  yd.  and  upwards.  It  is  proposed  to  increase 
the  thickness  of  metal  in  the  flange  in  order  to  carry  the  heat  longer  and 
permit  working  the  head  at  a  lower  temperature. 

An  interesting  modification  of  one  of  the  standard  sections,  although 
not  primarily  to  improve  the  mill  treatment  of  the  metal,  has  been  made 
by  the  Grand  Trunk  Ey.  In  order  to  increase  the  bearing  surface  of 
the  rail  on  its  cedar  ties  this  road  has  widened  the  base  of  the  80-lb. 
section  1  inch  and  thickened  it  by  adding  -j-  inch  of  metal  to  the  bottom 
thereof.  The  modified  section  is  the  A.  S.  C.  E.  standard  80-lb.  sec-, 
tion  in  every  respect  except  for  the  changes  stated,  which  make  the 
section  6  instead  of  5  ins.  wide  and  5^  instead  of  5  ins.  high.  The  addi- 
tional metal  increases  the  weight  to  90  Ibs.  per  yd. 

Straightening  and  Gagging. — After  the  rail  receives  its  final  pass 
at  the  rolls  it  is  sawed  off  5  to  7  .ins.  longer  than  the  intended  final 
length,  to  allow  for  contraction  in  cooling,  and  then  it  is  run  through  a 
cambering  machine  and  curved  upward  3  to  16  ins.,  according  to  the 
temperature  and  depth  of  head.  It  then  goes  to  the  hot  bed,  where 
the  rails  are  spaced  6  to  8  ins.  apart.  The  behavior  on  the  hot  bed  is 
described  under  "Kail  Design."  After  the  rail  has  cooled,  whatever  crook- 
edness exists  must  then  be  removed  under  the  straightening  press.  The 
machinery  consists  of  an  anvil,  on  which  are  placed  supporting  blocks 
for  the  rail,  and  a  plunger  which  rises  and  falls  vertically  over  the  anvil 


88  TRACK    MATERIALS 

about  60  times  per  minute,  being  operated  by  a  revolving  shaft  to  which 
a  heavy  fly  wheel  is  attached.  The  rail  is  moved  lengthwise  over  the 
supports  to  bring  each  crooked  portion  under  the  plunger,,  which  does  its 
work  through  a  die  or  fuller  called  a  "gag."  This  tool  has  a  slightly 
rounded  face  and  is  applied  to  the  rail  at  points  indicated  by  a  man  who 
does  the  sighting.  Long  curves  in  the  rail  are  straightened  by  several 
slight  bends.  If  the  rail  has  been  too  heavily  cambered  it  must  be 
straightened  by  hitting  it  with  the  gag  every  18  ins.  or  2  ft.  over  its  entire 
length.  If  the  supporting  blocks  are  spaced  too  close  or  the  blows  of  the 
plunger  administered  too  severely  the  rail  will  be  sharply  bent  or  kinked 
and  the  head  indented.  These  indentations  and  bends  are  known  as  "gag 
marks,"  and  when  they  become  pronounced  the  surface  of  the  rail  is  un- 
evBn  and  imparts  a  jolting  motion  to  the  cars.  Gag-marked  rails  are 
difficult  to  maintain  in  surface,  because  the  vibration  or  rough  running 
of  the  wheels  causes  them  to  pound  down  the  track.  Rails  heavily  gagged 
are  more  liable  to  break  at  the  indented  points  than  elsewhere,  owing 
to  the  permanent  set  in  the  metal  due  to  the  cold  straightening.  The 
evil  effects  from  gagging  may  be  largely  avoided  by  designing  the  sec- 
tion and  working  the  metal  to  require  as  little  cambering  as  possible,  and 
then  looking  carefully  to  the  spacing  of  the  anvil  blocks  or  supports.  Mr. 
P.  H.  Dudley's  specifications  require  that  the  anvil  supports  for  60  and 
70-lb.  rails  shall  be  spaced  at  least  3  ft.  apart  between  centers;  for  75 
and  80-lb.  rails,  at  least  40  ins.  apart,  and  for  100-lb.  rails  at  least  44 
ins.  apart. 

Specifications. — Rail  steel  may  be  made  by  either  the  Bessemer  or 
open-hearth  process,  but  practically  all  the  rails  in  service  in  this  country 
are  of  acid  steel  made  by  the  Bessemer  process.  In  §  2  of  Supplementary 
Notes  there  is  a  brief  explanation  of  the  different  ways  in  which  rail  steel 
may  be  made,  together  with  some  account  of  the  proposed  deviations  in 
this  direction  and  in  rail  design. 

While  some  railway  companies  purchase  rails  under  chemical  speci- 
fications of  their  own,  it  may  be  said  that  in  most  cases  the  technical  con- 
ditions -of  manufacture  are  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  manufacturer. 
The  purchaser's  interests  are  then  secured  either  by  a  stipulation  that 
certain  tests  shall  be  made  to  determine  whether  the  metal  has  the  desired 
physical  properties,  or  by  exacting  from  the  maker  a  guarantee  against 
breakage  and  unusual  wear  for  a  service  period  of  five  years.  Rails  which 
fail  within  this  period  are  replaced  by  the  manufacturer,  and  usually  he  is 
required  to  pay  the  railroad  company  an  indemnity  of  $1.00  for  each  defec- 
tive rail  sent  back,  this  to  cover  the  expense  of  removing  it  from  the  track, 
handling,  etc.  A  synopsis  of  American  rail  specifications  prepared  by  the 
American  Section  of  the  International  Association  for  Testing  Materials, 
in  1900,  referred  to  11  different  sets  of  specifications  drawn  by  railway  com- 
panies, while  155  roads  and  their  branches  used  rails  made  to  manufacturers'' 
specifications.  The  specifications  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  in  force  at 
that  time  (carbon  0.30  to  0.50  per  cent)  were  used  on  19  roads.  Many  of 
the  railways  specify  only  the  carbon,  silicon  and  phosphorus  limits,  leaving 
the  manganese  and  sulphur  percentages  to  the  maker.  It  is  sometimes 
specified  that  the  test  pieces  for  analysis  shall  consist  of  bars  f  in.  wide 
and  about  10  ins.  long,  each  to  be  taken  from  the  web  of  a  rail  made  from 
each  charge  or  blow.  More  frequently,  however,  the  analyses  are  made 
on  drillings  from  small  test  ingots  taken  from  each  blow,  the  manufact- 
urer furnishing  the  inspector  daily  with  carbon  determinations  of  each 
blow  and  a  complete  analysis  representing  the  average  of  the  other  ele- 
ments which  the  steel  contains.  . 


BAILS  89 

The  chemical  specifications  of  the  manufacturers  conform  to.,  or 
pretty  nearly  to,  one  or  the  other  of  two  sets  of  specifications  now  recog- 
nized as  standard  in  accordance  with  geographical  and  commercial  condi- 
tions. Thus,  for  instance,  available  ores  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains 
are  higher  in  phosphorus  than  eastern  ores,  and  this  fact  exercises  an 
important  modification  on  the  proportion  of  carbon.  In  the  Scranton 
and  Bethlehem  districts  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Kiver  II.  E. 
specifications  are  considered  standard  and  may  be  taken  as  typical  of 
a  large  percentage  of  the  rails  made  from  eastern  ores.  In  these  specifi- 
cations there  is  a  progressive  increase  of  carbon  and  manganese  with  in- 
crease in  weight  of  rail.  For  65-lb.  rails  the  carbon  content  is  .45  to  .55 
]:er  cent,  the  rails  to  be  rejected  if  the  carbon  is  below  .43  or  above  .57 
per  cent;  for  70-lb.  rails,  carbon  .47  to  .57  per  cent,  the  rails  to  be 
rejected  if  the  carbon  runs  below  .45  or  above  .59  per  cent;  for  75-lb. 
rails,  carbon,  .50  to  .60  per  cent,  with  allowable  limits  of  .48  to  .6*2 
per  cent;  for  80-lb.  rails,  carbon  .55  to  .60  per  cent,  with  allowable  limits 
of  .53  to  .65  per  cent;  for  100-lb  rails,  carbon  .65  to  .70  per  cent,  with 
allowable  limits  of  .60  to  .70  per. cent.  In  these  specifications  the  silicon 
runs  from  .15  to  .20  per  cent,  sulphur  not  to  exceed  .069  per  cent  and 
phosphorus  not  to  exceed  .06  per  cent,  for  all  weights.  For  65-lb.  and 
70-lb.  rails  the  manganese  runs  from  1.05  to  1.25  per  cent;  for  75-lb.  and 
80-lb.  rails,  from  1.10  to  1.30  per  cent;  and  for  100-lb.  rails  it  runs  from 
1.20  to  1.40  per  cent. 

In  the  specifications  of  the  western  rail  mills  the  carbon  content  for 
various  weights  runs  as  follows:  50-lb.  to  60-lb.  rails,  .35  to  .45  per  cent; 
GO-lb.  to  70-lb.  rails,  .38  to  .48- per  cent;  70-lb.  to  80-lb.  rails,  .40  to  .50 
per  cent;  80-lb.  to  90-lb.  rails,  .43  to  .53  per  cent;  90-lb.  to  100-lb.  rails, 
.45  to  .55  per  cent.  The  phosphorus  must  not  be  over  .10  per  cent  and 
the  silicon  not  over  .20  per  cent,  for  all  weights.  For  50-lb.  to  70-lb. 
rails,  manganese  runs  .70  to  1.00  per  cent;  for  70-lb.  to  80-lb.  rails,  '.75 
to  1.05  per  cent;  for  80-lb.  to  100-lb.  rails,  .80  to  1.10  per  cent.  Mr. 
.Robert  W.  Hunt's  specifications,  also  much  used  for  lails  manufactured 
west  of  the  Alegheny  mountains,  are  lower  in  phosphous  and  higher  in  car- 
bon than  the  standard  of  the  western  rail  mills,  being  about  intermediate 
between  the  two  standards  just  referred  to,  and  running  as  follows:  Car- 
bon, .43  to  .51  per  cent  for  70-lb.  rails,  .45  to  .53  per  cent  for  75-lb.  rails, 
.48  to  .56  per  cent  for  80-lb.  rails,  .55  to  .63  per  cent  for  90-lb.  rails, 
and  .62  to  .70  per  cent  for  100-lb.  rails;  silicon  not  below  .10  per  cent; 
phosphorus  not  to  exceed  .085  per  cent;  manganese  and  sulphur  left  to  the 
makers. 

The  rail  specifications  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  provide  that  if  the 
phosphorus  exceeds  .07  per  cent  the  carbon  shall  not  be  less  than  0.40 
nor  more  than  0.55  per  cent,  and  the  manganese  not  higher  than  1.00 
per  cent.  If  the  phosphorus  is  .07  per  cent  or  less  the  carbon  shall  not 
be  less  than  0.45  nor  more  than  0.60  per  cent,  and  the  manganese  not 
more  than  1.20  per  cent.  The  phosphorus  must  not  in  any  case  exceed  0.10 
per  cent. 

For  ascertaining  the  physical  properties  of  the  metal  the  general 
practice  with  the  American  roads  is  to  use  the  drop  and  bending  tests. 
The  standard  weight  or  "tup"  of  the  drop  testing  machine  weighs  2000 
11>*.  and  the  striking  face  has  a  radius  of  about,  or  not  to  exceed,  5  ins. 
The  test  rail  is  usually  placed  work  wise — but  sometimes  with  either  head 
or  base  "upward — on  solid  supports  3  or  4  ft.  apart.  Some  specifications 
require  that  the  anvil  block,  of  which  the  supports  are  a  part  or  to  which 
the  supports  are  secured,  shall  weigh  at  least  20,000  Ibs.  The  hight  of  drop 


90  TRACK    MATERIALS 

varies  with  different  railwa}rs  from  16  ft.  for  GO-lb  to  75-lb  rails,  'to 
20  ft.  for  70-lb.  and  75-lb.  rails,  and  20  to  24  ft.  for  80-lb.  rails,  on 
supports  3  ft.  apart,  all  the  way  up  to  20  ft.  for  100-lb.  rails,  on  supports  4 
ft.  apart.  In  some  cases  a  drop  of  16  ft.,  and  in  other  cases  18  ft.,  is 
specified  for  75-lb.  rails  on  supports  4  ft.  apart,  while  in  still  other  cases 
a  drop  of  20  ft.  is  specified  for  all  rails  heavier  than  70  Ibs.  per  yard, 
on  supports  4  ft.  apart.  The  specifications  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Bead- 
ing By.  require  a  drop  of  18  ft.  for  rails  weighing  70  Ibs.  per  yd. 
and  under,  and  23  ft.  for  rails  heavier  than  70  Ibs.  per  yd.,  solid  iron  or 
steel  supports  3  ft.  apart  (between  centers)  in  all  cases.  The  test  piece 
is  placed  with  either  head  or  base  upwards,  or  upon  the  side,  and  in 
this  respect  the  same  practice  is  followed  by  the  1ST.  Y.  C.  &  H.  E.  E.  E. 

The  standard  drop  test  recommended  by  the  American  Eailway  Engi- 
neering and  Maintenance  of  Way  Assn.  requires  that  the  test  rail  shall 
lie  head  upward  and  that  the  supports  shall  be  placed  3  ft.  apart  for  all 
weights  of  rails.  The  hight  of  drop  varies  by  1  ft.  for  each  range  of  10 
Ibs.  in  weight,  starting  at  15  ft.  for  rails  weighting  45  to  55  Ibs.  per  yard, 
inclusive,  and  increasing  to  18ft.  for  76-lb.  to  85-lb.  rails  and.  19  ft.  for 
86-lb.  to  100-lb.  rails.  These  tests  are  less  severe  than  are  applied  in 
general  practice,  and  they  have  been  sharply  criticised  for  the  dispropor- 
tion of  the  relative  hights  of  drop  to  the  relative  sizes  of  the  rail  sections, 
being  too  easy  on  the  rails  of  heavy  section.  Various  specifications  re- 
quire that  the  test  rail  or  butt  must  not  be  longer  than  6  ft.  or  shorter 
than  4  or  4J  ft.,  for  supports  3  ft.  apart.  It  should  be  cut  from  that 
part  of  the  rolled  product  which  has  come  from  the  top  of  the  ingot,  and 
the  report  of  the  drop  test  should  state  the  atmospheric  temperature  at 
the  time  the  test  was  made.  To  guard  against  brittleness,  the  specifica- 
tions of  the  Eussian  government  railways,  previous  to  1899,  provided  that 
drop  tests  might  be  carried  out  on  rails  at  freezing  temperatures. 

In  order  to  pass  the  test  the  butt  is  supposed  to  stand  up  under  one 
blow  from  the  falling  weight  without  breaking.  The  specifications  of  the 
Pennsylvania  E.  E.  require  that  the  test  pieces  from  100-lb.  rails  must 
not  deflect  more  than  3J  ins.  from  the  first  blow.  The  specifications  of 
the  Louisville  &  Nashville  B.  B.  require  that  the  butt  must  not  bend  more 
than  6  ins.,  and,  upon  reversal,  must  stand,  without  breaking,  a  blow  on  the 
convex  side  from  the  weight  (2000  Ibs.)  falling  through  half  the  stand- 
ard hight,  which  is  16  ft.,  20  ft.,  and  24  ft.  for  58J-lb.,  70-lb.  and  80-lb. 
rails,  respectively,  supports  placed  3  ft.  apart  in  all  cases.  A  test  is 
usually  made  on  a  butt  from  each  heat  or  blow  of  the  converter,  but  some 
specifications  require  that  if  the  quantity  of  metal  converted  exceeds 
9  tons  there  shall  be  two  tests.  The  specifications  of  some  roads  require 
that  90  per  cent  of  the  butts  must  stand  the  test  without  breaking,  and 
in  addition  to  this  it  is  sometimes  required  that  the  metal  in  the  inch 
under  greatest  tension  must  show  an  elongation,  at  or  before  breaking,  of 
4  to  5  per  cent.  For  measuring  this  extension  an  inch  scale  about  6  kis. 
long  is  prick-punched  on  the  under  side  (head  or  base,  as  the  case  may 
be)  of  the  test  rail,  opposite  the  point  of  impact,  before  testing,  and  if 
the  rail  does  not  break  or  bend  sufficiently  to  develop  the  required 
stretch  at  the  first  blow  the  test  is  repeated  until  it  does.  In  the  largest 
practice,  however,  it  is  specified  that  if  any  test  piece  should  break  under 
a  single  drop  of  the  tup,  another  butt  from  a  rail  of  the  same  heat  may  be 
tested,  and  if  it  fails  all  the  rails  of  that  heat  shall  be  rejected;  but  if 
the  second  test  stands,  still  another  butt  must  be  tested,  and  the  rails 
shall  then  be  accepted  or  rejected  according  as  this  third  test  piece  proves 
a  success  or  a  failure.  This  is  the  standard  specification  of  the  Am.  By.  Eng. 


RAILS  91 

£  M.  W.  Assn.  It  is  seen  that  by  this  method  a  single  test  may  determine 
the  result  of  a  heat,  but  in  still  another  way  of  drawing  specifications  it  is 
provided  that  two  butts  out  of  three  must  stand  the  test  in  order  that 
the  rails  shall  be  accepted.  The  specifications  adopted  by  the  American 
Society  for  Testing  Materials  provide  that  one  drop  test  shall  be  made 
on  a  butt  not  longer  than  6  ft.  selected  from  every  fifth  blow  of  steel, 
the  rail  to  be  placed  head  upwards  on  the  supports.  If  any  rail  fails  to 
stand  the  test,  second  and  third  tests  may  be  made  on  other  rails 
from  the  same  blow  of  steel,  and  if  both  of  these  meet  the  requirements 
•all  the  rails  of  the  five  blows  shall  be  accepted;  if  either  fails,  «11  the 
rails  of  that  heat  are  to  be  rejected.  Should  the  rails  from  the  tested 
blow  be  rejected,  the  preceding  and  succeeding  blows  shall  be  tested 
and  the  rails  of  each  of  these  blows  accepted  or  rejected  according  to  the 
same  specifications.  If  the  rails  of  either  of  these  two  blows  shall  be 
rejected  similar  tests  may  be  made  of  the  previous  or  following  blow, 
as  the  case  may  be,  until,  if  necessary,  the  entire  group  of  five  blows  is 
tested. 

The  falling  weight  or  drop  test  subjects  the  metal  to  sudden  and 
severe  duty,  such  as  the  rail  must  stand  in  actual  service,  and  is  a  check 
on  brittleness.  It  is  therefore  to  some  extent  a  measure  of  the  toughness, 
especially  when  the  elongation  requirement  is  introduced,  but  the  special 
iest  for  toughness  is  the  bending  test.  This  test  requires  that  a  bar  J  in. 
square  and  18  or  20  ins.  long,  drawn  at  one  heat,  by  hammering  from  a  test 
ingot  2-J  or  3  ins.  square  in  section  and  4  ins.  long,  shall  be  bent  cold  to  an 
angle  of  90  deg.  by  the  blows  of  a  sledge,  without  breaking.  Two  test 
ingots  are  cast,  usually  from  the  steel  in  the  first  and  last  ingots  poured 
from  the  same  heat.  The  usual  requirement  is  that  both  bars  drawn 
from  these  two  ingots  must  stand  the  test,  but  should  one  of  them  fail 
a  third  bar  may  be  taken  from  the  same  ingot,  and  if  this  stands  it  may  be 
accepted  in  lieu  of  the  failed  one.  The  bending  test  of  the  Cambria  Steel 
€o.  requires  that  two  test  ingots  shall  be  taken  from  the  middle  portion 
of  an  ingoi:  of  each  heat  while  the  ingot  is  being  bloomed,  and  if  one 
bar  -J-  in.  square  forged  down  at  one  heat  stands  the  test  the  rails  of 
that  heat  shall  be  accepted;  if  the  bar  fails,  a  second  one  shall  be  prepared, 
and  if  this  one  fails  the  heat  shall  be  rejected. 

In  this  country  the  testing  of  rail  metal  for  tensile  strength  is  not 
in  general  practice,  but  test  pieces  from  rail  steel  of  good  quality  will 
usually  show  an  elastic  limit  of  55,000  to  65,000  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  and  an 
ultimate  strength  of  110,000  to  120,000  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  at  breaking,  with 
an  elongation  of  12  to  15  per  cent  in  a  specified  length — usually  8  or 
10  ins — and  a  modulus  of  elasticity  of  29,000,000  to  30,000,000  Ibs.  In 
this  country  no  tests  for  hardness  are  imposed,  but  the  physical  hardness 
can  be  quite  closely  determined  from  the  chemical  hardness — that  is,  by 
the  amount  of  carbon  and  phosphorus  present.  Some  attempts  at  meas- 
uring degrees  of  hardness  have  been  made  by  observation  of  the  indenta- 
tions on  the  rail  of  loaded  knife-edges  of  hardened  steel,  but  the  use  of  such 
tests  and  others  of  different  character  does  not  seem  to  have  passed  the 
realm  of  experimentation. 

As  to  the  process  of  manufacture  specifications,  as  a  rule,  have  fewer 
requirements  than  formerly.  In  order  to  equalize  the  heat  it  is  usually 
required  that  ingots  shall  be  kept  in  an  upright  position  in  the  heating 
pit,  or  until  rolled,  or,  in  any  case,  until  the  interior  of  the  metal  has 
had  time  to  solidify.  The  shrinkage  on  the  upper  side  of  ingots  which  lie 
horizontally  is  liable  to  form  a  "pipe"  or  split  in  the  interior  of  the  rail. 
"Bled"  ingots,  or  ingots  from  the  interior  of  which  the  liquid  steel  has 


92  TRACK    MATERIALS 

been  permitted  to  escape,  are  always  supposed  to  be  rejected.  Reference- 
has  already  been  made  to  the  practice  of  discarding  ejection  able  material 
from  the  top  of  the  ingot,  and  it  is  usual  to  specify  that  spongy  material 
shall  be  "cut  from  the  ends  of  blooms.  Many  years  ago  hammered  ingots 
were  preferred,  owing  to  the  beneficial  effects  from  that  manner  of  work- 
ing the  metal,  but  owing  to  the  demand  for  cheaper  rails  the  practice  had 
to  be  abandoned;  it  is  still  in  vogue  to  some  extent  in  Great  Britain. 

The  specifications  as  to  branding  usually  require  that  the  name  of  the- 
maker  and  the  year  and  month  of  manufacture  shall  be  rolled  in  raised 
letters  on  the  side  of  the  web  and  that  the  heat  number  shall  be  stamped, 
on  each  rail,  usually  on  the  side  of  the  web  and  in  such  position  that 
it  will  not  be  covered  by  the  splice  bar.  In  addition  to  these  some  specifi- 
cations require  that  the  weight  of  the  rail  and  the  initials  of  the  railroad 
shall  be  rolled  on  the  web. 

With  a  view  to  control  the  finishing  temperature,  it  is  usual  to  in- 
clude in  rail  specifications  a  clause  which  limits  the  amount  of  shrinkage 
that  may  take  place  in  the  rail  from  the  time  it  is  cut  at  the  hot  saws 
until  it  reaches  the  normal  temperature.  For  30-ft.  85-lb.  rails  the  Penn- 
sylvania R.  R.  specifies  5-J  ins.  and  for  100-lb.  rails  5f  ins.  The  Am.  Ry. 
Eng.  &  M.  W.  Assn.  recommends  that  "The  number  of  passes  and  speed 
of  train  shall  be  so  regulated  that  on  leaving  the  rolls  at  final  pass  the 
temperature  of  the  rail  will  not  exceed  that  which  requires  a  shrink- 
age allowance  at  the  hot  saws  of  ....  ins.  for  85-lb.  and  ....  ins.  for  100-lb. 
rails,  and  no  artificial  means  of  cooling  the  rails  shall  be  used  between 
the  finishing  pass  and  the  hot  saws."  The  practice  adopted  at  the  Edgar 
Thomson  Works  of  the  Carnegie  Steel  Co.  for  rails  of  75-lb.  to  100-lb. 
section  is  to  allow  a  shrinkage  of  5f  ins.  for  30-ft.  lengths  and  of  ins.  for 
33-ft.  lengths.  This  is  accomplished  by  holding  rails  of  the  various  sec- 
tions different  lengths  of  time  on  the  cooling  table  before  they  pass 
through  the  finishing  rolls.  In  order  to  meet  the  intentions  of  those  who 
would  wish  to  control  the  finishing  temperature  there  should  be  a  time 
qualification  in  this  specification,  for  the  mill  conditions,  such  as  the 
distance  of  the  saws,  might  permit  the  rail  to  cool  down  a  good  deal  while 
passing  from  the  rolls  to  the  saws,  so  that  the  shrinkage  after  leaving  the 
saws  would  be  a  great  deal  less  than  the  shrinkage  after  the  finishing  pass, 
which  is  really  the  measure  of  the  finishing  temperature.  Twelve  seconds 
after  leaving  the  finishing  rolls  is  considered  the  proper  time  limit  for 
cutting  the  rails  to  length. 

It  is  well  enough  to  bear  in  mind  that  control  of  the  finishing  tem- 
perature is  not  necessarily  a  control  of  the  heat  treatment  throughout 
the  rolling  process.  Although,  with  a  proper  time  limit,  the  shrinkage 
allowance  may  control  the  temperature  at  the  finishing  pass,  it  does  not 
•put  a  check  upon  the  practice  of  rolling  the  metal  very  hot  and  then' 
holding  it  to  cool  down  just  in  advance  of  the  last  pass.  It  may  not, 
therefore,  serve  as  a  good  index  of  the  structure  of  the  metal.  The 
specification  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.  in  reference  to  heat  treat- 
ment would  seem  to  be  drawn  with  this  liability  in  view.  It  is  as  follows : 
"The  temperature  of  the  ingot  or  bloom  shall  be  such  that  with  rapid 
rolling  and  without  holding  before  or  in  the  finishing  passes  or  subse- 
quently, and  without  artificial  cooling  after  leaving  the  last  pass,  the 
distance  between  the  hot  saws  shall  not  exceed  30  ft.  6  ins.  for  a  30-ft. 
rail,  or  a  proportionate  distance  for  other  lengths." 

Other  specifications  are  referred  to  in  connection  with  the  follow- 
ing matter  on  rail  inspection. 


RAILS  93 

Rail  Inspection. — The  proper  place  to  inspect  rails  is,  of  course,  at 
the  mill,  as  then  if  bad  rails  appear  further  manufacture  of  the  same 
may  be  prevented  at  once.  The  inspector  representing  the  purchaser  is 
supposed  to  see  that  the  proper  physical  tests  are  made,  if  the  rails  are 
bought  on  that  basis,  and  that  the  finished  material  conforms  to  the 
specifications.  Facilities  for  these  purposes  are  furnished  by  the  manu- 
facturer and  the  inspector  is  granted  free  entry  through  the  works.  Each 
rail  should  be  carefully  examined  for  flaws,  crookedness,  kinks  and  in- 
dentations from  gagging,  and  to  see  that  it  conforms  to  the  templet 
of  the  standard  cross  section  and  that  uniformity  of  section  is  maintained. 
!Nc\v  rails  should  not  camber  in  the  least,  since  if  f  they  do~thc  joints 
in  the  track  will  naturally  dip;  on  the  contrary,  a  small  amount  of  sag 
•or  "back  sweep"  is  not  objectionable,  as  in  that  case  the  spring  in  the 
rail  assists  the  splice  bars  to  hold  the  joint  in  surface.  The  inspector 
must,  of  course,  have  a  "good  eye,"  according  to  the  meaning  of  the  term 
among  trackmen.  It  is  quite  generally  the  practice  with  railway  com- 
panies when  purchasing  quantities  of  rails  to  employ  experts  who  make  a 
business  of  rail  inspection,  charging  for  their  services  according  to  the  quan- 
tity of  rails  inspected,  five  cents  per  ton  being  a  figure  quite  frequently  paid. 
Some  of  the  large  railway  systems  have  their  own  expert,  who  fills  the 
established  office  of  "rail  inspector/"  and  some  railways  send  their  road- 
masters  or  engineers  in  the  track  department  to  the  mills  to  inspect  their 
rails. 

Eails  are  bought  and  paid  for  on  the  actual  weights.  It  is  usual  to 
permit  a  variation  of  1  per  cent  in  the  weight  of  individual  rails  and  £ 
of  one  per  cent  in  the  weight  of  an  entire  order.  To  ascertain  how  indi- 
vidual rails  are  running  some  specifications  require  that  a  rail  shall  be 
weighed  every  hour,  as  the  rolling  proceeds.  It  has  been  customary  to 
allow  a  variation  of  1/32  in.  over  and  1/64  in.  under  the  standard  hight  of 
section,  although  some  railway  companies  put  the  limit  at  1/32  in.  either  way 
( Southern  Ey. )  and  others  put  it  at  1/64  in.  either  way,  the  latter  being  the 
practice  with  the  Michigan  Central  and  Wabash  roads.  In  this  respect 
the  specifications  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  provide 
as  follows :  "A  variation  not  exceeding  1/64  of  an  inch  of  excess  in  hight 
may.be  permitted  in  a  delivery  of  10,000  tons  of  rails  of  any  section,  after 
which  the  rolls  must  be  reduced  to  the  standard  hight  for  such  section." 

The  hight  of  rails  of  the  same  section  varies  with  the  wear  of  the  rolls, 
and  in  order  to  make  smooth  joints  when  spliced,  rails  which  vary  even  as 
little  as  the  limits  permit  should  not  be  mixed  together  in  the  shipments. 
For  instance,  a  rail  which  measures  1/32  in.  over  the  standard  hight  of  sec- 
tion would  not  make  a  smooth  joint  with  one  measuring  1/64  in.  under  the 
standard.  With  a  view  to  the  requirements  of  the  service  the  gaging  of 
the  vertical  dimensions  of  the  rail  section  should  be  controlled  by  the  type 
of  joint  splice  to  be  used.  With  ordinary  angle-bar  splices  the  important 
vertical  dimension  is  the  depth  of  head  rather  than  hight  of  section,  because 
the  manner  in  which  the  running  surfaces  will  match  at  the  joint  depends 
upon  the  thickness  of  metal  above  the  top  edges  of  the  splice  bars.  With 
joint  splices  which  engage  the  bottom  of  the  rail  flange  it  is  obviously  neces- 
sary that  the  total  hight  of  the  rails  should  be  uniform  or  within  limits.  It 
is  customary  to  permit  a  variation  of  1/16  in.  in  width  of  base.  The 
requirements  as  to  base  width  stand  in  relation  to  the  use  of  tie  plates,  which 
are  punched  for  the  spikes  a  fixed  distance  apart. 

As  the  fit  of  the  splice  bars  should  be  maintained  as  nearly  perfect 
as  is  practicable  no  misfit  of  the  fishing  templet  is  allowed.  The  allowable 
variation  from  specified  length  is  J  in.  This  is  measurable  without  tern- 


94  TRACK    MATERIALS 

perature  correction  at  60  deg.  F.  Kails  should  be  sawed  square  at'  the 
ends,  but  it  is  customary  to  permit  a  variation  of  1/32  in.  between  length  of 
head  and  base.  It  is  usual  to  accept  10  per  cent  of  the  order  in  lengths 
shorter  than  standard,  varying  by  even  feet  down  to  a  length  specified,, 
which,  in  largest  practice,  is  24  ft.  for  30-ft.  rails.  This  minimum  length 
varies  with  different  railways  from  22  to  27  ft.,  and  some  specifications 
require  that  the  average  length  of  short  rails  shall  not  fall  below  a  specified 
length;  as,  for  instance,  the  minimum  length  acceptable  with  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  By.  is  24  ft.,  and  the  average  length  of  the  short 
rails  must  not  fall  below  26  ft.  The  percentage  of  short  rails  acceptable 
is  sometimes  put  as  low  as  4  per  cent.  The  Am.  Ky.  Eng.  &  M.  W. 
Assn.  recommends  that  10  per  cent  of  the  order  may  be  accepted  in  lengths 
shorter  than  standard  (33  ft.)  and  that  the  minimum  length  accept- 
able shall  be  27  ft.  Specifications  provide,  of  course,  for  the  spacing  of 
the  bolt  holes,  requiring  that  they  shall  be  drilled  accurately  and  left  with- 
out burrs.  The  burrs  on  the  rail  ends  made  by  the  saw  should  be  chipped 
and  filed  off,  particularly  where  they  would  interfere  with  the  fit  of  the 
splice  bars. 

Kails  made  from  heats  the  test  pieces  from  which  have  failed  to  stand 
the  drop  test  or  the  bending  test;  rails  having  small  flaws  in  the  head  and 
base,  usually  not  to  exceed  J  in.  in  depth,  if  in  the  head,  and  ^  in.  in  depth, 
if  in  the  base ;  and  rails  possessing  any  other  injurious  physical  defects, 
which,  however,  do  not  impair  their  strength,  are  designated  second  quality 
and  are  distinguished  by  having  their  ends  painted.  Specifications  usually 
provide  for  the  acceptance  of  a  small  percentage  of  second-quality  rails,  3 
to  5  per  cent  of  the  order  being  a  common  figure. 

Rail  Wear. — The  conditions  attending  the  wear  of  rails  have  not  been 
thoroughly  investigated,  and  so  a  good  deal  that  is  pretended  to  be  known 
about  it  has  come  by  theorizing.  It  is  generally  assumed  that  the  natural 
wear  between  car  wheels  and  rails  is  due  largely  to  rolling  friction,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  the  interlocking  of  the  surface  particles  of  the  two  bodies  in 
contact,  much  as  the  teeth  of  cog  wheels  fit  together.  The  friction  between 
these  meshing  particles  and  the  crushing  of  particles  which  fail  to  mesh  are 
supposed  to  set  up  a  sort  of  pulverizing  action  which  gradually  wears  away 
the  rail  and  wheel  surfaces.  The  powder  formed  thereby  may  be  seen  by 
drawling  the  tip  of  the  finger  across  the  top  of  a  rail  just  after  a  train  has 
passed.  Such  is  the  commonly  accepted  explanation  for  rail  wear  on 
straight  and  level  track.  As  for  curved  track,  we  know  that  other  conditions 
obtain,  for  there  is  a  grinding  of  the  wheel  flanges  against  the  side  of  the  r-nl 
head  and  there  is  a  skidding  action  of  the  wheels  across  the  rail  top.  The 
rapid  rate  of  wear  of  rails  on  curves,  as  compared  with  that  of  rails  of  like 
quality  on  straight  line,  under  similar  traffic  conditions,  is  too  well  known 
and  understood  to  require  lengthy  discussion.  It  will  suffice  to  illustrate  a 
few  examples  of  such  wear.  In  Fig.  14  are  exhibited  a  number  of  diagrams 
of  worn  rails,  sketched  from  rails  actually  removed  from  the  track.  The 
legends  noted  on  each  section  explain  the  length  of  service  and  other 
essential  matters  pertaining  to  the  manner  in  which  the  rails  were  handled. 
With  the  exception  of  the  90-lb.  rail,  laid  in  May,  1896,  all  of  the  rails 
were  of  the  American  Society  standard  section.  It  is  particularly  interest- 
ing to  notice  the  small  amount  of  wear  upon  the  top  surface  relatively  to  that 
on  the  side  of  the  head. 

On  grades,  also,  increase  of  wear,  over  that  which  takes  place  on  level 
track,  is  an  important  exception  to  the  explanation  based  upon  rolling  fric- 
tion, and  the  difference  is  generally  understood  to  be  due  to  the  predomin- 
ance of  the  tractive  effect  of  locomotive  wheels.  On  the  rolling  friction 


RAILS 


theory  this  increased  wear  from  •  traction  is  undoubtedly  explainable  in 
some  part  by  the  reaction  between  the  minute  particles  of  wheel  and  rail 
which  gear  with  one  another,  between  which  there  must  be  a  constant  ten- 
dency to  slipping,  if  indeed  slipping  does  not  actually  take  place  to  greater 
extent  than  may  generally  be  supposed.  As  the  tractive  effect  of  the  loco- 
motive on  level  track  differs  from  that  on  grades  only  in  degree,  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  no  inconsiderable  part  of  rail  wear  on  level  track 
must  be  due  to  locomotive  traction.  While  the  wearing  effect  of  the  car 
wheels  may  be  essentially  different  from  that  of  the  locomotive  drivers,  we 
have  to  consider  some  tendency  to  slipping  in  the  former  due  to  inequality 
of  circumferences,  so  far  as  such  may  exist  between  pairs  of  wheels  on  the 
same  axle. 

The  actual  behavior  of  rails  under  loaded  wheels,  particularly  with 
reference  to  the  conditions  obtaining  at  the  surfaces  of  contact,  has  been  the 
subject  of  some  investigation  and  experiment,  and  the  data  obtained  cer- 
tainly have  some  bearing  on  this  subject  of  rail  wear,  even  if  opportunity  to 
connect  the  same  with  formulated  statements  or  rules  of  practice  has  as 
yet  failed  to  materialize.  Mr.  Octave  Chanute,  when  chief  engineer  of  the 
Erie  E.  E.,  many  years  ago,  made  some  experiments  to  determine  the 


Fig.  14. — Examples  of  Rail  Wear  on  Curves. 


bearing  area  of  locomotive  driving  wheels  on  steel  rails,  and  subsequently 
Mr.  D.  J.  Whittemore,  chief  engineer  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St. 
Paul  Ey.,  and  the  late  Prof.  J.  B.  Johnson,  at  the  time  connected  with  the 
Washington  University,  at  St.  Louis,  have  conducted  experiments  with  a  like 
object  in  view.  By  jacking  up  a  locomotive  and  placing  sheets  of  carbon  pa- 
per and  tissue  paper  together  under  the  wheels  Mr.  Chanute  found  that  the 
area  of  contact  of  the  wheel  was  about  £  sq.  in.,  as  shown  by  the  imprint  of 
the  carbon  sheet  upon  the  tissue  paper.  The  driving  wheels  of  the  locomo- 
tives used  in  these  experiments  were  4J  ft.  and  5  ft.  in  diameter,  and  were 
loaded  with  11,350  to  14,000  Ibs.  per  wheel.  Mr.  Whittemore,  experiment- 
ing on  a  locomotive  with  70-in.  drivers  carrying  16,000  Ibs.  each  found,  as 
the  mean  result  of  several  experiments,  an  oval-shaped  contact  area  having 
a  major  axis  of  1.48  ins.,  across,  the  rail,  and  a  minor  axis  of  1  in.  longi- 
tudinally with  the  rail.  In  this  case  the  tires  were  well  worn  and  the 
(steel)  rail  had  been  in  service  five  years.  Another  test  with  an  engine 
having  64-in.  drivers  with  loads  of  13,800  Ibs.  per  wheel,  the  tires  having 
been  in  service  about  six  months,  gave  a  contact  of  similar  shape,  the  major 
axis  being  1.27  ins.,  the  minor  axis  .79  in.  and  the  area  enclosed  about  .86 
sq.  in.  Prof.  Johnson  experimented  with  locomotive  drivers  and  car 
wheels,  with  loads  imposed  by  a  testing  machine.  On  a  ^teel  rail  with  a  top 
radius  of  13 J  ins.  a  44-in.  driving  wheel  with  flat  tread,  loaded  to  2 5,000 
Ibs.,  gave  a  contact  which  was  approximately  circular  and  1J  ins.  in  cliam- 


96  TRACK    MATERIALS 

eter.  A  new  33-in.  chilled  car  wheel  loaded  to  15,000  Ibs.  gave  an  oval 
contact  with  a  major  axis  of  iyie  ins.,  across  the  rail,  and  a  minor  axis  of 
13/16  in.  In  another  experiment  a  44-in.  driver  with  flat  tread,  loaded  to 
25,000  Ibs.,  on  a  75-lb.  steel  rail  with  a  top  radius  of  14  ins.,  gave  a  contact 
approximating  to  a  circle  of  19/16  ins.  diam.  A  car  wheel  loaded  with 
15,000  Ibs.  gave  an  oval  contact  measuring  !3/lbxJ  in. 

So  far  as  the  actual  area  of  contact  is  concerned  the  results  of  these 
experiments  can  be  considered  only  approximations  to  conditions  which  may 
obtain  in  actual  practice,  for,  in  the  first  place,  the  loads  were  statically 
applied,  and  in  the  second  place,  the  shape  and  size  of  contact  would  neces- 
sarily depend  very  much  upon  the  condition  of  wheel  tread  and  rail  top 
with  respect  to  wear.  Neither  did  these  experiments  discover  any  relation 
between  the  chemical  composition  of  the  rail  (hardness)  and  the  effect  of 
wheel  pressure.  By  applying  successively  varying  loads,  however,  Prof. 
Johnson  deduced  some  laws  which  seem  to  shed  a  good  deal  of  light  upon 
wheel  contact  with  rails.  It  was  determined  that  the  area  of  contact  in- 
creases directly  with  the  load,  which  shows  that  the  mean  intensity  of  pres- 
sure, in  these  experiments  found  to  be  about  82,000  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  is  a 
constant  for  all  loads.  It  was  also  found  that  the  maximum  deformation, 
which  took  place  at  the  centers  of  the  areas,  in  each  case,  was  twice  the  aver- 
age deformation,  from  which  it  follows  that  the  maximum  compressive  stress 
for  all  loads  is  about  164,000  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  Permanent  set  of  measurable 
magnitude,  on  either  wheels  or  rail,  was  apparently  not  produced  by  these 
loads,  from  which  it  might  be  said  that  the  elastic  limits  of  the  materials 
had  apparently  not  been  reached  for  this  condition  of  contact,  although  for 
ordinary  conditions  the  elastic  limit  of  the  rail  steel  was  about  50,000  Ibs. 
per  sq.  in.  The  principle  that  mean  intensity  of  pressure  and  maximum 
intensity  of  pressure  remain  the  same  for  all  loads  would  seem  to  have  an 
important  bearing  upon  rail  wear,  as  then  the  problem  reduces  itself  to 
the  relation  of  wearing  effect  to  area  of  contact. 

Whether  the  relations  above  stated  might  not  undergo  some  modifica- 
tion for  conditions  which  obtain  more  generally  in  practice  might  be  worthy 
of  inquiry.  If,  as  is  claimed,  wheels  and  rails  wear  to  the  same  curve 
(contour  of  cross  section)  we  should  expect  that  wheel  contact  under  normal 
conditions  would  extend  nearly  or  quite  entirely  across  the  top  of  the 
rail,  approximating  closely  the  form  of  a  parallelogram  with  rounded 
corners.  In  that  case  it  would  seem  that  the  maximum  compression  would 
occur  along  a  line  extending  across  the  top  of  the  rail  instead  of  at  a  point 
or  comparatively  small  area  at  the  center  of  a  circular  or  elliptical  contact 
surface.  On  general  principles,  however,  it  would  seem  that  the  maximum 
intensity  of  compression  could  exert  but  little  influence  on  rail  wear,  in  any 
case>  as  if  the  rail  should  wear  more  rapidly  on  the  line  where  the  com- 
pression is  greatest,  the  displacement  of  the  material  there  wo  aid  necessarily 
reduce  the  compression  along  that  particular  line  of  contact,  thus  affecting 
a  redistribution  or  equalization  of  the  pressure. 

The  allowable  extent  to  which  rails  may  be  worn  in  depth  of  head 
before  they  are  supposed  to  become  unfit  for  main-track  service  seems  to  vary 
between  J  and  Jin.  quite  generally,  being  f  in.  in  most  cases,  perhaps.  It  is 
true  that  a  wear  of  f  or  f  in.  in  depth  of  head,  or  even  a  greater  depth,  is 
occasionally  reported  of  rails  in  main  track,  but  such  cases  are  so  compara- 
tively few  that  they  may  properly  be  regarded  as  exceptional.  The  condition 
usually  considered  to  be  the  cause  for  the  removal  of  rails  from  main  track  is 
very  seldom  charged  to  insufficient  strength  due  to  loss  or  abrasion  of  metal. 
On  sharp  curves  where  the  lateral  wear  is  excessive  such  a  condition  may 
sometimes  obtain.  The  usual  cause  for  removal  is  the  roughening  of  the 


KAILS  97 

running  surface,,  due  to  slivering  or  uneven  wear  of  the  metal,  by  which  it 
sometimes  becomes  wavy.  Of  course  this  state  of  wear  will  depend  largely 
upon  the  constitution  of  the  metal  with  respect  to  homogeneity,  but  some- 
times there  are  other  causes  for  the  removal  of  rails  -from  main  track  before 
the  limit  of  wear  on  the  running  surface  has  been  reached;  among  which 
may  be  named  deformation  of  the  rail  and  abnormal  wear  of  the  running 
surface  at  joints,  particularly  at  the  receiving  end  of  rails  in  double  track; 
wear  at  the  bearing  surfaces  of  splice  bars,  and  side  wear  on  the  outer  rail  of 
curves.  The  care  exercised  in  keeping  rails  to  smooth  surface,  particularly 
at  the  joints,  is  an  important  factor  of  their  durability.  Thus,  for  one  or 
another  of  these  causes,  it  will  usually  be  found  that  rails  of  whatsoever 
weight  will  wear  down  about  the  same  amount  in  depth  of  head,  when  they 
become  unserviceable  for  further  use  in  the  main  track.  It  would  appear 
that,  with  the  same  quality  of  metal  in  either  case,  the  larger  rail,  which 
would  usually  have  the  wider  head,  should  wear -the  longer,  but,  as  already 
explained,  some  rails  of  the  larger  sections  have  been  disappointing  in  this 
respect. 

It  has  long  been  a  desire  with  maintenance-of-way  officials  to  find  some 
relation  between  the  tonnage  carried  by  rails  and  the  endurance  of  the  metal. 
It  would  be  particularly  useful  if  the  wearing  capacity  of  rails  in  relation 
to  their  chemical  composition  and  known  physical  properties  could  be  ascer- 
tained, for  the  quality  of  the  metal  is  all  important  in  rail  wear.  Such  a 
diversity  of  results  is  obtained  in  practice,  under  apparently  the  same  traffic 
conditions,  that  any  attempt  to  draw  conclusions  as  to  the  wear  of  rails 
from  traffic,  based  either  upon  tonnage  or  the  number  of  trains,  without 
taking  into  account  the  quality  of  the  metal,  is  futile.  Occasionally  some 
student  of  the  question  will  formulate  a  rate  of  wear  intended  for  general 
application,  without  reference  to  specific  conditions,  but  the  figures  obtained 
do  not  usually  agree  with  any  widely  prevailing  experience.  Taking 
into  consideration  the  actual  conditions  there  is  but  little  about  such  a  con- 
clusion which  seems  strange.  As  hardness  and  compactness  of  the  metal 
in  the  rail  head,  grades,  curvature,  the  braking  action  of  wheels,  the 
number  of  trains,  tonnage,  and  undoubtedly  the  wheel  loads,  all  have 
some  influence  on  rail  wear,  it  could  hardly  be  expected  that  a  rate  of 
wear  based  only  on  tonnage,  number  of  trains  or  any  other  conveniently 
designated  condition,  would  meet  with  general  application.  Xeverthe- 
less  the  wear  of  rails  is  usually  referred  to  without  any  details  as  to 
the  chemical  composition  and  physical  properties  of  the  metal,  wheel 
loads,  speeds,  curves,  grades  etc.,  when  it  is  a  question  worthy  of  inves- 
tigation whether  with  light  rolling  stock  at  moderate  speeds  a  rail  might 
not  carry  a  much  larger  tonnage  than  with  heavy  rolling  stock  at  high 
speeds,  or  whether  the  wear  of  soft  rails  under  light  loads  might  not  be 
equivalent  in  some  respect  to  the  wear  of  harder  rails  under  heavier  loads. 
At  least  one  consideration  which  would  give  weight  to  such  comparisons 
would  be  the  increased  severity  of  the  heavier  loads  on  the  joints.  In 
Europe,  where  the  population  is  more  dense  and  the  distances  between 
stations  shorter  than  in  this  country,  a  good  deal  of  stress  is  placed  upon  the 
wear  of  rails  under  the  braking  action  of  wheels.  On  some  of  the  French 
roads  the  rate  of  wear  of  rails  at  points  where  all  trains  stop  is  shown  to  bo 
five  times  what  it  is  at  points  intermediate  between  stations. 

However  these  things  may  be,  figures  have  been  produced  which  serve 
to  convey  some  idea  of  the  duration  of  rails,  within  limits,  even  if  one  is 
not  sure  of  being  able  to  make  a1  desired  application  of  such  figures;  and 
then  it  is  always  possible  to  strike  an  average  of  any  set  of  results  how- 
soever various.  The  life  of  rails  is  variously  estimated  at  from  100  to  250 


98  TRACK    MATERIALS 

million  tons  of  traffic,  depending  upon  the  location  of  the  rail  with  refer- 
ence to  straight  line,  curves,  and  grades.  Some  experiments  conducted  by 
the  German  Railroad  Bureau  during  the  years  from  1878  to  1884  serve 
to,  show  relative  rail  wear  under  different  conditions  of  grades  and"  curva- 
ture. The  wear  of  the  rails  in  depth  of  head  per  million  tons  of  traffic 
passing  over  the  rails  was  as  follows : 

Conditions.  Wear. 

Level    track    on    tangent 0016  inch. 

Level  track  on  2^-deg.  curves 0028 

Level    track    on    5-deg.    curves .0039 

Single-track  tangent,  grades  %  to  %  per  cent 0067 

Double  track,  1%-deg.  curve,  up  grade  y±  to  %  per  cent 0032 

Double  track,  1%-deg.  curve,  down  grade  ^  to  %  per  cent 0043 

Curves  2  deg.  50  min.  to  1%  deg.  on  %  to  1  per  cent  grades 0087 

Curves  2  deg.  .50  min.  to  1%  deg.,  grades  2  to  2%   per  cent 0122 

Curves  6  to  9  deg.,  grades  1%  to  2  per  cent 0087 

Curves  6  to  9  deg.,  grades  2  to  2%  per  cent 0201 

Curves  more  than  9  deg.,  grades  2  to  2%   per  cent 0378 

On  the  basis  of  f  in.  wear  the  rails  in  level  track  on  tangent,  above 
referred  to,  should  carry  about  234  million  tons  of  traffic,  while  under  the 
most  rapid  rate  of  wear,  namely  that  for  rails  on  grades  of  2  to  2J  per 
cent  in  curves  exceeding  9  degr.,  the  rails  would  carry  onlv  about  10  million 
tons.  An  interesting  comparison  is  between  rails  on  the  up  and  down 
grades  (as  the  trains  run)  of  -|  to  f  per  cent,  the  wear  being  greater  for  the 
down  grades  than  for  the  up  grades,  which  seems  difficult  of  explanation, 
even  when  the  effect  of  braking  the  wheels  on  the  down  grade  is  taken  into 
account.  It  is  not  stated  in  what  manner  the  effect  of  side  wear  on  the 
curves  was  taken  into  account. 

The  St.  Gothard  Ry.,  in  Switzerland,  has  collected  a  very  large 
amount  of  data  with  a  view  to  determine  the  normal  wear  of  rails  under 
different  conditions  of  grades  and  curvature.  The  following  is  a  con- 
densed summary  of  87,000  measurements  on  the  vertical  wear  of  rails, 
the  rate  (average)  in  each  case  referring  to  a  million  tons  gross  carried: 
For  the  whole  system  (including  grades)  the  rate  of  wear  on  straight 
line  was  .00134  inch.;  for  the  whole  system  including  curves,  the  rate  was 
,00224  in. ;  for  track  on  level  grades  the  rate  was  .00209  in. ;  for  track  on 
mountain  lines,  down  grade,  2.7  per  cent,  the  rate  was  .00201  in. ;  for  track 
on  up  grades,  same  lines,  .00284  in.;  for  track  on  2.6  per  cent  grades, 
traffic  both  ways,  the  rate  was  .00213  in.  The  sharpest  curvature  on  these 
mountain  lines  is  6J  deg.  On  this  road  it  is  found  that  the  rate  of  wear 
on  down-grade  lines  does  not  exceed  that  for  level  track.  In  respect  to 
wear  on  curves  the  following  coefficients  were  obtained,  taking  the  rate 
of  wear  on  straight  line  as  unity:  for  curves  below  2J  deg.,  coef.  1.3;  for 
curves  2-J  to  4J  deg.,  coef.  2.2 ;  for  curves  of  4J  to  6J  deg.,  coef.  3.1.  It  was 
also  found  that  on  curves  the  sectional  wear  on  the  inner  rail  was  practi- 
cally equal  to  that  on  the  outer  rail,  for  although  the  inner  rail  showed 
no  lateral  wear  the  vertical  wear  was  more  rapid  than  on  the  outer  rail. 
This  experience  coincides  with  that  on  some  of  the  lines  in  this  country 
which  carry  a  heavy  freight  traffic. 

Mr.  Richard  Price  Williams,  an  English  authority,  gives,  as  the  result 
of  numerous  tests  and  observations,  the  average  wear  of  rails  of  good 
quality  to  be  about  Vio  in-  in  depth  of  head  for  each  20  million  tons  of 
traffic  carried.  Allowing  f  in.  as  the  limit  for  wear  this  would  put  the  wear- 
ing capacity  of  an  average  steel  rail  at  120  million  tons.  The  French  engi- 
neer Couard  puts  rail  wear  at  1  millimeter  for  each  16,800,000  tons 
of  traffic,  and  states  that  the  limit  of  wear  coming  under  his  observation 
is  about  f  in.  This  amount  of  wear  would  correspond  to  a  carrying  capacity 


RAILS  99 

of  about  160  million  -tons.  The  wear  of  100-lb  rails  outside  the  Fourth  Ave- 
nue tunnel  on  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.,  in  New  York 
•City,  is  stated  to  be  £  in.  for  80  million  tons  of  traffic,  the  average  driving 
wheel  load  of  all  the  locomotives  passing  over  the  rails  being  22,000  Ibs. 
About  the  best  results  noticed  in  this  country  are  reported  of  80-lb.  rails  on 
tangents,  in  use  nine  years,  on  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.,  where  the  wear 
lias  been  5/G4  in.  in  depth  of  head,  the  rails  carrying  an  estimated  traffic 
of  90  million  tons.  If  the  service  of  these  rails  should  hold  out  to 
the  full  extent  of  f  in.  wear  at  the  same  rate  the  traffic  carried  would 
amount  to  432  million  tons.  Some  authorities  think  that  the  number  of 
trains  is  a  more  logical  basis  for  measuring  the  service  of  rails  than  ton- 
nage. Passenger  trains,  while  lighter,  on  the  average,  than  freight  trains, 
run  at  faster  speed,  and  should  be  expected  to  wear  the  rails  at  a  faster 
rate,  ton  for  ton,  than  slow  trains.  So  far  as  relates  to  parts  of  the  rails 
at  and  near  the  joints  there  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  about  this.  Tonnage 
multiplied  by  average  speed  is  perhaps  the  proper  basis  for  measurement 
of  rail  service,  but  as  this  product  is  practically  the  same  for  all  trains, 
it  is  considered  just  as  accurate  to  compare  the  wear  with  the  number  of 
trains.  On  mountain  grades  the  tonnage  of  freight  trains  ascending  is, 
•of  course,  relatively  small  and  the  speed  slow,  but  the  wear  from  locomo- 
tive traction  is  relatively  much  larger  than  that  from  the  car  wheels, 
especially  where  the  grades  are  so  steep  as  to  require  pusher  engines,  and 
the  frequent  use  of  sand  is  also  severe. 

Some  careful  students  of  rail  wear  claim  that  it  is  an  open  question 
whether  hard  rails  (speaking  relatively)  give  longer  service  than  rails 
of  mild  steel.  The  results  of  an  experiment  in  this  line  carried  out  on 
the  Dutch  State  Eailways  are  quite  interesting.  Eails  of  hard  and  mild 
steel  of  known  chemical  and  physical  properties  were  laid  in  experimental 
sections  under  identical  conditions  of  tonnage,  speed,  tie  supports,  ballast, 
alignment,  etc.  After  30,000  trains  had  passed  over  the  rails  they  were 
taken  up  and  weighed,  and  it  was  found  that  those  made  of  mild  steel 
showed  28-J  per  cent  more  wear  than  the  hard  rails.  The  rails  were  then 
put  back  and  after  65,000  more  trains  had  passed  over  the  trial  sections 
the  rails  were  again  weighed,  when  it  was  found  that  the  hard  rails  had  lost 
9J  per  cent  more  weight  than  the  softer  ones.  The  loss  of  weight  under  the 
whole  95,000  trains  was  approximately  the  same  for  both  kinds  of  rails. 
Another  interesting  fact  (which  is  similar  to  results  observed  elsewhere) 
was  that  the  rate  of  wear  per  10,000  trains  was  greater  with  the  first  30,000 
trains  than  with  the  next  65,000  trains,  in  the  case  of  both  kinds  of  rails. 
The  rate  of  wear  on  single  and  double-track  lines,  other  conditions  being 
equal,  was  approximately  the  same.  An  extended  study  of  rail  wear  complet- 
ed about  1886  by  Mr.  Chas.  B.  Dudley,  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.,  showed 
conclusively  that  the  rate  of  wear  on  rails  of  mild  steel  was  slower  than  on 
rails  of  hard  steel.  Mr.  Dudley  has  explained  that  the  cold  rolling  effect 
of  car  and  locomotive  wheels  on  rails  tends  to  increase  the  brittleness  of 
the  hard  steel,  and  that  the  wear  on  brittle  steel  under  rolling  friction 
is  more  rapid  than  on  mild  steel.  These  results  he  has  confirmed  by  exper- 
iments independent  of  those  observed  in  the  track. 

Another  phase  of  the  rail-wear  question  which  has  received  some  at- 
tention is  the  effect  of  the  traffic  on  the  strength  of  the  metal.  Opinions 
regarding  the  "fatigue"  of  metal  subjected  to  live  loads  or  repeated  stresses 
vary,  and  the  theory  is  not  generally  accepted,  at  least  as  applying  to  rails. 
Test  .specimens  cut  from  rails  which  have  been  in  service  long  enough  to 
wear  the  rail  out  have  failed  to  show  loss  of  strength  in  the  metal,  as  com- 
pared with  new  metal  of  like  chemical  composition  and  manufacture.  As 


100  TRACK   MATERIALS 

to  rails,  the  metal  lias  comparatively  long  periods  of  rest  during  which 
"recovery"  may  take  place  after  stress,  and  the  "fatigue"  theory  is  not  put 
forth  as  prominently  as  is  the  effect  of  the  face  hardening  of  the  running 
surface  due  to  cold  rolling  from  the  wheels.  It  is  claimed  that  from  this 
cause  the  contact  surface  is  broken  down  to  a  depth  which  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  hardness  of  the  metal.  According  to  some  accounts 
it  has  been  ascertained  that  a  thin  skin  of  metal  on  the  rail  top  has,  from 
the  cold  rolling  of  the  wheels,  been  found  to  be  twice  as  hard  on  the  scale 
of  hardness  as  the  metal  throughout  the  remaining  portions  of  the  rail. 
It  is  also  claimed  that  the  wearing  qualities  of  rails  of  mild  steel  are 
affected  to  a  greater  degree  from  cold  rolling  than  are  hard  rails.  As 
already  stated,  it  has  been  observed  that  rails  wear  most  rapidly  early  in 
their  life,  which  is  explained  by  the  gradual  hardening  of  the  top  surface 
due  to  cold  rolling  by  the  traffic.  One  matter  which  should  not  escape  con- 
sideration in  this  connection,  however,  is  that  an  abnormal  rate  of  wear 
should  be  expected  of  new  rails  until  the  top  of  the  head  becomes  worn 
to  fit  the  treads  of  the  wheels.  Especially  is  this  the  case  where  Tails 
have  been  renewed  with  those  of  a  new  section  having  a  considerably  wider 
head.  The  grooves  worn  in  the  locomotive  tires  on  the  old  rails  are  then 
liable -to  wear  or  crush  down  rapidly  the  metal  on  the  corners  of  the  head 
of  the  new  rail.  Prolonged  seasons  of  freezing  weather,  when  the  rail  is 
held  rigidly  to  its  duty  in  frozen  ground,  and  frequent  snow  storms,  which 
make  traction  difficult,  also  increase  the  rate  of  wear  on  rails. 

Mr.  W.  G.  Kirkaldy,  in  a  paper  before  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers, in  1899,  presented  data  obtained  from  a  series  of  observations,  to- 
show  that  minute  flaws  or  cracks  are  induced  in  the  running  surface  of 
rails  by  the  rolling  action  of  the  wheels,  which  impair  the  strength  of  the 
rail  under  certain  test  conditions.  He  fortified  his  claims  by  performing 
bending  tests  on  butts  of  service-worn  75-lb.  bull-head  rails,  in  -the  normal 
direction  and  inverted,  showing  that  the  strength  of  the  rail  in  the- 
inverted  tests  was  much  less  than  when  placed  with  the  head  upwards, 
as  in  service.  As  the  head  portion  of  bull-head  rails  is  larger  than  the- 
base  portion  the  reverse  would  naturally  be  expected.  In  all  the  tests  the 
loads  were  applied  gradually,  in  increments  of  2000  Ibs.,  midway  between 
supports  5  ft.  apart.  In  six  sets  of  experiments  the  butts  tested  in  the  nor- 
mal direction  were  deflected  6  to  9  ins.  (average  6.77  ins.)  under  loads 
varying  from  48,355  Ibs.  to  63,670  Ibs.  (average  56,435  Ibs.)  without 
breaking,  except  in  one  case,  where  the  rail  snapped  at  a  deflection  of  5.62 
ins.,  under  a  load  of  57,705  Ibs.  In  the  inverted  tests  the  rails  snapped 
in  every  case  at  deflections  of  .28  in.  to  1.31  ins.  (average  .86  in.),  under 
loads  varying  from  33,980  Ibs.  to  40,080  Ibs.  (average  38,485.").  The 
rails  had  been  in  service  20  years  and  the  metal  on  the  running  surface 
showed  deterioration  to  some  extent,  although  no  visible  flaws  appeared 
except  in  one  case.  By  tensile  tests  on  specimens  taken  from  the  interior  of 
the  head  and  base  portions  it  was  proved  that  the  deterioration  was  con- 
fined entirely  to  the  top  or  running  surface  of  the  rail,  and  that  "fatigue" 
of  the  metal  throughout  the  section  had  not  been  produced.  Substan- 
tially similar  results  have  been  shown  by  tests  at  the  Watertown  arsenal, 
in  this  country.  Rails  taken  from  the  track  and  loaded  in  a  testing 
machine,  broke  under  relatively  low  stresses  when  the  head  was  on  the 
convex  side  of  the  piece  tested,  but  by  planing  a  thin  skin  of  metal 
(about  Y16  in.)  off  the  top  of  the  head  the  rails  were  able  to  resist 
the  tests  much  more  successfully.  Microscopical  examination  in  the 
Kirkaldy  tests  showed  that  the  deterioration  consisted  of  minute  shallow 
cracks  running  across  the  top  of  the  rail.  It  is  a  feature  of  carbon  steel 


RAILS 


101 


that  a  crack  or  flaw,  however  small,  in  the  outer  fibers  of  the  piece  greatly 
impairs  its  strength  when  subjected  to  bending  stress  which  brings  the 
•defective  fibers  in  tension.  Impairment  of  strength  in  the  manner  shown 
by  these  experiments  would  not,  however,  apply  to  rails  in. service,  because 
the  tensional  stresses  imposed  upon  the  top  fibers  by  the  undulations  of  the 
Tail  are  small  relatively  to  the  tension  in  the  bottom  fibers.  Neither  would 
it  be  expected  that  impairment  in  any  respect  should  become  more  pro- 
nounced with  age.  As  the  cold-rolling  effect  extends  only  "skin  deep" 
and  wears  away  as  fast  as  it  penetrates  the  head,  it  should  be  no  deeper 
after  a  long  service  than  at  only  a  comparatively  short  period  oj  the  rail's 
life.  So  far  as  special  tests  and  experience  have  proven  anything,  rails 
of  good  chemical  composition  produced  by  proper  methods  of  rolling  are — 
save  for  loss  of  strength  by  reduction  of  the  section — no  more  liable  to 
break  in  service  when  worn  out  than  when  they  were  new. 

A  simple  way  to  compare  the  wear  of  rails  of  different  composition 
and  manufacture  is  to  lay  them  alternately  on  sharp  curves  where  the  traffic 


Fig.  15. — Instrument  for  Measuring 
Rail  Wear. 


Fig.  16. — Hurley  Track-Laying 
Machine;    Front  View. 


is  heavy.  The  rails  will  then  be  subject  to  uniform  conditions  of  service, 
and  any  considerable  differences  of  wearing  qualities  will  soon  become 
evident.  By  repeating  this  experiment  on  the  same  curve  each  year  and 
keeping  a  rough  check  upon  the  volume  of  the  traffic,  the  data  collected 
should  be  useful  for  comparison  of  results  from  rails  received  from  year  to 
3'ear,  and  might  be  valuable  in  deciding  upon  the  kind  of  metal  to  be  finally 
adopted.  One  way  to  determine  the  amount  of  wear  on  rails  is  to  take  the 
rails  up  and  weigh  them,  but  in  experiments  on  an  extended  scale  this  meth- 
od requires  a  good  deal  of  labor;  it  also  makes  necessary  a  small  correction 
for  metal  lost  from  the  flange  and  web  by  corrosion,  which  can  only  be 
estimated.  For  obvious  reasons  ordinary  calipers  are  not  suitable  for 
measuring  rails  to  ascertain  both  lateral  and  vertical  wear,  or  even  the 
vertical  wear  over  the  whole  width  of  the  head.  Various  instruments  and 
devices  have  been  contrived  for  this  purpose.  One  idea  that  has  been 
put  into  service  is  to  apply  molds  to  the  sides  of  the  rail  and  take  a  plaster 
of  Paris  cast,  from  which  precise  measurements  can  be  obtained  in  various 
Avars.  The  instrument  shown  in  Fig.  15,  consisting  of  a  clamp  (B)  and  a 
curved-tapering  scale  (S),  was  designed  by  Mr.  Stephen  W.  Baldwin,  of 
New  York  City.  The  clamp  is  J  in.  thick  and  is  applied  to  the  head 
of  the  rail  by  means  of  a  thum-screw  (e)  and  stud  (d)  in  3/16  in.  holes 


102  THACK    MATERIALS 

drilled  into  the  rail  at  points  where  it  is  desired  to  take  measurements- 
As  the  splice  bars  do  not  interfere  these  holes  may  be  drilled  as  near  the 
end  of  the  rail  as  is  desired.  Presumably  each  rail  would  be  measured  at. 
the  middle  and  near  the  ends.  The  center  line  I  c  between  opposite  boles 
is  the  base  line  for  all  measurements,  and  as  this  is  fixed  and  not  affected 
by  wear  (the  hole  in  the  gage  side  should  be  drilled  deep  enough  to  place 
its  pointed  end  beyond  the  reach  of  wear  from  the  wheel  flanges)  the 
clamp,  when  adjusted,  will  always  occupy  the  same  position.  To  prevent 
corrosion  in  the  holes  they  may  be  filled  with  wax  after  each  time  the- 
instrument  is  used.  The  measurements  taken  between  the  working  faces 
of  the  rail  and  the  reference  heads  on  the  clamp  (No.  1,  No.  2.  . .  .No.  7) 
are  thus  accurate  records  for  comparing  the  size  of  the  rail  head  at  differ- 
ent times.  The  purpose  of  curving  the  tapering  scale  is  to  prevent  bridg- 
ing depressions  in  the  rail  surface.  This  scale  is  tapered  and  graduated 
to  measure  the  open  space  between  the  clamp  and  the  rail  within  1/200. 
of  an  inch. 

7.  Splices. — No  subject  concerned  with  track  appliances  has  been  dis- 
cussed more  than  that  of  joint  splices.  A  student  of  the  rail  joint  question 
who  would  set  about  to  read  all  that  has  been  written  concerning  it  by  men 
of  learning  and  experience  would  become  weary  before  getting  half  way 
through.  In  this  day  and  generation  it  is  hardly  possible  to  say  anything 
on  the.  question  that  is  original;  the  arguments  have  all  been  repeated 
hundreds  of  times.  Nevertheless  it  is  appropriate  to  a  work  of  this  char- 
acter to  set  forth  the  situation,  and  in  that  connection  some  treatment  of 
the  principles  involved  in  the  case  seems  desirable.  The  evolution  of  joint 
fastenings  has  advanced  through  three  stages:  first,  the  chair,  which 
maintained  the  ends  of  the  rails  in  alignment  and  served  as  a  bearing  piece 
or  plate  upon  the  joint  tie;  second,  the  fish  plate,  which  afforded  the 
rail  ends  some  support  under  the  head,  but  greatly  improved  matters  by 
stiffening  the  junction  of  the  rails  vertically;  third,  the  angle  bar,  which, 
combining  the  features  of  the  fish  plate,  effected  a  great  improvement  in 
both  the  vertical  and  horizontal  stiffness  of  the  junction.  The  angle  bar 
has  long  been  the  universal  joint  fastening,  and,  speaking  generally,  of 
course,  it  still  maintains  that  distinction.  Amidst  the  confusion  of  claims 
presented  by  the  numerous  designs  of  joint  splices  intended  as  improve- 
ments on  the  angle  bar,  railway  men  have  been  judiciously  conservative 
about  adopting  new  devices.  The  reasons  for  this  moderation  are  apparent 
to  any  maintenance-of-way  man-  of  experience.  Although  the  plain  angle 
bar  is  not  entirely  satisfactory  as  a  joint  fastening,  it  is  nevertheless  safe, 
simple,  easily  applied  and  adjusted,  cheap  in  first  cost,  fairly  efficient  and 
withal  not  such  a  rattletrap  affair  as  some  theorists  would  have  us  suppose. 
There  is  no  getting  around  the  fact  that  it  is  serviceable.  Notwithstanding 
this  there  is  a  general  demand  for  an  improvement  in  joint  fastenings,  for, 
relatively*  rail  joints  are  the  weak  points  of  the  track  structure — not  neces- 
sarily weak  in  an  absolute  sense,  but  comparatively  so  when  measured 
by  the  stiffness  of  the  solid  rail.  This  relative  weakness  is  an  important 
factor  of  maintenance  expense,  for  it  interrupts  the  uniformity  of  condi- 
tions of  support,  so  closely  concerned  with  the  maintenance  of  smooth  sur- 
face, and  it  contributes  to  abnormal  wear  at  the  rail  ends.  Such  conse- 
quences have  not  been  removed  by  increase  in  weight  of  rail.  The  speed 
of  trains  may  still  be  measured  by  the  sound  of  the  wheels  passing  the  joints. 

Tn  order  to  thoroughly  investigate  the  joint-splice  question  it  is 
necessary  to  begin  with  first  principles.  A  structure  or  body  of  any  kind 
which  rests  upon  the  earth  (where  it  is  not  solid  rocK  or  its  equivalent)  and 
bears  up  weight  will  settle  into  the  ground.  As  proof  of  this  statement 


SPLICES  103 

it  is  only  necessary  to  observe  the  walls  or  ground  sills  of  old  buildings, 
the  sills  of  lumber  piles,  old  stone  fence,  or  indeed  any  heavy  object  lying 
upon  the  ground  for  a  considerable  time.  The  factors  of  the  rate  of  settle- 
ment are  extent  of  bearing  surface,  pressure,  time,  and  weather  conditions ; 
settlement  taking  place  much  more  rapidly  during  wet  weather  than  during 
dry  weather.  All  these  conditions  being  present  with  track,  it  should  not 
be  surprising  that  track  will  settle.  Track  is  composed  of  rails,  fastenings 
and  ties.  The  ultimate  support  for  the  track  is  the  earth ;  the  immediate 
support  is  the  ballast.  The  bearing  of  the  track  upon  the  ballast  is  through 
the  ties.  The  functions  of  the  rail  are  to  constrain  the  wheels  and  to 
distribute  the  pressure  from  the  same  over  the  ties.  As  we  cannot  expect 
to  entirely  prevent  the  settlement  of  track  the  highest  result  we  can  hope 
to  attain  is  to  get  it  to  settle  uniformly ;  but  such  cannot  take  place  unless 
the  pressures  from  the  ties  upon  the  ballast  are  approximately  uniform.  The 
difficulty  in  this  respect  is  found  at  the  joints,  where  the  rail  is  relatively 
weak  and  unable  to  distribute  the  wheel  pressure  over  the  average  extent  of 
tie  supports.'  The  abnormal  depression  of  rail  and  ties  at  this  point  gives 
rise  to  shock  or  suddenly  applied  loading,  which  still  further  augments  the 
inequality  of  the  pressure  upon  the  ballast.  The  ideal  service  to  be  desired 
of  a  joint  splice  is,  then,  to  make  the  rail  as  stiff  at  the  joint  as  at 
any  intermediate  portion,  and  to  so  maintain  it. 

A  mathematical  investigation  of  rail  flexure  and  stresses  under  an 
assumed  loading  is  beset  with  two  principal  difficulties :  the  supports  for  the 
rail  yield  with  the  pressure,  and  they  present  a  considerable  extent  of 
bearing  surface,  so  that  for  different  positions  of  the  wheels,  we  are  not 
sure  that  supposed  points  of  support  remain  at  fixed  distances.  As  these 
conditions  render  it  impossible  to  determine  upon  length  of  span,  and  as 
we  know  of  no  uniform  conditions  of  settlement  for  ties  under  pressure, 
the  solution  of  the  problem  defies  computation.  As  a  matter  of  practice, 
however,  the  depression  of  the  ties  is  the  only  fact  which  gives  us  trouble. 
The  depression  of  the  unbroken  rail  between  ties  is  too  small  to  be  of  any 
consequence.  We  can  compute  the  strength  and  relative  stiffness  of  rails, 
but  we  cannot  compute  the  relative  stiffness  of  ballast  or  roadbed.  In 
considering  the  sustaining  power  of  rails  we  cannot  separate  the  track 
from  the  roadbed :  .the  two  must  act  together.  The  fact  that  the  two  com- 
bined do  not  yield  to  satisfactory  analysis  surveys  the  whole  difficulty.  In 
approaching  the  question  of  joint  splicing  and  support  the  same  propo- 
sition confronts  us.  In  fact,  if  the  ties  were  not  yielding  supports  there 
would  be  no  joint  problem  at  all ;  it  would  then  only  be  necessarry  to  "sup- 
port" the  joint  upon  a  tie  and  bolt  on  a  splice  of  sufficient^  horizontal 
stiffness  to  hold  the  rails  in  alignment.  This  is  all  very  simple,  but  the 
principles  stated  have  been  frequently  overlooked.  Most  men  who  have 
gone  into  the  subject  mathematically  have  figured  the  strength  of  rails 
and  splice  bars  on  the  basis  of  rigid  supports. 

Following  general  principles  still  further  let  us  consider  the  case 
of  fails  subjected  to  load  without  joint  splices.  Such  a  condition  virtually 
occurs,  so  far  as  the  support  for  the  joint  is  concerned,  whenever  a  splice 
in  the  track  becomes  loose.  If  the  ties  afforded  rigid  support  to  the  rail 
each  one  in  succession  would  have  to  sustain  the  entire  load  as  the  wheel 
rolled  along,  because,  with  the  load  directly  over  a  support,  a  flexible  beam 
is  incapable  of  distributing  any  portion  of  the  load  to  adjacent  supports 
without  being  deflected.  With  the  wheel  at  the  end  of  a  rail  projecting 
past  the  last  tie,  as  at  a  suspended  joint,  the  joint  tie  in  that  case  would  sus- 
tain a  pressure  greater  than  the  weight  of  the  load,  because  the  load  would 
have  a  leverage  over  the  tie.  With  yielding  supports,  such  as  we  find  in 


10-i  TRACK   MATERIALS 

track,  the  conditions  are  essentially  different.  In  that  case  the  wheel  load  at 
an  intermediate  portion  of  the  rail  is  sustained  by  three  to  six  ties,  accord- 
ing to  the  position  of  the  wheel  and  the  strength  of  the  rail. -and  a  singlo 
tie,  as  ordinarily  bedded,  never  sustains  the  entire  wheel  load.  So,  also, 
at  the  end  of  the  rail,  two  or  three  ties  on  each  side  of  the  joint  are 
depressed  as  the  wheel  rolls  past  that  point,  and  the  tie  next  the  joint, 
or  underneath  it,  does  not  sustain  the  entire  pressure  from  the  wheel  at 
the  end  of  the  rail,  as  in  the  case  with  rigid  supports.  Instead  of  a 
leverage  over  the  last  tie  the  wheel  now  has  a  leverage  over  two  or  three 
ties.  The  tie  nearest  the  joint  sustains  the  largest  share  of  the  load,  but 
just  what  proportion  of  it  we  have  no  means  of  telling.  From  mechanical 
principles,  however,  we  know  that  this  tie  sustains  more  pressure  than  ever 
comes  upon  a  single  tie  at  an  intermediate  point  of  the  rail. 

An  error  that  is  commonly  made  in  analyzing  the  joint  problem  is  the 
assumption  that  the  joint  ties  are  rigid  supports  and  the  rail  ends 
cantilevers  of  the  typical  sort.  On  strict  reasoning  there  is  no  illustration 
of  beams  in  flexure,  to  which  formulated  mechanical  principles  apply,  which 
fits  the  case.  One  writer  has  compared  the  situation  with  that  of  a 
flexible  beam  supported  over  water,  on  floats.  We  'cannot  treat  the  rail 
exactly  as  a  beam  continuous  over  several  supports,  because  the  tie  at  about 
the  point  where  the  deflection  changes  from  downward  to  upward  is  sus- 
taining only  a  small  portion  of  the  load,  at  the  most.  It  is  a  case  falling 
somewhere  between  the  one  where  the  load  is  all  borne  by  one  support  at 
a  time  and  one  where  the  load  is  evenly  distributed  over  a  number  of  sup- 
ports. It  is  customary,  in  comparing  the  deflection  of  the  rail  at  a  sus- 
pended joint  with  the  deflection  of  the  unbroken  rail  at  some  intermediate 
point,  to  liken  the  relative  conditions  to  those  which  obtain  with  a  canti- 
lever sticking  out  of  a  wall  and  a  beam  "fixed"  at  both  ends  and  suspended 
between  two  walls,  the  length  of  the  cantilever  being  equal  to  half  the  span 
of  the  beam.  In  a  case  of  this  kind  the  deflection  of  the  cantilever  end  is 
eight  times  that  of  the  middle  of  the  beam,  for  the  same  loading,  and  the 
relative  stiffness  is  in  the  inverse  ratio.  As  already  suggested,  however, 
such  assumptions  as  to  mechanical  action  are  not  warranted  by  the  actual 
conditions.  The  depression  of  the  ties  and  ballast  nullifies  the  assumptions 
as  to  length  of  span  of  the  deflected  rail,  and  the  undulation  of  the  rail 
is  not  accordant  with  "fixed"  end  supports.  The  fact  that  the  deflection 
of  the  rail  between  the  extreme  points  of  flexure  does  not  take  place  over 
a  clear  span  renders  comparisons  with  deflection  under  known  conditions 
largely  conjectural.  Thus,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  at  the  end  of  the  rail 
any  close  -resemblance  to  cantilever  action  ever  obtains,  because -the  length 
of  the  deflected  end  of  the  rail  is  always  longer  than  the  distance  to 
the  nearest  tie,  and  the*  total  length  of  rail  deflected  does  not  hang  freely 
or  unsupported,  as  does  the  end  of  a  cantilever  from  the  face  of  a  wall. 
The  fallacy  of  the  situation  is  perhaps  more  easily  seen  when  attempting 
to  apply  the  cantilever  principle  to  a  supported  joint.  If  in  that  case  the 
tie  "supported"  the  joint  there  would  clearly  be ,  no  cantilever,  but  the'  fact 
that  it  does  partially  support  the  joint  leaves  us  quite  at  sea  as  to  what 
length  we  should  assume  for  the  cantilever  end.  Some  calculators  have 
"cut  the  knot"  by  assuming  the  extreme  condition  that  the  tie  affords 
no  support  at  all,  thus  entirely  changing  the  nature  of  the  problem,  for  in 
that  case  we  get  a  suspended  joint  of  abnormal  span.  As  to  the  actual 
flexibility  of  rail  joints  without  splices,  compared  with  that  of  the  solid 
rail,  experiment  has  shown  the  deflection  of  the  joint  to  vary  from  five 
to  12  times  that  of  the  solid  rail  for  the  same  loading,  but  in  these 
results  it  was,  of  course,  impossible  to  determine  what  influence  the  rela- 


SPLICES  105 

tive   stability  of   the   ground   in  the   two   places   may   have   had   on  the 
deflections  measured  in  the  rail. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  dynamic  action  of  the  load  we  find 
that  the  rail  ends,  the  splice  and  the  joint  ties  undergo  much  greatei 
pressures  than  can  come  upon  the  rail  or  ties  at  an  intermediate  portion  of 
the  rail.  There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  whether  a  rolling  load,  like 
a  train,  passes  over  a  rail  as  a  load  gradually  or  suddenly  applied;  and 
many  have  even  questioned  whether  high  speed  in  such  a  rolling  load  may 
not  increase  the  pressures  to  something  even  greater  than  take  place  with 
loads  suddenly  applied — whether,  indeed,  such  pressures  may  Jiot  be  con- 
sidered blows  of  less  or  more  severity.  Considering*  intermediate  portions 
of  the  rail,  and  laying  aside  all  reference  to  the  effect -of  counterbalance 
and  the  rocking  motion  of  the  load,  we  may  reason  that  the  deflection 
of  the  rail  in  advance  of  the  load  fulfills  the  condition  of  a  load  gradu- 
ally applied.  Certain  it  is  that  in  advance  of  the  portion  of  the  rail  which 
is  under  full  deflection  there  is  some  portion  of  the  rail  under  partial 
•deflection.  But  with  the  rail  end  the  case  may  be  different;  for  with  a 
splice  too  weak,  or  too  short,  or  too  loosely  fitted  to  fully  transmit  to  the 
rail  ahead  of  it  the  flexure  in  the  rail  behind,  as  such  flexure  proceeds 
toward  the  joint,  the  load  may  come  upon  that  joint  as  a  suddenly  applied 
one.  If  little  or  no  deflection  precedes  the  wheel  across  the  joint  the  wheel 
may  meet  the  end  of  the  next  rail  with  a  blow.  Hence  the  severity  of  the 
conditions  at  that  part  of  the  rail  where  the  deflection  for  even  statically 
applied  loads  is  greatest,  must  be  apparent.  Such  is  one  of  the  causes 
of  excessive  wear  to  the  rail  on  the  receiving  side  of  joints  on  double 
track:  on  the  leaving  rail  end  the  load  is  gradually  or  statically  applied, 
while  on  the  receiving  rail  end  it  is  suddenly  or  dynamically  applied,  or 
it  may  strike  as  a  heavy  blow. 

In  considering  the  strength  of  the  rail  at  the  joint  we  have  to  take 
account  of  the  combined  strength  of  the  rail  ends  and  the  splice  bars,  for 
both  assist  in  holding  up  the  joint.     Such  is  the  fact  for  the  reason  that 
the   rail   is   continuous   beyond   the   joint   ties.      If   we   had   to   consider 
simply  a  beam  supported  at  the  two  ends  the  case  would  be  different.     The 
same  principle  applies  in  considering  the  strength  of  the  rail  at  an  inter- 
mediate  portion,   for  its   supporting  power   depends   not   alone  upon  its 
resistance  to  bending  at  a  point  directly  underneath  the  wheel  load,  but 
also  upon  the  resistance  to  deflection  due  to  the  continuity  of  the  rail  over 
adjacent  ties.    As  already  indicated,  the  usual  method  of  computation  is  to 
assume  the  rail  ends  to  be  cantilevers  extending  half  a  tie  space  beyond  rigid 
supports  (suspended  joint),  and  then  .consider  the  pair  of  splice  bars  as  a 
beam  either  supported  at  the  ends  or  "fixed"  at  the  ends,  and  loaded  at  the 
middle.     By  computing  the  deflection  in  terms  of  two  unknown  quantities 
(the  proportional  parts  of  the  load  sustained  by  the  rail  ends  and  splice 
bars)    a  ratio  of  the  stiffness  of  these  two  means  of  support  is  found; 
and  then  by  solving  for  the  unknown  quantities  the  proportionate  loads  car- 
ried by  the  rail  ends  and  the  splice  bars  are  ascertained.    It  is  then  custom- 
ary to  double  these  figures  for  indefinite  repetitions  with  reversal  of  stress. 
and  then  double  again  for  suddenly  applied  load  or  shock.     On  this  line  of 
reasoning  some  pretty  heavy  stresses  are  found  for  the  splice  bars.    As,  how- 
ever, no  account  is  taken  of  depression  of  supports  and  the  actual  manner   of 
the  deflection  of  the  rail,  the  figures  obtained  are  necessarily  conjectural.    As 
a  matter  of  practice  splice  bars  seem  to  stand  service  much  better  than  can 
be  accounted  for  on  the  diagnoses  of  some  of  the  doctors.     A  satisfactory 
analysis  of  the  part  which  a  splice  must  play  in  the  support  of  a  joint 


106  TRACK   MATERIALS 

under  actual  conditions,  with  a  view  of  arriving  at  even  an  approximations 
to  the  stresses  in  the  parts,  is  indeed  a  perplexing  proposition. 

In  discussing  the  joint  question  it  is  conventional  to  first  point  out 
the  deficiencies  of  the  angle  bar  and  then  look  for  such  improvements  as 
will  overcome  the  stated  defects.  The  plain  angle  bar  fails  to  meet  the 
ideal  requirements  of  a  splice  in  two  important  respects :  it  is  not  strong, 
enough,  and  wear  on  the  top  edge,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  joint,, 
frustrates  the  maintenance  of  a  close  union  of  the  parts.  Taking  up 
these  defects  in  detail,  we  know  that  angle  bars  of  ordinary  make  are  not 
strong  enough  because  they  bend  and  take  a  permanent  set  in  service,  and 
occasionally  one  will  break.  As  an  improvement  angle  bars  might  be  made 
much  thicker  than  they  usually  are.  In  general  practice  railway  men 
have  been  too  sparing  of  metal  in  angle-bar  splices,  the  weight  of  both 
pieces  per  yard  being,  in  a  great  many  cases,  only  70  to  85  per  cent  of  the- 
weight  of  the  rail.  On  a  comparatively  few  roads  the  angle-bar  splices 
are  as  heavy  as  the  rail.  It  is  entirely  practicable  to  increase  the  ordinary 
weight  50  per  cent  without  adding  much  metal  to  the  horizontal  leg  of 
the  J^ar,  where  it  does  not  count  for  vertical  stiffness.  Such  an  increase 
will  produce  a  pair  of  bars  heavier  than  'the  rail,  length  for  length,  but, 
owing  to  the  shallower  depth,  it  is  not  practicable  to  make  them  as  strong 
as  the  rail  in  resistance  to  deflection.  On  a  rough  calculation  the  weight  of 
a  pair  of  plain  angle  bars  as  stiff  as  the  rail  for  which  they  are  designed 
would  necessarily  have  to  be  about  three  times  as  heavy  as  the  rail,  length 
for  length.  It  then  appears  that  there  is  no  danger  of  overdoing  the 
matter  of  strength  by  increasing,  within  practicable  limits,  the  thickness 
of  angle-bar  splices.  Thus  it  is  shown  how  the  plain  angle  bar  fails  to 
meet  ideal  conditions,  for,  inasmuch  as  the  rail  is  broken  at  the  joint, 
it  is  necessary,  in  order  to  preserve  uniform  stiffness  \  ast  the  junction, 
that  the  splice  should  be  as  stiff  as  the  solid  rail.  Still,  taking  matters  as 
we  find  them,  any  increase  in  the  thickness  of  the  bar  must  be  considered 
an  improvement.  A  good  way  to  test  the  efficiency  of  a  joint  splice  is  to- 
couple  two  rails  together,  end  to  end,  and  then  let  them  swing  clear  from 
supports  at  the  extreme  ends.  Loading  should  then  be  applied  near  the 
middle  of  the  long  span,  with  the  rail  in  both  the  service  and  reversed 
positions.  If  the  rail  sags  to  a  true  curve  and  the  splice  does  not  take 
permanent  set  before  the  rail  does  it  is  shown  to  have  bending  strength 
equal  to  that  of  the  rail. 

The  thickness  of  the  top  edge  of  the  bar  should  be  limited  only  by  the 
width  of  the  fishing  surface  of  the  rail  head,  due  allowance  being  made 
for  room  to  tighten  the  splice  after  wear  takes  place.  Splice  bars  for  rails 
with  broad  heads  can  be  made  thick,  and  in  order  to  make  the  thickness 
a  maximum  the  vertical  leg  of  the  bar  may  extend  outside  the  plane 
of  the  side  of  the  rail  head,  the  projecting  corner  being  beveled  off  or 
c-hamfered  to  give  clearance  to  the  wheel  flanges.  The  inner  faces  of  the 
bars  should  be  flat  rather  than  concave  or  dished  out,  as  in  the  usual  form. 
While  this  feature  of  design  adds  metal  which  does  not  largely  increase 
the  vertical  stiffness  of  the  bar,  and  while  the  space  so  filled  may  work 
some  inconvenience  in  fitting  bolts,  if  the  rails  have  widely  pulled  apart, 
yet  it  does  add  considerable  weight  to  the  bars,  which  givto  to  the  splice 
the  advantage  of  greater  inertia  and  should  lessen  the  tendency  to  vibration 
and  wear  in  case  the  bolts  become  slightly  loose.  Splice  bars  are  dished 
out  along  the  middle  line  to  save  metal  and  to  facilitate  punching  the 
bolt  holes.  A  thickened  bar  does  not,  however,  stand  in  the  way  of  mak- 
ing an  oblong  bolt  hole,  for  a  hole  can  be  drilled  the  size  of  the  shorter 
diameter  and  then  finished  by  punching.  As  a  matter  of  fact  oval  holes- 


SPLICES  107 

in  the  splice  bars  are  not  necessary  to  prevent  the  bolt  from  turning.  The 
bolt  may  be  made  with  an  L-shaped  head  which  engages  .with  the  horizontal 
leg  of  the  bar,  or  it  may  be  made  with  a  square  head  which  is  prevented  from 
turning  by  a  shallow  groove  in  the  bar  on  line  with  the  bolt  holes,  which 
may  then  be  drilled.  Splice  bars  with  circular  holes,  grooved  for  a  bolt 
with  a  square  head,  are  standard  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  and  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  roads.  In  the  former  case  the  inside  splice  bar  for  the 
95-lb.  rails  of  the  road  has  a  groove  -J  in.  deep  and  the  circular  holes  for 
the  bolts  are  J  in.  in  diameter.  The  holes  through  the  web  of  the  rail 
to  correspond  are  1  in.  in  diameter.  The  standard  splice  bat. for  the  100- 
Ib.  rails  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  R.  K.  is  36  ins.  long  and 
has  six  bolts  spaced  5.6  ins.  centers.  The  shank  of  the  bolt  is  J  in.  square 
and  it  is  held  from  turning  by  a  hole  in  the  splice  bar  15/16  in.  square 
with  rounded  corners  or  fillets  of  -J  in.  radius.  The  other  bar  of  each 
splice  has  circular  holes  J  in.  in  diameter.  The  web  of  each  bar  is  9/16. 
in.  thick  and  the  weight  of  a  pair  of  bars  is  80  Ibs. 

Besides  the  severe  bending  stresses  imposed  upon  the  joint  splice  it  is 
subjected  to  heavy  shear.  In  the  case  of  the  plain  angle-bar  splice  the 
shearing  forces  are  applied  through  the  fishing  surfaces  of  the  rail  at  and 
very  near  the  joint.  The  top  and  bottom  bearing  surfaces  of  the  bar  are 
unequally  fitted  for  the  wear  from  this  shearing  force.  Some  writer  has 
pointed  out  the  humor  of  the  situation  in  the  remark  that  the  rail  is 
"hung  up  by  the  ears,"  which  is  a  good  illustration  of  actual  conditions. 
The  bottom  bearing  surface  or  horizontal  leg  of  the  bar  is  well  designed 
to  stand  heavy  pressure,  but  the  top  bearing  surface  is  comparatively 
narrow,  and  the  intensity  of  the  shearing  force,  being  concentrated  on  a 
length  of  only  2  or  3  ins.  adjacent  to  the  joint  opening,  first  compresses  the 
top  edge  of  the  bar,  after  which  it  is  worn  down  by  repeated  blows  from 
the  springing  of  the  rail  ends.  A  close  examination  of  an  old  angle-bar 
splice  in  track  will  usually  show  something  like  this:  the  splice  will  be 
found  to  fit  the  rails  tightly  at  the  end  bolts,  but  will  be  .01  to  .03  in. 
loose  at  the  ends  of  the  rails,  or  at  the  joint.  This  wear  is  mutual',  tak- 
ing place  on  both  the  splice  bar  and  the  under  side  of  the  rail  head,  and 
usually  leaving  a  ridge  of  metal  on  the  top  edge  of  the  bar  in  the  expan- 
sion opening,  where  the  wearing  action  is  absent.  Let  it  also  be  understood 
that  the  fishing  surfaces  of  rails  and  splice  bars  are  imperfect  and  not 
always  capable  of  a  close  fit.  One  may  observe  on  newly  laid  rails,  with 
now  splices  tightly  bolted,  that  occasionally  a  rail  end  will  show  slight 
looseness,  and  play  up  and  down  as  wheels  pass  the  joint.  This  looseness, 
whether  due  to  badly  fitting  bars,  in  the  first  place,  or  to  wear,  is  a  serious 
defect  of  the  plain  an^le-bar  splice,  for  it  permits  of  some  deflection  of 
the  joint  before  the  splice  is  brought  under  stress,  thus  reducing  the  effici- 
ency of  the  splice.  It  may  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  efficiency  of  a 
splice  is  not  altogether  a  question  of  strength.  In  order  that  the  strength 
of  the  splice  may  fully  serve  its  purpose  there  must  be  a  tight  fit,  so  as  to 
hold  the  two  rail  ends  relatively  immovable. 

The  conditions  which  bear  some  relation  to  the  wear  of  splice  bars 
are  extent  of  bearing  surface,  the  nature  of  the  fit  and  the  hardness  of 
the  metal.  The  importance  of  thick  bars,  particularly  on  the  top  edge,  to 
afford  a  wide  bearing  surface,  has  already  been  dwelt  upon.  As  to  the 
fit  of  the  splice,  a  good  deal  depends  upon  the  length  of  the  bars.  Explain- 
ing more  in  detail  what  is  above  intimated,  the  finish  of  rails  and  splice 
bars  is  rolled  surfaces,  more  or  less  rough,  uneven  and  coated  with  oxide. 
As  soon  a?  the  fishing  surfaces  adjacent  to  the  joint  opening  be^in  to  wear, 
a  hinging  motion  of  the  rail  ends  takes  place  as  the  rail  is  deflected  under 


108  TRACK  MATERIALS 

wheel  pressure;  and  the  shorter  the  splice  the  greater  is  the  hinging  action 
for  a  given  amount  of  wear ;  that  is,  with,  the  shorter  splice  the  rail  ends 
have  more  chance  to  play  without  bringing  stress  upon  the  splice.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  fact  the  shorter  the  splice  the  more  rapid  is  the  wear.  In 
illustration  of  this  principle  there  are  many  familiar  examples.  In 
jointing  up  a  fishing  rod,  for  instance,  one  pushes  the  sections  well  into 
the  ferrules,  for  the  reason  that  if  any  looseness  exists  in  the  joint  a  short 
gripe  of  the  ferrule  permits  of  too  much  movement  of  the  section.  Exam- 
ination of  an  old  angle  bar  will  disclose  that  it  has  come  in  contact  with 
the  rail  at  only  a  few  places ;  sometimes  only  one  bright  spot  can  be  found 
where  it  has  come  into  close  contact  with  each  rail,  and  usually  such 
spot  is  only  a  small  portion  of  the  available  surface  intended  for  contact. 
It  must  be  obvious,  then,  that  the  shorter  the  splice  the  greater  is  the 
movement  allowable  for  the  rail  within  its  gripe.  If  the  fishing  surfaces 
of  rail  and  angle  bars  were  planed  surfaces,  it  might  be  possible  to  make 
a  tight  union  with  a  short  splice,  and  maintain  it  in  that  condition  to 
better  satisfaction  than  is  the  case  in  practice,  but  as  such  refinement  of 
splicing  is  impracticable  we  have  to  look  to  the  long  splice  as  the  next 
best  thing  of  the  plain  angle-bar  type. 

Angle  bars  are  usually  designed  to  have  the  horizontal  leg  come  even 
with  the  bottom  of  the  rail.  This  arrangement  divides  the  bearing  between 
the  rail  and  the  splice  bars.  With  a  view  to  throw  all  the  bearing  upon 
the  rail  base,  the  bars  are  sometimes  designed  to  stand  -J  in.  clear  of  the 
ties,  but  the  difference  in  this  respect  is  quite  likely  unimportant.  The 
spikes  hold  better  on  angle  bars  which  come  down  even  with  the  base  of 
the  rail.  If  the  horizontal  leg  of  the  bar  stands  off  the  tie  face  the  bearing 
comes  against  the  spikes  some  distance  above  the  tie,  and  they  do  not 
resist  the  lateral  pressure  as  well  as  when  it  comes  even  with  the  tie 
face. 

Length  of  Splice. — In  practice  the  length  of  angle-bar  splices  varies 
from  20  to  48  ins.  A  splice  less  than  26  ins.  long  may  be  considered  short 
and  one  exceeding  32  ins.  in  length  may  be  considered  long.  The  usual 
spacing  of  the  bolts  in  splices  of  short  and  medium  length  is  5  to  6  ins., 
uniform  spacing  being  customary  but  not  always  the  practice.  A  spacing 
as  short  as  4  ins.  is  quite  frequently  found  and  9  ins.  is  about  the  longest 
spacing.  Short  splices  take  four  bolts  and  long  splices  six,  but  splices  as 
short  as  26  or  28  ins.  sometimes  have  six  bolts.  Personally,  my  preference 
is  for  a  long  splice — not  shorter  than  42  ins.  For  a  bar  of  that  length  I 
would  space  the  bolts  the  following  distances  apart  in  inches :  8 — 6 — 6 — 
6 — 8.  For  rails  as  heavy  as  90  Ibs.  per  yard  I  think  it  would  pay  to  make 
the  splice  even  longer — say  48  ins.,  with  the  bolts  spaced  at  distances  of 
10 — 7 — 6 — 7 — 10  inches.  Long  angle-bar  splices  have  been  in  service  for 
many  years,  and  the  results,  as  compared  with  the  use  of  short  or  medium- 
length  bars,  have  been  satisfactory  in  some  cases  and  the  reverse  in  others. 
So  far  as  I  have  been  informed  the  long  splices  which  have  failed  to  give 
better  satisfaction  than  shorter  ones  have  not  been  made  heavy  enough, 
being  so  light  that  they  would  bend  under  the  traffic  and  in  time  tako 
permanent  set  and  hold  the  rail  ends  out  of  surface.  I  have  never  heard 
the  opinion  advanced  that  long  splices  would  wear  more  rapidly  than 
shorter  ones ;  on  the  contrary  the  evidence  always  seemed  to  point  the  other 
way.  The  objection  that  long  splice  bars  hold  the  rail  so  tightly  as  not 
to  allow  proper  expansion  for  change  of  temperature,  can  be  met  by  the 
argument  that  long1  bars,  in  order  to  hold  the  rail  as  firmly,  do  not  need 
to  be  bolted  up  so  tightly  as  do  short  ones. 


SPLICES  109 

.  Quality  of  the  Metal. — Kef  erring  to  the  hardness  of  splice  bars,  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  formerly  they  were  made  of  wrought  iron,  and  this  prac- 
tice still  obtains  to  some  extent,  old  iron  rails  being  utilized  to  provide 
the  material.  Owing  to  the  greater  hardness  and  the  consequent  slower 
wear  of  the  top  fishing  surface,  steel  is  preferable.  Steel  for  splice  bars 
is  usually  of  low  carbon — about  0.10  to  0.12  per  cent,  0.15  per  cent  being 
the  maximum  most  commonly  specified  and  .08  per  cent  about  the  lowest 
used.  The  manganese  ranges  from  0.30  to  0.60  per  cent,  silicon  is  not 
specified,  and  the  limits  on  phosphorus  and  sulphur  are  about  the  same 
as  in  rail  steel.  Various  standard  specifications  call  for  metal  having  an 
ultimate  strength  of  48,000  to  65,000  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  (usually  55.000  to 
(54,000)  with  an  elastic  limit  as  high  as  half  the  ultimate  strength.  The 
tensile  tests  must  show  an  elongation  of  not  less  than  25  per  cent  in  8  ins., 
and  a  test  specimen  cut  from  the  head  of  the  splice  bar  must  bend  180  deg., 
or  flat  on  itself,  cold,  without  fracture  on  the  outside  of  the  bent  portion. 
In  some  cases  the  specifications  require  the  same  bending  test  to  be  made 
on  an  unpunched  splice  bar,  the  angle  being  flattened  out  before  the  bar  is 
bent. 

A  few  roads  have  used  much  higher  carbon  in  splice  bars  than  is  pro- 
vided for  in  the  usual  specifications.  The  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  E.  E.  standard  specifications  for  bars  not  exceeding  9/16  in.  in  thick- 
ness call  for  0.25  to  0.30  per  cent  of  carbon,  with  manganese,  phosphorus 
and  sulphur  about  the  same  as  in  the  rail  steel  of  the  road.  For  bars 
exceeding  °/16  in.  in  thickness  the  carbon  is  kept  down  to  limits  of  0.10  to 
0.12  per  cent,  with  manganese,  phosphorus  and  sulphur  about  the  same 
as  in  the  other  case.  Silicon  is  also  determined  and  fully  considered.  The 
bars  made  of  the  higher  carbon  steel  are  limited  as  to  thickness  of  web 
so  that  they  can  be  punched,  it  being  found  that  with  this  quality  of  metal 
the  punches  and  dies  will  not  stand  any  reasonable  amount  of  work  011  bars 
of  greater  thickness.  It  is  to  facilitate  the  punching  of  bars  exceeding  9/16; 
in.  in  thickness  that  the  steel  of  lower  carbon  is  used.  A  limited  number 
of  these  low-grade  steel  bars  is  carried  in  stock  by  this  company  to  meet 
repairs  on  leased  lines  where  various  types  are  still  in  use,  but  the  high- 
grade  bars  are  far  more  satisfactory  and  are  used  wherever  high-speed 
trains  are  run.  The  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  has  experimented  since  1897 
with  splice  bars  of  high-carbon  open-hearth  steel,  the  carbon  running  0.65 
to  0.75  per  cent  and  the  phosphorus  about  .05  per  cent.  In  the  testing 
machine  splice  bars  of  this  metal  show  much  better  recovery  after  deflec- 
tion than  low-carbon  bars,  and  in  the  track,  when  laid  with  new  rails,  they 
seem  to  give  considerably  better  service  than  bars  made  of  iron  or  of  low- 
carbon  steel.  When  applied  to  worn  rails,  however,  these  splices  did  not 
seem  to  maintain  the  joints  in  much,  if  any,  better  surface  than  the  low- 
carbon  bars  which  had  been  remold  from  the  same  rail. 

Finish. — Splice  bars  should  be  rolled  to  a  'smooth  surface  finish,  so- 
as  to  fit  the  rail  accurately,  fishing  tightly  between  the  head  and  flange ;  and 
due  allowance  should  be  made  to  adjust  for  wear.  The  inside  faces  of  the 
splice  should  not  quite  reach  the  web  of  the  rail,  no  matter  how  tightly  the 
bolts  are  screwed  up.  In  order  to  fit  in  this  manner  the  inner  corners  of 
the  bars  (which  must  be  of  small  radius,  so  as  not  to  unduly  reduce  the  top 
bearing  surface)  should  not  fit  snugly  up  against  the  fillets  where  the  web 
of  the  rail  meets  the  head  and  flange.  .Particular  attention  should  there- 
fore be  paid  to  the  hight  of  the  bars,  as  determined  by  the  fishing  angles,  in 
relation  to  the  proper  distance  from  the  vertical  center  line  of  the  rail 
section.  Splice  bars  may  be  inspected  for  fit  by  applying  them  to  a  section 
of  the  rail  for  which  they  are  made. 


110 


TRACK   MATERIALS 


Specifications  usually  call  for  accurate  shearing  as  to  length  and  require 
that  the  punching  shall  not  bulge  the  fishing  surfaces  opposite  the  bolt 
holes;  and  that  the  holes  must  be  free  from  burrs.  Some  specifications 
require  that  the  entire  four  or  six  holes,  as  the  case  may  be,  must  bo 
punched  at  one  operation.  Another  point  of  much  importance  is  that 
angle  bars  should  be  straight.  In  punching  the  bolt  holes  through  the 
bar  and  in  shearing  it  off  it  is  liable  to  be  bent  and  so  left,  making, it 
impossible  to  fit  the  rail  closely,  for  the  bolts  cannot  be  depended  upon  to 
straighten  the  bars.  The  extra  expense  of  cutting  off  the  bars  by  sawing 
"would  no  doubt  be  found  justifiable  by  the  absence  of  crooked  ends  and 
"fins."  The  name  of  the  maker  and  the  year  of  manufacture  are  usually 
rolled  in  raised  letters  on  the  vertical  leg  of  the  bar,  in  such  position  as 
not  to  come  under  the  heads  or  nuts  of  the  bolts.  The  designation  of  the 
particular  rail  section  to  which  the  splice  applies  is  sometimes  included. 

Devices  for  Talcing  up  Wear. — Returning  to  the  matter  of  the  wear 
of  splice  bars,  it  may  be  noted  that  in  foreign  countries  various  devices 
are  being  used  or  experimented  with  as  a  means  of  reducing  the  shearing 
movement  of  the  rail  ends  due  to  this  cause.  On  many  of  the  roads  oj: 
France,  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary  metal  packing  pieces  or  liners  made 
of  hoop  iron,  or  sheet  steel  cut  to  the  desired  form,  are  inserted  between 
the  bearing  surfaces  of  rail  and  splice  bar,  in  the  gaps  between  the  worn 
parts,  to  take  up  the  motion  clue  to  wear.  Of  17  companies  reporting  to 
the  International  Railway  Congress  on  the  use  of  metal  lining  pieces  three 
expressed  no  opinion  as  to  their  utility,  three  attributed  only  limited  suc- 
cess to  their  use,  while  eleven  companies  declared  without  reservation  that 
they  had  obtained  good  results  by  using  them.  On  the  Emperor  Ferdi- 
nand's Northern  Ry.  metal  lining  pieces  for  worn  splice  bars  have  been 
regularly  employed  since  1892,  and  are  officially  reported  to  have  proven  an 
-excellent  means  for  strengthening  worn  joint  fastenings.  These  lining 
pieces  are  of  a  thickness  of  1,  1^  or  2  millimeters,  according  to  the  condi- 
tions of  wear.  On  lines  of  heavy  traffic,  carrying  8  to  10  million  tons 
yearly,  they  last  two  or  three  years  and  are  then  replaced. 

On  the  Prussian  State  and  Imperial  railways,  of  Germany,  experiments 
are  being  made  with  a  form  of  splice  with  auxiliary  fishing  plates  of  short 
length,  which  admit  of  being  tightened  independently,  to  take  up  wear. 
The  splice  proper,  as  will  be  seen  in  Fig.  17,  consists  of  two  Z-bars,  the 
lower  legs  of  which  depend  below  the  rail  flange,  to  give  depth  to  the  splice, 
being  cut  away  at  the  corners  sufficiently  to  permit  the  (metal)  joint  ties 
to  be  brought  to  proper  spacing.  The  upper  leg  of  the  Z-bar  fits  snugly 
against  the  web  of  the  rail,  but  is  not  quite  wide  enough  to  meet  the  under 
side  of  the  rail  head.  The  proper  fitting  of  the  splice  into  the  fishing  sur- 


Csoss  SecfionA-Q 


Fig.  17. — Splice  with  Auxiliary  Fishing  Plates,  Prussian  State   Rys. 


SPLICES'  111 

faces  of  the  rail  is  then  secured  by  means  of  four  auxiliary  wedge-shaped 
iishing  plates,  which  fit  into  the  space  between  the  top  edge  of  the  Z-bar 
and  the  under  side  of  the  rail  head,  and  upon  the  horizontal  leg  of  the  Z-bar. 
These  auxiliary  fishing  plates  are  each  about  4  ins.  long.  Being  entirely 
independent  of  one  another  each  may  at  all  times  be  adjusted  to  maintain 
a,  close  fit  with  the  rail  and  to  meet  variable  conditions  of  wear.  As  used 
on  the  roads .  named,  there  are,  besides  the  form  shown,  two  modifications 
•of  the  same.  There  is  one  pattern  in  which  a  special  bolt  is  used  at 
?ach  end  of  the  Z-bar  splice,  being  screwed  up  against  the  Z-bars  direct, 
as  at  C  and  D,  in  the  figure.  •  In  another  pattern  the  general  arrangement  is 
as  shown  in  the  figure,  except  that  when  used  with  a  lap  joint  one  of  the 
intermediate  auxiliary  fishing  plates  is  omitted  on  each  side.  It  is  reported 
that  this  device  has  been  giving  good  satisfaction. 

Breakage  of  Splice  Bars. — Splice  bars  break  occasionally,  and  they 
iisualy,  but  not  always,  break  by  cracking  from  the  top  edge  downward: 
either  at  the  middle  of  the  bar  or  through  one  of  the  bolt  holes  next  the 
joint.  The  reason  for  this  manner  of  failure  is  evident  enough.  The 
splice  is  subjected  to  bending  stress  in  two  directions,  and  as  the  top  of 
the  bar  has  no  flange  (none  to  speak  of)  it  is  very  much  weaker  than  the 
"bottom  and,  of  course,  is  the  part  where  the  heaviest  strains  occur.  Run- 
ning a  few  feet  ahead  of  a  rolling  wheel  there  is  an  upward  flexure  of  the 
rail  which  puts  the  top  of  a  splice  bar  in  tension.  As  the  wrheel  draws 
near  the  joint  the  stress  in  the  top  of  the  bar  changes  to  compression 
and  so  remains  until  the  wheel  is  some  distance  past  the  joint,  when  it 
•changes  to  tension  again.  Under  a  fast  train,  and  particularly  while  the 
locomotive  is  passing,  this  reversal  of  stress  takes  place  many  times  a  sec- 
ond— about  12  times  per  second,  at  60  miles  per  hour.  As  measured  by 
Mr.  P.  H.  Dudley  (§  181,  Chap.  XL)  the  strains  in  the  rail  due  to 
upward  flexure  seem  to  reach  the  maximum  when  there  is  a  wheel  on  either 
side  of  the  point  under  observation.  This  reversal  of  heavy  stress  is  what 
cracks  the  bar,  the  metal  undoubtedly  being  deteriorated  most  from  the 
<>ompressive  stress,  this  being  the  heavier.  If  the  top  fibers  become  strained 
beyond  their  elastic  limit  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  they  will  part 
under  the  stress  reversals.  This  is  the  reason  why  metal  with  a  low  elastic 
limit,  such  as  iron  and  low-carbon  steel,  is  considered  by  some  to  be  less 
-suitable  for  splice  bars  than  metal  of  a  higher  grade. 

A  splice  bar  which  has  become  worn  in  the  middle  or  which  has 
become  bent  down  and  taken  a  permanent  set  may  not  receive  the  full  inten- 
sity of  bending  stress  when  the  wheel  is  over  the  joint,  owin^  to  the  extra 
burden  imposed  upon  the  rail  ends.  The  heaviest  duty  which  comes  upon 
a  permanently  bent  splice  at  a  low  joint  occurs  just  after  such  a  joint  is 
raised  to  surface.  When,  in  that  case,  the  joint  is  lifted  the  tops  of  the 
splice  bars  are  put  in  tension,  and  all  the  more  so  if  the  joint  is  raised  a 
little  higher  than  surface  and  the  joint  tie  or  ties  tamped  more  strongly 
than  the  shoulder  ties,  to  allow  for  settlement  and  to  straighten  the  splice 
when  the  load  comes  on.  Under  traffic  the  tension-  on  the  top  fibers  of  such 
a  splice  becomes  excessive,  and  it  is  in  this  manner  that  large  numbers  of 
splice  bars  are  cracked  from  the  top  downward.  Such  practice  is  appro v- 
able.  because  it  is  the  only  way  to  bring  bent  joints  back  into  surface.  The 
danger  from  cracked  or  broken  splice  bars  is  not  as  great  in  all  cases  as  is 
-sometimes  supposed.  Splice  bars  seldom  break  suddenly,  but  usually  begin 
to  fail  by  cracking,  and  the  crack  gradually  deepens,  so  that  opportunity  is 
usually  afforded  to  replace  the  defective  bar  before  it  fails  completely.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  splices  in  service  are  frequently  found  so  loose  as  to 
afford  no  support  to  the  rail  ends,  the  breaking  of  a  splice  bar  need  not  be 


112  TKACJi   MATERIALS 

regarded  as  a  very  serious  matter,  so  far  as  joint  support  is  concerned.  '  If 
the  broken  bar  is  on  the  outer  rail  of  a  curve  the  danger  of  lip  is  the 
feature  of  greatest  apprehension,  but  such  cannot  take  place  unless  both 
bars  break;  and  unless  both  bars  break  straight  down,  exactly  opposite  the 
joint  opening,  they  may  still  be  able  to  hold  the  rail  ends  "in  line.  The 
point  which  I  desire  to  make  is  that  the  breaking  of  a  splice  is  not  in 
all  cases  as  serious  a  matter  as  the  breaking  of  a  rail. 

Splice  bars  should  not  be  notched  for  slot-spiking  at  or  near  the 
middle  of  the  bar.  Destructive  consequences  are  bound  to  follow  the  notch- 
ing of  the  outer  fibers  of  a  steel  bar  at  a  point  -where  the  greatest  bending- 
moment  would  bring  the  severed  fibers  in  tension.  A  bar  so  notched  is  weak- 
ened to  far  greater  extent  than  would  be  the  case  if  the  whole  edge  of 
the  bar  was  planed  off  back  as  far  as  the  notch  extends  into  the  bar.  The 
best  way  to  arrange  for  spiking  splice  bars  to  prevent  or  impede  creeping  of 
the  rails  is  to  make  a  bar  with  a  wide  horizontal  leg,  and  then  punch  the 
spike  holes  through  the  leg  instead  of  notching  the  edge.  This  arrange- 
ment makes  both  outside  and  inside  spikes  effective  against  spreading  of* 
the  joint,  and  the  splice  bar  cannot  run  away  from  the  spikes,  as  it  some- 
times does  when  the  latter  are  driven  in  notches  the  corners  of  which 
become  rounded  off.  by  wear. 

Effect  of  the  Joint  Opening. — Many  students  of  the  joint  question  seent 
to  hold  to  the  belief  that  the  joint  opening  is  the  principal,  or,  at  least,  a 
very  considerable,  cause  of  low  joints  by  reason  of  the  pounding  effect  due 
to  the  dropping  of  the  wheels  into  the  opening.  The  drivers  of  a  locomotive* 
are  ^o  large  that  they  drop  at  the  ordinary  joint  opening  a  distance  whick 
is  not  perceptible.  A  33-in.  wheel  will  drop  into  a  joint  opening  of  J  in. 
about  .00048  inch.  After  a  time  it  will  be  found  that  the  edge  at  the  rail 
en*!  has  been  blunted  back  a  little,  so  that  the  points  where  the  wheel 
last  touches  the  rail  behind  and  first  touches  the  rail  ahead  are  about  |  in. 
apart;  into  which  space  a  33-in.  wheel  will  drop  about  .003  in.,  a  fall  hardly 
sufficient  to  give  an  appreciable  blow.  Indeed  the  tendency  of  the  track  to- 
settle  from  the  pounding  of  the  wheels  into  such  a  small  open  space  must 
be  very  small  as  compared  with  the  tendency  from  the  increased  load  which 
comes  on  the  joint  ties  through  decrease  of  stiffness  in  the  rail  at  this 
point.  That  this  is  so  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  there  are  places  to  be  found 
in  track  where  the  joints  have  remained. in  surface  several  years;  but  if 
the  blow  delivered  on  every  open  joint  was  appreciable  as  a  cause  of  settling 
track,  the  track  at  every  such  joint  would  either  settle  or  else  the  blow 
would  take  effect  upon  the  edge  of  the  rail  end  and  batter  it.  But  the  latter 
effect  is  not  the  case,  for  after  several  years'  service  good  steel  rails  are 
not  usually  found  battered  as  much  as  would  result  to  the  end  edge  by  a 
single  blow  from  an  18-lb.  sledge  hammer.  At  the  joint  opening  there  is 
usually  some  flow  of  metal,  but  with  steel  of  desirable  hardness  this  flowing 
does  not  become  serious. 

With  the  view  of  determining  the  effect  of  wheel  pounding  the  exper- 
iment of  cutting  a  narrow  groove  across  the  top  of  the  rail  with  a  hack 
saw,  at  an  intermediate  point,  has  been  frequently  tried.  As  a  result  the 
flow  of  metal  under  the  rolling  action  of  the  wheels  closes  the  groove  and  a 
slight  depression  is  formed  in  the  rail,  but  the  pounding  effect  is  not 
noticeable,  so  far  as  the  surface  of  the  track  is  concerned. 

After  a  joint  has  settled  some  there  is  then  a  pounding  which  takes- 
effect  upon  the  track  more  and  more  as  the  joint  settles  farther  down,  for 
the  sudden  lifting  of  the  wheel  out  of  the  depression  greatly  increases  the- 
pressure  of  the  wheel  upon  the  receiving  rail.  On  double  track  this  effect 
always  takes  place  upon  the  same  end  of  the  rail,  which  accounts  for  the- 


SPLICES  113 

unequal  wear  of  the  two  rail  ends  at  the  joint.  Also,  when  a  splice  becomes 
loose,  the  rail  ends  shear  by  each  other,,  up  and  down,  as  the  wheel  passes 
the  joint,  and  the  pounding  effect  upon  the  end  of  the  receiving  rail  must 
be  considerable,  because  the  leaving  rail  end  is  depressed  and  the  wheel 
meets  the  receiving  rail  end  in  the  raised  position,  and  must  climb  up  on 
to  it,  as  it  were,  thus  delivering  to  it  a  blow  which  not  only  batters  the 
metal  but  must  also  impart  some  momentum  to  the  rail  end  in  its  deflec- 
tion. The  familiar  clicking  sound  from  the  wheels  passing  the  joints  is  due 
in  some  measure  to  the  joint  opening, -but  it  is  always  louder  when  there 
is  some  play  between  rail  and  splice.  As  the  wheel  rolls  by  the  joint,  when 
it  leaves  the  end  of  one  rail  and  strikes  the  end  of  the  other,  it^Qrives  the 
rail  head  down  upon  the  top  of  the  two  splice  bars  with  a  blow  which  gives 
out  a  cracking  sound.  This  movement  of  the  rail  within  the  splice  can 
foest  be  seen  when  the  rail  is  wet;  that  is,  during  or  shortly  after  a  rain,  for 
then  the  muddy  water  may  be  seen  to  squirt  out  of  the  loose  places  as  the 
load  comes  on. 

Miter  Joints. — The  supposed  evil  effects  from  an  opening  square!}' 
^across  the  rail  at  the  joint  has  led  to  numerous  schemes  for  carrying  the 
Awheel  past  the  opening  without  dropping  into  it.  One  idea  which  has 
served  this  purpose  is  to  so  cut  off  the  rail  at  the  end  that  the  joint  open- 
ing does  not  extend  squarely  across  the  rail  or  else  not  entirely  across  it 
-at  one  place.  The  miter  joint  (Engraving  T,  Fig.  20)  is  made  by  cutting 
the  rail  end  off  obliquely,  or  on  a  skew,  usually  so  that  the  plane  of  the 
rail  end  makes  an  angle  of  45  to  65  deg.  with  the  vertical  plane  passing 
longitudinally  through  the  web.  Miter  joints  have  been  tried  with  varying 
success.  They  seem  to  have  been  experimented  with  most  extensively  on 
the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.,  where  this  form  of  joint,  also  known  as  the  "Sayre" 
.joint,  was  standard  for  many  years,  but  was  finally  abandoned  for  the  ordi- 
nary square-end  joint.  On  some  other  roads  the  results  from  the  use  of  the 
miter  joint  have  been  fairly  satisfactory,  and  it  is  regarded  as  an  improve- 
ment over  the  square-end  joint.  Such  conditions  as  unsatisfactory  quality 
of  the  metal  and  an  unnecessary  width  of  expansion  opening  may  account 
for  the  shortcomings  of  the  miter  joint  in  some  cases.  An  angle  of  55 
4eg.  is  easier  cut  by  the  saw  than  one  of  45  deg.  and  in  some  quarters  is 
"believed  to  give  superior  service,  as  the  corners  of  the  rail  head  are 
shorter  and  not  so  sharp. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  the  miter  joint  entirely  eliminates 
the  dropping  of  wheels  into  the  opening.  As  the  rail  top  is  curved,  or  even- 
tually wears  to  that  shape,  only  such  wheels  as  fit  the  rail  will  pass  over 
the  joint  opening  without  dropping  into  it.  The  contact  between  a  new 
wheel  and  a  rail  with  a  curved  top  is  so  small  that  the  wheel  can  find  the 
edges  of  any  joint  opening  at  a  practicable. angle.  In  a  certain  contingency, 
as  when  a  derailed  wheel  shears  the  splice  bolts,  the  mitered  end  might  form 
-a  dangerous  joint,  owing  to  the  lip  due  to  the  lateral  displacement  of  the 
rail  ends,  especially  on  the  outside  rail  of  curves;  or  during  hot  weather 
when  the  metal  is  expanding  and  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  rails  to 
shove  by  each  other.  In  anticipation  of  such  trouble  it  has  been  proposed 
that  the  rail  ends  should  be  skewed  as  rights  and  lefts  and  the  rails  so 
laid  on  double  track  that  the  wheels  will  trail  the  points,  in  which  case 
no  clano-er  from  lip  could  exist. 

Lap  Joints. — Another  idea  for  carrying  the  wheel  past  the  joint  with- 
out permitting  it  to  drop  into  the  opening  is  found  in  the  lap  or  scarf  joint, 
which  is  made  by  halving  or  offsetting  the  rail  ends  on  vertical  planes  to 
form  an  overlap,  so  that  the  joint  opening  does  not  extend  entirely  across 
the  rail  at  one  place.  Some  think  that  such  a  joint  is  better  adapted  to  a 


114  TRACK   "MATERIALS 

rail  with  a  curved  top  than  a  skew  joint.  As  usually  designed,  the  over- 
lap is  formed  by  halving  the  rail  vertically  through  the  web.  While  it 
would  seem  that  the  strength  of  the  rail  ends  could  be  best  preserved  by  a 
short  scarf,  say  not  to  exceed  1  inch,  as  illustrated  in  Engraving  W',  Fig.  20, 
nevertheless  where  lap  joints  are  being  tried  the  long  scarf  seems  to  pre- 
vail, although  the  short  scarf  has  been  tried  in  a  few  cases. 

Lap  joints  are  not  in  service  in  this  country,  but  on  some  European 
roads  they  are  being  tried  to  a  considerable  extent.  Figure  17  shows  a. 
form  of  long  lap  joint  that  is  being  tried  quite  extensively,  the  lap  in 
some  cases  being  as  long  as  8J  ins.  This  form  of  joint  has  been  approved 
by  the  Prussian  State  railways,  where  it  was  being  used  on  124  miles  of  road 
in  1898,  and  it  is  also  in  service  on  the  railways  of  Alsace-Lorraine  and  on 
the  Austrian  State  railways.  This  joint  enables  the  use  of  rails  49  ft.  3 
ins.  long  on  the  Prussian  State  railways,  without  trouble  from  the  increased 
opening  necessary  for  expansion.  The  Haarmann- Victor  rail,  named  after 
two  German  engineers,  who  invented  it,  was  designed  with  a  view  to  form  a 
lateral  overlap  or  scarf  at  the  joint  without  halving  the  web  or  weakening- 
it  in  any  manner.  The  rail  is  of  unsymmetrical  section,  the  web  being 
non-axial,  so  that  in  forming  a  lap  joint  it  is  necessary  to  cut  away  only 
half  of  the  head  and  base.  The  webs  overlap  at  the  joint  and  the  rails  are- 
spliced  with  angle  bars  in  the  ordinary  manner. 

An  eight  years'  trial  of  lap  joints  on  the  Kaiser  Ferdinands  Northern 
Ey.  (1891  to  1899)  proved  a  failure.  A  section  of  track  about  3200  ft 
long  was  laid  with  86-lb.  rails  with  joints  lapping  93/16  ins.  The  thickness 
of  the  rail  web  was  11/16  in.  In  a  comparatively  short  time  the  lap  end& 
became  considerably  battered  and  by  the  end  of  eight  years,  when  all  the 
rails  were  removed,  77  of  them  had  broken  at  the  lap.  The  splices  were 
2 If  ins.  long  and  had  four  bolts. 

Various  Joint  Splices. — It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  a  great  deal 
of  experimenting  has  been  done  with  joint-splice  devices  intended  as  im- 
provements on  the  plain  angle  bar.  Most  of  these  splices  have  been 
patented  and  but  very  few  of  them  have  survived  even  a  few  years  of. 
trial.  On  general  considerations  some  of  the  patented  splices  are  clearly 
superior  to  the  angle  bar,  because  they  embody  all  the  principles  of  the 
angle  bar,  with  additional  features  of  apparent  value,  without  multiplying 
parts.  So  numerous  have  been  the  trials  of  joint  appliances,  and  so 
largely  have  experiments  in  this  direction  been  disappointing,  that  sweep- 
ing statements  favorable 'to  this  or  that  device  are  wisely  regarded  with 
some  degree  of  misgiving.  The  joint-splice  question  has  bothered  railway 
engineers  a  great  deal,  and  if  there  is  any  generality  which  is  applicable 
to  the  matter  it  is  perhaps  best  expressed  in  the  following  proposition: 
Practical  men  indulge  in  less  and  less  talk  about  ideal  splices,  and  more 
effort  is  being  made  in  the  direction  of  attempting  some  improvement  or 
re-enforcement  of  the  angle  bar  than  in  searching  for  some  new-fangled 
appliance  which  might  be  expected  to  revolutionize  things.  It  now 
seems  to  be  quite  widely  conceded  that  some  of  the  joint  splices  on  the 
market,  and  others  which  are  being  tried  by  individual  railroads,  are 
giving  better  service  than  the  plain  angle  bar.  While  a  satisfactory  test 
for  a  joint  splice  may  be  obtained  in  a  few  years,  a  period  as  long  as  the 
life  of  the  rail  must  necessarily  elapse  before  the  ultimate  worth  of  the 
device  is  demonstrated.  Here  follow  illustrations  and  brief  descriptions 
of  some 'of  the  splices  which  have  either  received  a  long  trial  or  are  now 
being  extensively  tried,  on  the  railroads  of  this  country  . 

The  ideas  embodied  in  the  so-called  improved  joint  splices  have 
for  the  most  part  taken  three  general  directions :  viz.,  in  a  stronger  splice,. 


SPLICES 


115 


A,  Sampson  Angle  Bar;  B,  Bonzano  Splice;  C,  Continuous  Splice  (Old  Pattern); 
D,  Fisher  "Bridge"  Splice;  E,  Continuous  Splice;  F,  Weber  Splice;  G.  Fisher  "Triple 
Fish"  Splice;  H,  Permanent  Splice;  M,  Barschall  Splice;  P,  Price  Splice;  R,  Long 
Splice. 

Fig.  18. — Joint  Splices. 

either  by  thickening  or  deepening  the  section  of  the  plain  angle  bar;  in  a 
firmer  junction  of  splice  and  rail,  usually  by  increasing  the  bearing  sur- 
face of  the  splice,  in  one  manner  or  another;  and  in  attempts  to  over- 
come the  drop  of  the  wheel  at  the  joint  opening.  The  multitude  of  forms 
which  inventions  have  taken  includes  many  devices  intended  to  combine 
two  and  sometimes  all  three  of  these  features  of  improvement.  One  of 
the  oldest  ideas  for  increasing  the  bending  strength  of  the  splice  was  to 
thicken  the  angle  bar  in  the  middle.  One  form  of  splice  embodying  this. 
idea  is  the  Sampson  bar,  illustrated  by  Engraving  A,  Fig.  18,  there  being 
a  protuberance  of  metal  for  the  space  of  4  or  5  ins.  each  side  the  joint 
opening,  surmounted  by  another  protuberance  about  3  ins.  long  imme- 
diately covering  the  joint.  Another  direction  in  which  this  idea  took 
form  was  in  an  angle  bar  of  tapering  section.  'Years  ago  such  a  splice 
was  standard  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.,  the  bars  being 
rolled  by  eccentric  rolls.  For  67-lb.  rails  the  splice  was  40  ins.  long,  with 
6  bolts,  the  thickness  of  the  vertical  leg  being  0.597  in.  at  the  ends  and 
0.875  in.  at  the  middle.  The  experience  which  prompted  this  feature  of 
design  was  the  considerable  number  of  breakages  of  angle  bars  on  light 
rails  under  heavy  traffic,  it  being  clearly  evident  that  the  angle  bar  was, 
at  least,  lacking  in  strength  at  the  middle.  A  great  difficulty  experienced 
in  the  rolling  of  these  bars  was  to  get  them  straight.  The  importance  of 


116 


TRACK   MATERIALS 


having  a  splice  of  heavy  cross  section  was  early  seen  on  the  Lehigh  Valley 
E.  E.,  when  rails  not  heavier  than  52  Ibs.  per  yard  'were  used.  With 
that  weight  of  rail,  it  not  being  possible  to  have  a  heavy  splice  bar  on 
the  gage  side,  the  outside  angle  bar  was  made  about  twice  as  heavy  as 
the  inside  one,  and  the  same  depth  as  the  rail,  being  grooved  along  the  inside 
top  corner,  so  as  to  fit  against  the  side  of  the  rail  head. 

The  most  usual,  and  in  some  cases  the  latest,  scheme  for  strengthen- 
ing joint  splices  is  in  the  use  of  bars  of  deeper  section,  the  typical  arrange- 
ment being  a  deep  bar  depending  below  the  rail  base  and  between  the  ties 
of  a  suspended  joint.  About  the  simplest  device  of  this  kind  is  the  Bon- 
zano  splice,  which  has  been  tried  somewhat  extensively  on  the  Canadian 
Pacific,  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia  &  Eeading  and  other  roads.  "This 
splice  is  shown  as  Engraving  E,  Fig.  18,  being  simply  an  angle  bar  with 
a  horizontal  leg  of  abnormal  width  bent  down  in  the  middle  to  deepen 
the  section  where  the  greatest  bending  stress  comes.  The  bars  are  first 
rolled  as  ordinary  angle  plates,  the  intention  of  the  wide  flange  being  to 
give  lateral  stiffness  and  increased  bearing  surface  on  the  ties.  After  be- 
ing cut  to  length  and  punched  for  the  bolt  holes  the  bars  are  heated  and 
the  flange  at  the  middle  portion  of  the  bar  is  bent  down  from  the  hori- 
zontal to  a  vertical  position,  to  increase  the  depth  and  stiffness  of  the  bar. 
The  sectional  area  of  the  two  splice  bars  is  from  1.20  to  1.25  times  that 


?L  *:     _.*i 


Fig.  19.— "M    W    100  Per  Cent"  Splice  and  100-lb.  Rail,  P.  R.  R. 

of  the  rail  to  be  spliced.  Formerly  this  splice  was  made  with  a  vertical 
camber  of  -J  in.,  which,  when  the  bars  were  bolted  to  the  rails,  gave  the 
joint  a  camber  of  about  1/1G  in.  It  was  expected  that  after  a  few  trains 
had  passed  over  the  joint  the  scale  of  the  metal  would  wear  off  at  the  cen- 
ter of  the  bars  and  the  camber  would  be  reduced  to  a  straight  surface.  The 
advantage  sought  by  the  camber  was  to  obtain  a  tight  fit  for  the  splice  at  the 
center,  and  although  this  feature  seemed  like  an  excellent  idea,  it  had  to  be 
abandoned,  for  it  was  found  that  the  camber  put  into  the  joint  would  not 
come  out,  even  under  the  heaviest  traffic  and  the  heaviest  wheel  loads  of 
locomotives.  This  splice  is  now  made  without  camber. 

Another  splice  of  deep  section,  prominently  known,  is  the  "M  W  100 
Per  Cent"  splice  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.,  designed  by  Principal  Assist- 
ant Engineer  M.  W.  Thomson  of  that  road.  The  name  of  the  splice  is 
intended  to  designate  its  relative  bending  strength,  or  stiffness,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  equal  to  that  of  the  rail  on  which  it  is  used.  The  latest 
pattern  of  this  splice,  as  designed  for  the  standard  100-lb.  rail  oJ  the  road, 
is  shown  in  Fig.  19.  As  is  apparent,  this  splice  is  a  development  of  tru- 
angle  bar,  having  the  very  wide  horizontal  leg  bent  under  at  an  angle  of  45 
degrees  to  the  horizontal,  so  as  to  nearly  meet  the  bottom  leg  of  the  other 
splice  bar  underneath  the  center  of  the  rail.  This  splice  is  31  ins.  long, 
and  all  except  a  length  of  seven  inches  of  the  under  portion  of  the  bars 
is  cut  away,  to  clear  for  the  joint  ties.  The  total  depth  of  the  splice  is 
79/16  ins.,  of  which  a  depth  of  3f  ins.  depends  below  the  rail  base.  The 
weight  of  both  bars  of  the  pair  is  83.2  Ibs.,  the  moment  of  inertia  is  53  for 


SPLICES  117 

the  pair  and  the  sectional  area  of  the  pair  at  the  middle  is  13.94  sq.  ins. 
The  distance  from  the  neutral  axis  to  the  lowermost  fiber  is  4.04  ins.  The 
moment  of  inertia  of  the  100-lb.  rail  is  36.5,  the  sectional  area  9.7  sq.  ins.r 
and  the  distance  from  the  neutral  axis  to  the  lowermost  fiber,  2.66  ins. 
The  corresponding  data  for  the  ordinary,  angle-bar  splice  for  the  same 
rail,  34  ins.  in  length  and  weighing  75.4  Ibs.  per  pair,  is:  moment  of  in- 
ertia for  the  pair,  8.06;  sectional  area  of  the  pair  8.04  sq.  ins.;  distance 
from  the  neutral  axis  to  the  lowermost  fiber,  1.71  ins.  These  data  enable 
a  comparison  of  the  stiffness  of  the  two  types  of  splice.  The  bar  shown 
is  the  development  of  four  years  of  study  and  experiment,  £Q~miles  of 
track  laid  with  85-lb.  rails  having  been  spliced  with  an  older  form  of  the 
bar,  in  which  the  extra  metal  in  the  horizontal  legs  of  the  splice,  over 
the  tie,  was  not  cut  away,  but  was  extended  out  horizontally  to  form 
i hinges  bearing  upon  the  ties.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  bottom  flanges- 
of  this  splice  do  not  interfere  with  the  action  of  tamping  bars.  The  ver- 
tical axis  of  each  bar  of  the  splice  is  within  the  web  portion  that  is  gripped 
by  the  bolts,  and  as  the  vibrations  of  the  lower  flanges  under  stress  are  in- 
ward and  upward,  the  tendency  of  the  bars  when  the  joint  is  loaded  is  to 
hug  the  rail.  Another  scheme  for  strengthening  the  joint  splice  in  the 
middle  was  by  means  of  a  trussed  support,  usually  including  a  bearing 
plate,  with  angle  bars  to  hold  the  rail  laterally.  The  Price  and  Long 
splices,  Engravings  P  and  R,  respectively,  Fig.  18,  were  of  this  form. 

The  idea  of  securing  a  firm  junction  of  the  splice  and  rail  has  usually 
led  to  the  use  of  a  base  plate,  primarily  to  support  the  rail  ends  at  the  base, 
thus  affording  bearing  surface  to  relieve  the  top  edge  of  the  angle  bars 
from  wear,  and  incidentally  to  effect  an  equal  distribution  of  the  load  upon 
the  two  joint  ties,  in  the  case  of  a  suspended  joint.  The  simplest  device 
of  this  kind  is  a  plain  base  plate  used  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  angle 
bars.  The  standard  joint  splice  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.  is  of 
this  type,  the  base  portion  being  a  channel  plate  24  ins.  long,  with  J-in. 
flanges,  the  thickness  of  the  plate  under  the  rail  being  -J  in.  The  rail 
ends  (suspended  joint)  simply  rest  upon  the  plate  and  are  not  bolted  there- 
to, but  holes  are  punched  through  the  plate  for  the  spikes.  One  of  the 
older  forms  of  base-plate  splices  is  the  Fisher  "Bridge"  splice,  which  has 
been  extensively  tried.  This  splice,  which  is  shown  as  Engraving  D,  Fis;. 
IS,  consists  of  a  cambered  channel  or  beam  in  combination  with  a  pair  of 
short  angle  bars  bolted  to  the  rails  with  two  bolts  through  the  web  and 
with  a  TJ-bolt  which  holds  the  angle  bars  and  rail  firmly  down  upon  the 
base  plate.  The  corners  of  the  rail  are  notched  for  the  U-bolt  and  the 
angle  bars  are  not  permitted  to  reach  the  under  side  of  the  rail  head,  it 
being  the  intention  to  throw  all  the  burden  of  supporting  the  rail  ends 
11  r on  the  base  plate.  A  later  form  of  the  Fisher  device  is  known  as  the 
"Triple  Fish"  splice,  shown  as  Engraving  G,  Fig.  18.  This  splice  con- 
sists of  a  short  base  plate  and  pair  of  short  two-bolt  angle  bars  which 
"fish"  only  with  the  rail  flange,  the  vertical  leg  of  each  bar  not  being  quite 
(loop  enough  to  reach  the  under  side  of  the  rail  head.  There  are  three  TJ- 
bolts  holding  the  angle  bars  and  base  plate  firmly  to  the  rail  flange,  the 
idea  in  this  splice,  as  in  the  case  of  the  "Bridge"  splice,  being  to  support 
or  stiffen  the  rail  at  the  base  and  not  at  the  head. 

The  simplest  form  of  joint  splice  combining  a  base  plate  with  an 
angle  bar,  and  which  also  carries  the  distinction  of  having  the  fewest  num- 
ber of  parts,  is  the  "Continuous"  splice,  shown  as  in  Engraving  C,  Fig.  18. 
This  splice  is  in  use  on  a  large  number  of  roads,  and  is  so  simple  in  con- 
struction that  description  is  hardly  necessary,  any  more  than  to  say,  per- 
haps, that  it  consists  of  a  pair  of  angle  bars  with  the  horizontal  legs  wid- 


118  TRACK  MATERIALS 

ened  out  and  doubled  nearly  half  way  under  the  rail  base.  Aside  from 
the  base-plate  feature  of  this  splice  it  will  be  noticed  that  it  "fishes"  with 
both  the  top  and  bottom  faces  of  the  rail  flange.  A  later  design  of  this 
splice,  known  as  the  "Extension  Base"  pattern,  has  tie-bearing  flanges 
punched  (not  slotted)  for  the  spikes  (Engraving  E,  Fig  18).  Another 
form  of  the  base-plate  type  of  joint  appliance  that  has  been  extensively  put 
into  service  is  the  Weber  splice,  shown  as  Engraving  F,  Fig.  18.  It  is 
composed  of  four  parts  besides  the  bolts,  as  follows :  an  ordinary  angle  bar 
and  a  channel  bar  fishing  into  the  rail  in  the  ordinary  manner;  a  wood 
filler  fitting  into  the  channel  bar,  to  act  as  a  cushion  against  which  the 
bolts  are  tightened;  an  angle  plate,  called  the  "shoe  angle,"  the  vertical 
leg  of  which  bears  against  the  wooden  filler  block  and  the  horizontal  leg 
of  which  serves  as  a  base  plate  for  the  support  of  the  rail  ends. 

The  Heath  splice,  which  was  extensively  tried  on  the  Atchison,  Tope- 
ka  &  Santa  Fe  Ky.,  was  in  one  respect  similar  to  the  Continuous  splice, 
in  that  it  consisted  of  an  angle  bar  with  a  wide  horizontal  leg  doubled 
under  the  whole  width  of  the  rail  base  and  extending  some  distance  beyond 
the  other  side.  In  combination  with  this  part  there  was  a  plain  fish  plate, 
the  two  being  bolted  together  through  the  web  of  the  rail  in  the  ordinary 
manner.  In  one  pattern  of  this  splice  the  base  portion  was  bulged  down- 
ward under  the  joint  opening,  to  afford  extra  stillness.  Strange  though  it 
may  seem,  a  joint  splice  without  bolts  has  been  tried  on  main  track  under 
high-speed  trains.  This  device  is  shown  as  Engraving  TL,  Fig.  18,  and  is 
known  as  the  "Permanent"  splice.  It  consists  of  a  pair  of  ordinary  angle 
bars  held  to  the  rail  by  a  base  clamp  or  flanged  base  plate.  The  principle 
upon  which  the  splice  holds  the  rail  ends  firm  is  that,  as  the  weight  comes 
upon  the  joint  the  bars  are  made  to  gripe  the  rail  all  the  tighter.  At  the 
center  of  the  clamp  there  is  a  lug  fitting  into  a  notch  cut  out  of  the  rail 
ends,  to  prevent  the  rail  from  creeping  through  the  splice. 

Of  splices  combining  the  two  features  of  base  support  and  bars  of  deep 
section  there  are  at  least  two  forms  deserving  of  mention.  The  Churchill 
splice,  used  on  the  Norfolk  &  Western  E.  E.,  designed  by  Mr.  C.  S.  Church- 
ill, engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  of  that  road,  consists  of  a  pair  of  Z- 
bars  fitting  the  rail  as  ordinary  angle  bars  and  depending  about  3  ins.  be- 
low the  rail  base  for  a  distance  of  8  ins.  between  joint  ties.  As  shown  in 
Engraving  S,  Fig.  20,  there  is  a  flanged  base  plate  fishing  with  the  lower 
legs  of  the  Z-bars,  which  are  held  firmly  to  their  work  by  means  of  two 
bolts.  The  "Crop-End"  joint  splice  of  'the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.,  de- 
signed by  the  late  Chief  Engineer  A.  Torrey,  consists  of  ordinary  angle 
bars  with  an  inverted  piece  of  rail  11  ins.  long,  slightly  cambered  and 
placed  base  to  base  with  the  track  rails,  under  the  joint,  as  shown  by  En- 
graving U,  Fig.  20.  Two  or  three  U-bolts  are  passed  around  the  inverted 
piece  and  secured  through  holes  in  the  horizontal  legs  of  the  angle  bars, 
thus  splicing  the  under  piece  of  rail  firmly  to  the  ends  of  the  track  rails, 
the  idea  being  to  provide  a  strong  splice  by  increasing  the  depth  and  also 
to  prevent  the  rail  ends  from  playing  up  and  down  and  wearing  the  angle 
bars.  This  splice  takes  its  name  from  the  under  piece  of  rail,  which  is  ob- 
tained from  the  process  of  trimming  rails  with  a  rail-sawing  machine,  de- 
scribed in  §  175,  Chap.  XI.  .in  some  cases  in  practice  the  middle  U-bolt 
shown  in  the  figure  is  omitted.  An  advantageous  feature  of  this  splice  is 
that  it  can  be  applied  to  the  rail  while  rail  renewals  are  in  progress  with- 
out stopping  to  space  the  joint  ties,  which  may  be  rearranged  and  the  crop 
end  applied  at  convenience.  A  somewhat  serious  objection  against  almost 
all  other  forms  of  deep-section  splices  is  that  the  joint  ties  must  be  re- 
spaced  while  rail  renewals  are  in  progress,  unless  resort  is  had  to  the  un- 


SPLICES 


119 


desirable  practice  of  making  frequent  cuts.  The  Crop-End  splice  is  the 
standard  joint  fastening  of  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.,  and  in  1900  was 
used  on  390  miles  of  track.  It  has  not  been  used  long  enough  (since 
1897)  to  observe  its  merits  with  precision,  but  one  feature  of  the  device 
which  is  known  is  that  it  maintains  a  stiff  joint — so  stiff  indeed  that  there 
is  some  question  whether  the  rail  ends  do  not  suffer  a  little  more  where 
this  splice  is  used  than  they  do  with  a  splice  which  permits  them  to  run 
away  from  the  wheel.  This  point  has  not  yet  been  definitely  decided 
upon.  The  application  of  the  crop  end  to  joints  on  old  rails  has  gener- 
ally improved  the  surface  at  the  joint  very  much,  particularly  _on_  rails 
where  the  traffic  runs  in  one  direction  only.  The  serviceability  of  the 
crop  end  may  be  inferred  from  the  use  of  some  crop  ends  of  30-lb.  rail  under 
60-lb.  traffic  rails,  where  it  was  found  that  the  stress  upon  the  joint  splices 
bent  the  crop  ends  so  that  they  sagged  fully  4  in. 

There  have  been  two  ways  of  attempting  to  prevent  wheels  from  drop- 
ping into  the  joint  space,  namely  by  cutting  off  the  end  of  the  rail  in  a 
manner  to  avoid  an  opening  squarely  across  the  same  and  by  the  use  of 
wheel-bearing  outer  splice  bars.  The  miter  and  lap  joints  have  already 
been  referred  to.  Splices  designed  to  carry  thje  wheels  past  the  joint  with- 
out jumping  the  opening  were  used  as  early  as  50  years  ago,  and  a  number 


S,   Churchill  Splice;  T,  Miter  Joint;  W,   Scarf  Joint;  U,  Torrey  Crop  End  Splice. 
Fig.  20.— Joint  Splices. 

of  forms  have  been  experimented  with  without  permanent  success.  A  late 
type  of  this  splice  consists  of  an  angle  bar  or  fish  plate  for  the  gage  side 
of  the  rail  and  an  "auxiliary"  rail  of  suitable  length,  with  the  flange 
planed  off  one  side  to  permit  it  to  fit  against  the  outside  of  the  traffic  rail 
in  place  of  the  outer  splice  bar.  In  the  Barschall  splice  (Engraving  M. 
Fig.  18)  the  fishing  of  the  outer  or  "carrier"  bar  is  obtained  by  means 
of  a  cast  I-shaped  filler  placed  between  the  carrier  rail  and  the  traffic  rail, 
the  bolts  required  being  about  6  ins.  long.  The  top  of  the  carrier  or 
"lifting"  rail  is  on  a  level  with  the  traffic  rail  and  is  beveled  off  at  the 
ends  to  afford  an  easement  in  lifting  the  wheels.  It  bears  direct  upon  the 
joint  ties,  usually  on  tie  plates.  A  number  of  years  ago  some  splices 
of  this  type  were  tried  on  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  (now 
Erie)  E.  E.  with  unsatisfactory  results.  It  was  found  that  the  outer 
"flange"  of  guttered  wheels  would  strike  the  piece  of  carrier  rail  heavily 
and  that  it  formed  an  excellent  anvil  for  guttered  wheels  to  strike  upon 
and  pound  down  the  joint  ties.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  by  some  of 
the  people  connected  with  this  road  that  these  trial  splices  might  have  been 
responsible  for  a  noticeable  increase  in  the  number  of  wheels  broken  on 
the  division  where  these  splices  were  located.  Such  is  the  principal  objec- 
tion to  this  type  of  splice:  a  new  wheel,  by  reason  of  the  coning,  will 
ride  the  traffic  rail  without  touching  the  auxiliary,  while  a  worn  wheel 


120  TRACK  MATERIALS 

will  ride  the  auxiliary  piece  without  touching  the  traffic  or  main  raiL 
On  the  improved  form  of  this  splice,  shown  herewith,  the  larger  portion 
of  the  head  of  the  auxiliary  or  carrier  rail  is  chamfered  down  to  clear  the 
"double  flange"  of  guttered  wheels.  Of  course  this  diminishes  the  bearing 
surface  of  the  splice,  but  it  removes,  at  least  to  some  extent,  the  anvil- 
blow  effect.  It  is  intended  particularly  that  this  splice  shall  be  suitable 
for  use  with  long  rails,  one  objection  to  the  use  of  which  is  the  wide 
joint  opening  necessary  for  expansion.  On  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West 
this  splice  is  used  on  rails  of  60-f  t.  Jength,  and  it  is  thought  by  the  officials 
in  charge  that  it  has  been  the  means  of  prolonging  the  life  of  rails  under 
heavy  traffic  on  double  track,  which  had  become  badly  worn  on  the  drop 
side  of  the  joint.  These  splices  were  manufactured  in  the  company's  own 
shops.  As  used  on  this  road  it  is  stated  that  no  pounding  from  guttered 
wheels  is  noticeable.  This  form  of  splice  originated  in  Germany,  where 
it  is  known  as  the  "Stossfangschiene." 

A,  good  way  to  test  the  merits  of  different  kinds  of  joint  splices  is  to- 
put  them  in  adjacent  sections  of  track  on  new  rails  of  the  same  weight. 
The  roadbed  and  ballast  conditions,  ties,  etc.,  should  also  be  similar,  and 
careful  account  should  be  kept  of  the  cost  of  surfacing  required  to  hold 
the  track  in  smooth  condition.  In  order  to  eliminate  possible  local  in- 
fluences each  of  the  trial  sections  should  be  at  least  several  miles  ia 
length.  About  1899  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West  began  a  systematic 
study  of  the  joint  question  which  resulted  in  the  selection  of  six  of  the 
patented  splices  on  the  market  and  laying  them  in  10-mile  stretches  for 
trial.  They  were  applied  to  60-ft.,  85-lb.  rails  of  American  Society  section. 
These  experiments  also  included  tests  of  angle  bars  of  standard  section 
rolled  from  axle  steel  and  from  nickel  steel  (3  per  cent  nickel).  The  sys- 
tematic observations  made  on  the  behavior  of  these  splices  should  yield 
instructive  data. 

8.  Bolts. — The  standard  sizes  of  track  bolts  are  J  in.,  J  in.  and  1  in. 
in  diameter,  the  most  usual  lengths  being  4  and  4-J  ins.,  although  the* 
proper  length  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  design  of  the  splice  bar  and 
the  kind  of  washer  or  nut  lock  used.  A  few  roads  use  bolts  13/16  inch  in 
diameter,  but  it  is  an  odd  size.  There  seems  to  be  no  uniformity  of  prac- 
tice regulating  the  size  of  the  bolt  to  the  weight  of  the  rail.  On  numerous- 
roads  f-in.  bolts  are  used  on  rails  as  heavy  as  80  and  85  Ibs.  per  yard, 
and  in  a  few  instances  on  rails  even  heavier.  About  the  lighest  rail  on 
which  J-in.  bolts  are  used  extensively  is  the  75-lb.  section ;  for  heavier  rails, 
except  where  f-in.bolts  are  used,  the  J-in.  bolt  is  the  common  standard. 
On  a  comparatively  few  roads  1-in.  bolts  are  used  for  rails  weighing  from 
80  to  100  Ibs.  per  yard,  but  in  the  most  general  practice  the  f-in.  bolt  is 
standard  for  the  heaviest  rails,  which  includes,  of  course,  100-lb.  rails. 
Xeither  does  there  seem  to  be  any  uniform  practice  regulating  the  size  of 
the  bolt  with  reference  to  the  number  used  in  the  splice.  In  numerous 
instances  f-in.  bolts  are  used  on  rails  as  heavy  as  85  Ibs.  per  yard,  in  4-bolt 
splices,  and  just  as  frequently  -g-in.  bolts  are  used  on  75  and  80-lb.  rails, 
in  6-bolt  splices.  It  would  seem  that  some  standard  might  be  recognized 
whereby  the  bolt  would  be  sized  according  to  the  weight  of  the  rail,  say 
f-in.  bolts  for  rails  weighing  65  Ibs.  per  yard  or  lighter;  J-in.  bolts  for  rails 
weighing  70  to  85  Ibs.  per  yard,  inclusive ;  and  1-in.  bolts  for  rails  weigh- 
ing 90  Ibs.  per  yard  and  heavier.  It  would  then  seem  that  in  case  of  any 
question  the  4-bolt  splice  should  be  given  the  benefit  of  the  larger  bolt. 

The  most  common  form  of  track  bolt  has  a  button  head  and  an  oval 
neck,  the  -latter  to  correspond  to  the  shape  of  the  hole  in  the  splice  bar,  so- 
designed  to  prevent  the  bolt  from  turning.  Other  arrangements  for  hold- 


BOLTS  121 

ing  the  bolt  from  turning  are  referred  to  under  the  subject  of  "Splices/' 
§  7.  Track  bolts  and  nuts  should  be  carefully  made.  It  is  poor  economy  to 
buy  cheaply-made  goods  of  this  kind.  The  wearing  face  or  rim  of  the  bolt 
head  should  be  at  right  angles  to  the  neck,  to  obtain  an  even  bearing  on 
the  splice  bar,  and  to  avoid  excessive  wear  it  should  be  wide  enough  to 
catch  a  good  bearing  around  the  bolt  hole.  The  neck  of  the  bolt  and  the 
bolt  hole  should,  for  the  same  reason,  be  designed  for  a  close  fit.  For 
strength  the  thickness  of  the  nut  should  be  at  least  equal  to  the  diameter 
of  the  bolt,  and  the  nut  should  be  tapped  at  right  angles  to  the  wearing 
face,  which  should  be  flat.  The  thread  of  the  bolt  should  fit  the  female 
screw  of  the  nut  truly  and,  except  for  two  or  three  turns  at  the~enti  of  the 
bolt,  at  starting  on,  it  should  fit  it  snugly.  The  threads  should  be  cut  in 
oil.  Dipping  the  bolt  in  oil  after  cutting  the  thread  in  water  will  not 
prevent  rust.  Much  time  is  wasted  in  putting  on  and  taking  off  nuts  where 
the  bolt  is  too  long.  The  length  of  the  bolt  should  be  such  that  it  will 
not  extend  more  than  J  in.  past  the  nut  after  it  is  screwed  home.  Any 
extra  length  performs  no  particular  service.  The  most  convenient  shape 
for  the  nut  is  hexagonal:  a  nut  of  that  form  is  more  readily  caught  by  a 
wrench  and  much  more  quickly  turned  on  .or  off  than  is  a  square  nut. 

In  the  use  of  bolts  of  the  ordinary  pattern  it  is  not  good  practice  to 
screw  the  nut  up  against  the  splice  bar  without  a  washer  of  some  kind. 
The  consequence  of  such  practice  is  that  the  rails  in  expanding  or  con- 
tracting will  force  the  thread  of  the  bolt  against  the  side  of  the  hole  in 
the  splice  bar  and  batter  or  destroy  it,  thus  making  it  impossible  to  tighten 
the  nut  any  further.  An  ordinary  metallic  washer  alone  gives  no  better 
results.  In  former  years  compressed  fiber  and  wood  blocks  were  much 
used  for  washers,  a  metallic  washer  being  placed  between  such  material 
and  the  nut.  Fiber  washers  of  good  material,  when  properly  handled,  gave 
good  satisfaction.  They  preserved  the  thread  of  the  bolt  intact  next  the 
bearing  face  of  the  nut,  and  the  cushion-like  bearing  rendered  the  bolt 
less  liable  to  break  when  very  tightly  screwed  up.  One  serious  trouble 
with  these  washers  was  that  if  they  became  wet  or  d^mp  before  being  put 
to  use  they  would  soften,  and  when  in  that  condition  were  not  able  to  stand 
the  pressure  of  the  nut.  The  same  trouble  arose  with  washers  soaked  by 
rain  when  the  nuts  became  loose.  The  wooden  washer  in  most  extensive 
use  was  a  strip  of  oak  about  £  in.  thick  bored  to  fit  over  two  bolts.  They 
were  made  of  scrap  pieces  in  the  car  shops,  at  small  cost,  and  were  some- 
times soaked  in  oil.  The  principal  trouble  with  these  wood  washers  was 
that  they  softened  after  a  'few  years'  exposure  to  the  weather,  and  split. 
If  the  nuts  were  tightened  during  wet  weather  (the  time  usually  selected 
by  trackmen  for  such  work)  they  would  crush.  To  overcome  the  trouble 
of  splitting  the  Kansas  City,  Fort  Scott  &  Gulf  E.  E.  used  a  splice  devised  by 
Mr.  J.  M.  Buckley,  consisting  of  an  angle  bar  for  the  gage  side  and  a  chan- 
nel bar  for  the  outside  of  the  rail,  with  a  strip  of  wood  fitting  in  the  groove 
of  the  channel,  as  with  the  Weber  splice  now.  The  bearing  of  the  nut 
was  received  by  an  iron  washer  overlying  the  wood,  but  the  rails  (56-lb.) 
and  splices  outlasted  the  wood  and  it  was  gradually  replaced  with  cast 
Avashers  to  fill  up  the  space  in  the  groove  so  that  the  nuts  could  be  tight- 
ened. Although  the  principle  of  cushioning  the  pressure  of  the  bolts 
against  the  splice  bars  seems  like  a  good  idea,  the  use  of  wood  and  fiber 
for  the  purpose  has  largely  passed  out  of  practice. 

Nut  Lacks. — Nut  locks  are  contrivances  intended  to  prevent  nuts  from 
turning  off  or  loosening  when  subjected  to  vibration  or  jarring.  They 
are  of  three  kinds:  positive,  or  those  which  positively  hold  the  nut  from 
turning;  spring  locks,  which  are  supposed  to  act  constantly  upon  the  nut 


122 


TRACK  MATERIALS 


with  spring  pressure,  thus  taking  up  any  looseness  which  might  come 
from  wear;  the  third  arrangement  is  a  grip  nut  or  bolt  or  "lock  nut,"  of 
which  there  are  several  kinds.  A  common  type  of  positive  lock  consists 
of  a  washer  of  sheet  metal  with  a  projecting  corner  or  edge  which  can 
be  bent  up  against  one  of  the  sides  or  corners  of  the  nut.  The  Jones  nut 
lock  is  of  this  kind.  Another  common  form  of  positive  lock  consists  in  the 
use  of  a  key.  The  Cambria  angle  bar  is  rolled  with  a  rib  on  the  horizontal 
leg,  close  by  the  vertical  leg,  forming  a  groove  directly  under  the  nut. 
By  driving  a  tapering  key  into  this  groove  and  bending  up  the  end  the 
nut  is  held  from  turning  and  the  key  cannot  slip  out.  The  grooved  bolt  is 
another  familiar  type  of  a  positive  nut  lock.  The  Stark  pattern  has  a  key 
seat  on  the  bolt  and  corresponding  seats  in  the  nut,  so  that  the  nut  need 
be  screwed  but  part  of  a  turn  after  it  is  tight,  in  order  to  bring  the  two 
seats  together  for  the  insertion  of  the  key,  which  is  a  spring  U-pin.  The 
Champion  nut  lock  is  of  the  same  general  type  but  has  a  ring  or  rib  of 
metal  on  the  outer  face  of  the  nut  which  is  punched  down  into  the  groove 
in  the  bolt  when  the  nut  is  screwed  home.  A  very  simple  method  of 
locking  nuts,  sometimes  employed  to  keep  the  bolts  tight  on  crossing  frogs, 
is  to  file  a  groove  across  the  wearing  face  of  the  nut,  outside  the  aperture, 
and  then  with  a  cold  chisel  cut  a  groove  in  the  face  of  the  splice  bar  to 
correspond  with  that  in  the  nut,  and  drive  in  a  split  key  after  the  nut  is 


A  and  B,  Excelsior  Single  and  Double  Nut  Locks;  C,  American  Nut  Lock;  D, 
Automatic  Rail  Joint  Spring;  E,  National  Lock  Washer;  F  and  G,  Verona  Nut  Locks; 
H.  Positive  Nut  Lock;  K,  Harvey  Ribbed  Washer;  M,  Eureka  Nut  Lock,  N,  Young 
Gravity  Lock  Nut;  P,  Standard  Nut  Lock;  R,  Harvey  Grip  Bolt;  S,  National  Elastic 
Nut;  T,  Oliver  Lock  Nut.  . 

Fig.  21.— Nut-Lock  Devices. 


BOLTS  123 

screwed  home.  The  position  of  the  groove  in  the  splice  bar  is  found  by 
first  see  wing  home  the  grooved  nut.  As  the  splice  becomes  loosened  from 
wear  the  keys  may  be  temporarily  withdrawn  and  the  nuts  tightened. 
On  crossing  frogs  of  the  Michigan  Central  E.  R.  both  the  nuts  and  the 
heads  of  the  bolts  are  held  in  this  manner.  Still  another  simple  method 
-of  locking  nuts  positively  is  to  burr  up  the  metal  of  the  splice  bar  behind 
a  corner  of  the  nut.  To  lock  a  track  nut  positively  is  a  simple  matter, 
but  still  inventors  keep  on  studying. 

Prevention  of  the  nuts  from  turning  does  not  by  itself  accomplish  all 
that  is  desirable  in  nut  locks  for  joint  splices.     The  wearing:  down  of  the 
roughness  and  scale  on  the  bearing  surfaces  of  rail  and  splice  bars,  the 
•elongation   of   the   bolts   and   the   wear   from   the  bearing   faces   of   bolt 
heads  (especially  badly  fitting  bolt  heads),  makes  desirable  some  means  for 
-automatically   maintaining   the   bolts    in   tight   adjustment.     A   common 
type  of  elastic   lock   for  this   purpose   is   a   spring  washer,   usually   con- 
sisting of  a  coiled  bar  of  one  turn.     A  number  of  designs  are  shown  in 
Pig.   21.     Engraving  A   is  the  Excelsior  single   lock   and   Engraving  11 
the  Excelsior  double  lock.     The  double  coil  of  the  former  prevents  the 
'device  from  being  jammed  into  oblong  bolt  holes  in  splice  bars,  and  its  out- 
line shape  -  prevents  it  from  turning  with  the  nut.     The  double  pattem 
is  bent  in  the  middle,  to  meet  the  splice  bar  convexly,  and  is  coiled  at 
the  ends  to  fit  over  a  pair  of  bolts.    The  National  lock  washer  (Engraving 
E}  fits  the  bolt  closely,  is  made  of  hardened  steel  and  has  a  rib  around  the 
•edge  of  the  aperture  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  some  of  the  metal  of  the 
nut  into  the  thread  of  the  bolt,  thereby  locking  the  nut.    The  Verona  nut 
lock  (Engraving  F)  is  a  plain  bar  of  square  cross  section  spirally  coiled. 
The  improved  Verona  pattern   (Engraving  G)   has  a  tail  to  engage  with 
the  lower  leg  of  the  angle  bar  and  prevent  the  device  from  turning  on 
the  bolt.    The  Positive  nut  lock  (Engraving  H)  is  a  variation  of  the  old- 
style  Verona,  having  barbs  at  the  tips  to  cut  into  the  nut  and  splice  bar 
and  lock  the  nut.     The   Standard  nut  lock    (Engraving  P)    is  a  coiled 
and  twisted  bar  with  the  ends  turned  out  to  keep  it  from  getting  into 
the  elongated  hole  of  the  splice  bar.     The  American  nut  lock  (Engraving 
C)    has    twisted    edges    and  the  Harvey   ribbed    washer   (  Engraving  K) 
has  faces  with  ratchet-shaped  ribs,  to   cut  into  the  nut  and  splice  bar 
and  lock  the  nut  when  it  is  screwed  up.    The  Eureka  nut  lock  (Engraving 
M)   is  a  square  plate  slit  through  to  the  aperture  and  spirally  bent  or 
warped  with  the  edges  of  the  slit  upturned  to  Jock  the  nut.     The  Auto- 
matic Eail- joint  Spring  or  spring  nut  (Engraving  D)  is  a  heavy  spring- 
tempered  curved  strap  arched  3/16  to  J  in.,  according  to  size,  tapped  for 
the  bolt  and  placed  with  the  concave  side  against  the  splice  bar.     The 
aperture  for  the  bolt  is  at  a  point  about  one-third  of  the  length  of  the  strap 
from  one  end,  leaving  an  extending  spring  or  tail  longer  on  one  side  of  the 
nut  than  en  the  other.     The  application  of  the  spring  to  a  rail  joint  is 
shown  in  the  illustration  of  a  4-bolt  splice,  two  of  the  bolts  being  put 
through  the  splice  from  one  side  and  two  from'  the  other  side;  although 
all  of  the  bolts  can  be  put  through  from  the  same  side  of  the  rail  if  the 
spacing  of  the  bolts  permits.     A  square-headed  bolt  is  used,  and  as  the 
bolt  is  turned   from  the  opposite  side  of  the  rail  the  spring  is   drawn 
down    until   it   lies    practically   flat   against   the    splice,    as    is    the    case 
with  bolt  No.  3  in  the  engraving.     The  primary  action  of  the  spring  is 
to  take  up  any  wear  of  the  parts  of  the  joint  and  to  compensate  for  any 
stretch  of  the  bolts.     Each  spring  or  nut  exerts   an  elastic  pressure  of 
3000  Ibs.     The  secondary  action  of  the  spring  is  to  lock  the  bolt,  since  by 
the  tendency  of  the  spring  to  resume  its  normal  shape  the  tail  end  exerts 


124:  TRACK  MATERIALS 

a  pressure  tending  to  give  the  bolt  a  sidewise  twist  or  side  bite,  thus 
locking   it. 

Among  lock  nut  devices  one  of  the  best  known  is  the  Harvey  "grip 
thread  bolt"  (Engraving  R).  The  bolt  is  made  of  soft  steel  and  the 
threads  are  cold  pressed  in  a  manner  to  upset  the  metal  and  reduce  but 
slightly  the  diameter  of  the  bolt  at  the  root  of  the  thread.  The  threads 
are  ratchet-shaped  and  undercut  5  deg.  on  the  bearing  side.  In  the  mrt 
the  bearing  side  of  the  thread  is  at  right  angles  to  the  axis  of  the  aperture, 
so  that  when  it  is  screwed  up  tight  against  the  splice  bar  the  threads  of  the 
bolt  will  give,  to  the  extent  to  which  they  are  undercut,  and  the  metal, 
will  be  pushed  compactly  into  the  outer  recesses  of  the  nut  thread  and 
hold  the  nut  against  turning  off.  The  nut  is  square,  with  the  corners 
chamfered  next  the  wearing  face  to  give  a  bearing  which  is  approxi- 
mately circular.  On  the  bearing  side  the  nut  is  recessed  the  depth  of  two 
threads  to"  a  diameter  somewhat  larger  than  that  of  the  threaded  bolt,, 
thus  housing  and  protecting  that  many  threads  against  injury  by  chafing 
on  the  splice  bar,  -as  already  explained.  The  National  "elastic  nutv 
(Engraving  S)  is  split  open  on  one  side,  being  formed  from  a  flat  steel 
bar  bent  around  into  a  ring  to  close  by  a  lap  joint.  It  is  then  pressed 
in  a  hexagon  die  and  tapped  slightly  smaller  than  the  bolt,  so  that  when 
screwed  on  with  the  wrench  it  is  distended  and  the  joint  opens  about 
1/64  in.,  the  spring  action  developing  a  grip  on  the  bolt.  The  Oliver  lock. 
nut  (Engraving  T)  is  made  some  thicker  than  the  ordinary  nut  and  two 
or  three  turns  of  thread  in  the  outer  portion  of  the  nut  are  cut  at  a  slight!}' 
different  angle  from  those  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  nut  and  of '  the 
bolt.  The  locking  of  the  nut  is  accomplished  by  the  slight  rupturing  of" 
the  thread  due  to  the  gripe  of  the  threads  of  differing  angle.  As  this 
rupturing  effect  takes  place  on  the  outer  end  of  the  bolt  no  element  of 
strength  is  sacrificed  and  the  usefulness  of  neither  nut  nor  bolt  is  destroyed 
by  taking  off  the  nut.  The  Young  "gravity"  lock  nut  (Engraving  N)  is 
an  oblong  jam  nut  tapped  near  one  end.  After  the  ordinary  nut  is  screwed 
home  the  jam  nut  is  put  on  and  the  overbalance  of  metal  holds  it  against 
turning  back.  The  nut-lock  devices  most  extensively  used  are  perhaps 
the  double  Excelsior,  the  National,  the  Verona  and  the  Harvey  grip  bolt. 

The  devices  above  mentioned  constitute  only  a  small  fraction  of  the 
nut  locks  which  have  been  tried.  Only  a  few  kinds  have  been  found 
efficient  for  the  purpose,  and  none  that  has  as  yet  come  to  general  notice 
or  into  extensive  service  seems  to  have  been  entirely  satisfactory.  A 
number  of  years  ago  Mr.  H.  W.  Reed,  master  of  roadway  for  the 
Savannah,  Florida  &  Western  Ry.  (now  Atlantic  Coast  Line  R.  R.),  found 
the  average  yearly  expense  for  tightening  bolts  on  600  miles  of  track 
without  nut  locks  to  be  $12.43  per  mile,  while  with  nut  locks  the  average 
yearly  expense  for  the  same  item  was  $4.00,  labor  at  $1.00  per  day.  One 
trouble  with  spring  nut  locks,  in  numerous  cases,  has  been  the  deterioration 
of  the  elasticity,  in  use,  the  device  then  becoming  a  dead  flat  washer. 
Another  serious  trouble  with  elastic  washers  of  the  narrow  ring  type,  when 
used  on  splice  bars  with  elongated  bolt  holes,  is  that  they  get  jammed  into 
the  holes  and  their  efficiency  is  lost  for  want  of  bearing.  For  the  best 
results  both  nuts  and  nut  locks  should  find  an  even  seat  all  around  the  bolt. 
For  this  reason  the  bolt  holes  in  the  splice  bar  against  which  the  nuts 
are  screwed  are  frequently  made  circular  and  but  slightly  larger  than 
the  bolt,  as  already  noted. 

After  all,  the  efficiency  of  track  bolts  depends  largely  upon  the  fit  of 
the  nut.  A  simply-fitting  nut,  with  or  without  a  nut  lock,  will  not  work: 
loose.  In  careful  examinations  of  nut  locks  in  service  I  have  frequently 


SPIKES  125 

found  long  stetches  of  track  where  all  the  bolts,  provided  with  spring 
nut  locks,  had  remained  tight  without  attention,  while  on  an  adjoining  piece 
•of  track,  with  the  same  nut  locks  in  use,  a  large  percentage  of  the  bolts 
would  be  loose.  The  only  explanation  of  the  difference  seemed  to  be  that  the 
tight  bolts  had  snugly-fitting  nuts,  while  the  loose  bolts  had  not,  and  that, 
.apparently,  the  nut  locks  had  played  but  little  or  no  part  in  keeping  the 
nuts  tight.  The  production  of  loosely-fitting  bolts  and  nuts  is  frequently 
due  to  the  wear  of  dies  and  taps  in  too  long  service. 

9.  Spikes. — Track  spikes  should  be  made  of  good,  tough  material, 
so  that  the  head  will  stand  driving  down  upon  the  rail  flange  -without 
breaking  off.  Both  soft  steel  and  wrought  iron  are  the  materials  used,  the 
latter  principally  for  the  reason  that  old  iron  rails  are  still  to  some 
•extent  being  worked  up  into  spikes.  The  Union  Pacific  R.  E.  owns  a  mill, 
located  at  Laramie,  Wyo.,  in  which  a  great  deal  of  wrought  scrap,  includ- 
ing old  iron  rails,  is  made  into  spikes,  bolts,  angle  bars  and  bar  iron. 

The  standard  size  of  spikes  is  9/16  in.  square  and  5  or  5J  ins.  long 
under  the  back  of  the  head.  For  oak  and  other  wood  equally  hard  a  length 
of  5  ins.  is  sufficient.  The  weight  of  a  5Jx9/16x9/16-in.  spike  is  about  -|  Ib. 
The  head  is  usually  made  oblong,  about,  l3/16xl-|  ins.,  the  under  side  of 
the  same  being  inclined  to  correspond  to  the  slope  of  the  top  side  of  the 
rail  flange,  which  is  usually  13  degrees.  The  standard  spike  point  is 
wedge-shaped  and  its  length  varies  from  }  in.  to  If  ins.  The  exact  length, 
within  these  limits,  is  unimportant,  so  long  as  it  is  sharp  on  the  cutting- 
edge  and  not  too  thinly  drawn  out.  For  hard  wood  a  point  about  twice 
as  long  as  the  thickness  of  the  spike  does  very  well.  In  seasoned  white 
oak  ties  a  long,  slim  point  is  liable  to  bend  in  driving  and  crook  the  spike. 
Spikes  used  in  fastening  rails  to  longitudinal  timbers,  as  at  pit  cattle 
guards,  have  the  point  reversed,  or  turned  quarter  way  around,  so  as  to  cut 
crosswise  the  grain  and  not  split  the  timber.  To  strengthen  the  spike 
against  wear  from  the  rail,  in  the  neck  (a  spike  so  worn  is  said  to  be 
"goose-necked"),  it  is  the  practice  with  some  roads  to  slightly  enlarge  the 
cross  section  just  under  the  head.  Such  reinforcement  should  not  be  made 
to  the  front  or  wearing  side,  because  it  would  then  operate  to  bend  the 
spike  outward  when  the  head  is  driven  down  to  the  rail,  and  should  the 
spike  work  up  it  would  stand  clear  of  the  rail  or  permit  the  rail  to 
spread  slightly.  If  the  reinforcement  is  made  to  the  sides  it  interferes  with 
facility  of  claw-bar  operation.  If  reinforced  at  all  the  extra  metal  should 
be  on  the  back  side,  but  some  object  to  any  reinforcement  to  that  side,  on 
the  ground  that  such  would  displace  wood  fiber  which  would  remain  out  of 
-contact  with  the  spike,  thus  weakening  its  back  support,  should  the  spike 
work  up. 

The  plain  hook-headed  spike  of  square  cross  section,  above  described, 
is  standard  practically  everywhere  in  this  country,  and  it  is  perhaps  needless 
to  say  that  for  general  purposes  it  is  the  best.  Numerous  attempts  have 
been  made  to  obtain  greater  lateral  resistance,,  and  increased  adhesion, 
by  the  -use  of  flat  spikes,  and  spikes  grooved  at  the  back  to  give  increased 
frictional  surface,  but  all  such  experiments  seem  to  have  met  with  little 
success,  and  the  spike  of  square  cross  section  has  held  the  field  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  others.  It  was  found  that  flat  spikes  were  easily  bent 
by  the  thrust  of  the  rail,  and  spikes  grooved  to  increase  the  adhesion  cut 
open  the  fiber  in  such  manner  that  water  easily  found  its  way  into  the 
fiber  adjoining  the  back  of  the  spike.  Spikes  of  oblong  section  are 
difficult  to  catch  with  a  claw  bar  and  in  hard  timber  they  bend  easily  in 
driving. 


126 


TRACK   MATERIALS 


Fig.  23.  Fig.  24. 

About  the  only  improvement  in  the  shape  of  the  spike  which  has 
come  into  considerable  use  has  been  made  in  the  shape  of  the  point,  the 
aim  being  to  produce  a  point  which  will  enter  the  tie  without  excessive- 
injury  to  the  fiber.  The  ordinary  wedge  point  is  formed  in  two  ways:  it 
may  be  cut  with  a  die  or  it  may  be  drawn  out  by  rolling.  When  made 
by  the  former  method  the  point  is  sharp,  but  frequently  fins  are  formed 
on  the  corners  which  cause  the  spike  to  turn  in  driving.  The  rolled 
point  is  usually  longer  but  dull  or  blunt  on  the  cutting  edge.  The 
sharper  the  point  the  better  is  the  satisfaction  both  as  to  ease  of  driv- 
ing and  in  doing  less  injury  to  the  fiber  of  the  wood.  The  Goldie  spike, 
made  of  soft  steel,  has  a  wedge  point  1^  ins.  long,  with  corners  beveled 
to  sharp  cutting  edges,  as  shown  in  Fig.  22.  The  front  side  of  the 
spike,  as  shown  in  the  engraving  at  the  left,  is  the  wearing  side.  On 
this  side  the  beveling  extends  f  in.  above  the  extreme  point  and  011 
the  back  side  7/16  in.  high.  A  side  view  of  the  spike  is  shown  at  the 
right  hand  in  the  figure.  The  standard  spike  of  the  New  York  Central 
&  Hudson  River  R.  R.,  for  Carolina  pine  ties,  is  patterned  closely 
after  the  standard  spike  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.,  which  is  made  of 
soft  steel,  is  5-J  ins.  long  under  the  head,  9/16  in.  square,  in  section, 
and  has  a  rolled  wedge  point  If  ins.  long,  blunted  on  the  extreme 
edge.  The  spike  used  by  the  New  York  Central  company  differs  from 
that  of  the  Pennsylvania  company  by  being  pointed  at  the  tip  on  the 
Goldie  style.  The  corners  of  the  wedge  on  the  front  side  are  beveled 
for  a  length  of  f  in.,  and  on  the  back  side  3/16  in.,  as  shown  in  Fig.  23. 
In  other  respects  the  spike  is  exactly  like  the  standard  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania road,  having  a  neck  enlarged  on  the  side  next  the  flange  of  the 
rail,  the  thickness  front  to  back  being  11/10  in.  The  head  is  H  ins.  long 
and  1  5/i«  ins.  wide.  The  standard  headblock  spike  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania R.  R.  is  like  the  standard  rail  spike  except  that  it  is  7  ins.  long. 
The  Diamond  spike,  shown  in  Fig.  24,  has  a  gouge-shaped  point,  the 
face  on  the  rail  side  of  the  point  being  convex,  while  on  the  back  side  of 
the  spike  (right-hand  engraving)  the  face  of  the  point  is  grooved.  Screw 
fastenings  are  discussed  in  a  later  chapter. 

10.  Ties. — The  selection  of  cross  ties  for  track  on  roads  of  con- 
siderable length  is  a  large  and  important  undertaking.  In  this,  much 
dependence  may  lie  in  the  situation  respecting  the  supply  of  timber  irr 
the  locality.  In  timberless  regions  far  removed  from  sources  of  supply 
there  is  usually  a  wide  range  for  selection  among  timbers  brought  from 
a  distance;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  where  timber  is  abundant  it  is 
usually  found  to  be  more  economical,  all  things  considered,  to  use  the 
best  that  can  be  obtained  near  at  hand.  It  is  between  these  two  extreme 
situations,  perhaps,  that  the  most  study  is  required  in  order  to  deter- 
mine what  partiuclar  kind  of  timber  will  be  the  most  satisfactory.  The 
cost  of  transportation,  time  required  for  delivery,  and  kindred  questions 
increase  the  scope  of  investigation  when  ties  are  purchased  at  points  off 


TIES  127 

the   railroad   company's   lines.      The  principal   desideratum   with   ties   is, 
of  course,  length  of  service  at  economical  cost. 

Conditions  Affecting  the  Life  of  Ties. — The  life  of  ties  depends 
upon  so  many  things  that  it  is  difficult  of  close  estimation  from  know- 
ing only  the  kind  and  quality  of  the  timber.  A  good  deal  depends  upon 
the  season  of  the  year  in  which  the  timber  is  felled.  It  is  generally  con- 
ceded that  the  proper  time  to  fell  timber  is  while  it  is  free  from  sap. 
When  timber  is  cut  in  the  sap  it  will  season  leaving  the  sugar  and  albumen 
of  the  sap  in  the  solid  state,  which  will  ferment  and  hasten  decay  when 
left  to  the  action  of  water  and  variable  heat,  as  is  the  case  with  timber  jised 
for  ties.  Also,  when  sap  is  in  the  timber  the  fibers  are  more  open  or 
porous  than  otherwise,  which  makes  it  more  receptive  of  water  from  the 
outside  than  when  the  sap  has  declined  naturally;  and  it  is  thought  that 
when  seasoned  in  this  condition  the  pores  do  not  close  so  tightly  as 
with  timber  seasoned  after  the  sap  has  declined.  For  this  reason  the, 
holding  power  of  spikes  may  depend  to  some  extent  upon  the  condition 
of  the  timber  with  respect  to  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  sap  when  it 
is  felled.  At  all  events  it  is  commonly  supposed  that  a  mechanical 
change  takes  place  in  the  condition  of  the  fiber  during  the  time  the  sap 
is  out,  which  leaves  the  timber  in  a  condition  best  suited  to  endure  the 
action  of  the  elements;  and  that  at  some  particular  time  this  condition  is 
most  favorable.  On  this  time  the  opinions  of  good  authorities  vary 
all  the  way  between  the  time  just  after  the  sap  has  declined  until 
immediately  preceding  the  time  it  starts  again.  Where  some  special  use 
is  to  be  made  of  the  timber  the  determination  of  this  particular  time 
for  the  locality  with  some  degree  of  exactness  may  be  worthy  of  close 
sudy;  but  with  ties  it  is  hardly  a  practicable  proposition  to  attempt  to 
realize  the  desired  condition  so  nearly  as  to  specify  a  period  as  brief 
as  a  month  or  six  weeks.  It  usually  occurs,  that,  within  reasonable 
limits,  the  time  must  be  arranged  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  parties 
cutting  the  timber.  In  many  localities  a  large  portion  of  the  ties  are 
got  out  by  farmers  who  own  patches  of  wooded .  lands,  and  thus  employ 
themselves  during  their  spare  time  in  winter.  And  then,  too,  the  best 
time  to  cut  probably  varies  with  the  kind  of  timber,  and  certainly  with 
the  climate  or  region.  For  the  north  half  of  the  United  States  the  time 
between  late  October  and  early  March  will  include  the  tie-cutting  season 
of  perhaps  all  localities,  and  January  is  probably  the  proper  time  in  most 
cases. 

Ties  cut  during  any  month  should  be  allowed  time  to  season  before 
they  are  put  into  the  track.  This  rule  is  often  repeated,  but  in  practice 
it  seems  to  be  but  little  heeded.  Those  who  profess  to  be  authorities  on 
the  subject  claim  that  at  least  six  months  is  required  to  season  timber 
well  in  the  open  air,  and  that  a  year  is  all  the  better.  So  far  as  ties 
used  in  renewals  are  concerned  the  most  favorable  time  for  cutting  the 
timber  and  the  most  desirable  time  for  placing  the  ties  in  the  track 
are  rather  too  close  to  admit  of  thorough  seasoning  of  the  timber, 
unless  it  is  held  over  until  another  year;  and  such  an  alternative  is,  of 
course,  out  of  accord  with  penny-wise  policies  regarding  the  invest- 
ment of  money.  To  let  timber  stand  a  year  to  season  involves  an 
interest  charge  of  two  to  three  cents  per  tie,  which  falls,  of  course,  upon 
the  railroad  company,  the  matter  being  of  no  interest  to  the  tie  men.  The 
tie-renewing  season  begins  but  a  few  weeks  after  the  tie-cutting  season 
ends  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  large  amount  of  green  timber  is  used 
in  renewing  ties.  In  building  a  new  road  it  frequently  occurs  that 
any  and  all  sources  of  supply  are  called  upon,  on  short  notice,  and  con- 


128  TRACK  MATERIALS 

sequently  much  green  timber  and  sometimes  summer-cut  timber,  is 
used  for  ties.  To  aid  the  seasoning  process  the  timber  should  be  worked 
up  into  ties  and  peeled  soon  after  felling.  The  hewing  or  sawing  of  the 
timber  hastens  evaporation  of  the  moisture  and  the  stripping  of  the 
bark  prevents  "souring"  or  fermentation.  Timber  experts  say  that  bark 
should  not  be  left  on  timber  longer  than  two  months  after  felling.  The 
decomposition  induced  by  leaving  the  bark  on  timber  too  long  after 
felling,  before  the  tie  is  made,  is  what  the  Germans  call  "suffocation." 

In  no  case  should  ties  be  placed  in  the  track  before  the  bark  has  been 
removed.  If  they  are  not  purchased  with  the  bark  peeled  it  will  pay 
to  have  it  taken  of?  at  the  expense  of  the  company.  For  such  work  a 
drawshave  is  a  convenient  tool,  and  track  shovels  and  bark-peelers'  spuds 
are  also  used.  Ties  peel  easiest  after  being  taken  out  of  water,  as  when 
the}'  have  been  floated  in  streams,  or  after  a  rain.  The  cost  of  peeling 
is  1  to  1J  cents  per  tie.  With  certain  kinds  of  wood  the  presence  of  the 
bark  after  cutting  favors  worm  eating;  and  with  all  kinds  it  is  an 
absorbent  of  moisture,  and  will  keep  the  sapwood  of  the  tie  damp  as 
long  as  there  is  the  least  moisture  in  the  ballast,  thus  hastening  rot. 
Bark  when  dry  is  more  inflammable  than  the  timber  in  the  tie  and  there- 
fore renders  the  tie  much  more  liable  to  take  fire  from  sparks.  After 
the  tie  becomes  old  the  bark  will  loosen  and  mix  with  the  ballast,  much 
to  its  deterioration.  It  makes  weed  cutting  between  the  ties  more  dim- 
cult,  and,  in  short,  it  is  so  much  of  a  nuisance  that  it  should  never 
be  permitted  in  the  track. 

According  to  the  general  understanding  the  most  durable  timber 
is  obtained  from  matured  trees,  being  superior  to  that  cut  from  either 
young  or  very  old  trees.  The  disparity  with  the  young  timber  is  due 
to  the  relatively  large  amount  of  sapwood  which  it  contains.  It  is  also 
pointed  out  by  authorities  on  timber  that  the  location  of  the  forest  and 
the  rapidity  of  growth  have  much  to  do  with  durability;  that  coniferous 
woods  of  slow  growth  (as  indicated  by  narrow  rings)  on  comparatively 
poor  soil  on  high  land,  in  dense  forests,  and  hard  or  deciduous  woods  of 
rapid  growth,  from  rich,  deep,  warm  soil  in  the  lowlands,  but  sparsely 
grown,  yield  the  most  durable  timber  of  either  class.  The  heavier  and 
denser  wood  in  the  same  species  is  the  .more  durable.  However  much 
importance  attaches  to  such  conditions  respecting  the  growth  of  timber, 
and  even  to  the  age  of  timber,  for  that  matter,  they  have  always  been 
largely,  if  not  entirely,  overlooked  in  the  selection  of  ties  in  this  country. 
So  far  as  age  is  concerned  the  "pole"  tie  or  one  faced  on  only  two  sides 
and  made  from  a  tree  no  larger  than  will  yield  one  tie  from  a  single 
cut,  takes  the  preference.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  the  heart  is  in 
the  interior  of  the  tie  and  the  sapwood  on  the  faces  occurs  only  at  the 
edges  of  the  same.  Another  reason  is  found  with  the  advantages  in  the 
shape  of  the  pole  tie.  The  cheeks  or  rounded  sides  of  the  tie,  from  the 
center  line  downward,  afford  some  bearing  upon  the  ballast  between  the 
ties,  and  the  weight  of  the  filling  material  or  ballast  bearing  upon  these 
cheeks  from  above  assists  in  holding  the  tie  in  position,  making  it  more 
secure  against  being  moved  out  of  line  or  "churned"  in  the  ballast  than 
is  possible  with  a  tie  sawed  four-square.  With  some  roads  (one  of  which 
is  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburg  Ry.)  nothing  but  pole  ties  are 
standard,  ties  sawed  on  four  faces,  of  whatever  size  or  quality,  being  re- 
ceived only  as  second  class. 

Ties  of  any  kind  of  timber  resist  decay  longer  in  the  colder  coun- 
tries, where  the  ground  is  frozen  during  several  months  of  the  year. 
For  example,  the  average  life  of  winter-cut  white  "oak  ties  grown  on  high 


TIES  129 

ground  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  and  used  on  the  Illinois 
Central  K.  K.,  is,  by  official  statement,  7^  years  on  high  ground  in  the 
states  where  it  is  grown,  10  years  in  Illinois  and  11J  years  in  Northern 
Iowa.  White  oak  ties  grown  and  used  in  southern  Arkansas  last  but  4 
years,  on  the  average,  while  ties  of  the  same  timber,  grown  in  the  same 
locality,  when  used  in  northern  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  have  an  average 
life  of  8  years.  In  the  warm  climate  of  southern  Arkansas  the  timber 
is  filled  with  sap  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  ties  cut  therefrom  are 
necessarily  in  sap.  Under  the  continual  action  of  the  heat  and  moisture 
of  the  southern  climate  the  process  of  decay  is  rapid,  while  in  the  north- 
ern states  referred  to,  where  the  ground  is  frozen  three  or  lour  months 
of  the  year,  chemical  change  is  entirely  arrested  during  that  time,  and 
more  or  less  retarded  during  other  of  the  cooler  months.  Prolonged 
wet  seasons  shorten  the  life  of  ties,  especially  where  the  climate  is  hot. 
The  life  of  ties  varies  with  the  kind  of  ballast  used,  to  a  large  extent, 
being  longer,  for  a  usual  thing,  in  those  kinds  of  ballast  which  dry  out 
most  thoroughly  and  quickly.  In  loose  material,  like  sand,  gravel,  broken 
stone  or  cinder,  the  exterior  of  the  tie  decays  sooner  than  it  does  in  com- 
pact material  like  clay,  which  is  probably  due  to  the  condition  respecting 
the  exclusion  of  air.  The  chemical  properties  of  the  soil  or  ballast  also 
have  an  influence  on  the  life  of  ties.  It  is  commonly  understood  that 
the  effect  of  cinders  is  to  shorten  the  life  of  ties.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  1901  there  were  ties  in  the  track  of  the  Central  Pacific  road,  in  salt 
and  potash  soils,  in  parts  of  Nevada  and  Utah,  not  the  least  bit 
decayed,  which  were  laid  when  the  road  was  built,  in  1868.  Ties  of  the 
same  kind  of  timber  in  light,  sandy  loam  roadbeds  rot  out  in  3  to  4 
years 

Hard  ties  in  stone  ballast  are  hammered  by  the  rail,  and  soft  ties 
are  rail  cut,  either  action  shortening  the  life  irrespective  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  fiber  by  rot.  The  driving  of  many  spikes  into  a  tie,  or  a  single 
spike  redriven  several  times,  mutilates  and  destroys  the  material  of  the 
tie  just  where  it  is  put  to  the  most  severe  service;  so  also  does  the  grind- 
ing action  of  sand  where  it  is  habitually  used,  as  on  grades,  near  sta- 
tions, etc.  Ties  of  some  kinds  of  timber  check  on  the  upper  face  from 
the  heat  of  the  sun  and  such  open  cracks  get  filled  with  sand  or  dust. 
Then  when  the  tie  gets  wet  the  water  gets  in  and  is  held  by  the  earthy 
material  to  start  decay  in  the  interior  sooner  than  otherwise.  All  these 
conditions,  where  they  obtain,  have  to  do  with  the  life  of  ties.  Good 
drainage  lengthens  their  life. 

A  great  deal  of  misleading  data  has  been  published  on  the  life 
of  ties.  As  a  rule,  the  average  number  of  ties  placed  in  renewals  per 
mile  of  track  per  year,  reported  by  the  railroad  companies  without 
qualification,  is  not  a  reliable  basis  for  estimating  the  average  life  of  the 
ties  removed,  because  account  is  seldom  taken  of  new  road  and  side- 
tracks built  within  a  back  period  corresponding  to  the  life  of  the  ties. 
When  estimated  on  such  figures  the  apparent-  life  of  the  tie  is  too 
long,  for  it  is  clear  that  new  track  increases  the  mileage  without  increas- 
ing the  renewals  for  a  number  of  years.  In  estimating  the  life  of  ties 
from  the  renewals  no  track  should  be  included  on  which  renewals  have 
have  not  been  started,  and,  properly,  no  track  on  which  the  ties  have 
not  been  renewed  during  at  least  three  consecutive  years,  because  during 
the  first  two  or  three  years  after  the  ties  begin  to  fail  the  renewals  are 
unusually  heavy.  On  such  grounds  it  would  seem,  therefore,  that  no 
track  less  than  7  to  12  years  old,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  ties, 
should  be  considered.  As  it  is  usually  desired  to  know  the  average  life 


130  TRACK  MATERIALS 

of  ties  for  main-track  service,  separate  account  should  be  kept  of  those 
used  in  side-tracks,  where  the  timber  is  allowed  to  reach  a  more  ad- 
vanced state  of  decay  before  removal  than  would  be  safe  for  main  track. 
In  a  general  estimate  on  the  life  of  ties,  including  all  kinds  of  timber 
used  for  that  purpose  in  this  country,  in  its  natural  state,  the  average 
duration  is  usually  taken  at  about  6J  years. 

Planner  of  Cutting. — The  advantages  inhering  with  the  pole  tie  have 
already  been  explained,  and  the  same  may  be  claimed  for  ties  of  any 
regular  shape  which  conduces  to  anchor  them  in  the  ballast.  In  some 
of  the  European  countries  it  is  the  practice  to  chamfer  the  upper  corners 
of  the  tie,  so  as  to  narrow  the  face  and  reduce  the  supposed  rocking 
motion  claimed  to  be  set  up  by  the  undulations  in  the  rail.  Such  practice 
is  badly  advised,  because  under  rolling  loads  the  roadbed  undulates  with 
the  rail  and  the  rocking  of  the  ties  in  the  ballast  is  inappreciable;  and 
besides,  reduction  in  the  width  of  the  upper  face  without  the  use  of  tie 
plates  removes  fiber  needed  to  resist  rail  cutting.  Ties  made  from  small 
trees  are  usually  hewed,  while  from  large  trees  they  are  sometimes  split, 
but  most  frequently  sawed.  It  is  widely  claimed  that  hewed  ties  last 
at  least  a  year  longer  than  sawed  ties  of  the  same  quality  of  timber. 
One  explanation  for  the  inferiority  of  the  sawed  tie  is  that  the  faces 
are  cut  obliquely  to  the  grain,  exposing  the  ends  of  a  great  many  fibers, 
which  are  roughened  and  started  to  a  considerable  depth,  so  that  water 
is  readily  absorbed  in  wet  weather.  A  hewn  face  is  smooth,  usually 
follows  the  grain,  and  is  supposed  to  shed  water  to  more  or  less  extent 


BCD 
Fig.  25. 

for  at  least  a  year  or  two.  For  the  purpose  of  smoothing  the  faces  and 
making  all  ties  exactly  the  same  thickness  (an  unnecessary  refinement), 
it  is  the  practice  in  some  mills  to  take  the  ties  as  they  come  from  the 
saw  and  run  them  though  a  planer,  surfacing  two  sides.  Another  objec- 
tion to  sawing,  and  one  which  is  not  overcome  by  planing,  is  that  ties 
sawed  out  of  crooked  logs  may  be  so  crossgrained  as  to  easily  break  in 
two  under  load  or  split  in  spiking.  On  split  ties  the  faces  naturally  fol- 
low the  grain  of  the  timber,  but  some  hewing  is  usually  necessary  to  take 
out  the  wind  at  the  rail  seats.  A  sawed  face  affords  an  even  bearing 
for  both  rails,  which  is  not  so  liable  to  be  the  case  with  a  hewed  or  split 
face.  In  ties  sawed  or  split  out  of  large  trees  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to 
detect  old  timber,  timber  felled  out  of  season,  or  even  timber  which  was 
dead  at  the  time  of  felling.  In  point  of  fact  the  timber  worked  up  at 
saw  mills,  unless  felled  under  contract  at  a  specified  time,  is  usually 
felled  at  any  and  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

There  are  various  conventional  terms  to  denote  the  different  ways 
of  splitting  up  large  timber  into  ties.  When  a  log  is  sawed  or  split  into 
four  pieces,  so  that  the  heart  is  divided,  each  tie  will  have  a  piece  of  the 
heart  at  or  near  one  of  its  corners,  and  is  known  as  a  "quarter"  tie. 
When  a  log  is  sawed  or  split  into  two  pieces  each  piece  is  known  as  a 
"slab"  tie,  if  the  heart  comes  in  either  top  or  bottom  face,  and  a  "half" 
tie  if  it  comes  in  a  side  face.  In  Fig.  25,  A  is  a  quarter  tie,  B  a  slab 
tie,  C  a  half  tie  and  D  a  pole  tie.  Tie  C  is  shown  faced  only  three  sides; 
if  faced  four  sides  it  would  still  be  called  a  half  tie.  The  half  tie  is  more 
liable  to  split  in  spiking  than  is  a  slab  tie,  for  the  reason  that  the  spike 
enters  the  wood  tangentially  to  the  rings.  Ties  made  from  large  timber 
should  be  laid  heart  side  down,  thus  disposing  the  rings  of  the  timber  to 


TIES  131 

shed  water.  The  heartwood  of  most  kinds  of  timber  offers  more  resist- 
ance to  rail  cutting  and  holds  the  spike  better  than  the  sapwood,  but  it 
•checks  worse  when  turned  up  to  the  sun  and  the  sapwood  does  not  last 
so  long  in  the  ground.  When  the  heart  side  is  up  the  rings  of  the  tim- 
ber dip  or  open  out,  like  troughs,  and  hold  water.  With  pole  ties 
the .  wider  face  should  usually  be  laid  downward.  In  cutting  up  large 
irees  there  is  economy  of  lumber  in  sawing  or  splitting  ties  to  rectangu- 
lar section,  and  as  an  article  of  freight  ties  of  that  shape  weigh  less  and 
•occupy  less  space  than  pole  ties  having  the  same  width  of  face.  Under 
other  considerations,  however,  it  is  inadvisable  to  face  small  timber  four 
sides  for  ties,  not  alone  because  of  the  advantages  already  pointed  out 
for  the  pole  tie,  but  for  the  further  reason  that  weight  is  a  desirable 
.property  in  track  material,  on  account  of  the  increased  stability  it  gives. 

Crooked  timber  should  not  be  hewed  into  belly-shaped  ties.  With 
such  timber  it  is  better  to  make  the  faces  straight,  even  though  some- 
what across  the  grain  and  though  the  tie  be  narrow-faced  in  the  middle 
or  at  the  ends.  There  is  no  particular  objection  to  a  crook  in  the  tic 
.horizontally,  if  not  too  much  so.  Ties,  however  made,  should  not  be  put 
into  the  track  belly  up,  for  a  tie  bulging  upward  in  the  middle  of  the 
track  presents  an  ugly  appearance  and  forms  an  obstruction  to  tear  loose 
dragging  brake  rigging  and  pieces  of  car  trucks ;  and  such  a  tie  is  difficult 
•of  removal  when  it  must  be  taken  out.  When  a  tie  is  put  belly  downward 
in  dirt  ballast  its  bed  forms  a  sort  of  receptacle  from  which  the  water 
•does  not  run  freely  after  a  rain. 

Tie  Dimensions. — The  most  common  length  of  tie  for  standard- 
gage  track  is  8  ft.,  but  since  heavier  rolling  stock  and  heavier  rails  with 
wider  bases  have  come  into  use  many  railway  companies  have  increased 
the  length  to  8  J  ft.  For  a  tie  of  given  thickness  there  is  some  certain 
length  which  conduces  to  a  uniform  distribution  of  rail  pressure  over  the 
whole  length  of  the  tie.  The  experiments  of  Mr.  A.  Wasiutynski,  perma- 
nent way  engineer  of  the  Warsaw- Vienna  Ry.,  described  under  "Rail 
Deflection"  (§  181,  Chap.  XL),  show  that  such  a  length  for  white  oak- 
ties  6  ins.  thick  lies  soniewhere  between  8  ft.  and  8  ft.  10  ins.  One  of 
'the  general  improvements  carried  out  on  the  Prussian  State  and  Imperial 
-roads  during  recent  years  is  an  increase  in  the  standard  length  for  ties, 
-both  wood  and  metaX  from  8  ft.  2J  ins.  to  8  ft.  10£  ins.  (2.5  to  2.7 
meters).  In  dirt  ballast,  where  the  ends  of  the  ties  must  be  exposed  to 
insure  proper  drainage,  a  tie  9  ft.  long  seems  to  answer  better  than  one 
of  shorter  length,  since  more  support  can  then  be  given  the  track  outside 
the  rail  and  lessen  the  tendency  to  center  binding,  which  is  more  pro- 
nounced with  track  in  dirt  ballast  than  in  other  kinds  of  ballast.  Ties 
-of  such  length  are  standard  on  a  number  of  roads.  Whatever  the  stan- 
dard length,  the  specifications  should  be  closely  enforced.  A  variation  of 
•more  than  an  inch  either  way  ought  not  to  be  allowed,  as  there  is  no 
necessity  for  it.  Where  the  ties  are  of  uniform  length  the.  track  is 
•more  evenly  supported  than  is  the  case  where  the  lengths  vary.  To  give 
'•both  rails  equal  support  the  middle  of  the  tie  should  be  at  the  center 
of  the  track,  and  if  the  lengths  be  not  the  same,  or  nearly  so,  either 
this  condition  cannot  obtain  or  the  ends  will  be  out  of  line  and  cause  a 
bad  appearance.  Still,  where  the  ties  are  of  irregluar  lengths  it  hardly 
improves  the  appearance  of  things  to  line  one  side,  because  then  the 
track  looks  one-sided.  The  care  usually  taken  to  put  the  ends  of  ties  to 
line  on  one  side  would,  if  the  ties  were  approximately  of  equal  length, 
secure  fair  line  on  the  other  side  also,  without  extra  trouble  or  expense. 
"The  habit  of  cutting  ties  to  vary  from  3  to  6  ins.  from  a  standard 


132  TRACK  MATERIALS 

length  is  slovenly  and  inexcusable,  and  the  party  who  should  pay  for 'the 
consequences  should  be  the  individual  who  makes  the  ties,  and  not  the 
railway  company.  The  specifications  of  some  roads  require  that  ties 
more  than  1  in.  shorter  than  standard  shall  be  rejected,  on  the  first-class 
scale,  and  those  more  than  1  in.  longer  than  standard  length  shall  be 
cut  off  before  they  are  received.  The  ends  of  ties  should  be  cut  with  a 
saw,  and  reasonably  square. 

Besides  being  of  equal  length  ties  should  be  of  uniform  thickness,  or 
nearly  so.  Ties  varying  much  in  thickness  make  an  uneven  rail  surface 
for  the  outfit  train  to  run  upon  during  construction,  unless  considerable 
shimming  or  surfacing  be  done  at  a  time  when  there  is  little  opportunity 
to  do  it;  and  when  not  done  there  is  danger  of  damaging  the  rails.  The 
right  thickness  is  about  6J  ins.,  and  a  variation  of  more  than  -|  in.,  at  the 
most,  should  not  be  allowed.  A  tie  much  less  than  6  ins.  thick  will  be 
lacking  in  stiffness,  and  it  is  liable  to  be  split  when  the  spikes  are  driven, 
because  the  spike  reaches  so  near  to  the  under  face.  On  the  other  hand 
a  thickness  of  more  than  7  ins.,  with  ordinary  tie  spacing,  interferes  with 
facility  in  the  use  of  the  tamping  bar.  In  pole  ties  extra  depth  narrows 
the  faces,  a  difference  of  1  in.  in  depth  making  a  considerable  difference 
i  width  of  face.  To  allow  for  strength  in  the  case  of  ties  longer 
than  8  ft.  and  for  both  strength  and  for  rail  cutting  in  the  case  of  soft 
wood  ties,  it  is  well  to  give  such  ties  the  benefit  of  the  maximum  allow- 
able thickness.  On  a  few  roads  soft  wood  ties  are  made  as  thick  as  8  ins., 
but  on  a  great  majority  of  the  roads  the  standard  thickness  of  ties  of  all 
kinds  of  timber  is  either  6  or  7  ins.,  perhaps  more  oftener  7  ins.  than 
6  ins.  As  touching  the  matter  of  strength  a  slight  variation  in  the 
thickness  of  the  tie  makes  a  large  difference.  Since  beam  strength  varies 
as  the  cube  of  the  depth  or  thickness  the  relative  strength  of  a  7-in.  tie- 
to  that  of  a  6-in.  tie  of  the  same  width,  is  as  343  to  216,  or  59  per  cent 
greater. 

While  there  is  neither  difficulty  nor  reason  why  all  ties  should  not 
be  of  the  same  length  and  thickness,  it  is  not  always  so  with  regard  to 
the  width  of  face;  neither  is  it  so  necessary  that  it  should  be.  There  is 
much  said  concerning  the  arrangement  of  ties  in  track  with  reference 
to  uniformity  of  width  of  face  that  is  to  no  great  purpose.  As  long  as 
there  is  no  tie  with  a  face  narrower  than  a  minimum  acceptable,  and  the 
variation  in  width  of  face  among  all  the  ties  is  not  greater  than  50  per 
cent,  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  waste  words  with  the  tie  maker  or  to  con- 
sume time  trying  to  arrange  ties  of  the  same  width  of  face  to  go  into  the 
track  together.  Ordinarily  about  40  per  cent  of  the  surface  of  the  rail  base 
rests  upon  tie  face,  and  of  course  the  same  proportion  of  the  surface  of 
the  ballast  can  be  covered  by  tie  face,  be  the  ties  large  or  small,  so  long  as 
they  are  properly  spaced.  By  spacing  ties  a  certain  distance  apart  in  the 
clear  (as  they  should  be),  and  not  a  certain  distance  apart  center  to 
center,  and  increasing  the  width  of  the  spaces  next  the  largest  ties,  in 
case  they  are  abnormally  large,  the  bearing  surface  of  the  ties  will  be 
about  equally  distributed  along  the  rail.  A  rough  estimate  in  adjusting 
the  spaces,  by  the  eye,  even  where  a  considerable  variation  in  width  of  face- 
exists,  will  not  apppreciably  depart  from  the  proper  proportion  of  bear- 
ing surface.  Where  the  ties  are  small  .there  are  more,  and  where  large, 
less,  of  them  for  a  given  length  of  rail,  and  consequently  about  the  same 
amount  of  bearing  surface  in  either  case. 

A  6-in  face  for  pole  ties  and  an  8-in.  face  for  ties  of  rectangular  section- 
is  the  minimum  allowable  for  main  track.  Smaller  ties,  bought  at  a  reduc- 
tion in  price,  may  answer  in  side-tracks ;  but  enough  for  this  purpose  may 


TIES  133 

usually  be  had  in  culls  from  the  whole  lot  offered  for  sale,  because  quite 
frequently  a  small  tie  must  be  made  from  the  top  of  the  tree  in  order  to 
-avoid  undue  waste  of  timber.  But  there  is  also  such  a  thing  as  a  tie  too 
wide  to  give  good  results.  Wide  ties  are  seldom  tamped  as  firmly  as  they 
.should  be;  and  it  is  somewhat  difficult,  also,  to  do  it  properly  without 
using  time  much  out  of  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  face.  A  tie  hav- 
ing a  face  exceeding  10  ins.  in  width  is  too  large  for  main  track.  The 
width  of  face  giving  best  results  all  around  is  8  ins.  for  pole  ties,  and  9 
ins.  for  ties  of  rectangular  section. 

Kinds  of  Timber. — Oak,  pine  and  cedar  are  now  the  timbers  -  princi- 
pally used  for  ties.  White  oak,  rock  or  bur  oak,  post  oak,  chestnut  oak 
-and  red  oak  are  the  varieties  used.  White  oak  is  the  timber  which  gives 
the  best  all-around  reuslts.  Of  the  durable  woods,  when  seasoned,  it 
holds  a  spike  the  firmest,  and,  except  under  very  heavy  traffic,  it  sup- 
ports the  rail  without  being  cut  into  until  after  it  is  well  along  in  decay. 
Its  life,  stated  in  a  general  way,  is  from  5  to  10  years,  depending  upon 
circumstances,  some  of  which  have  already  been  noted.  A  general  aver- 
age of  the  average  life  of  white  oak  ties  reported  by  22  well-known  rail- 
roads of  the  northern  states,  located  both  east  and  west  of  the  Allegheny 
mountains,  is  8J  years.  The  figures  taken  into  account  in  this  average 
were  supposed  to  represent  the  life  of  ties  which  had  failed  by  natural 
-decay  and  not  by  rail  cutting.  In  the  southern  states  the  life  of  white 
oak  ties  seems  to  average  5  to  6  years.  The  weight  of  a  7x9-in.  sea- 
•soned  white  oak  tie  8  ft.  long,  sawed  on  four  sides,  is  about  185  Ibs. ;  of  a 
Ox8-in.  tie  of  the  same  length  and  sawed  in  the  same  manner,  about  140 
Ibs.;  of  a  white  oak  pole  tie  8  ft.  long,  6J  ins.  thick,  with  8-in.  faces, 
about  175  Ibs.  The  toughest  and  best  quality  of  white  oak,  when  green, 
takes  on  an  inky  blue  color  when  cut  across  the  grain.  The  other  kinds 
of  oak  are  not  so  good.  Rock  oak  comes  next  best.  It  is  hard,  but  not 
quite  as  tough  as  white  oak,  and  its  life  is  about  the  same.  Red  oak  is 
more  brittle  and  softer,  not  holding  a  spike  nearly  so  well  as  either 
white  or  rock  oak,  and  its  life  is  not  more  than  half  that  of  white  oak, 
sometimes  lasting  not  more  than  three  years.  It  makes  excellent  ma- 
terial for  shims  on  account  of  its  straight  grain  and  ease  of  being  split 
without  shattering.  It  is  subject  to  worm  eating.  Oak  ties  are  used 
throughout  the  Allegheny  mountains,  in  the  middle  Atlantic  states,  in 
the  lake  states,  and  in  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Valley  states.  In  1900 
it  was  estimated  by  good  authorities  that  the  different  varieties  of  oak 
tics  comprised  about  50  per  cent  of  all  ties  in  service  in  this  country; 
ten  years  earlier  the  estimate  was  60  per  cent. 

In  the  south  Atlantic  and  gulf  states  southern  yellow  pine  ties  are 
used  extensively,  and  late  years  large  numbers  of  them  have  been  shipped 
into  the  middle  Atlantic  and  New  England  states.  The  life  in  the 
South  is  4  to  6  years  and  in  the  North  8  to  12  years.  In  the  white 
sand  ballast  of  some  of  the  roads  in  Florida  these  ties  last  but  4  years 
and  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  but  1  to  2  years.  In  western  Texas, 
?\<'\v  Mexico  and  Arizona  a  mountain  pine  is  largely  used  for  ties,  but 
it  is  inferior  to  the  southern  yellow  pine,  lasting  only  4  or  5  years 
when  laid  in  the  natural  condition;  when  treated  with  zinc  chloride  such 
ties  last  8  to  12  years  or  longer,  as  witnessed  by  the  experience  of  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  (§  168,  Chap.  XI).  California  moun- 
tain pine  is  of  better  quality.  In  the  gulf  states  black  and  red  cypress 
are  used  to  a  considerable  extent.  It  is  a  soft  timber,  requiring  tie 
plates  for  best  results.  The  natural  life,  as  reported  by  some  roads,  is 
10  to  12  years. 


134  TRACK  MATERIALS 

The  most  durable  timber  for  ties,  so  far  as  resistance  to  decay  is 
concerned.,  is  cedar.  Both  red  and  white  cedar  are  the  varieties  avail- 
able, but  the  supply  of  the  latter  is  much  the  more  abundant.  It  is  a 
very  soft  timber  and  is  cut  into  by  the  rail  so  rapidly  that  it  is  some- 
times taken  out,  turned  over,  and  put  back  long  before  there  is  any  sign 
of  decay.  It  is  used  to  best  advantage  on  straight-line  track  under  light 
traffic.  Under  heavy  traffic  it  does,  well  on  tangents  if  tie  plates  are 
used,  the  life  of  cedar  ties,  when  so  protected,  being  15  to  20  years,  and 
even  longer.  In  fact  the  natural  life  of  cedar  ties  seems  not  to  be  widely 
known,  if  known  at  all,  because  in  nearly  every  case  where  such  ties  have 
failed  the  cause  has  been  either  rail  cutting  or  spike  killing.  On  the 
•Saginaw  division  of  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.  there  are  large  numbers 
of  cedar  ties  which  have  been  in  service  more  than  19  years,  and  the  ties 
are  still  in  sound  condition  and  expected  to  last  10  years  longer.  Tie 
plates  were  not  used  on  these  ties  until  after  they  had  been  in  service 
18  years.  On  the  Buffalo  division  of  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pitts- 
burg  Ry.  there  are  cedar  ties  in  the  track  which  have  seen  service  for 
17  ^years  and  are  in  condition  for  further  use.  There  is  on  record  the 
case  of  a  red  cedar  tie  which  did  service  in  the  track  of  the  Boston  & 
Providence  (now  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford)  R.  R.  from  1834 
to  1876  or  42  years.  Sound,  dead  cedar  gives  just  as  satisfactory  ser- 
vice as  live,  green  cedar,  which  is  a  fortunate  circumstance,  for  the 
bark  of  cedar  trees  is  thin  and  over  large  areas  of  cedar  forests  which 
have  been  swept  by  fires  the  trees  have  been  killed.  The  supply  of  cedar 
ties  in  this  country  is  obtained  largely  from  Canada  and  from  states 
along  the  Canadian  border,  such  as  Maine,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and 
Washington.  Cedar  is  light  in  weight  and  is  carried  farther  for  ties 
than  any  other  timber.  When  used  with  tie  plates  it  is  considered  to  be 
a  very  economical  tie  timber.  On  the  behavior  of  cedar  ties  under  traf- 
fic, and  the  use  of  tie  plates  with  the  same,  the  reader  is  referred  to  a 
comprehensive  article  entitled  "Cedar  Ties  in  Service,"  written  by  Mr. 
Moses  Burpee,  chief  engineer  of  the  Bangor  &  Aroostook  R.  R.,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Railway  Review  of  March  13,  1897.  Spikes  hold  best  in 
cedar  ties  when  driven  in  the  sap,  or  as  close  to  the  edges  of  the  tie  face 
as  good  practice  will  permit. 

The  average  life  of  chestnut  ties  is  about  7  to  9  years.  Chestnut 
timber  is  medium  in  hardness  and  holds  a  spike  quite  well.  It  is  found 
quite  abundantly  in  the  middle  Atlantic  and  New  England  states  and  is 
there  much  used  for  ties,  telegraph  poles,  and  fence  posts.  It  is  disposed 
to  check  badly  in  the  sun.  In  the  northern  states  east  of  the  Mississippi 
river  hemlock  is  used  to  a  considerable  extent  for  tie  timber.  It  is  soft, 
but  holds  a  spike  tolerably  well.  It  usually  rots  from  the  outside  in,  and 
it  will  hold  the  spike  quite  firmly,  sometimes,  when  so  rotten  on  the 
outside  as  to  be  of  no  further  use.  The  life  of  native  hemlock  ties  is  4 
or  5  years,  but  hemlock  ties  brought  from  Canada  and  used  in  New 
England  last  a  year  or  two  longer. 

In  California,  redwood  is  extensively  used  for  ties.  It  is  soft  but 
durable,  and  when  green  it  is  heavy.  Redwood  ties  are  usually  split 
out  of  large  timber.  On  the  Southern  California  Ry.  (Santa  Pe  Sys- 
tem) redwood  ties,  used  with  tie  plates,  have. been  found  in  good  condi- 
tion after  a  service  of  14  years.  Without  tie  plates  the  life  of  this  tim- 
ber is  measured  by  the  traffic  carried  rather  than  by  time.  There  are- 
records  of  redwood  ties  in  side-tacks  on  the  Southen  Pacific  road,  per- 
fectly sound  after  40  years  of  service.  Farther  up  the  coast,  in  Oregon 
and  Washington,  fir  and  white  cedar  are  used.  Fir,  if  first  allowed  to> 


TIE   PLATES  135 

season,  holds  a  spike  well,  and  lasts  6  to  8  years  in  gravel  ballast.  In 
Montana  ties  are  principally  tamarack  and  cedar.  In  the  Ohio  valley 
wild  cherry,  honey  locust  and  black  walnut  are  used  to  a  small  extent  for 
tie  timber,  and  each  lasts  about  8  years.  In  Canada  cedar,  oak,  tama- 
rack, hemlock  spruce  and  fir  are  the  tie  timbers  largely  used,  the  aver- 
age life  of  all  except  cedar  and  hemlock  being  about  8  years.  Tamarack  is  a 
variety  of  larch  (American  or  black  larch)  and  in  some  localities  is  called 
hackmatack.  Its  durability  is  quite  variable,  for  in  some  ^parts  of  Can- 
ada and  the  United  States  the  average  life  is  only  about  4  years.  On 
the  Duluth,  Missabe  &  Northern  Ry.  it  lasts  6  years.  In  Canada  the 
average  life  of  hemlock  ties  is  6  years. 

It  is  an  easy  matter,  'and  useful  as  well  as  interesting,  to  so  mark 
a  tie  when  it  is  put  into  the  track  that  at  any  time  its  length  of  ser- 
vice may  be  known.  This  can  be  done  by  simply  cutting  a  notch  in  the 
edge  of  the  tie  face,  in  a  certain  position  fixed  for  each  year  of  a  decade. 
Say  the  road  runs  north  and  south:  then  let  the  odd  numbered  years 
be  marked  on  the  north  edge  of  the  face  and  even  numbered  years  on 
the  south  edge.  Starting  at  the  east  end  of  the  tie,  let  successive  notches 
toward  the  west  end  thereof  indicate  years  increasing  upwards  to  ten. 
As  distinct  positions  for  the  notches  points  can  be  taken  outside  the 
rail,  just  inside  the  rail,  and  at  the  middle  of  the  tie,  making  positions 
for  five  notches  on  each  edge  of  the  tie  face.  With  ties  thus  marked 
the  foreman  is  able  to  take  note  of  the  ages  of  the  ties  removed  when 
making  his  report  on  renewals.  A  system  of  notching  something  sim- 
ilar to  that  above  described  has  been  used  on  the  Allegheny  Valley  Ry. 
On  some  roads,  including  the  Southern  Pacific  and  the  Lake  Shore  & 
Michigan  Southern,  the  ties  are  stamped  when  put  into  the  track  with  a 
cast  iron  hammer  having  a  raised  figure  on  the  striking  face  denoting 
the  year.  The  figure  is  quite  large  and  is  raised  about  -|  in.  The  usual 
practice  is  to  stamp  the  tie  in  the  end,  on  the  line  side,  and  sometimes 
also  on  the  top.  At  the  end  of  each  year  all  the  hammers  bearing  dies 
for  that  year  are  called  in  and  scrapped  and  new  ones  are  cast  for  the 
new  year  and  issued  to  the  section  foremen.  To  preserve  a  record  of  the 
life  of  treated  ties  the  Chicago  Tie  Preserving  Co.  uses  a  galvanized  iron 
nail  with  the  last  two  figures  of  the  year  of  treatment  stamped  on  the 
head.  The  nail  is  J  in.  in  diam.  and  2J  ins.  long  and  the  head  is  f  in. 
in  diam. 

11.  Tie  Plates. — Tie  plates,  or  "wear  plates,"  as  they  are  known 
in  Europe,  are  metal  bearing  pieces  placed  upon  the  ties  to  protect  them 
from  being  cut  by  the  rails.  Rails  cut  into  the  ties  by  crushing  down 
and  abrading  the  fiber.  The  crushing  action  is  due  to  direct  pressure 
or  impact  and  the  abrasion  takes  place  by  the  infinitesimal  creep  or  saw- 
ing action  of  the  rail  in  its.  wave  motion  under  the  traffic.  The  pres- 
ence of  grit  on  the  ties,  where  it  can  work  in  upon  the  rail  seat,  as  on 
grades  or  in  yards  where  sand  is  used  freely,  augments  the  rasping  or 
cutting  action  of  the  rail.  Some  students  of  the  question  ascribe  the 
principal  cause  to  the  abrasion,  while  others  go  so  far  as  to  claim  that 
it  is  the  sole  cause,  of  rail-cut  ties.  The  symptoms,  however,  clearly  in- 
dicate that  rail  pressure  has  considerable  effect  in  cutting  the  ties ; 
otherwise  a  thin  sheet  of  metal  would  suffice  for  their  protection.  The 
fact  that  tie  plates  £  in.  thick  buckle  in  service  disproves  any  assump- 
tion which  ignores  the  effect  of  rail  pressure.  It  is  further  to  be  noticed 
that  the  rail  cutting  of  ties  is  most  rapid  at  the  joints,  where  the  rail  is 
weakest  and  rail  pressure  the  most  intense.  The  point  is  sometimes 
raised  that  tie  plates  do  not  greatly  increase  the  surface  over  which  rail 


136  TRACK  MATERIALS 

pressure  is  distributed,  and  at  first  consideration  this  fact  would  seem 
to  nullify  the  importance  of  rail  pressure.  It  should  be  understood,  how- 
ever; that  the  ribs  or  under  projections  of  tie  plates  assist  materially  in 
the  support  of  the  plate.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  observaion  that  tie 
plates  placed  upon  the  ties  without  being  seated  resist  the  pressure  of  the 
traffic  for  some  time  before  they  become  fully  settled  into  the  timber. 

-  As  the  object  sought  in  the  use  of  tie  plates  is  to  make  the  ties  last 
during  the  natural  life  of  the  timber,  the  necessity  for  the  same  arises 
only  where  the  ties  would  fail  by  rail  cutting  or  spike  killing  sooner 
than  they  would  become  unserviceable  from  decay.  Generally  speaking, 
the  conditions  which  decide  this  matter  are  the  hardness  of  the  wood 
and  the  intensity  of  the  traffic.  Thus,  hardwood  ties  usually  fail  by  decay 
rather  than  from  wear,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  use  of  tie  plates  on  such  ties 
is  not  sanctioned  in  practice.  In  rare  instances,  where  the  traffic  is 
very  heavy,  as  in  busy  yards,  but  seldom  on  main  track,  the  use  of  tie 
plates  on  white  oak  ties  may  be  justifiable,  but  such  cases  are  the  excep- 
tion. Under  light  or  medium  traffic  softwood  ties  may  give  satisfactory 
service  without  tie  plates,  but  under  heavy  traffic  they  usually  need  pro- 
tection against  rail  wear,  especially  on  curves.  In  this  connection,  how- 
ever, it  should  be  said  that  a  great  deal  depends  upon  the  weight  of  rail 
used.  Increase  in  weight  of  rail  lessens  the  tendency  to  cut  the  ties,  in 
several  ways:  the  increased  hight  and  greater  stiffness  of  the  heavier 
rail  distributes  wheel  pressure  over  more  ties,  and  the  wider  base  covers 
more  tie  surface,  thereby  reducing  the  unit  pressure  in  two  ways ;  while 
the  decrease  in  wave  motion,  due  to  the  increased  stiffness,  lessens  the 
creeping  of  the  rail  and  its  rasping  action  on  the  wood  fiber.  Eeflection 
upon  this  fact  will  account  for  the  excessive  cutting  of  ties  in  some 
busy  yard  tracks.  The  rails  in  such  places  are  usually  of  light  section 
and  of  second  quality,  or  too  badly  worn  for  use  in  main  track.  Under 
these  conditions  the  rail  deflects  heavily  under  the  wheels,  bringing 
excessive  pressure  upon  the  narrow  bearing,  and  this  pressure  is  further 
augmented  by  the  hammering  action  of  the  wheels  on  the  roughened 
running  surface. 

The  natural  life  of  the  ties  is  also  an  important  consideration  in  tie- 
plate  economy,  for  it  is  clear  that  nothing  is  gained  in  applying  tie 
plates  to  timber  which  rots  out  as  soon,  or  nearly  as  soon,  as  it  would 
cut  out  under  the  traffic  without  them :  if  only  a  year  or  two  can  be 
added  to  the  life  of  the  tie  by  their  use  it  may  not  be  worth  the  while  to 
bother  with  them.  The  possibilities  in  the  use  of  tie  plates  are  greatest 
with  soft  timber  which  resists  decay  for  a  long  time,  such  as  cedar,  red- 
wood and  cypress.  Without  tie  plates  such  timber  may  not  hold  out  half 
its  natural  life.  Between  these  extreme  cases  there  is  opportunity  and 
occasion  for  study,  for  while  the  use  of  the,  tie  plate  may  add  something 
to  the  life  of  a  tie  which,  unprotected,  can  carry  the  traffic  imposed 
without  being  badly  cut  until  it  is  well  along  in  decay,  the  question  as 
to  whether  the  saving  so  made  will  pay  for  the  cost  of  the  plate  and  the 
labor  spent  upon  it  is  worth  looking  into.  It  is,  however,  a  question 
easily  determined,  for  if  there  be  any  doubt  concerning  the  advisability 
of  using  tie  plates,  in  any  case,  it  is  a  matter  of  but  slight  trouble  and 
expense  to  put  them  in  the  track  for  a  few  hundred  feet  and  give  them 
a  trial. 

The  strictest  sense  of  the  limitations  on  the  use  of  the  tie  plate, 
hitherto  remarked  upon,  is  intended  to  apply  only  to  straight-line  track, 
or  to  track  laid  with  white  oak  ties  or  other  ties  equally  as  hard.  For 
curved  track  laid  with  any  but  the  hardest  ties  some  exceptions  to,  or 


TIE   PLATES  137 

•qualifications  of,  these  statements  may  in  cases  be  necessary.  On  curved 
track,  especially  where  the  curvature  exceeds  3  or  4  cleg.,  tie  plates  can 
sometimes  be  used  to  advantage,  though  the  same  ties  on  tangents  would 
bear  up  well  without  them.  As  the  tie  plate  ties  the  outside  and  inside 
spikes  together  the  two  or  more  spikes  driven  through  the  plate  act  in 
combination  with  the  resistance  of  the  plate  against  the  spreading  of 
ihe  rail,  whereas  the  spike  driven  on  the  inside  of  the  rail  where  a  plate 
is  not  used  is  of  no  effect  in  holding  the  rail  against  spreading.  Tie 
plates,  then,  if  of  proper  design,  may  serve  as  rail  braces;  and  in  fact 
they  are  frequently  used  in  lieu  of  rail  braces.  The  tie  plate  can  also 
perform  important  service  by  preventing  the  inside  rail  of  curves  from 
canting.  Where  the  ties  on  the  curve  are  soft  or  where  hard  ties  have 
become  somewhat  decayed,  heavy,  slow  trains  will  sometimes  cant  the 
top  of  the  inside  rail  outward  (The  cause  for  this  action  is  fully  taken 
up  in  a  later  chapter).  While  there  is  just  the  same. tendency  to  cant 
where  the  tie  plate  is  used,  the  outside  edge  of  the  rail  flange  cannot 
<mt  into  the  tie  and  thus  tilt  into  a  position  in  which  the  tendency  for 
canting  is  increased.  So  far  as  curves  are  concerned  it  may  be  said  that, 
as  a  general  proposition,  wherever  trouble  is  had  from  spreading  or  cant- 
ing rails  the  use  of  the  tie  plate  is  to  be  recommended.  On  a  number  of 
roads  it  is  the  practice  to  use  tie  plates  on  curves,  regardless  of  the 
quality  of  the  ties,  but  not  on  tangents.  The  idea  is,  of  course,  to  main- 
tain the  gage  and  preserve  the  upright  position  of  the  rails.  On  other 
roads  the  use  of  tie  plates,  if  at  all,  is  restricted  to  curves  of  3  or  4  deg. 
and  over.  When  used  on  curves  it  is  customary  and  also  the  best  prac- 
tice to  plate  every  tie.  It  is  the  practice  of  a  large  number  of  roads  using 
tie  plates  on  tangents  to  place  them  on  joint  ties  only. 

The  early  idea  of  a  tie  plate  was  that  it  should  be  thick  and  heavy, 
and  it  was  usually  made  smooth  on  the  under  side.  Experience  has 
developed  changes  in  these  respects,  for  economy  of  material  compel? 
a  minimum  of  weight  consistent  with  strength,  and  one  of  the  most 
important  considerations  is  to  obtain  a  plate  which  will  unite  firmly  with 
the  tie ;  otherwise  it  will  pound  the  tie  and  wear  into  it  under  rail  vibra- 
tion and  afford  no  lateral  resistance  to  spreading  of  the  rails.  As  such 
a  requirement,  cannot  be  met  by  a  plate  with  a  smooth  under  side,  prac- 
tically all  tie  plates  are  now  made  with  under  projections,  in  the  shape 
of  claws  or  flanges,  which  enter  the  tie  and  hold  the  plate  fast.  The 
claw  type  of  under  projection  enters  the  wood  crosswise  the  grain  and 
the  flange  or  rib  type  enters  the  wood  longitudinally  with  the  grain.  In 
the  former  case  the  lateral  displacement  of  the  plate  is  resisted  by  an 
abutment  against  a  section  of  the  fibers,  while  in  the  latter  case  the  dis- 
placement is  resisted  by  the  friction  of  the  flanges  in  the  wood,  the  idea 
being  that  the  seating  of  the  plate  crowds  and  compresses  the  fibers  of 
the  wood  in  between  the  flanges,  thus  giving  the  plate  a  firm  hold  in 
the  tie.  One  advantage  with  the  longitudinal  flange  is  the  facility  of 
moving,  the  plate  for  an  adjustment  of  the  gage  of  the  rails,  since  by 
striking  the  plate  on  the  end  the  flanges  may  be  made  to  plow  their  way 
through  the  wood.  After  a  plate  having  claws  (or  other  under  projec- 
tions) cutting  crosswise  the  fiber  is  once  seated  it  is  not  an  easy  matter 
to  change  it  to  a  position  slighjtly  removed  and  seat  it  again  firmly. 

Respecting  the  wearing  surface  or  rail  seat  of  tie  plates,  various 
patterns  are  flat,  grooved,  corrugated  and  shouldered  or  provided  with 
lugs.  The  advantages  intended  for  the  grooved  top  are  economy  of  metal 
and  provision  for  the  escape  of  sand  and  dirt,  which  may  work  under  the 
Tail  and,  if  not  removed  in  some  wray,  lead  to  undue  wear  to  both  rail 


138 


TRACK  MATERIALS 


Fig.  26.— Servis  Tie  Plate. 


Fig.  27.— Goldie  Tie  Plate. 


and  plate.  On  the  latter  point  of  design  authorities  disagree,  for  there 
are  those  who  claim  that  a  groove  or  depression  in  the  face  of  the  plate 
serves  to  hold  the  grit  and  cause  it  to  accumulate  in  larger  quantity  after 
once  it  begins  to  collect  there,  whereas  the  undulation  of  the  rail  over 
a  flat-top  plate  will  blow  the  grit  away.  The  purpose  of  a  lug  or  shoulder 
on  the  top  of  the  plate  is  to  receive  the  lateral  thrust  of  the  rail  and  save 
the  neck  of  the  spike  from  direct  pressure  and  wear.  With  such  an 
arrangement  the  lateral  thrust  of  the  rail  is  opposed  by  the  resistance 
of  the  plate  in  the  wood  before  the  spikes  begin  to  act,  thus  relieving  the 
spikes  of  that  much  side  pressure.  There  is  also  the  further  advantage 
that  the  pressure  against  the  spike  is  received  at  a  point  nearer  its 
bearing  in  the  wood,  thus  acting  at  a  shorter  leverage  than  is 
the  case  where  it  is  received  above  the  plate;  in  other  words  a 
spike  can  hold  more  firmly  against  a  tie  plate  than  against  the 
flange  of  a  rail  placed  on  top  of  the  plate.  One  fault  found  with 
shouldered  tie  plates  is  that  they  do  not  permit  shimming  to  be  done 
crosswise  the  rails.  For  curved  track  the  largest  practice  seems  to  favor 
a  tie  plate  with  a  shoulder,  and  a  shoulder  extending  across  the  whole 
width  of  the  plate  has  the  preference,  as  it  stands  wear  better  than  a 
narrow  lug.  Shoulders  or  lugs  not  being  required  for  the  gage  side  of 
the  rail  are  provided  for  the  outside  only. 

One  of  the  oldest  and  best  known  of  modern  tie  plates  is  the  Servis 
pattern,  Fig.  26.  It  is  made  with  or  without  lugs  on  the  top,  and  the 
bottom  has  three  or  four  longitudinal  flanges,  according  to  the  width 
of  the  plate.  It  is  rolled  to  a  thickness  of  3/16  to  5/i«  in.,  and  in  widths 
varying  from  4J  to  6  ins.  Another  very  well-known  tie  plate  is  the 
Goldie  pattern,  Fig.  27.  It  has  a  shoulder  running  the  width  of  the 
plate  and  the  under  side  has  four  claws  set  on  the  end  edges,  1  in.  inward 
from  the  sides.  These  claws  are  1  in.  wide  and  £  in.  to  1J  ins.  long,  as 
ordered,  and  have  a  sharp  cutting  edge.  On  the  latest  pattern  the  claws 
have  a  Goldie  spike  point  (Fig.  22)  and  the  claws  are  rolled  to  stand 
in  under  the  body  of  the  plate,  thus  protecting  the  opened  fiber  from  the 
entrance  of  water.  It  is  rolled  of  steel,  4J  to  6  ins.  wide,  and  J  to  f  in. 
thick,  according  to  demand.  Another  design,  bearing  a  close  resemblance 
tc  the  Goldie  pattern,  is  the  Churchward,  or  better  known  as  the  "C.  A. 
C.,"  tie  plate.  Like  the  Goldie  plate,  it  has  a  shoulder  about  J  in.  high 


Fig.  28.— C.  A.  C.  Tie  Plate. 


Fig.  29.— Walhaupter  Tie   Plate. 


TIE   PLATES 

and  as  wide  as  the  plate,  and  on  the  under  side  (Fig.  28)  there  are  four 
chisel-edged  holding  lugs  or  claws  set  in  directly  underneath  the  rail 
.seat,  where  they  receive  the  bearing  of  the  traffic  direct  and  where  the 
liber  is  well  protected  from  the  entrance  of  water.  The  plate  is  steel, 
about  %  in.  thick,  and  is  rolled  either  flat  or  beveled,  as  desired,  the 
intention  of  the  latter  style  being  to  give  the  rail  an  inward  cant,  the 
purpose  of  which  is  explained  under  the  subject  of  "Rail  Design."  The 
Walhaupter  tie  plate  (Fig.  29)  is  of  rolled  steel,  with  four  longitudinal 
flange's  on  the  under  side  and  a  corrugated  top  surface,  the  grooves  of 
the  corrugations  coming  over  the  flanges.  The  side  flanges  -are-  set  in 
under  the  edges  of  the  plate  and  the  spaces  between  the  flanges  are 
arch-shaped,  so  as  to  compress  the  fibers  and  hold  firmly  to  the  tie.  The 
plate  is  made  either  with  or  without  lugs  to  take  the  thrust  of  the  rail.. 
The  metal  is  3/16  to  5/16  in.  thick.  Another  tie  plate  of  an  earlier  pattern 
is  the  Fox,  shown  in  Fig.  30.  It  is  a  flat  plate  with  segments  stamped 
down  to  form  longitudinal  flanges  and  provide  holes  for  the  spikes,  and 
the  top  has  a  lug  to  take  the  thrust  of  the  rail.  It  is  in  use,  but  not 
extensively. 

Among  tie  plates  of  more  recent  design  the  prominent  patterns  have- 
longitudinal  flanges  on  the  under  side,  and  in  all  essential  respects  they 
are  but  variations  of  older  forms,  the  chief  aim  being  to  distribute  a 


Fig.  30. — Various  Tie  Plates. 

minimum  of  material  to  effect  a  desired  strength  or  stiffness.  On  the- 
Glendon  "Flange"  tie  plate  (Fig.  30)  the  top  is  grooved  and  the  rail 
rests  on  bearing  surfaces  immediately  over  the  flanges,  the  intention 
being  to  apply  the  load  over  the  strongest  parts.  There  is  no  rail  bearing 
surface  extending  beyond  the  outer  flanges.  The  plate  is  made  in  sizes 
from  4J  to  6  ins.  wide  and  3/16  to  |  in.  thick.  The  Q.  &  W.  tie  plate 
(Fig.  30)  is  a  combination  design,  borrowing  the  side  flanges  of  the 
Servis  plate  and  the  corrugated  top  of  the  Walhaupter.  The  advantages 
sought  are  the  economy  of  metal  characteristic  of  the  latter  pattern  and 
the  adhesion  of  the  former.  The  Oliver  tie  plate  (Fig.  30)  has  short 
longitudinal  flanges  on  the  under  side,  a  flat  rail  seat  without  depres- 
sions, and  a  transverse  rib  or  shoulder  extending  across  the  whole  width 
of  the  plate,  to  serve  as  a  rail  brace  and  prevent  the  rail  from  "necking" 
the  spikes.  The  thickness  of  the  metal  is  5/16  in-  The  Diamond  tie  plate 
(Fig.  30)  has  a  plain  flat  top  without  depressions,  the  intention  of  the 
designer  being  to  avoid  the  collection  of  cinders  and  sand.  The  plate 
is  rolled  in  widths  of  4J,  5  and  6  ins.  and  in  thicknesses  varying  by  V16 
in.  from  3/lfi  to  f  in.,  the  3/16  and  J-in.  plates  being  the  ones  in  largest 
demand.  The  4J  and  5-in.  plates  for  intermediate  ties  have  four  flanges, 
as  shown,  the  outer  flanges  being  f  in.  deep  and  the  inner  ones  f  in.  in 


140  TRACK  MATERIALS 

depth.  As  with  the  Glendon  plate,  both  sides  of  the  flanges  have  the 
same  inclination  from  the  under  surface  of  the  plate,  the  intention  being 
to  equalize  the  pressure  of  the  wood  fiber  on  both  sides,  thus  avoiding 
any  tendency  to  distortion  of  the  flange  as  the  plate  is  driven  to  its 
embedment.  Plates  .5  and  6  ins.  wide,  for  joint  ties,  have  only  three 
flanges,  such  being  commonly  in  use  where  the  specified  punching  would 
interfere  with  the  inner  flanges  of  the  four-flanged  plates.  The  sides  of 
the  plate  have  small  hood  projections  extending  beyond  the  outer  flanges. 
The  upper  surface  of  this  projection  is  beveled  down,  to  prevent  bearing 
from  the  rail  outside  the  flange,  and  the  under  side  is  fluted  to  prevent 
water  from  reaching  the  opened  fibers. 

The  distinctive  features  of  the  Hart  tie  plate,  another  of  the  later 
designs,  are  a  cambered  top  and  a  corrugated  top  surface.  The  top  of 
the  plate  is  crowned  or  cambered  without  cambering  the  plate  as  a  whole, 
which  is  done  by  increasing  the  thickness  of  the  plate  at  the  center.  The 
corrugations  begin  near  the  median  line  of  the  plate  and  extend  obliquely 
across  the  top  surface,  growing  gradually  wider  and  deeper  as  they 
approach  the  outer  edges  of  the  plate.  The  purpose  of  this  feature  of 
design  is:  First,  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  sand  on  any  part  of 
the  plate's  surface;  second,  to  carry  off  water,  brine,  acid  or  other  drip- 
pings from  the  cars;  and  third,  to  add  strength  without  destroying  the 
fiber  or  grain  of  the  metal,  or  causing  crystallization  of  the  metal  in  the 
process  of  manufacture.  The  bearing  of  the  rail  comes  at  the  central 
portion  of  the  plate,  bringing  the  bearing  upon  the  center  of  the  tie, 
ivith  the  idea  of  avoiding  any  tendency  to  loosen  the  plate  in  the  tie,  or 
rock  the  tie  from  the  undulations  in  the  rail.  The  under  surface  of  the 
plate  is  provided  with  longitudinal  flanges,  similar  to  those  of  ordinary 
design. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  state  further  that  some  of  the  railroads  of 
France  are  using  a  tie  plate  made  of  tarred  felt,  costing  1.6  cents  and 
lasting  from  six  to  ten  years.  These,  however,  are  being  superseded  by 
tie  plates  made  of  creosoted  poplar  wood,  cut  from  the  gnarly  portion 
of  the  tree.  These  plates  are  about  the  thickness  of  a  shingle,  cost  about 
.3  cent  each  and  are  said  to  be  more  economical  than  either  iron  or  felt 
tie  plates.  The  claim  for  these  tie  plates  of  soft  material  is  that  they 
take  all  of  the  wear,  whereas  the  iron  tie  plate,  in  time,  wears  both  the 
rail  and  the  tie.  The  fact  that  tie  plates  of  such  material  are  serviceable 
might  seem  to  belittle  the  importance  of  rail  pressure  as  one  of  the 
causes  of  the  rails  cutting  the  ties,  but  it  must  be  considered  that  in 
France,  and  in  Europe  generally,  the  rails  are  heavier  and  the  wheel 
loads  much  lighter,  as  a  rule,  than  they  are  in  this  country. 

The  most  common  width  for  tie  plates  is  5  ins.  and  the  most  com- 
mon length  8  ins.,  5x8  ins.  and  6x8  ins.  being  the  sizes  most  frequently 
found.  A  length  of  9  ins.  is  not  uncommon,  and  greater  lengths  come 
to  notice  occasionally.  The  minimum  width  in  extensive  use  is  4|  in?. 
For  softwood  ties  the  plates  should  afford  generous  bearing  surface  and 
5x8-in.  and  6x9-in.  plates  are  none  too  large  for  rails  of  heavy  section, 
the  latter  size  being  preferred  except  where  the  face  of  the  tie  is  too 
narrow  to  afford  a  good  seating  for  the  plate.  Tn  any  case  the  plate 
should  be  somewhat  narrower  than  the  face  of  the  tie.  For  pole  ties 
an  assortment  of  plates  of  both  the  widths  stated  works  well.  The 
tendency  of  practice  is  to  reduce  the  length  of  tie  plates  to  such  dimen- 
sion that  there  will  be  only  -J  to  f  in.  of  metal  outside  the  spike  holes. 
The  experience  with  long  plates  is  that  they  buckle  and  do  not  stand  the 
service  as  well  as  shorter  ones. 


BALLAST  141 

Tie  plates  are  usually  punched  for  two  or  three  spikes,  but  for  use 
on  sharp  curves  they  are  sometimes  punched  for  four  spikes.  If  the 
margin  outside  the  spike  hole  is  wider  on  one  end  of  the  plate  than  on 
the  other  the  plate  (there  being,  of  course,  no  alternative  with  shouldered 
plates)  should  be  laid  to  bring  the  wider  margin  .outside  the  rail.  This 
arrangement  assists  the  plate  to  oppose  the  canting  tendency  of  the  rail. 
In  some  designs  the  plates  are  punched  that  way  purposely.  The  spike 
holes  should  be  punched  to  allow  for  a  close  fit  of  the  spike  to  the  rail 
flange.  To  provide  for  this  the  holes  are  usually  made  large  enough  for 
Y1G  in.  play.  In  order  to  bring  the  spikes  at  the  right  edges  of  the  tie 
on  both  rails  it  is  necessary  to  punch  two-hole  plates  as  rights~and  lefts. 
In  some  cases  plates  are  'punched  with  four  holes,  so  that  they  can  be 
used  on  either  side  of  the  track;  or  they  are  sometimes  punched  with 
three  holes  for  the  same  purpose — two  holes  on  one  end  of  the  plate 
and  one  hole  on  the  other  end,  in  the  center  of  the  plate.  The  latter 
arrangement  is  not  a  good  one,  for  ties,  especially  pole  ties,  should  not 
be  spiked  in  the  center  of  the  face.  For  joint  ties  the  plates  must"  be 
punched  with  reference  to  the  width  over  the  splice  bars  (supported 
joints)  or  to  correspond  to  the  slotting  of  the  bars  for  suspended  joints 
or  long  splices  extending  over  three  ties.  It  is  often  desirable  to  punch 
plates  with  two  sets  of  holes,  so  that  when  new  rails  of  different  base- 
width  are  laid  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  move  the  plates.  When  such  is 
done  the  margin  of  metal  outside  the  outer  spike  hole  should  be  such 
that  after  the  change  the  projection  of  the  plate  outside  the  rail  will  not 
be  less  than  that  on  the  gage  side.  Further  instructions  regarding  the 
punching  and  handling  of  plates  intended  for  rails  of  two  different 
sections  are  to  be  found-  in  connection  with  "Laying  Tie  Plates,"  §  106,. 
Chap.  VII. 

12.  Ballast. — Ballast  is  material  placed  upon  the  roadbed  for  the 
embedment  of  the  ties,  and  the  following  are  its  functions:  (1)  to  drain 
water  from  the  ties;  (2)  to  provide  a  firm  and  even  bearing  for  the  ties 
and  to  distribute  the  pressure  from  the  ties  over  the  roadbed:  (3)  to 
provide  against  heaving  by  frost;  (4)  to  supply  filling  material  between 
the  ties,  to  hold  them  in  place,  and  against  their  ends  to  hold  them  in 
line;  and  (5)  to  impede  the  growth  of  grass  and  weeds  in  and  near  the 
track.  Some  essential  properties  of  good  ballast  are  that  it  shall  not 
change  to  a  miry  consistence  when  wet,  and  it  should  not  disintegrate 
upon  exposure  to  the  elements.  A  desirable  property  of  the  filling 
material  is  that  it  may  be  readily  worked  in  renewing  ties  and  surfacing. 

Broken  Stone. — The  material  which  most  nearly  fulfills  all  the  re- 
quirements of  ballast  is  broken  or  crushed  stone,  commonly  called  "atone"' 
or  "rock"  ballast.  Some  of  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  its  use  are : 
It  distributes  the  pressure  better  than  any  other  kind  of  ballast,  the  pieces 
of  stone  acting  much  like  bricks  in  a  wall.  The  area  of  support  widens 
with  depth,  and  at  a  less  depth  than  with  any  other  ballast  the  pressure 
from  the  ties  is  distributed  uniformly  over  the  roadbed.  Being  the 
hardest  material  (considered  in  the  aggregate)  used  for  ballast,  it  secures 
the  track  best  against  settling.  It  does  not  hold  water,  and  if  the  road- 
bed is  properly  drained  it  does  not  heave  in  freezing  weather.  Clean 
stone  ballast  can  usually  be  handled  and  worked  in  winter,  or  in  wet 
weather,  and  it  is  not  wasted  by  rain  or  wind.  It  is  the  cleanest  material 
used  for  ballast,  and  when  carefully  dressed  presents  the  neatest  appear- 
ance; for  which  reasons  it  is  usually  preferred  to  other  kinds  of  ballast 
by  railway  companies  which  depend  largely  upon  summer  travel  for 
business.  As  long  as  it  is  kept  clear  of  dirt,  such  as  sand,  dust,  loam,. 


143  TRACK  MATERIALS 

-cinder  etc.,  it  will  not  grow  grass  or  weeds.  Where  such,  growth  does 
get  started,  however,  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  get  rid  of  it,  for  practically 
it  must  be  pulled  by  hand. 

While  broken  stone  answers  so  well  the  many  requirements  of  a 
good  ballast,  nevertheless  in  some  respects  it  compares  unfavorably  with 
some  other  kinds  of  ballast.  Its  first  cost  is  high  and  the  cost  of  putting 
it  under  the  track  or  of  handling  it  in  any  manner  with  the  shovel  is 
much  higher  than  the  cost  of  similar  work  in  gravel.  It  is  more  severe 
•on  ties  and  rails  than  gravel,  and  unless  the  track  is  kept  in  smooth 
surface  stone  ballast  is  hard  on  rolling  stock.  While  it  affords  good  drain- 
-age  the  sharp  corners  of  the  stones  cut  into  the  ties,  and  after  the  ties 
begin  to  decay  they  deteriorate  by  impact  more  rapidly  than  they  do  in 
gravel  ballast.  The  cost  of  tie  renewals,  surfacing,  and  all  repairs  where 
the  ballast  must  be  handled  over  is  high,  running  from  50  to  100  per  cent 
higher  than  the  cost  of  the  same  work  in  gravel  or  like  ballast.  At  a 
-convention  of  the  New  England  Eoadmasters'  Association,  in  1897,  it 
ivas  voted  as  the  sense  of  the  convention  that  the  average  cost  of  renewing 
ties  in  gravel  ballast  was  15  cents  each  and  in  rock  ballast  21  cents  each. 
In  a  low  lift  of  the  track  in  surfacing,  broken  stone  ballast  is  not  so 
easily  or  as  satisfactorily  tamped  as  is  gravel  or  other  ballast  of  finer 
aggregation.  Wherever  the  lift  in  stone  ballast  is  not  as  high  as  the  thick- 
ness of  the  stones  the  ties  cannot  be  properly  tamped  without  breaking 
up  the  old  bed,  whereas  in  ordinary  gravel  or  cinder  ballast  the  ties  may 
be  tamped  under  a  lift  as  small  as  J  in.  without  disturbing  the  hard  bot- 
iom  of  the  previous  embedment.  On  this  consideration  it  is  widely 
claimed  that  smoother  surface  can  be  maintained  with  gravel  and  some 
other  kinds  of  ballast  than  with  broken  stone.  Where  ballast  is  not 
tamped  to  a  uniform  solidity  the  tendency  for  the  rails  to  cut  into  the 
ties  is  much  increased  over  that  which  obtains  under  normal  conditions, 
and  such  is  an  objection  sometimes  raised  against  broken  stone  ballast. 
Referring  to  general  practice,  it  is  probably  true  that  on  stone-ballasted 
track  there  is  a  natural  inclination  to  let  minor  defects  in  surface  run 
longer  without  attention  than  is  the  case  on  gravel-ballasted  track.  It  is 
also  claimed  that  in  lining  track  in  stone  ballast  some  difficulty  is  experi- 
enced in  holding  the  rail  to  the  exact  spot,  especially  when  it  is  lightly 
thrown,  the  reason  being  that  the  stones  crushed  into  the  bottom  and  sides 
of  the  tie  will  roll  and  carry  the  track  some  distance  back  when  .the  first 
train  goes  over  it. 

The  stone  ballast  most  commonly  in  use  in  this  country  is  broken 
•or  crushed  to  a  size  which  will  pass  a  ring  of  2  ins.  inside  diameter.  There 
is,  however,  a  wide  diversity  in  the  sizes  known  to  practice.  One  class 
•of  maintenance  men,  who  think  that  the  size  stated  is  too  retentive  of 
fine  material,  causing  the  ballast  to  become  dirty  and  compact,  prefer  a 
size  as  large  as  2J  or  3  ins.,  and  there  are  a  few  who  use  it  as  large  as 
3J  ins.  On  the  other  hand  there  are  many  who  think  that  2-in.  stone 
is  too  coarse  for  even  tamping,  smooth  surfacing  and  easy  working,  and 
Tvith  them  the  1^-in.  and  1-in.  sizes  are  in  favor;  in  fact  a  good  deal  of 
-experimenting  is  being  done  with  stone  broken  to  a  f-in.  ring.  A  general 
principle  which  governs  to  some  extent  is  that  the  harder  and  toughor 
the  stone  the  smaller  it  may  be  broken,  as  such  material  is  not  so  easily 
crushed  and  reduced  in  size  by  working.  The  most  usual  size  with  European 
roads  is  that  broken  to  a  3J-in.  (8-centimeter)  ring,  but  1-J-in.  and  2-in. 
stone  is  frequently  used. 

Bock  ballast  broken  in  a  crusher  contains  more  dust  and  small  pieces 
ihan  that  broken  under  the  hammer,  and  the  proportion  of  fine  material  in- 


BALLAST  143 

•creases  with  decrease  in  the  size  to  which  the  ballast  is  hroken.  It  is 
customary,  therefore,  to  pass  crusher-broken  stone  over  a  screen  and 
take  out  the  dust  and  finer  particles.  In  some  cases  the  product  from  the 
crusher  is  run  over  a  series  of  screens,  one  or  more  to  take  out  the  fine 
material  and  another  to  separate  pieces  larger  than  the  specified  size. 
Thus,  at  a  certain  railroad  plant  the  stone  from  the  crusher  passes 
through  three  revolving  screens  formed  of  perforated  steel  plate,  the 
first  having  holes  J  in.  in  diam.,-  the  second  1  in.,  and  the  third  3J  ins., 
in  diam.  The  size  of  stone  used  for  ballast  is  that  which  will  pass 
through  the  3J-in.  holes  but  not  through  the  1-in.  holes.  As  a  matter 
-of  information  it  may  be  said  that  the  supervisors  who  are~using  this 
ballast  think  it  entirely  too  coarse,  being  of  the  opinion  that  ballast  of 
this  size  would  be  improved  by  omitting  the  1-in.  screen,  or  by  using 
-everything  which  passes  over  the  ^-in.  screen  and  through  the  3J-in. 
screen.  The  stone  broken  up  at  this  crusher  is  flint  and  limestone,  and 
is  screens  out  in  the  following  proportions :  70  per  cent  1-in.  to  3J-in.  ("No. 
4")  ballast;  17  per  cent  £-in.  to  1-in.  ("No.  2")  ballast;  and  13  per 
«ent  stone  dust,  dirt,  etc.  passed  through  the  J-in.  screen.  It  is  under- 
stood, of  course,  that  in  all  broken  stone  ballast  the  specified  size  refers 
-only  to  the  largest  pieces,  a  large  portion  of  the  material  in  all  cases 
being  smaller  than  that  size.  In  some  specifications  it  is  required  that 
the  largest  stones  shall  go  through  the  ring  "any  way  they  are  put,"  which 
means  that  the  specified  size  refers  to  the  largest  dimension.  Some  are 
opposed  to  screening  out  the  small  clean  particles  of  stone  more  closely 
than  is  necessary  in  removing  the  dust  and  sand-like  residue,  claiming 
that  ballast  may  be  too  open,  the  tendency  in  which  case  is  to  gradually 
-sink  into  the  roadbed  and  become  mixed  with  earth. 

To  meet  an  important  and  stated  requirement  of  ballast  broken 
stone  should  not  disintegrate  under  atmospheric  influences  or  crumble 
in  working.  The  most  suitable  rocks  for  the  purpose  are  trap,  granite 
-and  limestone.  Sandstone  is  used  occasionally,  but  the  ordinary  class  of 
material  does  not  make  good  ballast,  as  it  crushes  under  the  tamping 
pick  and  grinds  out  under  the  traffic,  the  tendency  being  to  wear  round. 
The  other  varieties  of  rock  named  break  off  angularly.  Sandstone  con- 
taining over  95  per  cent  of  silica  is  said  to  give  satisfactory  results.  The 
Norfolk  &  Western  Ey.  has  in  use  a  quality  of  sandstone  that  is  very  hard 
and  makes  first-class  ballast.  The  Seaboard  Air  Line  Ry.  is  using  a 
-quartz  ballast,  in  crystallized  form,  obtained  near  Statham,  Ga.  Among 
the  limestones  the  hard  bastard  varieties  are  preferred  to  that  wrhich  will 
burn  into  lime,  as  the  latter  goes  too  largely  into  screenings  at  the 
crusher  and  breaks  up  considerably  in  tamping.  Magnesian  limestone 
is  recommended. 

In  former  years  stone  ballast  was  largely  hand  broken3  with  napping 
hammer's,  sometimes  at  the  quarry  but  more  frequently  in  or  at  the  side 
•of  the  track,  the  unbroken  stone  being  unloaded  from  the  cars  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  to  supply  the  required  amount  of  ballast.  During  recent 
years  such  practice  has  largely  been  superseded  by  the  use  of  machine- 
crushed  stone  produced  in  a  plant  at  the  quarry  and  hauled  out  along  the 
road  in  ballast  cars,  like  gravel.  There  is  one  scheme,  however,  sometimes 
employed  in  ballasting  new  track,  whereby  a  portable  machine  with  power 
to  operate  it  and  move  it  slowly  forward,  crushes  the  ballast  and  drops 
it  upon  the  track.  The  unbroken  rock  is  first  distributed  along  the  track, 
-and  then  picked  up  and  thrown  into  the  crusher  as  it  moves  along. 

Crushing  Machinery. — Rock  Crushers  are  made  in  many  patterns, 
but  in  general  there  are  only  two  types — jaw  crushers  and  gyratory 


144  TRACK  MATERIALS 

crushers  .  In  the  jaw  crusher  the  rock  is  broken  hy  being  squeezed  or 
pinched  between  a  strong  casting  and  a  heavy  lever  or  jaw  hinged  at  the 
upper  end  and  reciprocated  at  the  lower  end  by  means  of  a  connection 
with  an  eccentric  on  the  shaft  of  a  fly  wheel.  The  gyratory  crusher  con- 
sists of  a  stationary  heavy  cast  shell  or  casing,  with  a  conical  aperture, 
within  which  i evolves  a  heavy  vertical  crushing  spindle  reversely  coned. 
At  its  top  end  this  spindle  turns  in  a  fixed  bearing,  but  at  its  bottom 
end  it  is  journaled  into  an  eccentric,  so  that,  aside  from  its  revolution  about 
its  own  axis,  it  is  given  a  gyratory  motion,  causing  it  to  advance  and 
recede,  or  wabble,  within  the  stationary  casing.  To  give  the  machine 
a  biting  action  on  the  rock  the  surface  of  either  the  revolving  cone  or 
the  interior  of  the  casing  is  fluted  or  corrugated.  The  rock  is  dumped 
in  at  the  top  and  is  gradually  broken  up  as  it  settles  down  between  the- 
casing  and  the  wabbling,  whirling  cone,  until  it  finally  passes  out  at  the 
bottom  into  a  chute.  A  ballast  crushing  plant  consists  of  an  installation 
of  one  or  more  crushers,  with  screens  for  assorting  the  sizes  and  means 
of  conveyance  for  loading  the  material  into  the  cars.  If  the  crusher  can 
be  located  some  distance  above,  and  near,  the  track,  as  at  a  quarry  opened 
up  in  the  face  of  a  hill,  the  discharge  of  ballast  into  the  cars  can  take 
place  by  gravity;  otherwise  the  material  usually  passes  from  the  crusher 
into  a  belt  conveyor  which  elevates  it  into  the  screens,  whence  it  slides 
into  the  cars  through  chutes.  One  arrangement  for  screening  is  to  have 
the  material  slide  over  a  perforated  incline,  but  preferably  through  a 
series  of  revolving  screens,  or  through  a  single  revolving  screen  with  suc- 
cessive sections  having  perforations  of  varying  size.  The  cars  which 
receive  the  various  sizes  of  stone  and  screenings  stand  upon  parallel 
tracks  under  the  discharge  chutes.  The  loading  tracks  should  preferably 
be  laid  to  a  grade,  so  that  the  cars  may  be  spotted  by  gravity. 

The  arrangement  of  one  of  the  typical  rock  crushing  plants  of  the 
Pennsylvania  E.  R.  includes  a  gyratory  crusher  having  a  capacity  of 
40  to  50  cu.  yds.  of  broken  granite  rock  per  hour,  with  an  auxiliary 
crusher  of  smaller  capacity.  The  rock  is  dumped  into  the  large  crusher, 
the  discharge  from  which  passes  to  a  belt  conveyor  and  is  elevated  into 
a  revolving  cylindrical  steel  plate  screen  12  ft.  long  and  4-J  ft.  in  diam. 
The  screen  is  set  at  an  incline  and  is  divided  into  three  sections,  the  first 
and  uppermost  being  closely  perforated  with  1-in.  holes,  the  second  with 
2-in.  holes  and  the  third  with  3-in.  holes.  Outside  the  first  section  there 
is  a  concentric  wire  screen  dust  jacket  of  J-in.  mesh,  which  permits  the- 
dust  and  stones  smaller  than  -J  in.  to  drop  through  into  a  subjacent  bin, 
but  carries  the  ballast  from  -|  in.  to  1  in.  in  size  and  drops  it  into 
another  bin.  The  second  section  of  the  screen  drops  stones  from  1  in.  to 
'2  ins.  in  size  into  a  third  bin;  and  the  third  section  drops  stones  from  2 
to  3  ins.  in  size  into  a  fourth  bin.  The  rejected  material  passes  into  an 
extension  of  the  screen  at  its  lower  end  perforated  with  slots  6  ins.  wide 
and  12  ins.  long,  through  which  it  drops  into  a  chute  running  to  the 
auxiliary  crusher,  where  it  is  reduced  to  proper  size  and  again  spouted  to 
the  conveyor  and  discharged  into  the  revolving  screen.  The  products 
which  drop  into  the  four  bins  are  of  the  following  proportions :  17  per 
cent  of  screenings,  from  dust  to  stones  of  -i  in.  size ;  8  per  cent  of  stones 
in  sizes  f rom'  -J  in.  to  1  in.,  commercially  known  as  f-in.  ballast:  33 
per  cent  of  stones  in  sizes  from  1  in.  to  2  ins.,  commercially  known  as 
H-in.  ballast;  42  per  cent  of  stones  in  sizes  of  2  to  3  ins.,  commercially 
known  as  24 -in.  ballast.  The  four  bins  discharge  through  chutes  into> 
cars  standing  upon  three  parallel  tracks,  the  cars  to  be  loaded  with  screen- 
ings and  f-in.  ballast,  respectively,  being  spotted  upon  the  same  track 


BALLAST 


145 


at  different  times.  The  grade  of  the  loading  tracks  is  1  per  cent.  This 
plant  is  operated  by  an  engine  of  150  h.  p.  and  the  cost  of  the  entire 
installation  was  $16,000.  The  labor  required  to  operate  the  plant  includes 
one  engineer,  one  fireman,  one  oiler  and  four  laborers,  the  wages  of  all 
^seven  men  amounting  to  $1.19^  per  hour.  The  renewal  of  the  principal 
wearing  parts-  of  both  crushers  costs  about  $500  for  each  400  working 
hours. 

The  means  for  conveying  stone  from  the  quarry  to  the  crusher  may 
-consist  of  dump  cars,  run  by  gravity  or  by  cable  or  pulled  by  horses,  or 
it  may  consist  of  an  aerial  cableway  or  other  power  driven -conveying 
machinery.  At  the  plant  of  the  Stewart  Contracting  Co.,  Columbia,  S.  C., 
ballast  contractors  for  the  Southern  By.,  the  quarry  is  in  a  deep  pit 


Fig.  30  A. — Ballast  Crushing  Plant,  North  Leroy,  N.  Y.,  Lehigh  Valley  R.  R. 

excavated  below  the  level  of  the  crusher.  Kock  is  fed  to  the  crushing 
plant  in  small  cars  hauled  up  an  incline,  and  also  by  means  of  an  "apron" 
suspended  from  a  trolley  running  upon  a  cableway  between  two  towers. 
At  the  tower  on  the  opposite  end  of  the  cable  from  the  crushing  plant 
there  is  a  hoisting  engine  which  raises  the  apron  out  of  the  quarry  after 
it  has  been  loaded  with  rock,  and  then  pulls  the  trolley  over  the  sus- 
pended cable  to  the  crusher  plant.  In  1901  this  material  (hard  granite), 
broken  to  2^  ins.,  was  costing  the  Southern  Ey.  60  cents  per  cu.  yd., 
on  board  the  cars.  At  North  LeEoy,  N.  Y.,  the  Duerr  Contracting  *Co. 
operates  a  stone  crushing  plant  to  supply  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.  with 
ballast.  The  stone  is  quarried  and  brought  to  the  crushers  in  tram  cars 
•on  two  tracks,  one  on  each  side  of  the  crushing  machinery,  so  that  the 
material  may  be  fed  from  both  sides.  As  this  is  one  of  the  largest  plants 
•of  its  kind  the  general  arrangement  is  interesting.  There  are  three 
crushing  machines  with  openings  2x6  ft.  in  each.  As  the  material  is 
dumped  from  the  cars  (on  the  trestle  shown  at  the  left  in  Fig.  30  A)  it 
falls  into  large  hopper  bins  from  which  it  is  fed  to  the  crushers.  From 


146  TRACK  MATERIALS 

the  crushers  the  broken  product  is  delivered  to  an  incline  elevator,  shown 
in  the  center  of  the  view,  which  conveys  it  to  a  hight  of  83  ft.  and 
delivers  it  to  a  heavy  revolving  screen.  The  product  from  this  first  screen 
is  delivered  to  two  other  screens  below,  the  tailings  being  returned  by  a  belt 
conveyor  to  one  of  the  crushers  for  recrushing.  The  product  passing 
from  the  second  screens  is  delivered  into  three  large  bins  holding  several 
car-loads.  Under  the"  bins  are  two  switching  tracks,  so  that  two  trains 
of  cars  can  be  loaded  at  the  same  time.  The  elevator  and  revolving 
screens  are  driven  by  a  rope  drive.  The  elevator  is  of  the  Common  Sense 
type,  with  buckets  4  ft.  long  by  2  ft.  wide.  The  plant  is  operated  by  a 
Corliss  engine  of  250  h.  p.,  and  the  capacity  is  440  tons  of  crushed  stone 
per  hour. 

Some  railways  operate  crushing  plants  of  their  own,  but  it  is  quite 
customary  to  purchase  broken  stone  ballast  of  contractors,  delivered  on 
the  cars.  An  inspector  is  sometimes  detailed  for  duty  at  the  crushing 
plant  to  see  that  decomposed  rock  from  the  top  of  the  quarry  is  not  put 
in  and  that  the  dirt  and  dust  are  properly  taken  out  by  the  screens.  In 
wet  weather  the  screening  must  usually  be  watched  more  closely  than 
during  dry  weather.  In  hauling  broken  stone  to  a  distance  it  shakes 
down  and  there  is  a  considerable  shrinkage  in  volume,  amounting  to  10 
per  cent  in  some  cases  for  a  haul  of  100  miles.  Owing  to  this  fact  it  is 
largely  the  custom  to  purchase  such  ballast  by  weight,  the  price  per 
ton  being  determined  in  relation  to  the  weight  of  a  cubic  yard  of  crushed 
stone  measured  in  a  box  freshly  filled.  In  a  report  to  the  international 
Railway  Congress,  in  1900,  Mr.  A.  Feldpauche,  principal  assistant  engi- 
neer of  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  &  Baltimore  R.  R.,  put  the  average 
weight  of  a  cubic  yard  of  2J-in.  crushed  granite  at  2450  Ibs.,  and  of 
crushed  trap  rock  of  the  same  size,  2624  Ibs. 

The  cost  of  broken  stone  ballast  delivered  on  the  track  varies  widely,, 
according  to  the  expense  for  quarrying,  crushing,  hauling  and  unloading. 
The  cost  of  putting  the  ballast  under  the  track  and  dressing  it  up  also 
varies  considerably,  according  to  the  lift  of  the  track,  the  size  of  the 
stone,  the  price  for  labor,  amount  of  room  available  for  unloading  ballast 
on  the  shoulder,  etc.  For  machine  crushed  stone  ballast  45  to  75  cents 
per  cubic  yard  on  board  cars,  60  cents  to  $1.00  per  cubic  yard  delivered 
on  cars,  75  cents  per  cubic  yard  unloaded  beside  the  track,  15  to  25  cents 
per  cubic  yard  for  labor  of  placing  under  the  track  and  tamping,  and 
75  cents  to  $1.25  per  cubic  yard,  in  place,  in  track  completely  ballasted, 
lined  and  dressed,  are  figures  which  Jiave  been  quoted,  but  not  by  the 
same  road  in  every  case.  During  the  year  1899  one  of  the  trunk-line 
railways  operating  in  Ohio  purchased  from  a  contractor  in  that  state 
large  but  limited  quantities  of  2-in.  crushed  limestone  ballast  for  28  cents 
per  cubic  yard,  o.  b.  c.,  and  in  1900  the  contract  price  between  the  same 
parties  was  33  cents.  These  extremely  low  prices  were  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  contractor  was  stripping  quarries  to  be  worked  mainly  for  build- 
ing stone,  and  the  material  disposed  of  for  ballast  would  otherwise  have 
been  wasted.  For  crushed  stone  ballast  in  place,  in  track  completely 
surfaced,  lined  and  dressed,  85  cents  to  $1.00  per  cubic  yard  seems  to  be 
the  average  total  cost  on  a  number  of  roads,  for  a  haul  not  exceeding  200 
miles.  In  1902  one  of  the  large  railway  systems  running  west  and 
northwest  from  Chicago  paid  45  cents  per  cu.  yd.  for  broken  stone  bal- 
last, o.  b.  c.  The  average  cost  of  putting  this  ballast  under  the  track, 
tamping,  lining,  filling  in  and  dressing  off  (the  track  was  generally  raised 
9  ins.  and  in  dressing  of?  but  little  ballast  was  placed  at  the  ends  of  the- 
ties)  was  37  cents  per  cu.  yd.,  train  service  10  cents  per  cu.  yd.  additional.. 


BALLAST  147 

The  screenings  from  crushed  rock  ballast  are  used  in  yard  and  side-  tracks 
and  as  paving  for  station  platforms,  highway  crossings  and  sidewalks. 

.For  stone  ballast  broken  by  hand,  10  to  45  cents  per  cubic  yard  (no 
cost  for  quarrying  in  the  former  case)  for  the  unbroken  rock  placed  on 
the  car;  25  to  35  cents  per  cubic  yard  for  breaking  with  hammers;  22 
to  40  cents  per  cubic  yard  for  putting  it  into  the  track,  surfacing,  lining 
and  dressing,  are  figures  obtained  from  official  records;  also  57  J  cents 
per  cubic  yard  for  rock  distributed  along  the  road  and  broken  to  2^  ins. 
in  the  track,  by  hand,  not  figuring  the  cost  of  quarrying  or  hauling;  67 
cents  per  cubic  yard  for  stone  unloaded  and  broken  upon  4he_ shoulder- 
to  a  3 -in.  ring,  counting  all  costs  except  hauling,  and  30  cents  per  cubic 
yard  additional  for  putting  it  under  the  track;  $1.15  to  $1.20  per  cubic 
yard  for  stone  broken  on  the  shoulder  and  then  put  into  the  track,  not 
counting  the  cost  of  hauling.  On  roads  where  there  are  rock  cuts,  the 
rock  being  of  suitable  quality  for  ballast,  it  is  usually  advantageous  to 
quarry  the  ballast  stone  in  such  places;  especially  if  it  is  broken  by  hand, 
as  the  section  men  can  be  employed  at  such  work  at  odd  spells  during 
the  winter,  and  the  ballast  is  convenient  for  loading.  The  widening  of 
the  cuts  is  also  another  consideration  of  importance,  particularly  where  a 
second  track  is  in  contemplation. 

Where  broken  stone  ballast  is  used  to  good  depth  it  is  sometimes  the 
practice  to  put  in  a  bottom  layer  of  coarsely  broken  rock — about  the  size 
of  cocoanuts,  say — for  a  depth  of  6  ins.  or  so.  For  soft  or  wet  ground, 
at  least,  the  use  of  such  stones  is  not  advisable,  for  the  mud  will  ooze  up 
through  the  open  spaces  between  the  large  stones  and  cause  the  track 
to  heave  in  winter.  In  fact  broken  stone  ballast  of  ordinary  size,  placed 
over  soft  spots  in  the  roadbed,  will  settle  and  gradually  become  filled  with 
loam  or  mud  which  rises  through  the  voids.  It  is  therefore  the  practice, 
to  some  extent,  to  underlay  the  ballast  in  such  places  with  a  stratum 
of  cinders  or,  fine  gravel  or  with  flat  stones,  if  they  can  be  procured. 

Slag. — In  regions  convenient  to  blast  furnaces  slag  is  cheaply  procura- 
ble and  is  much  used  for  ballast.  In  many  or  most  instances  the  furnace 
people  are  pleased  to  be  able  to  dispose  of  it  gratis,  in  order  to  get  it  out 
of  the  way.  Those  who  have  studied  the  character  of  the  material  closely 
prefer  the  hard,  glassy  or  vitrified  slag  that  is  clear  from,  or  contains  but 
little,  free  lime;  and  to  secure  a  uniform  product  it  is  coming  to  be  the 
practice  to  arrange  with  the  furnace  authorities  to  have  the  hot  material 
so  poured  that -it  will  spread  out  into  thin  layers.  In  this  way  it  is 
rendered  hard  and  brittle  and  easily  broken,  whereas  if  it  cools  in  thick 
layers  the  top  portion  will  be  vitreous,  but  the  interior  and  under  por- 
tions will  be  porous  and  difficult  to  break  up.  Sometimes  this  spongy 
material  becomes  pulverized  in  time  by  the  traffic  and  the  repeated  action 
of  the  track  tools,  and  in  cases  the  dust  will  cement  together  again  and 
form  a  hard  layer  under  the  ties  that  is  extremely  difficult  to  work.  The 
properties  of  slag  ballast  of  good  quality  are  very  similar  to,  or  practi- 
cally the  same  as,  those  of  broken  stone.  It  is  handled  in  the  same  manner 
as  broken  stone,  and  in  general  is  perhaps  somewhat  the  cheaper  material 
of  the  two.  It  is  sometimes  broken  into  large  lumps,  and  thus  rendered 
more  easily  broken  into  finer  sizes,  by  throwing  cold  water  upon  it  while 
it  is  cooling  from  the  molten  state.  It  softens,  however,  when  broken  in 
this  manner,  and  is  not  so  good,  so  it  is  claimed,  as  when  broken  in  a 
crusher  or  by  the  hammer.  At  the  furnaces  it  is  sometimes  broken  up 
by  blasting  and  loaded  by  steam  shovel.  Some  think  that  the  life  of  the- 
ties  is  somewhat  shortened  by  the  chemical  action  of  the  slag. 


148  TRACK  MATERIALS 

One  of  the  roads  of  the  country  which  makes  extensive  use  of  slag 
ballast  is  the  Southern  Ey.  The  minimum  depth  under  the  ties  is  about  <s 
ins./except  on  some  of  the  lines  where  traffic  is  light,  where  6  ins.  is  found 
to  be  sufficient.  In  wet  cuts  it  is  found  to  be  advantageous  to  place  a 
layer  of  cinders  on  the  roadbed  before  the  slag  is  distributed.  The  bal- 
last is  unloaded  from  double  hopper-bottom  cars,  the  bottom  doors  being 
opened  just  wide  enough  to  allow  the  slag  to  come  out  in  quantities 
required.  The  cars  are  hauled  slowly  over  the  track,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  train  there  is  a  plow  which  levels  the  material  off  even  with  top 
of  rail.  On  this  road  an  average  day's  work  in  surfacing  track  with  slag 
ballast,  placing  it  in  good  surface  and  line  and  dressing  off,  is  17  ft.  per 
man.  The  slag  is  loaded  with  steam  shovels  at  a  cost  of  5  to  5J  cents 
per  cubic  yard.  The  material  weighs  2700  Ibs.  per  cubic  yard  and  about 
24  cu.  yds.  are  loaded  upon  each  car.  In  order  to  handle  the  material 
with  steam  shovel,  it  is  necessary  to  blast  it.  The  material  is  found  to 
be  cheaper  than  broken  stone  but  is  not  considered  quite  so  good,  although 
it  can  be  worked  somewhat  more  rapidly.  It  pulverizes  under  the  tamp- 
ing pick  to  some  extent,  and  on  account  of  the  acid  contained  in  the 
material  the  life  of  the  ties  is  not  as  long  as  in  broken-stone  ballast. 

Gravel. — Gravel  is  found  in  large  deposits  widely  distributed  and 
is  the  universal  ballast  material.  All  things  considered,  gravel  of  good 
quality  is  probably  the  most  efficient  material  for  ballast.  As  compared 
with  broken  stone  it  is  inferior  in  but  few  respects,  while  in  some  ways 
it  is  superior.  Its  area  of  support  is  not  so  diverging  as  that  of  broken 
stone;  still  it  is  firm,  and  when  used  in  sufficient  depth  it  holds  track 
to  surface  satisfactorily.  Where  it  can  be  obtained  in  desirable  quanti- 
ties the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  handled  in  loading  and  in  working 
makes  it  the  cheapest  of  all  materials  for  ballast  which  are  of  unlimited 
supply.  It  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  largest  number  of  track  main- 
tenance officials,  including  those  having  experience  with  broken  stone, 
that  track  in  good  gravel  ballast  can  be  put  into  first-class  condition  and 
be  maintained  in  that  condition  at  less  cost  than  in  any  other  ballast. 
It  offers  good  drainage  for  water  and,  if  of  fair  quality,  is  not  heaved  by 
frost.  As  a  mass  it  is  more  elastic  than  broken  stone,  is  easier  on  ties 
and  rolling  stock'  and  is  not  so  noisy  under  train  operation.  It  is  easily 
handled  in  tie  renewals,  frequently  without  the  use  of  the  pick,  and  is 
easily  worked  in  tamping.  Weeds  and  grass  do  not  grow  readily  in  clean 
gravel  (free  from  loam),  and  such  vegetation  as  does  get  started  when 
the  gravel  becomes  dirty  is  more  easily  subdued  than  is  the  case  with 
such  growth  in  broken  stone  and  some  other  kinds  of  ballast. 

Fine  gravel,  or  that  which  will  all  drop  through  a  sieve  of  1-J-in.  mesh, 
is  ^considered  the  best,  although  a  few  prefer  a  coarser  size.  Gravel  much 
coarser  than  this  may  give  good  satisfaction  providing  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  sand  or  finer  gravel  is  mixed  with  it  to  fill  the  voids  or  interstices. 
The  proportion  of  sand  and  small  pebbles  contained  in  the  gravel  deter- 
mines very  largely  its  worth  for  ballast.  Thirty  to  45  per  cent  of  sand 
(preferably  coarse,  sharp  sand)  is  considered  about  the  right  proportion. 
Gravel  containing  more  than  50  per  cent  of  sand  is  considered  dusty 
and  inferior  in  holding  qualities  as  the  proportion  of  sand  grows  larger. 
Material  containing  as  much  as  75  or  80  per  cent  of  sand  would  proba- 
hly  be  classed  as  sand,  for  ballast  purposes.  The  qualities  of  gravel 
"ballast  in  relation  to  the  proportion  of  sand  might  be  expected  to  depend 
a  great  deal  upon  the  character  of  the  sand.  Gravel  containing  a  given 
percentage  of  coarse  sand  might  be  better  material  to  hold  track  than 
another  grade  containing  a  smaller  percentage  of  fine  sand.  The  distinc- 


BALI  AST  1-19 

tion  between  coarse  sand  and  fine  gravel,  in  this  connection,  might  be 
drawn  at  such  material  as  is  used  for  sand  in  ordinary  building  purposes,, 
like  masonry  work. 

A  considerable  quantity  of  soil  or  loam  mixed  with  gravel  helps  the 
growth  of  weeds  and  grass  and  makes  the  ballast  soft  when  it  gets  wet,. 
For  this  reason  the  soil  which  overlies  a  gravel  bank  should  be  stripped 
off  in  advance  of  the  loading  of  the  cars,  for  although  the  amount  of  soil 
mixed  with  the  gravel  may  be  comparatively  small,  yet  it  takes  but  a  little 
earthy  material  to  fertilize  the  gravel  sufficiently  to  enable  vegetation  to 
take  root.  The  stripping  of  gravel  pits  is  usually  done  with  teams  and 
scrapers.  In  case  it  is  desired  to  replace  the  soil  after  the  pit  has  been 
worked  out  the  soil  is  usually  scraped  into  long  heaps  at  a  distance  apart 
which  corresponds  to  the  width  of  a  cut  with  the  steam  shovel.  Eaph  time 
the  shovel  makes  a  cut  through  the  bank  the  soil  lying  along  the  brink  is 
thrown  down  and  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the  pit. 

Screened  gravel  ballast  is  being  tried  on  American  railways  to  some 
extent.  On  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West,  where  such  material  is  being- 
used  in  an  experimental  way  the  screening  is  done  in  a  machine  consist- 
ing essentially  of  an  elevator  and  a  revolving  screen,  which  deposits  the- 
sand  and  clean  ballast  in  separate  cars.  The  cost  is  intermediate  between 
that  of  broken  stone  and  gravel.  The  length  of  time  during  which 
screened  gravel  has  been  on  trial  has  been  too  short  to  ascertain  its 
value  decisively,  but  experience  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Ey.  -with  beacli 
gravel  washed  almost  free  from  sand  is  officially  reported  •  to  have  been, 
disappointing.  The  track  is  free  from  dust  and  vegetation,  but  the  bal- 
last does  not  seem  to  bond  well,  and  it  does  not  hold  the  track  in  line 
and  surface  as  well  as  does  ordinary  gravel.  "Washed"  gravel  is  a  term 
applied  to  material  washed  by  both  natural  and  artificial  means.  The  former 
is  usually  obtained  from  creek  or  river  beds  and  is  used  in  limited  quan- 
tities on  a  number  of  railways  in  this  country,  one  of  which  is  the  Kansas 
City,  Pittsburg  &  Gulf  E.  E.  (Kansas  City  Southern  system).  Several 
of  the  railways  of  France  wash  gravel  ballast  artificially,  to  remove  loam 
or  clay,  and  sometimes  to  remove  part  or  all  of  the  sand  where  no  earthy 
material  or  clay  is  contained.  A  typical  washing  machine  consists  essen- 
tially of  a  steel  cylinder  or  barrel  about  20  ft.  long  and  3  ft.  in  diam.,  per- 
forated with  holes  f  to  f  in.  diam.,  to  permit  the  egress  of  water,  mud 
and  other  fine  particles.  The  cylinder  is  inclined  to  the  horizontal  and 
within  it  there  is  a  revolving  shaft  armed  with  steel  blades  helically 
arranged.  The  supply  of  water  enters  through  passageways  attached  to 
the  revolving  shaft.  The  material  to  be  washed  enters  the  cylinder  at  the 
lower  end  and  is  driven  by  the  blades  toward  the  upper  end,  where  the 
clean  stones  fall  into  a  chute  which  conveys  them  to  the  ballast  cars.  The 
muddy  water  and  small  debris  drop  into  troughs  underneath  the  wash- 
ing cylinder  and  are  conveyed  away.  The  operation  is  quite  similar  to 
that  of  some  of  the  iron  ore  washing  plants  in  central  Pennsylvania.  In 
differently  constructed  plants  the  material  to  be  washed  is  run  over  a 
riddle  or  through  a  revolving  screen  with  a  copious  intermixture  of  water. 
If  it  is  desired  to  retain  a  portion  of  the  sand  or  small  gravel  a  screen 
is  used  which  has  a  smaller  number  of  openings,  so  that  it  cannot  pass 
the  finer  material  freely. 

One  of  the  most  undesirable  properties,  peculiar  to  gravel  in  some 
locations,  is  a  cementing  action  due  to  the  infiltration  of  calcareous  mate- 
rial or  iron  oxides.  Such  material  is  knowrn  among  railroad  men  as 
"cementing"  gravel,  and  is  usually  avoided,  even  at  the  expense  of  hauling 
freely  mixed  material  a  long  distance.  Cementing  gravel  is  as  difficult  to- 


150  TRACK  MATERIALS 

work  as  is  broken  stone  ballast,  and  sometimes  even  more  so,  the  'work 
•of  removing  it  from  the  track  reminding  one  very  much  of  picking  frost 
Gravels  containing  a  large  proportion  of  flat  or  angular-edged  stones, 
formed  principally  by  disintegration,  are  the  worst  to  contend  with,  for  in 
such  material  the  vibration  set  up  by  the  traffic  and  the  settling  action  of 
rains  causes  the  mass  to  become  compacted  by  the  overlapping  and  dove- 
tailing of  the  parts,  independently  of  any  chemical  action  due  to  infiltra- 
tion. Similar  results  are  also  promoted  by  the  presence  of  angular  sands. 
A  remedy  which  has  been  suggested  for  such  material,  in  cases  where  it 
forms  the  chief  available  ballast,  is  to  prevent  the  mechanical  process  by 
mixing  with  it  water- worn  or  loose  material  in  the  proportion  of  J  to  J 
of  the  entire  mass.  By  unloading  both  kinds  of  ballast  at  the  sides  of 
the  track  the  mixing  can  be  done  roughly  as  the  material  is  shoveled  into 
the  track,  without  extra  expense  for  handling.  A  desirable  way  of  util- 
izing cementing  gravel,  where  some  proportion  of  better  gravel  can  be 
obtained,  would  be  to  raise  the  track  and  tamp  it  to  surface  with  the 
inferior  material  and  then  level  the  ballast  down  even  with  the  bottoms 
of  the  ties  and  fill  in  the  track  and  dress  it  off  with  the  material  of  the 
better  class. 

The  cost  of  gravel  ballast  in  place  in  completed  track  varies  between 
wide  limits,  owing  to  the  diversity  of  conditions  attending  the  loading, 
hauling  and  unloading  of  the  material  arid  the  hight  to  which  the  track 
is  raised  when  ballasted.  Limits  of  cost  commonly  met  with  are  15  to  40 
cents  per  cubic  yard,  with  figures  between  20  and  30  cents  per  cubic  yard 
occurring  most  frequently.  In  one  instance  the  official  records  of  a 
season's  work  show  that  fine  gravel  ballast  was  placed  in  the  track  at  a 
total  cost  of  23  cents  per  cubic  yard,  including  the  loading  (by  hand), 
the  hauling  out  and  placing  under  the  track,  which  was  raised  an  aver- 
age of  6  ins. ;  tamping  was  done  with  shovels.  In  these  costs  10  to  15 
cents  per  cubic  yard  is  the  usual  proportion  of  expense  due  to  handling 
the  gravel  after  it  is  delivered  on  or  at  the  side  of  the  track,  which  in- 
cludes the  labor  of  placing  it  under  the  track,  shovel  tamping,  filling  in 
and  dressing  off. 

Combination  Ballast. — As  broken  stone  ballast  is  conceded  all  the 
desirable  properties  respecting  stability  and  drainage,  and  as  gravel  is 
usually  cheaper  in  first  cost  and  in  cost  of  working,  it  is  considered  good 
practice  to  combine  the  two,  using  broken  or  crushed  stone  for  a  foun- 
dation, with  gravel  above  it  for  tamping  immediately  under  the  ties  and 
for  the  filling  material.  One  method  that  can  be  followed  when  ballasting 
new  track  is  to  lift  the  track  about  6  ins.,  ballast  it  with  broken  stone 
and  then  wait  for  the  roadbed  to  settle.  The  track  may  then  be  raised  H 
or  2  ins.  and  ballasted  and  filled  in  with  gravel.  Where  this  method  is 
contemplated,  at  the  first  ballasting  the  track  need  not  be  filled  in  full 
or  dressed  oft' ;  in  case  it  should  be,  however,  the  ridges  between  the  ties 
should  be  leveled  down  at  the  second  ballasting.  A  perhaps  better  method 
for  new  roads  is  to  ballast  the  track  with  broken  stone  and  immediately 
level  the  material  even  with  the  bottoms  of  the  ties  and  fill  in  with  gravel. 
As  the  track  settles  out  of  surface  owing  to  roadbed  shrinkage  it  will 
be  raised  and  tamped  with  the  gravel,  and  in  time  will  have  the  desired 
depth  of  gravel  for  support.  Sometimes,  to  economize  in  cost,  the  reverse 
process  is  carried  out;  that  is,  gravel  or  cinders  is  used  at  first,  and  after 
the  roadbed  settles  and  becomes  compacted  the  track  is  raised  about  6  ins. 
and  rock  ballasted.  The  former  method  seems  the  better,  since,  for  ease 
of  working,  it  is  desirable  to  have  loose  material  for  filling. 

The  plan  of  using  broken  stone  or  equivalent  ballast  for  bearing  and 


BALLAST  151 

some  easier  working  material,  like  gravel  or  locomotive  cinders,  for  fill- 
ing between  the  ties  has  been  practiced  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  use 
of  broken  stone  above  the  bottoms  of  the  ties  in  preference  to  gravel  is 
of  no  advantage  except  as  it  prevents  dust  from  rising.  The  Chicago, 
Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ey.  has  used  cinder  filling  on  broken  stone  ballast 
quite  a  good  deal,  particularly  where  the  stone  has  been  of  an  inferior 
quality,  and  good  results  have  been  obtained.  At  one  time  the  Lehigh 
Valley  R,  R.  ballasted  main  second  track  at  various  places  and  the 
"Mountain  Cut-off  Line/7  near  Wilkes  Barre,  Pa.,  with  a  foundation  of 
broken  slag  topped  out  with  anthracite  engine  cinders  in  a  light  layer 
under  the  ties  and  for  filling  between  them.  Experience  showed  that 
the  cost  of  track  work  was  much  reduced  (compared  with  work  in  stone 
ballast)  and  the  results  were  generally  good.  On  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
.&  St.  Paul  Ey.  the  use  of  sandy  gravel  on  top  of  coarsely  broken  rock 
ballast  did  not  give  satisfaction.  The  broken-stone  ballast  had  been  in 
service  for  some  years  and  had  settled  to  a  firm  bed,  when  the  track  was 
raised  about  2  ins.,  the  stone  filling  between  the  ties  was  leveled  out  on 
the  shoulder,  and  the  track  was  then  carefully  surfaced  with  gravel  and 
filled  in  with  the  same  material.  After  a  little  time  the  section  men  be- 
gan to  complain  that  the  track  was  not  holding  well  to  surface,  and  after 
five  years  of  this  experience  it  was  concluded  that  the  combination  had 
not  worked  satisfactorily.  The  gravel  contained  more  than  the  usual  pro- 
portion of  sand  for  ballast  of  first  quality,  but  still  it  was  what  might  be 
considered  fairly  good  material  for  ballast.  The  broken  stone  was  slight- 
ly above  medium  size.  The  principal  difficulty  arose  from  the  working 
of  the  stone  up  through  the  gravel,  somewhat  as  clay  is  liable  to  do  in 
a  wet  cut.  It  seems  that  through  the  jarring  of  the  traffic  the  sandy 
part  of  the  gravel  settled  down  through  the  stone,  and  that  nowhere  be- 
tween the  surface  of  the  filling  material  and  the  •  original  roadbed  could 
a  line  be  drawn  between  the  gravel  and  the  stone.  The  two  kinds  of 
material  had  become  quite  generally  mixed  together.  On  the  Kansas 
City  line  of  this  road  burnt  clay  ballast  has  been  used  on  worn-out  stone 
ballast  with  splendid  results. 

Cinders. — Cinders  makes  splendid  ballast,  and  is  too  frequently  con- 
signed to  side-tracks  or  used  for  filling  up  hollows  and  old  excavations 
near  the  roundhouse  when  ballast  of  inferior,  material  is  used  in  main 
track.  Cinders  should  always  be  saved  for  ballast.  Under  the  subject 
of  "Ash  Pits"  (§  178,  Chap.  XL)  several  arrangements  are  considered 
for  cheaply  handling  and  loading  into  cars  the  cinders  dumped  at  round- 
houses. Even  when  loaded  by  hand  cinders  is  very  cheap  material  for 
ballast,  for  it  is  easily  handled  in  scoop  shovels.  By  good  rights  the 
cost  of  loading  cinders  and  laying  it  down  at  the  side  of  the  track  should 
not  be  chargeable  to  the  ballast  account  at  all,  for  it  is  a  waste  product, 
and  the  ash  dumps  at  the  terminals  must  be  loaded  into  cars  and  hauled 
off  at  more  or  less  frequent  intervals,  in  any  case,  in  order  to  get  them 
out  of  the  way.  On  such  considerations  cinders  is  a  very  economical  bal- 
last, so  far  as  it  goes,  furnishing,  in  fact,  the  cheapest  material  avail- 
able for  ballast  renewals;  and  in  a  convenient  manner,  for  the  loaded 
cars  may  be  shipped  daily  by  local  freight  trains  to  points  where  ballast 
is  needed  or  else  allowed  to  accumulate  for  a  few  days  at  a  time  to  be 
handled  in  the  work  train.  The  dumpings  from  locomotives  contain 
very  little  ash  proper,  since  the  ash,  for  the  most  part,  goes  out  through 
the  smoke  stack  with  the  exhaust,  leaving  behind  cinders,  clinkers  or 
slag,  burned  rock,  slate  etc.  Cinder  soon  slakes,  like  lime,  and  makes 
a  uniformly  compact  mass  well  adapted  for  ballast.  The  remarkable 


lo<5  TRACK  MATERIALS 

feature  about  coal  cinder  is  its  capacity  for  absorbing  water.  A  heavy- 
rain  can  be  taken  up  and  held  within  two  inches  of  the  top  surface  of  a. 
pile  of  cinders.  In  track  ballasted  with  cinders  comparatively  little  water 
reaches  as  far  as  the  bottom  of  the  tie,  but  is  held  near  the  surface  until 
evaporated;  and  evaporation  takes  place  quickly  when  the  material  is 
exposed  to  the  sun.  Except  when  the  rains  are  prolonged  this  ballast 
keeps  the  roadbed  in  better  condition  than  does  either  rock  or  gravel  bal- 
last. It  is  fine  material  to  handle  and  is  proof  against  weeds ;  it  keeps 
track  in  even  surface  and  does  not  heave  in  winter  more  than  a  slight 
bulging  on  the  top  surface.  -Like  broken  stone  its  area  of  support  diverg- 
es rapidly  with  depth,  and  for  use  on  wet  or  soft  roadbeds  it  is  the  best 
material  that  can  be  obtained. 

The  principal  objections  against  cinder  ballast  for  main  track  are 
the  dust,  in  dry  weather,  and  the  fact  that  it  wears  away  more  rapidly 
than  gravel  or  broken  rock.  It  is  also  generally  conceded  that  the  life 
of  ties  is  slightly  shorter  in  cinder  than  in  stone  or  gravel  ballast.  This 
fact  is  usually  attributed  to  the  action  of  the  sulphur  in  the  cinders, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  most  pronounced  during  the  occurrence  of  light 
rains.  Locomotive  engineers  complain  that  at  such  times  a  lubricant  is 
formed  on  the  rails  where  the  track  is  cinder  ballasted,  which  greatly 
impairs  the  adhesion  of  the  drivers,  but  whether  such  lubricant  is  due 
to  moistened  cinder  dust  on  the  rail  or  to  the  chemical  effect  on  the 
brightened  rail  top  of  gases  set  free  by  the  action  of  the  water  on  the 
cinders,  has  not  been  well  established.  At  any  rate  cinders  is  not  consid- 
ered good  ballast  material  for  heavy  grades.  Notwithstanding  these 
drawbacks,  however,  the  value  of  cinders  for  ballast  is  not  to  be  lightly 
considered. 

Sand  Ballast. — Sand  is  inferior  to  either  gravel  or  cinders,  for 
ballast,  but  is  much  used,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is  widely  distrib- 
uted, and  over  extended  districts  it  is  the  best  material  available.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  gravel  easily  grades  off  into  sand,  and  much  of  so-called 
gravel  ballast  is  sand  with  stones  or  pebbles  few  and  far  between,  so  that 
it  is  practically  sand  ballast.  It  is  retentive  of  water  to  some  extent  and, 
while  it  does  not  usually  become  plastic  when  wet,  it  is  heaved  by  freez- 
ing. It  cannot  be  worked  when  very  wet,  and^t  cannot  be  worked  to  best 
advantage  when  very  dry.  It  is  easily  handled,  and  while  weeds  will  grow 
in  sand  of  ordinary  quality  they  can  usually  be  kept  down  without  difficulty. 
Where  the  drainage  is  good  and  rains  are  infrequent  it  holds  track  to  sur- 
face quite  well.  In  southern  California,  Arizona  and  parts  of  Mexico,  where 
the  climate  is  generally  dry,  adobe  sand  is  much  used  for  ballast,  and  with 
fair  satisfaction. 

Sand  ballast  is  of  fugitive  character,  being,  like  old  cinder  ballast, 
considerably  wasted  in  dry  weather  by  winds  and  by  breezes  stirred  up 
by  fast  trains.  In  dry  deather  the  dust  from  fast  trains  running  over 
sand  ballast  is  a  "fright/7  It  is  injurious  to  rolling  stock,  causes  trouble 
from  hot  boxes  and  makes  uncomfortable  traveling,  which  passengers  will 
avoid,  if  they  can  do  so,  by  taking  another  route  the  next  trip.  In 
France,  Eussia  and  India  it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice,  where  fine 
sand  ballast  is  used,  to  cover  the  roadbed  and  track  filling  with  a  layer 
of  broken  stone  or  gravel,  to  keep  down  the  dust  and  prevent  the  sand 
from  blowing  away.  The  same  plan  is  followed  on  tbe  Mexican  Southern 
Ey.  When  repairs  require  the  removal  of  the  ballast  the  broken  stone 
is  first  raked  off  into  a  pile  and  kept  separate  from  the  sand.  In  France 
small  brick  tiles,  manufactured  for  the  purpose,  are  sometimes  used  in 
lieu  of  broken  stone  for  covering  up  sand  ballast. 


BALLAST  153 

As  a  measure  for  keeping  down  the  dust  on  some  of  the  sand-bal- 
lasted railways  of  the  South,  Bermuda  grass  is  permitted  to  grow  over 
the  track.  This  grass  does  not  generally  grow  higher  than  the  rails 
and  consequently  does  not  interfere  with  locomotive  traction.  It  grows 
in  the  form  of  a  mat  and  springs  up  rapidly  after  the  sod  has  been 
disturbed  in  the  renewal  of  ties.  Sand  which  is  entirely  free  from  loam 
will  not  support  this  grass.  The  Louisville  &  Nashville  E.  E.  has  had 
satisfactory  experience  with  it,  for  the  purpose  here  stated,  on  some  of  its 
sandy  divisions,  but  on  the  Pensacola  &  Atlantic  division  the  effort  to 
cultivate  the  grass  was  not  successful,  owing  to  the  infertility  of  the 
sand.  It  is  used  in  the  southern  states  all  the  way  f  ronT  the  Atlantic 
coast  to  points  in  Texas,  and  is  found  very  effectual  in  preventing  soft 
banks  from  washing.  As  elsewhere  stated,  it  is  set  out  in  squares  on 
embankments,  a*nd  eventually  covers  the  whole  ground  surface.  It  is  a 
jointed  grass,  the  joints  being  a  few  inches  apart,  and  as  it  creeps  along 
it  puts  down  new  roots  at  each  joint.  Under  favorable  conditions  the 
roots  penetrate  the  earth  3  to  5  ft.  and  form  a  compact  mass.  It  is  then 
next  to  impossible  to  eradicate  it.  A  blade  of  the  grass  dropped  on  the 
ground  will  take  root  and  grow.  When  it  gets  into  the  track  it  is  a 
waste  of  time  to  try  to  cut  it  out.  In  Florida,  where  it  grows  larger 
than  in  the  states  farther  north,  it  stands  4  to  6  ins.  high,  but  ordinarily 
the  blades  are  only  about  3  ins.  long,  and  it  does  not  interfere  materially 
with  track  work.  Except  during  long  periods  of  drouth  it  is  green  the 
year  round.  On  the  east  coast  of  Florida  it  is  called  "St.  Lucie"  grass, 
although  the  botanists  claim  there  is  a  slight  distinction. 

Dirt. — If  there  is  an}Tthing  that  will  depress  the  spirits  of  an  old 
trackman  who  has  been  accustomed  to  rock  or  gravel  ballast  it  is  a 
change  to  track  ballasted  with  dirt,  often  called  "mud"  ballast  (and 
very  appropriately,  too,  during  certain  seasons  of  the  year).  Still,  where 
it  must  be  done,  track  can  be  kept  up  in  dirt  ballast,  for  a  very  large 
mileage  of  track  in  this  country  is  dirt  ballasted.  Dirt  or  mud  ballast 
is  the  common  -earth,  of  almost  any  kind  at  hand,  usually  thrown  up 
from  within  reach  of  the  track.  It  can  often  be  improved  by  casting- 
aside  the  top  layer  of  the  ground,  or  the  soil  which  would  grow  weeds 
most  readily,  and  using  only  the  subsoil.  Earth  varies  so  much  that 
it  is  difficult  to  classify  the  varieties  of  dirt  ballast,  but  it  gets  better 
the  more  sand  it  contains.  Argillaceous  earth  bakes  hard  in  dry,  hot 
weather  and  at  such  times  it  is  difficult  to  work.  Generally  speaking, 
it  may  be  said  that  it  is  the  very  opposite  of  broken  stone  or  gravel, 
so  far  as  answering  the  requirements  of  a  good  ballast,  for  it  answers 
none  well.  It  settles  easily  under  load  and,  if  drainage  be  defective, 
becomes  literally  a  mud  puddle  in  wet  weather.  It  heaves  badly  during 
freezing  weather  and  usually  grows  grass  and  weeds  as  abundantly  as 
a  garden,  in  summer.  It  goes  without  saying  that  it  should  "not  be  used 
in  any  place  where  it  is  feasible  to  get  better  ballast.  On  some  roads 
carrying  light  traffic  there  may  be  circumstances  which  make  its  use 
expedient,  if  not  economical.  It  is  always  cheaply  procured  and  is 
easily  handled,  which  compensate  in  some  degree  for  the  labor  expense 
of  keeping  it  up.  Good  drainage  makes  dirt  ballast  a  possibility,  and 
good  judgment  and  experience  teach  methods  of  work  which  render  its 
use  practicable.  Happy  ought  to  be  the  foremen  who  have 'never  had 
occasion  to  know  anything  about  it ! 

Burnt  Clay. — In  the  Mississippi  Valley  a  "patent"  (but  not  pat- 
onted)  ballast  is  manufactured  extensively  by  depositing  gumbo  or  clay 
and  coal  slack  in  layers  and  burning  the  two  together.  The  product  is 


154  TRACK  MATERIALS 

a  dry  material  bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  broken  brick.  It  makes 
good  ballast,  can  be  handled  and  worked  as  easily  as  gravel,  and  costs 
less  than  broken  stone.  It  has  a  marked  affinity  for  water,  surpassing 
any  other  ballast  in  this  respect,  absorbing  ordinary  rainfall  and  keeping 
the  roadbed  dry.  When  well  burned  it  does  not  return  to  the  original 
condition  of  the  clay.  It  does  not  grow  weeds  readily,  being  similar  to 
cinders  in  this  respect. '  The  manner  of  its  preparation  is  something  like 
the  following:  A  side-track  is  laid  over  the  ground  where  the  material 
is  found  and,  parallel  to  this  track  at  a  convenient  distance  for  loading, 
old  ties  or  cord  wood  are  placed  in  a  long  pile  about  4  ft.  wide  and  3 
ft.  high.  Coal  slack  is  sprinkled  through  the  wood  and  the  pile  is  covered 
over  with  a  layer  of  clay  about  12  ins.  deep.  To  give  draft  while  burning 
the  first  layer  of  fuel  and  clay,  or  while  the  kiln  is  being  heated  up, 
an  open  space  is  sometimes  formed  underneath  the  fuel,  in  the  bed  of 
the  kiln,  by  throwing  up  two  ridges  of  earth  with  material  excavated 
from  a  shallow  trench  between  them,  and  the  wood  is  piled  crosswise 
these  ridges.  After  setting  fire  to  the  ends  and  at  intervals  the  heap 
is  closed  and  alternate  layers  of  coal  slack,  6  to  8  ins.  thick,  and  clay, 
12  ins.  thick,  are  added  as  the  heap  burns  down.  The  heap  keeps  sink- 
ing and  burning  away  and,  when  finally  burned,  the  pile  may  be  some- 
thing like  10  ft.  in  bight  and  20  ft.  wide. 

It  is  said  that  the  best  quality  of  ballast  is  produced  from  tough 
"gumbo"  or  "black  wax"  clay,  which  is  fatter  material  than  would  be 
used  in  burning  brick.  The  presence  of  sand,  which  is  desirable  in 
brick  clay,  is  detrimental  to  the  material  for  the  purposes  of  ballast. 
The  clay  should  be  burned  hard,  even  to  vitrification,  as  it  is  easily  broken 
up.  In  dry  weather  one  ton  of  slack  will  burn  from  4  to  5  cu.  yds.  of 
ballast.  The  cost  ranges  from  25  cents  per  cubic  yard  upward,  for  the 
finished  product  in  the  pile,  depending  upon  the  price  of  labor  and  fuel, 
the  depth  at  which  the  layer  of  suitable  material  is  found,  cost  of  laying 
side- track  to  the  pit,  the  amount  of  stripping  in  order  to  get  at  the  raw 
material,  the  draining  of  the  pits,  etc.  The  burning  of  clay  ballast  is 
frequently  undertaken  on  a  large  scale,  the  kiln  being  ^  to  1  mile  in 
length.  On  work  of  this  magnitude  the  clay  is  usually  excavated  and 
placed  upon  the  kiln  by  some  machine  of  the  steam  shovel  or  belt  con- 
veyor type,  running  on  a  track  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  kiln  from 
the  loading  track.  The  ballast  material  is  excavated  from  a  trench 
between  this  track  and  the  kiln,  the  trench  being  sometimes  dug  to  the 
depth  of  8  ft.  It  is  desirable  that  the  material  to  be  burned  should 
be  excavated  in  lumps  and  placed  upon  the  fire  without  being  much 
broken  up.  The  burned  clay  may  be  loaded  by  steam  shovel  or  by  hand, 
throwing  the  track  in  to  the  heap  as  it  becomes  shoveled  away.  It  is 
customary  to  let  the  forming  and  burning  of  the  kiln  out  to  experi- 
enced contractors,  who  furnish  the  machinery  and  the  labor,  while  the 
railway  company  supplies  the  land,  the  tracks  and  the  fuel,  the  last 
named  purposely  to  insure  that  a  sufficient  quantity  will  be  used  to  prop- 
erly burn  the  clay.  Contract  prices  for  handling  the  clay  and  burning 
the  kiln  have  been  made  as  low  as  19  cents  (and  perhaps  lower)  per  cubic 
vard  of  ballast,  the  railway  company  supplying  the  fuel.  The  usual 
prices  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Missouri  river  range  from  20  to  25  cents  per 
cu.  yd.  Coal  slack  or  refuse,  for  burning,  is  sometimes  bought  as  low 
as  25  cents  per  ton,  at  the  mine.  Almost  any  quality  of  coal  may  be 
used,  but  the  quality  of  the  ballast  is  said  to  improve  with  the  quality 
of  the  coal  used  in  burning;  it.  In  some  cases  a  small  percentage  of 
nut  coal,  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  mixed  coal,  has  been  mixed 


BALLAST  155 

with  the  slack.  In  wet  weather  a  little  run-of-mine  coal  is  sometimes 
used  to  bring  the  fire  up.  In  the  experience  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
.&  St.  Paul  Ky.  the  use  of  an  excess  quantity  of  coal  in  the  burning  of 
clay  ballast  is  detrimental  to  the  properties  of  the  material.  The  large 
proportion  of  ash  resulting  from  too  much  fuel  causes  the  ballast  to 
soften  when  it  becomes  wet. 

When  first  put  into  the  track  this  ballast  is  very  dusty,  owing  to 
the  ashes  intermixed,  but  after  a  good  rain  it  becomes  clean  and  remains 
in  that  condition.  The  material  is  light,  weighing  only  1500  to  1700 
Jbs.  per  cu.  yd.,  according  to  the  character  of  the  raw  material  and  the 
thoroughness  in. burning.  In  some  records  it  is  found  as  heavy  as  1800 
Jbs.  per  cu.  yd.,  and  as  a  rule  the  poorly  burned  ballast  is  heavier  than 
that  which  is  well  burned.  It  is  said  that  burned  clay  ballast  of  good 
•quality  does  not  wear  out  faster  than  gravel  or  stone,  although  in  time 
it  becomes  somewhat  finely  broken  up  and  settles  down.  So  long  as 
this  ballast  does  not  become  mixed  with  foreign  material  it  will  not 
grow  weeds,  but  dust  blown  upon  it  from  plowed  fields  will  in  time  so  con-< 
taminate  it  that  it  will  support  vegetation.  On  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton &  Quincy,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul,  the  Wabash  and  other  western  roads  it  is  in  extensive  service. 
The  first  that  was  used  in  this  country  was  burned  in  Iowa,  in  1880,  for 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ry. 

Mr.  W.  Shea,  roadmaster  on  the  Kansas  City  line  of  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  By.,  speaking  from  an  experience  of  12  years 
with  both  burnt  clay  and  broken  stone  ballast,  has  made  the  following  com- 
parison: "For 'ordinary  traffic  I  prefer  burnt  clay  ballast  to  rock  ballast, 
as  I  consider  that  track  can  be  maintained  in  better  condition  for  less 
money  with  the  -clay  ballast  than  with  the  rock,  and  the  life  of  the 
burnt  clay  ballast  seems  to  be  about  as  long  as  the  rock.  Weeds  can 
be  cleaned  out  of  the  burnt  clay  ballast  for  one-quarter  the  cost  that 
they  can  out  of  rock.  Ties  can  be  renewed  in  burnt  clay  ballast  for  forty 
per  cent  less  than  in  rock  ballast.  The  life  of  a  tie  in  burned  clay  ballast 
is  ten  per  cent  longer  than  in  rock.  I  account  for  this  on  the  ground 
that  the  clay  is  porous  and  dries  out  quicker,  so  that  it  draws  the  damp- 
ness out  of  the  tie,  not  waiting  for  the  common  elements  to  dry  the 
tie  out  after  being  wet.  We  dress  and  shoulder  our  track  in  burnt  clay 
ballast  the  same  as  in  good  gravel  ballast." 

Miscellaneous  Ballast. — The  foregoing  kinds  of  ballast  are  in  com- 
mon use,  and,  except  in  the  case  of  burnt  clay  (which,  however,  is  in 
use  over  a  large  extent  of  territory),  each  is  found  in  many  and  widely 
separated  parts  of  the  country.  Nevertheless  the  expense  of  transpor- 
tation is  so  large  a  factor  in  the  procurement  of  suitable  ballast  at  eco- 
nomical cost,  that  local  conditions  of  supply  assume  importance  as  the 
source  of  supply  of  a  desirable  ballast  becomes  farther  removed.  The 
result  is  a  considerable  list  of  miscellaneous  ballast  materials,  both 
natural  and  artificial,  used  in  practice,  each  being  identified  more  or 
less  distinctively  with  some  particular  locality.  Mention  will  be  made 
of  the  best  known  of  these  materials.  In  eastern  Pennsylvania  anthra- 
cite coal  dust  or  culm  from  the  breakers  is  used  to  some  extent  on 
several  roads  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mining  regions.  It  is  a  mobile  sub- 
stance, and  for  the  best  results  must  be  confined  at  the  sides  of  the 
roadbed.  It  is  particularly  serviceable  on  wet  roadbed,  as  it  is  not 
softened  by  water  and  does  not  heave  by  freezing.  So  long  as  it  remains 
unmixed  with  foreign  material  it  does  not  harden  or  become  compact 
and  make  a  firm  support,  but  it  settles  evenly  when  of  uniform  depth. 


156  TRACK  MATERIALS 

It  is  very  easily  worked — in  fact,  too  easily,  being  too  untenacious  for 
bar  tamping.  It  does  not  grow  vegetation. 

Decomposed  rock  is  used  for  ballast  on  several  roads  in  the  West 
and  South.  On  the  Southern  Pacific  and  Union  Pacific  roads  the 
material  of  this  description  is  decomposed  granite,  which  makes  pretty 
good  ballast;  in  fact,  that  used  on  the  Union  Pacific  E.  E.  is  first  class. 
This  material  is  from  Sherman  hill,  the  summit  of  the  road.  It  is 
a  disintegrated  mica  granite  and  the  aggregation  of  the  material  is- 
similar  to  that  of  a  fine  quality  of  gravel.  It  is  gritty,  does  not  grow 
weeds,  and  is  dustless.  It  is  used 'to  a  depth  of  9  ins.  under  the  ties. 
From  the  pits  near  Sherman  this  material  has  been  excavated  for  bal- 
lasting the  road  all  the  way  from  Council  Bluffs,  la.,  to  Green  Eiver, 
Wyo.,  a  distance  of  827  miles.  The  haul  from  Sherman  to  Council 
Bluffs  is  550  miles.  It  is  loaded  with  steam  shovels,  much  of  it  being 
excavated  without  blasting,  but,  generally  speaking,  more  economical 
results  are  obtained  by  the  use  of  some  powder.  Under  favorable  condi- 
tions this  material  has  been  excavated  and  loaded  for  about  6  cts. 
per  cu.  yd.,  which  included  all  the  expenses  in  the  pit.  Decomposed 
shale  is  used  on  some  roads,  to  small  extent,  but  is  not  as  good  as  decom- 
posed granite.  It  becomes  very  compact  and  firm  and  hard  to  work, 
when  dry,  but  churns  into  mud  during  long  spells  of  wet  weather. 

Another  material  used  to  small  extent  is  "chatts,"  or  the  tailings 
from  lead  and  zinc  mills.  It  is  the  residue  from  quartz  rock  after 
the  ore  has  been  separated  by  crushing,  and  is  in  grains  about  the  size 
of  kernels  of  wheat.  It  is  heavy  material,  easy  to  work  and  free  from 
dust. 

On  its  lines  in  Arizona  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  uses 
large  quantities  of  volcanic  cinder  for  ballast.  It  is  excavated  from 
pits  with  steam  shovels  and  in  character  bears  a  close  resemblance  to 
burnt  clay  ballast.  In  ballasting  track  it  is  first  tamped  with  shovels, 
surfacing  up  later  with  tamping  bars.  At  various  points  on  the  Kansas 
City  branch  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.  extensive  use 
is  being  made  of  burnt  shale,  or  mine  cinder,  for  ballast.  This  material 
in  its  original  condition  consists  of  shaly  rock  or  slate,  being  refuse 
from  soft  coal  mines,  and  is  piled  up  in  large  heaps  to  get  it  out  of 
the  way.  It  takes  fire  spontaneously,  and,  with  the  considerable  amount 
of  coal  unavoidably  mixed  with  it,  burns  down  to  a  material  possessing 
some  of  the  properties  of  burnt  clay  ballast,  but  is  unlike  it  in  several 
respects.  In  places  where  too  much  coal  has  become  intermixed  with 
the  shale  the  large  quantity  of  ash  has  a  deteriorating  effect  on  the  bal- 
last, causing  it  to  take  on  a  muddy  consistency  when  it  becomes  wet. 
This  material  is  giving  good  satisfaction  as  ballast. 

In  the  Chesapeake  bay  region  a  considerable  mileage  of  track  is 
ballasted  with  oyster  shells,  costing  about  2~L  cents  per  cu.  yd.  on  the 
cars.  The  material  is  dustless,  but  too  light  for  the  best  results,  and 
the  admixture  of  animal  matter  with  accumulated  dust  encourages  the 
growth  of  vegetation. 


CHAPTER  III. 


TRACK-LAYING. 

13. — Track-laying,  in  American  countries,  signifies  the  placing  of 
the  ties,  rails  and  fastenings  and  the  spiking  of  the  rails.  It  includes 
only  such  temporary  work  in  lining  and  surfacing  as  is  necessary  to 
enable  the  track  to  carry  the  construction  train  safely,  and  without 
permanently  bending  or  kinking  the  rails.  To  meet  this  requirement 
the  alignment  of  the  track  need  conform  only  approximately  to  that 
of  the  center  stakes;  quite  frequently  the  alignment  as  it  is  left  by 
the  spikers  is  sufficient  for  this  temporary  purpose.  As  to  the  surface 
requirements,  there  should  be  no  abrupt  humps  or  short  sags,  causing 
several  ties  in  succession  to  be  suspended  from  the  rails  without  support 
from  the  roadbed.  The  work  of  placing  track  in  smooth  surface  and 
alignment  is  a  part  of  the  operation  of  ballasting.  In  cases  where  the 
ballasting  is  to  be  delayed  for  some  time  after  the  operation  of  the  road 
is  begun  the  track  is  usually  surfaced  with  earth  to  temporarily  carry 
the  traffic. 

The  fact  that  the  necessities  of  construction  do  :not  require  completed 
work  in  line  and  surface  apparently  conveys  to  some  railroad  men  inexperi- 
enced with  track  maintenance  an  impression  that  the  workmanship  of  track- 
laying  is  necessarily  crude;  hence  it  has  become  quite  customary  to  sacrifice 
skillful  work  for  speed  in  construction.  In  typical  cases  of  railway 
building  it  has  seemed  that  both  the  officials  of  the  road  and  the  con- 
tractors have  regarded  track-laying  a  good  deal  as  a  large  class  of  farm- 
ers do  the  season  of  haying  and  harvesting — a  time  for  rushing  all 
work  through  at  utmost  speed,  by  an  outlay  of  human  strength  to  the 
utmost  limit  of  physical  endurance,  and  by  working  from  daylight  to 
dark  every  day  until  the  job  is  finished.  The  scheme  of  building  a 
railroad  is  often  decided  upon  suddenly,  and,  with  some  object  or  other 
in  view,  usually  to  accommodate  a  rush  of  settlers,  to  hasten  the  time 
of  earning  dividends  on  the  investment,  or  to  head  off  a  rival  project, 
the  circumstances  seem  to  require  the  greatest  possible  speed  in  con- 
struction. In  building  new  roads  it  has  frequently  happened  that 
engineers  have  been  so  crowded  for  time  that  they  have  been  unable 
to  give  proper  attention  to  location,  earthwork,  etc. ;  still  in  no  part 
of  the  work  of  railway  building  do  men  sometimes  get  so  wild  as  in 
track-laying.  Patience  is  lost  as  soon  as  the  wheels  of  the  construction 
train  begin  to  turn.  A  time  limit — or  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing, 
a  minimum  length  of  track  to  be  laid  per  day — with  a  contractor  seems 
to  justify  him  in  his  belief  that  almost  any  measures  or  methods  which 
can  operate  to  his  advantage  in  pushing  things  forward  will  be  over- 
looker! by  the  railway  company,  so  long  as  he  fulfills  the  all-important 
requirement  of  speed.  Consequently  the  really  most  important  matters 
connected  with  track-laying  are  too  often  left  to  the  men  the  least  inter- 
ested— the  laborers;  and  when  it  comes  to  pushing:  a  disinterested  party 
beyond  reason  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  he  will  very  much  care  how 
he  does  his  work.  Speed  in  construction  is  sometimes  a  subject  of 


158  TRACK-LAYING 

much  boasting.,  but  less  frequently  considered  in  its  bearing  upon  main- 
tenance work.  Unless  some  great  interest  or  issue  be  at  stake  any- 
thing gained  in  speed  by  laying  track  in  the  careless  manner  so  preva- 
lent in  the  past  is  soon  lost  many  times  over  in  the  poor  track  and  early 
repairs  which  must  stand  as  the  result  of  the  undue  haste.  In  order 
to  accomplish  the  best  results  in  track  maintenance,  from  the  start,, 
the  work  of  track-laying  must  be  done  carefully  and  in  a  substantial 
manner.  It  requires  the  exercise  of  good  judgment,  under  the  condi- 
tions at  hand,  and  no  part  of  the  work  should  be  left  uncompleted.  In 
ordinary  cases  the  question  of  speed  in  construction  should  be  deemed 
of  secondary  importance.  A  continual  cry  for  haste  invites  every  man 
concerned  to  slight  some  part  of  the  work.  Now  that  track-laying  is 
being  done  more  largely  by  the  railroad  companies  and  less  by  con- 
tractors than  formerly,  there  is  less  excuse  for  that  sort  of  thing. 

Center  Stakes. — For  the  purposes  of  track-laying  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  set  center  stakes  closer  than  100  ft.  apart  on  tangents  and  50  ft. 
apart  on  simple  curves.  The  practice  of  setting  center  stakes  50  ft. 
apart  on  tangents  is  useless  and  makes  unnecessary  expense.  In  order 
to  stand  firmly  center  stakes  should  be  of  good  size,  say  about  2x2x18 
ins.,  for  ordinary  ground  in  its  natural  state,  and  6  ins.  longer  for  made- 
ground,  such  as  embankments,  and  for  soft  roadbed.  The  stakes  should 
be  of  tough  wood,  like  oak  or  hard  pine,  and  sawed  stakes  are  the  most 
convenient  to  handle.  One  of  the  reasons  for  this  brief  reference  to 
the  subject  of  center  stakes  is  the  fact  that  small  stakes  of  soft  wood 
are  sometimes  used,  and  with  evidently  poor  satisfaction,  not  penetrating 
the  ground  far  enough  to  stand  firmly,  or  else  being  so  soft  that  tho 
stake  splits  and  breaks  up  in  driving.  In  order  that  the  stakes  may 
remain  for  service  when  the  track  is  being  ballasted  they  must  be  driven 
firmly  enough  to  withstand  slight  knocks,  such,  for  instance,  as  when 
stubbed  against  by  the,  toe  of  a  boot.  A  number  of  disturbing  causes 
may  be  avoided  by  driving  the  stake  to  a  good  depth,  so  that  it  stands 
not  more  than  3  or  4  ins.  out  of  the  ground. 

14.  Outfit  Train. — Where  there  is  much  track  to  lay  the  first 
thing  to  get  ready  is  the  outfit  train.  It  should  consist  essentially  of 
bunk  or  sleeping  cars,  kitchen  car  and  dining  cars,  for  the  men;  a 
tool  car,  a  supply  and  office  car,  a  locomotive,  car-load  of  fuel;  a  water 
tank  car,  if  needed ;  and  a  caboose  for  the  train  crew.  Where  the  grades 
are  not  steep  the  best  arrangement  is  to  put  the  dining,  kitchen,  bunk 
and  office  cars  to  the  front,  as  then  they  do  not  have  to  be  handled 
by  the  locomotive  in  running  back  after  material;  it  also  gives  the 
cooks  better  opportunity  to  do  their  work,  and  the  dining  cars  are  always 
on  hand  at  meal  time.  The  office  and  bunk  cars  should  be  ahead,  fol- 
lowed by  the  dining  car,  with  the  kitchen  car  coupled  in  next  behind. 
If  there  are  two  dining  cars  the  kitchen  car  should  be  between  them. 
Next  behind  may  come  the  tool  car,  which  is  usually  a  flat  car  with 
large  boxes,  but  sometimes  a  box  car.  On  this  car  may  also  be  placed 
some  water  barrels,  fuel,  etc.,  for  the  cooks.  There  should  be  end  doors 
in  all  the  cars,  so  that  one  may  walk  through  the  train  from  end  to  end. 
Next  behind  come  the  cars  loaded  with  rails,  then  the  car  carrying 
spikes,  bolts  and  splices,  and  after  that  the  cars  loaded  with  ties.  Behind 
the  ties  should  be  put  the  fuel  car,  if  carried,  and  behind  this  the  loco- 
motive, turned  backwards  to  the  direction  in  which  the  work  is  pro- 
gressing. It  should  be  provided  with  sand  pipes  which  can  be  used 
when  running  in  either  direction.  In  any  case  the  fuel  should  be  next 
the  tender,  and  the  water  car  next  to  it,  if  used,  and  provided  with  a 


MATERIAL  YARD  AND  SIDE-TRACKS  159 

piece  of  hose  long  enough  to  reach  the  tender  around  the  fuel  car. 
Where  streams  are  plentiful  along  the  route  the  water  car  may  be  dis- 
pensed with  by  providing  a  steam  siphon  for  the  locomotive.  The  loco- 
motive should  be  the  heaviest  one  available,  especially  if  track  is  to  be  laid 
on  mountain  grades.  On  work  of  considerable  magnitude  it  usually 
pays  to  have  a  blacksmith,  with  a  car  carrying  a  portable  set  of  tools, 
accompany  the  outfit  train,  and  if  the  contractors  do  a  mercantile  busi- 
ness with  their  employees  there  are  store  cars  also,  carrying  supplies 
of  workmen's  clothing,  provisions,  tobacco,  etc. 

In  laying  track  up  heavy  grades  or  through  a  broken  country  where 
the  construction  of  bridges  interferes  with  the  track-laying,  it  is  imprac- 
ticable to  keep  the  outfit  cars  at  the  front.  In  such  cases  they  are 
side-tracked  a  few  days  at  a  time  at  convenient  points  as  the  work 
progresses.  This  is  easily  and  quickly  done  by  disconnecting  the  track 
and  throwing  it  over  to  a  temporarily  built  piece  of  track  or  spur  and 
afterward  throwing  it  back  to  main  line,  thereby  leaving  the  cars  stand- 
ing on  the  isolated  piece  of  track.  When  it  becomes  necessary  to  move 
the  outfit  ahead  again  the  main  track  is  disconnected  and  thrown  over 
as  before,  the  cars  hauled  off,  track  thrown  back  to  place,  and  the  tem- 
porary piece  taken  up,  all  in  a  Very  short  time.  On  level  track  or  easy 
grades  an  ordinary  locomotive  can  handle  the  outfit  cars  besides  the 
material  for  a  mile  of  track,  in  one  load.  Material  for  a  mile  of  track 
includes  about  eight  ordinary  car-loads  of  ties,  five  car-loads  of  rails 
and  a  car-load  of  fastenings.  Where  possible,  a  whole  day's  supply  of 
material  should  be  carried  in  one  train  load,  except  perhaps  when  close 
to  the  base  of  supplies. 

On  roads  where  the  track-laying  lasts  but  a  season  or  two  the  outfit 
cars  usually  consist  of  box  cars  temporarily  converted  for  the  various 
uses,  but  for  longer  service  or  for  the  service  of  contractors  it  is  usual 
to  make  use  of  specially  built  double-deck  cars.  An  ordinary  arrange- 
ment is  to  have  cars  with  a  dining  room  on  first  floor  and  sleeping 
quarters  overhead.  The  office  and  supply  car,  or  store  car,  usually  has 
a  sleeping  apartment  on  second  floor.  Such  specially  built  cars  usually 
have  a  cellar  or  box  suspended  underneath  for  carrying  the  tools.  The 
water  car  is  sometimes  an  ordinary  oil-tank  car  and  sometimes  it  is 
a  flat  car  having  a  wooden  tank  over  each  truck,  with  a  pipe  connec- 
tion between  the  tanks.  A  more  detailed  description  of  the  construc- 
tion and  arrangement  of  boarding  cars  is  given  in  §  143,  Chap.  X. 
The  health  of  the  crew  requires  that  attention  be  paid  to  cleanliness 
around  the  kitchen  and  dining  cars,  and  for  both  health  and  comfort 
the  sleeping  cars  should  be  thoroughly  renovated  occasionally.  A  sleep- 
ing car  is  easily  and  effectively  cleared  of  bedbugs  and  like  inhabitants 
by  putting  it  on  a  side-track  and,  after  closing  it  tightly,  turning  live 
steam  into  it  by  hose  from  the  locomotive  until  the  pressure  is  as  great 
as  the  body  of  the  car  can  stand.  After  this  the  old  bunk  straw  should 
be  thrown  out  and  the  car  thoroughly  scrubbed. 

15.  Material  Yard  and  Side-Tracks. — In  starting  out  to  lay 
track  for  any  considerable  distance  it  is  necessary,  in  order  to  keep  the 
work  going  continuously,  to  lay  in  a  good-sized  stock  of  material  at 
some  point  conveniently  situated  for  forwarding  to  the  front.  .  To  pro- 
vide room  for  the  accumulation  of  this  material  and  facilities  for  expe- 
ditiously  handling  the  same  there  should  be  a  systematically  arranged 
yard,  even  if  such  must  be  built  for  only  temporary  use.  All  the  material 
for  the  front  is  then  shipped  through  this  yard.  Of  course,  after  track- 
laying  has  begun,  shipments  of  material  received  are  forwarded  direct 


160  TRACK-LAYING 

to  the  front,  as  far  as  it  is  practicable  to  do  so,  without  unloading  or 
transferring  at  the  yard;  but  such  transferring  as  must  be  done,  as, 
for  instance,  the  changing  of.  rails  from  box  to  flat  cars,  is  done  in  the 
material  yard.  The  material  yard  is  then  the  storehouse  where  the 
reserve  stock  is  kept  on  hand  and  the  point  where  the  supply  of  material 
for  the  front  is  regulated.  In  building  a  long  line  the  material  yard 
must  be  moved  forward,  from  time  to  time,  being  usually  kept  within 
a  day's  run  of  the  front.  In  building  long  lines  the  laying  out  of 
the  material  yard  in  such  a  manner  that  the  material  can  be  unloaded 
properly  and  reloaded  quickly  and  cheaply  is  a  very  important  matter. 
The  delaying  of  the  track-laying  force  for  an  hour  now  and  then  costs 
a  good  deal  in  the  end.  For  information  on  material  yards  in  further 
detail  the  reader  is  referred  to  §  3,  Supplementary  Notes,  by  Mr.  John 
Smith,  a  railroad  contractor  of  long  experience. 

In  order  to  keep  supplies  of  material  within  convenient  distance 
of  the  construction  train  it  is  usual  to  lay  side-tracks  from  time  to 
time  as  the  work  advances.  On  new  lines  in  the  West  these  side-tracks 
are  usually  put  in  about  10  miles  apart,  seldom  farther,  and  sometimes 
as  close  as  six  or  eight  miles,  the  aim  frequently  being  to  select  such 
points  as  seem  likely  to  become  future  stations  or  town  sites.  The  ordi- 
nary length  of  such  side-tracks  is  about  ^  mile,  and  in  event  the  supply 
of  material  is  short,  or  if  there  is  no  prospect  that  the  side-track  will 
remain  permanently,  it  is  usually  only  half  tied,  half  bolted,  etc.  At 
such  sidings  the  construction  train  exchanges  its  empty  cars  for  loaded 
ones  brought  thither  from  the  material  yard  by  the  "swing  train,"  as 
it  is  commonly  known.  According  to  the  usual  custom  in  track-laying 
on  long  lines  the  swing  train  brings  the  material  up  to  the  farthest 
side-track  in  trains  made  up  in  proper  order  for  the  front,  so  that 
the  train  which  handles  the  material  at  the  end  of  the  track  need  not 
run  farther  back  than  the  first  side-track  in  the  rear,  and  no  switching 
of  the  cars  is  necessary.  Such  sidings  as  are  to  remain  permanently, 
for  passing  tracks  or  other  purposes,  should  be  built  double  ended,  or 
with  a  switch  at  both  ends,  as  then  if  the  engine  of  the  construction 
train  is  able  to  push  a  whole  day's  supply  to  the  front  it  can  leave  its 
empties  on  main  track,  run  in  at  the  rear  of  the  siding  and  push  the 
loaded  cars  straight  ahead  to  the  front;  while  the  engine  of  the  swing 
train  as  it  approaches  the  siding  may  first  push  the  empties  beyond 
the  siding  and  then  enter  it  with  the  loaded  cars,  cut  loose,  run  out  on  to 
main  track  and  return  with  the  empties — all  without  switching  the 
trains.  It  is  usually  the  case,  however,  that  the  front  end  of  the  side- 
track is  occupied  by  the  boarding  train,  cars  loaded  with  bridge  timbers, 
etc.  In  such  event  the  engine  of  the  "swing""  train  is  usually  run 
around  to  the  rear  of  the  train  at  the  next  to  the  last  side-track,  pushing 
the  train  from  that  point  to  the  last  side-track. 

The  proper  time  to  lay  side-tracks  is  as  soon  as  the  desired  points 
are  reached,  and  not  to  first  go  by  them  two  or  three  miles.  If  the 
boarding  outfit  is  kept  in  the  side-tracks,  the  sooner  each  side-track  is 
built  the  sooner  can  the  boarding  train  be  moved  up  so  as  to  get  the 
benefit  of  the  short  run  from  camp  to  the  end  of  the  track,  in  taking 
the  men  to  and  from  the  work.  It  is  the  usual,  in  fact  nearly  the  uni- 
versal, custom  to  take  out  a  half  day's  supply  of  material  to  the  end 
of  the  track  in  the  morning  and  return  for  dinner,  and  then  take  back 
the  material  for  the  afternoon's  work.  If  the  speed  of  track-laying  is 
only  a  mile  or  1J  miles  per  day  the  supply  or  swing  train  can,  if  the 
grades  are  not  steep,  take  out  the  whole  day's  supply  in  a  single  trip. 


ORGANIZATION    OF    FORCES  161 

As  in  most  parts  of  the  West  it  is  necessary  to  take  out  water  cars  to  supply 
the  locomotive  of  the  construction  train  and  the  boarding  camp,  it  is 
seldom  that  material  for  more  than  the  length  of  track  named  is  hauled 
in  a  single  trip,  and  usually  the  side-tracks  will  not  hold  much  more, 
with  the  boarding  train,  bridge  material  cars,  etc.  When  track  is 
laid  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  per  day  or  faster  it  is  usually  necessary 
for  the  supply  train  to  make  two  trips  between  the  material  yard  and 
the  farthest  side-track,  bringing  a  half  day's  supply  at  a  time.  It  should 
be  timed  to  get  out  to  the  siding  as  early  as  11 :30  a.  m.  and  again  in 
the  evening. 

16.  Unloading  Material. — If  the  outfit  cars  are  not  placed  ahead 
the  cars  loaded  with  rails  will  then  be  at  the  front  and  one  or  two  car- 
loads of  rails  can  be  unloaded  directly  to  the  rail  car  by  pulling  them 
ahead  on  dollies,  over  the  end  of  the  head  car.     If,  however,  the  outfit 
cars  are  in  front,  the  rails  must  be  unloaded  from  the  sides  of  the  cars. 
The  unloading  point  should  be  selected  where  there  is  clear  space  beside 
the  track,  and  as  near  as  may  be  to  the  end  of  the  track.     The  rails 
should  not  be  thrown  off  the  car  bodily,  as  they  are  liable  to  be  bent 
by  such  usage.     It  is  a  better  plan  to  slide  them  off  on  skids,  using  for 
this  purpose  two  pieces  of  rail,  each  about  10  ft.  long,  with  a  piece  of  the 
web  and  base  cut  away  at  the  end  and  the  projecting  head  bent  over  to 
hook  into  a  stake  pocket,     To  keep  the  rails  off  the  ground,  so   as  to 
make  it  easier  to  pick  them  up  when  loading  the  rail  car,  a  tie  should 
be  laid  at  the  foot  of  each  skid,  and  if  the  ground  is  higher  than  the 
track  it  may  be  necessary  to  grease  the  skids.     Four  men  able  to  handle 
themselves — two  men  working  with  rail  forks    (Engraving  E,  Fig.  295) 
and  two  with  small  pinch  bars  about  3J  ft.  long — can  slide  off  a  car- 
load of  rails  in  about  half  the  time  that  twice  as  many  men  can  pick 
them  up  and  throw  them  off  the  car,  and,  besides,  no  harm  will  be  done 
the  rails.     If  the   rails   are   loaded   upon  gondolas   the   unloading   force 
must  be  large  enough  to  lift  the  rails  over  the  side  of  the  car.     Wherever 
it  is  practicable  the  rails  should  be  unloaded  from  both  sides  of  the  car. 
Rails  for  the  far  West  are  often  shipped  in  box  cars  and  must,  there- 
fore, be  unloaded  through  the  end  of  the  car.     In  such  cases  it  saves 
time  to  transfer  the  rails  to  flat  cars  before  taking  them  to  the  front. 
This  transferring  can  be  most  easily  done  in  the, yards,  and  the  work 
can  be  much  facilitated  by  first  coupling  the  box  cars  alternately  with 
the  flat  cars  to  be  loaded. 

Ties  shipped  long  distances  are  usually  loaded  in  box  cars.  They 
are  more  convenient  for  unloading  if  shipped  on  flat  cars,  and  even 
cattle  cars  are  more  convenient  for  this  purpose  than  box  cars.  As  in 
the  case  with  rails,  the  ties  are  unloaded  from  both  sides  of  the  cars 
wherever  the  ground  is  favorable.  Unless  the  surroundings,  such  as 
grades,  narrow  embankments,  etc.,  determine  otherwise,  materials  suffi- 
cient for  J  to  -J  of  a  mile  of  track  should  be  unloaded  in  a  place.  As 
soon  as  the  material  is  unloaded  the  train  is  hauled  back  out  of  the 
way,  but  just  before  meal  time,  at  noon  and*  at  evening,  it  is  customary 
to  run  the  train  close  up  to  the  workmen. 

17.  Organization  of  Forces. — The   work  of  track-laying  may  be 
analyzed    into    two    distinct    operations,    namely:     That    of    forwarding 
materials  and  laying  them  down  at  the  front;    and  the  work  of  joining 
these  materials  together  and  building  the  track  structure.     The  methods 
pursued  in  the  former  operation  have  to  do  principally  with  the  speed 
r.nd  cost  of  track-laying,   and  in  the  latter  with  the   excellence  of  the 
track,  for,  on  general  principles,  good  track  can  be  laid  just  as  cheaply 


162  TRACK-LAYING 

as  poor  track,  if  intelligent  labor  be  employed  and  placed  under  com- 
petent supervision.  In  the  organization  of  a  track-laying  crew  there 
is  usually  a  superintendent  of  construction,,  assisted  by  a  clerk  and  three 
foremen.  There  is  a  foreman  over  tie  distribution,  a  foreman  with  the 
rail  car,  and  a  foreman  over  the  strappers  and  spikers.  The  clerk  keeps 
the  time  of  the  men  and  looks  after  ordering  and  accounting  for  the 
camp  supplies.  Circumstances  sometimes  demand  both  a  clerk  and  a 
timekeeper.  If  the  work  is  done  by  contractors  the  railway  company 
has  its  own  superintendent  or  engineer,  who  is  usually  assisted  by  a 
clerk  and  an  inspector  or  two,  to  see  that  material  is  not  wasted  and 
that  the  work  is  done  properly  and  according  to  contract  specifications. 
The  number  of  inspectors  required  always  depends  a  good  deal  upon 
the  honesty  and  reliability  of  the  contractor.  There  is  also  a  receiver 
of  material  employed  by  the  railway  company,  through  whose  hands 
all  the  track  material  must  pass  and  be  accounted  for  by  the  time  it 
reaches  the  front. 

The  superintendent  of  construction  usually  gets  about  on  horse- 
back, and  for  convenience  of  communicating  with  headquarters  it  is 
a  good  plan  to  build  the  telegraph  line  as  fast  as  the  track-laying  pro- 
gresses. When  this  is  done  the  superintendent  of  track-laying  usually 
has  a  clerk  who  is  a  telegraph  operator,  and  the  line  is  temporarily  con- 
nected with  the  office  car  and  put  in  working  order  as  often  as  the 
car  is  side-tracked,  or  every  evening  at  the  end  of  track  if  the  outfit 
train  is  kept  moving  with  the  work.  Usually  there  is  a  night  watchman 
to  take  care  of  the  locomotive,  and  sometimes  another  to  look  after  the 
train  and  outfit.  On  extensive  work,  however,  particularly  when  some 
distance  out  from  the  base  of  supplies,  there  is  usually  a  night  train 
crew  to  make  up  the  material  train  for  the  following  day's  work  and 
bring  it  to  the  front.  The  baking  for  a  large  crew,  and  sometimes 
part  of  the  cooking,  is  done  during  the  night  by  an  extra  force  in  the 
kitchen  car. 

18.  Placing  Ties. — The  rapidity  with  which  track  can  be  laid 
depends,  more  than  on  anything  else,  upon  the  facilities  for  distributing 
the  ties  on  the  roadbed  ahead  of  the  men  laying  the  steel.  The  most 
favorable  conditions  are  to  be  found  in  a  wooded  country,  where  the 
ties  can  be  got  out  along  the  route.  In  such  case  the  ties  should  be 
delivered  along  the  line  and  left  in  piles  of  a  wagon-load  each  at  about 
the  proper  distance  apart  to  supply  the  required  number.  In  a  prairie 
country  where  hauling  is  good  alongside  the  roadbed  the  best  method 
is  to  distribute  the  ties  with  teams  as  they  are  unloaded  from  the  train. 
If  this  cannot  be  done,  and  it  is  desired  to  rush  matters,  it  may  be  found 
profitable  to  haul  out  along  the  roadbed  each  night  enough  ties  to  keep 
the  steel  men  busy  the  following  day.  In  order  to  keep  the  roadbed 
clear  for  hauling  when  following  this  plan  the  teams  should  haul  to 
the  far  end  first  and  work  backwards  toward  the  train,  not  attempting 
in  any  case  to  lay  the  ties  to  place  during  the  night.  The  foreman  in 
charge  of  the  tie  distribution  can  estimate  nearly  enough  the  number 
needed;  and  if  not  quite  enough  should  be  delivered  a  space  can  be 
left  now  and  then  to  be  filled  after  the  track-laying  is  brought  up.  It 
will  usually  be  found  cheaper  to  distribute  the  ties  with  teams,  if  there 
is  good  opportunity  to  work  them,  than  by  any  other  method.  Ten 
teams  in  one  day  can  haul  out  the  ties  for  a  mile  of  track.  The  wagons 
should  be  coupled  up  short  and  provided  with  a  sort  of  rack,  so  that 
a  full  "load  may  be  put  on  in  a  single  pile.  A  V-shaped  affair  built  on 
the  order  of  a  hay-rack  is  sometimes  used.  It  saves  much  labor  of 


PLACING    TIES  163 

handling  to  unload  the- ties  from  the  cars  to  the  wagons  direct.  A  plank 
•chute,  with  rollers,  attached  to  the  door  posts,  with  the  outer  end  slung 
from  the  top  of  the  car,  is  sometimes  used  for  passing  the  ties  from 
the  car  to  the  wagons. 

The  usual  method  of  distributing  ties  where  teams  are  not  employed 
is  to  haul  the  ties  ahead  on  rail  cars  and  carry  them  around  to  the 
front  by  hand.  Eight  or  ten  rails,  base  down,  are  placed  upon  the  rail 
car  and  upon  these  are  loaded  200  to  300  ties,  crosswise  the  rails.  This 
car-load  of  ties  is  hauled  along  close  behind  the  car  which  is  distribut- 
ing the  rails,  so  as  to  make  the  distance  they  have  to  be  carried  around 
.as  short  as  possible.  If  the  ties  are  heavy  this  is  a  slow  and  expensive 
way  of  laying  track,  but  if  the  ties  are  of  light  wood,  not  requiring 
more  than  one  man  to  carry  a  tie,  it  does  quite  well,  but  never  so  well 
as  the  method  of  hauling  them  out  with  teams  under  fair  conditions 
of  wheeling.  A  modification  of  this  method  which  has  been  practiced 
to  some  extent  is  to  carry  the  rails,  and  ties  enough  to  lay  them,  on 
the  same  material  car.  .  Ten  rails  are  placed  side  by  side  on  the  rail 
ear,  and  over  the  rails,  and  separated  from  them  by  side  timbers  on 
the  car,  are  placed  ties  enough  to  lay  the  track  as  far  as  the  rails  will 
reach.  In  this  way  the  rails  may  be  unloaded  regardless  of  the  ties 
and  the  ties  need  not  be  carried  farther  than  a  raiFs  length  in  advance 
of  the  car. 

The  foreman  of  the  tie  distribution  should  see  that  the  ties  are  dis- 
tributed with  some  regard  to  the  quality.  For  instance,  if  some  of  the 
ties  are  of  harder  wood  than  others,  it  should  be  arranged  to  unload  the 
harder  ties  for  use  together,  and  on  the  curves,  as  far  as  they  will  go, 
while  the  softer  ties  should  be  distributed  on  the  tangents.  It  has  some- 
times occurred  that  cedar  ties  have  been  laid  on  curves  and  ties  of  fir 
or  harder  timber  on  the  adjoining  tangents. 

As  to  the  preparation  of  the  roadbed  for  laying  the  ties,  it  is  nonr 
sense  and  a  waste  of  time  to  smooth  down  the  surface  with  planks  or 
boards,  after  the  manner  of  making  an  onion  bed  in  a  garden,  or  to 
set  grade  stakes  every  few  feet  and  bed  the  ties  to  a  straightedge  laid 
across  their  upper  faces.  If  the  graders  have  done  their  work  properly 
further  attention  is  not  usually  required;  but  if  the  surface  happens 
to  be  a  little  humpy  or  has  been  badly  furrowed  by  wagon  tracks  a 
lively  man  or  two  working  with  pick  and  shovel  can  go  in  advance  of 
the  tie  men  and  make  the  surface  smooth  enough  for  all  practical 
purposes.  If  the  ties  vary  much  in  thickness  it  is  a  good  plan  to  have 
two  men  follow  the  spikers,  one  on  each  side  of  the  track,  to  block  or 
roughly  tamp  the  ties  to  an  even  bearing  before  the  outfit  train  comes 
on  them.  At  such  work  as  this  it  is  well  to  detail  lively  men  who  are  pos- 
sessed of  a  little  genius  for  grading;  otherwise  a  great  deal  of  time  may  be 
spent  on  the  roadbed  to  but  little  purpose. 

The  ties  are  thrown  down  and  then  lined  and  spaced.  If  the  faces  of  a 
tie  vary  in  width  the  wider  face  should  be  placed  downward,  thus  taking  ad- 
vantage of  a  larger  bearing  surface  for  the  ballast.  In  lining  the  ties  two 
men  are  given  a  stout  cord  or  small  rope  about  1000  ft.  long,  called  the  tie 
line,  which  they  stretch  out  and  wrap  around  stakes  set  opposite  every  center 
stake  at  a  distance  of  half  the  standard  tie  length.  On  curves  the  tie 
line  should  be  staked  about  every  25  ft.  On  some  roads  it  is  the  rule 
to  line  the  ends  of  the  ties  on  the  south  or  east  side  of  the  track;  on 
other  roads  they  are  lined  on  the  side  of  the  track  on  which  the  mile 
posts  are  located,  and  on  many  roads  the  inside  of  curves  is  always 
taken  for  the  line  side ;  but  any  question  as  to  which  is  the  proper  side 


164  TRACK-LAYING 

to  line  is  of  comparatively  little  consequence.  On  double  track  it  con- 
duces much  to  the  appearance  of  things  to  always  line  the  ties  on  the 
outside  of  both  tracks.  As  the  ties  are  laid  down  they  are  dropped 
approximately  to  the  tie  line,  and  the  two  men  referred  to,  one  working 
at  each  side  of  the  track  with  a  light  pick,  one  end  of  which  has  been 
cut  off  near  the  eye  (commonly  known  as  a  "picaroon"),  pull  the  ties- 
to  the  line  and  space  them  at  the  same  time.  It  saves  time  to  have  a 
man  with  a  sort  of  T-square  gage  turned  down  at  the  end  so  as  to 
reach  over  and  catch  the  end  of  the  tie,  measure  from  the  long  corner 
and  mark  across  the  face  of  each  tie,  on  the  line  side,  with  a  large 
plumbago  pencil,  a  gage  line  for  the  edge  of  the  rail  base.  This  can 
be  done  rapidly,  and  it  saves  the  spikers  the  trouble  of  gaging  each 
tie  to  a  notch  on  the  hammer  handle,  as  it  is  usually  done.  Among 
track-layers  this  man  is  known  as  the  "fiddler."  In  some  cases  his  tool 
consists  of  a  piece  of  6-in.  board  with  a  cleat  across  one  end,  to  catch 
over  the  end  of  the  tie,  and  a  car  door  handle  screwed  on  top,  with 
which  to  carry  it. 

19.  Spacing  Ties. — It  is  economy  to  put  plenty  of  timber  under 
the  rails.  Within  recognized  limits  of  spacing  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  'ties  affords  the  track  better  support  against  deflection  and  against 
permanent  settlement,  the  track  is  more  easily  maintained  in  align- 
ment, the  rails  cut  into  the  ties  less  and  they  are  held  to  gage  better 
on  curves.  Any  increase  in  the  number  of  ties  provides  a  firmer  sup- 
port for  the  rails  when  the  ties  become  old  and  begin  to  decay,  and  hence 
may  slightly  increase  the  life  of  ties  in  some  cases.  The  'application 
of  these  principles  is  independent  of  the  weight  of  'rail.  Tie  bearing- 
surface  will  compensate  to  a  considerable  extent  for  deficiency  in  the 
size  of  rail  section,  or  decrease  in  the  number  of  ties  when  laying  a 
heavier  rail  may  lose  to  the  track  the  advantages  to  be  expected  from 
the  heavier  and  stiffer  rail.  There  should  be  enough  space  between 
the  ties  to  allow  a  shovel  to  be  used  to  advantage,  and  this  distance  is 
at  least  11  ins.  in  the  clear.  In  the  case  of  pole  ties  reference  would 
be  had  to  the  distance  between  the  cheeks  or  bulging  sides.  Such  a 
spacing  provides  for  about  17  pole  ties  of  6  to  8-in.  face  and  18  squared 
ties  of  9-in.  face,  per  30-ft.  rail.  For  main  track  it  is  now  the  stand- 
ard practice  with  a  number  of  roads  to  use  18  ties  per  30-ft.  rail,  and  a 
few  roads  use  as  many  as  19.  In  numerous  instances,  however,  the 
standard  number  is  only  15,  and  on  a  comparatively  few  roads  (where 
the  average  width  of  tie  face  is  about  10  ins.)  it  is  only  14,  per  30-ft. 
rail.  The  number  of  ties  used  per  rail  length  should  depend  upon  their 
size  and  the  spacing  adopted.  In  the  case  of  squared  ties,  all  of  which 
are  usually  of  the  same  size,  the  number  per  rail  length  may  be  uni- 
form and  the  spacing  may  be  expressed  as  a  certain  distance  measured 
from  centers.  In  the  case  of  pole  ties,  however,  which  are  bound 
to  vary  in  width  of  face,  the  number  per  rail  length  need  not  neces- 
sarily be  constant,  and  a  uniform  center-to-center  spacing  does  not  afford 
the  best  distribution  of  the  timber.  As  pointed  out  in  discussing  the  size 
of  ties  (§  10,  Chap.  II),  the  ideal  distribution  of  rail  support  is  a  uni- 
form proportion  of  tie  bearing  surface  to  rail  length.  Wherever  the  ties 
faces  vary  in  width  this  equality  of  bearing  surface  is  much  more  closely 
realized  by  a  uniform  spacing  in  the  clear  (regardless  of  the  size  of 
tie  or  the  number  per  rail  length)  than  by  a  uniform  spacing  between 
centers;  and  by  making  the  spaces  somewhat  wider  next  the  largest 
ties  the  desired  distribution  of  rail  support  may  be  secured.  If  each 
tie  separately  had  to  bear  the  whole  weight  of  the  load  passing  over 


SPACING   TIES  165 

the  rail  then  those  parts  of  the  rail  resting  upon  the  largest  ties  would 
be  the  better  supported ;  but  from  the  fact  that  the  weight  on  the 
rail  at  any  point  is  always  distributed  over  several  ties,  and  that  as  ties 
get  smaller,  if  properly  spaced,  there  are  more  of  them  for  a  given 
length  of  rail,  the  total  amount  of  bearing  or  supporting  surface  for 
a  given  length  is  not  after  all  very  greatly  affected  by  slight  differences 
in  widths  of  tie  face.  . 

Xo  great  heed  need  be  given  to  the  matter  of  spacing  ties.  Calcu- 
lations or  actual  measurements  need  not  be  made.  Men  a  little  accustomed 
to  the  work  will  rapidly  place  the  ties  about  the  right  distance  apart, 
by  the  eye,  without  hardly  taking  thought.  Ties  should  be  placed  squarely 
across  the  track,  and  never  obliquely  to  suit  joints  which  do  not  come 
exactly  opposite.  On  curves  it  is  usual  to  put  the  butt  or  wide  end  of 
the  tie  to  the  outside  of  the  curve.  It  is  the  practice  to  some  extent, 
however,  to  vary  this  arrangement  to  suit  the  class  of  traffic.  Thus 
where  the  curve  is  to  be  elevated  fully  for  fast  passenger  traffic  the 
larger  end  of  the  tie  would  be  placed  under  the  inner  rail,  so  as  to  give 
more  supporting  surface  to  resist  the  additional  weight  of  freight  trains 
thrown  to  that  side  of  the  track  by  reason  of  the  slower  speed.  But 
if  the  freight  traffic  is  the  more  important  and  the  curves  are  elevated 
for  a  compromise  speed,  the  larger  ends  are  placed  under  the  outer  rail, 
so  as  to  better  resist  the  additional  weight  thrown  upon  that  rail  by 
passenger  trains  running  at  higher  speed. 

The  spacing  of  ties  at  joints  is  a  subject  which  seems  to  receive  a 
great  deal  of  attention — in  some  cases  too  much  attention,  so  to  speak, 
as  in  practice  the  matter  may  be  overdone.  In  the  first  place  there 
is  nothing  gained  by  crowding  ties  together  at  joints  so  closely  that 
tamping,  with  bar,  pick  or  shovel,  cannot  be  freely  done  between  them; 
in  fact,  such  a  congestion  of  support  may  amount  to  a  weakness,  by 
reason  of  inferior  tamping.  In  the  case  of  a  suspended  joint  it  is.  con- 
sidered good  practice  to  space  the  two  joint  ties  as  close  as  may  be  per- 
mitted without  interfering  with  the  use  of  a  raising  jack  and  the  effective 
use  of  tamping  tools,  which  is  about  8  ins.  in  the  clear.  The  shoulder 
ties,  however,  should  not  be  spaced  so  close  to  the  joint  ties  as  to  inter- 
fere with  the  free  use  of  a  shovel  between  them.  At  supported  joints 
it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  space  the  two  shoulder  ties  as  close 
to  the  joint  ties  as  is  practicable  without  interfering  with  the  free  opera- 
tion of  tamping  tools.  Outside  of  these  three  ties,  however,  spaces 
too  narrow  for  free  shoveling  should  not  be  allowed :  the  extra  bearing 
secured  will  not  compensate  for  what  is  lost  through  inconvenience  in 
lemoving  the  ballast  when  renewing  the  ties.  In  connection  with  the  use 
of  long  splice  bars  (the  so-called  "three-tie  joint")  one  may  frequently 
find  the  three  ties  under  the  splice  spaced  too  close  for  effective  tamping. 
One  object  in  spacing  so  closely  in  such  cases  is  to  bring  the  two  shoulder 
ties  (sometimes,  but  improperly,  called  joint  ties)  entirely  under  the 
splice  bars  for  the  purpose  of  slot  spiking.  To  follow  out  this  plan  under 
splice  bars  less  than  42  ins.  long  makes  the  spaces  on  either  side  of  the 
joint  tie  too  narrow.  On  some  European  roads  where  it  is  the  practice 
to  reduce  the  spacing  of  the  ties  in  the  vicinity  of  the  joint  to  the  small- 
est practicable  limit,  room  for  the  use  of  tamping  tools  is  provided  for 
by  chamfering  off  the  upper  corners  of  the  ties,  outside  the  rail  seat. 
Where  rail  creeping  is  not  bothersome  some  advantage  may  be  derived 
by  selecting  the  widest  ties  for  the  joints,  as  in  that  way  the  proportion 
of  bearing  surface  to  the  minimum  allowable  spacing  may  be  increased. 
For  the  same  reason  the  butt  or  wider  end  of  joint  ties  may  be  turned 


166  TRACK-LAYING 

to  the  joint  side.,  on  broken- jointed  track.  At  suspended  joints  on  double 
track  it  is  largely  the  practice  to  put  the  largest  tie  under  the  shoulder 
at  the  receiving  rail  end  or  "facing"  end,  as  it  is  sometimes  called.  On 
some  of  the  European  railways  the  same  object  is  aimed  at  by  an  unsym- 
metrical  arrangement  of  the  ties  at  the  joint,  whereby  the  support  for  the 
receiving  rail  end  is  brought  closer  to  the  joint  than  that  for  the  leaving  rail 
end,  so  as  to  better  meet  the  greater  stress. 

In  American  practice  it  is  customary  to  space  intermediate  ties  evenly 
or  as  nearly  uniform  as  may  be  •permitted  by  the  variations  in  the  size 
of  pole  ties.  Theoretically  the  spaces  should  vary  to  gradually  increase 
the  ratio  of  tie  bearing  surface  approaching  the  weakest  points  of  the  rails, 
which  are  the  joints.  This  principle  is  extensively  followed  in  European 
practice,  the  spaces  being  gradually  increased  from  the  joints  into  the 
quarters.  Thus,  in  one  case  the  center-to-center  spacing  increases  from 
16  ins.  at  the  suspended  joint,  to  22  ins.  for  the  shoulder  ties  and  33  ins. 
for  the  remainder  of  the  intermediate  ties.  In  another  case  the  spacings 
run  19f— 26J— 31J— 33J  ins.  centers;  and  in  another  19J— 21±2— 21$— 
31J  ins.  c.  to  c.  of  ties.  It  is  understood,  of  course,  that  any  advantages 
obtainable  by  varying  the  tie  spacings  near  the  joints  apply  only  to  square- 
jointed  track,  or  where  the  joints  come  opposite.  The  bunching  of  ties 
at  and  near  the  joints  on  broken- jointed  track  bunches  them  likewise  at 
the  centers  and  quarters  of  the  rails  opposite,  so  that  the  intermediate 
portions  of  the  rails  get  the  same  extra  support  as  do  the  joints,  and  no- 
advantage  is  gained.  The  same  considerations  have  a  bearing  upon  the 
question  of  sorting  out  the  largest  ties  for  the  joints — on  broken- jointed 
track  they  strengthen  the  support  for  the  rail  center  as  much  as  for  the 
joints. 

In  order  to  space  the  ties  with  reference  to  the  joints,  in  advance 
of  the  laying  of  the  rails,  a  light  pole  as  long  as  the  standard  rail  is  trailed 
along  over  the  ties  and  the  proper  locations  for  the  joint  ties  are  measured 
off.  In  laying  the  Columbia  &  Western  branch  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Ey.  a  piece  of  band  iron  30  ft.  long,  with  a  ring  on  the  front  end,  to 
pull  it  along,  and  copper  rivets  at  intervals  corresponding  to  the  tie  spaces, 
was  used  for  this  purpose.  The  use  of  a  spacing  pole  or  line  requires  the 
attention  of  two  men  and  gives  a  good  deal  of  bother.  Where  the  rails 
are  laid  broken  jointed,  requiring  the  arrangement  of  two  sets  of  joint 
ties  in  each  rail  length,  it  is  better  to  let  the  tie  spacing  go,  except 
roughly,  until  after  the  rails  are  laid  down — and  it  is  perhaps  the  better 
plan  in  any  case.  Two  men  working  with  picks  and  two  men  with  bars 
to  lift  the  rails,  can  then  space  the  joint  ties  and  divide  up  the  other  spaces 
to  conform  thereto.  Owing  to  variation  in  rough  measurements  the  joint 
ties  should  not,  in  any  event,  be  located  far  ahead  of  the  rails.  To  avoid 
discrepancies  and  the  necessity  for  rearranging  the  ties  at  intervals  the 
pole  measurements  should  be  checked  occasionally  by  referring  back  to  the 
rails. 

20.  Supported  or  Suspended  Joints? — Properly  speaking,  the  term 
joint,  as  applied  to  track,  refers  to  the  junction  or  meeting  point  of  two 
rails;  at  ordinary  temperatures  it  is  usually  an  open  space.  There  are 
two  ways  of  spacing  ties  with,  reference  to  the  joint.  A  supported  joint, 
as  understood  among  trackmen,  is  one  where  the  rail  ends  meet  upon  a 
tie;  a  suspended  joint  is  one  which  hangs  in  the  clear  between  two  ties. 
All  joints  are  therefore  either  supported  or  suspended,  but  it  is  usually 
the  aim-  in  spacing  joint  ties  to  have  the  joint  come  approximately  over 
the  middle  of  the  tie,  in  the  case  of  the  supported  joint,  and  about  mid- 
way between  a  pair  of  ties,  in  the  case  of  a  suspended  joint.  Since  long 


SUPPORTED  AND  SUSPENDED  JOINTS  167 

splice  bars  have  come  into  use  the  term  "three-tie"  joint  has  gained 
currency.  Such,  however,  is  only  another  name  for  a  supported  joint, 
the  "three-tie"  idea  arising  from  the  fact  that  the  splice  extends  over 
three  ties.  Strictly  speaking,  the  two  outer  ties  of  such  a  group  are 
not  joint  ties,  because  they  lie  neither  under  the  joint  nor  adjacent  to  it. 
For  the  sake  of  accuracy  the  terms  joint  and  splice  should  not  be  used 
interchangeably;  nevetheless  their  use  in  this  manner  is  pretty  general. 

As  already  pointed  out,  a  scientific  investigation  of  the  supporting 
strength  of  joint  splices  is  perplexed  with  so  many  practical  difficulties 
that  recognized  theories  fail  of  application.  Such  is  also  the  case  with 
the  question  as  to  the  merits  of  supported  and  suspended  joints/  So  far 
as  concerns  the  matter  of  support,  observing  trackmen  are  about  evenly 
divided  in  their  opinions  as  to  results.  It  is  a  fair  supposition,  therefore, 
that  any  advantages  one  way  or  the  other  must  be  small.  Aside  from 
the  question  of  support,  however,  there  are  other  considerations  deemed 
to  be  more  or  less  important  which  have  weight  in  determining  practice. 
One  of  these  is  the  facility  of  suspended  joints  to  the  slot-spiking  of  the 
splice  bars  against  creeping  rails.  At  a  suspended  joint  it  is  always 
practicable  to  provide  for  slot-spiking  two  ties,  whereas  at  a  supported 
joint  the  splice  bars  must  be  long  enough  to  extend  over  three  ties  in  order 
to  slot-spike  at  all,  unless  resort  be  had  to  the  objectionable  practice  of 
slotting  or  punching  the  splice  bars  near  their  middle.  These  facts  will 
very  likely  account  for  the  predominance  of  the  suspended  joint  on  Amer- 
ican railroads.  At  any  rate  it  appears  significant  that  where  short  splices 
are  in  service  the  suspended  joint  is  generally  standard.  A  summary 
of  the  practice  of  50  representative  American  railroads,  from  data  on 
angle-bar  splices  collected  in  the  year  1900,  shows  that  the  suspended 
joint  was  standard  on  39  roads  and  the  supported  joint  on  11  roads.  Out 
of  the  39  roads  referred  to  only  seven  had  standard  splices  longer  than 
30  ins.,  and  the  average  length  of  the  standard  splices  of  all  these  roads 
was  27.4  ins.  Of  the  11  roads  on  which  the  supported  joint  was  standard 
only  three  had  standard  splices  less  than  36  ins.  long,  and  the  average 
length  of  the  standard  splices  of  all  these  roads  was  34.2  ins.  It  is  com- 
monly the  case,  therefore,  that  the  splice  bars  of  supported  joints  are  long 
enough  to  permit  of  slot-spiking  the  two  shoulder  ties,  whereas  the  aver- 
age length  of  splice  bar  at  suspended  joints  is  not  sufficient  to  permit 
of  slot-spiking  at  its  ends  if  used  with  a  supported  joint. 

The  stock  arguments  for  and  against  either  type  of  joint  under  con- 
sideration are  quite  widely  known,  but  for  the  sake  of  completeness  a  few 
more  of  them  may  bear  repeating.  Those  who  stand  for  the  supported 
joint  claim  that  the  rail  is  supported  at  its  weakest  point,  but,  since  the 
support  is  yielding  and  not  a  permanent  one,  by  any  means,  all  know  that 
it  is  depressed  when  the  load  comes  on;  still  it  seems  like  getting  the 
support,  such  as  it  is,  at  the  right  place.  In  the  case  of  a  joint  splice 
broken  at  the  center  (which  is  equivalent  to  a  broken  rail)  the  supported 
joint  is  undoubtedly  the  safer  at  any  season  of  the  year,  and  particularly 
so  in  the  winter,  when  splice  bars  are  most  liable  to  break.  When  the 
ballast  is  frozen  up  solid  a  tie  directly  under  the  joint  should  afford 
much  better  support  to  the  rail  ends  than  the  two  ties  as  arranged  for  a 
suspended  joint.  A  suspended  joint  with  the  splice  bars  broken  at  the 
center  is  equivalent  to  a  rail  broken  between  two  ties,  which  is  always  con- 
sidered very  dangerous. 

It  is  claimed  for  the  suspended  joint  that  the  rail  ends  are  supported 
at  the  middle  of  the  splice,  which  distributes  the  load  upon  the  joint  to 
two  ties,  instead  of  one,  and  when  the  joint  is  depressed  both  rail  ends 


168  TRACK-LAYING 

are  carried  down  evenly.  It  is  readily  seen,  however,  that  these  advantages 
do  not  obtain  with  a  loose  or  badly  worn  splice;  besides,  the  distribution 
of  the  load  upon  a  joint  does  not  fall  entirely  upon  the  joint  ties,  being 
partly  carried  by  the  shoulder  ties,  and  we  have  no  means  of  ascertain- 
ing just  what  portion  of  the  load  is  sustained  by  the  ties  which  take  part 
in  the,  support  of  the  rail  ends  at  either  a  supported  or  suspended  joint. 
A  worthy  attempt  at  a  mathematical  determination  (approximately,  of 
course)  of  the  "Relative  Strength  of  Suspended  and  Supported  Angle- 
Bar  Joints"  is  recorded  in  a  paper  prepared  for  the  Association  of  Engi- 
neers of  Maintenance  of  Way  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West  of  Pitts- 
burg,  in  1896,  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Bland,  then  principal  assistant  engineer  of 
the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ry.  It  is  further  claimed 
for  the  suspended  joint  that,  hanging  clear  as  it  does,  it  does  not  permit 
the  collection  of  dirt  or  other  material  to  hinder  the  proper  expansion 
of  the  rails. 

In  my  private  opinion  most  of  the  labor  and  care  of  spacing  joint 
ties  symmetrically  with  respect  to  the  joint  amounts  to  nothing  in  the 
.end.  As  the  joint  is  the  weakest  part  of  the  rail  the  heaviest  pressure 
on  the  ties  occurs  at  this  point,  in  the  case  of  a  supported  joint,  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  this  point  in  the  case  of  a  suspended  joint.  The  idea 
in  the  symmetrical  arangement  of  the  ties  is,  of  course,  to  equalize  the 
rail  pressure  on  ties  occupying  corresponding  positions  on  either  side  of 
the  joint.  If  we  could  solve  the  rail  joint  problem  on  the  theory  of  con- 
tinuous beams,  cantilevers  and  solid  supports  we  could  then  figure  out 
the  distribution  of  rail  pressure  to  a  nicety;  but  when  we  come  to  con- 
sider that  the  shoulder  ties,  as  well  as  the  joint  ties,  have  some  part 
in  the  joint  support,  and  that  the  rail  under  each  wheel  load  is  depressed 
over  a  distance  extending  several  feet  each  way  from  the  joint,  the  aspect 
of  the  situation  is  then  not  so  precise.  If  the  ties  are  properly  spaced, 
any  hit-or-miss  location  of  the  joint  cannot  depart  more  than  5  ins. 
from  a  symmetrical  position  with  reference  to  them;  that  is,  it  cannot 
be  more  than  5  ins.  from  the  position  of  either  a  supported  or  a  sus- 
pended joint.  This  possible  difference  (which  would  not  occur  in  every 
case  if  ties  were  spaced  irrespective  of  the  joints)  is  such  a  small 
fraction  of  the  span  of  depression  that  any  variation  of  the  distribution 
of  rail  pressure  due  to  this  cause,  when  the  splice  is  holding  properly  to 
its  duty,  must  be  indeed  small,  particularly  in  the  case  of  a  long  splice. 
If  the  splice  be  loose  or  worn,  so  that  it  cannot  perform  its  function,  the 
joint  is  necessarily  a  shaky  affair,  in  any  case,  and  a  choice  as  between 
a  symmetrical  and  nonsymmetricl  arrangement  of  the  ties  then  falls 
between  "six  for  one  and  a  half  dozen  for  the  other/'  Coming  to  actual 
practice,  what  is  the  usual  condition  of  things,  even  where  the  ties  as 
originally'  laid  were  arranged  very  carefully  with  respect  to  symmetry 
with  the  joint?  Where  splices  are  slot-spiked  the  creeping  of  the  rail 
crowds  the  joint  and  shoulder  ties  together  on  one  side  of  the  joint  and 
pulls  them  apart  on  the  other,  leaving  the  bearing  surface  badly  distri- 
buted. If  the  ties  are  moved  back  to  their  proper  spacing  their  position 
with  respect  to  the  joint  is  necessarily  changed.  In  this  way  joints  which 
were  originally  supported  "get  suspended,"  or  vice  versa,  and  it  is  mere 
luck  and  chance  if  the  new  arrangement  brings  the  ties  into  position? 
symmetrical  with  the  joint — such  can  occur  only  where  the  rail  happens 
to  creep  a  distance  corresponding  to  half  the  spacing  interval.  If  the 
splices  are  not  slot-spiked  the  creeping  of  the  rail  will  soon  carry  the 
joints  out  of  any  prearranged  position  with  respect  to  the  ties,  and 
leave  the  big  joint  ties  behind  on  the  shoulders.  This  matter  of  rail  creep- 


PLACING  RAILS  1G9 

ing,  wherever  it  occurs  (and  it  occurs  pretty  generally),  renders  it  im- 
practicable to  maintain  any  desired  arrangement  of  joint  and  shoulder 
ties  without  continually  respacing  them  or  pulling  the  rails  back.  It 
is  actually  a  fact  that  thousands  of  miles  of  track  in  this  country  would 
be  in  much  better  condition  to-day  if  the  ties  in  the  first  instance  had 
been  spaced  without  reference  to  the  joints  and  no  attempt  had  been  made 
to  pick  out  the  largest  ties  for  the  joints. 

21.  The  Rail  Car. — From  the  point  where  the  materials  are  un- 
loaded from  the  construction  train  the  rails,  and  in  some  cases  the  ties, 
are  hauled  ahead  on  strongly-built  cars  known  as  "rail  cars,"  also  com- 
monly called  "iron  cars"  and  "steel  cars."     The  car  is  usually  about  8  ft. 
long,  with  4x8-in.  side  sills  and  four  cross  pieces,  and  it  should  carry  a 
load  of  15  to  18  tons,  or  say,  forty  or  forty-five  80-lb.  rails.    On  both  ends 
of  the  car,  near  each  corner,  there  should  be  a  roller,  for  use  in  unloading 
the  rails.     Planks  are  sometimes  nailed  to  the  under  side  of  the  frame, 
between  the  two  middle  cross  pieces,  to  form  the  bottom  of  a  box  for 
carrying  tools  and  small  supplies.     The  wheels  are  usually  about  16  ins. 
in  diam.  and  the  treads  of  the  same  should  be  7  or  8  ins.  wide,  so  that  the 
car  may  be  safely  run  over  loosely-lying  rails,  before  the  track  is  spiked. 
If  the  wheel  treads  are  narrow  in  a  case  of  this  kind  it  requires  a  great 
deal  of  care  to  keep  them  from  dropping  between  the  rails  on  curves.     A 
rail  car  off  the  track,  with  a  load  of  rails  aboard,  is  often  the  cause  of 
serious  delay  to  the  whole  work.     The  axles  should  be  as  large  as  2f  or 
3    ins.   in   diam.,    and   the   wheels   should   be   spoked,   so   that   they   can 
be  spragged  in  emergency.    For  hitching  the  team  to  the  car  there  should 
be  a  large  ring  eye-bolted  to  each  side  sill  at  the  middle.     For  hauling 
rails  it  is  usual  to  have  a  team  of  two  horses  hitched  in  tandem,  the 
driver  riding  the  hind  horse  and  driving  the  one  ahead.    In  this  way  they 
pull  close  beside  the  track,  on  a  rope  25  to  30  ft.  long,  and  are  driven 
at  a  trot  when  returning  with  the  empty  car.     A  man  with  brake  stick 
should  always  ride  the  car  and  be  ready  to  unhook  the  rope  in  case  the 
car  should  get  the  start  of  the  team. 

22.  Placing  Rails. — As  the  limit  to  the  length  of  track  that  can 
be  laid  in  a  day,  after  the  ties  have  been  placed,  is  fixed  only  by  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  rails  can  be  laid  down,  much  depends  upon  the 
skill  acquired  by  the  rail  car  gang  in  handling  rails.     The  succession  of 
movements  in  laying  the  rails  to  place  is  about  as  follows:  There  is  a 
man  with  a  wheel  chock  to  stop  the  car  at  the  right  place  at  every  move 
ahead.     There  is  a  squad  of  five  men   (more  or  less,  according  to  the 
weight  of  the  rail)  near  the  head  end  of  the  rail  who  seize  it  in  their 
hands  and  carry  it  ahead  as  soon  as  the  car  stops;  after  a  little  practice 
they  pull  the  rail  off  so  as  to  drop  it  almost  to  place.    Two  men,  known  as 
4 'heeler"  and  "hip  heeler,"  at  the  rear  end  of  the  rail,  move  it  in  line 
with  the  rail  behind;  the  heeler  inserts  an  expansion  shim;  the  men  at 
the  head  end  give  the  rail  a  pull  backwards,  to  close  up  on  the  shim; 
one  man  who  watches  the  rails  for  lip  carries  a  bar,  to  hold  the  end  of 
any  rail  in  line,  in  case  of  necessity,  and  the  car  is  pushed  ahead.     A 
clamp  gage  is  sometimes  used  on  the  rails  ahead  of  the  car  to  keep  them 
from  spreading,  especially  on  curves.     Where  quick  work  is  desired  there 
are  two  parties  handling  rails,  unloading  from  both  sides  of  the  car  at 
the  same  time.    The  opportunity  to  do  this  is  not  so  favorable  if  the  rails 
are   laid   broken   jointed,    which    is   the    reason    that   contractors    prefer 
to  lay  them  square  jointed.     On  track  with  but  few  curves  greater  speed 
can  be  made  in  laying  rails  square  jointed  than  when  laying  them  broken 
jointed,  because  there  is  not  so  much  starting  and  stopping  of  the  car. 


170  TRACK-LAYING 

One  rail  car  can  handle  the  rails  for  laying  a  mile  of  track  per  day. 
In  fast  work  two  rail  cars  are  used.  One  of  the  cars  is  loaded  while  the 
other  is  being  unloaded.,  and  in  order  to  get  the  loaded  car  past  the  empty 
one,  when  pulling  the  loaded  car  to  the  front,,  the  empty  car  is  turned  up 
on  its  side,  on  the  ties,  outside  the  rail,  and  held  there  or  tilted  back  and 
propped  in  a  leaning  position  while  the  loaded  car  is  passing.  A  portable 
turntable  has  sometimes  been  used  for  this  purpose.  The  men  with  the 
rail-laying  car  come  back  with  the  empty  car  each  time  as  far  as  the 
point  where  it  is  passed  by  the  loaded  one  coming  out,  but  if  the  work 
is,  properly  managed  they  should  pass  near  the  front,  thus  delaying  the 
rail-laying  crew  as  little  as  possible.  The  crew  at  the  rear  should  be  large 
enough  to  unload  the  material,  curve  the  rails,  if  necessary,  load  the  ties 
and  the  rail  cars  and  keep  things  moving  at  the  front.  In  some  cases 
where  the  ties  are  hauled  ahead  by  teams  the  rail  cars  are  loaded  by  the 
rail-laying  crew.  Where  such  is  the  practice  it  pays  to  load  up  two  cars 
with  rails,  before  starting  out,  and  take  them  both  to  the  front.  After 
the  first  car  has  been  unloaded  it  is  taken  off  the  track  and  the  second 
car  is  run  forward  and  unloaded.  This  arrangement  saves  the  time  that 
would  otherwise  be  lost  in  taking  the  crew  back  to  load  and  return  with 
the  second  car,  and  it  gives  the  material  train  a  chance  to  run  back  and 
do  switching.  On  every  car-load  of  rails  hauled  ahead  enough  splices, 
bolts  and  spikes  are  taken  to  lay  the  rails.  The  splices  are  thrown  off 
at  every  joint  passed  and  spikes  and  bolts,  in  the  original  kegs  or  boxes, 
at  such  intervals  as  they  are  needed.  In  some  instances  the  heelers 
attend  to  dropping  off  the  fastenings. 

In  laying  track  around  curves  the  inner  rail  gains  upon  the  outer 
rail  at  the  rate  of  about  1.03  ins.  per  100  ft.  per  degree  of  curvature. 
Provision  should  therefore  be  made  to  lay  enough  short  rails  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  curve  to  compensate  for  this  gain.  In  practice  such  rails  are 
seldom  shortened  more  than  1  ft.,  but  a  shortening  of  about  6  ins.  is 
considered  preferable,  as  then  the  relative  position  of  the  joints  on  the 
two  sides  of  the  track  need  not  change  so  much.  It  is  most  convenient 
to  crop  the  rails  with  a  view  to  save  one  or  two  bolt  holes,  which  will 
usually  shorten  the  rail  about  6  ins.  If  29^  ft.  is  the  length  of  the 
short  rail  used  each  one  so  laid  should  be  placed  when  the  inner  rail  has 
gained  3  ins.,  instead  of  waiting  until  it  has  gained  all  of  the  6  ins.,  as 
then  the  joints  on  opposite  sides  need  not  get  more  than  3  ins.  out  of 
the  desired  relative  position.  If  the  tangent  beyond  the  curve  is  laid  square- 
jointed,  the  last  short  rail  laid  in  the  curve  (or  the  only  one  in  a  short 
curve)  should  be  cut  to  such  length  that  it  will  bring  the  joints  even 
at  the  end  of  the  curve,  whether  it  comes  the  standard  length  for  the 
short  rail  or  not.  The  short  rails  for  use  on  curves  are  usually  loaded 
with  the  rest  and  are  designated  by  some  mark,  such  as  a  band  of  white 
paint  around  the  rail  or  by  painting  the  end  of  the  rail  white,  or  both. 

It  is  not  considered  standard  practice  to  lay  in  main  track  a  piece 
of  rail  shorter  than  14  ft.  Gaps  shorter  than  this  are  closed  by  taking 
out  a  rail  of  full  length  and  using  two  cut  rails  as  "closers"  for  the 
whole  distance.  As  an  example,  suppose  that  a  gap  of  10  ft.  is  to  bp 
closed.  Taking  out  a  whole  rail  leaves  a  gap  of  40  ft.,  which  is  closed 
by  laying  two  20-ft.  pieces  or  two  pieces  of  other  convenient  lengths, 
neither  being  shorter  than  14  ft.  On  the  outer  side  of  curves  it  is  not 
desirable  to  use  short  lengths  at  all,  especially  pieces  shorter  than  20  ft 
On  short  curves  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  avoid  the  use  of  a  short  piece  by 
slipping  the  rails  back  to  carry  the  gap  ahead  to  the  tangent.  Short 
lengths  of  rail  laid  on  either  side  of  a  curve  should  be  curved  before  lay- 


SQUARE    OR    BROKEN    JOINTS  171 

ing,  whether  the  rails  of  full  length  laid  on  the  curve  are  so  prepared  or 
not.  To  secure  a  proper  fit  for  the  splice  bars  the  ends  of  any  rails  which 
may  have  become  burred,  by  sawing  or  other  cause,  should  be  filed  smooth 
on  the  fishing  surfaces.  For  this  purpose  sharp  cold  chisels  and  large 
bastard-cut  files  are  useful.  The  same  treatment  should  be  applied  to 
splice  bars  burred  at  the  ends. 

23.  Square  or  Broken  Joints? — There  are  two  ways  of  laying  rails 
with  reference  to  the  relative  position  of  the  joints  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  track.  When  the  joints  are  directly  opposite,  or  nearly  so,  the 
track  is  called  "even  jointed"  or  "square  jointed;"  when  the  joint  on 
one  side  comes  opposite  the  middle  of  the  rail  on  the  other  side,  ~or~ there- 
abouts, the  track  is  said  to  be  laid  "broken  jointed."  Of  course,  track 
not  laid  even  jointed  would  be  broken  jointed  whether  the  joint  on  one 
side  came  opposite  the  middle  of  a  rail  on  the  other  side  or  not,  but 
broken- jointed  track  is  usually  laid  in  the  manner  stated.  Practically, 
it  is  immaterial  whether  the  joint  on  one  side  conies  exactly  opposite 
the  center  of  the  rail  on  the  other  side  or  not.  If  joint  splices  performed 
their  duty  to  entire  satisfaction  it  would  not  matter  which  way  rails 
were  laid — square  jointed  or  broken  jointed — but  under  conditions  as  they 
exist  some  question  arises  as  to  the  merits  of  the  two  ways  of  arranging 
the  joints.  With  broken  joints  the  track  structure  possesses  a  greater 
continuity  of  strength  to  hold  it  in  alignment  than  is  the  case  with  square 
joints,  because  at  all  points  there  is  a  solid  rail  on  at  least  one  side. 
Track,  especially  on  curves,  will  hold  in  line  better  if  it  is  laid  broken 
jointed,  and  the  necessity  for  curving  rails  on  curves  of  long  radius  is 
then  not  so  great.  Where  it  is  intended  to  keep  the  road  in  first-class 
order  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  broken-jointed  track  is  the  easier 
to  maintain  in  good  condition. 

Even  or  square- jointed  track  is  found  principally  in  the  West.  It 
is  a  familiar  argument  that  on  long  lines  where  the  traffic  is  light  and 
where  it  is  considered  unprofitable  to  maintain  track  surface  in  first-class 
condition,,  square  joints  are  preferable;  since  the  roughest  parts  of  the 
track  are  found  at  the  joints  it  is  better  to  have  them  opposite,  so  that 
both  wheels  on  the  same  axle  drop  at  the  same  instant,  thus  avoiding  the 
swinging  motion  to  the  car  which  occurs  where  the  low  places  alternate, 
as  on  broken-jointed  track.  On  the  other  hand  the  necessity  for  raising 
low  joints  on  square- jointed  track  may  be  so  far  lost  sight  of  that  the 
surface  will  become  excessively  bad  and  the  cars  go  hopping  over  the 
line.  The  motion  is  a  teetering  one,  unpleasant  to  passengers,  destruc- 
tive of  draft  rigging  and  severe  upon  the  track,  for  if  both  sides  of  the 
car  truck  pound  the  track  at  the  same  time  the  track  is  struck  a  heavier 
blow  than  is  the  case  if  the  action  is  alternating  from  side  to  side.  Low 
joints  on  broken-jointed  track,  if  not  excessively  out  of  surface,  become 
less  noticeable  as  the  speed  of  the  car  increases,  owing  to  'the  fact  that 
the  car  body  has  not  time  to  make  a  full  oscillation  to  one  side  before 
it  is  under  a  tendency  to  swing  the  other  way.  One  explanation  for  the 
existence  of  a  great  deal  of  even-jointed  track  on  roads  that  are  com- 
paratively straight,  is  that  the  contractor  for  the  track-laying  understood 
his  business  better  than  the  railway  official  in  charge  knew  the  company's 
business,  for  as  heretofore  explained,  it  is  somewhat  cheaper,  under  these 
conditions,  to  lay  the  joints  even  than  to  lay  them  broken ;  and  on  straight 
line  contractors  prefer  to  lay  them  that  way — it  is  one  of  the  measures 
in  track-laying  which  makes  for  haste.  Where  curves  are  numerous  it 
is  cheaper  to  lay  the  rails  broken  jointed,  as  otherwise  a  good  deal  of 
time  is  lost  in  squaring  the  joints.  On  broken-jointed  track  it  is  not 


172  TRACK-LA  YIXG 

necessary  to  keep  the  joint  on  one  side  exactly  opposite  center  of  rail  on 
the  other  side,  and  hence  on  curves  the  inner  rail  may  be  permitted  to  run 
ahead  until  the  short  rail  of  -  standard  length  (28  ft.,  29  ft.  or  29J  ft.)  will 
compensate  for  the  difference.  On  square-jointed  track  this  could  not 
be  done.  Square  joints  are  standard  on  but  comparatively  few  roads. 
There  are  some  who  think  that  on  new  lines  not  well  ballasted  square 
joints  are  preferable  while  the  banks  are  settling,  and  others  claim  -to 
prefer  square  joints  where  the  track  heaves  badly  in  winter.  On  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  even  joints  are  standard  for  track 
on  earth  filling  and  broken  joints  for  track  on  ballast. 

The  superior  arrangement  of  broken  joints  for  holding  the  alignment 
on  curves  has  been  recognized  in  the  practice  of  a  number  of  roads  where 
a  double  standard  is  maintained — broken  joints  for  curves  and  even  joints 
for  the  tangents.  Where  this  practice  is  followed  the  matter  of  keeping 
the  joints  on  the  curves  directly  over  against  the  centers  of  the  opposite 
rails  is  not  always  insisted  upon,  and  on  short  curves  the  joints  on  the 
inner  rail  are  allowed  to  run  ahead  of  their  regular  positions  until  the 
tangent  is  reached,  where  a  cut  rail  is  laid  to  square  the  joints.  In 
passing  from  even  to  broken  joints  in  entering  a  curve,  or  vice  versa, 
upon  leaving  the  curve,  the  work  need  not  be  delayed  to  await  the  cut- 
ting of  a  rail,  for  the  changed  arrangement  of  the  joints  may  be  started 
and  the  connection  made  temporarily  by  turning  out  the  end  of  a  whole 
rail  and  laying  a  switch  point.  A  rail  may  then  be  cut  at  convenience 
to  fill  the  gap,  and  the  spare  piece  from  the  rail  so  cut  should  be  taken 
ahead  to  the  other  end  of  the  curve,  or  else  to  the  next  curve.  If  the 
curves  are  only  a  short  distance  apart  (say  less  than  1000  ft.)  it  is  usual, 
where  the  practice  of  changing  the  relation  of  the  joints  at  curves  is  fol- 
lowed, to  continue  the  broken  joints  throughout  the  intervening  tan- 
gents. 

Touching  the  question  of  square  or  broken  joints  for  double  track, 
arguments  are  presented  both  ways.  Some  prefer  square  joints  in  order 
to  keep  the  joint  ties  square  when  the  rails  creep.  If  the  rails  creep  on 
broken- jointed  track  the  joint  ties  are  slewed  out  of  square  and  the  rails 
are  pulled  out  of  gage  and  alignment.  This  difficulty  may  be  overcome, 
however,  by  putting  anchor  splices  or  anti-creepers  on  the  solid  rail 
opposite  the  joint.  Others  prefer  broken  joints  for  the  reason  that,  with 
traffic  in  one  direction,  one  rail  will  generally  creep  more  than  the  other, 
and  if  the  joints  are  laid  even  to  start  with,  it  is  only  a  little  while  until 
the  joint  ties  become  slewed  out  of  square,  making  it  necessary  to  drive 
one  of  the  rails  back,  to  bring  the  joints  opposite  and  straighten  the  ties 
around. 

24.  Curving  Rails. — The  rules  of  various  roads  require  that  the 
rails  for  curves  of  2  to  4  deg.  and  over  (most  frequently  3  deg.  and 
over)  shall  be  curved  before  laying.  In  practice,  however,  it  is  quite 
frequently  the  case  that  rails  for  curves  much  sharper  than  4  deg.  are  laid 
without  curving.  As  to  the  limit  of  curvature  up  to  which  rails  may  be 
laid  without  curving  there  is  a  simple  experiment  which  I  think  may 
serve  as  a  rough  guide  to  practice,  and  that  is  to  ascertain  what  curva- 
ture the  rail  will,  hold  of  its  own  weight.  For  instance,  a  straight  60-lb. 
rail  30  ft.  long  resting  loosely  upon  the  ties,  simply  by  its  own  weight, 
will  lie  to  a  curve  having  a  middle  ordinate  of  1  in.,  without  spikes  or 
other  means  to  hold  it  in  place.  The  1-in.  middle  ordinate  corresponds 
to  a  curve  of  4J  deg.  Such  being  the  facts  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
question  but  that  60-lb.  rails  spiked  to  ties  would  hold  considerably  more 
curvature,  or  lie  to  a  curve  of  say  at  least  6  or  7  deg.,,  without  being 


CURVING  RAILS  173 

curved.  As  the  work  of  curving  rails  is  expensive,  costing,  by  the  usual 
methods,  $35  to  $60  or  more  per  mile  of  curved  track,  the  necessity  for 
the  same  should  be  carefully  considered. 

The  conditions  which  have  a  bearing  upon  the  question  are  the 
length  of  rail  and  the  weight  per  yard,  the  efficiency  of  the  joint  splices 
in  the  way  of  lateral  stiffness,  the  manner  of  laying  the  rails  with  respect 
to  the  relative  position  of  the  joints,  the  weight  of  the  ties  and  the 
manner  of  filling  in  and  dressing  off  the  ballast.  The  longer  the  rail 
the  less  the  necessity  for  curving,  for  obvious  reasons.  In  practice  it  has 
been  found  that  45-ft.  and  60-ft.  rails  could  be  laid  without-curving, 
on  the  same  curves  where  it  had  always  been  considered  necessary  to 
curve  the  30-ft  rails  laid  thereon.  Increase  in  weight  of  rail  increases 
the  necessity  for  curving,  other  conditions  the  same.  The  tendency  of 
uncurved  rails  to  straighten  when  laid  on  sharp  curves  would  not  neces- 
sitate curving  were  it  not  for  the  weakness  of  the  rail  at  the  joint.  A  rail 
sprung  to  the  curve  is  more  rigid  than  one  curved  or  bent  so  that  it  will 
lie  to  place  of  itself ;  and  if  such  rigidity  could  be  maintained  continuously 
the  track  would  be  better  able  to  hold  its  shape  or  alignment  against 


Fig.  31. — Rail-Curving  Machine. 

side  pressure  from  wheel  flanges ;  that  is,  if  it  was  practicable  to  make 
rails  continuous  it  would  be  better  not  to  curve  them  for  track  of  any 
degree  of  curvature.  A  bow  pulled  to  the  point  of  shooting  the  arrow 
is  more  rigid  than  it  is  when  not  strung  up,  and  the  same  principle 
applies  in  some  degree  to  rails  laid  on  curves.  If,  however,  the  splice 
fails  to  perform  its  duty  properly,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  short 
splices,  splice  bars  of  light  section  or  with  splices  which  have  become 
loose,  the  rail  will  bend  at  this  point  and  relieve  itself  of  stress,  and 
uniformity  of  curvature  will  not  be  maintained.  For  reasons  made  clear 
in  the  previous  section  the  superior  alignment  conditions  of  broken- 
jointed  track  will  permit  uncurved  rails  to  be  laid  to  sharper  curvature 
on  such  track  than  is  the  case  with  track  on  which  the  joints  are  laid  op- 
posite. It  is  unnecessary  to  explain  how  heavy  ties  and  the  filling  of 
ballast  around  the  ties,  especially  against  the  ends  of  the  same,  assist 
in  holding  the  track  to  the  proper  curvature,  regardless  of  any  question 
of  curving  the  rails. 

Rail-Curving  Devices. — A  rail-curving  machine  consists  essentially 
of  three  rolls  so  positioned  that  the  rail  is  made  to  pass  between  two  rolls 
on  one  side  and  a  roll  on  the  opposite  side  placed  midway  between  the 
other  two.  By  tightening  down  on  the  middle  roll,  which  is  adjustable, 
the  rail  is  bent  uniformly  to  a  curve  as  it  passes  through,  the  desired 
curvature  being  obtained  by  properly  setting  the  middle  roll.  The  best 
results  are  to  be  had  by  the  use  of  rolls  shouldered  to  fit  against  both 


174 


TRACK-LAYING 


the  head  and  web  of  the  rail.  On  some  roads  these  machines  are  placed 
in  the  shops  and  operated  by  steam  power,  but  the  use  of  hand  machines 
is  more  extensive.  A  hand  machine  of  this  description  is  shown  as  Fig 
31,  being  what  might  be  called  a  traveling  jim-crow.  It  has  a  heavy 
forced  yoke  or  frame  carrying  three  grooved  curving  rolls,  the  middle 
one  being  adjustable  by  means  of  a  screw  and  provided  with  means 
whereby  it  may  be  revolved — in  this  case  a  heavy  box  wrench  and 
a  lever.  The  rail  stands  workwise,  with  a  plank  alongside  to  support 
the  frame,  and  as  the  middle  roll  is  turned  it  travels  along  on  the  rail, 
curving  the  rail  as  it  moves.  Two  to  6  men,  depending  on  the  weight 
of  the  rail  and  the  amount  of  curvature  given,  are  required  to  operate  it; 
and,  working  in  this  manner,  about  50  rails  can  be  curved  in  10  hours. 
In  the  proceedings  of  the  New  England  Boadmasters'  Assn.  for  1896 
it  is  stated  that  20  men  working  with  a  machine  of  this  kind  curved  one 
hundred  100-lb.  rails  in  10  hours.  To  expedite  matters  the  machine 
is  sometimes  made  stationary  by  chaining  it  to  the  ties,  in  the  middle 
of  the  track,  and  the  rails  are  hauled  through  with  a  locomotive  and 
switch  rope.  In  one  instance  of  this  kind  there  were  two  gangs  of  men — 
one  carrying  rails  to  the  machine  and  another  carrying  them  away  as 
fast  as  the  locomotive  could  pull  them  through.  By  this  method  the 


^ 


Fig.  32. — Lever  and  Hook  Arrangement  for  Curving  Rails, 
rails  were  curved  at  an  average  rate  of  one  each  minute.     The  machine 
may  also  be  fitted  with  a  horse-power  attachment  intended  for  heavy  work. 
It  consists  simply  in  a  7-ft.  lever  fitting  the  square  shaft  of  the  middle 
roll,  the  horse  traveling  around  at  the  end  of  the  lever. 

The  most  rapid  method  of  curving  rails  by  hand  is  by  the  use  of 
levers  and  sledges.  The  crew  for  this  work  should  be  large  enough  to 
pick  up  a  rail  and  carry  it  easily  in  the  hands — say  ten  men  for  80-lb. 
rails.  The  rails  are  unloaded  onto  skids  alongside  some  side-track.  Two 
ties  are  then  placed  on  and  across  the  rails  of  the  side-track  a  rail's 
length  apart,  and  the  rail  to  be  curved  is  placed  upon  these  two  ties,  on 
its  side.  The  rail  to  be  curved  is  then  put  under  strain  by  bending  it 
downward  with  two  levers  placed  at  about  the  quarter  points  and  secured 
to  the  track  rail  by  means  of  an  inverted  U-shaped  iron  with  a  hook  on  the 
lower  end  of  each  leg  to  fit  under  the  base  of  the  track  rail.  Figure  32 
shows  the  arrangement,  A  being  the  rail  to  be  curved  and  B  the  device 
for  anchoring  the  lever,  known  as  a  "curving  hook."  In  the  absence  of 
this  hook  a  piece  of  chain  is  substituted.  In  lieu  of  a  side-track  for  an- 
choring the  levers  two  rails  may  be  thrown  down  loosely  across  some  ties. 
The  rail  is  curved  by  striking  it  a  few  times,  in  its  strained  position,  on 
the  side  of  the  head,  just  outside  where  the  two  levers  are  resting,  with 
two  16  or  18-lb.  sledges.  The  rail  is  then  turned  workwise  and  a  string 


CURVING   KAILS 


175 


is  stretched  to  see  if  the  middle  ordinate  corresponds  to  the  proper  curva- 
ture. In  case  the  rail  should  be  curved  too  much  some  curvature  may 
be  taken  out  easily  by  turning  the  rail  on  its  side,  curve  up,  and  spring- 
ing down  upon  it  with  a  teetering  motion  a  few  times;  this  is  called 
'"'shaking"  out  the  curvature.  Eails  can  in  this  manner  be  cheaply  and 
well  curved.  If  the  curvature  does  not  seem  to  be  uniform  throughout 
the  length  of  the  rail  the  position  of  the  levers  should  be  slightly  changed. 
After  ascertaining  the  proper  positions  for  the  levers,  and  by  always 
bearing  down  upon  them  with  the  proper  amount  of  force  and  striking 
firm,  steady  blows,  men  can  soon  become  so  skillful  that  a  certain,  num- 
ber of.  blpws  each  time  will  curve  the  rail  so  nearly  right  that  it  will  not 
be  found  necessary  to  measure  the  middle  ordinate  every  time;  but  the 
foreman  should  measure  one  occasionally  to  correct  his  eye.  Sometimes 
only  one  lever  is  used,  at  the  middle  of  the  rail,  but  this  arrangement 
does  not  give  as  good  satisfaction  as  that  of  using  two  levers  and  two 
sledges  in  the  manner  stated.  The  curvature  of  the  rail  may  be  tested 
for  uniformity  by  measuring  the  quarter  ordinates,  which  should  be 
three  fourths  the  length  of  the  middle  ordinate  with  the  string  in  the 
same  position;  that  is,  stretched  the  whole  length  of  the  rail.  Another 
way  to  test  for  uniform  curvature,  best  adapted  to  rails  curved  to  a  short 
radius,  is  to  stretch  a  string  over  each  third  of  the  rail  to  see  if  the 
middle  ordinate  is  the  same  in  every  case. 

The  lever-and-sledge  method  of  curving  rails  is  widely  in  disfavor, 
owing  to  the  "barbarous  treatment"  which  the  rail  is  supposed  to  receive. 
On  this  point  it  is  pertinent  to  inquire  how  a  rail  liable  to  injury  by  a 
side  blow  from  a  sledge  hammer  can  be  expected  to  stand  the  heavy  alter- 
nating stresses  imposed  by  fast  locomotives  and  the  heavy  pounding  of 
Table  IV. — Middle  Ordinates  for  Curving  Rails. 


LENG1H   OF   RAILS. 


3O    28    26    24    22120    18     16    14     12     10 


5730 
3820 
2865 
2292 
1910 
1637 
1433 
1274 
1146 
1042 
955.4 
o 


819 

764.5 

716.8 

674.6 

637.3 

603.8 

573.7 

521.7 

478.3 

441.7 

410.3 

383.1 

359.3 

338.3 

319.6 

302.9 

287.9 


176  TRACK-LAYING 

flat  car  wheels.  The  fact  is  that  rails  are  made  for  heavy  duty,  and  drop 
tests  under  sudden  blow  from  a  hammer  weighing  a  ton  are  required  ot* 
full-size  rail  specimens  to  show  that  the  metal  will  bend  before  it  will  break, 
It  being  known  that  rails  take  permanent  set  under  the  gag  and  that 
the  stock  rails  of  split  switches  are  bent  cold,  and  yet  are  considered  safe. 
why  should  the  blows  from  a  sledge  hammer  in  curving  be  regarded  severe 
treatment?  The  fact  that  the  lever-and-sledge  treatment,  properly  ad- 
ministered, curves  the  rail  uniformly  its  whole  length,  and  without  kink- 
ing it,  proves  that  the  blows  received  are  only  moderate;  if  they  were 
otherwise  the  rail  would  be  bent  most  sharply  at  the  points  where  it 
was  struck.  If  any  man  has  seen  rails  break  while  being  curved  in  this 
manner  he  should  regard  such  incidents  in  the  light  of  fortunate  discov- 
eries, for, it  is  quite  evident  that  the  rails  were  unfit  for  service  in  the 
track.  Rails  cannot  be  curved  satisfactorily  with  a  jim-crow.  This  tool 
is  intended  for  bending  rails  to  an  angle,  but  not  to  a  curve.  Any  attempt 
to  employ  a  jim-crow  in  rail  curving  will  result  in  very  slow  progress 
and  a  series  of  angular  bends  in  lieu  of  a  curve. 

Table  IY.  gives  middle  ordinates  for  rails  10  to  30  ft.  long,  to  the 
nearest  64th  of  an  inch.  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  so  exact  as  this  in  curv- 
ing rails.  It  is  sufficiently  close  to  work  to  the  nearest  %  in.  or  even  to  the  • 
nearest  -J  in.,  for  heavy  curvature.  It  will  be  notice.d  that  the  middle 
ordinate  of  a  curved  30-ft.  rail  is  approximately  £  in.  multiplied  by  the 
degree  of  curve.  This  rule  is  sufficiently  exact  for  any  work  of  rail  curv- 
ing, and  may  be  used  in  preference  to  consulting  the  table,  and  also  for 
curves  of  higher  degree  than  are  provided  for  in  the  table.  The  middle 
ordinate  of  a  curved  33-ft.  rail,  which  is  now  the  standard  length  on  a 
number  of  roads,  is  (nearly  enough)  3/10  in.  multiplied  by  the  degree  of 
the  curvature. 

Handling  Curved  Rails. — In  handling  curved  rails  it  is  well  to  so 
arrange  the  work  that  the  rails  may  be  taken  from  the  curving  block? 
or  machine  and  loaded  directly  onto  the  cars;  otherwise  the  expense 
of  handling  is  considerably  increased.  After  rails  are  curved  they  should 
be  handled  with  special  care  and  should  not  be  thrown. 

In  laying  track  where  curves  are  numerous  the  rails  should  be  curved 
in  the  material  yard  or  before  they  are  shipped  to  the  front.  A  man 
from  the  engineering  department  is  usually  given  charge  and  supplied 
with  a  note  book  giving  the  location  and  lengths  of  the  tangents  and 
curves  of  the  line.  This  man  has  charge  of  loading  the  rails  and  the 
ties  (in  case  the  ties  are  of  different  kinds,  so  that  a  harder  quality  may 
be  had  for  the  curves)  and  he  is  supposed  to  so  arrange  the  shipment? 
that  cars  loaded  with  material  for  the  curves  are  forwarded  in  their 
proper  order.  By  a  little  calculation  the  cars  can  be  arranged  to  come 
exactly  in  the  order  needed.  To  avoid  confusion,  cars  loaded  with  rails 
for  certain  curves  should  be  labeled  by  marking,  on  a  shingle  or  card 
tacked  to  the  side  of  the  car,  the  station  numbers  of  the  P.  C/fl  between 
which  the  material  is  to  be  used.  In  building  the  Columbia  &  Western 
branch  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ry.  each  car  was  marked  with  the  initial 
station  for  any  curved  rails  carried,  and  the  first  and  last  rails  of  each 
curve  had  the  station  number  painted  on  them.  Rails  curved  for  different 
degrees  of  curvature  should  not  be  mixed,  or  carelessly  loaded  on  the 
same  car.  To  avoid  inconvenience  the  curved  rails  for  different  curves 
should  be  placed  in  separate  piles,  divided,  if  necessary,  by  pieces  of 
board.  It  is  also  customary  in  loading  curved  rails  not  to  place  rails 
for  more  than  one  curve  on  the  same  car,  the  balance  of  the  car-load,  if 
there  is  room  to  spare,  being  finished  out  with  straight  rails. 


ALLOWANCE    FOR    EXPANSION  177 

On  the  question  of  curving  rails  for  spiral  or  easement  curves  it  would 
of  course  riot  be  expected  to  curve  them  for  that  portion  of  the  easement 
the  curvature  of  which  does  not  exceed  the  limit  governing  the  curving 
of  rails  in  the  usual  practice  of  the  road.  From  information  published 
in  the  committee  report  on  "Track,"  to  the  American  Railway  Engineer- 
ing and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association,,  in  1901,  it  appears  that  a 
number  of  maintenance-of-way  men  prefer  to  curve  the  rails  of  the  spiral 
to  correspond  to  the  curvature  of  the  spiral  at  the  position  of  the  rail; 
that  is,  that  each  rail  should  be  curved  to  that  middle  ordinate  which 
will  fit  the  degree  of  curve  at  the  point  where  the  middle. of 4he_ rail  lies 
when  in  position  on  the  spiral.  As  already  seen,  however,  there  is  no 
necessity  for  any  great  precision  in  rail  curving  as,  if  the  rails  are  curved 
within  2  or  3  deg.  of  the  stated. curvature,  they  will  not  be  subjected  to 
appreciable  strain  when  spiked  to  that  curvature.  In  all  ordinary  cases 
it  would  seem  sufficient  for  practice  to  follow  a  method  suggested  by  Mr. 
Jerry  Sullivan,  which  would  be  to  use  on  one  side  of  the  easement  the 
rails  curved  for  the  regular  curve,  with  straight  rails  on*  the  other  side. 
By  way  of  illustration,  for  an  easement  at  the  end  of  a  6-deg.  curve,  the  rails 
curved  to  6  deg.  might  be  used  as  far  out  on  the  easement  as  the  point 
where  the  curvature  decreases  to  3  deg.,  with  straight  rails  on  the  inside 
of  the  curve  to  offset  the  strain  due  to  the  excessive  curvature  of  the  rails 
on  the  outside.  This  method  would  obviate  the  necessity  for  curving  rails 
to  different  ordinates  for  the  same  curve,  where  spirals  or  easement  curves 
occur,  and  undoubtedly  answer  just  as  well  as  if  every  rail  was  curved 
for  the  position  in  which  it  lies  on  the  spiral. 

25.  Allowance  for  Expansion. — For  every  degree,  Fahrenheit, 
change  in  temperature  steel  is  supposed  to  change  its  dimensions  about 
.0000065  of  itself,  or  about  1  part  in  150,000,  .the  change  varying  slightly 
according  to  the  chemical  composition  of  the  metal.  As  steel  rails  are 
subject  to  the  extremes  of  atmospheric  temperature  allowance  must 
be  made  for  the  resulting  change  in  length,  according  to  the  temperature 
of  the  rail  at  the  time  of  laying  it.  The  correspondence  of  the  tempera- 
tures of  the  rail  and  the  atmosphere  does  not  seem  to  have  been  thoroughly 
investigated.  It  is  commonly  understood,  however,  that  the  rail  comes 
to  the  same  temperature  as  the  atmosphere  except,  perhaps,  while  the  sun 
is  shining,  when  it  may  become  hotter.  In  that  case  it  is  considered  good 
practice  to  take  the  temperature  by  holding  the  thermometer  against  the 
rail,  on  the  shady  side.  On  the  other  hand  the  ground  is  supposed  to  have 
some  considerable  effect  on  the  rail  temperature,  by  way  of  radiation,  usu- 
ally in  the  nature  of  a  compromise  of  both  extremes,  but  it  remains  to 
be  demonstrated  whether  this  effect  is  reasonably  constant  for  such  con- 
ditions as  have  to  be  taken  into  account.  Temperature  tests  on  100-lb. 
rails  in  the  track,  by  Mr.  P.  H.  Dudley,  by  means  of  a  "companion"  rail 
with  a  hole  drilled  in  the  head  for  the  insertion  of  a  thermometer, 
showed  that  when  the  thermometer  registered  135  deg.  F.  in  the  sun 
the  highest  temperature  obtained  in  the  head  of  the  rail  was  120  deg. 
F.  and  the  base  of  the  rail,  as  a  rule,  was  2  to  4  deg.  cooler.  At  the  other 
extreme,  careful  observations  taken  by  the  late  Mr.  A.  Torrey,  chief 
engineer  of  the  Michigan  Central  E.  R.,  showed  that, between  20  deg.  F. 
and  — 20  deg.  F.,  or  over  a  range  of  40  deg.  of  temperature,  the  length  of 
rails  was  unchangeable.  Changes  of  temperature  between  these  limits 
produced  no  movement,  but  above  20  deg.  F.  the  rail  was  quite  sensitive 
to  temperature  changes.  The  rail  on  which  the  observations  were  made 
was  500  ft.  long,  built  up  by  rigidly  splicing  30-ft.  lengths  together  as 
one.  Further  details  are  given  under  the  subject  "Longer  Rails,"  §  172, 
Chap.  XI. 


178  TRACK-LAYING 

Such  observations  are  not  reconcilable  with  the  customary  basis  for 
computing  allowance  for  expansion,  which  assumes  a  uniform  change  of 
length  throughout  the  whole  range  of  temperature.  Unfortunately,  obser- 
7ations-  of  the  kind  noted  have  been  too  few  to  cover  conditions  in  gen- 
eral, and  so  practice  abides  by  the  safe  side,  providing  for  the  full  eifect 
of  atmospheric  temperature  within  the  extremes  registered  by  the  ther- 
mometer. Carelessness  in  not  properly  allowing  for  change  of  tempera- 
ture usually  results  in  harm  from  the  expansion  of  the  rails  in  hot 
weather,  and  frequently  as  much  from  contraction  during  cold  weather. 
To  make  no  more  provision  for  change  of  length  in  a  long  steel  bridge 
than  is  sometimes  made  for  track  rails  would  soon  result  in  trouble  either 
for  the  bridge  or  the  coping  of  the  abutments. 

It  is  safe  to  assume  that  there  are  but  few  localities  where  a  rail 
will  change  in  temperature,  between  the  extremes  of  winter  and  sum- 
mer, more  than  180  deg.  F.,  which  corresponds  to  a  change  in  length 
of  7/lc  in.  for  a  30-ft.  rail,  or  a  change  of  Vie  in-  in  length  for  each  25 
deg.  change  of  temperature.  As  the  extremes  of  temperature  in  dif- 
ferent localities  may  vary  widely  it  is  not  feasible  to  arrange  a  table  of  ex- 
pansion allowances  suitable  for  universal  application.  In  the  northern 
part  of  the  Mississippi  valley  the  extremes  are  something  like  — 40  deg. 
and  -f-  140  deg.  F.  in  the  sun,  while  in  parts  of  Arizona  they  would  be 
more  like  +  20  and  +  150  deg.  F.  in  the  sun.  In  a  general  way,  how- 
ever, it  might  be  said  that  for  most  places  in  this  country  the  range  of 
temperature  between  coldest  in  winter  and  hottest  in  summer  (in  the 
sun)  is  about  150  deg.  F.  This  change  in  temperature  would  produce  about 
f  in.  variation  in  the  length  of  a  30-ft.  rail.  In  some  parts  of  the  coast 
of  California  the  variation  between  extremes  is  probably  not  more  than 
60  deg.  F.,  thus  requiring  but  little  more  than  J  in.  for  change  of  length 
in  a  30-ft.  rail.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  no  more  space  than  is  really 
necessary  be  left  at  the  rail  joints,  and  in  localities  where  the  extremes 
do  not  vary  widely  but  little  allowance  need  be  made.  A  general  rule 
for  expansion  allowance  in  laying  30-ft.  rails,  at  any  temperature,  at  any 
place  then  would  be :  Ascertain  the  lowest  temperature  to  which  the  region 
is  subject,  and  also  the  highest,  in  the  sun,  and  take  the  difference  in 
degrees,  Fahrenheit.  Divide  this  difference  by  25  and  multiply  by  1/16; 
this  will  be  the  opening  in  inches  when  laying  at  the  lowest  temperature. 
Then  to  find  the  opening  to  be  allowed  when  laying  at  any  other  tempera- 
ture, decrease  from  the  opening  for  the  lowest  temperature  at  the  rate 
of  Y16  in.  for  each  25  deg.  above  the  lowest  temperature.  For  rails  of 
length  other  than  30  ft.  the  allowance  will  be  in  proportion. 

Eesults  calculable  by  this  rule  will  show  that  the  spaces  to  be  allowed 
for  rail  expansion  when  laying  at  the  same  temperature  in  different  locali- 
ties may  vary  considerably;  and  not  only  according  to  differences  in  the 
total  variation  of  temperature  of  the  different  localities,  but  also  because 
of  wide  variations  which  may  exist  between  the  lowest  temperatures  in  the 
different  localities.  Thus,  for  illustration,  suppose  the  total  variation 
of  temperature,  between  winter  and  summer,  at  each  of  two  places 
is  150  deg.  F.  The  expansion  allowance  for  the  lowest  temperature  will 
then  be  the  same  (f  in.)  for  both  places.  But  suppose  that  the  lowest 
temperature  for  one  locality  is  — 40  deg.,  while  for  the  other  it  is  zero. 
The  difference  in  the  expansion  allowances  for  the  two  localities  when 
laying  rails  at  the  same  temperature  in  both,  will  then  always  be 
40/25XVi6  in-  =Vio  inv  which  is  a  matter  worth  considering.  At  some 
high  altitudes,  for  instance,  the  thermometer  may  never  register  higher 
than  80  deg.  in  the  sun,  and  rails  laid  in  such  places  at  that  temperature 


ALLOWANCE    FOR    EXPANSION  179 

should  be  butted  end  to  end,  because  then  the  only  movement  to  occur 
will  be  in  the  way  of  contraction.  At  some  lower  altitude,  perhaps  not 
a  great  distance  away,  rails  laid  at  the  same  temperature  may  easily 
require  a  full  J-in.  space  interval  for  expansion.  It  is  thus  seen  that 
instances  frequently  arise  when  specific  rules  for  rail  expansion  openings- 
should  not  be  followed. 

The  foregoing  statements  refer  to  the  space  necessary  to  permit  rails 
to  expand  freely.  Where  the  ballast  is  scarce  or  the  rails  of  light  section 
it  is  not  considered  safe  to  skimp  the  expansion  openings,  but  late  years, 
with  heavy  rails,  on  track  well  filled  in,  some  roads  have  made  it  a  prac- 
tice to  retain  part  of  the  expansion  in  the  metal  itself.  The  vindication 
of  this  practice  is  that  heavy  rails  are  stronger,  considered  as  a  column, 
and  therefore  better  able  to  undergo  compression  without  buckling  than 
are  rails  of  light  section.  It  is  the  practice  with  a  number  of  roads  using 
rails  as  heavy  as  85  Ibs.  per  yd.  (and  possibly  in  some  cases  where  the  rails 
are  lighter)  to  reduce  the  expansion  allowance  to  one  half  the  space  re- 
quired for  free  movement  at  the  highest  temperature.  In  long  tunnels,, 
where  the  temperature  remains  about  constant,  no  allowance  for  expansion 
is  needed  and  hence  in  laying  rails  therein  they  should  be  butted  end  to- 
end.  In  laying  rails  across  a  sag  which  is  later  to  be  raised  to  grade  it  is 
necessary,  in  order  to  avoid  cutting  rails,  to  allow  extra  space  at  the  joints 
to.  provide  for  the  shortening  of  the  track  when  it  is  lifted  to  the  proper 
level. 

A  convenient  form  of  expansion  shim  can  be  made  out  of  narrow  band 
iron  by  bending  over  one  end  at  a  right  angle,  so'  that  it  will  hang  in 
place  over  the  end  of  the  rail.  As  a  matter  of  convenience  there  should 
be  an  assortment  of  three  sizes  or  thicknesses — some  1/16  in.,  some  -J  in. 
and  some  i  in.  thick.  If  a  single  shim  of  one  of  these  sizes  does  not 
suffice  for  the  opening,  two  or  more  may  be  combined  and  used  together. 
It  is  well  to  have  the  thickness  plainly  stamped  on  the  shim.  The  ex- 
pansion shims  of  the  Southern  Pacific  road  are  of  six  different  thick- 
nesses, beginning  at  nothing  (tight  joint)  for  temperatures  between  130 
and  150  deg.  Fahr.  and  increasing  in  multiples  of  3/64  in.  for  each  20 
deg.  decrease  down  to  50  to  70  deg.,  at  which  the  thickness  is  3/16  in. ;  for 
32  to  50  deg.  the  thickness'  is  7/32  in.,  and  for  0  to  32  deg.  it  is  J  in.  These 
shims  are  of  iron,  and  the  temperatures  at  which  it  is  supposed  they  are 
to  be  laid  are  marked  on  the  shims.  For  example,  shims  for  use  in  tem- 
peratures anywhere  between  70  and  90  deg.  are  marked  "70-90."  On 
its  lines  south  of  the  Ohio  river  the  Illinois  Central  K.  E.  uses  but  three 
thicknesses — 1/16  in.  for  the  very  hottest  weather,  J  in.  for  spring  or  fall 
and  3/1(5  in.  for  cold  weather.  On  its  northern  and  western  lines  a  ^-in. 
shim  is  used  for  the  very  coldest  weather.  An  assortment  of  wire  nails 
of  different  sizes  make  convenient  shims,  and  such  are  sometimes  used. 
Another  form  of  expansion  shim  much  used  is  a  small  star-shaped  malle- 
able casting  with  four  legs  radiating  from  the  center  at  right  angles.  The 
legs  vary  in  thickness  to  suit  variations  in  temperature,  usually  from  1/ie 
to  J  in.  This  device  is  known  as  a  "grasshopper"  or  "spider"  shim. 

The  use  of  wooden  expansion  shims  is  not  considered  good  practice, 
because  they  get  squeezed  when  the  rail  is  set  back  hard,  and  leave  the 
opening  smaller  than  it  is  intended  to  be ;  and  besides,  'it  then  becomes 
difficult  for  the  splice  men  to  get  them  out.  -The  rules  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Ry.  require  iron  shims  for  ordinary  work,  but  to  prevent  the  rails 
from  being  shoved  back  when  laying  track  on  steep  grades  sawed  wooden 
shims  are  used  and  left  in  place  until  the  track  is  fully  spiked  and  bolted. 
Lath  have  been  used  a  good  deal  for  shims,  the  free  end  being  easily 


180  TRACK-LAYING 

broken  off  each  time  from  the  piece  held  between  the  rail  ends.  To  men- 
tion still  another  method,  expansion  has  been  provided  for  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  A  piece  of  wood  about  \  in.  thick  is  placed  between  the 
rails  temporarily  when  they  are  set  together,  thus  leaving  the  space  too 
wide.  The  head  strappers  keep  well  up  to  the  rail  car,  and  each  carries 
a  steel  shim  of  oval  form  about  f  in.  thick  in  the  middle,  tapering  off 
to  about  -J  in.  in  thickness  at  each  end.  By  inserting  this  shim  in  the 
joint-  and  putting  the  wrench  handle  through  a  bolt  hole  the  rail  is  pulled 
back  against  the  shim  to  make  any  desired  opening,  depending  on  how 
far  the  shim  is  shoved  into  the  joint. 

Shims,  assorted  as  to  the  various  sizes,  should  be  carried  in  pails 
or  boxes  hanging  at  or  attached  to  the  head  end  of  the  rail  car,  on  either 
side,  where  they  can  be  reached  by  the  heeler.  They  are  collected  after  be- 
ing used  each -time,and  so  answer  their  purpose  over  and  over.  In  cases  where 
shims  of  the  thinner  sizes  are  not  at  hand  the  proper  joint  spaces  may 
be  provided  by  an  averaging  process,  using  a  shim  of  excessive  thickness 
at  part  of  the  joints  and  laying  the  other  joints  tight.  Thus,  for  ex- 
ample, a  -J-iri.  shim  laid  at  every  other  joint  would  serve  the  purpose  of  1/1(i 
in.  shims  at  every  joint.  Of  course  such  is  not  the  most  desirable  manner 
of  distributing  the  expansion  allowance,  but,  in  the  light  of  conditions 
widety  existing,  it  is  not  after  all  so  very  .objectionable.  An  ever-recur- 
ring trouble  with  expansion  space  is  that  it  will  not  remain  evenly  dis- 
tributed, howsoever  carefully  it  is  arranged  at  the  start.  The  tendency 
of  the  rails  under  traffic  is  to  bunch  together  at  some  points  and  pull 
apart  at  others,  leaving  abnormally  wide  openings.  A  familiar  illustra- 
tion of  an  extreme  case  of  this  action  is  the  behavior  of  the  rails  on  lines 
of  frequently  opposing  gradients,  where  the  rails  run  together,  closing 
the  joints  in  the  sags,  and  pull  widely  open  across  the  summits.  This 
behavior  would  seem  to  be  a  good  argument  why  the  expansion  allowance 
should  not  be  permitted  to  exceed  the  least  space  consistent  with  safety. 

Another  difficulty  frequently  experienced '  in  the  way  of  maintaining 
the  desired  expansion  allowance  is  the  bodily  movement  of  long  stretches 
of  track  while  it  is  being  laid.  Such  a  movement  is  most  liable  to  take 
place  when  track-laying  is  carried  on  during  the  early  spring  or  late  fall. 
For  an  hour  or  two  after  work  begins  on  a  frosty  morning  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  rail  may  be  at  freezing  or  below,  but  by  noon  it  may  run  up 
to  80  or  90  deg.  in  the  sun.  As  the  splices  are  tightly  bolted  and  the 
ties  less  resistant  than  on  ballasted  track,  a  considerable  stretch  of  newly- 
laid  rails  may  expand  without  rendering  in  the  splices  and  the  same  open- 
ings then  exist  that  were  provided  for  a  temperature  perhaps  50  deg. 
lower.  Before  the  temperature  falls  a  long  piece  of  track  may  be  laid 
which  will  hold  the  piece  laid  in  the  morning  from  pulling  back,  and 
thus  the  joints  for  some  distance  may  permanently  remain  too  open. 
Some  trackmen  when  laying  track  under  the  temperature  conditions  noted 
attempt  to  make  allowance  for  the  movements  described  by  decreasing  the 
expansion  allowance,  but  it  is,  after  all,  a  difficult  matter  to  regulate. 

In  allowing  expansion  space  between  rails  with  miter-cut  ends  the 
measurement  should  obviously  be  made  in  line  with  the  rail,  which  is 
askew  to  the  opening;  and  the  thickness  of  the  shim  should  be  less  than 
this  measurement,  and  in  the  ratio  of  the  cosine  of  the  angle  of  the  miter. 
For  instance,  if  the  rail  ends  are  cut  off  to  an  angle  of  45  deg.  the  thick- 
ness of  the  shim  should  be  0.7  of  the  expansion  allowance.  In  using  ex- 
pansion shims  in  such  joints  the  precaution  should  be  taken  to  have  the 
rail  ends  exactly  in  line  as  they  are  moved  up  to  the  shim,  or  when  the 
space  is  measured,  else  when  they  are  lined  up  by  the  splice  bars  the 


SPLICING  181 

space  allowed  will  either  close  up  or  open  out,  and  thus  be  correspondingly 
narrower  or  wider  than  the  intended  allowance. 

26.  Splicing. — Following  next  behind  the  rail-laying  car  come  the 
splicers  or  "strappers,"  as  they  are  commonly  called.  These  men  are 
usually  divided  into  two  parties — the  "head  strappers,"  who  should  be 
quick  and  steady  with  the  fingers,  to  put  on  the  splices  and  one  bolt  in 
each  splice  to  hold  it  in  place,  and  the  "back  strappers,"  who  put  in  the 
remaining  bolts  and  finish  tightening  the  splice.  The  act  of  putting  on 
a  splice  quickly  is'  worth  some  attention,  because  some  men,  apparently, 
never  learn  how  to  do  it.  It  is  not  so  much  dependent  upon  rapidity 
of  movement  as  upon  having  an  eye  to  adjustment  and  a  firm,  "steady 
manner  of  doing  things.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  get  the  ends 
of  the  two  rails  in  line,  at  the  same  level,  and  take  out  the  expansion 
shim.  This  the  head  strapper  does  by  prying  on  the  rail  with  his  wrench 
in  one  hand,  and  grabbing  up  with  the  other  hand  a  chip,  pebble  or 
some  other  object  to  put  under  one  of  the  rails  to  hold  it  up  even  with 
-the  other;  it  then  takes  but  an  instant  to  put  the  ends  in  line.  Then, 
standing  inside  the  rail,  if  the  bolt  heads  come  on  that  side,  he  puts  the 
splice  bars  in  place,  not  by  feeling  for  a  bolt  hole  in  the  rail  with  his 
finger,  but  by  sighting  down  with  the  eye — a  more  rapid  method.  He 
then  puts  a  bolt  through  one  of  the  middle  holes,  gives  the  nut  a  few 
turns  with  the  fingers  or  wrench,  far  enough  to  hold  the  splice  in  place, 
and  goes  ahead  to  another  joint.  The  head  strapper  should  work  some 
little  distance  in  rear  of  the  rail  laying,  as,  if  he  gets  too  near,  the  removal 
of  the  expansion  shims  may  permit  the  rails  to  be  bunted  back  and  close 
the  joint  openings. 

The  back  strapper  next  comes  along,  puts  in  the  full  number  of 
bolts  and  tightens  them.  He  should  stand  so  as  to  use  his  wrench  across 
the  rail ;  or,  since  it  is  hard  work,  he  may  rest  himself  occasionally  by  sit- 
ting down  on  the  rail  and  tightening  the  nuts  by  pulling  (not  pushing) 
on  the  wrench.  A  man  skillful  at  catching  a  nut  with  a  wrench  need 
not  lose  much  time  by  sitting  down  at  his  work  occasionally.  He  should 
carry  a  spike,  maul  and,  after  the  bolts  are  fairly  well  tightened,  sle,dge 
the  splice  bars  together  by  striking  each  a  hard  blow  between  every  two 
bolt  holes  and  at  the  ends ;  and  each  bolt  head  should  be  lightly  tapped. 
This  hammering  will  pulverize  the  oxide  scale  between  the  surface  of 
the  rail  and  the  splice  bars  and  drive  the  splice  bars  to  a  closer  fit.  The 
bolts  will  be  found  loose  after  this  hammering  and  should  then  be 
tightened  again  about  as  tight  as  a  man  can  conveniently  pull  on  them 
with  an  18-in.  wrench,  using  both  hands  and  standing  on  his  feet.  Such 
an  adjustment  will  not  be  too  tight,  as  it  would  if  the  splices  were  worn 
to  a  closer  fit  with  the  rail,  as  is  the  case  after  trains  have  run  for  awhile. 
Nuts  should  be  put  on  flat  side  to  the  washer  or  nut  lock,  and  before 
they  are  tightened  the  splice  bars  should  be  adjusted  to  bring  the  bolts 
squarely  across  the  rail.  A  good  fit  for  the  bolt  head  cannot  be  obtained 
unless  the  bolt  is  at  right  angles  to  the  splice.  After  the  track  is  bal- 
lasted and  lined  the  bolts  should  be  thoroughly  gone  over  again,  for  after 
surface  kinks  have  been  taken  out  and  the  rails  put  in  line  some  of  the 
splices  will  be  found  to  have  loosened.  Some  roads  require  that  within 
a  month  after  traffic  begins  running  the  bolts  shall  be  tightened  again. 

In  the  days  when  rails  were  of  light  section  it  was  necessary,  in 
order  to  keep  the  nuts  out  of  the  way  of  the  wheel  flanges,  to  put  the 
bolts  through  the  splice  from  the  inside.  As  rails  increased  in  hight 
such  interference  became  no  longer  possible  and  the  practice  of  placing 
the  nuts  on  the  gage  side  of  the  rails  is  now  quite  extensively  in  vogue. 


182  TRACK-LAYING 

A  supposed  advantage  sought  by  this  arrangement  is  to  place  the'  nuts 
where  they  are  most  readily  caught  by  the  eye  of  the  track-walker,  for 
on  large  steel  they  are  not  easily  seen  over  the  edge  of  the  rail  by  one 
walking  inside  the  track.  So  far  as  concerns  the  track-walker's  conveni- 
ence, however,  the  advantage  lies  rather  with  the  old  way,  or  with  the 
practice  of  placing  the  nut  on  the  outside.  A  track-walker  locates  a 
loose  bolt,  not  by  looking  at  the  nut,  but  by  the  appearance  of  the  bolt 
head,  there  being  always  a  ring  or  streak  of  rust  on  the  splice  bar  around 
the  head  of  every  bolt  the  least  bit  loose;  with  a  bolt  kept  tight  such 
is  not  the  case.  Where  the  nuts  come  inside  it  is  not  so  convenient  for 
the  track- walker  to  tighten  loose  bolts  as  it  is  where  they  come  outside, 
for  in  the  former  case  he  will  step  outside  the  rail  to  tighten  the  nut 
and  in  the  latter  he  will  simply  reach  over  the  rail  while  standing  in 
the  track,  give  the  nut  a  few  turns  and  walk  on.  It  is  sometimes  claimed 
that  derailed  wheels  are  not  so  liable  to  cut  the  nuts  from  the  gage  side 
as  from  the  outside  of  the  rail,  but  the  only  security  to  be  had  in  this 
respect  is  by  placing  part  of  the  bolts  one  way  and  part  the  other  way, 
-so  as  to  have  nuts  on  both  sides  of  the  rail.  This  arrangement  will  pre- 
vent a  derailed  wheel  or  car  truck  from  shearing  all  of  the  nuts,  thus 
insuring  that  there  will  be  bolts  to  hold  each  splice  in  case  of  accident. 
'The  importance  of  this  precaution  is  well  understood,  for  it  has  happened 
many  a  time  that  a  derailed  freight  car  truck  has  been  hauled  several 
miles  over  the  ties,  stripping  all  the  nuts  from  the  joint  splices  on  one 
side  of  the  track,  to  the  peril  of  following  trains,  or  even  to  following 
-cars  in  the  same  train.  With  such  danger  in  prospect  it  is  now  quite 
largely  the  practice  to  reverse  the 'position  of  alternate  bolts  in  joint 
splices,  thus  bringing  half  the  nuts  on  each  side  of  the  rail.  In  some 
cases  the  two  middle  bolts  in  each  splice  are  placed  to  bring  the  nuts 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  rail  from  the  remainder.  Some  trackmen 
profess  to  believe  that  the  scheme  of  putting  bolts  both  ways  through 
the  splices  affords  a  tighter  adjustment  of  the  splice  bars  to  the  rails,  and 
it  is  pretty  well  agreed  that  it  does  not  permit  the  joint  to  pull  so  widely 
open  when  the  rails  contract  in  cold  weather,  and  that  it  disposes  the 
bolts  in  a  manner  to  oppose  the  contraction  of  the  rails  with  less  liability 
of  being  broken.  When  this  arrangement  is  in  contemplation  for  bolts 
to  be  held  from  turning  by  a  shank  of  square  or  oval  section,  the  punching 
•of  the  splice  bars  must  be  arranged  to  correspond.  In  some  cases  both 
splice  bars  are  punched  with  oval  holes  throughout.  The  practice  with 
the  Pittsburg  &  Lake  Erie  and  the  Michigan  Central  roads  is  to  punch 
the  holes  in  both  bars  alternately  round  and  oval,  but  relatively  reversed 
in  the  two  bars  of  each  pair.  In  doing  this  the  spike  slots  can  be  located 
io  dodge  the  nuts  of  the  bolts.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
presence  of  nuts  on  the  gage  side  of  the  rails  may  have  some  bearing  on 
the  design  of  snow  flangers. 

Where  rails'  of  different  hights  come  together  in  main  track  the  splice 
bars  should  be  stepped  and  made  to  fit  accurately,  and  it  is  sometimes 
found  necessary  to  offset  them  to  suit  a  difference  of  thickness  in  the  two 
webs  or  a  jog  in  the  alignment  of  the  same.  The  joint  in  this  case  should 
be  made  supported  and  an  iron  shim  should  be  put  under  the  rail  of 
lesser  hight,  or  a  stepped  shim  under  both,  to  bring  the  top  surfaces 
-of  the  rail  heads  even.  This  shim  should  be  spiked  to  the  tie,  like  a  tie 
plate,  so  that  it  will  remain  in  place.  A  splice  made  to  fit  two  rails  of 
dissimilar  section  is  generally  known  as  a  "compromise"  or  "offset" 
•splice,  and  some  of  the  affairs  turned  out  at  blacksmith  shops  by  working 
over  common  angle  bars  are  badly  crippled,  in  one  way  or  another,  usually 


SPIKING  183 

by  heating  and  pounding  until  the  section  of  the  bars  is  much  reduced, 
and  also  by  forming  a  square  shoulder  at  the  jog. 

27.  Spiking. — Spiking  is  one  of  the  most  important  details  of  track- 
laying,  because  it  is  very  troublesome  to  remedy  when  wrongly  done. 
Spikers  should  not  be  pushed,  for  if  they  are  they  will  surely  slight  the 
work  in  some  respect.  Two  men  drive  spikes  together,  delivering  blows 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  rail  at  alternate  intervals.  Eight-handed  men 
should  be  paired  with  right  handed  men,  and  left-handed  men  with  left- 
handed.  Frequently  right  and  left-handed  men  are  paired  together,  prin- 
cipal Jy  because  it  looks  better,  perhaps,  to  see  both  facing  the  front;  but 
there  is  nothing  gained  in  rapidity  thereby  and  the  work  cannot  tTc  tlone 
so  satisfactorily.  While  driving  a  spike  the  spiker  invariably  pulls  or 
starts  the  tie  toward  himself  at  each  blow.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  two 
men  driving  from  the  same  side  of  the  tie  will  both  move  it,  unless  it 
can  be  held  up  more  tightly  than  can  always  be  easily  done,  and  both 
will  tend  to  move  it  in  the  same  direction;  but  when  they  stand  facing  each 
other  the  tendency  to  pull  or  start  the  tie  one  way  is  balanced  by  a  like 
tendency  from  the  opposite  direction,  and  the  tie  is  not  moved  in  being 
spiked.  Spikers  usually  stand  beside  the  rail  while  driving  spikes,  but  a 
good  spiker  can  drive  well  while  standing  in  almost  any  convenient  position. 
A  poor  spiker,  like  almost  any  other  poor  workman,  will  make  a  good 
many  movements  on  his  feet  which  a  good  spiker  would  not;  such,  for 
instance,  as  stepping  astride  the  rail  or  measuring  his  steps  when  about 
to  begin  driving.  It  is  a  poor  spiker  who  will  go  about  the  work  with 
as  much  deliberation  as  when  aiming  a  gun.  Some  men  train  themselves 
to  spike  equally  well  either  right  or  left-handed,  and  it  is  a  good  habit 
to  get  into,  not  only  because  it  enables  one  to  handle  himself  more 
adroitly  at  the  work,  but  because  the  man  who  can  change  hands  witli 
a  tool  occasionally  will  become  less  fatigued  at  using  it,  and  after  years 
of  work  of  this  kind  he  is  not  so  liable  to  get  that  "hump"  on  one  shoulder, 
so  commonly  seen  with  trackmen. 

The  line  side  of  the  track  is  of  course  spiked  first.  To  begin  with, 
the  spiker  on  the  outside  sees  that  the  tie  end  is  at  proper  distance  from 
the  rail,  driving  it  through  when  too  long,  or  having  his  partner  drive 
it  from  his  end  when  too  short;  he  then  sets  his  spike.  When  a  gage 
mark  is  not  placed  on  the  tie  face  he  measures  by  a  notch  cut  on  his  ham- 
mer handle.  This  length  should  be  such  that  a  tie  of  standard  length 
projects  equally  beyond  both  rails  when  they  are  spiked  to  proper  gage. 
When  the  rail  is  too  far  out  of  gage  with  most  of  the  tie  ends  the  man 
holding  up  the  ties,  called  the  "nipper,"  should  take  his  bar  and  throw 
the  rail  over  to  approximate  gage.  After  the  spike  on  the  outside  of 
the  rail  has  been  set,  so  as  not  to  allow  the  tie  to  shove  through  while 
it  is  being  raised  to  the  rail,  the  nipper  holds  it  firmly  up  against  the 
rail  base  while  the  spikers  do  the  rest.  Before  the  spikes  are  driven,  how- 
ever, the  men  should  see  that  the  tie  is  properly  spaced  from  the  others 
and  square  across  the  track.  If  this  is  not  attended  to  the  spikes  will 
be  out  of  true  when  the  tie  is  shifted  to  proper  position. 

The  nipper  is  usually  provided  with  a  pinch  bar  (a  crow  bar  is  a 
poor  tool  for  this  purpose)  and  a  block  of  wood  about  2x4x12  ins.  in  siz<\ 
for  a  fulcrum,  with  a  spike  driven  into  it  for  a  handle,  and  ordinarily 
they  answer  the  purpose  well  enough.  In  narrow  cuts,  however,  and  in 
other  places  where  special  conditions  prevail — as,  for  instance,  when  lay- 
ing street  railway  track  in  a  trench  excavated  but  little  wider  than  the 
length  of  the  tie — the  lack 'of  room  on  the  shoulder  at  the  end  of  the 
tie  will  not  permit  a  bar  to  be  used  at  that  point.  In  such  a  case  either 


184 


TRACK-LAYING 


two  bars — one  each  side  of  the  tie — or  a  special  contrivance  must  be 
used  to  hold  the  tie  up  to  the  rail.  Two  or  three  devices  for  this  purpose 
operate  on  the  principle  of  holding  the  tie  to  the  rail  by  prying  over  the 
latter.  The  Sterlingworth  holding-up  bar  (Fig.  33)  is  a  device  of  this 
kind.  It  is  a  long,  heavy  bar,  forked  at  one  end  and  provided  with  hooks 
which  engage  the  tie  in  the  middle  of  the  under  face.  The  fork  of  the 
bar  is  placed  astride  the  rail,  as  seen  in  the  figure,  which  also  shows 
the  inclination  of  the  bar  when  holding  the  tie  in  position  for  driving  the 
spike. 

Spikes  should  not  be  leaned  to  suit  the  swing  of  the  spiker's  hammer, 
but  should  be  driven  perpendicular  to  the  tie  face.  It  requires  some  vigi- 
lance to  get  men  to  abide  by  this  rule,  since  one  must  bend  his  back  a 
little  in  order  to  do  so,  but  it  must  be  insisted  upon.  Where  a  spike  has 
been  driven  slantwise  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  catch  the  head  with  a 
claw  bar  when  the  spike  must  be  pulled,  and  if  the  spike  is  inclined  under 
the  rail  the  latter  will  ride  the  neck  of  the  spike  and  cut  it.  One  aid  to 
good  spiking  is  to  have  the  hammer  handles  the  full  regulation  length 
of  3  ft.  Ordinarily  men  will  not  drive  spikes  properly  unless  they  are 
watched  and  criticised  occasionally;  let  foremen  not  forget  this.  The 
spike  should  be  started  plumb,  with  the  side  of  the  point  against  the  rail 
flange,  so  that  it  will  crowd  the  rail  all  its  way  down.  The  finishing 
blow  should  tap  the  head  down  to  a  firm  hold  upon  the  rail  flange,  but 
not  too  forcibly,  lest  the  spike  be  broken  off  or  cracked  under  the  head 
or  the  neck  of  the  spike  be  forced  away  from  the  rail  flange.  The  effect 
of  this  last  blow  is  to  spring  the  rail  base  slightly  into  the  fibers  of  the 
wood  and  start  the  spike  farther  into  the  tie,  so  that  the  spikes  are  made 
to  hold  the  rail  base  to  the  tie  with  a  force  of  several  hundred  pounds. 
This  drawing  force  is  caused  by  the  action  of  the  wood  fibers,  which  are 
forced  inward  with  the  spike  and  act  somewhat  like  a  pawl  to  resist  any 
tendency  to  pull  the  spike  back. 

The  usual  practice  is  to  drive  two  spikes  in  each  tie  for  each  rail, 
and  to  drive  them  staggered;  that  is,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  same  rail 
the  two  spikes  stand  near  opposite  edges  of  the  tie  face.  In  ties  sawed 
or  hewn  on  four  faces  spikes  should  not  be  driven  nearer  than  2|-  ins.  to 


Fig.  33. — Sterlingworth   Holding-Up  Bar. 


Fig.  40. 


SPIKING  185 

the  edge  of  the  tie  face  and  in  pole  ties  they  should  be  driven  at  about  ^ 
the  width  of  face  from  the  edge  of  the  face.  Spikes  should  be  so  driven 
that  they  have  no  tendency  to  swing  the  tie  askew  to  the  rails  before 
the  track  is  ballasted.  This  requirement  can  be  fulfilled  by  driving  both 
outside  spikes  near  the  same  edge  of  the  tie  face  and  both  inside  spikes 
near  the  other  edge  of  the  face.  For  the  same  reason  spikes  should  not 
be  driven  in  the  middle  of  the  tie  face;  besides,,  with  pole  ties,  the  heart 
of  the  timber  being  under  the  middle  of  the  face,  the  spike  does  not 
hold  so  firmly  when  driven  there  and  it  is  also  more  liable  to  split  the 
tie  or  to  come  where  the  tie  most  usually  checks  open.  Spikes  should 
be  driven  to  "cross  bind,"  the  purpose  of  which  arrangement  is'  kTelutch 
the  rail  and  resist  creeping,  as  explained  more  fully  and  by  diagram  in 
§  103,  Chap.  VII.  The  advisability  of  driving  spikes  in  the  slots  of 
splice  bars  is  taken  up  in  the  same  connection.  On  curves  the  outside 
spike  on  shoulder  ties  should  be  driven  on  the  edge  of  the  tie  nearest 
the  joint,  as  the  nearer  it  stands  to  the  joint  the  better  is  the  assistance 
it  can  render  in  holding  the  joint  to  gage.  The  best  plan,  however,  is 
to  double  spike  the  ties  on  the  outside  of  the  outer  rail  on  all  curves. 
The  cost  of  the  extra  spikes  is  but  a  comparatively  small  item,  and  the 
rail  is  so  much  more  firmly  supported  that  the  use  of  rail  braces  or  tie 
plates  may  be  unnecessary,  where  in  many  cases  with  single  spiking  they 
might  be  needed.  This  matter  is  referred  to  again  under  the  subject 
"Kail  Braces,"  §  49,  Chap.  V.  When  spiking  ties  in  this  manner  the 
spiker  standing  inside  the  track  should  strike  across  the  rail  and  help 
his  partner  down  with"  the  extra  spike. 

On  the  gage  side  of  the  track  every  third  tie  at  the  farthest,  that 
is,  at  least  one-third  of  the  ties,  should  be  spiked  to  the  gage;  but  where 
the  ties  lie  very  unevenly,  and  on  curves  of  short  radius,  the  rail  should 
be  spiked  to  the  gage  on  alternate  ties.  It  is  more  important  that  men 
spiking  with  the  gage  should  be  experienced  and  skillful  in  driving  spikes 
than  it  is  with  spikers  on  the  line  side.  The  nipper  for  the  gage  spikers 
should  keep  the  rail  thrown  nearly  to  the  gage  ahead  of  them.  If  the 
line  side  is  left  badly  out  of  line  after  being  spiked  it  is  well  -to  throw 
it  into  fair  line  before  spiking  the  gage  side.  Where  the  tie  that  is  being 
spiked,  is  held  up  firmly  the  rail  can  be  moved  slightly  to  gage  by  a 
stroke  sidewise  with  the  hammer;  if  not,  or  if  it  be- moved  slightly  out 
of  gage  after  the  spikes  have  been  started,  but  before  they  are  down, 
it  can  be  drawn  powerfully  by  slightly  bending  over  the  spike  on  the 
side  from  which  the  rail  is  to  be  moved,  and  as  the  spike  is  driven  further 
down  it  will  crowd  the  rail  over.  There  are  those  who  object  to  such 
bending  of  the  spike  to  crowd  the  rail  while  driving;  but  if  it  be  done 
by  one  who  knows  how  and  who  can  handle  a  hammer  properly  it  is  the 
quickest  and  most  practicable  way,  and  no  harm  need  be  done.  It  saves 
time  in  getting  the  rail  to  good  gage  and  an  experienced  trackman  would 
think  of  no  other  way.  In  order  that  the  spike  may  crowd  or  "draw" 
with  most  force  when  driven  in  this  manner  it  should  be  started  perpen- 
dicularly to  the  tie  face,  the  same  as  when  driving  a  spike  under  ordinary 
conditions,  and  not  slantwise  under  the  rail,  as  some  wrongly  suppose ; 
then  it  should  not  be  bent  over  until  after  half  way  down,  since  the  body 
of  the  spike  is  then  firmly  held  in  the  tie  and,  by  bending  the  spike  and 
driving  straight  down  upon  it,  a  powerful  side  pressure  is  exerted  against 
the  rail.  In  curves  of  short  radius  a  sharply  pointed  pick  is  the  best 
tool  for  crowding  and  holding  the  rail  to  gage.  If  the  gage  is  tight  the 
inside  spiker  starts  his  spike  first,  and  if  it  is  loose  the  outside  spiker 
starts  his  spike  first,  and  the  first  spike  started  should  put  the  rail  to 


186  TRACK-LAYING 

gage  before  the  other  spike  is  started.  Then  if  there  be  no  tendency  in 
the  rail  to  spring  itself  out  of  gage  both  spikes  should  be  put  down  together : 
otherwise  the  advantage  should  be  given  the  spike  first  started.  But  if 
a  slight  bending  inward  of  this  spike  will  not  bring  the  proper  gage  the 
rail  should  be  moved  by  sticking  a  pick  into  the  face  of  the  tie  ahead 
and  prying  it  over.  The  gage  should  rest  squarely  across  the  rail  just  far 
enough  in  advance  of  the  tie  which  is  being  spiked  to  be  out  of  the  way 
of  the  hammer  of  the  inside  spiker,  and  it  should  be  kept  there  until 
the  tie  is  spiked.  The  men  who  do  the  gaging  cannot  spike  as  rapidly 
as  the  other  spikers  and,  where  the  ties  are  so  soft  that  a  spike  can  be  put 
down  with  not  more  than  three  hammer  blows,  one  spiker  is  enough  to 
go  with  the  gage;  for  where  under  such  circumstances  there  are  two, 
one  will  be  standing  still  doing  nothing  a  large  part  of  the  time;  and  so, 
to  economize  time,  he  might  better  form  part  of  another  spiking  crewr. 

Eails  should  be  gaged  to  within  almost  a  hair's  breadth,  because  it 
can  just  as  well  be  done  that  way  after  men  become  a  little  expert.  Of 
course  there  is  no  real  necessity  for  such  close  work  except  in  its  moral 
effect,  for  if  any  looseness  is  allowed  in  this  respect  there  is  no  telling 
where  it  will  end.  The  gage  should  just  come  to  place  on  being  raised 
3  or  4  ins.  at  one  end  and  let  drop;  if  there  can  be  any  movement  of  it 
across  the  track  it  is  too  loose;  if  it  will  not  drop  to  place  it  is  too  tight. 
The  gages  should  all  be  tested  and  closely  inspected  by  the  foreman  every 
morning,  without  fail.  There  is  more  necessity  for  watching  gages  on  track- 
laying  than  in  track  repair  work,  for  irresponsible  men  will  sometimes 
permit  the  rail  to  spring  inward  on  the  gage  with  such  force  that  one  of 
its  lugs  is  loosened,  and  say  nothing  about  it.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  men 
spiking  the  gage  side  to  see  that  all  ties  spiked  are  put  square  with  the 
rails,  and  also  to  spike  no  tie  having  a  warped  or  twisted  face  until  it 
has  been  adzed  to  fit  evenly  with  the  rail  base  on  that  side.  Of  course 
it  is  taken  for  granted  that  when  spiking  the  line  side  both  edges  of  each  tie 
face  have  been  brought  up  evenly  to  the  rail  base  on  that  side.  Some- 
times the  necessity  for  adzing  does  not  appear  until  after  one  end  of 
the  tie  has  been  spiked. 

In  order  to  make  haste,  sometimes,  when  the  crew  is  short-handed, 
only  the  joint,  center  and  quarter  ties  are  spiked  before  the  outfit  train 
is  let  over  them;  but  it  is  better  not  to  do  this,  because  where  there  are 
so  few  spikes  holding,  on  rails  which  have  not  as  yet  been  brought  to  line 
and  surface,  there  is,  at  best,  liability  of  spreading  slightly  the  gage,  thus 
making  it  necessary  to  regage  the  rails  before  the  remaining  spikes  are 
driven,  if  good  work  is  to  be  done.  It  is  cheaper  in  the  end  to  go  slower, 
spike  all  the  ties  as  the  work  progresses,  and  do  everything  well.  The 
expense  of  regaging  new  track  disturbed  in  the  manner  noted  will  usu- 
ally be  found  to  exceed  any  saving  that  can  be  effected  by  skipping  part 
of  the  work  temporarily  and  leaving  the  rest  to  be  done  at  some  time 
later,  especially  if  the  first  work  done  is  liable  to  be  injured  in  the  mean- 
time. Foremen  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  tendency  of  things  in  track- 
laying  is  usually  toward  loose  methods,  and  that  they  must  constantly 
look  out  for  careless  work  and  correct  it  as  occasion  requires.  Possibly 
it  may  seem  to  the  casual  observer  that  much  has  been  said  in  the  fore- 
going about  a  matter  of  little  consequence,  as  spiking  might  at  first  appear 
to  be,  but  experienced  trackmen  well  know  that  there  are  men  who,  if  not 
taught,  would  not  learn  to  spike  properly  in  40  years. 

In  the  present  connection  mention  may  be  made  of  a  machine  for 
driving  spikes  in  track-laying  that  has  been  used  on  the  Detroit  United 


THE  TRACK-LAYIXG   CIIEW  187 

Ky.  There  is  a  low  four-wheel  truck,  the  frame  of  which  is  suspended 
below  the  axles,  and  this  truck  carries  an  upright  boiler  and  two  steam 
hammers,  the  latter  being  located  to  stand  in  position  over  the  two 
rails.  Opposite  each  hammer  there  is  a  pair  of  tongs  used  for  picking 
up  the  tie  and  holding  it  firmly  up  to  the  rail  as  it  is  being  spiked.  These 
tongs  are  operated  by  a  rock  shaft  extending  across  the  tops  of  the  cyl- 
inders of  the  steam  hammers,  and  the  leverage  is  such  that  the  tie  is 
held  up  against  the  rail  with  a  pressure  of  four  tons.  Each  hammer  drives 
two  spikes  at  one  time,  and  the  force  applied  is  such  that  spikes  in  cedar 
ties  are  driven  with  two  blows.  The  rail  is  held  to  gage  by  a  cross  bar 
in  front  of  the  machine,  engaging  the  rails  by  means  of  rollers  at  the 
ends,  and  unless  the  gage  is  exact  the  hammers  will  not  hit  the  spikes. 
The  machine  is  operated  by  two  men,  and  it  will  spike  about  a  half  mile 
of  track  per  day.  It  was  designed  by  Mr.  J.  Kerwin,  superintendent  of 
tracks  for  the  road  named,  and  is  illustrated  in  the  Railway  and  En- 
gineering Review  of  May  17,  1902. 

28.  The  Track-Laying  Crew. — Since  much  depends  upon  the  skill 
which  men  acquire  while  engaged  in  the  different  kinds  of  work  in  track- 
laying,  it  is  well  to  endeavor  to  get  men  who  will  remain  while  the  work 
lasts.  Almost  all  of  the  work  requires  lively  men,  to  expedite  the  work, 
of  course,  but  more  especially  because  there  is  much  to  be  done  where 
two  or  more  men  must  work  together,  and  each  at  intervals  which  begin 
only  after  some  other  has  made  ready;  that  is,  in  many  cases  one 
man  must  "wait  on  another  man's  motion."  Take,  for  instance,  two 
•spikers  at  work,  with  a  nipper.  Each  spiker  must  wait  while  the  other 
starts  his  spike,  and  both  spikers  must  wait  for  the  nipper  to  hold  up 
the  tie.  After  the  spike  is  driven  all  three  must  take  a  step  or  two  to 
the  next  tie  ahead.  So  it  is  that  a  large  portion  of  the  time  is  consumed 
in  getting  ready  and  only  a  comparatively  small,  portion  at  putting  down 
the  spikes;  and  thus  it  necessarily  goes  throughout  all  the  work.  But 
men  who  are  slow  of  motion,  unsteady  of  movement,  or  lazy,  always  "get 
ready"  with  deliberation;  and  here  is  where  much  time  can  be  killed 
and  not  be  so  easily  seen,  except  as  results  will  show.  There  is  but  little 
use  for  lazy  men  or  men  of  slow  motion  around  track-laying,  even  at 
any  price.  Men  who  are  lively,  steady  and  intelligent  will  do  much  more 
work  than  men  not  so  qualified,  and  do  it  better,  without  hurry,  worry, 
fatigue  or  grumbling. 

Men  working  with  the  rails,  commonly  called  "the  iron  men"- 
splicers,  spikers  and  rail-car  men — are  usually  paid  about  one-third  more 
wages  than  the  men  who  handle  the  ties.  It  is  well  to. so  grade  the  work, 
since  it  has  a  tendency  to  make  each  man  feel  some  responsibility  in 
his  position.  Men  who  work  with  the  rail  car,  including  the  foreman, 
should  all  be  able  to  speak  the  same  language,  and  they  should  be  strong, 
active  men;  no  old  or  infirm  men  should  be  put  at  handling  rails;  and 
it  is  a  place  where  awkward  men  of  any  age  are  liable  to  get  hurt.  Spikers 
should  be  reliable  men,  able  to  swing  a  hammer  freely;  muscle-bound 
men  can  never  spike  well.  Strappers  should  be  quick  and  steady,  although 
it  is  not  necessary  that  rapid  movements  should  be  constantly  kept  up. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  almost  any  kind  of  a  man  will  do 
for  "nipping"  or  holding  up  ties.  If  there  is  any  tool  a  slovenly  m3n 
will  handle  awkwardly  it  is  a  bar;  while  for  a  lazy  man  a  job  at  sitting 
on  a  bar  holding  up  ties  is  a  "picnic."  The  nipper  should  be  an  active 
man.  Instead  of  standing  and  watching  the  spiker  start  his  spike  he 
should  be  getting  his  block  and  bar  in  position  to  raise  the  tie  promptly 


188  TRACK-LAYING 

when  the  time  comes.  He  should  also  know  enough  intuitively  about  the 
laws  of  the  lever  to  fix  a  fulcrum  properly  for  his  bar,  so  as  to  get  a 
good  purchase.  Keliable,  industrious  boys  can  do  this  work.  Old  or 
infirm  men  do  well  at  distributing  spikes  and  bolts,  collecting  expansion 
shims,  carrying .  water,  etc.  Men  not  active  at  handling  tools  can  work 
on  titie  ties  better  than  anywhere  else,  but  lazy  men  should  be  discharged. 
The  two  or  more  men  who  line  and  space  the  ties  should  be  paid  the 
same  wages  as  the  iron  men,  because  they  are  engaged  in  work  which 
must  be  relied  upon. 

In  regard  to  the  length  of  track  a  given  number  of  men  can  lay 
in  a  day  it  is  difficult  to  give  definite  estimates,  since  so 'much  depends 
upon  local  conditions  and  'the  circumstances.  The  opportunity  for  dis- 
tributing the  ties  cuts  the  most  variable  figure  in  the  cost  of  labor  in 
track-laying.  The  weight  of  the  ties  and  their  quality,  as  to  whether 
hard  or  soft;  the  weight  of  the  rails,  and  manner  of  laying  them  (square 
or  broken  joints) ;  the  condition  of  the  roadbed  with  respect  to  grades,, 
curves,  open  culverts,  etc. ;  the  intelligence  of  the  foremen  and  the 
control  they  have  over  the  men,  as  well  as  the  general  intelligence  and 
willingness  of  the  men;,  the  success  of  the  system  of  forwarding  materials 
from  the  base  of  supplies ;  and  a  score  of  other  things — all  determine  very 
largely  the  number  of  men  required  to  lay  any  certain  length  of  track 
per  day. 

Where  the  ties  are  hauled  ahead  with  teams,  56  laborers,  three  fore- 
men and  11  teams  ought  to  lay  a  mile  of  track  in  10  hours,  under  aver- 
age conditions,  without  hurrying.  The  men  would  be  divided  up  about 
as  follows : 

4  men  loading  tie  wagons.  1  man  distributing  spikes. 

30  teamsters  and  10  teams  haul.  ties.  1  distrib.  bolts    and    collect,    expan. 

6  men  placing,  lining  and  spacing  ties.  shims. 

8  men  unloading  and  placing  rails*.  1  water  boy. 

2  head  strappers.  1  teamster,  1  team  haul,  rail  car. 

4  back  strappers. 

12  spikers.  56  men,  total  laborers. 

6  nippers. 


*These  men  unload  the  rails  from  the  supply  train,  load  the  rail  car  and 
lay  the  rails  to  place  on  the  ties. 

Where  the  ties  are  run  out  on  rail  cars  and  carried  ahead — one 
man  carrying  a  tie — 64  laborers,  three  foremen  and  two  teams  ought  to 
lay  a  mile  of  track  in  10  hours,  under  average  conditions,  without  hur- 
rying. This  arrangement  allows  21  men  to  unload  ties  from  cars,  load 
them  upon  the  rail  car,  and  carry  ahead  and  drop  them  upon  the  grade. 
Circumstances  might  so  require  that  to  keep  things  moving  smoothly  a 
slight  change  would  be  made  from  the  arrangement  given  and  the  men 
changed  around  to  some  extent;  as,  for  instance,  should  the  tie  men  get 
behind  in  their  work  the  rail  car  men  could  give  them  a  hand;  or  if 
the  force  at  splicing  and  spiking  be  not  able  to  keep  up,  the  rail  men 
could  be  shifted  for  awhile  to  assist  them.  It  is  practicable  to  get  enough 
men  together  to  lay  four  or  more  miles  of  track  per  day  of  10  hours; 
but,  all  things  considered,  where  time  is  not  the  most  important  element, 
it  probably  costs  least  per  mile  to  lay  about  1J  miles  per  day,  providing 
all  conditions  are  most  favorable. 

Two  men  working  together  can  lay  to  place,  line  and  space  about  $ 
mile  of  ties  per  day  of  10  hours.  One  man  can  put  on  and  bolt  up  about 
60  four-bolt  splices  in  a  day.  Two  men  and  a  nipper  ought  to  spike  about 
1100  ft.  of  track  in  soft  ties/or  750  ft,  of  track  in  hard  ties,  in  a  day.  Eight 


THE  TRACK-LAYING   CREW  189 

men  can  unload  from  supply  train,  load  on  rail  car,  unload  and  lay  to 
place  enough  30-ft.  average- weight  rails  for  a  mile  of  track  per  day; 
where  they  do  not  go  back  to  load  they  can -unload  from  a  rail  car  and 
lay  to  place  2  miles  per  day.  This  latter  arrangement  would  require  a 
•crew  part  of  the  time  to  load;  the  rest  of  the  time  they  could  be  put  at 
handling  ties.  Two  rail  cars  would  ^  be  needed.  The  rail  car  should 
.always  be  hauled  with  the  team,  whether  loaded  or  empty,  unless  when 
going  one  way  it  should  be  down  grade  sufficiently  for  the  car  to  run 
itself.  To  lay  to  place  the  rails  for  3  miles  of  track  per  day  requires  two 
sets,  or  about  15  men,  unloading  from  both  sides  of  the  rail  car  at  the 
same  time.  One  crew,  large  enough  to  pick  up  and  carry  the  rails  easily, 
•could  attend  to  the  loading  of  the  rail  cars.  The  outfit  train  would 
have  to  be  kept  close  up  to  the  work.  To  expedite  the  work  it  is  some- 
times the  practice  to  laj  only  half  of  the  ties  ahead  of  the  supply  train.  As' 
the  train  moves  along  the  remaining  ties  are  thrown  off  about  where 
they  are  needed  and  a  gang  working  in  rear  of  the  train  places  them  in 
the  track  and  completes  the  spiking. 

Track-Laying  Records. — In  order  to  show  what  has  been  done  in 
the  way  of  rapid  track-laying  some  official  records  of  work  on  the  Great 
Northern  Ry.  will  be  given.  The  materials  were  distributed  with  teams 
and  rail  cars  just  ahead  of  the  train,  and  the  work  throughout  was  done 
in  the  ordinary  way.  Between  Minot,  N.  D.,  and  Great  Falls,  Mont., 
during  the  month  of  August,  1887,  an  average  of  4.27  miles  of  track 
was  laid  per  day  of  10  hours.  The  force  was  distributed  as  follows: 

Unload  rails  and  load  iron  cars 24  Marking  and  adjusting  joint  ties. . .     4 

Rail  car  gang  13      Lining  ties  2 

Spikers    32       Hauling  ties   65  teams,  men  65 

Nippers 16      Distributing  spikes  ., 2 

Strappers  10      Lining  track  behind 8 

Loading  ties  26       Hauling  rails    6  horses,  men    3 

Distributing  ties  '  8 

Spacing  ties 4  Total  men .217 

Six  rail  cars  were  used,  and  as  soon  as  each  car  was  unloaded  at 
the  front  it  was  run  back  behind  the  spikers  and  taken  off  the  track 
When  the  last  of  the  six  cars  had  been  unloaded  the  other  five  vcre 
again  placed  upon  the  track  and  the  supply  train  moved  ahead.  The  best 
record  made  was  8.01  miles  of  track  laid  in  1LJ  hours,  the  force  being  dis- 
tributed as  follows : 

Hauling  ties    75   teams,   men  75      Spikers   38 

Loading  ties  28      Nippers  19 

Distributing  ties  10      Strappers  12 

Spacing  ties    4      Distributing  spikes 2 

Lining  ties   2      Lining  track    8 

Marking  and  placing  joint  ties....  4      Hauling  rails   6  horses,  men    3 

Unload,  flats  and  loading  iron  cars  24 

Unload,  iron  cars  and  placing  rails  13              Total  men 242 

This  day's  work  at  track-laying,  "from  one  -end,"  is  supposed  to  be 
the  best  on  record.  I  was  told  by  a  reliable  trackman,  who  worked  with 
the  rail -laying  crew  on  that  occasion,  that  the  same  party  of  13  men  unload- 
ed from  the  rail  cars  and  laid  down  every  rail  in  the  whole  distance  of  8 
miles.  Such  must  have  been  a  remarkable  test  of  human  endurance. 
On  another  day  (July  16),  working  from  daylight  to  dark,  7  miles 
and  1040  ft,  of  track  were  laid.  It  is  said  that  between  Apl.  2  and 
Xov.  17  of  that  year  the  same  outfit  laid  643  miles  of  track,  or  an  aver- 
age of  3J  miles  for  each  day  excepting  Sundays.  The  man  credited 
with  the  entire  charge  of  this  work,  including  the  organization  of  the 


190  TRACK-LAYING 

working  forces  and  the  arrangements  for  forwarding  materials  and  sup- 
plies, was'  Mr.  David  C.  Shepard,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn.  An  average  progress- 
of  three  miles  of  track  laid  per  day  and  occasional  records  of  four  miles- 
per  day,  with  160  to  185  men,  has  been  made  on  other  roads.  On  A  pi. 
28,  1869,  the  Central  Pacific  E.  E.  made  a  record  of  10  miles  of  track 
laid  in  one  day.  The  details  of  this  day's  work  I  have  been  unable  to 
get,  but  it  is  said  that  a  very  large  force  of  men  was  employed  and  that,, 
merely  to  make  a  predetermined  showing,  part  of  the  materials  were- 
hauled  out  ahead,  with  teams,  the  day  before. 

Some  data  on  laying  tie-plated  track  will  also  be  of  interest.  In 
building  the  Kersey  E.  E.,  in  1900,  the  method  followed  was  to  run  out 
the  rails  and  ties  together,  on  the  same  rail  car,  and  lay  only  half  of 
the  ties  in  advance  of  the  supply  train.  The  working  forces  were  dis- 
tributed as  follows :  Track-laying  gang,  1  foreman,  7  men  with  the- 
iron^car  trucking  rails  and  ties,  4  strappers,  4  spikers,  2  nippers,  1  lining 
ties  (total  19)  ;  supply  gang,  1  foreman,  12  unloading  ties  and  rails- 
and  loading  upon  iron  cars,  5  at  supplying  joint  fastenings,  spikes,  etc.,. 
and  picking  up  scattered  material  (total  18) ;  back-tieing  gang,  1  fore- 
man, 4  spikers,  2  nippers,  1  lining  ties,  4  unloading  ties,  spikes,  etc.  (total 
12).  In  the  three  gangs  there  was  a  grand  total  of  3  foremen  and  46- 
men.  The  track  was  laid  with  85-lb.  rails,  Weber  6-bolt  splices,  and 
Q  &  W  3-hole  tie  plates  were  used  on  all  curves.  The  maximum  curvature 
was  124-  deg.,  the  average  curvature  5J  deg.  and  the  curves  constituted 
43^  per  cent  of  the  length  of  the  road.  The  tie  plates  were  applied  to 
the  ties  by  a  swedging  gang  in  advance  of  the  laying  of  the  rails.  The 
track  was  laid  on  a  descending  grade  of  2  per  cent,  so  that  teams  were 
not  required  to  haul  the  two  rail  cars  that  were  used.  The  cars  con- 
taining material  for  back-tieing  were  cut  loose  some  distance  in  the  rear 
and  let  down  by  means  of  the  brakes  toward  the  material  train  ahead. 
The  average  length  of  track  laid  per  dav  was  2870  ft.  and  the  maximum 
3290  ft 

^^  In  building  the  Point  Eichmond  extension  of  the  San  Francisco  & 
/  San  Joaquin  Valley  Ey.  material  for  1  mile  of  track,  including  4  car- 
loads of  rails  and  6  car-loads  of  ties,  was  carried  out  from  the  nearest 
side-track  each  morning.  The  train  was  made  up  in  the  following  order: 
Pioneer  car,  3  cars  ties,  2  cars,  rails,  3  cars  ties,  2  cars  rails  and  the 
tool  car.  All  the  ties  had  tie  plates  embedded  in  them,  in  the  yard. 
before  shipment.  The  tie  plates^  used  at  the  joints,  however,  had  a  dif- 
ferent spacing  of  the  spike  holes  from  those  used  on  intermediate  ties. 
and  after  the  ties  were  laid  one  man,  called  the  "tie-plater,"  took  out 
the  ordinary  plates  and  put  in  the  joint  plates.  During  October,  1899, 
an  average  force  of  44 -J  men  laid  an  average  of  2850  ft.  of  track  per 
day,  the  maximum  day's  work,  with  57  men,  being  5400  ft.  of  track. 
The  rails  weighed  62^  Ibs.  per  yard  and  were  laid  with  broken  joints. 
During  February  and  March,  1900,  an  average  force  of  48  men  aver- 
aged 3500  ft.  of  track  laid  per  day,  the  maximum  day's  work  being 
4500  ft.  of  track  laid  with  52|  men.  The  rails  were  of  75-lb.  section  and 
were  laid  broken  jointed.  The  rail-car  men  unloaded  the  rails  from 
the  material  train  and  loaded  them  upon  the  rail  car.  The  fastenings — 
splice  bars,  bolts  and  spikes — were  also  loaded  upon  the  rail  car,  with 
the  rails,  and  dropped  off  at  proper  intervals  by  the  heelers.  The  tie? 
were  hauled  out  on  a  rail  car  and  carried  around  to  the  front  by 
The  general  distribution  of  the  men  was  about  as  follows : 


THE  TRACK-LAYING  CREW  191 

General  foreman  .  . 1       Spike  peddler  1 

Sub-foremen ". ." 3       Spacing  ties  2 

Strappers 4       Spacing  rails  and  head  bolting 2 

Rail-car  men 10       Back  bolting 2 

Spikers  8       Carrying  ties   10 

Nippers  4       Picking  up  scattered  material 1 

Tie  line  man 1 

Lining  ties 2  Total  men 52 

Tie-plater    1 

It  is  doubtful  whether  an  experienced  man  would  estimate  closely 
the  cost  of  laying  any  certain  piece  of  track  of  considerable  length,  no 
matter  how  good  his  facilities  for  getting  statistics.  There  are_so  many 
outside  circumstances  to  affect  the  work,  and  so  jnany  delays  that  cannot 
be  foreseen,  that  frequently  old  contractors  have  lost  heavily  after  having 
based  their  estimates  upon  conditions  which  their  experience  led  them 
to  think  were  like  or  similar  to  those  to  be  met  in  the  work  at  hand. 
The  cost  has  ranged  from  $175  to  $500  ger  mile'.  An  average  rate  for 
long-distance  track-laying  would  perhaps  be  somewhere  between  $200 
and  $250,  for  common  labor  at  $2  per  day  without  board. 

On  lines  where  there  are  numerous  bridges  to  be  built  it  is  frequently 
the  case  that  track-laying  is  seriously  delayed.  Especially  is  such  liable 
to  occur  in  a  country  where  suitable  timber  for  trestles  or  other  bridges 
cannot  be  found  and  the  country  is  badly  cut  up  and  without  roads 
over  which  material  may  be  hauled  for  the  construction  of  the  bridges 
in  advance  of  the  track-laying.  It  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to 
cut  out  the  timber  for  the  framed  wooden  bridges  in  advance  and  have 
it  ready  to  be  put  together  as  soon  as  it  arrives  on  the  ground.  Then 
as  the  track-laying  forces  approach  the  site  of  the  bridge  the  timber 
is  shipped  to  the  end  of  the  track,  hauled  ahead  by  teams  and  erected 
as  rapidly  as  possible.  Another  scheme  where  streams  are  met  and 
bridges  are  not  ready,  if  not  too  high,  is  to  "shoofly"  and  go  around 
on  the  ground,  or  on  cribbing,  rather  than  to  stop  and  wait  for  the 
bridge  builders.  When  track  is  in  this  way  laid  around  some  point 
where  a  bridge  or  fill  is  to  be  built  across,  or  is  laid  temporarily  on  the 
line,  but  at  a  lower  level  than  the  bridge  or  fill,  measurements  should 
bo  taken  across  with  a  steel  tape  to  get  the  distance  on  the  permanent 
line  at  grade;  this  is  to  determine  where  the  joints  should  begin  in 
laying  rails  on  the  other  side,  so  that  after  the  bridge  or  fill  is  com- 
pleted rails  can  be  put  in  without  requiring  short  pieces.  Allowance 
should  be  made,  for  expansion,  and  if  the  measurements  cannot  be  taken 
on  the  grade  of  the  permanent  line,  plumb  lines  should  be  used.  Where 
piles  are  to  be  driven,  as  in  crossing  swamps,  small  streams,  gullies,  etc., 
the  track  is  sometimes  laid  on  temporary  cribbing  on  the  permanent 
line,  at  or  near  grade.  A  temporary  cribbing  can  be  made  quickly  and 
cheaply  with  cross  ties,  sawed  ones  being  preferred.  The  ties  are  easily 
handled  and  are  not  injured  when  so  used.  If  the  ravine  or  other 
depression  crossed  is  deep  the  crib  should  consist  of  several  tiers  and 
sometimes  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  lay  the  ties  double,  that  is,  two 
ties  side  by  side  in  each  tier,  in  order  to  make  a  high  crib  stable  enough 
to  bear  the  locomotive.  In  cases  where  the  track-laying  must  be  delayed 
on  account  of  bridge  building  or  for  other  cause,  it  is  well  to  send  the 
men  back  to  surface  and  ballast  what  has  been  laid,  and  so  keep  them 
at  work.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  begin  surfacing  as  soon  as  the  track- 
laying  gets  well  started,  as  then  the  crew  so  employed  will  be  a  reserve 
force  from  which  men  may  be  drawn  to  recruit  the  track-laying  gang 
as  the  laborers  become  sick,  sore  or  dissatisfied  and  fall  out. 


192  TRACK-LAYING 

29.  Tools    for    Laying  Track. — Allowing    for    breakage    and    for 
changing  men  from  some  kinds  of  work  to  other  kinds  at  times,  the  fol- 
lowing tools  will  be  needed  for  a  track-laying  crew  of  64 -men: 

26  spike  hammers  2  Red  lanterns,  2  red  flags. 

18  pinch  bars.  Extra    white  and  red  lantern  globes. 

12  track  wrenches.  3  monkey  wrenches,  6,  8  and  12-in. 

16  picks.  2  nail  claw  hammers. 

4  pinch  bars  3V2   ft.  long.  1  steel  tape  100  ft.  long. 

2  water  buckets,  4  dippers.  1  linen  tape  50  ft.  long. 
72  track  shovels.  6  track  gages. 

3  adzes.  2  crosscut  saws. 

4  chopping  axes.  2  hand  saws. 

2  hand  axes.  4  water  barrels. 

4  rail  forks.  2  tie  squares. 

6  rail  tongs.  1  rail  curver. 

2  ratchet  drills  and  bits.  1  rail  bender  (jim-crow). 
50  expansion  shims,  %  in.  2  curving  hooks. 

100  expansion  shims,  %  in.  2  track  levers. 

200  expansion  shims,  1-16  in.  1  tie  line,  1,000  ft.  long. 

1  grindstone.  Flat,    round,    quarter-round,    eighth- 

3  sixteen-pound  sledges.  round,  and  three-cornered  files, 

3  adz  handles  (extra).  three  or  four  sizes  of  each. 

48  spike  ham'r  h'ndl's  (extra).  4  horses  or  mules,  with  harness  for 

12  pick  handles  (extra).  hitching  double,  single  or  in  tan- 

4  ax  handles  (extra).  dem. 

2  track  jacks.  2  lumber  wagons. 

2  tie-spacing  poles.  2  large  tool  boxes. 
1  drawshave.                                                   2  thermometers. 

4  claw  bars.  1  rail  car  clamp  gage. 

1  push  car.  ,  24  track  chisels. 

3  rail  cars.  3  one-inch  ropes   for  rail  cars,  ring 
1  hand  car.  and  hook  on  each. 

1  keg  10  d.  wire  nails.  1  chalk  line. 

1  keg  20  d.  wire  nails.  1  track  level. 

1  keg  40  d.  wire  nails.  6  cold  chisels. 

1  keg  60  d.  wire  nails.  6  switch  locks. 

3  oilers.  4  doz.  torpedoes. 

4  gallons  black  oil.  1  tool  car. 

4  white  lanterns  1  brace  and  6  bits. 

1  two-inch  auger. 

In  case  it  is  intended  to  turn  the  crew  to  surfacing  and  ballasting 
at  times  there  would  be  needed,  in  addition  to  the  above,  1  level  board, 
2  track  jacks  and  32  tamping  picks,  where  broken  or  crushed  stone 
ballast  is  used.  A  small  car  about  3  ft.  long,  consisting  essentially 
of  a  box  about  2  ft.  long,  12  ins.  wide  and  6  ins.  deep,  mounted  on  two 
double-flanged  wheels  in  tandem,  so  as  to  be  pushed  along  on  one  rail, 
is  sometimes  furnished  the  man  who  distributes  or  "peddles"  the  spikes. 
It  will  carry  about  100  Ibs.  of  spikes  and  is  quite  convenient.  Another 
receptacle  sometimes  furnished  the  spike  peddler  is  a  strong  apron  of 
thick  leather  or  coarse  bagging,  which  he  may  fill  with  spikes  and 
carry  in  convenient  position  for  distribution.  The  rail  fork  (E,  Fig.  295), 
included  in  the  list  of  tools,  bears  some  resemblance  to  a  track  wrench.  It  is 
generally  30  to  36  ins.  long  and  the  head  is  slotted  }x4  ins.  In  use  the 
forked  end  is  thrust  straddle  the  web,  at  the  end  of  the  rail.  It  is  most 
serviceable  in  handling  or  turning  over  rails  in  piles,  or  in  lifting  them 
clear  of  the  pile  so  as  to  get  hold  with  the  hands  or  get  a  chance  to 
pry  with  a  bar.  It  comes  handy  in  unloading  rails  from  cars,  in  track- 
laying  and  on  work  trains  when  distributing  rails  for  renewals. 

30.  Track-Laying     Machines. — A     track-laying     machine     is     an 
arrangement  of  devices  for  running  ties  and  rails  to  the  head  end  of  a 
material    train.     The    Holman    machine    consists    of    a    series  of  tram- 
wavs    or    rollers    about   20    ins.    wide,    arranged    in    frames    or    sections 


TRACK-LAYING    MACHINES  193 

about  30  ft.  long,  which  are  supported  upon  brackets  attached  to  the 
stake  pockets  at  the  sides  of  ordinary  flat  cars -on  which  the  materials 
for  laying  the  track  have  been  forwarded,  no  change  in  the  cars  being 
required.  The  brackets  are  in  adjustable  lengths,  so  that  each  tramway 
may  be  inclined  slightly  from  the  rear  forward.  The  brackets  which  sup- 
port the  tie  trams  at  the  rear  stand  above  the  level  of  the  car  floor,  about 
knee  high,  while  those  at  the  front  end  are  suspended  below  the  level 
of  the  car  floor.  The  sections  are  connected  up  continuously,  forming 
an  inclined,  rollway  the  whole  length  of  the  train,  over  which  the  ties 
and  rails  are  pushed  to  the  front,  to  be  lifted  and  placed  on  the_  roadbed 
by  the  track-layers.  The  rollway  for  forwarding  the  rails  is  arranged  on 
one  side  of  the  train  (left  hand  facing  the  front)  and  that  for  the  ties 
on  the  other  side.  The  head  car  of  the  train  carries  a  derrick  or  braced 
tower  supporting  stays  for  the  chute  or  end  section  of  the  tie  rollway, 
which  is  extended  beyond  the  car  35  or  40  ft.  The  rail  tramway  extends 
ahead  of  the  car  8  ft.  On  this  car,  called  the  "pioneer  car"  or  "pilot 
car,"  are  carried  the  tool  boxes  and  the  spikes,  bolts  and  splices  for  each 
train-load  of  material.  The  spikes  and  bolts  are  usually  carried  in  a 
large  box  (called  the  "pig  trough")  7  ft.  long  suspended  at  the  head 
end  of  the  car  crosswise  the  track,  about  hip  high.  As  the  ties  and 
rails  are  placed  in  position  two  strappers  and  four  spikers  quickly  fasten 
each  pair  of  rails,  placing  only  two  bolts  in  each  splice  and  spiking  only 
the  center  and  quarter  ties.  The  train  advances  one  rail  length  at  a 
time,  the  locomotive  engineer  at  the  rear  taking  signals  from  a  man 
posted  on  top  of  the  frame  on  the  pilot  car.  The  work  of  completing- 
the  splicing  and  spiking  is  attended  to  in  rear  of  the  train,  only  such 
work  being  done  in  front  as  is  necessary  to  make  safe  for  the  train  to 
pass.  The  splice  bolts  are  not  fully  tightened,  and  it  is  also  quite  com- 
monly the  practice  to  place  only  half  the  ties  in  advance  of  the  train. 

The  ordinary  and  most  convenient  rate  of  laying  track  with  this 
machine,  when  full  tieing  ahead,  is  1J  miles  per  day.  The  force  required 
at  this  speed  includes  40  to  45  men  with  the  machine  and  22  to  28  men 
behind  the  train,  the  ordinary  distribution  being  about  as  follows :  In 
front  of  the  machine,  6  or  8  tie  carriers,  1  tie  liner,  1  chute  man,  6 
or  8  rail  carriers,  2  bolters,  2  nippers,  4  spikers,  1  foreman ;  on  the  train, 
2  men  unloading  rails,  two  men  pushing  rails,  14  to  16  men  handling 
ties;  behind  the  train,  2  tie  spacers,  8  to  12  spikers,  4  to  6  nippers,  3 
bolters,  1  spike  peddler,  4  men  lining  track,  1  foreman.  With  larger 
crews  IJ  to  2  miles  of  track  can  be  laid  each  day.  In  the  construction 
of  the  Washington  County  E.  E.,  in  Maine,  in  1899,  a  crew  of  110  men 
working  with  a  Holman  machine  laid  10,300  ft.  of  track,  fully  tied  and 
spiked,  in  9  hours.  On  the  Pacific  extension  of  the  Great  Northern 
Ey.,  in  1891,  the  average  speed  with  a  Holman  machine  for  82  short 
clays  during  the  winter  was  more  than  1^  miles  per  day,  and  in  25  days 
the  average  speed  was  2  miles  per  day;  the  best  record  was  140  stations, 
or  2.65  miles  in  one  day. 

The  method  of  operation  just  described  applies  to  what  is  now 
known  as  the  old  Holman  machine,  and  was  in  vogue  for  many  years. 
Important  changes  have  taken  place,  however,  the  first  of  the  improved 
machines'  being  used  in  1901.  With  the  old  machine  the  cars  loaded  with 
rails  were  placed  ahead  of  those  loaded  with  ties,  or  in  rear  of  the 
pioneer  car.  With  the  new  machine  the  former  plan  of  making  up  the  con- 
struction, train  is  entirely  reversed,  the  cars  loaded  with  ties  now  being 
ahead,  coupled  in  directly  behind  the  pioneer  or  tool  car.  The  cars 
loaded  with  rails  are  placed  in  rear  of  the  ties.  By  this  arrangement 


194 


TRACK-LAYING 


fewer  tie  sliovers  are  needed,  thus  economizing  in  the  number  of  men 
required  to  operate  the  machine  and  also  to  some  extent  expediting  the 
delivery  of  the  ties.  The  rails,  instead  of  being  pushed  ahead  singly,  as 
on  the  old  machine,  are  now  coupled  together  with  trace  chains  or  with 
regular  splices  and  bolts,  and  pulled  forward  in  a  continuous  string  by 
means  of  a  drum  and  cable  on  the  pioneer  car.  This  drum  is  on  the  end 
of  a  shaft  extending  beyond  the  side  of  the  car,  and  is  located  over  the 


x 

oc 


CO 

r 

«T 


center  of  the  rail  tram.  The  drum  is  operated  from  an  axle  of  the 
car,  by  means  of  a  sprocket  wheel  and  chain.  The  rails  are  run  forward 
over  the  tram  in  two  lines,  side  by  side,  until  they  reach  the  pioneer 
car,  where  they  take  separate  rollers,  to  facilitate  uncoupling  the  splices 
as  they  are  lifted  down  to  the  ties.  The  cable  is  provided  with  .a  clamp, 
which  is  carried  back  and  attached  to  the  rail.  The  mechanism  is  so 
adjusted  that  the  rails  are  pulled  forward  at  the  same  speed  as  that 


TRACK-LAYING     MACHINES  195 

of  the  train;  and  as  the  train  moves  forward  the  length  of  a  rail  a 
new  pair  of  rails  is  coupled  on  at  the  rear.  As  each  successive  forward 
movement  is  completed  a  clutch  connecting  the  winding  drum  to  the 
shaft  is  thrown  out  of  gear  and  the  clamp  is  carried  back  a  rail  length 
-and  attached  to  the  rails  for  another  pull  ahead.  The  operation  is 
repeated  each  time  a  length  of  'rails  is  taken  down  by  the  rail  gang.  The 
new  arrangement  dispenses  with  four  or  five  tie  tramways  and  attach- 
ments, which  are  heavier  than  the  rail  tramways,  thereby  saving  labor 
pud  lime  in  putting  up  the  machine.  A  foreman  and  30  to  33  men 
distributed  in  front  of  the  machine  and  on  the  train  can  lay  l^jnjles  of 
track  per  day. 

An  interesting  improvement  of  the  Holman  machine,  devised  by 
Mr.  James  Burke,  formerly  general  roadmaster  of  the  Minneapolis,  St. 
Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ey.,  has  been  in  service  on  that  road,  having 
been  first  put  to  use  in  laying  the  Bismarck  extension  from  Kulm  to 
Braddock,  N.  D.,  80  miles,  during  October,  1898 ;  since  which  time 
other  machines  have  been  built  and  used  by  railway  contractors.  The 
improvement  consists  in  a  derrick  erected  at  the  front  end  of  the  pilot 
<?ar,  to  lift  the  rail  from  the  end  of  the  tram  and  lower  it  to  position  on 
the  ties,  the  purpose  of  the  device  being  to  do  the  work  which  is  usually 
performed  by  a  rail-lifting  gang.  The  arrangement  is  illustrated  in 
Fig.  34,  which  shows  a  Holman  track-laying  machine,  the  rail  tram  of 
which  appears  to  view  at  the  front  side  of  the  pilot  car  and  the  tie  tram 
or  chute  at  the  rear  side.  The  derrick  mast,  which  is  stayed  to  the 
pilot  car,  carries  a  platform  near  its  top  for  the  pilot,  who  signals  the 
engineer  for  the  movements  of  the  train.  The  rail  is  lifted  by  a  chain 
that  winds  upon  a  windlass  which  is  attached  to  the  mast  of  the  derrick 
and  is  operated  by  one  man.  In  the  operation  of  the.  machine  one  man 
stands  at  the  windlass  of  the  derrick,  another  attends  to  the  grapple  and 
one  man  at  each  end  of  the  rail  guides  it  to  place.  Before  the  middle 
point  of  the  rail  travels  beyond  the  end  of  the  tram  the  rail  is  caught 
by  the  grapple,  at  about  the  middle,  and  almost  simultaneously  by  the 
man  at  each  end  of  the  rail.  At  the  same  time  the  man  at  the  windlass 
manipulates  the  same  to  lift  the  rail  and  sustain  it  entirely  from  the 
derrick,  when  the  two  men  at  the  ends  of  the  rail  swing  it  into  its  position 
on  the  ties.  The  man  at  the  rear  end  of  the  rail  heels  the  same  to  the 
forward  end  of  the  rail  previously  laid,  while  the  man  at  the  forward  end 
of  the  rail  moves  it  to  proper  alignment.  In  this  way  the  rails  are  laid 
without  any  lifting  by  hand,  and  the  arrangement  does  away  with  the 
laborious  and  slower  way  of  carrying  them  by  hand  from  a  tram  which 
projects  only  a  few  feet  beyond  the  front  end  of  the  car. 

On  one  occasion  this  machine,  in  10  hours,  handled  the  material 
for  laying  12,000  ft.  or  2.28  miles  of  track.  This  track  was  laid  by  93 
men  stationed  as  follows:  12  men  carrying  ties  from  the  end  of  the 
tram,  1  man  running  the  tie  line,  1  running  the  tie  spacing  poles,  1 
holding  ties  at  the  end  of  the  tram,  1  tapping  rails  back  with  the  spike 
maul  to  insure  proper  expansion,  3  handling  rails  with  the  derrick,  1  on 
windlass  of  the  derrick,  3  spikers  and  3  nippers  ahead  of  the  pilot  car, 
1  gage  bearer,  2  bolters  ahead  of  the  pilot  car,  1  bolter  on  the  platform 
putting  on  angle  bars  as  the  rails  were  shoved  by  him  in  the  tram,  1 
man  on  the  pilot  car  keeping  bolts,  spikes  and  angle  bars  in  place,  6 
men  putting  ties  into  the  tram,  12  pulling  ties  to  the  front,  2  moving 
Tails  into  the  tram,  3  pulling  rails.  In  rear  of  the  train  there  were 
10  spikers,  5  nippers,  2  spacing  ties  under  joints,  2  spike  and  bolt 
peddlers,  6  bolters,  6  men  lining  track  and  one  man  carrying  water. 


196 


TRACK-LAYING 


There  was  1  foreman  in  charge  ahead  of  the  pilot  car,  1  in  charge  of  the- 
men  on  the  train,  1  in  charge  of  the  men  in  rear  of  the  train,  1  lining 
track  and  1  general  foreman.  One  conductor  and  two  brakemen  handled 
the  train.  The  track  was  laid  with  60-lb  rails,  16  ties  to  the  rail  and 
four-bolt  angle  bars.  This  was  the  largest  day's  work.  In  laying  77 
miles  of  track  the  average  fair  day's  work' was  two  miles,  with  a  few  less- 
men.  According  to  official  statements  this  derrick  put  the  question  of 
rails  out  of  the  way,  so  far  as  the  speed  of  track-laying  was  concerned,  as 
then  the  amount  of  track  that  could  be  laid  was  determined  only  by 
the  number  of  ties  that  could  be  got  to  the  front  through  the  tie  trams, 
carried  away  from  the  end  and  placed  for  the  rails  to  be  laid  upon.  Pre- 
viously to  that  time  the  part  of  the  work  most  responsible  for  delays 
was  the  slow  and  laborious  way  of  handling  the  rails  by  hand.  When  it 
was  desired  to  lay  two  miles  of  track  per  day,  it  required  14  men  to  handle 
70-lb  rails  and  12  men  for  60-lb.  rails.  The  spikers  were  obliged  to 
wait  until  the  second  rail  was  laid  before  they  could  drive  any  of  the 
spikes,  there  being  so  many  men  in  the  way,  and  the  large  body  of  rail 
men  were  then  obliged  to  wait  for  the  spiking  to  be  done.  With  the- 


Fig.  35. — Roberts  Track-Laying  Machine. 

derrick  and  the  rail  tram  extended  out  to  16  feet  ahead  of  the  car  the 
rail  first  to  be  laid  when  the  stop  is  made  is  out  and  suspended,  held 
by  the  derrick  ready  to  be  dropped  the  instant  the  car  stops.  By  this 
time  the  second  rail  has  traveled  forward  as  far  as  the  point  where  it 
is  to  be  laid,  and  is  quickly  dropped  to  its  position  on  the  ties.  .  It  is 
figured  that  the  derrick  saves  from  $12  to  $14  per  day,  over  the  old 
method  of  lifting  the  rails  by  hand;  and  not  only  this,  but  it  increases 
the  efficiency  of  the  whole  machine. 

The  Roberts  Machine. — The  general  arrangement  of  the  Roberts 
track-laying  machine  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Holman,  except  that  in 
the  former  the  tram  rollers  are  driven  by  steam.  The  conveyor  part  of 
the  Eoberts  machine  (Fig.  35)  consists  of  rollers  arranged  in  framed 
sections  about  32  ft.  long,  supported  at  a  plane  just  below  the  bed  of  the 
cars  on  brackets  hung  from  the  stake  pockets.  These  tramways  may  be- 
attached  to  any  kind  of  car — a  gondola,  box  or  stock  car,  as  well  as  a 
flat  car.  The  supporting  brackets  are  inserted  from  the  bottom  of  the 
stake  pockets,  so  that  ties  which  project  over  the  edge  of  flat  cars  do- 
not  interfere  with  the  work  of  attaching  the  machine  to  the  cars.  Alter- 
nate rollers  are  bevel  geared  to  a  shaft  extending  the  length  of  the  carsr 


TRACK-LAYING     MACHINES  197 

driven  by  an  upright  steam  engine  on  the  pilot  car,  taking  steam  from 
the  locomotive.  The  shaft  is  in  sections  and  provided  with  universal 
couplings,  so  as  to  allow  for  angularity  occasioned  by  curves  in  the  track. 
As  half  of  the  rollers  (alternate  ones)  are  idle,  the  live  ones  on  the  tie 
side  are  corrugated  or  fluted,  so  as  to  bite  into  the  tie  and  force  it 
along.  The  upper  surface  of  the  live  rollers  is  about  1  in.  higher  than 
the  idle  ones,  which  throws  most  of  the  weight  on  the  live  rollers.  The 
tie  trams  can  be  operated  when  filled  with  ties  their  entire  length,  the 
maximum  rate  of  delivery  being  50  ties  per  minute.  The  connection 
between  the  •  driving  shafts  and  the  engine  is  by  friction  clutch,  so  as 
to  prevent  breaking  in  case  of  clogging  or  sudden  stopping  of  "the  shaft 
in  any  manner.  The  rails  are  carried  along  one  side  of  the  train  and 
the  ties  along  the  other,  as  in  the  Holman  machines,  but  the  two  sets  of 
shafting  may  be  driven  independently,  if  desired.  The  flats  loaded  with 
rails  are  usually  placed  ahead  of  the  locomotive,  immediately  in  rear 
of  the  machine  car,  and  the  ties  behind  the  locomotive;  it  is  necessary 
therefore  to  arrange  the  rollway  so  as  to  carry  the  ties  past  the  locomotive. 
In  this  machine  the  tie  chute  is  extended  60  ft.  ahead  of  the  pilot  or 
machine  car,  such  arrangement  enabling  the  tie  men  to  keep  out  of  the 
way  of  the  men  laying  the  rails,  which  are  delivered  but  a  little  in 
advance  of  the  end  of  the  car.  In  order  to  allow  room  for  bolting,  the 
end  rail  chute  extends  6  ft.  ahead  of  the  end  of  the  car.  The  front  end 
of  the  machine  car  is  used  to  carry  splice  bars,  bolts  and  spikes,  where 
they  will  be  within  easy  reach  of  the  track-layers.  The  rear  part  of  the 
car  carries  tool  boxes  and  such  short  pieces  of  rail  as  may  be  necessary. 

In  the  operation  of  the  machine  eight  men  are  required  on  the  train, 
in  the  following  positions:  Four  men  throwing  ties  into  the  tramways, 
2  men  loading  rails  into  the  rail  trams,  1  man  to  operate  the  engine  on 
the  pilot  car,  and  one  oiler  and  pilot-car  assistant.  To  facilitate  close  move- 
ment and  prevent  running  off  the  end  of  the  track  a  brake  is  set  on  each 
end  of  the  train,  to  take  out  the  slack  between  the  cars.  The  locomotive 
engineer  is  signaled  by  means  of  a  small  whistle  attached  to  the  steam  pip- 
ing on  the  pilot  car.  A  feature  of  great  convenience  in  the  operation  of  the 
machine  is  the  flexibility  of  which  it  is  capable  in  the  delivery  of  mate- 
rial, it  being  equally  convenient  to  forward  pieces  from  any  car  of  the 
train  at  any  time,  and  in  any  desired  order.  Thus  if  hardwood  ties  are 
to  be  used  on  the  curves  and  softwood  ties  on  the  tangents  the  cars  may 
be  coupled  into  the  train  in  any  convenient  order  and  the  ties  of  particu- 
lar quality  sent  forward  on  the  trams  as  required,  without  reference  to 
the  location  of  the  car  or  cars  on  which  they  are  carried.  The  same  con- 
venience of  delivery  applies  also  to  the  forwarding  of  curved  or  short 
rails  from  whatever  car  of  the  train  they  are  on,  and  just  at  the  particular 
time  or  place  they  may  be  in  demand.  For  the  building  of  temporary 
structures  where  small  bridge  or  culvert  openings  occur  the  timber  or 
other  material  may  be  carried  on  extra  cars  at  the  rear  of  the  train  and 
sent  forward  over  the  tramways  as  needed.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  the 
labor  required  in  connection  with  the  operation  of  the  machine  and  the 
speed  of  delivery  are  independent  of  the  length  of  the  train,  since  the 
material  requires  no  attention  from  the  time  it  is  put  into  the  trams  until 
it  arrives  at  the  front.  From  the  fact  that  no  labor  is  required  to  push 
the  material  forward  the  practice  in  vogue  when  using  this  machine  is 
to  full  tie  the  track  ahead.  As  the  speed  of  delivery  is  regulated  by  steam 
power  and  the  work  of  throwing  ties  into  the  trams  nothing  is  to  be  gained 
in  speed  by  half  tieing  ahead  of  the  train. 

The  usual  method  of  procedure  with  the  Eoberts  machine1  is  to  full 


198 


TRACK-LAYING 


tie,  half  bolt  and  quarter  spike  the  track  ahead  of  the  train,  completing 
the  work  with  a  gang  of  bolters  and  spikers  in  the  rear.  The  convenient 
average  speed  of  track-laying  seems  to  be  about  2  miles  per  day,  with  a 
capacity  for  better  records  by  rushing  the  work.  The  force  required  at  a 
2-mile  gait  is  three  foremen  and  65  to  80  men,  all  told,  distributed  about 
as  follows:  Ahead  of  train,  8  placing  rails,  8  to  10  carrying  ties,  4  head 
spikers,  2  head  nippers,  3  head  strappers,  1  tie  liner  (total  26  to  28  men)  ;  on 
machine  and  train,  8  men,  as  already  noted ;  in  rear  gang,  4  to  6  back  bolt- 
ers, 2  spike  and  bolt  peddlers,  12  to  20  back  spikers,  6  to  10  back  nippers,  £ 
spacing  ties,  5  lining  track  (total  31  to  45  men).  In  laying  the  Columbia  £ 
Western  branch  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ky.,  in  1899,  the  average  speed 
with  this  machine  was  1000  ft.  of  track  laid,  complete,  per  hour.  In. 
this  work  no  spiking  was  done  in  advance  of  the  machine  or  train.  The 
rails  were  held  to  gage  by  "bridle  bars,"  two  in  each  rail  length  on 
tangents  and  three  on  curves.  These  bars  consisted  of  f-in.  rods  flattened 
at  the  ends  and  turned  up  to  hook  over  the  rail  flange,  on  the  o'utside,  with 
a  slot  at  the  inside  edge  of  the  rail  flange,  into  which  a  spike  was  dropped  to- 
secure  the  rail.  The  crew  ahead  of  the  machine  contained  22  to  24  men,  in- 
cluding 1  tie  line  stretcher,  8  to  10  tie  carriers,  1  tie  marker,  2  tie  liners,  8 
men  placing  rails,  and  2  strappers.  At  the  most  rapid  rate  a  pair  of  rails 
was  laid  every  minute,  and  sometimes  a  little  quicker.  In  rear  of  the  train 


£a*)Sur  -Carload of ffa/s 


Fig.  36. — Details  of  Harris  Track-Laying  Machine. 

the  bridle  or  gage  bars  were  taken  off  and  sent  forward  over  the  tie  trams  in 
a  long,  narrow  box.  The  tie  plates,  which  were  used,  were  dropped  off  the 
train  and  placed  under  the  rails  at  the  rear.  The  grades'  being  heavy,  two 
medium-weight  consolidation  locomotives  were  required  to  push  14  car-loads 
of  material.  The  track-laying  machine  would  work  on  14-deg.  curves,  but 
not  on  a  22-deg.  curve  on  which  it  was  tried.  A  night  train  crew  brought  up 
during  each  night  the  loaded  cars  for  the  next  day  and  at  noon  did  the- 
switching  and  made  up  the  material  train  for  the  afternoon.  In  extending 
the  St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco  E.  R.  from  Sapulpa,  Ind.  Ter.,  to  Sherman. 
Tex.,  in  1900,  2.27  miles  of  track  was  laid  each  day  of  10  hours  with  a 
Roberts  track-laying  machine,  "without  difficulty;"  and  during  the  same 
year,  in  laying  extensions  to  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry.,  in  Iowa,  a 
machine  of  the  same  type  made  a  record  of  2J  miles  per  average  day  of 
9  hours. 

In  the  extension  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Mexico  Ry.  southwest 
from  Liberal,  Kan.,  a  Roberts  track-laying  machine  was  used,  and  when 
this  work  was  started,  in  1901,  it  was  decided  to  call  2J  miles  of  track  a 
day's  work,  regardless  of  the  time  taken  in  laying  the  same.  This  work 
was  invariably  performed  in  seven  hours.  The  material  was  taken  out 
in  two  trains:  one  in  the  early  morning,  the  men  returning  to  camp  as 


TRACK-LAYING     MACHINES  199 

soon  as  this  was  laid,  when  the  second  train  would  be  taken  out.  The 
best  time  made  in  laying  1J  miles  of  track  (half  a  day's  work)  was 
three  hours  fiat.  This  was  done  several  times  when  the  grade  was 
favorable.  The  track-laying  force  consisted,  on  an  average,  of  190  men. 
The  steel  was  of  80-lb.  section,  with  Continuous  joint  splices.  The  ties 
were  oak  and  hard  pine.  The  surfacing  gang,  of  about  250  men,  followed 
the  front  as  closely  as  practicable,  generally  one  side-track  in  rear  of  the 
front  camp.  The  telegraph  line  was  built  as  rapidly  as  the  track  was  laid, 
the  telegraphic  supplies  forming  a  part  of  the  track-laying  material 
train.  The  fence  gang  was  .kept  immediately  in  rear  of  the  surfacers. 
The  work  of  completing  the  line  was  practically  finished  simultaneously, 
in  so  far  as  track,  telegraph  line  and  fencing  were  concerned.  The  only 
delays  sustained  were  those  incident  to  overtaking  the  graders  occa- 
sionally. 

The  Harris  Machine. — The  Harris  track-laying  machine  consists  of 
ordinary  flat  cars  fitted  up  with  a  rollway  for  forwarding  the  rails  and  a 
tramway  for  a  push  car  or  truck  on  which  the  ties  are  run  out  to  the 
front.  Five  6x8-in.xll-ft.  timbers  or  switch  ties  are  laid  across  each  car 
and  spiked  fast,  and  on  these  is  laid  a  tram  track  of  ordinary  rails.  On 
the  old  machines  (which  went  out  of  use  in  1900)  the  gage  of  this  tram 
track  was  8J  ft.,  but  on  the  machines  of  later  design  the  gage  is  only  2  ft., 
and  the  track  is  laid  along  the  middle  of  the  cars.  Between  the  rails 
of  this  track,  and  on  a  level  with  base  of  rail,  there  are  cast  iron  rollers 
15  ins.  long,  on  which  the  rails  for  track-laying  are  pushed  to  the  front 
(Af  Fig.  36).  On  the  cars  which  carry  the  rails  the  cross'  timbers  are 
framed  out  at  the  middle  and  the  rails  of  the  tram  track  are  depressed 
to  bring  the  top  of  rail  flush  with  the  tops  of  the  timbers.  This 
arrangement  permits  the  supply  rails,  which  are  carried  in  piles  on  either 
side  of  the  tramway,  to  be  easily  slid  or  rolled  onto  the  rollers.  Only  the 
cars  loaded  with  rails  have  the  rollway,  and  these  cars  are,  of  course, 
placed  ahead  of  the  cars  loaded  with  the  ties.  On  the  cars  loaded  with 
the  ties  the  tram  rails  are  laid  on  top  of  the  cross  timbers,  and  alternately 
between  these  long  ties  or  timbers  there  are  8  ft.  ties  to  afford  close  sup- 
ports for  the  truck-loading  horses  or  "trestles,"  to  be  described  presently. 
The  gaps  in  the  tram  track  between  the  cars  are  closed  by  short  pieces 
of  rail  having  the  bottom  flange  cut  off  "at  each  end  so  that  the  web  may 
be  dropped  between  splice  bars  bolted  to  the  ends  of  the  fixed  tram  rails 
on  the  cars.  Allowance  is  made  in  the  length  of  the  short  connecting 
rails  for  slack  between  the  cars.  On  the  front  car  the  tram  track  is 
extended  20  ft.  ahead  of  the  car  and  is  held  up  by  truss  rods  carried 
over  a  framed  bent  10  or  12  ft.  high  and  anchored  at  the  back  of  the  car. 
The  ties  are  piled  across  the  tramway,  and  the  spikes,  bolts  and  splice 
bars  are  chinked  into  spare  space  on  the  rail  cars.  The  cross  timbers, 
which  project  over  the  sides  of  the  cars,  cajry  a  running  plank  on  either 
side  for  the  men  to  stand  upon  while  loading  the  ties.  It  also  affords  a 
footway  for  the  men  pushing  the  tie  truck  and  a  place  for  the  rail  men 
to  step  aside  while  the  loaded  tie  truck  is  passing. 

The  ties  are  not  loaded  upon  the  tie  truck  direct,  but  are  first  placed 
crosswise  a  pair  of  portable  wooden  horses  or  "tie-loading  trestles"  (B, 
Fig.  36)  stood  parallel  with  the  tram  track,  on  either  side.  These  tie 
horses  each  have  a  top  piece  or  upper  frame  carried  on  links,  which  is 
raised  4  ins.  before  the  ties  are  placed  upon  it.  After  a  truck-load  of  ties 
has  been  placed  across  the  horses  the  empty  truck,  which  is  2  ins.  lower 
than  the  tops  of  the  horses  in  their  raised  position,  is  run  between  the 
horses  and  under  the  pile  of  ties,  at  the  same  time  automatically  disen- 


200  TRACK-LAYING 

gaging  a  latch  which  holds  the  load  of  ties  in  the  raised  position.  In-  this 
manner  the  load  is  caused  to  drop  2  ins.,  onto  the  truck,  the  top  pieces 
of  the  horses  dropping  2  ins.  further,  clear  of  the  load  and  out  of  the  way 
of  the  movement  of  the  same.  The  truck,  as  thus  automatically  loaded,  is 
pushed  to  the  front  and  the  work  of  loading  the  horses  is  repeated.  The 
horses  stand  on  runners,  and  as  each  truck-load  of  ties  is  delivered  they 
are  pulled  ahead  to  a  new  position  within  reach  of  the  receding  tie  pile 
on  the  flat  car. 

In  starting  out  to  lay  track  the  rails  are  thrown  onto  the  rollway  with 
a  rail  fork  and  pulled  ahead  to  the  pilot  car  by  men  with  tongs  or  hooks. 
Here  they  are  spliced  and  bolted  together  four  rails  at  a  time — that  is, 
two  rails  in  a  stretch  for  each  side  of  the  track — using  two  bolts  to  each 
splice,  allowing  for  expansion  and  putting  in  the  expansion  shims.  In  the 
meantime  the  tie  truck  or  tram  car  has  been  loaded  and  pushed  forward, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  tramway  is  run  against  chocks  or  stop  blocks.  (E, 
Fig.  36).  The  tram  car  body  is  made  in  two  parts,  the  upper  of  which 
slides  between  guides,  over  the  lower  part,  on  rollers,  so  that  when  the  car 
is  brought  to  a  stop  at  the  end  the  load  is  shifted  forward  30  ins.,  causing 
the  car  to  overbalance,  tilt  forward  and  dump  itself,  throwing  the  ties 
crosswise  on  the  roadbed.  The  car  is  then  righted  and  run  back  for 
another  load,  while  the  rails  which  had  been  spliced  and  lying  on  the  pilot 
car  are  run  ahead  off  the  car  onto  a  portable  dolly  about  30  ins.  high  standing 
on  runners,  on  the  ties,  about  25  ft.  ahead  of  the  extended  tram  track. 
Suspended  from  the  cross  timber  at  the  end  of  the  tram  track  there  is  a 
roller  about  a  foot  lower  than  the  rollers  on  the  flat  car,  which  serves  as 
an  intermediate  support  for  the  rail  between  the  end  of  the  car  and  the 
dolly.  The  rails  are  run  to  a  position  opposite  their  place  in  the  track 
and  are  then  lifted  down  and  heeled  into  splice  bars  fastened  loosely  to 
the  last  rails  laid.  In  laying  broken- jointed  track  the  rails  on  the  "long 
side"  are  simply  run  a  half  rail  length  further  ahead  on  the  rollers.  As 
soon  as  the  rails  are  in  place  the  track  is  quarter  spiked  and  the  train 
is  moved  ahead  60  ft. 

The  foregoing  is  known  as  the  method  of  "standard  60-ft.  set-out^ 
and  is  the  usual  way  of  proceeding  to  lay  2  miles  of  track  per  day.  In 
this  case  34  to  42  men  are  required  with  the  machine,  according  to  the 
weight  of  rail,  quality  of  the  ties  (soft  or  hard  wood),  efficiency  of  the 
men,  organization,  &c.  Of  this  crew  14  men,  called  the  "top  force/'*  are 
engaged  on  the  cars  as  follows :  four  men  loading  ties.  3  men  running  tie 
car,  1  man  breaking  out  rails  onto  the  rollers,  4  men  pulling  rails  with 
hooks  and  delivering  them  ahead,  and  2  top  bolters.  The  "ground  force/7 
or  the  men  ahead  of  the  machine,  are  distributed  as  follows:  One  man 
with  tie  line,  1  man  with  spacing  pole  and  marking  ties  for  line  rail,  1 
spike  peddler,  1  man  serving  splice  bars,  8  spikers,  4  nippers,  2  men 
carrying  dolly,  1  "expansion  man"  (with  sledge  to  drive  rails  back  when 
necessary),  1  heeler  (who,  as  a  rule  is  the  foreman  of  the  ground  force), 
2  bolters  and  4  to  6  extra  men;  or  a  total  of  26  to  28  men.  With  soft 
wood  ties  the  4  to  6  "extra  men"  are  usually  dispensed  with,  and  some- 
times the  force  is  cut  down  one  or  two  more.  The  usual  practice  in  lay- 
ing 60-ft.  "set-outs"  is  to  half  tie  ahead.  If  it  is  desired  to  work  a 
smaller  crew,  laying  1  to  1J  miles  per  day,  the  rails  are  run  down  singly, 
or  in  30-ft.  "set-outs,"  the  train  moving  ahead  30  ft.  at  a  time;  or  by 
using  the  same  force,  half  tieing  the  track  and  handling  single  rails  in 
60-ft.  "set-outs,"  1J  to  1J  miles  of  track  can  be  laid  per  day.  For  fast 
work,  as  when  it  is  desire'd  to  lay  3  miles  per  day,  a  larger  force  is  put  on 
and  the  rails  are  handled  in  spliced  sections'  of  three  each,  or  in  90-ft.  "set- 


TRACK-LAYING    MACHINES  201 

outs,"  the  train  then  moving  ahead  90  ft.  at  a  time.  In  this  case  three 
dollies  are  used  ahead  of  the  pilot  or  pioneer  car  in  running  the  rails 
to  place. 

With  the  Harris  machine  the  track-layers  in  advance  of  the  train  are 
not  divided  into  separate  squads  designated  as  tie  carriers,  rail  carriers, 
spikers,  etc.,  as  in  usual  practice  with  other  machines.  Each  truck-load 
of  ties  contains  the  proper  number  to  lay  the  "set-out"  of  rails  (30,  60 
or  90  ft.  of  track,  as  the  case  may  be)  and  as  they  are  dumped  the 
momentum  of  the  truck  throws  them  sprawling  ahead  over  about  30  ft. 
of  roadbed.  As  the  rails  cannot  be  laid  until  the  ties  are  placed  the  whole 
track-laying  gang  ahead  of  the  car,  except  the  tie-line  manp  the  two 
bolters,  the  splice  carrier  and  the  "fiddler"  or  tie  marker,  is  first  engaged 
in  placing  the  ties,  which  is  quickly  done.  The  same  men  then  run  out 
the  rails  and  lift  them  down  and  then  divide  up  into  spiking  gangs  and 
make  ready  for  the  train  to  advance.  In  rapid  work  the  track  in  advance 
of  the  Harris  machine  is  only  half  tied,  the  remainder  of  the  ties  being 
dropped  off  the  box  or  other  cars  in  which  they  happen  to  be  loaded  and 
which  are  coupled  in  behind  the  tramway  cars.  This  arrangement  saves 
transferring  half  the  ties  to  the  machine  cars. 

Before  referring  to  records  of  work  performed  in  connection  with  the 
use  of  this  machine  the  difference  in  the  methods  of  handling  the  ties 
on  the  old  and  new  machines  should  be  explained.  On  the  old  machine 
the  tie  truck  had  to  be  built  wide,  for  the  wide-gage  track,  and  it  was 
high  enough  to  straddle  the  piles  of  rails  on  the  rail  cars.  The  tie 
truck  for  the  machine  of  later  design  is  narrow,  running  between  the 
rail  piles,  as  shown  at  the  left  in  Fig.  36,  and  it  is  much  lighter  and 
easier  to  handle  than  the  old  device.  On  the  old  machine  the  ties  were 
loaded  directly  upon  the  truck,  by  hand.  For  rapid  work  two  tie  trucks 
were  used  after  the  train  became  half  unloaded,  as  then  some  time  was 
lost  in  pushing  the  truck  over  the  increased  distance.  In  that  case  the 
hindermost  truck  was  being  loaded  while  the  forward  one  was  being 
pushed  to  the  front  and  dumped.  The  rear  truck  was  made  somewhat 
higher  than  the  other  and  when  they  met  the  load  was  transferred  by 
sliding  the  ties  onto  the  lower  truck.  The  automatic  tie-loading  device 
of  the  present  machine  enables  faster  work  to  be  done  than  was  possible 
with  the  old  machine.  On  the  present  machine  the  tie  truck  can  be 
shoved  forth  and  back  on  the  run,  if  need  be,  stopping  only  an  instant  at 
either  end  for  the  truck  to  receive  or  dump  its  load.  It  is  thus  possible 
to  keep  a  loaded  tie  truck  on  the  move  half  the  time.  At  the  same  time 
the  present  machine  is  more  adaptable  to  the  convenience  of  working  a 
small  crew  and  laying  track  at  moderate  speed,  when  desired.  Four  to  6 
men  can  load  and  deliver  ties  for  laying  a  mile  of  track  per  day ;  in  laying 
3  miles  per  day  7  or  8  men  are  required.  Four  men  can  work  at  loading 
the  horses — two  men  placing  the  ties  upon  the  front  end  of  the  horses 
and  two  more  shoving  them  back  and  piling  them  up. 

A  seeming  drawback  with  the  Harris  machine  is  the  necessity  for 
transferring  the  rails  and  at  least  half  of  the  ties  to  the  specially  equipped 
flat  cars.  In  fairness,  however,  it  should  be  considered  that  both  rails 
and  ties  are  frequently  shipped  in  box,  stock  or  gondola  cars,  in  which 
case  the  rails  must  be  transferred,  in  any  event.  In  the  yards,  where 
the  cars  between  which  the  transfer  of  materials  is  to  be  made  can  be 
switched  to  stand  side  by  side  or  end  to  end,  the  cost  of  loading  the 
"machine  cars"  is  but  very  little  more  than  the  cost  of  taking  the 
material  out  of  the  cars  in  which  it  was  shipped.  There  is  also  an  advan- 
tage in  having  the  material  on  the  machine  cars,  for  as  soon  as  they 


202  TRACK-LAYING 

reach  the  front  there  is  no  delay  in  starting  the  work,  whereas  with  other 
machines  some  time  is  lost  in  putting  on  and  taking  off  apparatus.  When 
working  with  the  Harris  machine  it  is  customary  to  rig  up  as  many  cars- 
as  may  be  necessary  to  have  in  order  to  keep  the  transfer  gang  in  the 
material  yard  steadily  at  work  while  track  is  being  laid  at  the  front.  This 
arrangement  should  always  provide  loaded  "machine  cars"  as  they  are 
needed.  The  equipment  of  the  cars  is  comparatively  inexpensive,  as  the 
material  required  is  standard  track  material  und  its  usefulness  for  fur- 
ther service  in  the  track  is  not  impaired,  except  in  the  case  of  the  fram- 
ing out  of  the  cross  timbers  on  the  rail  cars.  The  labor  of  laying  the 
tram  track  on  the  flat  cars  and  of  dismantling  the  cars  after  track-laying 
has  been  completed  is  small.  The  narrow-gage  tramway,  located  as  it 
is  along  the  center  of  the  train,  is  less  distorted  in  rounding  a  curve  than 
is  the  case  with  a  track  or  devices  at  the  sides  of  the  cars.  As  a  practical 
test  of  this  matter,  one  of  these  machines  was  successfully  used  in  lay- 
ing track  on  the  24-deg.  curves  of  the  Montana  E.  R.,  a  standard-gage 
road  running  out  of  Lombard,  Mont. 

As  a  matter  of  record  3.2  miles  of  track  have  been  laid  with  this 
machine  (old  pattern)  in  9  hours.  On  the  Chicago,  Kansas  &  Nebraska 
Ry.  (now  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ry.)  in  1887  the  average  record 
for  132  days  with  the  Harris  machine  was  2.18  miles  of  track  laic!  per 
day,  with  a  total  force  of  3  foremen  and  100  to  115  laborers,  including 
the  gang  which  transferred  ties  and  rails  to  the  material  cars.  In  build- 
ing the  Guernsey  extension  of  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River  R.  R.,  in 
Wyoming,  in  1900,  a  record  made  with  one  of  the  improved  machines 
(Fig.  37)  was  3750  ft.  of  track  laid  in  2  hours  and  35  minutes.  The  track 
was  laid  with  75-lb.  rails  and  oak  ties,  and  was  full  tied  ahead  of  the 
machine.  The  crew  on  the  cars  and  ahead  of  the  machine  consisted  of  28- 
men,  distributed  as  follows:  ground  force,  1  tie-line  man,  1  spacing-pole 
man  and  tie  marker,  1  spike  peddler,  1  splice  carrier,  1  heeler,  6  spikers 
and  nippers,  2  bolters  and  4  or  5  extra  men;  top  force,  4  men  loading- 
ties,  3  men  on  tie  car,  1  ,m'an  breaking 'out  rails,  2  men  pulling  rails. 
The  average  day's  work  with  this  crew,  laying  by  30-ft.  "set-outs"  and 
full  tieing  ahead,  was  6000  ft.  of  track  per  day. 

The  Hurley  Machine. — The  Hurley  track-laying  machine,  which  wa? 
used  for  the  first  time  in  the  construction  of  a  new  piece  of  track  for  the 
Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie  R.  R.  in  1902,  consists  principally  of  a  machine 
car  55  ft.  long  carrying  at  the  front  end  a  pair  of  cantilever  steel  trusses 
extending  60  ft.  ahead  of  the  car,  and  at  the  rear  end  a  raised  platform 
supporting  a  boiler  and  two  reversible  stationary  engines  of  100  h.  p. 
Following  this  there  is  a  tender  car  carrying  a  water  tank  and  fuel  on  a 
raised  platform.  Coupled  in  behind  the  tender  are  the  cars  loaded  with 
ties,  the  cars  loaded  with  rails  bringing  up  the  rear.  At  the  middle  of 
each  material  car,  on  each  side  and  about  a  foot  inside  the  edge,  there 
is  a  roller,  used  for  moving  the  rails  ahead.  The  rails  are  coupled  up  with 
two  bolts  in  each  splice  and  are  pulled  forward  over  the  rollers  in  two 
lines,  one  on  either  side  of  the  train.  On  the  tie  cars  the  lower  tiers  of 
ties  are  laid  lengthwise  the  car  and  clear  of  the  rollers,  so  that  there  are 
open  spaces  for  the  rails  to  pass  underneath  the  ties  that  are  piled  cross- 
wise. On  the  machine  car  each  line  of  rails  passes  between  two  sets  of 
steam-driven  friction  rolls  which  drive  them  forward  and  also  pull  the 
whole  string  of  rails  behind.  As  each  string  of  rails  is  fed  forward  to 
the  machine  car,  rails  are  coupled  on  behind  at  the  rail  cars  at  the  rear  of 
the  train.  This  can  be  done  one  rail  at  a  time,  but  in  practice  about  six 
rails  (or  one  from  each  of  the  rail  cars)  arc  coupled  on  at  a  time.  One 


TRACK-LAYING     MACHINES  203 

rail  on  each  of  the  cars  is  shoved  out  and  run  ahead  on  dollies  and 
coupled  to  a  rail  on  the  next  car  ahead,  this  being  done  while  the  rear 
end  of  the  long  string  of  rails  is  moving  by.  As  soon  as  the  rear  -end  of 
the  line  of  rails  arrives  at  the  front  end  of  the  newly  spliced  section  the 
latter  is  quickly  coupled  on  by  means  of  two  pairs  of  clamps  connected  by 
a  short  chain.  This  chain  has  an  adjustable  attachment  whereby  the  rear 
section  is  pulled  up  to  a  close  joint  and  held  there  while  the  splice  bars 
and  bolts  are  being  applied,  the  line  of  rails,  meanwhile,  being  pulled 
toward  the  front. 

The  ties  are  carried  forward  on  the  two  lines  of  rails.  At-4he-  front  end 
of  the  first  tie  pile  back  from  the  machine  car,  the  ties  are  rolled  down 
and  laid  across  the  rails  roughly  spaced  at  the  same  intervals  as  they  are 
laid  in  the  track.  As  the  rails  move  forward  they  therefore  convey  all 
the  ties  necessary  to  lay  them.  Figure  5 A  shows  the  machine  car,  and 
three  material  cars,  with  the  rails  and  ties  as  they  appear  when  moving: 
forward  over  the  train.  As  the  ties  arrive  at  the  machine  car  they  are 
caught  on  an  endless  chain  and  conveyed  up  an  incline  over  the  top 


Fig.  37. — Improved  Harris  Track-Laying  Machine. 

chords  of  the  cantilever  extension,  and  as  they  arrive  at  the  front  end 
of  this  they  slide  down  an  incline  and  fall  upon  the  roadbed  crosswise 
the  alignment  of  the  track.  In  this  manner  they  drop  approximately 
to  place,  and  it  is  only  necessary  for  two  men  to  square  them  around  and 
properly  space  them.  In  this  way  the  roadbed  is  constantly  supplied 
with  ties  in  advance  of  the  laying  of  the  rails.  Figure  16  illustrates  the 
delivery  of  the  ties  in  this  manner. 

The  trusses  of  the  cantilever  extension  of  the  machine  car  are  8  ft. 
apart,  laterally  braced  together,  and  stand  8  ft.  clear  of  the  roadbed,  or 
high  enough  to  allow  free  action  of  the  spikers  underneath.  Attached 
to  the  bottom  chord  of  each  truss  there  is  a  channel,  in  which  are  power 
rollers  for  moving  the  rails  forward.  As  the  rails  arrive  at  the  front 
of  the  machine  car  they  are  uncoupled,  one  at  a  time,  by  taking  out  the 
rear  bolt  at  each  joint,  leaving  a  pair  of  splices  loosely  coupled  to  the 
rear  end  of  each  rail.  A  rail  on  each  side  is  then  sent  forward  under  the 
overhang  to  a  point  about  20  ft.  ahead  of  the  machine  car,  where  it  is 
grasped  by  a  pair  of  hoisting  tongs  and  lowered  by  one  man  onto  the  ties 
below.  To  explain  this  movement  a  little  in  detail,  the  rail  is  gripped 
by  the  tongs  somewhere  near  the  middle.  These  tongs  are  suspended 


204  TRACK-LAYING 

from  a  bar,  at  each  end  of  which  there  is  a  stay  which  maintains  the  bar 
parallel  with  the  rail.  This  bar  is  supported  from  above  at  two  points, 
so  that  the  rail  is  held  in  a  horizontal  position  whether  gripped  exactly 
at  the  balancing  point  or  not.  In  dropping  the  rail  to  couple  on  at  the 
•end  of  the  last  one  laid,  it  is  lowered  to  within  about  2  ins.  of  the  rail 
already  laid,  and  when  the  car  has  moved  it  nearly  to  place  the  heeler 
swings  it  ahead  1J  or  2  ft.,  so  that  the  rail  is  dropped  to  place  an  instant 
before  the  car  has  been  moved  far  enough  to  place  it  there  if  it  was 
dropped  vertically.  There  is  therefore  no  chance  for  the  machine  to  drag 
the  rail  ahead  should  the  man  be  a  little  tardy  in  releasing  the  tongs.  The 
operations  are  so  gaged  that  the  rail  is  set  down  just  about  a  foot  in 
advance  of  the  last  rail  laid  and  spiked.  The  rail  is  then  pulled  back 
by  the  track-layers,  and  as  the  splices  with  one  bolt  are  already  in 
place,  the  joint  can  be  very  quickly  coupled.  To  facilitate  the  work  of 
getting  the  splice  bars  home,  use  is  made  of  c  U-shaped  clamp  worked 
by  a  lever  and  eccentric.  This  tool  quickly  forces  the  bars  to  a  fit  and 
brings  the  ends  of  the  rails  into  line  before  the  bolt  is  tightened.  While 
one  man  on  each  side  is  doing  this  the  quarters  and  centers  of  the  rails 
are  spiked  and  everything  is  then  ready  for  coupling  on  another  pair  of 
rails.  The  spikers  begin  at  the  front  end  of  the  rail,  each  time,  and  work 
back  toward  the  advancing  car,  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  way  when  the  next 
pair  of  rails  is  lowered.  The  length  of  the  overhang  is  such  that  the  rails 
for  the  two  sides  of  the  track  can  be  set  down  in  pairs  when  laying  with 
•either  square  or  broken  joints. 

The  train  moves  gradually  forward  at  the  rate  of  20  to  30  ft.  a  min- 
ute, and  with  experienced  track-layers  it  is  not  necessary  to  stop.  With 
inexperienced  men  a  brief  pause  is  made  each  time  a  pair  of  rails  is  dis- 
connected on  the  machine  car.  The  machinery  is  so  geared  that  the  mate- 
rial is  moved  forward  over  the  cars  at  exactly  the  same  speed  that  the 
train  moves  over  the  track.  Chief  attention  is  therefore  paid  to  lowering 
the  rails,  splicing  them  on  ahead  and  partially  spiking  them,  for  as  fast 
as  the  train  moves  ahead  the  material  is  in  place  for  laying  the  track. 
The  rollers  on  the  overhang  are  driven  about  five  times  as  fast  as  the 
main  feed  rollers,  so  that  there  is  no  trouble  in  keeping  the  front  end  of 
the  machine  car  cleared  for  action.  While  one  pair  of  rails  is  being  low- 
ered to  the  ties  another  pair  can,  if  desired,  be  run  forward  ready  for 
the  tongs  as  soon  as  the  car  has  advanced  sufficiently  far  ahead.  When 
laying  on  curves  the  incline  at  the  front  of  the  cantilever  extension  is 
swung  into  position  to  land  the  ties  on  line.  The  motive  power  for  the 
train  is  supplied  by  the  machine  car,  so  that  no  locomotive  is  required. 
Power  is  applied  to  all  three  of  the  trucks  supporting  the  car,  and  the 
machine  has  shown  itself  able  to  handle  19  car-loads  of  ties  and  rails  on 
•a  six-tenths  per  cent  grade  over  a  very  rough  roadbed.  When  the  machine 
is  transported  from  one  road  to  another  the  cantilever  extension  is 
unjointed  and  let  down  upon  a  separate  car.  The  tender  car  is'  generally 
used  for  this  purpose.  Besides  the  water  tank  on  the  tender  car,  three  of 
the  tie  cars  are  equipped  with  tanks  underneath,  from  which  water  is 
pumped  into  the  tender  tank  from  time  to  time  while  track-laying  is  in 
progress.  The  purpose  of  these  storage  tanks  on  the  tie  cars  is  to  keep 
the  tender  tank  supplied  with  water  so  •  that  it  may  remain  with  the 
machine  car  at  all  times.  The  weight  of  the  machine  car  is  50  tons. 
Owing  to  the  excess  of  weight  at  the  head  end,  this  part  of  the  car  is 
carried  on  two  trucks,  which  is  supposed  to  be  a  better  arrangement  for 
running  over  partially  spiked  rails  than  that  of  carrying  all  the  weight 
•of  the  front  end  on  one  truck. 


TRACK-LAYING    MACHINES  205 

It  is  said  that  30  to  35  experienced  men  working  with  this  machine 
can  lay  2  miles  of  track  per  day.  The  features  of  advantage  are  several. 
The  rails  and  ties  are  moved  by  power,  and  the  ties  are  dropped  to  place 
on  the  roadbed  without  lifting  or  carrying  by  hand.  Six  men  do  all  the 
labor  necessary  to  transfer  the  ties  from  the  cars  to  the  roadbed.  The 
ties  are  dropped  well  in  advance  of  the  rails  without  interfering  with  any 
part  of  the  work.  The  rails  are  lowered  to  the  ties  without  hand  labor. 
The  men  are  so  distributed  about  the  work  that  no  one  is  in  another's 
way.  The  most  important  consideration  from  an  economical  standpoint 
is  the  fact  that  the  use  of  a  locomotive  with  the  track-laying  outfit  is 
dispensed  with. 

General  Considerations. — It  has  already  been  seen  that  the  methods 
of  laying  track  with  these  different  machines  are  practically  the  same, 
so  far  as  the  work  on  the  roadbed  is  concerned,,  the  only  differences  in 
any  way  being  in  the  manner  of  getting  the  materials  to  the  front.  In 
comparing  what  is  commonly,,  but  erroneously,  called  "machine"  track- 
laying  with  "hand"  laying,  the  machine  and  the  men  employed  on  it 
stand  against  as  many  tie  teams,  rail  cars  and  men  loading  and  driving 
the  same  as  may  be  required  to  forward  the  same  amount  of  material  in 
the  same  time.  In  case  the  ties  are  hauled  out  on  rail  cars  and  carried 
ahead  by  hand  the  comparison  would  include  as  many  of  the  tie  carriers 
so  employed  as  are  in  excess  of  those  carrying  ties  from  the  chute  of  the 
track-laying  machine  to  lay  the  same  number  in  the  same  time.  This 
is  because  the  tie  carriers  with  a  track-laying  machine  carry  the  ties  only 
such  a  short  distance  that  they  may  be  considered  to  offset  or  stand 
against  the  tie  placers  who  work  in  connection  with  tie  teams.  The  men 
who  carry  ties  ahead  from  a  rail  car  must  walk  some  little  distance,  usually 
80  to  100  ft.  or  farther.  In  other  words,  to  get  at  the  economy  of  a  track- 
laying  machine  we  have  to  take  account  of  the  labor  required  by  either 
method  in  forwarding  the  rails  from  their  position  on  a  flat  car  of  the 
material  train  to  the  end  of  the  track,  and  that  of  forwarding  the  ties  from 
the  cars  in  which  they  are  shipped,  to  their  approximate  position  in  the 
track.  The  work  of  half  tieing  operates  the  same  in  either  case.  The  same 
number  of  tie  placers,  liners  and  spacers,  rail  carriers  (except  with  the 
Hurley  machine),  strappers,  spikers,  nippers,  spike  peddlers,  etc.,  are- 
required  for  the  same  speed  of  track-laying  by  either  method,  whether  the 
track  is  full  tied  or  half  tied  ahead  of  the  material  train. 

The  work  required  to  put  the  track  materials  together  is  always 
about  the  same,  once  they  are  on  the  ground,  whether  it  is  all  completed 
ahead  of  the  material  train,  or  partly  done  and  then  completed  by  a  rear 
gang.  The  advantage  in  deferring  part  of  the  work  until  after  the 
passage  of  the  material  train  is  that  there  is  less  interruption  in  the 
delivery  of  the  material  from  the  train.  This  advantage  is  greater 
where  track-laying  machines  are  being  used  than  it  is  where  the  case 
is  otherwise,  for  the  number  of  men  who  can  work  in  .front  of  the 
machine  without  interference  is  necessarily  small  relatively  to  the  num- 
ber required  to  complete  the  track  as  fast  as  the  materials  can  be  for- 
warded over  the  train.  For  fast  work  at  machine  track-laying  it  is  desir- 
able, therefore,  to  do  just  as  little  work  in  advance  of  the  machine  as 
will  make  safe  for  the  train  to  pass  over  the  track.  One  measure  already 
referred  to  in  connection  with  the  work  on  the  Columbia  &  Western- 
road,  that  of  using  bridle  or  gage  bars  in  order  to  omit  the  spiking  in 
advance  of  the  machine,  is  now  quite  commonly  in  practice.  Another  ex- 
pedient in  vogue  is  to  have  the  strappers  begin  the  work  of  splicing  by 
putting  the  splice  bars  loosely  on  the  ends  of  the  last  rails  laid,  with  one 


206  TRACK-LAYING 

bolt  in  place.  When  the  next  rail  is  heeled  the  strapper  pries  open  the 
splice  bars  with  his  wrench,  to  receive  the  rail  end,  inserts  the  expansion 
shim,  puts  in  one  more  bolt  and  goes  ahead  to  the  end  of  the  last  rail 
laid.  To  avoid  delay  occasioned  by  hard-turning  nuts  two  slotted  bolts 
with  cotters  have  been  used  to  hold  each  splice  temporarily.  As  it  is  not 
usual  to  tighten  the  splices  ahead  of  the  machine  the  spiking  of  the  joints 
cannot  then  be  properly  done  and  such  work  is  also  omitted,  the  rails 
being  held  to  gage  by  spiking  the  centers  and  quarters. 

The  claim  for  track-laying  machines  is  economy  in  the  cost  of  hand- 
ling the  material  rather  than  a  maximum  speed  of  laying  track.  Ac- 
cording to  estimates  and  comparisons  based  on  actual  work  under  simi- 
lar conditions  a  saving  of  $50  to  $100  per  mile  in  total  cost  of  laying 
track  has'  been  shown  in  favor  of  track-laying  machines.  While,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  track-laying,  their  capacity  for  forwarding  material  ahead  is  practic- 
ally unlimited,  the  movements  of  the  head  track-layers  are  necessarily  ham- 
pered, since  only  30  to  60  ft.  of  track  is  laid  at  a  move  of  the  train,  and  of 
course  the  number  of  men  who  can  be  worked  in  this  distance  is  necessar- 
ily a  comparatively  small  party.  It  is  possible  to  put  enough  teams,  rail 
•cars  and  men  to  work  to  lay  more  track  per  day  than  can  be  done  with 
any  number  of  men  working  with  a  track-laying  machine,  as  already  indi- 
cated by  the  records,  but  the  cost  of  rushing  the  work  in  this  manner  is 
excessive.  Under  certain  conditions,  however,  such  as  are  found  in  moun- 
tain regions  where  the  grades  are  heavy  and  room  at  the  side  of  the  track 
is  scarce,  or  in  swampy  country  where  teams  would  get  mired  outside 
the  roadbed,  the  track-laying  machine  may,  besides  contributing  greatly 
to  convenience,  enable  a  more  rapid  speed  in  construction  than  could 
be  accomplished  without  it.  It  does  not  work  as  well  on  sharp  curves 
as  on  tangents,  and  formerly  it  was  not  thought  advisable  to  employ  it 
except  on  construction  of  considerable  extent.  Still,  the  use  of  crack- 
laying  machines  has  been  growing  during  recent  years,  notwithstanding 
that  railway  building  for  the  most  part  is  now  confined  to  short  stretches 
of  branch  lines,  side-tracks  and  second  tracks.  Generally  speaking,  con- 
ditions in  track-laying  now  are  different  from  what  they  were  in  the  days 
when  so  many  long  lines  were  being  built,  and  the  class  of  work  is 
different.  The  cost  of  the  work  is  now  more  carefully  considered  and 
there  is  less  of  the  old-time  reckless  haste.  It  is  the  tendency  of  the 
age  to  substitute  machinery  for  flesh  and  blood. 

It  is  frequently  desirable  to  start  the  track-laying  at  a  slow  pace, 
working  a  small  crew  and  laying  a  mile  or  perhaps  less  of  track  per  day, 
and  then,  when  all  of  the  grading  has  been  completed,  push  the  work 
along  at  double  this  speed.  Where  such  is  the  purpose  a  track-laying 
machine  is  well  suited  to  the  work,  because  the  change  in  speed  can  be 
made  without  change  in  the  organization  of  the  forces  and  by  hiring 
fewer  extra  men  than  would  be  the  case  if  the  material  was  handled  with 
teams  and  rail  cars. 

31.*  Highway  Cror  rings. — In  laying  track  the  crossings  at  the 
public  highways  must  be  attended  to  promply.  Planks  may  be  laid  tem- 
porarily as  soon  as  the  ties  are  spiked  and  a  heap  of  dirt  at  the  ends  of 
the  ties  may  serve  for  an  approach.  After  the  track  has  been  surfaced 
and  ballasted,  however,  or  when  putting  in  a  crossing  in  old  track,  it  is 
important  to  first  see  that  the  track  at  that  point,  and  for  some  distance 
«ach  way,  is  in  good  line  and  surface  before  laying  the  plank.  They 
should  then  be  put  down  with  8-in.  wrought  timber  or  boat  spikes  so  firm- 
ly that  a  dragging  brake  rod  or  piece  of  car  truck  will  split  out  a 
chunk  before  it  will  tear  the  plank  out  or  loosen  it.  The  standard  cross- 


1JIG11WAY   CROSSINGS 

ink  spike  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  is  8  ins.  long  under  the  head  and 
-J  in.  square  in  section.  The  head  is  J  in.  square  and '  J  in.  deep,  and 
the  wedge-shaped  point  is  1-J  ins.  long. 

There  is  a  saving  of  lumber  in  using  only  four  planks  at  a  crossing — 
one  each  side  each  rail — but  if  the  highway  travel  amounts  to  anything 
there  is  no  economy  in  sparing  the  plank.  The  practice  of  using  only 
two  planks  inside  the  rails  and  filling  the  space  between  them  with  gravel, 
broken  stone,  cinders  or  earth  is  sure  to  result  in  an  ugly  hollow,  in 
time,  wherever  the  travel  is  considerable.  Such  is  unpleasant  to  road 
travelers,  the  inside  planks  wear  out  rapidly  and  the  material-  ^ised  to  fill 
the  space  is  constantly  being  carried  or  pushed  by  wagon  wheels  into 
the  flangeways,  to  be  packed  down  by  the  car  wheel  flanges  and  require 
picking  out  by  the  section  men  every  few  days.  It  is  better  to  use  plank- 
ing all  the  way  across;  it  makes  a  better  crossing  every  way,  lasts 
longer,  and  is  much  cheaper  to  maintain  than  one  at  which  a  space  is 
left  unplanked,  to  be  refilled  every  little  while.  The  space  between 
tracks  is  another  place  where  troublesome  depressions  are  liable  to  result 
from  highway  travel,  and  at  crossings  with  busy  roads  or  streets  it  might 
pay  to  pave  such  places  or  plank  them  entirely  over. 

White  oak  and  hard  pine  are  the  kinds  of  lumber  most  commonly 
used  in  road  crossings.  Crossing  plank  should  be  at  least  4  ins.  thick, 
and  12  ins.  is  a  convenient  width.  The  length  of  the  crossing  should  con- 
form to  the  required  width  of  the  traveled  highway,  which  is  seldom 
less  than  16  ft.  For  a  single  driveway  or  private  crossing  planks  12  ft. 
long  are  long  enough,  but  where  the  whole  width  of  the  road  or  street  is 
planked  in  they  may  be  of  any  convenient  length  and  be  laid  to  break 
joints.  On  the  outside  the  planks  should  be  laid  against  the  rail  head, 
notching  out  the  under  corner  to  fit  over  the  spike  heads  in  case  the 
plank  would  stand  too  high  by  resting  on  top  of  them.  The  position 
of  each  spike  head  may  be  found  by  placing  the  plank  against  the  rail,  in  its 
proper  position,  and  striking  it  a  blow  on  the  top  approximately  over  each 
spike.  The  position  of  the  spike  heads  will  then  be  indicated  by  the  indenta- 
tions. It  is  better  to  notch  out  for  the  spike  heads  than  to  chamfer  off  the 
whole  under  edge,  as  such  weakens  the  plank.  The  top  of  the  crossing  plank 
should  come  flush  with  the  top  of  the  rail,  or  not  to  exceed  J  in.  below  it,  and 
if  the  thickness  of  the  plank  does  not  correspond  to  the  hight  of  the  rail 
(it  is  usually  less)  strips  of  board  or  filler  pieces  may  be  nailed  to  the 
tops  of  the  ties  to  shim  the  planks  to  the  proper  hight.  A  space  2^ 
ins.  wide  should  be  left  for  a  flangeway'  inside  each  rail  but  not  more, 
because  if  made  too  wide  it  forms  a  trap  to  catch  the  hoofs  of  horses  or 
cattle.  It  is  well  to  lightly  bevel  off  the  corner  of  the  plank  next  the 
flangeway,  to  prevent  the  wheel  flanges  from  peeling  off  slivers. 

The  top  edge  of  the  plank  next  the  flangeway  in  the  standard  high- 
way crossing  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  E.  (Fig.  38)  is  chamfered  3  ins., 
which  is  considerably  more  than  is  required  to  clear  the  wheel  flanges. 
In  this  style  of  crossing  the  two  inside  planks  are  connected  at  the  ends 
by  short  pieces  of  plank  of  the  same  thickness,  enclosing  a  rectangular 
space  which  is  filled  with  broken  stone.  Outside  the  rail  the  planks  arc 
laid  in  the  usual  way.  On  crossings  planked  solid  between  the  flange- 
ways  in  the  usual  manner  four  12 -in.  planks  will  not  quite  fill  the  whole 
space,  but  cracks  an  inch  or  so  wide  left  between  the  planks  do  no  harm 
and  soon  get  filled.  The  ends  of  all  the  planks,  both  outside  and  inside 
the  rails,  should  be  .adzed  to  a  slope  after  they  are  in  place ;  but  the  planks 
should  first  be  cut  to  such  length  that  each  end  rests  on  a  tie,  to  which 
it  should  be  spiked ;  and  the  planks  inside  the  rails  should  be  cut  to  even 


208 


TRACK-LAYING 


lengths.  Such  work  gives  best  security  against  dragging  parts  of  cars. 
On  some  of  the  crossings  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  there  is  a  slop- 
ing steel  plate  at  each  end  of  the  crossing  plank.  The  ballast  between 
the  ties,  under  crossing  planks,  should  be  dressed  off  about  an  inch  lower 
than  the  tops  of  the  ties.  If  it  is  permitted  to  touch  the  planks  it  is 
liable  to  lift  them  in  case  it  should  heave  in  winter.  In  laying  crossing 
plank  they  should  be  placed  to  bring  the  convex  side  of  the  grain  upward, 
as  in  Fig.  39,  in  order  to  shed  water.  If  the  concave  side  is  upward  the 
dish  of  the  grain  will  hold  water  to  rot  the  plank. 

Private  farm  crossings  or  other  crossings  but  little  used  may  be,  and 
usually  are,  more  cheaply  built  than  the  crossings  for  well-traveled  roads. 
A  plank  each  side  each  rail  with  a  filling  of  ballast  between  the  two  inner 
planks  serves  the  purpose  well  enough,  and  hemlock  or  other  cheap  lum- 


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Fig.    38. — Highway    Crossing,    Pennsylvania    R.    R. 

ber  is  sufficiently  durable.  In  parts  of  the  country  where  extra  wide 
harvesting  machinery  is  not  used  a  private  crossing  8  ft.  long,  made  by 
cutting  16-ft.  planks  in  two,  is  sufficiently  serviceable.  In  fact  it  is  not 
necessary  to  use  plank  at  all.  If  the  use  of  the  crossing  is  to  be  only 
occasional  the  construction  may  consist  simply  in  filling  the  track  with 
ballast,  level  with  top  of  rail,  outside  and  inside,  leaving  proper  flange- 
ways  inside  the  rails. 

Deep  flangeways  at  crossings  give  considerable  trouble  in  winter  time. 
Mud  or  snow  which  gets  packed  into  these  spaces  and  frozen  is  difficult  to 
pick  out,  and  if  it  is  not  removed  it  is  liable  to  be  crowded  under  the 
planks  or  against  them  so  tightly  as  to  start  the  planks  loose.  To  obviate 
this  difficulty  the  bottom  part  of  deep  flangeways  are  sometimes  blocked 
with  filler  strips  of  wood,  and  in  other  cases  the  inside  planks  are  laid 
against  the  web  of  the  rail  and  cut  out  to  desirable  depth  for  the  flange- 
ways.  A  wood  bottom  for  the  flangeway  helps  the  matter  but  very  little, 
however,  as  mud  and  ice  will  freeze  to  it  tightly"  and  must  be  chipped  off 
in  small  pieces  when  clearing  out  the  space.  On  a  number  of  roads,  in- 
cluding, among  others,  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  and  the  Toledo. 
Peoria  &  Western,  the  flangeway  at  highway  crossings  is  formed  by  laying  an 
old  rail  on  its  side  inside  each  traffic  rail,  with  its  head  against  the 
web  of  the  traffic  rail,  as  shown  in  Fig.  39.  The  upturned  flange 
of  the  rail  so  laid  forms  the  inside  of  the  flangeway  and  a  backing  for 
the  plank.  If  the  space  between  the  flangeways  is  to  be  paved  this  upturned 
flange  should  be  placed  as  nearly  vertical  as  is  practicable,  so  as  to  permit  the 
paving  blocks  to  be  fitted  snugly  against  it.  At  each  end  of  the  crossing 
this  flange  is  bent  inward,  toward  the  center  of  the  track,  to  form  a  flare 
for  the  flangeway.  On  most  roads  where  the  flangeway  is  formed  in  this 
manner  the  rail  laid  on  side  is  not  made  fast  in  any  way  except  as  shown 
in  the  figure.  Its  head  lies  under  the  head  of  the  traffic  rail  and  the 
planking  is  fitted  tightly  against  its  base,  holding  it  securely.  On  some 


HIGHWAY   CROSSINGS 


209 


roads,,  however,  about  C  ins.  of  the  flange  and  web  at  each  end  of  the 
rail  are  cut  away  and  the  projecting  piece  of  the  head  is  drilled  and  bolted 
to  the  web  of  the  traffic  or  running  rail.  On  the  White  Mountains  divi- 
sion of  the  Boston  &  Maine  E.  E.  it  is  the  practice,  where  a  joint  comes 
in  the  running  rail  at  the  crossing,  to  drill  holes  directly  through  the 
head,  web  and  flange  of  the  flangeway  rail  that  is  laid  on  its  side  and 
use  long  bolts,  the  flangeway  rail  serving  as  the  inside  splice  bar. 

If  the  railway  company  has  old  iron  or  steel  rails  to  spare  the  flange- 
way  guarded  by  a  rail  laid  on  side  is  undoubtedly  the  cheapest  plan  in 
the  end.  The  arrangement  certainly  answers  the  purpose  -^vell.  There 
Joeing  no  deep  rut  to  hold  mud,  dirt  or  snow,  such  material  is  cut  up 
by  the  wheel  flanges  and  loosened.  To  clean  out  such  a  flangeway  it  is 
only  necessary  to  draw  the  point  of  a  pick,  or  shove  the  point  of  a  bar 
along  the  bottom,  and  then  to  scrape  away  the  loosened  material  with  a 
shovel  or  brush  it  aside  with  a  broom.  By  the  use  of  salt  such  a  flange- 
way  can  easily  be  kept  clear  of  snow  and  ice. 

The  practice  of  forming  the  flangeway  by  laying  an  inside  guard 
rail  on  its  base,  or  workwise,  is  objectionable  for  two  or  three  reasons.  In 
the  first  place,  the  under  corners  of  the  rail  heads,  in  the  flangeway,  form 
a  dangerous  trap  for  horses'  feet.  If  the  toe  calk  of  a  horse's  shoe  catches 
under  the  rail  head  in  a  flangeway  of  this  kind  the  horse  is  liable  to  be 
thrown  or  have  his  hoof  torn  loose;  or  if  a  horse  becomes  frightened  and 
attempts  to  turn  around  on  the  crossing  there  is  danger  of  catching  a 
wagon  wheel.  At  crossings  of  this  kind  it  is  usual  to  keep  the  flangeway 
filled  with  dirt  up  to  the  level  of  the  under  sides  of  the  rail  heads,  but 
unless  the  material  is  compacted  very  hard  the  danger  referred  to  is  not 
entirely  removed.  And  then,  again,  as  such  a  flangeway  widens  out' 
below  the  rail  heads  and  has  no  well  defined  bottom  it  is  difficult  to 


Fig.  39. — Highway  Crossing  Flangeways  of  Old  Rails. 

pick  out  and  keep  clear.  A  common  form  of  crossing  of  this  class,  known 
as  the  "skeleton"  crossing,  has  two  guard  rails  laid  inside  the  running 
rails  to  3-in.  flangeways  for  such  distance  as  is  desired  for  the  length  of 
the  crossing,  and  then  each  guard  rail  is  bent  inward  at  an  angle  of  45  or 
DO  deg.  to  meet  the  end  of  the  similarly  bent  opposite  guard  rail,  in  the 
middle  of  the  track.  The  enclosed  space  is  usually  filled  with  broken 
stone  or  slag,  covered  with  a  top  dressing  of  screenings  or  cinders. 

Owing  to  the  necessity  for  tearing  up  plank  in  order  to  raise  the 
rail,  low  joints  in  highway  crossings  usually  get  less  attention  than  they 
•do  elsewhere,  and  so  when  it  can  be  avoided  crossings  should  not  be 
located  to  bring  a  joint  within  the  planking.  Of  .course  this  rule  is 
more  easily  followed  on  square- jointed  than  on  broken- jointed  track,  but 
by  laying  60-ft.  rails  at  all  ordinary  crossings  there  will  usually  be  no 
difficulties  in  this  respect.  Even  if  a  shorter  rail  is  standard  on  the 
road  it  would  pay  to  use  rails  of  this  length  at  the  crossings.  When  build- 
ing track  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  carry  enough  extra  long  rails  to  lay 
the  crossings,  and  on  old  track  they  may  be  laid  gradually  in  the  course 
of  rail  renewals.  In  the  latter  case  the  best  plan  is  to  order  enough  long 
rails  to  lay  all  the  crossings  on  the  division  or  stretch  of  track  whereon 
rail  renewals  are  to  be  made  during  the  year,  and  then  distribute  all  these 


210  TRACK-LAYING 

rails  at  one  time,  before  the  rails  to  be  laid  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
renewals  are  delivered  on  the  track.  Where  a  joint  does  come  in  the 
crossing,  the  plank  which  is  placed  next  the  rail  on  the  outside  should  be 
boxed  out  for  the  splice  and  bolts,  rather  than  beveled  off  underneath,  so 
that  the  nuts  can  be  got  at  when  loose,  without  taking  up  the  plank.  But 
if  the  rail  be  high  enough  to  permit  the  wheel  flanges  to  clear  the  nuts,,, 
it  is  better  at  crossings  to  put  the  bolts  through  the  splice  from  the  out- 
side, so  that  the  nuts  come  on  the  gage  side  of  the  rail  and  in  the  flange- 
way. 

Eailway  companies  are  concerned  in  the  lay  of  the  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  road  crossings  at  grade.  Crossings  in  a  cut  or  on  or  near  a 
curve  should  be  avoided  in  every  case  possible.  The  grade  of  the  high- 
way on  the  approaches  to  the  crossing  is  one  of  the  important  considera- 
tions, for  if  heavily  loaded  teams  get  stalled  on  or  near  the  crossing  they 
are  in  danger  of  being  struck  by  trains.  In  light  cuts  where  the  road 
must  be  depressed  to  meet  the  track  at  grade  it  should  be  graded  back  to 
a  rise  which  does  not  exceed  1  in  10.  On  some  roads  the  rules  limit 
the  rise  to  1  in  6,  but  the  safest  plan  to  follow  in  any  case  would  be  to 
grade  the  road  to  the  level  of  the  crossing  for  the  length  of  a  wagon  and 


I   H     <:V-:,  '--*lii^'. 

Fig.  41. — Highway  Crossing  with  Detachable  Tram  Bars  and  Tile  Drains. 

team,  and  a  few  feet  further,  each  way  from  the  track;  this  arrangement 
gives  a  team  a  chance  to  pull  quickly  over  the  crossing.  It  is  also  im- 
portant to  limit  the  grade  of  highway  approaches  to  crossings  on  embank- 
ments. The  standard  rules  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River 
E.  E.  require  that  the  grade  of  highway  approaches  shall  not  exceed  6 
per  cent  and  of  farm  crossing  approaches  8  per  cent.  Where  a  highway 
runs  up  hill  approaching  a  crossing  the  dirt  will  sometimes  work  down 
from  the  outside  edge  of  the  outer  plank  and  cause  a  jolt  to  wagons. 
This  difficulty  may  be  overcome  by  filling  in  the  road  to  a  level  with  the 
top  of  the  crossing  plank,  or  slightly  sloping  from  the  track,  for  some 
distance  out.  Where  there  is  a  steep  slope  right  up  to  the  crossing  plank 
the  wagon  wheels  and  horses'  hoofs  will  usually  wear  away  the  dirt,  so 
that  a  vertical  lift  of  several  inches  is  necessary  to  get  the  wheel  onto 
the  crossing.  Where  such  conditions  are  found  a  heavily  loaded  team 
is  liable  to  be  stalled  on  the  crossing.  In  some  states  railway  companies 
are  obliged  to  construct  and  maintain  all  that  portion  of  the  public  high- 
way which  lies  between  the  lines  of  the  right  of  way  at  crossings. 

The  high  speed  of  modern  passenger  trains  makes  it  desirable  to 
eliminate  grade  highway  crossings  at  every  opportunity.  On  many  of 
the  larger  railway  systems  overhead  bridges  or  subways  are  being  substi- 
tuted for  crossings  at  grade,  on  a  large  scale.  Generally  speaking,  acci- 
dents at  grade  highway  crossings  are  too  numerous  on  all  railways,  but 
in  building  independent  lines  where  only  light  traffic  is  in  prospect  it  is 
practically  out  of  the  question  to  propose  the  abolishment  of  the  grade 
crossings :  only  the  most  prosperous  railways  can  meet  the  expense.  There 
are  many  situations,  however,  where,  by  diverting  and  consolidating  high- 
ways, the  number  of  crossings  in  a  locality  may  be  decreased,  one  crossing 


HIGHWAY   CROSSINGS  211 

being  made  to  carry  the  travel  formerly  passing  over  two  or  more  that 
were  near  together.  Moderate  expenditures  for  such  improvements  are 
sometimes  paying  investments. 

Crossing  Drainage. — Ditches  should  not  be  discontinued  at,  or  ob- 
structed by,  road  crossings,  but  should  be  carried  under  the  road  by  box 
culverts  or  vitrified  or  iron  pipe.  It  is  a  good  plan  in  any  case,  whether 
there  is  a  ditch  at  either  side  of  the  crossing  or  not,  to  lay  some  kind  of 
a  drain  near  the  ends  of  the  ties  to  carry  off  the  water.  Farm  tile,  laid 
as  in  Fig.  41,  answers  well  for  this  purpose;  and  small  box  drains  or 
trenches  filled  with  cobble  stones  are  largely  used.  At  crossings  which 
come  in  a  cut,  or  wherever  water  is  liable  to  settle  around  the  crossing,,, 
some  kind  of  drain  should  always  be  provided.  In  the  case  of  double 
track  a  tile  or  other  drain  should  be  laid  along  the  midway,  under  the 
crossing,  and  then  turned  under  one  of  the  tracks  into  the  ditch.  Xo> 
little  difficulty  in  maintaining  track  at  road  crossings  arises  from  the 
practice  of  grading  highways  up  to  a  point  higher  than  the  roadbed  close- 
up  to  the  ends  of  the  ties,  thus  forming  an  obstruction  which  prevents 
the  water  from  draining  freely  away  from  the  track.  Sketch  "A,"  Fig. 
41A,  shows  a  mistake  frequently  found,  where  the  track  and  ballast  are- 
made  to  lie  in  a  trench  which  is  formed  by  grading  the  road  up  to  the 
level  of  the  top  of  the  rail,  close  up  to  the  track.  From  this  trench  there 
is  no  side  drainage.  Sketch  "B"  shows  a  method  of  drainage  recommend- 
ed by  a  society  of  section  foremen  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Ry.  for  such  places.  The  space  for  a  distance  of  5  ft.  outside  the  ends 
of  the  ties  is  excavated  to  a  slope  starting  12  ins.  below  the  ties  at  their 
ends  and  running  to  a  depth  of  18  ins.  in  the  distance  of  5  ft.  This  ditch 
is  filled  in  with  cobble  stones,  permitting  not  only  the  drainage  of  surface 


-Sxcrctt  B- 

Fig.  41  A. — Drainage  for  Track  at  Highway  Crossings. 

water  sinking  into  the  track,  biit  also  catching  and  diverting  water  which 
otherwise  might  run  upon  the  track.  The  highway  should,  of  course, 
slope  away  from  the  crossing  at  a  slight  grade.  To  facilitate  the  drain- 
age at  crossings  they  should  be  filled  in  with  a  good  quality  of  ballast.  To- 
overcome  the  objectionable  effect  of  "churning,"  the  crossings  of  the 
Chattanooga,  Rome  &  Southern  R.  R.  (Central  of  Georgia  system)  are 
filled  in  with  washed  gravel. 

Construction  in  Paved  Streets. — In  some  of  the  eastern  cities  a  built 
rail  of  girder  shape  has  been  gotten  up  to  conform  to  local  ordinances  requir- 
ing that  steam  roads  shall  use  girder  rails  in  tracks  which  follow  the 
ttreets  for  some  distance.  The  design  is  formed  by  bolting  a  tram  bar 
to  the  ordinary  T-rail.  This  bar  somewhat  resembles  an  angle  bar  bolted 
to  the  rail  in  an  inverted  position,  and  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  40  (shown 
with  Fig.  33).  It  is  attached  to  the  rail  by  drilling  holes  through  the 
web  about  3  ft.  apart  and  bolting.  The  expense  of  putting  it  on  is  small,. 
and  it  is  good  construction  for  crossings.  No  trouble  arises  from  joints, 
since  the  tram  bar  takes  the  place  of  a  splice  bar  on  its  side  of  the  rail, 
it  being  necessary  to  simply  drill  it  for  the  bolts,  either  before  or  after 
it  is  in  place.  At  a  crossing  provided  with  flangeways  of  this  kind  (Fig. 
41)  the  planking  or  paving  is  beveled  off  on  the  top  edge  and  laid  up 


TRACK-LAYING 

under  the  tram.  As  there  is  nothing  to  confine  dirt  and  other  material 
falling  into  the  flangewa}^  the  wheel  flanges  cut  it  up  and  shove  it  aside, 
and  but  very  little  cleaning  is  required.  The  standard  track  of  the  New  York- 
Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R.  for  stone-paved  streets  is  laid  with  these 
detachable  tram  bars. 

At  crossings  in  streets  paved  with  deep  blocks  of  stone  or  other  mate- 
rial it  is  necessary  to  lay  the  ties  low,  in  order  to  make  room  for  the 
pavement.  This  may  be  done  by  supporting  the  rails  directly  on  chairs 
spiked  or  lag-screwed  to  the  ties,  but  for  long  stretches  of  track  laid 
in  streets  paved  with  deep  blocks  it  is  better  practice  to  use  rails  of 
special  girder  section,  which  are  usually  about  9  ins.  deep.  The  paving 
blocks  outside  the  track  are  sometimes  laid  directly  against  the  head  of 
the  rail  and  J  in.  below  the  top  of  the  same,  but  if  the  track  settles  or 
some  of  the  paving  blocks  work  up  the  car  wheels  will  bear  upon  the 
paving  and  loosen  it.  The  paving  is  also  liable  to  be  loosened  by  the 
undulation  of  the  rail.  To  provide  against  trouble  of  this  kind  a  strip  of 
timber  may  be  interposed  between  the  rail  and  the  paving.  For  this  pur- 
pose a  4x6-in.  treated  timber,  laid  on  edge,  is  recommended.  By  cutting 
out  at  tbe  top  corner  for  the  rail  head  it  may  be  fitted  against  the  web, 
and  it  should  be  laid  to  bring  the  top  surface  J  in.  below  top  of  rail.  Track 
that  is  laid  in  paved  streets  or  in  long  highway  or  street  crossings  should 
be  constructed  of  materials  of  more  than  ordinary  durability  substan- 
tially put  together.  Improvements  in  these  respects  involving  only  moder- 
ate expenditure  would  be  found  in  the  use  of  creosoted  ties  and  tie  plates, 
with  tile  drains  parallel  with  the  track.  A  type  of  concrete  foundation 
used  by  the  Pere  Marquette  R.  R.  for  track  in  the  streets  of  Bay  City, 
Mich.,  is  described  in  §  169,  Chap.  XI. 


Roberts  Track-Laying  Machine  in  Action. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


BALLASTING. 

32. — Construction  trains  usually  begin  running  over  the  track  as  soon 
as  it  is  laid,  but  such  usage  does  not  improve  its  condition,  and  the  sooner 
it  is  ballasted,  therefore,  the  better.  As  a  general  proposition  track 
is  better  for  having  a  depth  of  at  least  12  ins.  of  ballast  underneath  the 
ties.  Where  the  roadbed  is  a  fill  or  wherever  it  is  dry  and  compact,  more 
than  this  depth  is  not  needed,  for  even  5  ins.  will  maintain  the  track  in 
fair  condition  in  such  places;  but  it  ought  not  to  be  less  than  5  ins. 
in  depth  in  any  case,  except  where  the  roadbed  is  gravel  or  some  other 
material  which  answers  well  for  ballast  of  itself;  in  fact,  8  ins.  is 
considered  the  minimum  allowable  depth  for  good  practice.  The  least 
depth  of  ballast  which  will  distribute  the  pressure  from  the  ties  uniformly 
over  the  roadbed  is  about  12  ins.  for  broken  stone  and  presumably  more 
for  gravel.  In  experiments  made  in  Germany  by  Herr  Schubert,  with 
broken  stone  ballast  11  f  ins.  deep  under  the  ties,  on  a  roadbed  of  plastic 
clay  covered  with  a  2-in.  layer  of  sand,  the  clay  surface  remained  even 
when  the  load  was  applied;  but  when  the  layer  of  ballast  was  shallower 
than  the  stated  depth  the  clay  directly  under  the  ties  was  depressed 
more  than  elsewhere.  The  load  applied  was  57  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  of  tie 
bearing  surface. 

When  it  is  necessary  to  economize  in  the  use  of  ballast  it  is  better 
practice  to  arrange  the  quantities  to  suit  the  conditions  than  to  cut 
down  the  allowable  depth  and  make  it  uniform  at  all  places.  As  a 
rule  more  ballast  is  required  in  cuts  than  on  fills,  especially  in  wet 
cuts.  In  clay  cuts  the  ballast  should  be  at  least  18  ins.  deep  under 
the  ties,  so  that  the  pressure  from  the  traffic  will  be  uniformly  distributed 
over  the  roadbed.  While  broken  stone  is  good  material  to  distribute 
pressure,  it  does  not  work  well  on  a  clay  bottom  or  on  a  wet  roadbed,, 
because  clay  becomes  plastic  when  it  gets  wet  and  the  softened  material 
will  work  up  through  the  voids  between  the  stones.  The  most  satis- 
factory material  to  use  in  such  places  is  a  bottom  layer  of  engine  cinders 
12  ins.  deep,  covered  with  6  to  12  ins.  of  broken  stone  or  gravel.  As 
already  stated,  flat  stones  are  sometimes  used  to  cover  a  soft  bottom,  but 
cinders  are  just  as  good,  or  even  better,  and  in  any  case  it  would  be 
a  good  plan  to  use  a  layer  of  cinders  over  the  flat  stones,  to  prevent 
plastic  material  from  working  up.  In  cuts'  through  hard  rock  the  road- 
bed is  not  usually  graded  to  a  uniform  surface,  and  full  depth  of  ballast 
is  necessary  in  order  to  properly  bed  the  ties  over  the  high  points.  It  is 
good  practice  to  excavate  rock  cuts  a  foot  below  the  profile  grade  and 
then  build  up  to  sub-grade  with  broken  stone,  leaving  proper  side  ditches. 
Above  this  the  depth  of  ballast  may  be  regulated  to  suit  the  conditions 
of  the  locality. 

There  are  but  few  railroads  in  this  country  whereon  the  standard 
depth  of  ballast  under  the  ties,  for  ordinary  conditions,  exceeds  12  ins. 
The  most  usual  depths  in  the  standard  specifications  for  ballast  are  12 
ins.,  10  ins.  and  8  ins.,  in  the  order  named.  In  the  standards  of  50 


"214  BALLASTING 

of  the  representative  railways  of  the  country  a  depth  of  12  ins.  is  found 
20  times,  10  ins.  14  times  and  8  ins.  12  times.  The  least  standard  depth 
is  4  ins.  and  the  maximum  24  ins.,  in  a  few  instances.  In  this  con- 
nection,, however,  it  is  well  to  again  bear  in  mind  that  the  fashion  of 
"standards"  is  contagious,  and  the  amount  of  ballast  which  the  section 
foremen  actually  get  under  their  ties  may  not  always  measure  fully  up 
to  the  chief  engineer's  "standards."  It  is  true,  nevertheless,  that  better 
ballast  and  more  of  it  is  being  used  than  formerly. 

The  use  of  ballast  in  raising  track  to  the  original  grade  on  settled 
•embankments  and  to  a  uniform  grade  across  sags  may,  of  course,  increase 
its  depth  considerably  beyond  the  standard  specification.  For  this  reason 
many  think  that  it  is  extravagant  of  material  to  put  track  up  on  first- 
class  ballast  before  the  banks  have  become  well  settled.  The  idea  is 
worth  careful  consideration.  The  plan  would  be  to  surface  the  new 
track  with  dirt  on  or  but  little  above  the  sub-grade.  As  dirt  ballast  is  very 
cheaply  obtained  and  handled,  and  can  be  dressed  to  keep  water  out  of  the 
roadbed  to  a  large  extent,  the  use  of  the  same  for  two  or  three  years 
should  enable  the  embankments  to  settle  compactly  without  becoming 
plastic  in  the  center  and  "pushing  out."  After  that  the  dirt  can  be 
removed  from  between  the  ties,  the  top  of  the  roadbed  dressed  to  the 
•desired  slope  in  its  compacted  condition,  and  then  the  track  can  be  raised 
and  ballasted  with  gravel,  broken  stone  or  other  good  material  in  just 
such  quantities  as  are  desired  to  suit  the  various  requirements  of  the 
roadbed  in  cuts,  on  embankments,  etc. 

Surfacing  consists  in  placing  the  top  of  rail  to  an  even  line.  Bal- 
lasting consists  in  filling  the  space  underneath  the  ties  with  ballast, 
making  it  as  compact  as  is  practicable,  and  filling  the  space  between  the 
ties.  Where  suitable  ballast  material  can  be  obtained  along  the  line, 
close  at  hand,  it  should  be  hauled  out  with  teams  and  a  layer  of  it, 
within  about  2  ins.  as  deep  as  it  is  intended  to  have  the  ballast,  spread 
over  the  roadbed  and  leveled  off  smoothly  before  the  track  is  laid.  As 
a  general  thing  it  can  be  placed  more  cheaply  in  this  way  than  by 
hauling  it  with  the  train  and  shoving  it  under  the  ties  after  the  track 
is  laid,  because  then  the  track  must  be  raised  so  much  -the  higher.  There 
is  also  a  further  advantage  in  that,  from  being  driven  over  by  teams,  the 
bed  of  ballast  becomes  quite  compact,  whereas  ballast  placed  under  the 
ties  after  the  track  is  laid  will  always  settle  a  good  deal  at  first.  On 
dry  roadbed  it  is  quite  customary  to  first  place  a  layer  of  stones  broken 
to  the  size  of  cocoanuts,  or  a  paving  of  flat  stones  laid  shingle  fashion 
(standing  at  an  angle  of  about  45  deg.  and  leaning  against  one  another), 
and  then  lift  the  track  6  ins.  when  placing  the  gravel,  broken  stone 
or  other  ballast.  Track  laid  on  loose  rock  not  broken  up  should  be 
chinked  in  or  roughly  blocked  at  the  ends  of  the  ties  before  the  outfit 
train  is  allowed  to  run  upon  it.  This  work  is  quickly  and  easily  done, 
as  the  stones  for  blocking  are  close  at  hand.  Where  gravel  ballast  varies 
in  size  the  coarser  material  should  be  put  underneath.  Sometimes  in 
working  out  a  gravel  bank  the  run  of  the  strata  is  such  that  the  coarse 
material  may  be  separated  from  that  of  finer  quality  and  taken  out 
first.  In  such  event  the  track  should  be  raised  to  grade  in  two  stages, 
using  the  coarse  gravel  at  the  first  lift  (say  6  or  8  ins.),  without  dress- 
ing off,  and  then  top  out  with  the  finer  material  when  the  track  is  sur- 
faced to  the  final  grade  line.  It  is  advantageous  to  give  the  track  a 
little  time  to  settle  before  raising  it  the  second  time,  for  the  consoli- 
dation of  ballast  in  any  considerable  depth  must  come  about  by  settle- 
ment under  the  traffic. 


RAIL  GRADE   STAKES 

33.  Rail  Grade  Stakes. — The  grade  for  top  of  rail  in  ballasting 
is  indicated  by  stakes  about  4  ft.  from  the  rail  at  one  side  of  the  track, 
opposite  every  full  station,  and  wherever  there  is  a  change  of  grade.  These 
stakes  are  set  after  the  track  is  laid.  The  stake  is  driven  or  sawed  off 
to  bring  its  top  to  grade.  If  the  foreman  in  charge  of  the  work  is  experi- 
enced at  raising  track  it  is  useless  to  set  stakes  closer  than  100  ft. 
apart,  except  where  there  is  a  change  of  grade;  and  there  is  no  necessity, 
either,  for  setting  stakes  both  sides  of  the  track. 

Vertical  Curves. — Where  a  considerable  change  of  grade  occurs  stakes 
should  be  set  for  a  vertical  curve.  The  length  of  this  curve-  should  be 
proportional  to  the  amount  of  change  in  the  grade — 20  to  50  ft.  for  each 
one-tenth  of  one  per  cent  change  being  customary  practice.  Engineers 
should  explain  to  foremen  who  are  unacquainted  with  these  curves  their  na- 
ture, so  that  they  will  get  the  rails  to  a  curved  surface  instead  of  making  of 
them  a  series  of  grades.  Stakes  should  be  set  every  50  ft.,  or  even 
closer,  always  putting  a  stake  at  the  middle  point  of  the  curve — that  is, 
at  the  vertex  or  point  of  meeting  of  the  two  grade  lines — and  'then 
they  should  be  spaced  equally  each  way  from  this  point  to  the  ends  of 


Fig.  42—  Vertical  Curve. 

the  curve,  without  regard  to  the  established  stations  of  the  center  line 
of  the  track.  Instructions  for  setting  these  stakes  are  given  in  field  books. 
but  for  the  benefit  of  trackmen  an  example  of  the  kind  will  here  be 
considered.  Eeferring  to  Fig.  42,  let  A  B  represent  a  grade  of  1J  per 
cent  and  B  G  a  grade  of  J  per  cent.  The  change  in  grade  at  the  point  B, 
the  vertex,  is  then  1^  per  cent,  and  if  40  ft.  be  selected  as  the  length 
of  the  curve  for  each  tenth  of  change  the  curve  will  then  be  500  ft. 
long  and  run  250  ft.  each  way  from  B.  Set  a  stake  then  at  B  and  every 
50  ft.  (or  some  multiple  distance  of  half  the  length  of  the  curve,  not 
exceeding  50  ft.)  each  way,  it  not  being  necessary  to  designate  the  stakes 
by  marks  or  numbers  any  more  than  to  show  that  they  are  rail  grade 
stakes.  The  point  D  is  half  way  between  A  and  C  on  the  straight  line 
A  C,  and  its  elevation  is  readily  found  from  the  known  elevations  of 
the  points  A  and  C,  being  higher  than  A  by  half  the  difference  of  level 
between  C  and  A.  Of  course  B  is  .not  vertically  over  D,  but  no  per- 
ceptible error  is  made  by  assuming  it  to  be  such.  The  point  Ef  on  the 
proper  grade  for  the  curve,  is  half  way  between  B  and  D;  and  any 
point  between  E  and  C,  or  between  E  and  A,  on  the  curve,  is  at  such  a 
distance  from  B  C  or  B  A  that  its  ratio  to  the  distance  B  E  equals  the 
ratio  between  the  square  of  the  distance  of  the  point  G  or  A  and  the 
square  of  the  distance  B  C  or  B  A,  according.  to  which  side  of  B  it  hap- 
pens to  come.  For  instance,  the  distance  of  the  point  F  below  the 
line  B  C  (call  it  x)  would  be  found  by  the  equation 

(Fey-    (t)2 


BE       (BCy      (5/5)2 

In  the  same  manner  the  distance  of  the  point  G  from  the  line  B  C 
would  be  (i)2  B  E  =  1/25  B  E.  Where  the  grades  meet  in  a  sag  the 
curve  is  located  above  the  two  grade  lines,  of  course,  and  the  distance  of 
any  point  on  it  from  one  of  the  grade  lines  is  found  in  the  same  way 
-as  has  just  been  described.  The  distance  thus  found  is  additive  and 


216  ft  BALLASTING 

gives  the  same  result  as  though  the  figure  (Fig.  42)  was  inverted.  It 
is  usual  to  grade  the  roadbed  to  conform  to  the  same  vertical  curve,  but 
more  care  should  be  taken  in  setting  stakes  for  the  rail  grade  than  ia 
necessary  for  the  sub-grade.  Foremen  are  not  apt  to  run  in  a  vertical 
curve  very  well  by  the  eye;  that  is,  to  surface  the  track  well  at  such  a 
point  without  stakes.  A  change  of  grade  should  not  occur  on  a  hori- 
zontal curve  in  the  track  if  it  can  be  avoided. 

Mr.  Wellington's  rule  for  the  length  of  vertical  curves  is  based  on 
the  following  consideration:  "The  rate  of  grade  on  which  the  head 
of  the  train  stands  must  in  no  case  exceed  that  on  which  the  rear  of 
the  train  stands  by  more  than  the  grade  of  repose*  of  the  last  car."  For 
sags  Mr.  Wellington's  rule  is:  "The  curve  should  be  400  ft.  long  (that 
is,  200  ft.  on  each  side  of  the  vertex)  for  each  tenth  in  change  of  rate 
of  grade,  making  the  change  in  rate  of  grade  per  station  not  over  .025 
per  station,  if  all  possibility  of  bringing  the  draw-bars  of  any  part  of 
the  train  into  compression  while  passing  over  it  is  to  be  avoided.  With 
half  this  length  of  curve,  which  is  considerably  more  than  is  usual  in 
laying  out  vertical  curves,  all  danger  of  'taking  out  the  slack'  in  the 
front  half  of  the  train,  where  there  is  most  danger  of  breaking  in  two, 
will  be  avoided/'  It  is  thus  seen  that  the  idea  in  the  mind  of  the  author 
quoted  was  to  so  limit  the  change  in  rate  of  grade  that  in  passing 
over  sags  the  cars  in  the  rear  of  the  train  would  have  no  tendency  to 
run  into  those  in  front.  But  since  the  long  coupling  of  former  day& 
has  gone  out  of  use  there  is  now  far  less  cause  for  trouble  in  sags,  and 
accordingly  vertical  curves  are  now  made  much  shorter  than  this  rule 
requires.  To  always  follow  this  rule  would  give  some  lines  a  very  sinu- 
ous appearance,  indeed,  while  in  many  cases  it  would  be  impracticable. 

The  best  method  of  making  the  transition  between  grades  of  varying 
inclination  was  one  of  the  subjects  reported  upon  at  the  sixth  session 
of  the  International  Railway  Congress,  held  in  Paris  in  1900.  As  a 
great  deal  of  mathematical  learning  has  been  brought  to  bear  on  this 
question  in  times  past  the  information  produced  by  the  reports  presented 
is  of  particular  interest.  One  of  the  reports  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Van 
Bogaert,  chief  engineer  of  the  Belgian  State  By.,  and  covers  the  practice 
of  67  railroads  iir  Europe,  Great  Britain,  the  British  colonies  and  the 
United  States.  The  report  reaches  the  conclusion  that,  from  theoretical 
considerations  and  from  practical  experience,  a  vertical  curve  of  16,000 
ft.  radius  is  quite  sufficient  to  prevent  severe  jerks  in  the  draw-bar  pull 
resulting  from  sudden  change  in  the  tractive  effort  of  the  locomotive 
due  to  a  change  of  grade  even  as  great  as  2  per  cent.  A  sag  between 
two  grades  is  not  considered  dangerous  ev*en  if  the  connecting  curve  is 
of  a  radius  considerably  less  than  16,000  ft.  This  is  the  radius  (5000 
meters)  adopted  by  a  large  number  of  roads,  none  of  which  report  trouble 
as  having  arisen  from  the  radius  of  the  connecting  curve  being  too  short. 
The  minimum  radius  prescribed  by  the  German  Railroad  Union  is  only 
2000  meters  (6500  ft.).  This  is  the  radius  in  use  on  a  number  of 
European  roads  in  hilly  country,  with  results  reported  to  be  entirely 
satisfactory.  In  sags  between  opposing  grades  the  tendency  of  the  cars 
is  to  bunch  together  and  drive  the  buffers  in,  but  on  vertical  curves  of 

*By  "grade  of  repose"  is  meant  the  minimum  grade  upon  which  a  car  will 
start  itself  without  assistance.  This  is  not  the  same  as  the  minimum  grade 
upon  which  a  car  will  keep  moving  after  it  is  once  started;  such  is  not  nearly 
so  much  as  the  grade  of  repose.  The  grade  of  repose  (proper)  is  about  0.4  per 
cent  and  the  grade  on  which  a  car  will  continue  to  move  after  being  started  is 
about  0.3  per  cent  for  box  cars,  in  each  case,  depending  always  on  the  amount 
of  journal  friction. 


KAISIXG    TKACK 

any  considerable  radius  such  action  takes  place  gradually  and  no  harm 
results.  On  summits  between  opposing  grades,  or  where  the  grade  changes 
from  a  rise  to  a  level  or  from  a  level  to  a  fall,  the  draw-bar  pull  is 
subject  to  sudden  changes,  at  high  speed,  and  break-in-twos  occasionally 
take  place,  although  the  jerk  at  such  points  is  nothing  nearly  as  great 
as  is  liable  to  happen  from  the  action  of  the  brakes.  The  report  recom- 
mends that  for  changes  of  grade  greater  than  1  per  cent,  passing  from 
a  rise  to  a  level  or  from  the  level  to  a  falling  grade,  or  over  a  summit 
between  opposing  grades,  it  is  advisable  to  ascertain  by  means  of  a 
dynamometer  car  whether  the  curve  used  in  any  case  has~n  radius  of 
sufficient  length  to  prevent  sudden  jerks  in  the  draw-bar  pull.  For  changes 
of  grade  less  than  1  per  cent  the  report  maintains  that  the  question  is 
not  of  any  importance.  It  is  not  desirable,  however,  to  have  a  change  of 
grade  occur  where  there  are  horizontal  curves'  of  short  radius. 

Eeplies  to  a  list  of  questions  making  inquiry  for  the  details  of  prac- 
tice on  the  different  roads  indicate  a  great  diversity  as  to  the  form  of 
curve  used.  Although  the  circular  arc  is  the  form  most  commonly 
found,  nevertheless  a  considerable  number  of  roads  use  parabolic  curves, 
some  roads  introduce  a  piece  of  level  track  at  the  summit  of  opposing 
grades,  several  roads  make  the  transition  by  means  of  a  series  of  inclines, 
each  of  20  to  30  it.  length  and  changing  one  tenth  of  1  per  cent.  On 
the  other  hand,  some  roads  having  grades  as  steep  as  2J  and  3  per 
cent  do  not  use  vertical  curves  connecting  changes  of  grade.  The  radii 
of  vertical  curves  used  on  different  roads,  as  noted  in  the  report,  vary 
from  3000  to  33,000  ft.  The  practice  of  running  out  the  vertical  curves 
also  varies  greatly.  On  many  roads  there  are  no  definite  rules  regarding 
vertical  curves,  and  in  surfacing  the  track  reliance  is  placed  upon  the 
judgment  and  the  eye  of  the  section  foreman,  who  puts  in  such  a  curve 
as  he  thinks  will  answer  the  purpose.  Of  course  the  most  careful .  prac- 
tice is  to  establish  the  curve  by  setting  grade  stakes  instrumentally.  In 
some  cases  the  roadbed  is  graded  to  the  vertical  curve,  while  in  others 
the  curve  is  introduced  only  as  the  track  is  ballasted,  the  grades  in  the 
roadbed,  in  that  case,  continuing  to  an  apex  or  to  the  point  of  meeting. 
In  some  cases  where  opposing  grades  are  steep,  however,  as  at  a  summit., 
the  roadbed  is  graded  level  at  the  summit  and  the  curve  is  introduced, 
when  the  track  is  being  ballasted;  in  other  cases  the  roadbed  is  graded 
to  the  curve  only  where  the  difference  in  the  grades  amounts  to  as  much 
as  1  per  cent. 

The  facts  set  forth  in  the  report  show  that  general  practice  in  the 
use  of  vertical  curves  is  much  simpler  than  some  theories  would-  lead 
one  to  suppose.  For  convenience  of  surfacing  the  track  the  curve  should 
be  as  short  as  will  conduce  to  safe  operation.  A  curve  of  16,000  ft.  radius 
connecting  grades  where  the  change  amounts  to  2  per  cent  is  only  164 
ft.  long  each  side  of  the  vertex,  or  328  ft.  in  total  length.  To  follow 
some  rules  requiring  a  curve  of  very  long .  radius,  on  roads  where  the 
grades  are  much  broken,  there  would  not  in  some  cases  be  room  enough 
between  the  points  of  change  to  get  in  the  curve.  It  seems  to  be  proven 
in  practice  that  vertical  curves  of  considerable  length  are  not  required' 
where  the  change  in  rate  of  grade  does  not  exceed  J  of  1  per  cent. 

34.  Raising  the  Track. — A  jack  is  a  better  tool  for  raising  track 
than  a  lever,  because  it  requires  only  one  man  to  operate  it,  whereas 
a  lever  usually  requires  three  or  more;  the  jack  can  also  lift  through 
a  greater  vertical  hight  without  changing,  and  it  does  not  throw  the 
track  out  of  line  so  much  as  when  raising  with  a  lever.  If  the  roadbed 
is  soft,  so  that  the  jack  sinks  in  too  much,  it  may  be  stood  upon  a  piece 


218  BALLASTING 

of  plank.  Using  the  level  board,  the  rail  is  raised  to  surface  opposite 
each  rail  grade  stake,  andr  then  at  the  joints  and  centers,  blocking  them 
to  place,  or  shovel-tamping  if  the  ballast  is  at  hand.  It  is  an  advantage 
to  have  ballast  on  hand  in  sufficient  quantity  to  tamp  the  tie  ends,  because 
blocking  will  settle  when  the  train  comes  on,  and  the  track  will  have  to 
be  raised  again;  besides,  it  is  not  altogether  desirable  to  leave  blocks, 
stones,  etc.,  under  the  track  so  near  the  bottoms  of  the  ties.  With  rails 
of  heavy  section  the  stiffness  of  the  rail  will  usually  hold  the  quarters 
to  surface  if  the  joints  and  centers  are  supported.  On  track  laid  with 
rails  of  light  weight  a  quarter  now  and  then  will  sag  and  require  raising 
to  surface.  In  a  high  lift  light  splices  are  in  danger  of  being  bent  by 
taking  hold  of  the  rail  at  the  joint.  It  is  better  in  a  case  of  this  kind 
to  take  some  point  2  or  3  ft.  to  one  side  of  the  joint  as  the  raising  point. 
Track  usually  settles  as  soon  as  the  jack  lets  go,  and  allowance  should 
be  made  accordingly.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  raise  every  joint  somewhat 
higher  than  the  point  to  which  it  would  naturally  settle  back,  so  that 
it  will  stand  striking  down.  The  usual  arrangement  is  to  have  a  man 
carry  a  16-lb.  sledge  along  and  strike  down  on  the  tie  tamped.  In  this 
way  a  good  surface  can  be  had  without  taking  so  much  pains  with  the 
raising,  and  the  ballast  under  such  ties  gets  hardened  to  a  considerable 
extent  by  being  struck  down. 

It  is  well  to  raise  and  hold  the  rails  on  both  sides  to  surface  before 
tamping  the  ends  of  the  ties,  because  where  one  rail  has  been  raised 
and  the  tie  ends  have  been  tamped,  when  it  comes  to  raising  the  rail 
on  the  opposite  side  the  rail  first  raised  will  rise  with  it  an  eighth  to 
a  quarter  as  fast  and  leave  the  ties  which  have  been  tamped  bearing  only 
at  their  ends,  with  a  clear  space  under  the  tie  at  the  rail  seat.  The 
side  last  tamped  will  then  hold  up  better  than  the  side  tamped  first,  and 
the  track  will  settle  more  on  one  side  than  on  the  other;  but  this  is 
not  liable  to  happen  where  neither  side  is  tamped  until  after  both  sides 
have  been  raised  and  held.  Unless  the  side  first  raised  be  blocked,  and 
that  directly  underneath  the  rail,  it  will  rise  a  little  with  the  second  side 
when  it  is  raised,  as  just  explained,  and  after  the  track  is  leveled  across  or 
elevated  it  will  be  somewhat  higher  than  the  grade  stakes.  There  is  no  ob- 
jection to  this  excess,  because  it  provides  an  allowance  for  settlement  and 
does  not  usually  leave  the  surface  of  the  side  first  raised  uneven;  should 
it  do  so  occasionally,  a  few  strokes  from  the  sledge  on  the  high  ties  will 
usually  put  it  right.  Some  make  it  a  practice  to  set  th-  jacks  outside 
the  rails  and  raise  both  sides  of  the  track  at  the  same  time.  Where  the 
lift  is  high  this  is  a  good  plan. 

The  man  who  sights  the  rail  should  be  at  least  60  ft.  back  of  the 
point  which  is  being  raised,  so  that  his  eye  can  catch  a  good  stretch  of 
rail  between.  It  is  well  to  designate  each  point  which  is  raised  oppo- 
site a  grade  stake  by  placing  a  pebble  or  chunk  of  dirt  on  the  rail,  for 
it  is  an  aid  in  sighting  other  points  on  the  rail  with  reference  to  it. 
One  man  can  sight  for  two  jacks — one  at  raising  joints,  the  other  at 
raising  centers.  About  the  utmost  speed  attainable  in  raising  track  at 
one  place  would  be  had  by  using  five  jacks;  one  crew  with  jack  and 
level  board  could  put  both  rails  to  grade  opposite  grade  stakes;  a  man 
behind,  sighting  for  two  jacks,  could  follow  and  place  one  rail,  that  is 
one  side,  to  surface ;  and  behind  him,  on  the  opposite  side,  a  crew  with 
jack  and  level  board  could  raise  the  joints,  and  another  jack  with  a  man 
to  sight  for  it  could  be  used  in  putting  up  the  centers.  The  best  sighter 
should  be  put  on  the  side  which  is  in  the  advance.  It  requires  a  littlo 
genius  as  well  as  judgment  to  sight  rails  well  and  rapidly.  Young  or 


TAMPING  219 

inexperienced  foremen  use  various  devices  as  an  aid  to  sighting  the  rails. 
One  of  the  simplest  of  these  is  three  blocks,  all  of  the  same  thickness  or 
hight.  Two  of  the  blocks  are  placed  on  the  rail  at  points  where  it  is 
at  the  proper  hight,  at  any  convenient  distance  apart  within  sighting 
range;  the  third  block  is  placed  upon  the  rail  at  the  point  which  is 
being  raised,  and  when  it  is  brought  up  into  the  line  of  sight  with  the 
other  two  the  rail  at  that  point  is  at  the  proper  surface.  Another  device 
•consists  of  sighting  blocks  and  boards,  worked  on  the  same  principle. 
There  is  a  thin  plank  or  board  usually  painted  white,  .with  a  black 
stripe  running  longitudinally  its  whole  length.  The  board  has  L-shaped 
irons  or  feet  to  steady  it  in  an  edgewise  position,  and  when  the  track 
opposite  a  grade  stake  has  been  raised  and  blocked  or  tamped  to  surface 
and  leveled,  this  board,  called  the  "hight  board,"  is  placed  to  stand 
edgewise  across  the  rails;  or  it  may  be  set  at  proper  hight,  across  the 
track,  on  heaps  of  ballast  in  advance  of  the  work.  By  means  of  two  other 
•boards  or  blocks,  called  "sighting  boards"  or  "sighting  blocks,"  as  the 
•case  may  be,  one  placed  on  the  rail  at  the  observer  (where  the  track 
is  in  surface)  and  the  other  at  the  point  where  the  track  is  being 
lifted,  the  rail  is  sighted  to  surface.  The  thickness  or  hight  of  the 
""sighting"  boards  or  blocks  corresponds  to  the  hight  of  the  stripe  on 
the  "hight  board."  Foremen  experienced  at  sighting  rails  can  get  along 
without  these  devices  and  do  the  work  just  as  well  and  just  as  rapidly. 
In  fact,  some  foremen,  in  raising  new  track  or  any  track  where  the 
top  faces  of  the  ties  are  clean,  do  not  sight  the  rails  at  all,  but  stand 
back  a  little  way  in  the  middle  of  the  track  and  judge  of  the  rail 
surface  by  the  appearance  of  the  ties.  When  the  rails  are  out  of  true 
the  ties  appear  to  form  the  elements  of  a  warped  surface.  On  curves 
the  rails  are  sighted  along  the  inside  of  the  curve. 

Track  on  tangents  should  be  raised  and  tamped  level  transversely. 
There  are  those  who  claim  that  a  train  will  run  more  steadily  on  straight 
line  if  the  rail  on  one  side  is  about  i  in.  lower  than  the  other,  than  it 
will  on  track  which  is  level  transversely.  This  claim  is  based  on  the 
idea  that  the  wheel  flange  on  the  lower  side  will  follow  the  rail  instead 
of  moving  first  toward  one  side  and  then  toward  the  other,  as  it  does 
on  track  which  is  level  transversely.  But  the  coning  of  the  wheels 
would  not  in  all  probability  allow  this  steadiness  of  movement  on  straight 
line;  and  if  it  did,  more  power  would  be  expended  in  hauling  the  train, 
because  if  the  same  wheel  flange  followed  one  rail  all  the  time,  either 
one  or  both  wheels  would  have  to  slip  a  little  almost  constantly. 

In  ballasting  new  track  it  is  desirable,  especially  when  working  a 
large  crew,  to  have  the  track  where  raising  is  in  progress  entirely  free 
from  passing  trains.  In  case  the  ballast  must  be  hauled  from  the  rear 
the  best  plan,  if  practicable,  is  to  first  unload  ballast  along  the  track 
foi  several  miles  in  sufficient  quantity  to  tamp  the  ties  outside  the  rails; 
on  fills  where  the  track  is  to  be  raised  6  ins.  or  higher  there  is  not 
usually  room  for  more  material  than  this.  Then  everything  is  ready 
to  begin  with  part  of  the  crew  to  raise  the  track  and  tamp  the  ties  out- 
side both  rails;  thfe  will  hold  up  a  train  without  settling  to  hurt,  and 
the  train  should  follow  to  haul  what  ballast  is  needed  to  complete  the 
work.  The  remainder  of  the  crew  should  follow  the  first  party  and 
tamp  the  ties  between  the  rails,  line  the  track  and  fill  it  in. 

35.  Tamping. — Except  where  broken  stone  or  slag  is  used  for 
ballast  the  shovel  is  the  best  tool  for  tamping  new  track.  Tamping  bars 
are  not  effective  in  such  work.  The  tamping  bar  is  intended  to  be  used 
«nly  where  ballast  can  be  confined  in  a>  small  space,  such  as  is  found 


220  BALLASTING 

between  the  bottom  of  a  tie  and  a  hard  bed,  when  the  lift  is  small.  In. 
raising  new  track,  where  the  lift  is  usually,  several  inches,  the  ballast 
must  necessarily  be  put  in  loose;  and  it  can  become  hard  and  compact 
only  after  time  and  by  pressure  from  trains  running  over  it.  The  range  of 
action  of  a  tamping  bar  is  only  an  inch  or  two  in  depth  below  the  bot- 
tom of  the  tie  at  the  most,  and  consequently  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to 
attempt  to  harden  several  inches  of  ballast  under  the  tie  with  such  a 
tool  when  the  ballast  between  the  ties  is  in  a  loose  condition.  The  shovel 
does  just  as  good  work  and  is  far  more  rapid.  In  shovel  tamping,  th& 
gravel  or  other  ballast  is  first  shoved  under  the  tie  with  the  shovel  blade, 
and  then  crowded,  the  latter  effect  being  produced  by  putting  the  foot 
on  the  shoulder  of  the  blade  and  driving  it  under  the  bottom  of  the 
tie,  at  the  same  time  prying  backward  a  little  on  the  handle,  thus  en- 
abling the  lower  edge  of  the  blade  to  pry  forward  and  crowd.  Before 
placing  the  foot  upon  the  blade,  ballast  should  be  filled  in  between  the 
ties  as  high  as  an  inch  or  tw,o  above  the  tie  bottoms,  so  that  a  fulcrum 
may  be  had  for  the  back  of  the  shovel  blade  to  pry  against.  The  thin, 
edge  of  a  shovel  blade,  even  when  new  (being  only  about  3/32  in.  thick) 
is  not  worth  much  for  a  rammer;  it  is,  therefore,  the  prying  and  ram- 
ming combined  which  crowds  or  tamps  the  ballast  under  the  tie,  but 
principally  the  prying.  This  is  the  reason  it  is  so  important  that  bal- 
last between  the  ties  should  all  the  while  be  kept  somewhat  higher  than 
their  bottoms,  and  that  the  edge  of  the  shovel  blade  should  penetrate 
under  the  lower  corner  or  edge  of  the  bottom  face,  instead  of  against 
the  side  of  the  tie.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  describe  just  exactly 
how  shovel  tamping  is  rightly  done;  it  is  easier, done  than  said.  It 
is  work  which  requires  judgment,  and  that  must  be  acquired  by  experi- 
ence. New  men  seldom  if  ever  do  it  properly  on  the  start.  An  intelligent 
man  may  soon  learn  it,  but  some  never  do. 

In  starting  out  at  tamping  the  foreman,  who  by  all  means  should  at 
some  time  have  worked  at  shovel  tamping  himself,  should  take  a  shovel  and 
show  each  man  individually  how  it  is  done.  After  he  has  gone  through  the 
crew  in  this  way  he  will  usually  have  occasion  to  come  right  back  and,  with  as- 
much  emphasis  as  possible,  inform  about  49  out  of  every  50  men  that  they 
are  not  doing  it  properly;  for,  invariably,  instead  of  tamping  the  ballast 
under  the  tie,  nearly  all  will  be  found  trying  to  pack  it  against  the  side 
of  the  tie.  More  money  is  wasted  in  paying  for  poor  tamping  than  for 
all  other  poor  work  on  track  put  together.  The  man  in  charge  of  a  sur- 
facing or  ballasting  crew  must  therefore  be  vigilant.  Men  should  be- 
given  to  understand  that  as  soon  as  a  tie  is  properly  tamped  the  work 
on  that  tie  should  cease,  since  there  is  not  the  slightest  necessity  for 
tamping  against  the  side  of  it;  that  is  to  say,  above  the  edge  of  the- 
bottom  face;  that  as  soon  as  one  is  through  tamping  under  the  bottom 
of  one  tie  further  effort  can  most  profitably  be  expended  under  the  bot- 
tom of  the  next  tie  ahead;  that  to  the  laborer  the  physical  exertion 
must,  in  any  case,  be  the  same  whether  he  remains  hopping  up  and 
down  on  his  shovel,  spudding  it  against  the  side  of  the  tie,  or  whether 
he  moves  to  the  next  tie  ahead  as  soon  as  the  tamping  of  the  tie  is 
properly  finished.  The  foreman's  command  of  language  cannot  be  used 
too  vigorously  in  bringing  these  points  to  the  notice  of  his  men.  Shovel 
tamping  when  well  done  will  give  good  results,  but  when  poorly  done 
it  is  much  expense  laid  out  for  little  or  nothing  in  return.  Foremen 
should  not  forget  this. 

Most  kinds  of  dirt  ballast  cannot  be  well  tamped  with  the  shovel 
blade.  Cast  ends  are  sometimes  provided  for  shovel  handles,  so  that 


BALLAST   CARS  .  221 

tin,  tamper  may  take  the  edge  of  the  blade  in  his  hand  and  use  the 
handle  as  a  rammer,  and  in  some  kinds  of  dirt  ballast  they  do  pretty 
.good  work.  A  tool  called  a  puddle  is  sometimes  used  for  this  purpose. 
It  resembles  very  much  a  tamping  pick  with  the  pick  end  of  the  tool 
•cut  off  near  the  eye. 

Stone  and  slag  ballast  are  tamped  with  tamping  picks.  Each  tamper 
works  by  himself,  stooping  over  the  tie  and  driving  the  rock  into  the 
space  underneath  it.  In  order  to  do  this  work  uniformly,  more  or  less 
-care  must  be  exercised,  for,  if  not  mindful,  one  may,  in  striking  with 
.a  tamping  pick,  easily  Wedge  parts  of  the  track  up  -above-  its  proper 
surface.  The  material  is  first  thrown  into  the  track  loosely  and  pushed 
under  the  ties  with  shovels,  and  then  thoroughly  packed  with  the  tamp- 
ing picks.  After  a  few  days  the  track  should  be  carefully  resurfaced, 
taking  out  the  rough  spots,  tamping  the  raised  ties  and  filling  in  and 
dressing  off.  As  already  stated,  rock  to  be  broken  for  ballast  is  some- 
times thrown  into  the  track  and  broken  up  there.  This  is  not  a  good 
plan  to  follow,  however,  since  the  ballast  is  liable  not  to  be  broken  finely 
•enough  to  the  proper  depth,  unless  the  rock  be  thrown  in  a  piece  at 
a  time;  it  gives  the  men  a  chance  to  break  the  material  finely  on  the 
top  and  leave  larger  pieces  underneath  where  they  cannot  be  seen.  The 
ballast,  if  broken  on  the  spot,  ought,  therefore,  to  be  broken  up  on  the 
shoulder,  outside  the  track.  It  should  be '  thrown  in  with  forks  rather 
than  shovels,  since  with  the  latter  it  is  difficult  "to  handle  rock  ballast 
lying  on  the  ground  without  taking  up  some  dirt  with  it ;  and  of  course1 
it  is  desirable  to  keep  rock  ballast  clean,  in  order  to  prevent  the  growth 
of  vegetation  and  the  churning  of  the  ties. 

Shovel  tamping  is  done  on  both  sides  of  the  tie  simultaneously.  Out- 
side the  rails  two  men  work  together,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  same  tie; 
•between  the  rails  four  men — two  on  each  side  of  the  tie — usually  tamp  to- 
gether. Ties  should  be  well  tamped  directly  underneath  the  rail  seat.  This 
<?an  always  be  done  to  best  advantage  by  getting  the  tool  in  there  at  the 
i?tart.  A  shovel  blade  must  be  thrust  in  cornerwise  in  order  to  do  it,  and 
such  cannot  be  done  after  the  tie  has  already  been  tamped  farther  out 
toward  the  end ;  or  farther  in  toward  the  middle,  if  tamping  be  done  inside 
the  rails.  When  tamping  either  outside  or  inside  the  rails  one  should  aim 
to  tamp  the  tie  directly  underneath  the  rail  from  that  side.  It  is  an 
•easier  matter  to  tamp  the  ties  at  this  point  when  using  a  tamping  bar  or 
tamping  pick  than  when  using  a  shovel.  When  tamping  new  track  for  the 
first  time,  the  middle  of  the  tie  may,  without  ill  effect,  be  tamped  as  firmly 
as  the  ends,  but  after  that  the  middle  should  never  be  tamped  quite  as 
solidly  as  the  ends. 

36.  Ballast  Cars. — In  handling  ballast  for  new  track  two  kinds  of 
ballast  car,  or  a  car  which  combines  the  typical  features  of  both  kinds, 
can  be  used  to  best  advantage.  Reference  is  intended  to  cover  cars 
which  can  be  unloaded  from  the  side  and  those  which-  can  be  dumped 
from  underneath.  The  latter  saves  the  expense  of  once  handling  part 
of  the  ballast,  for  otherwise  it  must  be  cast  into  the  track  from  the  out- 
side. As  is  well  known,  cars  are  made  which  combine  these  two  features 
in  one.  While  cars  which  dump  by  careening  to  the  side  may  be  made  to  do 
good  work  at  filling  in  a  trestle,  they  do  not  answer  well  for  dumping 
ballast,  because  the  momentum  with  which  it  leaves  such  a  car  will 
sprawl  it  over  the  shoulder  and  down  the  slopes,  on  fills  of  ordinary 
width,  much  being  thereby  wasted;  and  again,  wherever  a  car  is  dumped 
a  whole  load  must  go,  whether  all  is  needed  there  or  not.  For  unloading 
to  the  side  it  is  more  economical  of  ballast  and  more  convenient  to  unload 


222 


BALLASTING 


off  ordinary  flat  cars  by  hand  than  to  use  careening  side-dump  cars.  The 
cheapest  method  of  unloading  flat  cars,  however,  and  the  one  most  ex- 
tensively in  service,  is  by  the  use  of  the  unloading  plow  and  cable.  The 
various  devices  of  this  kind  and  their  manner  of  operation  are  described 
and  illustrated  under  the  subject  of  "Handling  Ballast  and  Filling  Ma- 
terial," §  148,  Chap.  X. 

A  very  common  type  of  side-dumping  ballast  car  is  built  on  th- 
gondola  style,  with  a  crowning  floor  (running  to  a  peak  in  the  middle 
of  the  car)  and  swing  side  doors  hinged  at  the  top.  When  the  doors 
are  unlatched  the  ballast  slides  out  by  gravity,  close  by  the  side  of  the 
track.  The  Pratt  side-dumping  car,  in  use  on  the  New  York,  New  Haven 
&  Hartford  R.  R.,  is  an  8-wheel  car  of  about  25  cu.  yds.  capacity  and 
28  ft.  length  inside.  The  sides  of  the  car  are  divided  horizontally  into- 
two  parts,  or  with  one  swinging  door  above  another,  so  that,  if  desired r 
only  half  of  the  load  on  each  side  of  the  car  need  be  discharged  at 
one  dumping.  The  upper  door  is  released  first,  and  if  it  is  desired  to* 
carry  the  remainder  of  the  load  a  car's  length  ahead,  the  lower  door  i& 


Fig.    43. — Rodger  Ballast  Car  and  Spreader. 

held  closed  until  the  car  is  moved,  when  the  remainder  of  the  load  is 
dumped.  The  Womelsdorff  gondola  ballast  car,  used  on  the  St.  Louis 
Southwestern  Ry.  of  Texas,  for  cinders,  has  a  deck  inclining  each  way 
from  the  middle,  and  a  side  drop  bottom.  This  drop  bottom  is  in  four 
sections  on  each  side  of  the  car,  and  consists  of  wrought  iron  plates  B/13. 
in.  thick  and  2J  ft.  wide,  hinged  to  the  bottom  edge  and  inside  face  of 
the  intermediate  sills.  Two  of  the  sections  or  aprons  are  each  12 J  ft. 
long  and  the  other  two  are  each  4  ft.  2  ins.  long.  The  drop  aprons 
are  held  in  position  by  chains  winding  upon  a  IJ-in.  shaft  extending 
the  length  of  the  car  (inside)  at  the  top  of  each  side  and  operated  by 
brake  wheels  on  vertical  shafts  connecting  by  means  of  worm  gearing  at 
the  top,  while  at  the  bottom  the  wheel  shaft  has  the  ordinary  ratchet 
and  pawl.  The  aprons  drop  through  an  angle  of  about  40  deg.  and  per- 
mit the  ballast  to  slide  freely  from  the  car,  under  the  side  sill,  onto  the 
shoulder,  close  by  the  track.  The  car  is  34f  ft.  long  over  end  sills  arid 
8  ft.  10J  ins.  wide. 

For  unloading  ballast  between  the  rails,  cars  are  made  with  hopper 
bottoms.  A  well-known  car  of  this  type  is  the  Rodger  ballast  car,  --shown 
in  Fig.  43,  as  constructed  by  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  R,  R.  The- 


BALLAST   CABS  .  223 

length  of  the  car  is  32  ft.,  the  width  8  ft.  9  ins.  and  the  hight  of  the 
top  of  the  car  above  the  rails  6  ft.  1J  ins.  The  capacity  of  the  car  level 
full  is  14.6  cu.  yds.,  and  when  heaped  18  to  20  cu.  yds.;  as  it  appears 
in  the  view  the  car  is  loaded  with  22  cu.  yds.  of  gravel.  The  capacity 
of  the  car  is  60,000  Ibs.  and  it  is  equipped  with  air  brakes.  These  cars 
are  hoppered  at  the  sides  and  ends,  the  hopper  extending  between  and 
slightly  below  the  inner  axles  of  the  two  car  trucks.  The  hopper  has 
a  door  at  the  bottom  17  ft.  in  length,  which  is  opened  and  controlled  by 
chains  winding  upon  a  shaft.  There  is  a  lever  and  ratchet  attached 
to  the  shaft  at  the  end  of  the  car,  outside  of  the  hopper,  -by_  means  of 
which  the  door  in  the  bottom  of  the  hopper  can  be  opened  any  desired 
width,  so  that  the  amount  of  ballast  discharged  is  under  control,  being 
regulated  by  the  amount  by  which  the  door  is  opened  and  the  speed 
of  the  car.  In  unloading  ballast  from  a  train  of  these  cars  only  one 
car  is  opened  at  a  time  and  a  ridge  of  ballast  is  deposited  between  the 
rails.  If  it  is  desired  to  unload  ballast  outside  the  rails  a  distributing 
car  or  spreader  is  coupled  on  at  the  rear  of  the  train.  This  car  con- 
sists of  an  ordinary  flat  car  carrying  a  plow  underneath,  as  shown  in 
the  lower  view  of  the  figure.  This  plow  can  be  adjusted  to  any  desired 
hight,:  but  in  service  it  is  lowered  by  the  screw  and  handle  until  it 
scrapes  the  rails.  It  plows  all  the  ballast  down  to  a  level  with  the  top 
of  rail  and  flanges  the  track,  leaving  the  excess  material  outside  the 
rails,  upon  the  ends  of  the  ties.  The  quantity  of  ballast  delivered  is 
limited,  necessarily,  by  an  amount  sufficient  to  pour  over  or  cover  the 
rails.  Where  the  lift  is  not  high,  however,  enough  ballast  may  be  plowed 
out  across  the  rails  to  tamp  the  ends  of  the  ties  without  unloading  any 
outside  the  track  from  cars  of  other  type.  As  used  on  the  Union  Pacific 
E.  E.  the  wings  of  the  plow  were  extended  to  spread  enough  gravel  to 
make  a  6-in.  lift  by  putting  all  gravel  unloaded  under  the  ties.  After 
this  first  raising  enough  material  is  plowed  off  to  finish  a  9-in.  lift,  fill 
in  between  the  ties  and  trim  out  to  the  standard  cross  section. 

This  ballast  car  is  used  on  a  large  number  of  roads.  When  not  in 
use  as  a  ballast  car  it  can  be  put  to  service  as  a  coal  car.  The  Grand 
Eapids  &  Indiana  Ey.  has  these  cars  built  with  a  capacity  of  100,000  Ibs. ; 
and  when  not  in  service  in  handling  ballast  they  are  used  for  transport- 
ing coal  or  ore.  The  Illinois  Central  E.  E.  also  has  combination  cars 
of  the  Eodger  type.  In  the  summer  the  cars  are  used  for  hauling  ballast 
and  in  the  winter  they  are  fitted  with  removable  extension  sides  and 
ends  and  used  in  the  coal  traffic.  The  cars  are  40  ft.  long  over  end 
sills,  9-J  ft.  wide,  outside,  with  a  hopper  30J  ft.  long  on  top  and  24%  ft. 
long  on  bottom.  The  capacity  of  the  car  level  full  of  ballast  is  22  cu. 
yds.  and  28  to  30  cu.  yds.  when  heaped.  The  coal  capacity  is  40  to 
42  tons.  When  used  for  carrying  ballast  the  top  part  of  the  coal  box, 
which  is  an  extension  of  the  hopper  of  30  cu.  yds.  additional  capacity, 
is  removed.  The  weight  of  the  car  is  36,900  Ibs.  and  the  nominal  weight 
capacity  is'  80,000  Ibs. 

The  Eodger  ballast  car  of  improved  design  is  convertible  into  a 
flat-bottomed  gondola  car.  The  car  of  improved  design  is  similar  to 
the  old  car,  but  having  the  addition  of  removable  sloping  ends  and 
foldable  longitudinal  sections  attached  to  the  intermediate  sills,  which 
may  be  swung  over  to  form  a  tight  flat-bottom  gondola  car,  overcoming 
the  objection  to  the  old-style  Eodger  ballast  car,  namely,  that  it  was 
not  available  for  ordinary  freight  service,  although  extensively  used  for 
carrying  coal.  The  convertible  car  contains  every  feature  of  the  old 
Eodger  ballast  car,  having  the  same  slope  at 'the  sides  and  a  larger 


224: 


BALLASTING 


capacity,  at  the  same  time  being  convertible  at  the  end  of  the  ballasting 
season  into  a  gondola  car.  A  still  later  design  is  convertible  into  either 
a  flat  car  or  a  flat-bottom  gondola  car. 

Ordinary  hopper-bottom  gondola  coal  cars  are  frequently  used  for  dis- 
tributing ballast  between  the  rails  by  skidding  a  square  stick  of  timber 
ahead  of  the  front  wheel  of  the  rear  truck  of  each  car  dumped,  to  level 
down  the  ballast  and  spread  it  out  across  the  rails.  On  the  Lehigh 
Valley  R.  R.  160  "quarter'5  coal-car  loads  of  slag  measuring  1000  cu. 
yds.  have  been  unloaded  in  this  manner  by  a  crew  of  18  men  in  -J  day, 
the  men  being  employed,  for  the  most  part,  in  pushing  the  slag  down 
into  the  hoppers  with  bars.  After  raising  the  track  to  grade  and  tamp- 
ing it  with  slag  that  material  was  leveled  down  even  with  the  bottoms 
of  the  ties,  and  cinder  ballast  for  filling  was  dumped  in  the  same  manner. 

Another  very  well  known  car  for  hauling  either  ballast  or  filling 
material  is  the  Goodwin  car,  in  use  on  a  large  number  of  roads.  This 
car  is  made  to  dump  either  at  the  side  or  from  the  center  or  from  both 


Table  VII. — For  Finding  Degree  of 
Curve. 


Fig.  44. — Goodwin  Dump  Car. 


Curve 

Radius  of 
Center 
Line. 

No.  of 
30  ft. 
Rails  in 
Arc 
"ABC' 

iLenjrth    of 
LA.rc"ABC" 
in  feet. 

jength    of 
Chord"AC' 
in  feet. 

Central 
Angle. 

i/s° 

11459 

22— 

656.8 

656.7 

3"17' 

1° 

5730 

151/,- 

463.5 

463.4 

4°38' 

2865 

11- 

328.6 

328.4 

6°34' 

3° 

1910 

9- 

268.5 

268.2 

8°02; 

4° 

1433 

8— 

232.6 

232.3 

5° 

1146 

7— 

208.1 

207.8 

lb'23' 

6° 

955.4 

1SO.O 

189.7 

819.0 

5  5-6^ 

176.0 

175.6 

12°17' 

8C 
9° 

716.8 
637.3 

54- 
51-6  + 

164.7 
155.3 

164.3 
154  9 

i3°or 

13°55' 

10° 

573.7 

49-10+ 

147.4 

147.0 

14°40' 

11° 

521.7 

140.6 

140.2 

15°22' 

12° 

478.3 

4'/i— 

134.7 

134.2 

16°03' 

13° 

441.7 

4  3-10+ 

129.5 

129.0 

16°42' 

14° 

410.3 

41-6- 

124.8 

124.3 

17°20' 

15° 

383.1 

4+ 

120.6 

120.1 

17^56; 

16° 

359.3 

39-10- 

116.8 

116.3 

17° 

338.3 

3R-10- 

113.4 

112.9 

19°04' 

18° 

319.6 

3T-10- 

110.3 

109.7 

19°37' 

19° 

3112.9 

36-10— 

107.4 

106.8 

20°09' 

20" 

287.9 

35-10- 

104.7 

104.1 

20°40' 

outlets  at  the  same  time.  The  car  as  now  built  is  constructed  entirely 
of  steel  and  iron.  As  shown  in  the  cross-sectional  view,  Fig.  44,  the 
body  of  the  car  is  built  upon  two  plate-girder  sills  21  ins.  apart.  These 
girders  are  18  ins.  deep  at  the  middle  and  9J  ins.  deep  at  the  ends. 
The  space  between  the  sills  is  left  clear  for  dumping  the  load  between 
the  rails,  and  from  each  sill  there  is  an  apron  or  floor  inclining  down- 
wards. The  two  ends  of  the  car  are  connected  by  top  side  plates  18  ins. 
deep  and  the  car.  is  divided  at  the  middle  by  a  transverse  bulkhead,  so 
that  either  of  the  two  compartments  can  be  dumped  independently  of 
the  other.  To  the  top  side  plate  on  each  side  of  the  car,  in  each  com- 
partment, there  is  hinged  a  swinging  door  which,  when  the  car  is  loaded, 
rests  upon  the  projection  of  a  movable  section  in  the  bottom  of  the 
hopper.  This  bottom  is.  composed  of  two  narrow  movable  sections  hinged 
to  a  longitudinal  shaft.  Each  bottom  section  is  held  in  position  by  a 
tripping  device,  by  means  of  which  the  said  movable  section  on  either 
side  of  the  car  may  be  released,  when  it  swings  downward,  inclining 
toward  the  apron,  thus  releasing  the  swinging  door  and  permitting  the 
discharge  of  the  load.  The  apron  is  hinged  along  its  middle  line  (longi- 
tudinally), so  that  the  upper  portion  can  be  swung  upward,  as  shown 
by  the  broken  lines  at  the  left  side  of  the  figure.  When  the  upper  section 
of  the  apron  is  set  in  this  position  and  the  swinging  door  released,  the 
latter  strikes  against,  and  is  held  by,  a  spring  on  the  raised  portion  of 


LINING  ;  225 

the  apron  and  the  contents  of  the  car  are  discharged  between  the  sills 
and  inside  the  rails  of  the  track.  The  dumping  devices  are  arranged  to 
be  operated  either  by  hand  or  by  compressed  air.  A  view  of  the  car 
with  the  swinging  doors  open  is  shown  as  Fig.  45.  Hand  dumping  is  ac- 
complished by  the  wheel  at  the  end.  When  equipped  for  pneumatic 
dumping  an  air  cylinder  is  attached  to  the  end  of  the  car,  on  the  out- 
side, beside  the  hand  wheel.  This  car  can  be  made  to  discharge  half  of 
its  load  on  one  side  and  half  on  the  other;  or  half  in  the  center  and 
half  on  the  outside;  all  on  one  side  or  all  in  the  center,  as  is  desired. 
The  car  is  35  ft.  11  ins.  long  over  the  end  sills,  8  ft.  10  ins.  wide  over 
all,  and  the  extreme  hight  above  top  of  rail  is  8  ft.  6  ins.  The  carrying 
capacity  is  80,000  to  125,000  Ibs.  or  in  volume,  with  the  load  heaped, 
it  amounts  to  about  29  cu.  yds.  As  shown  in  Fig.  45,  the  ends  of  the 
car  are  of  wood  construction,  but  in  later  designs  the  ends  are  con- 
structed entirely  of  steel.  These  cars  are  constructed  with  a  view  to 
turning  them  to  service  for  carrying  coal,  ore,  grain  and  other  bulky 
freight.  For  grain  service  the  car  is  provided  with  an  adjustable  steel 
top  for  protecting  the  grain  from  the  weather,  and  for  carrying  coke 
there  is  a  top  crate  which  enlarges  the  capacity  to  37  cu.  yds. 

There  are  other  ballast  cars  of  well  known  patterns,  used  either  in 
supplying  ballast  for  new  track  or  for  renewing  the  ballast  on  old  track, 
described  in  the  chapter  on  "Work  Trains"  (§  148,  Chap.  X).  In  bal- 
lasting, or,  rather,  surfacing,  track  with  dirt  but  little  or  no  hauling  is 


Fig.  45. — Goodwin  Dump  Car  with  Swinging  Doors  Open. 

usually  done,  as  in  such  material  the  track  is  not  usually  raised  very 
high  above  the  sub-grade,  and  enough  material  can  in  most  places  be 
had  by  casting  up  from  the  side  or  from  the  ditch;  but  holes  should 
not  be  dug  out  of  embankments  for  this1  purpose  nor  should  irregular 
enlargements  be  made  in  the  ditches,  where  they  will  hold  water  in  puddle*. 
37.  Lining. — After  the  track  has  been  tamped,  and  before  it  is  filled 
in,  it  should  be  lined.  It  can  be  easier  thrown  before  it  is  filled  in  than 
afterward,  as  there  is  then  not  so  much  material  to  hold  the  ties,  and  besides, 
the  rail  is  more  free  to  align  itself  farther  from  the  point  at  which  it  is 
thrown,  thereby  lessening  its  tendency  to  kink  and  require  throwing  at 
more  frequent  intervals.  The  foregoing  applies  to  track  in  most  kinds  of 
ballast,  but  in  stone  or  slag  ballast  the  track  should  be  lined  before  it  is 
tamped  the  last  time,  because  when  track  is  thrown  on  freshly  placed 
ballast  of  these  kinds  the  pieces  of  stone  will  roll  and  raise  it  out  of  sur- 
face. As  a  guide  in  throwing  the  track  to  the  center  stakes  a  tack  is 


226  BALLASTING 

driven  in  the  middle  of  the  gage,  or  it  is  notched  at  that  point.  The  gage 
is  then  placed  across  the  rails  at  each  center  stake  and  the  track  is  thrown 
to  bring  the  mark  on  the  gage  vertically  over  the  tack  in  the  stake.  It 
is  well  to  place  pebbles  or  other  small  objects  on  the  rail  at  such  points  to 
designate  the  place.  The  crew  then  goes  back  and  throws  the  joints, 
centers,  and  quarters  if  need  be,  to  line  with  the  rail  at  these  designated 
places.  Six  men  will  usually  be  a  large  enough  force  to  handle  it  easily, 
and  in  some  cases  four  will  be  sufficient.  They  should  all  throw  together, 
at  the  word,  with  a  rather  steady  pull  or  heave,  not  trying  to  jerk  too 
quickly.  At  some  places  where  there  is  a  short  kink  the  rail  must  be  held 
at  one  place  while  throwing  it  at  another,  so  as.  to  avoid  throwing  out  of 
Jine  the  portion  which  is  so  held. 

One  often  sees  in  railroad  periodicals  inquiries  after  the  best  method 
of  lining  track.  All  there  is  of  it  is  simply  the  use  of  a  fair  "mechanical 
eye"  to  put  the  rail  in  line  over  stretches  of  50  or  100  ft.,  although,  for 
that  matter,  center  stakes  on  tangents  need  not  be  nearer  than  200  ft. 
apart.  It  is  the  practice  with  some  young  engineers  to  line  tangents  by 
sighting  along  the  rail  with  a  transit.  Possibly  such  work  may  convey 
the  impression  of  accuracy,  but  it  cuts  no  figure  in  track  work.  When  the 
unaided  eye  cannot  detect  any  portion  of  a  rail  out  of  line  it  is  certainly 
not  going  to  affect  the  running  of  trains;  moreover,  in  curves,  where  good 
alignment  is  most  needed,  the  transit  can  be  of  no  use  in  this  way,  and 
the  eye  must  be,  and  has  always  been,  depended  upon. 

38.  Filling  in  and  Dressing. — After  the  track  is  lined  it  is  filled  in 
and  dressed  off.  The  manner  of  filling  in  depends  a  good  deal  on  the 
quality  of  the  ballast.  Track  in  broken  stone,  ordinary  gravel,  cinder  and 
like  kinds  of  ballast  should  be  filled  in  full,  even  with  the  tops  of  the  ties 
inside  the  rails,  but  not  over  the  tops.  For  a  distance  of  6  ins.  inside  the 
rails,  however,  and  from  there  on  out  to  the  end  of  the  tie,  the  ballast 
should  be  just  enough  lower  to  nicely  clear  the  rail  base.  If  the  ballast 
be  even  with  the  rail  base,  sand  or  dirt  will  be  sucked  in  between  it  and 
the  tie  face,  as  the  rail  springs  up  and  down  under  trains,  and  in 
winter  the  flange  of  the  rail  between  the  ties  will  lie  in  a  frozen  rut  which 
will  be  a  hindrance  to  shimming  and  other  kinds  of  work  which  must 
sometimes  be  done.  The  expansion  or  heaving  of  the  ballast  is  also  liable 
to  lift  the  rails  from  the  ties  and  start  the  spikes.  Beyond  the  ends  of 
the  ties  the  ballast  should  be  shouldered  out  full  depth  a  distance  of  at 
least  8  ins.,  and  better  if  10  or  12  ins.  Ballast  banked  against  the  ends 
of  the  ties  helps  very  much  to  hold  the  track  in  line.  It  also  keeps  the 
ground  from  freezing  that  much  deeper  in  winter,  and  in  case  of  derail- 
ment gives  some  aid  to  the  wheels  and  protection  to  the  ties.  The 
portion  just  outside  the  ends  of  the  ties  is  usually  called  the  ballast 
shoulder.  From  the  top  of  the  shoulder  the  ballast  may  be  sloped  off 
gradually  toward  the  ditch  or  edge  of  fill;  broken  stone  ballast  is  usually 
sloped  off  more  abruptly — something  like  1  to  1,  say.  Figures  3  and  4 
illustrate  the  manner  of  filling  for  different  kinds  of  ballast.  If  too  much 
ballast  has  been  left  during  construction  it  may  remain  to  be  used  in 
repairs  later  on,  but  no  material  should  remain  piled  in  a  ditch  or  in  a  cut. 

In  all  kinds  of  loose  ballast  through  which  water  soaks  away  readily 
little  attention  need  be  given  to  dressing  the  material  with  a  view  to 
draining  the  water  off  the  top;  but  in  dirt  ballast,  and,  to  some  extent, 
in  sand  ballast  also,  the  conditions  are  different.  In  those  cases  the 
ballast  must  be  so  dressed  that  it  will  run  all  water  possible  off  the  top  and 
keep  it  from  getting  underneath  the  ties.  The  only  thing  which  makes 
dirt  a  practicable  ballast  is  good  surface  drainage.  Dirt  and  sand  ballast 


FILLING   IX  AXD  DRESSING  227 

should  be  rounded  up  2  or  3  ins.  higher  than  the  tops  of  the  ties  in  the 
middle  of  the  track,  covering  the  ties  over  a  strip  about  3  ft.  wide,  and 
.then  sloped  down  to  the  bottoms  of  the  ties  at  their  ends,  passing  1  or  1J 
ins.  under  the  rail  base.  The  standards  of  some  roads  require  that 
.between  the  rails  the  ties  shall  be  covered  as  far  as  a  line  3  ins.  from  the 
rail  base,  from  which  point  the  ballast  shall  be  sloped  down  to  the  bottoms 
•of  the  ties  at  their  ends,  "care  being  taken  to  leave  an  opening  under  the 
rail  for  drainage."  Outside  the  ends  of  the  ties  the  surface  should  slope 
i»way  gently  out  over  the  shoulder.  Engraving  G,  Fig.  4,  shows  the 
-arrangement.  On  quite  a  number  of  roads,  one  of  whicli  is  the  Illinois 
•Central  (Fig.  5),  it  is  the  practice  to  fill  in  and  dress  off  cementing 
^gravel  ballast  in  this  manner;  that  is,  to  heap  it  up  in  the  middle  of  the 
track  and 'slope  it  down  to  the  bottoms  .of  the  ties  at  their  ends.  Cement- 
ing gravel  does  not  pass  water  freely,  and  it  is  so  difficult  (to  work  that 
much  labor  is  saved  by  leaving  the  ends  of  the  ties  uncovered,  so  that  they 
may  be  readily  opened  out  for  tamping. 

There  are  several  objectionable  effects  from  the  banking  of  ballast 
inside  the  rails,  two  or  three  of  which  it  may  be  well  enough  to  remark 
•upon.  Where  ballast  is  dressed  in  this  manner  there  is  always  a  tendency 
to  center-binding  of  the  track.  In  the  first  instance,  as  elsewhere  stated, 
the  ballast  or  earth  under  the  exposed  ends  of  the  ties  is  not  as  well 
retained  as  it  is  under  the  middle  of  the  track  where  there  is  a  full 
•depth  of  filling.  When  the  ground  is  thawing  the  frost  leaves  from  under 
the  ends  of  the  ties  before  it  does  the  middle  of  the  track.  The  effect 
of  this  condition  is  inequality  of  support  and  a  slight  rocking  of  the 
track  which  causes  it  to  settle  out  of  surface.  Nevertheless,  in  the 
•qualities  of  ballast  under  consideration,  the  advantages  obtained  by  cov- 
ering the  ties  in  the  middle  of  the  track  outweigh  the  disadvantages. 
Aside  from  the  superior  drainage  effected,  the  heap  of  ballast  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  track  assists  materially  in  holding  the  track  in  alignment.  When 
heaping  the  filling  in  curved  track  it  is  usual  to  crown  it  on  the  outer 
side  of  the  center  line,  which  brings  the  highest  point  of  the  filling  nearer 
the  outer  than  the  inner  rail;  otherwise  it  might  not  be  possible  on  track 
highly  elevated  to  make  the  filling  slope  both  ways. 

When  dressing  off  filling  for  the  first  time,  except  in  dirt  ballast, 
it  is  not  worth  the  while  to  spend  any  time  at  work  intended  merely  to 
ihake  a  neat  appearance,  because  the  track  will  soon  settle  and  have  to  be 
raised.  At  the  firet  dressing  merely  "cuff"  it  over  roughly  with  the 
shovel,  but  after  the  track  has  been  put  in  good  surface  the  second  time, 
it  may  be  dressed  off  more  carefully.  In  dressing  off  stone  ballast  it 
puts  a  "finishing  touch"  on  appearances  to  lay  a  margin  of  stones'  to  line 
on  the  shoulder,  parallel  with  the  rails,  but  opinions  regarding  the 
utility  of  such  work  are  likely  to  be  influenced  by  personal  tastes. 

On  double  track,  where  the  ballast  is  retentive  of  water,  a  ditch 
"becomes  necessary  between  the  tracks.  It  should  be  provided  at  intervals 
•with  lateral  drains  or  outlets  under  one  of  the  tracks.  Where  the  ballast 
Is  of  good  quality,  however,  such  as  gravel,  broken  stone,  or  of  any  porous 
material,  the  space  between  the  tracks  is  usually  filled  in  full  and  a  ditch 
is  not  needed.  On  this  question,  however,  opinions  seem  to  differ,  for  on 
a  number  of  double-track  roads  where  gravel  ballast  is  used  the  filling 
'between  the  tracks  is  depressed  to  drain  toward  a  center  ditch.  On  the 
-gravel-ballasted  road  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  the 
•filling  between  parallel  tracks  on  the  same  roadbed  is  depressed  7  to  9 
ins.  and  cross  drains  are  placed  at  intervals  of  400  to  500  ft.  apart,  to 
•drain  the  depressions.  These  drains  are  6x6-in.  boxes  mades  of  2-in. 


.228 


BALLASTING 


plank  treated  with  three  coats  of  Woodiline  or  Fernoline,  or  creosote d 
with  dead  oil  of  tar.  The  cross  drains  are  run  each  way  from  the  center 
line  of  the  roadbed,  deep  enough  to  permit  tamping,  and  at  an  inclination 
of  at  least  1  in  12.  Use  has  been  made  of  center  drains  8  ins.  lower  than 
the  bottoms  of  the  ties,  with  tile  drains  leading  under  the  track  at 
intervals  of  500  ft.,  but  the  results  of  this  style  of  dressing  track  have 
been  reported  unfavorably.  In  the  first  place,  the  ditch  was  too  low  and  it 
was  found  that  the  gravel  from  each  side  was  shaken  into  the  ditch, 
obstructing  the  same;  and  lumps  of  coal,  leaves  and  other  rubbish  had 
obstructed  the  tile  drains.  A  scheme  of  tile-draining  the  roadbed  to 
carry  off  the  water  which  soaks  through  the  ballast  is  elsewhere  referred 
to  (§  3,  Chap.  I). 

39.  Quantity  of  Ballast  Required. — To  fill  in  track  properly  with 
ballast,  between  the  ties  and  for  a  foot  outside  the  ends,  even  with  the 
tops  of  the  ties,  requires  about  16  cu.  yds.  of  material  per  100  ft.  of  single 
track.  For  every  inch  below  the  bottoms  of  the  ties,  about  4  cu.  yds.  of 
ballast  is  required  per  100  ft.  of  track.  For  double  track,  13  ft.  centers* 
filled  full  between  the  tracks  evenly  with  the  tops  of  the  ties,  about  21/5 
times  the  above  amount  will  be  required  for  filling  down  as  far  as  the 
bottoms  of  the  ties' — that  is,  about  35  cu.  yds.  per  100  ft. ;  for  ballast  below 
this  point,  double  the  figure,  or  8  cu.  yds.  per  100  ft,,  per  inch  in  depth. 


How  Track  is   Ballasted   in  Baluchistan. 


CHAPTER  V. 


;         CURVES. 

40. — Track  can  be  made  to  change  direction  either  by  an  angle  or 
by.  a  curve.  When  direction  is  changed  by  ,an  angle  it  changes  suddenly, 
as  it  were,  and  at  a  point,  or  all  at  one  place ;  when  by  a  curve,  it  changes 
gradually  at  every  point  along  the  curve.  The  first  method  is  occasionally 
resorted  to  for  main  track  where  the  change  in  the  direction  is  small,  but 
is  most  frequently  employed  at  split  switches,  the  angle  commonly  used 
being  about  1  deg.  40  min.  In  changing  the  direction  of  track  by  a  curve 
it  is  laid  to  form  part  of  the  circumference  of  a  circle,  or  parts  of  the 
circumferences  of  two  or  more  circles.  The  first  mentioned  arrange- 
ment is  called  a  "simple"  curve;  the  second,  a  "compound  curve"  when 
the  different  parts  turn  in  the  same  direction,  and  a  "reverse  curve"  when 
they  turn  in  opposite  directions.  The  use  of  the  circle  applies  to  the 
main  portion  of  practically  all  railroad  curves,  but  curves  more  compli- 
cated than  the  circular  one,  for  the  purpose  of  an  easement  at  the  ends 
•of  the  circular  portion,  are  largely  employed.  Such  curves  change  direc- 
tion by  a  gradually  varying  rate  instead  of  a  uniform  rate,  and  are 
known  by  various  names,  such  as  "spirals,"  "transition"  curves,  "ease- 
ment'' curves,  "tapering"  curves,  etc. — all  meaning  about  the  same  thing. 
In  laying  out  curves  of  any  kind  it  is  well  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible, 
locating  them  on  bridges ;  and  where  too  much  will  not  be  sacrificed  the 
grade  of  track  should  not  be  changed  in  a  curve. 

41.  Simple  Curves. — The  circumference  of  a  circle  is  the  simplest 
•curve  because  it  is  the  easiest  drawn  or  laid  out,  and  because  its  form  is 
everywhere  the  same.  Any  straight  line  which  touches  the  circumfer- 
ence of  a  circle  without  cutting  it,  however  far  the  straight  line  may 
be  produced,  is  called  a  tangent.  At  the  point  of  contact  the  tangent 
has  the  same  direction  as  the  curve,  and  it  is  perpendicular  to  the  radius 
drawn  to  that  point.  Likewise  a  straight  line  touching  any  curved  line 
without  intersecting  or  cutting  across  it,  however  far  produced,  is  called 
a  tangent,  and  two  curves  are  tangent  to  each  other  when  they  are  both 
tangent  to  the  same  straight  line  at  the  point  of  contact.  In  railroading 
?very  piece  of  straight  track  is  called  a  tangent,  because  it  is  supposed  to 
meet  tangent  to  a  piece  of  curved  track  somewhere. 

Circular  railway  curves  are  referred  to  by  the  length  of  radius  or  by 
the  degree  of  curvature.  By  the  degree  of  curve  is  meant  the  degree  of 
the  angle  included  between  two  lines  drawn  from  the  center  of  the  cir- 
cle to  any  two  points  on  the  curve  100  ft.  apart,  measured  in  a  straight 
line;  or, 'more  concisely  stated,  perhaps,  the  degree  of  a  curve  is  the 
angle  which  a  chord  of  100  ft.  subtends  at  the  center.  For  curves  of 
radius  less  than  50  ft.,  such  as  are  found  on  street  car  tracks,  this  defini- 
tion obviously  fails,  for  in  that  case  there  is  no  chord  of  100  ft.,  but  very 
sharp  curves  are  usually  designated  by  the  radius.  There  is  another 
definition  that  makes  no  reference  to  the  center  or  radius,  which  describes 
-the  degree  of  curve  as  the  change  in  the  direction  of  the  curve  between 
two  points  100  ft.  apart.  In  foreign  countries  the  curvature  is  expressed 


230 


CURVES 


by  the  length  of  radius.  In  English  practice  the  chord  length  in  railway- 
curves  is  one  chain,  or  66  ft.,  and  the  curvature  is  referred  to  by  the 
length  of  the  radius  in  chains.  Where  the  metric  system  is  employed  the 
chord  length  is  20  meters  or  65.62  ft.  In  speaking  of  curvature  in  track 
reference  is  always  made  to  the  center  line  of  the  track.  Neither  rail 
has  exactly  the  same  degree  of  curvature  as. the  center  line,  or  as  the 
other  rail — the  outer  rail  is  of  longer  radius  and  less  degree  than  the 
center,  and  the  inner  rail  is  of  shorter  radius  and  greater  degree  thar* 
the  center.  On  double  track,  the  two  tracks  being  the  same  distance  apart 
everywhere,  or  parallel,  both  tracks  cannot  have  exactly  the  same  degree 
of  curvature.  For  instance,  if  the  outer  track  be  a  10-deg.  curve  and 
the  tracks  are  14  ft.  between  centers,  the  inside  track  will  have  a  curva- 
ture of  10  deg.  15  min.,  or  10J  deg. 

To  make  these  matters  clearer  to  persons  not  familiar  with  the 
mathematics  of  railroad  curves,  let  us  refer  to  Fig.  46,  not  drawn  tc* 
scale.  From  a  point  c  draw  two  straight  lines  making  with  each  other 

b       d 


Fig.  46. — One-Degree  Curve. 

an  angle  of  one  degree,  and  let  them  diverge  until  they  are  100  ft.  apart 
at  points'  a  and  &,  equally  distant  from  c;  this  occurs  when  a  c  and  b  c 
each  becomes  5729.65  ft.  in  length.  We  then  have  the  isosceles  triangle 
a  b  c.  Now  it  is  plain  that  around  the  point  c  there  can  be  drawn  360 
such  triangles,  thus  filling  up  the  whole  angular  space  about  it.  We 
shall  then  have  a  360-sided  regular  polygon,  the  total  length  of  whose 
sides  will  be  360X100  ft.=36,000  ft.  If  now  a  circle  be  circumscribed 
about  this  polygon  it  will  have  c  for  a  center  and  5729.65  ft.  for  a  radius; 
and  any  portion-  of  its  circumference  will  constitute  what  in  railway  en- 
gineering is  called  a  1-degree  curve.  The  sides  of  the  polygon  so  nearly 
coincide  with  the  circumference  of  this  circle  that  the  difference  between 
the  total  length  of  all  sides  of  the  polygon  and  the  circumference  is  only 
a  very  small  amount,  comparatively  (really  0.45 3 -(-ft.).  The  radius  of 
a  1-deg.  curve  is  then  5730  ft.,  very  nearly;  and,  nearly  enough  for  prac- 
tical purposes,  the  radius  of  any  curve  used  on  steam  railroads  is  5730 
ft.  divided  by  the  degree  of  the  curve.  Table  VI.  gives  the  radii  of  curves 
up  to  50  deg.  There  is  nothing  concerning  the  ordinary  use  of  simple 


WAYS   OF  LAYING  OUT   CURVES 


curves  that  is  complicated,,  and  any  roadmaster  or  section  foreman  who 
has  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  gained  a  knowledge  of  the  geometry 
of  the  circle  and  a  smattering  of  trigonometry  can  easily  acquaint  him- 
self with  the  necessary  knowledge  concerning  them,  and  should  by  all 
means  do  so. 

42.  Some  Ways  of  Laying  Out  Curves. — No  man  who  is  not 
able  to  master  an  ordinary  book  on  field  engineering  should,  as  a  rule, 
be  given  charge  of  locating  and  laying  out  curves;  yet  there  are  times 
when  exigencies  arise  such  that  a  man  competent  to  do  a  little  calculat- 
ing may  not  have  a  transit  at  hand,  but  is  able  to  lay  out  €iu-ves  quite 
accurately  without  the  transit  if  he  has  at  hand  a  field  book  or  the  neces- 
sary tables.  For  this  reason,  then,  two  methods  of  laying  out  curves  by 
the  use  of  a  tape  line  or  chain,  as  the  only  instrument,  will  be  given. 
These  methods  are  useful  in  rerunning  or  relocating  old  curves  or  in 
laying  out  short  stretches  of  new  track  or  side-track,  when  a  surveyor 
with  transit  cannot  be  had.  There  are  many  railways  of  short  length 
in  this  country  which  cannot  afford  to  retain  a  regularly  employed  sur- 
veying party  in  idleness  a  large  part  of  the  time,  and  so  occasionally  these 
"unprofessional"  methods  come  handy.  I  have  seen  many  examples  of 
very  creditable  work  done  in  .this  manner,  where  stretches  of  irack  over 
considerable  distances  were  laid  out  anew  or  relocated,  and  which  checked 
up  closely  enough  with  transit  work  afterwards. 

Method  of  Middle  Ordinates. — The  problem  most  frequently  arising 
is  that  of  laying  out  a  curve  between  two  tangents  meeting  at  a  given 
angle.  Let,  in  Fig.  47,  A  B  and  C  D  be  the  two  tangents.  The  angle 
B  C  D  is  the  intersection  or  A  (delta)  angle,  as  it  is  generally  called.  Find 
A  by  laying  off  writh  tape  line  the  right  triangle  B  C  E,  and  compute 
tangent  B  C  E  or  tang.  A  =B  E-^-C  E.  The  angle  corresponding  to  this 
tangent  value  can  be  picked  from  a  table  of  tangents  (Table  V.  See  in- 
Table  VI.— Tangent  Offsets,  Chord  Deflections  and  Middle  Ordinates  for  100-ft. 

Chords. 


iegree     of 
Curve. 

Radius. 

Tangent 
Offset. 

Chord 
Deflection. 

Middle 
Ordinates. 

Degree     of 
Curve. 

Radius. 

Tangent 
Offset. 

Chord 
Deflection. 

Middle 
Ordinates. 

Degr. 

Min 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Deg. 

Min 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

0 
0 
0 

15 
30 
45 

22918 
11459 

7«39.5 

0.218 
0.436 
0.654 

0.436 
0.872 
1.308 

0.065 
0.109 
0.164 

1 

15 

30 
45 

5729.6 
4583.7 
3819.8 
3274.2 

0.873 
1.091 
1.309 
1527 

1  746 
2.182 
-2.618 
3054 

0.218 
0.273 
0.327 

0.382 

13 
13 
13 
13 

15 
30 
45 

441.7 
433.4 
425'.  4 
417.7 

11.32 
11.54 

&i 

22.64 
23.08 
23.60 
23.94 

2.839 
2.894 
2.949 
3  003 

15 
30 
45 

2864.9 
25466 
2292.0 
2083.7 

1  745 
1.963 
2.181 

2.400 

3.4flO 
S.926 
4.362 

4.8dO 

0.436 
0.491 
0.54S 
0.600 

14 
14 
14 
.      14 

15 
30 
45 

410.3 
403.1 
396.2 
389.5 

si 

12  62 

12.84 

24.38 
24.80 
25.24 

25.68 

3.058 
3.113 
3.168 
3.222 

s 

45 

1910.1 
1763.2 
1637.3 
1528.2 

2.618 
2.836 
3.054 
3  272 

5.  £56 
5.672     ' 
6.108 
6.544 

0.654 
0.709 
0.7«3 
0.818 

15 
IK 
16 

16 

30 

30 

383.  1 
370.8 
359.3 
348.4 

1306 

2:3 

14.35 

26.10 
26.96 

27.84 
28.70 

3.277 
3.387 
3.496 
-a  BOB 

15 

30 
45 

14M2.7 
1348.4 
127'*  6 

12066 

3.490 
3.708 
3.926 
4.141 

6.980 
7.416 
7.852 

8.288 

0.872 
0.927 
0.983 
^ 

17 
17 
18 

18 

30 
30 

338.3 
328.7 
319.6 
^J'1 

14-78 
15-21 
15.64 
16.07 

29.56 
30.42 
31.28 
32-14 

3.716 
3.825 
3.935 
4.045 

15 
-30 
45 

me  a 

1SK:1 

996.9 

4.IW2 
4.580 
4  798 
5016 

8.724 
9.160 
9.596 
10.03 

1.591 
1  146 
1.200 
1.255 

19 
19 
20 
21 

30 

302.9 
296-2 
287-9 
274-4 

16.50 
16  93 
17-36 

18.22 

33.00 
33.  80 
34.72 
36.44 

4.155 
4.265 
4.374 
4.594 

15 
30 
45 

955.4 
917.2 
881.9 
849.3 

5SJ4 
5.451 
5.669 

5.887 

10  47 
10.90 
11.34 
11.76 

1  a09 
1.364 
1.418 
1.473 

22 
23 
24 
.      25 

262.6 
250-8 
210-5 
231  0 

19.08 
19-94 
20-79 
21-64 

S8.J6 
39.88 
41.58 
43.28 

4.814 
5.035 
5-255 
5.476 

15 

30 
45 

8190 
790.8 
764.5 
7U9.9 

6.105 
6323 
6  540 

6  758 

12  21 
12.65 
1308 
13.52 

-  1.528 
1  582   " 
1.637 
1  691 

26 
27. 
28 
29 

222-3 
214-2 
206-7 
1*9-7 

22-49 
83-34 
24-19 
25-04 

44-98 
4«.68 
48.38 
50  08 

5.697 
5-918 
6-139 
6.360 

15 
30 

tf 

716.8 
695.1 
674.7 
6554 

6  976 
7.193 
7.4U 

7  628 

13.95 
14.39 
14  82 
15  2H 

1.746 
1.801 
1.855 
1.910 

30 
31 
32 
33 

1932 
1*7-1 

176-0 

25-88 
26  72 
27-56 
28-40 

51,76 
53.44 
55.12 
56.80 

H.583 
6  8(15 
7-027 
7-250 

15 
30 
45 

637.3 
620.1 
603  8 
gMJ 

7.846 
8.063 
8.281 
8.498 

15.69 
16  13 
16.56 

17.00 

1.965 
2.019 
2  074 

2.128 

34 
35 
36 
37 

171-0 
l»tf>.3 
161-8 
157-6 

29-24 
30  07 
3U-90 
31-T3 

58.48 
60.14 
61.80 
63-46 

7-473 
7.696 
7  919 
8-143 

10 
10 

in 

15 
30 
45 

574.7 
5:.9.7 
546.4 
533.7 

8.716 
8.932 
9.150 
9.367 

17.43 
17.86 
1830 
,    18.73 

tlB 

2  237 
2.293 
2347 

38 
39 
40 
.       42 

153-  6 
119.8 
146  2 
1H9-5 

32-56 
33  38 
34-20 
35-84 

65  12 
66-76 

6K-40 
71-68 

8-3H7 
8-592 
8  816 
9.267 

11 
n 
n 
11 

15 
30 
4f> 

521  7 
510  1 
499.1 

488.5 

9  585 
9.801 
10  02 
1023 

19.17 
19.60 
20.  04 
20  4H 

2.402 
2.457 
2  511 
2  nfifi 

44 

46 
48 

.         BO 

133-5 
128.0 
122.9 
11K.:i 

37-46 
39-07 
40-67 
4226 

74-92 
78-14 
81-31 
fU.KJ 

9  719 
10  17 
10.63 
11.08 

12 
12 
12 

12 

15 

3u 
45 

478.3 
468.6 
459.3 
450  3 

10.45 
'10.67 
10.89 
11.10 

20.  WO 
21.34 
21  78 
22.20 

2  H20 
2.675 
2  730 

.      2.784 

232  CURVES 

dex).  The  length  of  tangent  for  the  curve  is  T= R\tang. '-JA,  where  R 
is  the  radius  of  the  proposed  curve.  Lay  off  the  tangent  length  each 
way  from  Q,  to  F  and  to  G.  Let  an  example  be  taken.  In  order  to  draw 
B  E  perpendicular  to  C  D,  take  any  point  B,  on  line  AB,  and  from  B  as 
a  center  and  with  B  C  as  a  radius  cut  the  line  C  D  at  N;  E  will  then  Ik- 
half  way  between  N  and  C.  Now  suppose  that  B  E  measures  7.5  ft.  and 
C  E  12  ft.  Then  tang.  A=7.5-)-12=.625,  which  value  corresponds  to 
the  tangent  of  32  deg.  within  a  half  minute;  A  then  =  32  deg.  Sup- 
pose it  is  desired  to  lay  off  an  8-deg.  30-min.  curve  (8°  30'  being  'the  con- 
ventional way  of  expressing  it).  From  Table  VI  we  find  the  radius  of 
such  a  curve  to  be  674i7  ft.  The  tangent  length  for  the  curve  will  then 
be  T=674.7X^.  16°=674.7X.28675=193.5  ft.  F  G  and  C  G  then 
each  equal  193.5  ft.  Having  now  the  starting  point  and  ending  point  of 
the  curve,  it  may  be  laid  off  by  the  method  of  middle  ordinates  or  by 
the  method  of  deflections  from  tangent  and  chords  produced. 

The  middle  ordinate  of  a  chord  is  the  perpendicular  distance  from 
the  middle  of  the  chord  to  the  curve ;  it  may  be  found  very  approximately 


Fig.  47. — Laying  out  Curve  by  Middle  Ordinates. 

by  dividing  the  square  of  the  chord  length  by  8  times  the  radius  of  the 
curve.  For  a  100-ft.  chord  the  middle  ordinate  is  equal  to  the  radius 
multiplied  by  the  versed  sine  of  half  the  degree  of  the  curve.  In  Fig.  47, 
JH,  the  middle  ordinate  of  the  long  chord  FG,  is  Rivers.  JA,  and,  as 
a  check,  the  distance  C  H=RX^x.  Sec.  JA.  The  middle  ordinate  of 
the  chord  F  H=RXvers.  ^A  ;  of  chord  F  K,  R  Xvers.  -JA,  and  so  on 
as  far  as  it  is  desirable  to  go.  For  the  long  chord  F  G  a  wire  may  be 
stretched.  The  length  of  curve  in  100-ft.  stations  and  fractions  there- 
fore, is  A  divided  by  the  degree  of  the  curve  or,  in  this  case,  it  is  32-f- 
8^=3.76  stations=376  ft.  From  Table  V  and  the  foregoing  formulas, 
then,  we  get: 

J   H=RXvers.    16°=674.7X.03874=26.2    ft. 

G  H=RXEx.  sec.  160=674.7X-04030=27.2  ft. 

Middle  ordinate  of  F  H=RXvers.  8°=674.7X.00973.=  6.56  ft. 

Middle  ordinate  of  F  K=RXvers,  4°=674.7X.00244=1.65  ft. 

The  middle  ordinate  of  K  H  is  the  same  as  that  of  F  K.  The  mid- 
dle ordinates  for  chords  between  H  and  G  are  the  same  as  for  correspond- 
ing ones  between  F  and  H.  Without  appreciable  error  the  middle  ordin- 
ate of  F  H  may  be  taken  at  J  JH,  and  the  middle  ordinate  of  F  K  at  j 
that  of  F  H,  or  1/16  J  H.  This  is  the  most  accurate  method  of  laying  out 
curves  by  measurements  alone,  because  no  sighting  is  required.  The 


WAYS  OF  LAYING  OUT  CURVES  233 

point  J  may,  however,  be  located  by  measuring  and  sighting,  without 
stretching  a  string  or  wire. 

Method  of  Tangent  Offsets  and  Chord  Deflections. — Where  it  is  not 
feasible  to  stetch  a  wire,  the  distance  being  too  long,  or  the  ground  inac- 
cessible, or  where  the  two  tangents  are  not  located,  or  where  the  intersec- 
tion point  is  inaccessible,  the  curve  may  still  be  laid  off  quite  readily 
by  tangent  offsets  and  chord  deflections.  Starting  on  the  tangent'  (Fig. 
48),  set  a  stake  at  5/100  ft.  from  A,  the  point  of  curve.  An  offset  to  C, 
equal  to  the  tangent  offset,  will  give  the  first  station  on  the  curve.  Then 
by  producing  the  chords  100  ft.  beyond  the  last  point  of  curve  found  each 
time,  and  setting  off  the  chord  deflections  F  D,  G  E  etc.,  successive  points 
a round  the  curve  can  be  found.  To  get  on  tangent  again,  as  at  E,  a  full 
station,  produce  the  chord  D  E  one  station  beyond  E  and  lay  off  the  tan- 
gent offset  H  I,  which  is  always  -J  the  chord  deflection.  If  the  last  chord 
be  less  than  100  ft.,  the  tangent  offset  for  it  may  be  found  by  multiplying 
the  tangent  offset  for  100  ft.  by  the  square  of  the  sub-chord  and  dividing 
by  10,000. 

The  chord  deflection  for  a  100-ft.  chord  may  be  found  by  dividing 
10,000  by  the  radius  of  the  curve.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  use 
a  chord  of  100  ft.  The  chord  deflection  for  a  chord  of  any  length  may 
be  found  by  dividing  the  square  of  the  chord  by  the  radius  of  the  curve. 
It  should  be  noted  that,  to  be  exact,  the  tangent  offset  B  C  is  not  laid 

F 


>H 


0 
Fig.  48. — Tangent  Offset  and  Chord  Deflection  Method. 

off  from  5,  but  perpendicular  to  A.  B  in  such  manner  as  to  meet  the  line 
A  C  100  ft.  (or  whatever  chord  length)  out  from  A.  No  noticeable  error 
will  arise,  however,  in  making  A  B  equal  in  length  to  A  C,  for  curves  of 
small  degree.  It  must  also  be  noted  that  F  D  is  not  perpendicular  to  C  F, 
but  is  so  measured  that  C  F  and  C  D  are  equal ;  that  is,  having  measured 
off  and  set  the  stake  at  F,  swing  the  tape  with  a  radius  C  D=C  F  and  set 
a  stake  at  D,  the  intersection  of  the  two  radii  F  D  and  C  D. 

In  the  example  at  hand,  we  find,  in  Table  VI,  the  tangent  offset  B  C 
corresponding  to  8°  30'  to  be  7.41  ft.,  and  the  chord  deflections  F  D  and 
G  E  to  be  14.82  ft.  As  the  curve  has  been  found  to  be  376  ft.  long,  the 
last  chord  is  a  sub-chord  of  76  ft.,  for  which  the  tangent  offset  required 
will  be  (762-=-10,000)X  7.41=4.28.  In  this  case,  then,  we  would  make 
E  I  tangent  to  the  curve  at  E  just  as  has  been  done  in  the  figure  for  a 
full  station.  Then,  measuring  off  E  K  equal  to  76  ft.,  make 'the  offset 
K  L  equal  to  4.28  ft.  L  is  then  the  end  of  the  curve,  and  the  direction  of 


234  CURVES 

the  tangent  may  be  found  by  laying  off  E  M  from  E  equal  to  K  L,  or 
4.28  ft.  A  line  drawn  through  M  and  L  gives  the  direction  of  the  tan- 
gent. Points  on  the  curve  midway  between  A  and  (7,  C  and  D,  etc.  may 
be  set  by  the  foregoing  method  of  middle  ordinates.  Middle  ordinates- 
for  100-ft.  chords  are  given  in  Table  VI. 

In  order  to  lay  off  a  curve  so  as  to  pass  through  a  given  point,  which 
is  a  problem  often  arising,  draw  a  tangent  through  that  point  to  inter- 
sect the  tangent  on  which  the  starting  point  is  situated  and  connect  the 
two  tangents  with  a  curve.  For  example,  suppose  it  is  required  (Fig. 
49)  to  reach  the  point  B  by  a  curve  starting  from  A  on  the  line  A  E. 
Connect  A  B  and  find  C,  its  middle  point,  by  sighting  or  by  stretching 
a  wire,  and  measuring.  Draw  through  B  a  line  to  meet  A  E .  in  D,  so 
that  B  D=A  D.  The  point  D  may  be  found  by  drawing  from  C  a  line 
perpendicular  to  A  B  to  intersect  AE ;  or  it  may  be  found  quite  readily 


Fig.  49. 

by  estimating  the  length  B  D  and  "cutting  and  trying"  once  or  twice. 
Having  the  two  tangent  distances  and  the  intersection  or  A  angle  E  D  B, 
the  radius  for  the  proper  curve  to  connect  A  and  B  will  be 

tang.  dist.         AD 

R= = 

tang.^A      tang.^A 

Having  the  radius  we  can  now  lay  off  the  curve  by  the  method  of 
mid  lie  ordinates  or  by  tangent  offsets  and  chord  deflections,  as  best  suits 
the  case. 

43.  To  Find  the  Degree  of  Curve. — Where  there  are  not  marked 
monuments  or  records  of  some  kind  at  the  curve  it  often  becomes  neces- 
sary to  measure  the  degree  of  curve.  The  middle  ordinate  of  a  62-ft. 
(more  exactly  61.8  ft.)  chord,  measured  in  inches,  gives  the  number  of 
degrees  curvature.  That  is,  stretch  tightly  along  the  gage  side  of  the 
outer  rail  a  string  or  chord  62  ft.  long.  The  number  of  inches  from  the 
middle  of  the  string  to  the  rail  is  the  degree  of  the  curve.  If,  however,, 
the  curve  be  out  of  line  at  the  place  where  the  string  is  stretched,  there 
is  liable  to  be  quite  a  large  discrepancy,  if  so  short  a  chord  be  taken.  It 
is  always  best,  therefore,  when  using  such  a  short  chord  to  get  a  mean  of 
several  measurements  taken  at  different  places  in  the  curve;  but  if  a  long 
chord  be  used,  the  fact  that  a  rail  or  two  is  out  of  line  does  not  so  much 
affect  the  result.  The  middle  ordinate  for  a  chord  of  other  length  is  ap- 
proximately the  length  of  the  chord  squared,  divided  by  8  times  the 
radius  of  the  curve.  If  the  values  in  this  computation  are  expressed  in 
feet  the  result — that  is,  the  middle  ordinate — will  be  in  feet. 

There  is  always  a  middle  ordinate  of  4  ft.  8J  ins.  available  without 
making  a  measurement.  That  is  the  gage  of  the  track;  and  by  sighting 
across  the  rails,  the  length  of  arc  for  the  chord  of  which  the  gage  of  the 
track  is  the  middle  ordinate  may  be  known  by  counting  the  rails.  By 
the  use  of  a  short  table  it  is  a  very  convenient  way  of  getting  at  the  degree- 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  OX  CURVES  235 

of  curve,  either  with  the  transit  or  by  the  eye  unaided.  Not  so  much  as  a 
tape  line,  string,  or  rule  is  necessary,  for  ordinary  degrees  of  curvature. 
By  sighting  over  a  joint  on  the  outer  rail  of  the  curve,  on  a  line  of  sight 
which  just  touches  the  gage  side  of  the  inner  rail  of  the  curve,  and  count- 
ing the  number  of  rails  from  the  point  where  this  line  of  sight  inter- 
sects the  outer  rail  beyond,  back  to  the  joint  sighted  across,  gives  a  length 
of  arc  which  corresponds  to  a  certain  degree  of  curve.  On  curves  of  over 
10  deg.,  one  should  sight  quite  carefully.  Figure  50  will  explain  the  meth- 
od more  clearly,  perhaps.  Sight  across  some  joint,  as  at  0,  on  a  line  of 
sight  which  just  touches  the  gage  side  of  the  inner  rail  at  D  ;-+his  line  of 
sight  cuts  the  outer  rail  again  at  A.  Count  the  number  of  rails  from  A 

B 


Fig.  50. — To  Find  Degree  of  Curve. 

back  to  C  or  measure  the  distance ;  and  opposite  this  distance  in  Table  VII 
(shown  with  Fig.  44)  pick  out  the  degree  of  curve.  This  method  and  the 
table  are  credited  to  Mr.  Wm.  A.  Pratt,  formerly  division  engineer  with 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R. 

44.  The  Action  of  Car  Wheels  on  Curves. — On  curved  track 
car  wheels  meet  with  certain  constraints  and  resistances  to  movement  which 
cause  them  to  take  definite  and  peculiar  positions  with  respect  to  the 
rails.  An  understanding  of  the  characteristic  behavior  of  wheels  on 
curves  assists  very  much  to  account  for  the  various  conditions  imposed 
upon  the  track  maintenance  and  also  to  devise  methods  of  work  and  stand- 
ard rules  governing  such  conditions.  The  unequal  wear  of  the  rails,  the 
spreading  of  the  rails,  the  canting  of  the  inner  rail,  the  superelevation 
of  the  outer  rail  and  the  question  of  widening  the  gage,  all  stand  in  an 
important  relation  to  the  action  of  the  wheels  on  the  curves. 

The  immediate  effect  of  joining  two  wheels  solidly  with  an.  axle  is 
that  both  wheels  must  turn  together  through  equal  angular  distances.  The 
consequence  is  that  if  both  wheels  have  the  same-  diameter  they  tend  to 
run  equal  distances,  and  hence  the  tendency  to  run  straight  ahead.  The 
additional  force  which  it  takes  to  haul  cars  around  curves,  above  that  re- 
quired to  haul  them  along  tangents,  is  used  up  in  three  ways:  (1)  A 
force  to  all  times  keep  the  two  wheels  turning  through  equal  angular 
distances,  which  force  is  transmitted  from  wheel  to  wheel  through  the 
axle  and  continually  keeps  one  or  both  wheels  slipping  on  the  rail;  (2) 
a  force  to  keep  constantly  swinging  the  axle  into  its  proper  position  radial 
to  the  curve,  or  nearly  so,  thus  opposing  the  tendency  for  the  wheels  to 
run  equal  distances;  and  (3)  a  force  to  overcome  the  retarding  tendency 
in  the  rotation  of  the  wheel  due  to  the  friction  of  its  flange  against  the 
rail.  With  a  single  pair  of  loose  wheels  the  last  force  (3)  is  the  only  one 
adding  to  the  resistance  on  curves  above  that  on  tangents;  but  with  four 
loose  wheels  joined  as  in  a  truck,  both  (2)  and  (3)  enter  into  the  curve 
resistance  fully  as  much  as  though  the  wheels  were  solidly  attached  to  the 
axle.  The  resistance  which  curves  offer  to  the  movement  of  trains  is  of 
course  widely  recognized,  it  being  customary,  where  curves  occur  on 
grades  of  considerable  importance,  to  compensate  for  the  increased  resist- 


236 


CURVES 


ance  by  easing  the  grade  .02  to  .05  per  cent  per  degree  of  curvature.     In 
average  practice  the  rate  is  .03  to  .04  per  cent. 

"Consider  the  simple  case  of  a  single  pair  of  car  wheels  and  an  axle, 
supposing  them  to  be  pushed  around  curved  track  in  the  same  manner 
that  one  would  push  .a  lawn  mower;  and  let  Engraving  G,  Fig.  51,  repre- 
sent such  a  contrivance  in  diagram.  A  device  built  on  this  principle  is 
actually  used  for  the  forward  truck  of  two  classes  of  locomotives.  Let 
the  axle  in  starting  have  a  position  (A  B)  radial  to  the  curve.  The  direc- 
tion of  the  handle  by  which  the  wheels  are  pushed  is  then,  to  start  with, 
tangent  to  the  center  line  of  the  curve  at  the  axle.  Now  if  the  axle  is  to 
remain  radial  to  the  curve,  it  is  plain  that  the  two  wheels  cannot  travel 
equal  distances,  because  the  outside  rail  in  track  of  standard  gage  is  the 
longer,  between  radial  lines  to  the  curve  100  ft.  apart,  by  over  an  inch 
per  degree  of  curve.  The  two  wheels,  then,  if  of  equal  diameters,  cannot 
run  equal  distances  for  a  single  revolution  and  maintain  the  position  of 
the  axle  radial  to  the  curve;  but  unless  the  axle  can  in  some  way  be 
swung,  the  farther  they  run,  the  farther  will  the  axle  depart  from  a 


-f 


r 

\ 

i 

\ 

i 

\ 

i 

\ 

s\ 

i    » 

i 

8   ,         \ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

____-  --J 

Fig.  51. 

radial  position,  until  it  becomes  so  skewed  to  the  rails  that  either  the 
outside  wheel  will  mount  the  rail  or  else  the  inside  wheel  will  drop  be- 
tween the  rails.  It  must  be  plainly  seen  that  to  keep  a  pair  of  wheels 
on  the  rails  the  axle  cannot  depart  from  a  position  radial  to  the  curve  by 
more  than  a  limited  amount;  and  it  will  subsequently  be  shown  that  the 
nearer  to  the  radial  position  the  axle  is  kept,  the  less  will  be  the  resist- 
ance which  the  curve  will  offer  to  the  passage  of  the  wheels. 

It  is  apparent  that  if  the  inner  wheel  referred  to  in  the  figure  was 
smaller  in  diameter  than  the  outer  one,  by  a  certain  amount  fixed  for  the 
special  curve  on  which  they  are  rolling,  the  axle  would  maintain  its  posi- 
tion radial  to  the  curve  unaided.  Of  course  this  supposition  has  no  ap- 
plication to  track,  but  the  principle  is  applied  in  car  wheel  design  and 
has  some  effect,  with  new  wheels  at  any  rate,  toward  lessening  resistance 
on  curved  track.  Both  wheel  treads  are  of  the  same  diameter  with  respect 
to  corresponding  portions  of  each;  but  the  tread  of  each,  2J  ins.  from 
the  flange,  is  smaller  in  diameter  than  the  part  next  the  flange  by  -J  in. ; 
that  is,  the  wheel  tread  is  coned  1/10  in.,  as  shown  in  Fig.  52.  (The  in- 
creased coning  of  the  wheel  for  1J  ins.  on  the  outside  of  the  tread  is  to 
reduce  the  tendency  of  the  wheel  to -drop  between  the  rail  heads  at  frog 
points  and  at  the  heels  of  frogs,  and  into  the  flared  opening  at  the  stock 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES  237 

rails  of  point  switches,  after  the  wheel  tread  becomes  hollowed  out  by 
wear.)  The  gage  of  the  wheels  is  also  made  f  in.  less  than  the  gage  of 
the  track,  permitting  that  much  play  in  the  wheels  across  the  track.  On 
a  curve,  then,  the  outer  wheel,  the  flange  of  which  will  crowd  the  outer 
rail,  will  roll  on  a  periphery  of  greater  diameter  than  that  upon  which 
the  other  wheel  is  rolling,  and  produce  the  same  effect  as  though  the  in- 
side wheel  was  of  less  diameter  than  the  outside  wheel  by  some  certain 
amount.  As  to  just  how  much  this  increased  diameter  is,  is  difficult  to 
tell,  because  it  is  not  known  just  how  far  up  on  the  flange  fillet  the  wheel 
rolls,  when  running  at  any  given  speed.  But  with  a  new  wheel  the  in- 
crease of  diameter  due  to  the  coning,  at  slow  speed,  is  at  least  1/50  in.,  thus- 
enabling  the  outer  wheel  to  gain  1/16  in.  on  the  inner  wheel  per  revolu- 
tion and  hence  adapting  it  to  a  curve  of  about  f  deg.  At  higher  speed  the 
degree  of  curve  for  which  this  amount  of  coning  (1/16  in.)  would  adapt 
itself  must  be  larger. 

By  widening  the  gage  of  the  rails  this  speed  difference  of  outer  and 
inner  wheel  is  increased :  for  every  J  in.  the  gage  is  widened  the  wheels 
become  adapted  to  a  curvature  greater  by  about  J  deg.  By  heavily 
coning  the  wheels  the  gage  of  the  track  on  any  curve  might  be  so  ad- 
justed that  curve  resistance  could  practically  be  overcome,  but  neither 
scheme  is  practicable  or  desirable.  By  heavily  coning  the  wheels  more 
tractive  power  would  be  wasted  in  the  increased  resistance  and  unsteadi- 
ness of  motion  on  tangents  than  would  be  saved  on  curves,  unless  the 
gage  of  the  track  on  tangents  corresponded  to  that  of  the  wheels;  and 
this  is  not  a  practicable  proposition.  For  this  reason  wheels  are  coned 
but  very  little,  and  consequently  nothing  of  account  on  this  score  can  be 
gained  by  widening  the  gage  of  curves.  The  degree  of  curve  to  which  a 
1/16-in.  coning  of  the  tread  is  adapted  is  so  small  and  the  coning  disap- 
pears from  the  tread  so  rapidly,'  that,  taken  all  in  all,  the  part  which 
coning  of  the  wheels  and  widening  of  the  gage  plays  in  decreasing  the 
resistance  of  wheels  to  rolling  around  curves  must  be  very  little.  In  fact, 
any  advantage  which  accrues  from  the  coning  of  wheels  is  soon  lost,  for 
on  car  and  locomotive  wheels  which  have  seen  much  service  the  conicity 
will  usually  be  found  reversed;  that  is,  the  wheel  will  usually  be  found 
smaller  in  diameter  near  the  flange  than  on  the  outside  of  the  tread,  thus 
giving  exactly  the  opposite  effect  that  coning  is  intended  to  produce.  It 
has  also  been  pointed  out  by  Mr.  M.  N.  Forney  that  coned  wheels  on 
axles  held  rigidly  parallel  do  not  roll  as  freely  as  a  pair  of  coned  wheels 
on  a  single  axle.  A  model  consisting  of  two  wheels  17/16. an^  !5/ir,  ins- 
in  diam.,  respectively,  on  the  same  axle  rolled  freely  in  a  circle  of  26f 
ins.  radius.  When  two  such  models  were  joined  together  with  the  axles 
parallel  and  1-J  ins.  apart  the  combination  model  rolled  in  a  circle  of  33-J 
ins.  radius.  With  the  axles  4  ins.  apart  the  model  rolled  to  a  circle  of  16J> 
ins.  radius,  and  with  the  axles  5  ins.  apart  it  rolled  to  a  circle  of  32£ 
ins,  radius,  showing  that  the  tendency  of  coned  wheels  on  parallel  axles- 
to  roll  in  a  circle  is  counteracted  by  spreading  the  axles'  farther  apsrt. 
Reasoning  from  experiments  with  models  the  conclusion  was  reached  that 
a  freight  car  truck  with  axles  5  ft.  apart  and  wheels  coned  5/16  in.  in 
3  ins.  would  have  to  be  given  lateral  play  of  f  in.  on  the  rails  in  order 
to  roll  freely  to  a  1-deg.  curve. 

There  is  a  popular  but  erroneous  impression  that  the  outer  wheel 
on  curves  is  enabled  to  keep  abreast  of  the  inner  wheel  by  a  rotative  slip- 
ping of  one  or  the  other,  or  both.  It  must  be  apparent  that  the  action 
of  slipping  in  rotation  can  effect  no  advance  for  either  wheel,  for  when 
one  wheel  slips  its  mate  must  slip  also.  If  a  pair  of  wheels  rigidly  fixed 


238 


CURVES 


to  an  axle  which  is  not  attached  to  anything  be  set  rolling  on  a  curve 
and  left  to  themselves  there  -will  be  no  slipping  of  either  wheel  and  the 
pair  will  not  keep  to  the  track.  The  outer  wheel  can  keep  abreast  of  the 
inner  one  only  by  swinging  about  it,  and  this  is  true  whether  there  be 
only  one  pair  of  wheels,  or  two  or  more  pairs  joined  together,  as  in  a 
truck  or  as  the  connected  drivers  of  a  locomotive — the  outside  wheels 
must  swing  about  the  inside  ones,  and  it  will  now  be  shown  how  this  occurs. 
Eef erring  again  to  the  pair  of  wheels  pushed  lawn-mower-fashion 
(Engr.  G),  suppose  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  keep  the  axle  radial  to 
the  curve  and  that  the  wheels  are  pushed  forward  apace.  It  will  soon 
be  seen  that  the  inner  wheel  has  gained  a  little  on  the  outer  one  with 
respect  to  a  radial  line  (A  C)  drawn  to  the  outside  wheel  in  its  new  posi- 
tion. The  wheels  have  run  equal  distances,  but  not  straight  ahead;  the 
axle  in  its  new  position  is  parallel  to  its  old  position;  and  with  respect 
to  the  curve  the  handle  has  swung  inward.  This  fact  goes  to  show  that 
in  order  to  keep  the  axle  always  radial  to  the  curve,  or  at  a  constant  angle 
with  a  radial  line,  there  must  be  a  force  outward  at  the  end  of  the  handle 

-?  DIAMETER  OF,  'WHEELS. 

MEASURED  ON  LINE  A  B 


Fig.  52.— M.  C.  B.  Standard  Wheel  Tread  and  Flange.  Fig.  53. 

to  oppose  the  inward  swing;  or,  in  other  words,  the 'tendency  of  the  axle 
to  swing  out  of  a  radial  direction,  or  out  of  a  position  having  some  con- 
stant angle  with  the  radial  direction,  exerts  a  force  tending  to  swing 
the  handle  inward  with  respect  to  the  curve.  Now  this  is  exactly  the 
.action  of  the  front  wheels  and  axle  in  any  four-wheel  truck.  In  place 
of  the  handle  there  is  the  truck  frame  attached  to  both  axles,  holding 
them  parallel  to  each  other  and  rectangular  to  itself.  In  place  of  the 
hand  guiding  the  handle  or  frame,  as  in  the  lawn-mower  affair,  the  trail- 
ing wheels  and  axle  hold  the  rear  part  of  the  frame  to  a  position  con- 
stant in  direction  with  respect  to  the  curve,  or  at  least  very  nearly  so  (see 
En°r.  R).  The  force  which,  with  the  single  pair,  swung  the  handle  in- 
ward still  acts  and  tends  to  swing  the  rear  pair  of  wheels  inward.  This 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  in  passing  around  curves  the  front  outer  wheel 
of  the  truck  crowds  against  the  rail  continually,  while  with  the  rear  wheels 
the  tendency  appears  as  though  to  crowd  the  pair  toward  the  inner  rail. 

Aside  from  the  swinging  force  exerted  on  the  truck  by  the  tendency 
of  the  front  axle  to  move  parallel  to  itself,  another  partial  cause  for  the 
inward  swing  of  the  rear  axle  is  a  considerable  force  tending  to  swing 
the  truck  as  a  whole,  which  is  due  to  the  retardation  of  the  front  outer 
wheel  in  consequence  of  the  friction  of  its  flange  against  the  rail.  The 
tendency  of  movement  of  the  wheels  on  the  rear  axle  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  front  pair,  namely,  to  run  straight  ahead  and  follow  the  forward 
pair,  but  the  motion  of  the  outer  rear  wheel  is  not  in  a  direction  to 
crowd  the  outer  rail  at  the  point  of  contact  (Engr.  R).  Any  an  ward 
swing  of  the  rear  axle  moves  it  into  a  position  approaching  that  of  a 
line  radial  to  the  curve.  With  the  axle  radial  the  movement  of  the  wheels 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  OX  CURVES  239 

is,  of  course,  neutral  respecting  the  two  rails;  that  is,  they  tend  to 
crowd  neither  rail.  Hence  it  occurs  that  every  force  acting  upon  the 
rear  axle  which  can  affect  its  position  with  respect  to  the  curve  tends  to 
cause  the  outer  rear  wheel  to  run  clear  of  the  outer  rail.  Observation 
of  a  train  passing  a  curve  will  show  that  the  flange  of  the  rear  inner 
wheel  on  some  of  the  trucks  crowds  the  inner  rail,  while  in  other  cases 
the  rear  wheels  take  an  intermediate  position  respecting  the  rails.  Ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Wellington  the  flange  of  the  outer  rear  wheel  of  a  four-wheel 
truck  is  supposed  to  stand  away  from  the  outer  rail  a  distance  equal  to 
the  versed  sine  of  a  chord  having  twice  the  length  of  the  whettl  base.  This 
is  the  same  as  saying  that  the  rear  axle  maintains  a  position  radial  to 
the  curve,  if  free  to  do  so;  but  he  giv«es  no  reason  why  this  should  neces- 
sarily be  the  case.  As  the  shape  of  the  wheel  tread  must  be  an  im- 
portant factor  of  the  behavior  of  the  wheel  on  the  rail  one  can  readily 
understand  how  the  position  6f  the  rear  wheels  relatively  to  the  rails  is 
not  fixed,  as  is  proved  by  observation.  It  is  readily  imaginable  how  a 
pair  of  trailing  wheels  the  treads  of  which  are  in  a  condition  of  reversed 
conicity  might  take  a  position  different  from  that  of  a  pair  of  wheels 
newly  coned.  The  degree  of  the  curve,  the  elevation  of  the  outer  rail 
and  the  length  of  the  wheel  base  are  also  effective  on  the  behavior  of  the 
trailing  pair  of  wheels.  Other  conditions  remaining  the  same,  the  shorter 
the  wheel  base  the  closer  should  the  flange  of  the  inside  wheel  on  the 
rear  axle  run  to  the  inside  rail.  And  then,  it  might  be  expected  that  the 
position  of  the  rear  wheels  of  a  truck  would  be  quite  dependent  upon 
the  relative  freedom  of  action  under  the  side  bearings.  Where  the  body 
bolster  is  down  hard  on  the  side  bearings  the  truck  may  not  be  free  to 
align  itself  in  accordance  with  the  tendency  of  the  wheels. 

T,t  is  now  opportune  to  consider  how  both  outer  wheels  of  a  four- 
wheel  truck  do  actually  swing  about  the  inner  wheels  and  keep  abreast 
of  them  on  the  curve,  or  how  the  truck  as  a  whole  is  guided  or  kept 
straight  with  the  track.  With  a  four-wheel  truck  standing  on  the  track 
so  that  the  flanges  of  both  outer  wheels  touch  the  rail  neither  axle  can 
be  radial  to  the  curve,  because  radii  cannot  be  parallel.  In  this  position 
a  line  drawn  parallel  to  the  axles  half  way  between  them  is  radial  to  the 
curve  (AC,  Engr.  E),  and  the  position  of  each  axle  deviates  from  that 
•of  a  radial  line  by  a  very  small  angle  which  varies  with  the  degree  of 
the  curve.  The  nearer  the  truck  can  be  kept  to  this  position  the  less 
will  be  the  resistance  to  its  movement.  Start  the  truck  around  the  curve. 
Immediately  both  inner  wheels  turn  equally  with  those  on  the  outside, 
and  will  run  an  equal  distance  (neglecting  the  effect  of  coning)  unless 
held  back;  but  they  are  held  back.  The  tendency  of  the  leading  inner 
wheel  to  get  farther  away  from,  and  of  the  rear  inner  wheel  to  approach, 
a  line  radial  to  the  curve  swings  the  trailing  pair  of  wheels  inward  to 
the  curve  about  the  outer  front  wheel  as  a  center  (for  the  instant).  Of 
course  the  limit  of  this  movement  is  when  the  inner  rear  wheel  flange 
meets  the  rail,  and  frequently  a  truck  will  be  seen  running  in  this  way, 
as  already  stated.  There  being  no  external  force  exerted  to  move  the 
leading  wheels  and  axle  laterally  or  in  a  direction  endwise  to  the  axle, 
the  outer  leading  wheel  always  tends  to  roll  straight  ahead  and  its  flange, 
of  course,  cannot  depart  from  the  rail. 

The  truck  moves  continually  in  a  position  askew  to  the  curve,  being 
so  compelled  by  the  constant  tendency  of  the  inner  wheels  to  outrun  the 
outer  ones  with  respect  to  a  line  drawn  radial  to  the  curve.  The  truck, 
as  a  whole,  swings  about  its  inner  rear  corner  as  a  center — that  is,  about 
the  point  where  the  inside  rear  wheel  touches  the  rail.  As  the  two  sides 


240  CURVES 

of  the  curve  are  unequal  in  length  the  outer  wheels  must  swing  through 
the  distance  necessary  to  keep  them  opposite  their  mates  on  the  inner 
rail,  the  tendency  of  which  is  to  keep  in  the  advance.  Hence  in  passing 
around  a  curve  the  whole  load  on  the  outer  wheels  must  be  dragged  a 
distance  equal  to  the  difference  in  the  length  of  the  two  sides  of  the- 
curve.  The  action  which  causes  the  truck  to  swing  is  the  lateral  sliding 
of  the  front  wheels  across  the  rails  toward  the  inside  of  the  curve,  due 
to  the  constraint  of  the  outer  front  wheel  flange.  In  Engraving  S,  Fig. 
51,  the  four  corners  of  the  rectangle  af  1),  c,  d  represent  diagrammatically 
the  points  of  contact  of  the  four  wheels  of  a  car  truck  with  the  rails, 
a  and  1)  being  the  points  of  contact  of  the  leading  pair  of  ^  wheels  and  c 
and  d  those  of  the  trailing  pair.  If  ~b  be  pushed  or  shoved  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a,  then  a  must  move  also  in  that  direction;  and  the  side  1)  d  of 
the  rectangle  will  be  moved  ahead  or  swung  around  c  as  a  center,  and  the 
direction  of  the  truck  will  be  changed  by  'the  angle  a  c  a'.  This  lateral 
sliding  of  the  leading  pair  of  wheels  is  caused  by  the  circular  path  to 
which  the  wheels  are  constrained.  The  wheels  at  any  instant  actually 
move  in  a  different  direction  from  that  of  the  plane  of  .their  rotation. 
The  movement  is  the  resultant  of  a  lateral  skidding  combined  with  longi- 
tudinal progression.  In  order  that  the  truck  may  curve,  both  the  outer 
wheels  must  slide  along  the  rail  and  both  leading  wheels  must  slide 
laterally;  the  outer  leading  wheel  therefore  slides  both  longitudinally 
and  laterally  respecting  the  rail.  What  is  true  of  the  action  of  a  single 
truck  applies  to  both  trucks  of  a  car  and  to  the  trucks  of  all  the  cars  in 
a  train.  The  effect  of  the  "indraught"  of  the  locomotive — that  is,  the 
tendency  in  the  pull  of  the  locomotive  to  straighten  the  train — in  reduc- 
ing the  crowding  action  of  the  front  outer  wheel  flanges  against  the 
rail  is  not  perceptible,  even  in  the  longest  train.  The  front  outer  wheel 
of  a  car  or  truck  persists  in  flanging  with  the  outer  rail  against  all  forces 
acting  upon  the  car  in  consequence  of  being  coupled  in  a  train. 

The  tendency  of  the  two  wheels  on  the  front  axle  to  run  straight 
ahead  crowds  the  flange  of  the  outer  wheel  hard  against  the  rail,  and  the 
wheel  is  continually  tending  to  roll  on-  the  fillet  or  side  of  the  flange  and 
lift  the  tread  from  the  rail.  At  slow  speed,  when  the  rails  are  dry, 
the  wheel  on  the  outer  rail  may  sometimes  be  seen  to  rise  and  roll  along 
on  the  fillet  or  side  of  the  flange,  while  the  inner  wheel  may  be  seen  to 
spread  or  spring  slightly  outward  the  top  of  the  inner  rail;  until  sud- 
denly the  wheel  on  the  outer  rail  will  drop  down  to  a  bearing  on  its  tread 
and,  by  this  wedging-like  action  of  its  flange,  transmitted  through  the 
axle,  shove  the  inner  wheel  squarely  across  the  top  of  the  inner  rail;  this 
rail,  as  soon  as  the  wheel  lets  go,  tilts  suddenly  back  to  its  normal  posi- 
tion. The  tendency  of  the  wheels  is  thus  to  spread  the  rails  apart.  A 
movement  of  the  inner  rail  relatively  to  the  inner  wheel  a  full  J  in.  has 
been  observed  to  suddenly  take  place  at  slow  speed.  At  higher  speeds 
both  the  rail  and  the  wheels  move  relatively  just  the  same,  in  a  direction 
crosswise  the  track,  but  more  continually,  and  with  an  amplitude  decreas- 
ing with  increase  of  speed,  until  a  point  is  reached  when  both  the  inner 
wheel  and  the  top  of  inner  rail  are  in  a  state  of  continual  vibration  back 
and  forth.  At  good  speed  the  outer  front  wheel  will  sometimes  roll  on 
the  fillet  or  side  of  the  flange,  with  the  tread  lifted  clear  of  the  rail,  for 
long  distances.  The  path  of  contact  of  the  inner  wheel  with  the  rail  is 
a  zigzag  line  like  that  shown  in  Engr.  N,  Fig.  51,  exaggerated  and  dis- 
torted for  sake  of  clearness.  The  portion  a  1)  is  supposed  to  be  a  move- 
ment in  the  direction  of  the  rotation  of  the  wheel,  and  the  shorter  por- 
tion, b  c,  the  movement  across  the  rail  top.  The  arrow  denotes  the  di- 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON   CURVES  241 

rection  in  which  the  wheel  is  moving.  This  vibration  of  the  inner  wheel 
sometimes  sets  up  a  ringing  sound  not  unlike  the  squealing  of  a  pig,  but 
it  varies  in  pitch  all  the  way  from  a  coarse,  grating  sound  to  a  howl,  and 
up  to  a  sharp  or  shrill  ring.  The  explanation  of  this  phenomenon  is  that 
the  wheel  is  in  principle  a  flattened-out  bell  kept  in  continual  vibration 
by  the  rapid  alternate  catching  and  slipping  of  its  tread  in  contact  with 
the  rail. 

Canting  of  the  Inner  Rail. — The  action  of  wheels  on  curves  enables 
one  to  account  for  the  canting  or  tilting  of  the  inside  rail.  On 
•curves  where  the  ties  are  soft  or  old  the  inside  rail  will  ^onretmies  cant 
or  tilt  over,  more  or  less,  the  top  of  the  rail  canting  outward;  and  fre- 
quently it  will  spread  the  spikes.  This  action  is  most  pronounced  where 
the  traffic  is  heavy  and  speeds,  as  a  general  thing,  are  slow.  Some 
students  of  the  question  attempt  to  explain  it  on  the  claim  that  the  in- 
creased weight  which  the  inside  rail  sustains  at  slow  speed  causes  the 
canting  and  that  the  spreading  is  caused  by  the  tight  running  of  loco- 
motive wheel  bases  on  track  not  gaged  widely  enough.  There  is,  on 
elevated  curves,  at  slow  speed,  an  increased  weight  borne  by  the  inside 
rail  dver  what  it  sustains  at  higher  speeds,  and  the  greater  weight  thrown 
to  that  side  increases  the  friction  between  the  wheels  and  the  rail  and 
consequently  the  force  of  the  overturning  component  on  the  inside  rail; 
and  there  is  a  corresponding  decrease  in  the  overturning  force  on  the 
outside  rail.  This  overturning  force  is  greatest  when  the  car  is  stand- 
ing still,  because  when  in  motion  it  is  counteracted  by  centrifugal  force, 
more  or  less,  and  may  be  entirely  overcome.  The  principal  cause  of  cant- 
ing, and  which  is  independent  of  centrifugal  force,  is  the  lateral  sliding 
of  the  inner  wheel  across  the  rail  top,  as  hitherto  explained.  Its  effect 
is  somewhat  dependent  upon  the  elevation  of  the  outside  rail  and  the 
speed,  because  the  greater  the  weight  which  is  thrown  upon  the  inside 
wheel  the  greater  will  be  its  tendency  to  travel  tangent  to  the  curve  and 
the  greater  the  skidding  friction.  When  it  is  considered  that  while  a 
long  freight  train  is  passing  around  a  curve  all  the  inside  wheels  on 
that  curve  are  exerting  a  reactionary  crowding  force  across  the  top  of 
the  inside  rail  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  how  it  is  tilted  outward, 
and  the  phenomenon  is 'explained. 

It  may  be  asked  why  the  outside  rail  is  not  tilted  outward,  inasmuch 
as  it  would  seem  that  both  outside  and  inside  wheels  must  crowd  out- 
ward across  the  rails  with  the  same  force  tending  to  spread  them  apart, 
the  action  of  each  and  the  reaction  of  the  rail  against  each,  being  equal 
and  opposite  in  direction.  Against  the  head  of  the  outside  rail  there 
is  acting  a  force  clue  to  the  crowding  of  two  wheels  on  each  axle,  but 
(leaving  for  the  moment  centrifugal  force  due  to  speed  out  of  the  ques- 
tion) the  crowding  of  the  flange  of  the  outside  wheel  alone  is  a  binding 
action,  taking  place  simply  between  the  tread,  .flange  and  rail;  and,  hav- 
ing no  reaction  against  any  object  exterior  to  the  rail,  it  cannot  exert  a 
force -tending  to  overturn  that  rail.  The  tendency  of  the  outside  wheel 
and  flange  is  to  continually  run  tangent  to  the  curve  and  against  the 
rail.  The  tendency  of  the  inside  wheel,  on  the  contrary,  is  to  run  tangent 
to  the  curve,  but  away  from  the  inner  rail.  It  is  this  tendency  of  the 
inside  wheel  to  run  away  from  its  rail  which  produces'  a  lateral  force 
through  the  axle  tending  to  overturn  the  outside  rail,  because  it  is  reacted 
against  by  an  object  exterior  to  that  rail;  and  the  object  reacting  against 
this  lateral  force  is  the  inside  rail,  so  that  the  same  force  acts  equally 
against  both  rails.  In  other  words,  the  force  exerted  by  both  wheels, 
in  being  turned  from  a  straight  path  and  constrained  to  a  curved  path, 


24:2  CURVES 

as  far  as  it  can  act  toward  overturning  either  rail,  must  tend  to  overturn 
both  rails  with  the  same  force.  It  is  also  clear  that  this  force  can  be  no 
greater  than  the  friction  between  the  inside  wheel  and  the  rail  top;  that 
is,,  the  friction  opposing  the  lateral  sliding  of  the  wheel  across  the  rail. 
The  fact,  then,  that  the  outside  wheel  acts  against  the  side  or  corner 
of  the  outer  rail  head  by  flange  pressure,  while  the  inside  wheel  acts 
against  the  inner  rail  only  by  sliding  friction  between  tread  and 
rail  top,  does  not  render  the  outside  rail  the  more  liable  to  overturning. 
Just  why  the  flange  pressure  from  the  outside  wheel  alone  has  no  ten- 
dency to  overturn  the  outside  rail  may  be  more  clearly  understood,  per- 
haps, if  it  is  reflected  that,  with  some  means  to  steady  it,  a  single  wheel, 
not  attached  to  an  axle,  will  roll  along  the  outside  rail  and  keep  to  the 
rail.  The  flange  will,  of  course,  crowd  the  rail,  but,  as  the  wheel  can 
react  against  nothing  exterior  to  the  rail,  it  can  at  slow  speed  have  no- 
tendency  to  overturn  the  rail.  On  the  other  hand,  a  wheel  rolled  sim- 
ilarly along  the  inside  rail,  having  no  axle  or  other  thing  to  react 
against,  would  not  keep  to  the  rail,  for  it  would  roll  straight  ahead,  of 
course.  So  much  for  the  front  pair  of  wheels.  But  with  the  rear  pair 
of  wheels  the  case  is  different.  As  has  been  shown,  the  rear  pair  of 
wheels  serve  to  guide  or  steer  the  truck  frame  straight  with  the  track; 
and  the  tendency  of  the  front  axle  to  skew  swings  the  rear  end  of  the 
frame  so  as  to  oppose  the  tendency  of  the  rear  axle  in  an  endwise  direc- 
tion, sufficiently,  almost  always,  to  keep  the  flange  of  the  outer  rear  wheel 
from  crowding  the  rail.  In  exerting  a  force  outward  to  the  curve,  by 
which  the  rear  wheels  and  axle  oppose  and  balance  the  inward  swing  of 
the  rear  of  the  truck  frame,  the  wheels  must  necessarily  react  against 
something  exterior  to  the  frame,  and  that  which  they  react  against  i& 
the  two  rails.  In  other  words,  and  to  use  a  familiar  picture,  for  illustration, 
the  force  exerted  by  the  tendency  of  the  inside  rear  wheel  to  run  away 
from  the  rail,  reacts  outwardly  against  that  rail  and  exerts  itself  in  crowd- 
ing against  the  rear  of  the  truck  frame  as  a  man  would  in  "beaming"" 
a  plow.  Likewise,  the  force  exerted  by  the  outside  wheel  is  also  a  force 
crowding  against  the  frame,  but  reacting  against  the  outer  rail  in  a 
direction  inward  to  the  track  or  curve.  Thus,  while  the  reaction  of  the 
front  pair  of  wheels  against  the  rails  has  a  tendency  to  spread  the  rails 
apart,  the  tendency  of  the  reaction  of  the  rear  pair  against  the  rails 
is  to  overturn  both  those  rails,  not  in  opposite  directions,  so  as  to  spread 
them  apart,  but  in  the  same  direction,  and  that  toward  the  inside  of 
the  curve.  If  the  force  required  to  keep  the  truck  gradually  swinging, 
as  it  moves  along  the  curve,  be  greater  than  this  tendency  of  both  the 
rear  wheels,  the  flange  of  the  inside  wheel  will  seek  its  rail;  if  such  re- 
quired force  should  be  equal,  the  rear  wheels  will  take  a  mid  position 
respecting  the  two  rails;  while  if  it  should  be  less,  the  outside  rear  wheel 
flange  will  crowd  the  rail.  As  stated,  however,  such  last  condition  is 
not  usually  the  case  with  a  truck  of  ordinary  length.  So,  regarding  the 
tendency  of  the  rear  pair  of  wheels  to  run  in  a  straight  line,  the  reaction 
of  the  inner  wheel  is  always  against  the  rail,  tending  to  spread  it  or 
overturn  it  outward  to  the  track.  With  the  outer  rear  wheel,  if  its 
flange  be  not  against  the  rail,  its  tendency  to  run  straight  ahead  is  ex- 
erted as  if  to  overturn  the  outer  rail  inward  to  the  track,  and  it  thus 
balances  the  force  exerted  on  the  rail  at  the  outer  front  wheel  in  the 
outward  direction.  The  resultant  overturning  force  against  the  outer 
rail  thus  becomes  nil,  while  the  crowding  effect  of  these  two  forces  forms 
a  couple  tending  to  move  the  rail  both  out  and  in — outward  at  the  front 
wheel  and  inward  at  the  rear  wheel.  Iri  no  case,  except  in  the  very  ex- 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES 

ceptional  one  where  the  outer  rear  wheel  flanges  with  the  rail,  can  there 
be  any  resultant  overturning  force  acting  on  the  outer  rail,  and  even  in 
that  case  it  would  but  little  exceed  that  of  the  front  pair  of  wheels.  To- 
sum  up,  then,  the  combined  resistance  offered  by  both  inner  wheels,  to 
being  constrained  to  keep  their  positions  opposite  the  outer  wheels,  rela- 
tively to  the  track,  in  traveling  a  curved  path,  acts  with  full  effect,  at  all 
speeds,  toward  overturning  the  inside  rail  outward;  while  with  the  out- 
side rail  it  is  only  the  very  exceptional  case  where  there  is  any  resultant: 
overturning  force  against  it  at  all.  Hence  it  is  that  at  slow  speed  the 
inner  rail  is  sometimes  tilted  while  the  outer  rail  is  not. 

The  manner  in  which  the  wheels  bear  upon  the  rails  will  also  ac- 
count in  some  measure  for  the  unequal  tendency  of  the  inner  and  outer 
rails  to  tilting.  The  manner  of  bearing  is  indicated  by  the  rail  wear. 
Thus  the  top  of  the  outer  rail  wears'  down  most  rapidly  at  the  gage 
side  of  the  head,  showing  that  the  preponderance  of  weight  bears  upon 
that  side,  at  least  until  the  rail  becomes  considerably  worn,  the  effect  of 
which  is  an  unequal  distribution  of  the  weight  on  the  rail  base  and  a  ttnden- 
cy  to  tilt  the  rail  inward  to  the  track.  On  the  inner  rail,  however,  one 
will  usually  find  the  wear  most  rapid  on  the  outside  of  the  head,  causccf 
by  the  bearing  from  the  least  worn  portion  of  the  wheel  tread,  as  shown* 
in  Fig.  53.  The  tilting  effect  due  to  the  unequal  distribution  of  weight 
in  this  case  is  toward  the  outside  of  the  track,  or  in  the  characteristic 
direction  for  the  inner  rail.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  a  condi- 
tion favorable  to  the  bearing  of  the  wheel  in  the  manner  shown  is  widened 
gage,  since  it  permits  more  lateral  movement  in  the  wheel.  Another 
commonly  observed  effect  from  this  manner  of  wheel  bearing  is  the  flow- 
ing of  metal  and  the  formation  of  "fins"  along  the  edges  of  the  rail  top. 

There  is,  nevertheless,  a  force  having  an  overturning  tendency  upon 
the  outside  rail,  namely,  centrifugal  force,  due  to  speed.  For  any  given 
speed  there  is  always  a  certain  amount  of  outward  force  exerted  by  a 
body  traveling  a  curved  path,  such  force  being  due  to  the  persistence 
of  the  body  in  tending  to  travel  in  a  straight  line.  In  curved  track 
without  elevation  all  this  force  is  exerted  against  the  outer  rail  of  the 
curve.  For  any  given  speed  this  force  against  the  outer  rail  may  be 
overcome  by  elevating  the  outer  rail,  so  that  a  horizontal  component  of 
the  force  of  gravitation  caused  by  the  tendency  of  the  load  to  slide  in  the 
direction  of  the  inclination  of  the  track,  will  balance  it.  As  is  discussed 
in  connection  with  the  subject  of  curve  elevation,  this  balancing  can  be 
accomplished  for  but  one  speed  only,  so  that  at  higher  speeds  than  the 
one  calculated  upon  some  overbalance  of  centrifugal  force  will  still  act 
against  the  outer  rail;  but  at  slower  speeds,  for  which  the  elevation  is 
excessive,  the  horizontal  component  of  the  force  of  gravitation  overbal- 
ances the  centrifugal  force  and  the  resulting  force  becomes  centripetal,, 
or  against  the  inner  rail. 

The  forces  acting  against  the  rails  have  thus  far  been  spoken  of 
as  having  an  overturning  effect.  Such  is  the  tendency,  but  the  extent 
to  which  overturning  or  tilting  of  the  rail  actually  occurs  depends  largely 
upon  the  condition  of  the  ties.  The  inside  rail  is  subject  to  both  tilting 
and  spreading,  the  former  more  especially  after  the  ties  become  some- 
what unsound.  The  outside  rail  is  subject  to  spreading  but  seldom  or 
never  to  tilting,  the  reason  being,  perhaps,  that  while  the  force  which 
causes  the  spreading  of  the  outside  rail — the  centrifugal  force — is  act- 
ing with  maximum  effect  at  high  speeds,  at  the  same  time  also  the  weight 
or  forces  acting  vertically  downward  upon  the  rail  have  been  largely 
increased,  because  the  centrifugal  force  acting  upon  the  upper  (and* 


244  CURVES 

heavier)  portions  of  the  car  and  its  load  tends  to  relieve  the  inside  wheels 
of  load  and  throw  it  upon  the  outside  ones.  Also,  any  tilting  outward  of  the 
car  body  on  its  springs  actually  moves'  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  load 
nearer  the  outside  wheels.  Besistance  to  spreading  is  the  resistance 
offered  by  the  spikes  and  the  friction  between  tie  face  and  rail  base;  while 
resistance  to  overturning  or  tilting  is  weight  to  be  actually  lifted ;  for, 
in  being  tilted,  the  rail  must  revolve  about  one  corner  of  its  flange 
and  thus  cause  the  inner  corner  of  the  head  to  rise.  If  the  weight  or  force 
acting  vertically  downward  be  great  relatively  to  the  outward  or  cen- 
trifugal force  the  resultant  force  acting  on  the  rail  may  fall  within  the 
outer  corner  of  the  base,  thus  operating  to  increase  the  stability  of  the 
rail  instead  of  producing  an  overturning  effect.  This  action  may  be 
understood  by  referring  to  Engr.  T,  Fig.  51.  If  A  B  represents  the 
direction  and  intensity  of  the  force  due  to  the  weight  of  the  wheel  and 
its  load,  and  0  B  the  direction  and  intensity  of  the  centrifugal  force,  the 
resultant  force  acting  on  the  rail  will  be  indicated  in  direction  and  in- 
tensity by  the  line  E  B.  If  this  line  produced  falls  within  the  corner  D, 
as  at  Ff  there  can  be  no  overturning  tendency;  but  if  the  two  forces 
acting  were  in  the  ratio  of  A'B  to  C'B,  then  the  resultant  E'B  produced 
would  fall  without'!),  and  an  overturning  effect  would  result. 

In  what  has  been  said  with  reference  to  the  wheel  flange,  it  has  been 
supposed  to  be  of  standard  form  and  not  worn.  A  section  of  the  Master 
€ar  Builders'  standard  wheel  tread  and  flange  is  shown  in  Fig.  52.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  the  flange  slopes  away  from  the  tread  by  a  gradual 
•curve  or  fillet,  the  object  being  to  avoid  having  the  flange  make  with  the 
rail  a  surface  contact.  The  greater  the  surface  between  the  parts  in 
•contact,  the  greater  is  the  grinding  action  between  the  two.  There  is 
also  another  reason  for  having  a  curve  of  comparatively  long  radius  be- 
tween the  tread  and  flange.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  front  axle  of  any 
wheel  base  or  truck  must  run  askew  to  the  rails  when  passing  around 
a  curve.  Now,  with  the  axle  in  this  position,  with  the  wheel  flange 
against  the  head  of  the  outside  rail,  suppose  that  a  vertical  plane  be  passed 
through  the  axis  of  the  axle  and  the  point  where  the  tread  meets  the 
rail  head.  It  must  be  seen  that  the  shape  of  the  flange  determines  whether 
or  not  the  point  where  the  flange  touches  the  rail  lies  in  this  plane  or 
outside  of  it.  Suppose,  for  sake  of  illustration,  that  the  flange  is  per- 
pendicular to  the  tread,  or  that  it  is  in  shape  the  reverse  of  the  rail  head, 
as  it  practically  does  become  when  badly  worn.  Place  the  axle  radial  to 
the  curve,  with  the  flange  of  the  outside  wheel  against  the  rail  head.  A 
plane  passed  as  stated  will  now  contain  the  points  of  contact  of  both 
tread  and  flange.  But  swing  the  axle  into  a  skewed  position,  as  it  must 
iake  when  running,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  effectually  the  wheel  is  roll- 
Ing  with  the  outer  edge  of  the  flange  grinding  against  the  rail  at  a  point 
some  few  inches  in  advance  of  the  vertical  plane  in  which  lie  the  axis 
of  the  axle  and  point  of  contact  of  the  tread;  in  short,  the  flange  touches 
the  rail  at  a  point  in  advance  of  that  at  which  the  tread  touches,  and 
consequently  the  wheel  makes  contact  with  the  rail  by  parts  of  unequal 
diameters.  To  properly  understand  the  increased  resistance  caused  by 
this  action  consider  that  the  force  exerted  by  the  locomotive  in  hauling 
a  car  wheel  acts  about  the  point  of  contact  of  tread  and  rail  with  a  lever 
arm  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  wheel,  and  that  just  so  far  as  the  flange 
meets  the  rail  in  advance  of  this  point,  with  just  that  length  of  lever 
arm  is  the  friction  of  the  flange  against  the  rail  acting  against  the  force 
exerted  to  roll  the  wheel. 

It  is  well  known  that  enormous  resistance  is  offered  by  car  wheels 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES  245 

with  flanges  which  meet  the  tread  more  or  less  squarely.  The  flange, 
meeting  the  rail  in  advance  of  the  point  where  the  tread  does,  makes 
contact  at  a  periphery  of  larger  diameter,  and  produces  an  effect  similar 
to  that  which  would  obtain  if  the  wheel  was  skidding  a  block  or  chock 
in  front  of  itself.  But  a  well-shaped  flange,  which  curves  gradually  back 
from  the  tread,  cannot  come  into  contact  with  the  rail  far  in  advance  of 
a  plane  containing  the  axis  of  the  axle  and  point  of  contact  of  tread, 
and  so  whatever  friction  exists  between  flange  and  rail  has  a  very  small 
lever  arm  with  which  to  -oppose  the  force  which  is  rolling  the  wheel. 
When  the  wheel  is  rolling  partly  on  the  tread  and  partly  on  the  side  of 
its  flange  there  is,  of  course,  in  any  case,  some  grinding  action  of  the 
flange  against  the  rail,  owing  to  the  differing  diameters  of  the  parts  of 
the  wheel  in  contact;  but  if  the  wheel  is  rolling  on  the  side  of  its  flange 
against  the  corner  of  the  rail  head  there  is  no  grinding  and  consequently 
no  opposition  to  the  rolling  of  the  wheel. 

Widening  Gage  on  Curves. — In  connection  with  the  action  of  car 
wheels  on  curves  arises  also  the  question  of  widening  the  gage.  Since 
the  standard  wheel  gage  is  f-in.  less  than  the  gage  of  the  track  it  is 
impossible  for  the  flanges  of  both  wheels  on  the  same  axle  to  crowd  both 
rails,  and  therefore  impossible  for  a  four-wheel  truck  to  bind  in  any 
curve  used  in  steam  railway  track.  It  must  therefore  be  clear  that  there 
is  not  the  slightest  necessity  for  widening  gage  for  four-wheel  trucks.  The 
question  regarding  the  widening  of  gage  on  curves  must,  arise  with 
vehicles  having  more  than  four  wheels  in  the  same  base,  especially  as  is 
the  case  with  locomotives  having  six  or  .more  drivers. 

The  question  of  widening  gage  on  curves  involves  a  discussion  of 
two  features  of  locomotive  running  gear,  namely,  the  arrangement  as 
to  the  flanging  of  the  driving  wheels,  and  the  design  of  the  forward  truck 
respecting  provision  for  lateral  movement  of  the  locomotive  frame.  •  As 
to  either  of  these  matters  there  is  as  yet  no  widely  prevailing  settled 
understanding  between  the  track  and  motive-power  departments.  The 
wheel  base  details  of  the  locomotives  on  each  railway  are  usually  designed 
to  suit  the  ideas  of  the  motive-power  management  respecting  the  features 
here  considered,  and  the  official  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
track  studies  the  conditions  of  running  as  they  appear  in  the  spreading 
of  the  rails  and  in  rail  wear,  and  then  adopts  some  t^-and-fit  rule  for 
gaging  the  curves.  To  summarize  the  situation  generally,  it  may  be  said 
that  it  is  not  customary  for  the  two  departments  concerned  to  study  the 
matter  from  a  mutual  point  of  view. 

In  considering  the  matter  of  driving  wheel  flanges  it  is  well  to 
begin  with  a  case  which  fairly  approaches  the  extreme  of  ordinary  con- 
ditions. The  longest  driving-wheel  base  used  to  an  extent  which  might 
be  termed  general  is  that  of  consolidation,  and  mastodon  or  12-wheeI 
locomotives,  measuring  16  ft.  Let  it  be  supposed  that  the  rails  and  wheel 
tires  are  new  or  not  worn  and  that  the  rails  are  laid  snug  to  gage,  and 
then  ascertain  how  much,  if  any,  the  gage  should  be  widened  in  order 
to  pass  such  a  driving  base  freely  around  a  sharp  curve,  the  total  wheel 
base  (which  includes  the  forward  truck)  not  being  considered  in  this 
instance.  On  a  15-deg.  curve  the  middle  ordinate  of  a  16-ft.  chord  is 
almost  exactly  1  in.,  and  a  side  ordinate  corresponding  to  the  position 
of  one  of  the  intermediate  drivers  is  5T/64  in.  Taking  account  of  the 
usual  -J  in.  of  side  play  in  the  journal  boxes  (it  is  frequently  as  much  as 
I  in.,  and  sometimes  more,  in  new  locomotives),  it  is  clear  that  if  the 
tires  of  the  two  intermediate  drivers  are  flanged,  the  flanges  of  these  wheels 
must  stand  at  least  49/64  in.  clear  of  the  outer  rail  and  4  ft.  747/64  ins.  from 


246  CURVES 

the  gage  side  of  the  inner  rail.  But  the  gage  of  the  wheels  is  4  ft.  8£ 
ins.,  or  25/64  in.  more  than  the  available  room.  Apparently,  then,  the 
.gage  of  the  track  should  be  widened  25/64  in.  or  about  f  in. 

Under  ordinary  conditions,  however,  it  would  not  be  necessary  to 
widen  the  gage  that  much,  for  it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  make 
the  gage  of  the  front  and  rear  pairs  of  drivers  %  to  f  in.  less  and  the, 
gage  of  the  intermediate  pairs  of  drivers  J  in.  less  than  standard,  with- 
out extra  side  play  in  the  axle  boxes.  If  such  was  done  in  the  case 
here  considered  the  required  amount  of  widening  of  the  track  gage 
would  be  reduced  to  13/64  in.  By  a  "tight  squeeze"  this  wheel  base  might 
pass  safely  around  the  curve  without  widening  the  gage,  but  the  wheels 
would  either  ride  high  on  their  flanges  or  else  some  springing  of  the 
parts  (such  as  the  rails  or  the  locomotive  frame)  would  have  to  take  place. 
With  rails  or  wheels  considerably  worn,  however,  such  a  wheel  base  should 
freely  pass  the  curve  referred  to.  It  takes  but  little  wear  at  the  corner 
of  the  rail  head  and  in  the  fillet  of  the  wheel  flanges  to  increase  the  free 
side  play  of  the  wheels  to  f  in.  In  fact,  one  can  find  but  few  wheels, 
even  among  those  considered  to  be  in  good  condition,  with  which  the 
side  play  is  less  than  1  in.  on  rails  laid  to  standard  gage.  With  new  rails 
or  rails  not  worn  at  the  top  corner  of  the  head,  it  would  seem  advisable 
to  widen  the  gage  of  the  curve  for  such  a  wheel  base  as  is  above  considered. 

On  a  10-deg.  curve  the  middle  ordinate  of  a  16-ft.  chord  is  11/1C  in., 
and  a  side  ordinate  at  one  of  the  intermediate  drivers  about  39/64  in. 
Taking  into  consideration  the  -J-in.  side  play  in  the  journal  boxes 
and  the  f  in.  in  the  wheel  flanges,  as  before,  we  find  the  required  amount 
of  widening  of  the  gage  to  be  7/C4  in. ;  on  an  SJ-deg.  curve  the  wheel  base 
under  consideration  would  just  pass  around  the  curve  freely  without 
widening  the  gage.  Substituting  a  set  of  six-coupled  flanged  drivers,  with 
the  usual  wheel  base  of  14  ft.,  for  the  eight-coupled  set  already  consid- 
ered, and  assuming  similar  conditions  of  side  play,  the  required  amount 
of  widening  of  the  gage  for  a  15-deg.  curve  is  found  to  be  9/32  in.;  on 
a  9-f-deg.  curve  the  wheels  will  just  pass  freely  without  widening  the  gage 

In  considering  the  length  of  driving  base  on  very  sharp  curves  the 
measurement  should  extend  to  the  point  of  contact  of  the  wheel  flange, 
which  is  some  little  distance  beyond  the  point  of  contact  of  the  tread. 
In  other  words,  on  very  sharp  curvature  the  length  of  the  driving  base 
-exceeds  the  distance  between  centers  of  front  and  rear  axles  by  the 
length  of  the  lap  to  the  contact  points  of  the  flanges.  On  main-track 
•curves  this  length  of  lap  need  not  be  considered,  but  on  some  side-tracks 
it  is  a  matter  requiring  attention,  as  the  length  which  it  adds  to  the 
effective  wheel  base  causes  binding  in  the  curves.  This  lap  extension 
of  the  wheel  base  occurs  on  all  curves  with  sharply-worn  flanges,  but  in 
ordinary  cases  the  wear  of  the  flanges  is  sufficient  allowance  for  the 
-extra  length  of  base  produced.  Another  instance  in  which  it  is  im- 
portant to  take  account  of  the  lap  of  the  wheel  flanges  is  in  considering 
the  width  of  flangeway  at  guard  tails  on  sharp  curves. 

It  is  entirely  clear  that  with  flangeless,  "blind,"  "bald"  or  "plain" 
tires  (as  they  are  variously  known)  on  the  intermediate  drivers  in  the 
foregoing  examples  no  widening  of  the  gage  would  be  required;  that 
is,  so  far  as  the  driving  base  alone  is  considered.  And  really,  for  roads 
of  sharp  curvature  there  is  no  necessity  for  more  than  two  flanged  drivers 
on  each  side  of  ordinary  locomotives,  for  not  more  than  that  number 
<can  flange  with  the  rail  on  curves  sharper  than  about  5  deg.  for  a  14-ft. 
-wheel  base  and  about  4  deg.  for  a  16-ft.  base,  even  when  J  in.  is  allowed 
for  side  play  in  the  boxes  and  J-  in.  more  for  the  set-in  of  the  leading 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES  247 

and  trailing  driving  tires,  or  half  the  amount  by  which  the  gage  of  the 
intermediate  drivers  exceeds  that  of  the  forward  and  rear  pairs.  With 
all  but  four  of  the  drivers  flangeless  the  question  of  widening  the  gage 
•on  curves  then  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  locomotive  frame 
is 'attached  to  the  pilot  truck  (and  in  some  cases  the  trailing  truck). 

In  this  county  locomotives  are  classified  according  to  the  number 
of  driving  wheels  and  truck  wheels,  and  the  following  is  a  description  of 
the  types  most  commonly  in  use: 

American   or   8- wheel,    4  drivers  and  4  pilot  truck  wheels. 

Mogul,  6  '    2      *!r 

10-Wheel,    6  :    4 

Consolidation,    8 

Mastodon,    8  4 

Atlantic,    4  drivers,  4  pilot  truck  wheels,  2  trailing  wheels. 

€hautauqua, .4        "        4       " 

Prairie 6  2  2 

A  pilot  truck  of  two  wheels  is  called;  a  "pony"  truck  and  one  of 
four  wheels  a  "bogie"  truck.  Kespecting  its  connection  with  the  frame, 
a  bogie  may  be  either  a  "rigid-center"  or  "swing-center"  truck.  The 
former  arrangement  is  where  the  frame  is  so  pivoted  to  the  truck  that 
there  can  be  no  lateral  movement,  any  more  than  is  usually  allowed  in 
journal  boxes.  The  swing-center  arrangement  is  one  whereby  the  frame 
is  attached  to  the  truck  by  means  of  swinging  hangers,  which  permit 
lateral  motion  of  a  few  inches  in  the  front  end  of  the  frame.  A  pony 
truck  must  necessarily  be  of  the  swing-center  pattern.  It  is  guided  by 
a  "radius  bar"  pivoted  at  a  point  near  the  forward  end  of  the  driving 
base,  which  keeps  the  axle  radial  to  the  curve,  and  in  this  respect  its  simi- 
larity of  movement  to  that  of  a  lawn  mower  is  striking,  as  hereinbefore  al- 
luded to.  Swing-motion  devices  take  various  forms,  but  the  most  frequent 
arrangement  is  to  support  the  center  casting  on  four  links  of  6  to  9  ins. 
length,  usually  splayed  or  hung  out  of  the  vertical,  so  that  they  will  not 
swing  too  freely  on  straight  track.  In  other  cases  "controlling"  springs 
are  set  to  oppose  the  sway  of  the  links,  the  tension  being  such  that  a 
side  pressure  of  1  to  1J  tons  must  develop  before  lateral  motion  of  the 
frame  can  take  place.  These  springs  serve  to  steady  the  motion  of  the 
engine  on  straight  track  but  do  not  prevent  the  desired  lateral  swing  on 
•curves.  Lately  the  use  of  heart-shaped  or  "three-point"  hangers  seems 
to  be  gaining  favor.  This  style  of  hanger  in  its  normal  position  hangs 
upon  two  points  of  support,  at  the  top,  the  load  being  carried  at  the 
bottom  from  a  point  central  to  the  two  upper  supports,  thus  maintaining 
stable  equilibrium,  as  in  the  case  with  diagonally-hung  links.  As  the 
hanger  moves  to  either  side  it  swings  clear  of  one  of  the  upper  supports 
and  the  effect  of  a  diagonally-hung  link  is  immediately  produced.  As 
the  ordinary  link  hanger  swings  from  the  vertical  it  offers  more  and 
more  resistance  to  swaying  as  it  swings  farther  out,  and  does,  therefore, 
in  a  measure,  enable  the  truck  to  do  something  toward  guiding  the  en- 
gine. The  chief  advantage  with  the  three-point  device  is  that  all  of  the 
hangers  supporting  the  center  casting  swing  parallel,  thus  equally  distribut- 
ing the  load  and  the  resistance  to  swaying ;  and  therefore  the  part  which  the 
hangers  take  in  the  guiding  of  the  engine  is  very  considerable  from  the 
instant  lateral  motion  begins;  whereas,  with  the  ordinary  link  hanger 
the  guiding  action  does  not  become  important  until  the  hanger  has 
swung  far  out  of  the  vertical. 

The  pilot  truck  of  a  locomotive  may  serve  two  purposes:  (1)  It 
supports  part  of  the  weight  of  the  locomotive,  but  (2)  it  may  or  may 
not  guide  the  forward  end  of  the  frame.  In  the  locomotive  wheel  base, 
as  in  the  four-wheel  truck,  the  flange  of  some  one  wheel  must  do  the 


248  CURVES 

entire  work  of  guiding  all  the  rigidly  connected  wheels  around  sharp 
curves.  One  object  of  the  pilot  truck  may,  therefore,  be  to  keep  the  front 
driver  flange  from  the  rail.  As  the  rigid-center  truck  is  fixed  so  as  to 
swivel  only,  it  accomplishes  this  by  force  exerted  through  the  center  pin 
of  the  truck.  While  the  swiveling  of  the  truck  obviates  to  a  consider- 
able extent  the  grinding  action  of  the  front  outer  wheel  flange  against 
the  rail,  still  the  pressure  of  that  flange  against  the  rail  is  greater  than 
is  due  merely  to  the  load  carried  by  the  truck,  for  it  must  serve  to- 
guide  the  whole  base,  driving  wheels  and  all.  (This  statement  and  a  pre- 
ceding one  to  the  same  effect  may  not  be  strictly  correct  in  all  cases.  For 
instance,  it  might  occur  that  with  a  locomotive  concentrating  an  undue  pro- 
portion of  its  weight  on  the  driving  wheels  the  force  exerted  by  the* 
resistance  of  the  driving  wheels  to  being  guided  with  the  curve  would 
hold  both  outer  pilot  wheel  flanges  to  the  rail  in  spite  of  the  tendency 
in  the  truck  to  swing  the  rear  wheel  away  from  the  rail.  In  a  case  of 
this  kind  the  flanges  of  both  truck  wheels  would  necessarily  take  part  in 
the  work  of  doing  the  guiding.)  It  is  not  considered  good  practice  to 
allow  sufficient  side  play  in  the  truck  journal  boxes  to  permit  the  for- 
ward driver,  if  flanged,  to  assist  in  the  work  of  guiding,  because  an 
abnormal  amount  of  side  play  in  the  truck  allows  too  much  swinging  of 
the  frame  when  the  locomotive  is  pulling  hard  on  tangents. 

The  swing-center  truck  principally  bears  up  weight,  and  takes  but 
comparatively  little  or  no  part  in  guiding  or  swinging  the  driving  baser 
except  within  certain  limits.  It  does,  of  course,  as  already  shown,  exert 
a  guiding  influence  to  the  extent  of  the  resistance  of  the  forward  end: 
of  the  frame  to  sway  on  the  hangers,  and  in  the  case  of  a  pony  truck 
its  resistance  to  being  turned  by  the  radius  bar  places  some  restraint  on 
the  outward  tendency  of  the  front  drivers;  but,  in  the  main,  the  first 
flanged  driver  must  guide  not  only  the  driving  base  but  the  locomotive 
entire.  With  swing-center  pilot  truck  the  front  driver  is  nearly  always 
flanged,  because  it  is  the  one  which  can  operate  with  the  longest  leverage 
to  force  the  base  around.  It  will  readily  be  seen  that  if  the  front  driver 
is  blind,  the  next  driver  behind  must  crowd  the  rail  with  much  greater 
force  in  order  to  keep  the  wheel  base  swinging  with  the  curve,  than  would 
be  the  case  if  the  front  driver  did  the  guiding,  because  it  not  only  is 
operating  on  less  leverage'  to  swing  itself  and  the  drivers  following,  but 
has  also  to  swing  the  driver  in  front  of  it  on  the  principle  of  a  force 
acting  on  a  lever  of  the  third  class;  that  is,  the  force  acts  between  the 
fulcrum  and  the  load.  Even  at  the  front  driver  there  is  required  a 
much  greater  crowding  force  than  at  the  pilot  truck,  to  produce  the 
same  turning  effect  on  the  locomotive,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  frame 
projects  some  distance  ahead  of  the  drivers.  It  ought  to  follow,  then, 
that  the  nearer  the  guiding -flange  can  be  to  the  front  of  the  locomotive 
the  less  will  be  the  wear  on  flange  and  rail  and  the  less  the  tendency  of 
the  locomotive  to  spread  the  outer  rail.  This  would  seem  to  be  a  point 
in  favor  of  the  rigid-center  pilot  truck  respecting  the  relative  ease  of 
service  on  curves. 

Having  investigated  the  behavior  of  the  driving  and  truck  wheels 
separately  it  now  remains  to  consider  the  action  of  these  two  sets  of 
wheels  taken  together.  The  wheel  base  of  a  locomotive  includes,  of 
course,  both  the  driving  wheels  and  the  truck  wheels.  The  rigid  wheel 
base  includes  such  wheels  as  are  connected  with  the  locomotive  in  a 
manner  not  to  permit  side  swinging  of  the  frame  (play  in  the  axle  boxes 
excepted).  On  a  locomotive  with  a  swing-center  pilot  truck  the  rigid 
wheel  base  comprises  only  the  driving  wheels.  Such  is  necessarily  the- 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  OX  CURVES  249 

case  with  all  mogul  and  consolidation  locomotives.  On  a  locomotive  with 
rigid-center  pilot  truck  the  limits  of  rigidity  are  the  center  pin  of,  the 
truck  and  the  axle  of  the  rear  drivers.  It  should  be  noted  that  such  does 
not  cover  the  total  wheel  base  of  the  locomotive,  because  the  truck  is 
free  to  swivel  into  line  (that  is,  into  its  natural  position)  with  the  curve. 
For  convenience  of  reference  the  distance  from  rear  driving  axle  to  the 
center  of  a  bogie  truck  will  be  called  the  long  base;  the  corresponding- 
distance  where  a  pony  truck  is  used  is,  of  course,  the  total  wheel  base. 

The  question  of  widening  the  gage  of  curves  is  easily  answered 
in  any  case,  and  the  amount  of  widening  may  be  determined  either  by 
computation  or  graphically.  By  applying  the  rectangle  of  the  rigid 
wheel  base  of  each  type  of  locomotive  to  a  diagram  of  the  curve  the 
ruling  type  is  at  once  discoverable  and  the  proper  amount  of  widening 
may  be  scaled  off,  or  it  may  be  computed  from  the  chords  and  ordinates. 
For  the  purpose  of  direct  calculation  of  limiting  curvature  passable  by 
six  or  eight  flanged  wheels,  and  the  amount  of  widening  required  for  stated 
conditions  of  wheel  base  and  curvature,  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Searles  has  worked 
out  formulas  of  convenient  application.  In  the  case  of  three  pairs  of 
flanged  wheels  in  the  same  rigid  base  the  limiting  curvature  on  which  the. 
wheels  will  run  without  widening  the  gage  is  expressed  by  the  formula 

3825  p 


in  which  D  represents  the  degree  of  curve  sought,  p  the  flange  play  in 
inches,  and  I  the  length  of  the  rigid  wheel  base  in  feet.  If  the  inter- 
mediate axle  be  not  at  the  middle  of  the  base  let  the  distance  from  it  to  the 
two  end  axles  be  represented  by  a  and  b,  in  feet.  The  limit  of  curvature 
then  becomes 

956  p 
D  =  -- 

a  b 

In  the  case  of  eight  flanged  wheels  in  the  same  rigid  base  the  formula  is 
applicable  by  considering  the  intermediate  axle  nearest  the  middle  and 
ignoring  the.  other. 

In  the  case  of  a  locomotive  with  a  swing-center  truck  and  not  more 
than  four  flanged  drivers  the  limiting  degree  of  curve  that  will  pass  the 
engine  without  widening  the  gage  is  expressed  by  the  formula 

956  b  s 


a  b  a  -\-b 

in  which  a  represents  the  distance  in  feet  from  center  of  truck  to  axle 
of  the  leading  pair  of  flanged  drivers,  b  the  distance  in  feet  between  the 
axles  of  the  two  pairs  of  flanged  drivers,  p  the  play  at  the  flanges  in  inches, 
and  s  the  side  motion  of  the  swing  hangers  from  center,  in  inches.  The 
total  clearance  required  to  pass  an  engine  through  any  curvature,  the  degree 
of  which  is  represented  by  D,  is  found  by  the  formula 

Dab  b  s 

p  __  ___ 

956  a+b 

To  find  the  amount  of  widening  required  subtract  from  P  the  play  at  the 
flanges;  that  is,  widening  of  gage  =P  —  p.  This  formula  is  general  and 
applies  to  a  single  rigid  base  as  well  as  to  a  locomotive  with  swing-center 
truck.  In  the  case  of  a  rigid-center  truck  or  in  that  of  a  single  rigid  base  s 
becomes  zero  and  the  last  term  of  the  equation  disappears.  For  curvature 


250  CURVES 

of  20  deg.  or  more  the  numerical  coefficient  in  the  above  formulas  should 
be  960  instead  of  956;  for  30  deg.  it  should  be  966. 

Bearing  in  mind,  then,  that  the  matter  of  widening  the  gage  of  curves 
on  any  road  is  a  special  problem  to  be  solved  from  the  data  of  the  locomo- 
tives in  service,  it  may  nevertheless  prove  instructive  to  investigate  in  a 
general  way  a  common  example  of  each  type  of  wheel  base.  In  every  case 
the  gage  of  the  wheels  will  be  taken  at  the  standard  4  ft.  8^  ins.  and  the 
side  play  in  the  axle  boxes  -J  in. ;  in  the  case  of  swing-center  trucks  the 
permissible  sway  will  be  assumed  at  3  ins.  from  center.  This  amount  of 
lateral  movement  has  been  found  to  take  place  on  a  number  of  roads.  The 
most  common  example  of  American  or  8-wheel  locomotive  has  a  driving 
base  of  8^  ft.  and  a  long  base  of  about  20 \  ft.  For  this  engine  with  a 
swing-center  truck  it  is  unnecessary  to  widen  the  gage  on  curves  not  sharper 
than  16^  deg.;  but  if  the  truck  has  a  rigid  center  the  sharpest  curvature 
on  which  the  engine  will  run  freely  without  widening  the  gage  is  4^  deg. 

The  average  driving-wheel  base  of  mogul  locomotives  seems  to  be 
about  15  ft.  and  the  average  total  wheel  base  of  engine  about  23  ft.  On 
engines  of  this  class  the  pilot  truck  is  of  the  radial  swing-center  type  and 
the  forward  driver  must  do  the  guiding,  and  therefore  that  driver  should 
be  flanged.  With  the  middle  drivers  flangeless  there  is  no  necessity  for 
widening  the  gage  of  curves  not  sharper  than  19 J  deg.,  but  with  all  of  the 
drivers  flanged  the  sharpest  curvature  on  which  the  engine  will  run  freely 
without  widening  the  gage  is  8^  deg.  A  6-coupled  switching  engine  with- 
out truck  behaves  on  curves  like  a  mogul  with  unlimited  sway  on  the  pilot 
truck,  but  as  the  wheel  base  is  usually  but  11  to  12  ft.  in  length  it  is  not 
necessary,  even  if  all  the  drivers  are  flanged,  to  widen  the  gage  of  curves 
not  sharper  than  13  deg.  (for  12-ft.  base)  to  16  deg.  (for  11-ft.  base). 
'The  Columbian  type  of  locomotive,  which  has  four  coupled  drivers  with  a 
pony  radial  truck  in  front  and  a  pair  of  trailers  behind,  behaves  on  curves 
like  a  mogul;  unless  the  trailing  truck  should  be  swing  center  or  provided 
with  excessive  lateral  play  in  the  boxes,  in  which  case  it  would  behave  like 
an  8-wheel  engine  with  swing-center  pilot  truck. 

The  average  driving  base  of  10-wheel  locomotives  is  14  ft.  and  the 
average  long  base  is  21  ft.  9  ins.  With  swing-center  pilot  truck  and  the 
middle  or  main  drivers  flangeless  the  gage  of  curves  not  sharper  than  214 
deg.  need  not  be  widened;  with  all  the  drivers  flanged  the  gage  of  curves 
exceeding  9J  deg.  should  be  widened.  With  a  rigid-center  truck  no  advan- 
tage to  speak  of  is  gained  by  omitting  the  flanges  on  any  of  the  drivers, 
.as  with  the  leading  drivers  flangeless,  or  with  the  main  drivers  flangeless, 
or  with  all  drivers  flanged,  the  sharpest  curvature  on  which  the  engine 
will  run  freely  without  widening  the  gage,  in  any  of  the  three  cases,  is  4 
to  4J  deg.  The  Atlantic  type  of  passenger  engine,  which  has  four  coupled 
drivers  with  a  Hogie  truck  and  a  pair  of  trailing  wheels,  may  be  considered 
a  10-wheeler,  so  far  as  the  matter  of  taking  curves  and  the  widening  of 
gage  are  concerned;  unless  the  trailing  truck  should  be  radial  and  swing 
center  (Chautauqua  type)  or  have  excessive  lateral  play  in  the  boxes,  in 
which  case  it  would  behave  like  an  8-wheel  engine. 

An  ordinary  (although  seldom  exceeded)  driving-wheel  base  for  con- 
solidation locomotives  is  16  ft.,  with  a  total  wheel  base  for  the  engine  of 
24  ft.  As  the  truck  in  this  case  is  of  the  radial  or  swing-center  type  the 
front  driver  is  flanged  and  must  do  the  guiding.  With  bald  tires  on  the 
intermediate  drivers  the  gage  need  not  be  widened  for  this  engine,  unless 
the  curvature  exceeds  18  J  deg.,  but  if  all  the  drivers  are  flanged  the  gage 
should  be  widened  on  curves  sharper  than  8J  deg.  No  advantage  is  gained 
by  omitting  the  flanges  on  only  one  pair  of  intermediate  drivers.  The 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES  251 

prairie  type  of  locomotive,  which  has  six  driving  wheels  with  a  pony  radial 
pilot  truck,  besides  a  pair  of  trailing  wheels,  behaves  on  curves  like  a  con- 
solidation engine;  unless  the  trailing  truck  should  be  radial  and  swing 
center  (as  it  is  in  some  cases)  or  provided  with  excessive  lateral  play  in 
the  boxes,  in  which  case  it  would  behave  like  a  mogul. 

The  average  driving-wheel  base  of  12-wheel  or  mastodon  locomotives 
is  15i  ft.  and  the  average  long  base  is  23  ft.  With  a  swing-center  pilot  truck 
and  the  intermediate  drivers  blind  tired  the  gage  of  curves  not  sharper  than 
20^  deg.  need  not  be  widened,  but  with  the  same  truck  and  all  the  drivers 
Ranged  the  gage  should  be  widened  on  curves  sharper  than- 9 -deg.  No 
advantage  is  gained  by  omitting  the  flanges  on  only  one  pair  of  inter- 
mediate drivers.  With  a  rigid-center  truck  the  second  or  main  driver  comes 
nearest  the  middle  of  the  rigid  wheel  base  and  it  should  have  the  blind  tire ; 
and,  thus  arranged,  the  gage  should  be  widened  on  curves  sharper  than  4 
deg.  Although  a  flange  on  the  front  driver  of  this  engine  with  a  rigid- 
center  truck  is  not  a  necessity,  still  nothing  is  gained  in  freedom  of  move- 
ment by  omitting  it,  because  that  driver  is  farther  from  the  center  of  the 
rigid  wheel  base  than  the  driver  following.  Neither  is  anything  gained  by 
omitting  the  flange  of  the  third  driver  when  there  is  a  rigid-center  truck, 
because  it  is  farther  from  the  middle  of  the  rigid  wheel  base  than  the  first 
driver,  the  flange  on  which  should  be  retained  if  the  flange  of  the  second 
driver  is  dispensed  with.  With  all  the  wheels  on  this  engine  flanged  the 
sharpest  curvature  on  which  it  will  run  freely  without  widening  the  gage 
is  3  j  deg. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  as  between  the  various  types 
of  locomotives  having  rigid-center  pilot  trucks  and  all  elrivers  flanged  there 
is  but  little  choice,  4  cleg,  being  about  the  sharpest  curvature  any  such 
locomotive  will  run  around  freely  without  widening  the  gage.  As  to  the 
location  of  the  flangeless  drivers  there  is  no  uniformity  in  general  practice, 
the  flanges  in  some  cases  being  omitted  from  one  or  more  pairs  of  the 
intermediate  drivers  and  in  other  cases  from  the  front  pair.  Likewise  with 
the  manner  of  truck  suspension :  the  swing-center  truck  is  sometimes  used 
in  connection  with  flangeless  drivers  and  sometimes  not,  while  in  other 
cases  it  is  used  with  a  wheel  base  all  the  drivers  of  which  are  flanged.  It 
is  a  rule  pretty  well  established,  however,  that  with  a  swing-center  truck 
the  leading  pair  of  drivers  should  be  flanged.,  Cases  are  on  record  of  mogul, 
consolidation,  and  10-wheel  locomotives  with  swing-center  truck,  and  8- 
wheel  passenger  engines  with  rigid-center  truck,  which  were  biiilt  and  run 
in  regular  service  with  the  leading  drivers  flangeless,  but  few  or  none  of 
these  engines  are  now  in  use.  They  are  not  regarded  as  safe  on  curves,  and 
some  prefer  flanged  front  drivers  with  rigid-center  pilot  trucks  also,  for  the 
reason  that  they  hold 'to  the  rail  better  than  bald  drivers  in  case  the  pilot 
wheels  become  derailed.  For  security  in  running  backwards  the  rear  driver 
must,  of  course,  be  flanged. 

As  to  the  rate  of  widening  gage  for  curvature  exceeding  the  limit  for 
which  the  wheel  base  is  designed  to  run  freely,  that  depends  upon  whether 
the  widening  is  required  for  the  driving  wheel  base,  as  in  the  case  of  loco- 
motives with  swing-center  pilot  truck  and  flanged  drivers,  within  the  limit 
of  curvature  on  which  the  swing-center  truck  is  effective ;  or  whether  the 
widening  is  required  for  the  longer  wheel  base  extending  from  the  rear 
driver  axle  to  the  center  of  the  pilot  truck.  In  either  case  the  theoretical 
widening  would  increase  practically  as  the  middle  ordinate  of  a  chord 
equal  in  length  to  the  wheel  base  considered.  In  some  cases  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  drivers  might  make  it  seem  desirable  to  consider  ordinates  at 
points  other  than  the  middle  of  the  chord,  but  the  difference  in  any  case 


252  CURVES 

is  comparatively  slight,  and,  for  the  sake  of  a  general  discussion,  may  be 
neglected.  The  middle  ordinates  of  12-ft,  14-ft,,  15-ft.  and  IG-ft.  chords, 
which  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  lengths  of  driving-wheel  base  of  var- 
ious types  of  locomotives,  increase  at  the  rate  of  .04  in.,  .05  in.,  .056  in. 
and  .07  in.,  respectively,  per  each  degree  of  increase  in  curvature.  The 
middle  ordinates  of  21-ft.,  22-ft,  23-ft.  and  24-ft.  chords,  which  may  be 
taken  as  representing  the  long  base  measurements  for  various  types  'of 
locomotives,  increase  at  the  rate  of  0.115  in.,  0.128  in.,  0.14  in.,  and  0.15- 
in.,  respectively,  per  each  degree  increase  of  curvature.  It  thus  appears 
that  for  the  driving  base  alone  the  rate  of  widening  required  varies,  accord- 
ing to  the  length  of  the  base,  from  1/26  to  yi4  in.  for  each  degree  increase 
of  curvature,  while  for  the  long  base  the  rate  varies  from  1/8  to  3/20  iiu 
per  degree,  according  to  length  of  base.  In  practice,  however,  a  rate -as  large 
as  that  in  the  latter  case  is  seldom  applied.  A  few  roads  widen  the  gage  at  the 
rate  of  -J  in.  per  degree  above  a  certain  limit  at  which  widening  is  supposed 
to  begin,  but  the  rate  used  in  the  largest  practice  is  yie  in.  per  degree 
above  the  limit  at  which  widening  is  supposed  to  begin,  which  is  usually 
4  to  6  deg.  The  maximum  amount  of  widening  with  roads  of  moderate  cur- 
vature is  J  in.  With  roads  of  heavy  curvature  the  maximum  amount  of  wid- 
ening is  J  in.  to  1  in. ;  but  very  few  roads  exceed  1  in. 

The  explanations  necessary  to  reconcile  practice  with  the  foregoing 
theoretical  requirements  have  already  been  indicated.     On  many  roads  the 
driver  tires  are  set  in  to  permit  more  play  at  the  flanges  than  is  provided 
for  in  the  M.  C.  B.  standards,  f  in.  play  being  common  for  front  and  rear 
pairs  of  drivers  and  %  in.  for  the  middle  or  intermediate  pairs  of  drivers. 
And  then  it  should  be  noted  that  rails  with  side-sloping  head,  or  a  head 
with  a  long  radius  at  the  top  corners,  or  with  the  top  corner  on  the  gage 
side  considerably  worn,  conform  more  nearly  to  the  shape  of  the  wheel 
tread  and  flange  than  is  the  case  with  rails  of  American  Society  section, 
and  therefore  permit  more  lateral  play  of  the  flanges.    In  some  cases,  also, 
it  is  the  practice  to  set  the  tires  of  the  middle  drivers  of  mogul  and  10- 
wheel  engines  and  of  the  intermediate  drivers  of  consolidation  and  masto- 
don engines  -J  to  J  in.  closer  between  backs  than  on  the  front  and  rear 
drivers.    So  far  as  curves  are  concerned  this  is  a  better  arrangement  than 
to  narrow  the  gage  of  the  front  and  rear  drivers,  but  it  is  hard  on  frog 
wings  and  on  guard  rails  opposite  frogs,  and  the  practice  should  not  be 
permitted.    Any  deviation  from  the  M.  C.  B.  standard  wheel  gage  is  bound 
to  result  in  blows  to  guard  rails  and  frog  wings.     This  matter  is  more 
fully  discussed  under  the  subject  of  Guard  Eails,  §  59,  Chap.  VI.    On  roads- 
of  heavy  curvature  it  is  quite  customary  to  leave  more  play  between  axle 
boxes  and  wheel  hubs  than  is  told  of,  since  if  the  side  play  is  not  provided 
for  in  the  shops  the  locomotive  will  soon  make  the  play  for  itself,  because 
on  engines  which  bind  in  the  curves  the  hub  wear  is  very  rapid.     It  is  quite 
usual  to  leave  side  play  of  f  in.  and  even  J  in.  between  wheel  hub  and 
journal  box.    Furthermore,  the  side  wear  of  the  outer  rail  is  rapid  on  sharp 
curves,  particularly  if  there  is  insufficient  room  for  the  wheel  flanges,  and 
of  course  such  wear  amounts  to  widening  of  the  gage.    All  these  discrepan- 
cies of  what  is    considered    standard    practice    assist    in    getting    engines 
around  curves  in  some  cases  where  the  widening  of  the  gage  seems  clearly 
to  be  far  too  small.     Investigation  will  usually  disclose  that  the  apparent 
disagreement  between  theory  and  practice  in  such  cases  is  easily  accounted 
for.     Lastly,  whether  from  the  absence  of  these  compensating  features  or 
their  existence  to  an  insufficient  degree,  there  are  instances  where  the 
inadequate  widening  of  the  gage  is  only  too  evident  from  the  excessive 
crowding  of  the  flanges,  resulting  in  rapid  flange  and  rail  wear,  spreading 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES 


253 


of  the  rails,  and,  in  extreme  cases  the  refusal  of  the  engine  wheels  to  follow 
the  track.  In  cases  where  the  engines  bind  extremely  hard  in  the  curves 
one  may  sometimes  find  long  shavings  of  steel  cut  from  the  rails  by  the 
wheel  flanges 

Regarding  the  practice  of  widening  gage  on  curves  it  may  be  said  that 
no  rules  approaching  uniformity  are  widely  established.  Some  roads  widen 
the  gage  on  comparatively  easy  curves,  while  others  adhere  to  the  standard, 
oven  on  very  sharp  curves.  Out  of  104  replies  to  inquiries  on  this  point, 
addressed  to  railway  officials  by  the  American  Railway  Association,  in  1897, 
*<J5  roads  reported  no  increase  of  gage  on  curves.  The  otheF  79  roads  re- 
ported numerous  rules  of  increase,  beginning  at  limiting  degrees  of  curva- 
ture which  vary  widely.  Table  VIII  is  a  summarized  statement  of  these 
replies  in  condensed  form. 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  reports  and  discussions  on  this  subject,  men- 
tion of  the  type  of  locomotive  used,  on  the  road  reporting  a  particular  prac- 
tice respecting  the  widening  of  gage  on  curves  is  seldom  made.  Many  per- 
sons who  attempt  to  give  reasons  for  widening  the  gage  seem  to  think 
that  all  locomotives  having  long  driving-wheel  bases  are  equally  severe  on 
curves,  quite  ignoring  the  fact  that  the  arrangement  of  the  flangeless  driv- 
ers and  the  method  of  truck  suspension  may  make  all  the  difference  con- 
ceivable. Some  study  of  the  subject  will  convince  any  person  that  the 
type  of  locomotive  wheel  base  has  all  to  do  with  the  question  of  widening 
the  gage.  Locomotives  having  rigid-center  pilot  trucks  are  perhaps  easier 
on  curves  than  those  having  the  swing-center  trucks,  but  they  require  more 
room  on  the  track.  On  ordinary  curvature  the  former  require  an  increase 
in  the  gage  and  the  latter  do  not,  if  the  middle  or  intermediate  drivers 
sire  flangeless. 

Among  the  railway  mechanical  officials  the  opinion  is  to  some  extent 
prevalent  that  the  omission  of  the  flanges  on  the  intermediate  drivers  of 
a  locomotive  increases  the  resistance  to  traction,  and  the  practice  of  flang- 
ing all  the  drivers  of  locomotives  of  all  classes  seems  to  be  growing.  Of 
course  such  practice  compels  the  widening  of  the  gage  on  curves  of  longer 
radius  than  would  be  necessary  if  the  case  was  otherwise,  and  the  claims 
in  support  of  flanging  all  the  drivers  should  therefore  be  zealously  scruti- 
nized by  maintenance-of-way  men.  According  to  currently  reported 
observation  on  the  part  of  mechanical  men  the  wear  of  the  flanges  on  the 
front  drivers  of  mogul,  10-wheel,  consolidation  arid  mastodon  locomotives 
takes  place  more  rapidly  when  the  middle  or  intermediate  drivers  are  flange- 
less  than  is  the  case  when  all  the  drivers  are  flanged.  With  roads  of  light 
•curvature,  where  the  ordinary  side  play  in  the  boxes  is  sufficient  to  permit 
the  intermediate  drivers  to  flange  with  the  outer  rail,  this  may  be  true, 
and,  of  course,  it  might  be  supposed  that  flanges  on  the  intermediate  driv- 
ers take  their  share  of  the  wear  on  straight  track,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  see 
how  the}7"  can  be  of  assistance  to  the  front  drivers  on  sharp  curves. 

This  question  of  flanged  drivers  has  twice  been  the  subject  of  investiga- 
tion and  report  by  the  American  Railway  Master  Mechanics'  Association. 

Table   VIM. — Practice  of  79   Roads  in    Widening   Gage  on   Curves. 

Increase 

Commencing  with 

1°  on  18  roads 

"      5 

«'    15 

"    10 

;;   16 
;;    3 

"      2 

"    i 

"    i 


3° 

4° 

5° 

6° 

8a 

9° 

10' 

13° 

21« 


Kange  of  Increase  — 
1°,  increase  1-32-in.  to    U-in. 

2* 

1-16-in. 

%-in. 

3° 

1-16-in. 

%-in. 

4° 

1-16-in. 

%-in. 

5° 

1-16-in. 

%-in. 

6° 
7° 

%-in. 
3-16-in. 

%-in. 
•Jl-32-in  . 

8°  and  9° 
10°  to  12° 

Vs-in. 
Vs-in. 

%-in. 
1-in. 

13° 

%-in. 

1-in. 

14°  to  20° 

%-lB. 

1-in. 

20°  "  30° 

%-in. 

1  3-16-in. 

Maximum  Increase 

U-in.  on    5  roads. 

%-in. 
2-5-In. 

2 
1 

, 

%-in. 

30 

« 

%-in. 

5 

i 

%-in. 

24 

• 

9-16-in. 

2 

• 

15-16-iti. 

2 

• 

1-in. 

'     8      " 

1  3-16-in.    "     1       •• 

254  CURVES 

The  method  of  testing  was  to  measure  the  drawbar  pull  in  hauling  the 
same  locomotive  around  a  curve,  first  with  the  usual  arrangement  of  blind- 
tired  drivers  and  then  with  all  the  drivers  flanged.  The  main  rods  and 
valve  rods  were  disconnected  and  a  dynamometer  car  was  coupled  in  be- 
tween the  locomotive  under  test  and  the  one  which  did  the  pulling,  to- 
measure  the  tractive  resistance.  In  the  first  report,  submitted  in  1899r 
the  committee  found  no  practical  difference  in  the  power  required  to  pull 
a  consolidation  locomotive  around  the  curve  selected,  with  the  different 
tire  arrangements.  The  second  report,  however,  presented  in  1900,  pur- 
ported to  be  more  decisive.  This  time  the  same  committee  reported  to 
have  found  that  it  took  less  power  to  pull  a  locomotive  (around  the  same 
curve  on  which  the  experiments  of  the  previous  year  were  conducted)  when 
all'  drivers  were  flanged  than  when  some  of  the  drivers  had  blind  tires. 
The  conclusion  of  the  report  is  that  it  is  desirable  to  have  flanged  tires 
on  all  the  drivers  of  mogul  and  consolidation  engines  and  on  10-wheel 
engines  which  have  swing-center  trucks ;  furthermore,  that  the  tires  of  mogul 
and  10-wheel  engine  drivers  and  of  the  second  and  third  pairs  of  driv- 
ers of  consolidation  engines  should  be  set  53J  ins.  back  to  back  (^  in.  less 
than  M.  C.  B.  standard),  and  the  tires  of  front  and  rear  drivers  of  consol- 
idation engines  53^  ins.  back  to  back.  The  report  makes  no  reference  to 
any  requirements  as  to  the  gage  of  the  track,  neither  is  the  proper  relation 
of  the  wheel  gage  to  the  gage  of  the  track  on  curves  considered  in  any  man- 
ner. Apparently  the  only  aim  considered  was  to  save  flange  wear,  whether 
or  not  at  the  expense  of  the  track. 

A  review  of  the  tests  on  which  this  report  was  based  is  important,  be- 
cause it  shows  such  a  variation  in  the  conditions  of  the  different  tests  that 
the  conclusions  of  the  committee  appear  groundless  and  misleading.  The 
tests  were  conducted  on  a  14^-deg.  curve  on  the  main  line  of  the  Lehigh 
Valley  R.  E.,  on  an  ascending  grade  of  56  ft.  per  mile.  The  track  wai^ 
laid  the  same  year  with  100-lb  rails,  to  a  gage  of  4  ft.  8J  ins.,  on  good  ties 
with  tie  plates,  and  the  elevation  of  the  outer  rail  was  5  ins.  The  par- 
ticular part  of  the  curve  on  which  the  observations  were  taken  was  476  ft. 
in  length.  The  engines  tested  were  a  10-wheeler  and  a  consolidation  just 
out  of  the  shop,  with  a  lateral  motion  of  -J  in.  between  wheel  hub  and  axle 
box.  The  gage  of  truck  wheels  and  of  driving  wheel  tires  in  all  of  the 
tests  except  one  was  53  J  ins.  between  backs,  which,  considering  the  gago- 
of  the  track,  would  give  f  in.  play  at  the  flanges.  Three  series  of  tests- 
were  made  with  each  engine,  with  a  different  tire  arrangement  each  timer 
each  series  of  tests  comprising  three  runs  at  speeds  intended  to  approx- 
imate ten,  twenty  and  thirty  miles  per  hour;  that  is  to  say,  there  were  nine 
runs  with  each  engine,  or  one  run  at  each  speed  for  each  tire  arrangement. 
The  same  two  engines  were  used  in  all  of  the  tests. 

In  the  first  test  with  the  10-wheeler  it  had  a  rigid-center  truck  and 
the  front  drivers  were  flangeless ;  in  the  second  test  it  had  a  swing-center 
kuck  and  the  middle  drivers  were  flangeless;  in  the  third  test  it  had  a 
swing-center  truck  and  all  of  the  drivers  were  flanged.  In  the  first  test 
with  the  consolidation  the  intermediate  or  second  and  third  pairs  of  drivers 
were  flangeless;  in  the  second  test  the  second  pair  of  drivers  were  flange- 
less  and  in  the  third  test  all  of  the  drivers  were  flanged.  In  this  last 
test  with  the  consolidation  the  tires  of  the  leading  and  trailing  drivers  were 
set  53^  ins.  between  backs  of  flanges,  or  J  in.  closer  than  the  gage  of  the 
intermediate  drivers.  The  results  of  the  test  in  which  all  the  drivers  were 
flanged,  in  the  case  of  both  engines,  show  a  smaller  average  drawbar  pull 
than  was  registered  in  either  of  the  tests  on  each  engine  with  the  other  tire 
arrangements,  but  the  variability  of  the  conditions  divest  the  entire  scries 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES  255 

of  tests  of  any  meaning.  The  rigid-center  truck  in  the  first  test  with  the 
10-wheeler  eliminates  that  test  from  consideration,  and  in  the  tests  with 
the  consolidation  the  gage  of  the  front  and  rear  drivers  was  not  the  same 
in  all  cases.  But  the  irregularity  which  completely  defeated  the  purpose 
of  the  experiments  was  the  fact  that  the  tests  with  both  engines  when  all 
the  drivers  were  flanged  were  conducted  on  a  wet  rail,  in  a  light  rain, 
whereas  all  the  other  tests  were  made  in  clear  weather,  on  a  dry  rail.  The 
effect  of  such  a  conspicuous  disparity  the  committee  assumed  to  dispel  by 
sanding  the  rail  before  the  test,  but  the  efficacy  of  such  an  expedient  is 
certainly  conjectural.  Moreover,  the  scheme  of  the  tests-  was  badly 
planned,  in  that  only  one  run  was  made  at  each  speed  for*  each  tire  arrange- 
ment, and  the  speed  recorder  showed  too  much  variation  in  the  speeds 
actually  made  to  admit  of  fair  comparisons.  For  instance,  the  speeds 
made  in  the  second  run  in  each  of  the  three  tests  with  the  10-wheeler  were 
16.2,  22.95  and  24.5  miles  per  hour,  respectively,  and  in  the  corresponding 
run  in  the  three  tests  with  the  consolidation  they  were  18.6,  22.7  and  18.6 
m.  p.  h.,  respectively,  when  they  were  supposed  to  approximate  20  m.  p.  h. 
The  corresponding  other  runs  in  the  tests  with  each  locomotive  were 
equally  variable  as  to  speed,  as  were  also  the  averages  of  the  three  runs 
in  each  of  the  tests,  the  same  for  the  10-wheeler  being  17.8,  21.2  and  22.2 
m.  p.  h.,  respectively.  It  would  have  conduced  better  to  the  usefulness  of 
the  results  had  it  been  attempted  to  make  all  of  the  18  runs  of  the  series 
at  the  same  speed.  Lastly,  some  inconsistencies  appear  in  the  results  fig- 
ured from  the  dynamometer  records  and  spring  curve,  which  reflect  badly 
upon  the  calculations. 

The  reason  for  criticising  the  work  of  this  committee  thus  in  detail 
is  the  fact  that  the  conclusions  of  the  report  have  been  quite  widely  ac- 
cepted as  final,  by  both  mechanical  and  maintenance-of-way  men,  when 
really  the  report,  for  the  purpose  intended,  is  of  but  little  or  no  value.  In 
any  event,  however,  the  resistance  of  the  drivers  to  passing  a  curve  when 
the  enginev  is  hauled  loose,  at  the  end  of  a  train,  as  in  the  case  of  these 
experiments,  may  not  be  the  same  as  that  which  obtains  under  service  con- 
ditions, when  the  same  engine  is  under  the  strain  of  hauling  a  train  around 
the  curve. 

The  effect  of  flanging  all  the  wheels  of  such  locomotives  as  are  cov- 
ered by  the  conclusions  of  this  report  reaches  farther  than  the  matter  of 
widening  gage  on  curves.  In  the  case  of  a  frog  or  guard  rail  on  the  out^ 
side  of  a  curve,  the  channel  or  flangeway,  which  is  supposed  to  be  but  f  in. 
wider  than  the  thickness  of  a  wheel  flange,  is  parallel  to  the  curve,  whereas 
the  intermediate  driver  or  drivers  must  run  on  the  chord  of  the  arc  which 
terminates  at  the  end  drivers.  Unless,  in  such  cases,  where  the  curvature 
is  heavy,  the'  channel  of  the  frog  or  the  flangeway  of  the  guard  rail  is 
made  to  special  order  the  backs  of  the  flanges  of  the  intermediate  drivers 
will  impinge  heavily  upon  the  wing  of  the  frog  or  the  guard  rail — it  is 
a  "tight  place"  for  an  engine  to  "worm"  itself  through.  The  conclusions 
of  the  report  as  to  the  gage  of  driving-wheel  tires  are  at  variance  with  the 
M.  C.  B.  standard  wheel  gage  and  therefore  open  to  the  criticism  already 
referred  to  respecting  blows  to  guard  rails  and  frog  wings.  A  supposedly 
better  arrangement  for  the  variation  of  flange  play  with  the  drivers  is 
that  which  has  been  in  vogue  for  many  years  on  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna 
&  Western  E.  R.  On  that  road  the  driving-wheel  tires  are  all  set  to  the 
M.  C.  B.  standard  distance,  4  ft.  5f  ins.  back  to  back,  and  increased  lat- 
eral play  for  the  front  and  rear  drivers  is  provided  by  varying  the  thick- 
ness of  the  flanges.  On  mogul  engines  the  play  at  the  flanges  of  the  front 
drivers  is  J  in.,  at  the  main  driver  flanges  f  in.,  and  at  the  back  driver 


256  CURVES 

flanges  |  in.  On  consolidation  engines  the  play  at  front  and  back  driver 
flanges  is  J  in.  and  at  second  and  third  driver  flanges  f  in.  The  lateral 
motion  between  hubs  and  axle  boxes  is  3/16  in.  But  this  arrangement  is 
hardly  an  improvement,  from  the  track  standpoint,  because  the  thinned 
flange  permits  the  back  of  the  flange  on  the  mating  wheel  to  strike  that 
much  deeper  into  the  guard  and  wing  rails  on  that  side. 

The  prevailing  tendency  is  to  widen  the  gage  of  curves  too  much  or 
to  widen  it  where  the  necessity  for  doing  so  does  not  exist.  One  of  the 
objectionable  features,  or  supposed  evil  effects,  of  widening  the  gage  of 
curves  is  that  it  permits  car  trucks  to  slew  more  on  the  track  and  hence 
to  run  with  greater  obliquity  of  flange  contact  with  the  outer  rail,  resulting 
in  excessive  side  wear  to  the  rail  and  to  wheel  flanges,  waste  of  trac- 
tive force  and  increased  tendency  for  wheels  with  sharp  flanges  to  climb 
the  rail.  Particularly  is  such  the  case  with  the  forward  truck  of  cars 
which  are  hard  down  on  their  side  bearings.  With  the  running  gear  in 
this  condition  the  resistance  of  the  truck  to  adjust  itself  to  its  natural  posi- 
tion on  the  curve  will  cause  it  to  run  with  the  wheels  on  opposite  corners 
crowding  the  rails  with  excessive  pressure,  and  the  wider  the  gage  the 
greater  is  the  slewing  angle,  as  just  stated.  Then,  after  passing  out  of  the 
curve  the  truck  will  continue  to  run  cornerwise  and  cause  the  forward 
wheel  in  flange  contact  to  grind  against  the  rail.  Trucks  out  of  true  also 
tend  to  run  in  the  same  manner,  and  the  situation  is  all  the  worse  for 
widening  the  gage.  In  numerous  instances  abnormal  side  wear  to  the 
outer  rail  of  curves  laid  to  widened  gage  has  been  observed  to  cease  upon 
drawing  in  the  rails  to  close  gage,  and  the  usual  explanation  is  that  on 
rails  laid  to  close  gage  car  trucks  run  in  a  position  more  nearly  parallel 
with  the  track. 

The  effect  which  widening  the  gage  has  upon  flange  wear  and  train 
resistance,  or  the  resistance  of  car  trucks,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  well 
investigated,  experimentally.  From  all  the  indications  which  trend  in  that 
direction,  however,  it  seems  reasonable  to  raise  the  question  whether  it  might 
not  be  more  important  to  pay  heed  to  the  proper  relation  of  the  track 
gage  to  the  car-wheel  gage,  as  affected  by  curvature,  than  to  seek  to  reduce 
flange  wear  and  the  resistance  of  locomotive  drivers  by  some  tire  arrange- 
ment that  compels  a  sacrifice  in  the  way  of  increased  car  truck  resistance 
by  reason  of  an  enforced  widening  of  the  track  gage.  The  car  wheels  in  an 
average  train  are  many,  whereas  the  locomotive  wheels  are  comparatively 
few,  and  it  is  well  worth  the  study  to  determine  which  demand  the  greater 
consideration  on  curves.  As  an  illustration,  it  is  probably  true  that  en- 
gines with  rigid-center  trucks  and  a  suitable  arrangement  of  flangeless 
drivers,  with  sufficient  room  in  the  gage  of  the  curve,  are  easier  on  the 
track  than  engines  of  the  same  type  with  swing-center  trucks  and  any 
possible  tire  arrangement.  Nevertheless  the  greater  widening  of  the  gage 
required  for  the  engines  with  rigid-center  trucks  on  the  sharp  curves  may 
cause  extra  resistance  from,  and  wear  to,  the  car  wheels  which  will  more 
than  offset  any  advantages  with  that  arrangement  for  the  truck. 

From  the  trackman's  point  of  view  the  moral  effect  of  widening  gage 
is  questionable.  It  usually  occurs  that  any  departure  from  the  general 
standard  in  this  respect  leads  to  a  good  deal  of  looseness;  for  where  a 
curve  is  supposed  to  be  spiked  J  or  J  in.  wide,  one  is  quite  likely  to  find 
almost  any  variation  up  to  f  in.,  and,  if  not,  the  rail  will  soon  wear  enough 
to  make  the  gage  excessive  for  the  needs.  These  discrepancies  lead  to  care- 
lessness in  gaging  tangents,  and  the  matter  of  close  gage  gradually  ceases 
to  be  regarded  cautiously  for  either  tangents  or  curves.  Therefore  gage 
should  not  be  widened  unless  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  it  should  be 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES  257 

done.  It  is  a  very  important  question  whether  rolling  stock  should  be 
built  for  the  track  or  whether  the  track  should  be  gaged  to  suit  rolling 
stock  built  to  arbitrary  standards  respecting  curvature. 

Sharp  Curves  and  Curve  Guard  Rails. — For  standard-gage  main-track 
service  curvature  exceeding  4  deg.  is  considered  sharp,  10  deg.  is  very 
sharp  and  15  deg.  (radius  383.1  ft.)  is  a  limit  at  which  the -great  majority 
of  railway  engineers  will  stop  if  the  situation  will  permit.  The  sources 
uf  danger  to  train  operation  on  curves  are  bad  surface  and  alignment  in  the 
track,  hard-swiveling  trucks,  sharply  worn  wheel  flanges  and  unequally 
loaded  or  top-heavy  cars.  With  one  or  more  of  these  conditions  present 
the  chances  of  derailment  increase  with  curvature  and,  in  most  instances, 
with  speed  also.  On  curves  so  sharp  that  danger  of  derailment  from  any 
of  these  defects  is  thought  to  be  threatening  it  is  quite  commonly  the 
practice  to  lay  a  continuous  guard  rail  around  the  curve  on  the  gage  side 
of  the  inner  rail.  The  most  usual  limit  of  curvature  at  which  the  need 
of  guard  rails  is  supposed  to  begin  seems  to  be  about  16  deg.,  although  they 
are  used  to  some  extent  on  curves  of  less  degree.  Such  a  guard  rail  should 
be  laid  to  bring  the  service  side  4  ft.  6J  ins.  from  the  gage  side  of  the  outer 
rail,  regardless  of  any  widening  of  the  gage  or  of  the  width  of  the  flange- 
way  between  it  and  the  running  rail.  A  notable  example  of  sharp  cur- 
vature in  main-line  service  is  the  curve  around  the  abandoned  "Mud  Tun- 
nel" on  the  Pacific  division  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  By.,  in  the  Kicking 
Horse  pass,  between  Golden  and  Field,  B.  C.  The  radius  of  this  curve  is 
only  262  ft.,  which  corresponds  to  curvature  of  22  deg.  The  curve  is  755 
ft.  in  length  and  is  guard-railed  on  the  gage  side  of  each  running  rail  the 
whole  distance.  The  purpose  of  the  guard  rail  on  the  inner  side  is  to 
prevent  wheels  from  mounting 'the  outer  rail,  and  the  purpose  of  the  guard 
rail  next  the  outer  rail  i&  to  carry  blind  drivers.  The  running  rails  are 
laid  broken  joints,  to  a  gage  of  4  ft.  9f  ins.,  and  the  guard  rails  -break 
joints  with  the  adjacent  running  rail.  The  flangeway  between  guard  and 
running  rail  in  each  case  is  2f  ins.  Both  the  running  rails  and  the  inner 
guard  rail  are  backed  by  rail  braces  on  every  third  tie,  and  on  every  third  tie 
there  is  a  piece  of  plank  fitted  between  the  two  guard  rails.  The  outer  rail 
is  not  elevated,  the  omission  of  this  feature  being  necessary  to  prevent  the 
roof  projections  of  passenger  cars  from  "cornering,"  which  would  result  if 
the  car  bodies  were  tilted. 

Another  notable  example  of  sharp  curvature  on  standard-gage  main 
line  is  found  with  the  Eossland  branch  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ey.,  from 
Trail  to  Eossland,  B.  C.,  originally  known  as  the  Columbia  &  Western 
Ey.  In  its  length  of  13.6  miles  the  road  rises  2300  ft.,  and  there  are  thirty 
20-deg.  curves  having  an  aggregate  length  of  3  miles.  The  grade  on  tan- 
gents is  4  per  cent  and  on  curves'  it  is  compensated  .04  per  cent  per  degree. 
The  rails  are  laid  on  Servis  tie  plates  with  three  spikes  in  each,  which 
hold  the  track  to  gage  without  using  rail  braces.  The  gage  is  widened 
one  inch  and  there  are  no  guard  rails  except  at  three  trestles  located  on 
these  sharp  curves.  The  outer  rail  is  elevated  only  2  ins.  Originally  it 
was  only  1  in.,  but  after  two  years  it  was  increased  to  prevent  the  track, 
which  is  filled  in  with  light  ballast,  from  getting  out  of  line.  Heavy  con- 
solidation and  other  locomotives  of  ordinary  type  have  been  operated  on 
this  line  successfully.  The  average  traffic  has  been  four  trains  each  way 
per  day.  Passenger  trains  make  12  miles  an  hour  and  freight  trains  8 
miles  per  hour  over  these  curves.  The  Mexican  Central  Ey.  has  a  3-per 
cent  mountain  grade  with  curves  varying  from  15  to  24  deg.,  there  being 
only  one  tangent  in  30  miles,  and  that  only  a  few  hundred  feet  long.  The 
gage  of  the  track  on  the  sharp  curves  is  4  ft.  9  ins.  and  the  maximum 


258  CURVES 

elevation  on  curves  is  3  ins.  There  are  guard  rails  on  all  curves  exceeding 
17  deg.  The  rails  are  of  75-lb.  section.  Consolidation  engines  with  15-ft. 
driving  wheel  base,  total  wheel  base  23  ft.  5  ins.,  all  drivers  flanged,  the 
drivers  carrying  80  tons,  are  operated  on  this  line.  The  lateral  play  be- 
tween wheel  hub  and  driver  box  is  J  in.  for  the  front  drivers,  J  in.  for  the 
second  and  third  pairs  of  drivers  and  \  in.  for  the  rear  drivers.  The  re- 
latively small  superelevation  on  the  foregoing  curves  deserves  notice,,  as 
it  is  on  the  side  of  safety  of  operation  where  guard  rails  are  not  used. 
Increase  in  elevation  of  the  outer  rail  on  sharp  curves  decreases  the  propor- 
tion of  the  load  on  the  outer  wheels  and  increases  the  tendency  of  those 
wheels  to  climb  the  rail  when  moving  at  slow  speed. 

The  tires  of  blind  drivers  are  usually  6^  to  7  ins.  wide,  or  f  in.  to 
1£  ins.  wider  than  the  tires  of  flanged  drivers.  This  extra  width  is  to 
afford  a  margin  of  wheel  bearing  to  allow  for  the  range  of  lateral  movement 
possible  for  such  drivers  relatively  to  the  rails  on  curves.  Nevertheless 
on  heavy  curves,  particularly  where  the  gage  is  widened  excessively  and  the 
outer  rail  is  badly  flange  worn,  a  blind  driver  will  sometimes  drop  inside 
the  outer  rail  and  derail  the  locomotive.  Of  course  the  chances  of  such  an 
accident  are  greatest  with  consolidation  or  mastodon  locomotives  whereon 
both  pairs  of  intermediate  drivers  are  flangeless  or  with  mogul  or  10-wheel 
locomotives  having  a  long  driver  base  with  the  middle  pair  of  drivers  flange- 
less.  Under  fairly  suppbsable  conditions  a  derailment  of  this  kind  can  be 
accounted  for.  For  example,  consider  a  driving  base  of  16  ft.,  on  a  15- 
deg/  curve,  laid  with  80-lb.  rails  to  a  gage  originally  widened  1  in.,  and 
suppose  the  outer  rail  to  be  flange  worn  f  in.  If  the  flangeless  tire  is  6| 
ins.  wide  and  is  set  to  run  centrally  with  the  rail  on  straight  track  then 
it  is  necessary  to  find  a  lateral  movement  of  3J  ins.  +  li  ins-  (half  width 
of  rail  head)  —  1  in.  (middle  ordinate  16-ft.  chord)  —  J  in.  =  2|  ins. 
for  the  rectangle  of  the  driving  base  in  order  to  account  for  the  dropping 
of  an  intermediate  blind  driver.  The  widening  of  the  gage  gives  a  play 
of  i  in.,  the  standard  play  of  the  flanges  f  in.  more,  a  set-in  of  the  flanges 
of  leading  and  trailing  pairs  of  drivers  J  in.  more,  wear  of  the  flanges  \ 
in.  more,  play  at  and  wear  to  the  hubs  and  axle  boxes  \  in.  more,  or  alto- 
gether about  2f  ins.  The  remaining  -J  in.  the  drivers  will  find  at  some 
place  where  the  spikes  are  spread  or  at  some  angling  joint.  This  estimate 
does  not  take  into  account  the  "personal  equation"  of  trackmen  in  widen- 
ing gage,  already  explained,  or  as  much  play  as  might  be  figured  if  a 
lighter  rail  with  narrower  head  was  used,  but  it  serves  to  show  what  is 
liable  to  happen  under  conditions  which  sometimes  exist;  and  it  also  shows 
what  a  large  factor  the  widening  of  gage  is  in  trouble  of  this  kind.  The 
difference  in  the  length  of  the  middle  ordinate  of  a  16-ft.  chord  on  the 
curve  considered,  and  a  side  ordinate  at  a  point  corresponding  to  the  posi- 
tion of  one  of  the  intermediate  drivers  of  an  eight-coupled  set,  is  only  1/5) 
in.  As  the  tendency  with  engine  drivers  is  to  run  to  the  outside  of  the 
curve  as  long  as  traction  is  maintained,  the  danger  with  blind  drivers  drop- 
ping from  the  rail  is  greatest  when  they  slip,  as  then  they  lose  their  grip 
on  the  rail  and  slide  toward  the  lower  side  of  the  curve. 

The  necessity  for  some  provision  against  the  dropping  of  blind  drivers 
does  not  usually  seem  to  be  taken  into  consideration  until  after  a  few  de- 
railments have  happened.  Then,  to  avoid  further  trouble,  a  guard  rail  is 
laid  inside  the  outer  rail  and  another  outside  the  inner  rail  to  carry  the 
flangeless  drivers.  Such  guard  rails  are  usually  laid  as  close  to  the  run- 
ning rail  as  requirements,  such  as  room  for  the  spikes  and  proper  width 
of  flangeway,  will  permit.  For  splicing  guard  rails  fish  plates  are  more 
convenient  than  angle  bars,  and  the  nuts  should  be  on  the  side  of  the 


ACTION  OF  CAR  WHEELS  ON  CURVES  259 

.guard  rail  which  is  not  in  service — that  is,  on  the  side  farthest  from  the 
running  rail,  so  as  not  to  come  in  the  flangeway. 

In  the  present  connection  it  is  proper  to  point  out  that  blind  tires 
should  not  be  set  to  a  closer  gage  between  backs  than  that  of  the  flanged 
tires,  and,  in  any  contingency,  never  closer  than  53  ins.  If  the  backs  of 
the  blind  tires  are  set  closer  than  the  distance  between  the  backs  of  the 
flanged  tires  the  false  flanges. of  the  blind  tires  when  badly  worn  will  drop 
into  the  flangeway  at  guard  rails  and  frog  wings  and  heavy  blows  to  those 
parts  will  result.  The  increment  of  width  to  blind  tires  should  be  made 
to  the  outside,  because  there  is  where  it  is  most  needed.  The  liability 
for  a  blind  driver  to  drop  inside  the  outer  rail  is  always  greater  than  foi 
its  mate  to  drop  outside  the  inner  rail.  This  is  because  the  liability  of  a 
flangeless  driver  to  drop  outside  the  inner  rail  is  not  increased  by  widen- 
ing the  gage;  in  fact  the  probability  is  decreased.  The  liability  of  derail- 
ment to  blind  drivers  on  the  outside  of  the  inner  rail  depends  only  upon 
tLe  thickness  of  the  flanges,  the  play  at  the  hubs  of  the  blind  drivers  and 
the  width  of  the  rail  head;  it  is  even  independent  of  the  spreading  of  the 
spikes,  however  badly.  Consider,  as  a  presumably  bad  case  of  this  kind, 
sn  engine  having  a  16-ft.  driver  base,  with  flanges  worn  ^  in.  and  with  J 
in.  play  at  the  hubs  of  the  blind  drivers,  passing  a  curve  laid  with  60-lb. 
vails.  Then  before  an  intermediate  driver  with  blind  tires  set  even  with 
the  backs  of  the  flanged  tires  can  drop  off  the  inner  rail  there  must  be  a 
middle  ordinate  of  If — J— f+"2f  insv  =  2 2  ins->  to  a  chord  of  16  ft., 
which  corresponds  to. a  37-deg.  curve.  Even  in  the  extreme  contingency 
that  the  outer  rail  had  been  'flange  worn  f  in.  and  changed  over,  the  blind 
•driver  would  still  be  safe  against  dropping  off  up  to  curvature  the  middle 
ordinate  of  which  to  a  16-ft.  chord  is  1J  ins.,  or  26  deg. 

Rail  Wear,  Sharp  Flanges  and  Derailment. — The  causes  of  derailment 
-on  curved  track  have  not  been  investigated  as  extensively  as  the  im- 
portance of  the  subject  would  seem  to  warrant.  It  is  currently  accepted 
that  sharply  worn  flanges  and  the  forces  acting  upon  car  or  locomotive 
wheels  are  the  causes  which  contribute  to  derailment  on  curves,  but  just 
what  the  conditions  are  when  they  reach  the  danger  point  is  not  so  widely 
understood.  So  far  as  car  wheels  are  concerned  the  code  of  rules  of  the 
Master  Car  Builders'  Association  specify  that  a  flange  worn  to  a  "flat 
vertical  surface  extending  more  than  1  in.  from  the  tread,  or  a  flange 
1  in.  thick  or  less,"  are  defects  which  justify  removal.  A  noteworthy  treat- 
ment of  the  general  subject  of  derailments  is  to  be  found  in  a  paper  by 
Mr.  J.  H.  Wallace,  engineer  maintenance  of  way  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Co.,  presented  before  the  Pacific  Coast  Railway  Club,  in  January,  1900. 
The  theory  by  which  he  explains  the  derailment  of  a  wheel  on  a  «urve  is 
hased  upon  the  ratio  of  the  vertical  force,  due  to  the  weight  of  the  wheel 
and  its  load,  and  the  horizontal  force  acting  upon  the  wheel,  due  to  the 
reaction  necessary  to  curve  the  engine  or  truck  combined  with  centrifugal 
force  arising  from  speed.  To  show  cause  for  the  lifting  of  the  wheel  when 
it  becomes  derailed,  account  is  taken  of  the  shape  of  the  wheel  flange,  but  the 
shape  of  the  rail  head  is  left  out  of  consideration,  the  claim  being  that  the 
conditions  are  not  essentially  changed  on  a  flange-worn  rail.  The  theory 
propounded  by  Mr.  Wallace  concerning  the  position  which  a  wheel  will 
take  on  the  outer  rail  of  a  curve  is  that  the  wheel  makes  contact  with 
the  rail  on  that  part  of  its  running  surface  which  is  perpendicular  to  the 
direction  of  the  resultant  of  the  forces  acting  upon  the  wheel.  On  straight- 
line  track  the  resultant  is,  of  course,  vertically  downward,  and  the  wheel 
THUS  upon  its  tread;  while  on  curved  track,  if  the  speed  be  sufficiently 
great,  the  relative  magnitude  of  the  centrifugal  force  will  cause  the  resul- 


260  CURVES 

tant  force  to  assume  a  direction  approaching  the  horizontal,  and  in  that 
case  the  wheel  will  rise  from  the  top  of  the  rail  and  run  upon  the  side 
of  its  flange,  against  the  corner  of  the  rail  head.  The  condition  which 
obtains  when  the  wheel  is  on  the  point  of  being  derailed  is  that  the  direc- 
tion of  the  resultant  force  becomes  perpendicular  to  the  face  of  the  flange 
on  that  line  where  the  curve  of  the  flange  reverses.  Beyond  this  line  the 
curvature  of  the  flange  approaches  nearer  and  nearer  to  a  horizontal  direc- 
tion; or,  in  other  words,  the  slope  of  the  flange  becomes  more  gradual,. 
thus  facilitating  the  climbing  action  of  the  wheel.  On  a  new  wheel  the 
resultant  is  supposed  to  have  this  direction  when  the  horizontal  force  be- 
comes equal  to  2 A  times  the  vertical  force. 

Respecting  the  claim  that  the  chances  of  derailment  are  no  greater 
when  the  outer  rail  is  flange  worn  than  when  it  is  new,  opinions  differ. 
Some  authorities  on  the  subject  claim  to  have  observed  that  the.  flange- 
worn  rail  is  usually  in  evidence  wherever  derailments  take  place  on  curves. 
jSTumerous  experiences  have  been  cited  to  show  that  with  locomotives  having 
pilot  trucks  of  both  the  swing  and  rigid-center  type  and  front  drivers  with 
both  flanged  and  plain  tires  no  difficulty  was  had  until  the  rails  on  the 
curves  became  flange  worn.  In  fact  there  is  much  evidence  on  both  side& 
of  the  question.  In  one  case  numerous  derailments  have  been  observed 
on  new  rails,  while  in  the  other  case  practically  all  of  a  large  number  of 
derailments  have  been  observed  only  on  flange-worn  rails.  To  get  at  the 
merits  of  the  contention  it  seems  proper  to  inquire  respecting  the  nature  and 
effect  of  the  friction  of  contact  between  wheel  and  rail.  With  a  new 
wheel  on  a  rail  worn  to  almost  any  shape  commonly  found  in  service  the- 
friction  of  the  parts  in  contact  is  mainly  rolling  friction,  the  condition? 
least  conducive  to  derailment,  but  as  the  rail  becomes  flange  worn  the 
side  and  corner  of  the  head  are  reduced  to  an  outline  approaching  that 
of  the  average  wheel  flange  and  fillet,  and  a  sharply  worn  flange,  which, 
usually  slopes  back  on  a  straight  bevel  from  the  fillet,  will,  by  the  slewing 
of  the  truck,  on  sharp  curves,  make  a  surface  contact  with  the  rail  in- 
advance  of  the  line  of  contact  at  the  tread.  The  result  is  a  grinding 
against  the  side  of  the  rail  head,  due  to  contact  at  peripheries  of  unequal 
diameter,  which,  in  connection  with  the  side  thrust  of  the  horizontal  force,. 
must  exert  a  considerable  lifting  effect  upon  the  wheel  which  Mr.  Wallace's 
theory  does  not  take  into  account.  There  is  therefore  room  to  doubt 
whether  this  theory  applies  as  strictly  to  worn  wheels  and  rails  as  it  does 
to  new  ones. 

Mr.  Wallace's  paper  treats  of  another  set  of  conditions  which  should 
not  be  overlooked  when  contemplating  the  safety  of  wheels  in  passing 
around  curves.  Reference  is  made  to  the  change  in  ihe  ratio  of  the  verti- 
cal and  horizontal  forces  due  to  the  fluctuation  of  the  weight  on  the 
wheels.  This  fluctuation  may  arise  through  oscillation  on  rough  track  ^ 
through  uneven  loading  of  the  car;  through  top-heavy  loads,  which  may  set 
the  car  to  rolling,  or  which,  at  slow  speed,  may  cause  the  car  body  to 
incline  to  the  inside  of  the  curve  and  relieve  the  outer  wheels  of  some 
portion  of  their  load.  The  fluctuation  of  loading  is  an  important  matte  r 
affecting  the  design  of  locomotives  for  safe  running.  If  the  forward  truck 
of  a  locomotive  has  a  rigid  center  the  truck  should  sustain  a  larger  share 
of  the  weight  of  the  locomotive  than  otherwise,  for  under  this  condition 
it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  truck  to  compel  the  locomotive  to  follow  the 
curve,  and  it  is  not  safe  to  take  chances  on  a  too  great  proportion  of  the 
weight  being  momentarily  reduced  by  a  teetering  motion  of  the  locomotive 
on  rough  track  or  by  the  upward  reaction  of  the  connecting  rods  against 
the  guides.  If  the  truck  is  provided  with  a  swing  center,  however,  the 


CURVE  ELEVATION  261 

•conditions  are  essentially  different,  for  then  the  guiding  of  the  locomotive 
is  performed  by  the  forward  driver,  which  is  not  so  subject  to  violent 
fluctuations  of  the  loading. 

45.  Curve  Elevation.— The  purpose  of  elevating  the  outside  rail  of 
curves  is  to  overcome  or  lessen  the  unpleasant  tendency  of  the  car  bodies 
to  swing  and  tilt  outward  from  centrifugal  force,  and  also  to  lessen  the 
wheel  flange  pressure  against  that  rail.  The  commonly  accepted  idea  that 
elevation  or  "superelevation"  in  the  outer  rail  lessens  the  tendency  of  the 
wheels  to  climb  the  rail  does  not  always  hold  true.  The  action  of  wheels 
relatively  to  the  rails  on  elevated  curves  is  in  nowise  different  from  what 
it  is  on  curves  level  across.  The  flange  pressure  of  wheels  against  the 
outer  rail  of  curves  may  arise  from  two  forces,  namely,  centrifugal  force, 
-due  to  speed,  and  the  resistance  of  the  wheel  to  being  turned  from 
a  straight  course,  which  is  independent  of  the  speed.  With  proper  eleva- 
tion for  the  speed  the  centrifugal  force  may  be  counteracted,  but  the 
lateral  pressure  due  to  the  tendency  of  the  wheels  to  run  straight  ahead 
is  always  present.  It  is  therefore  impossible,  by  any  known  arrangement, 
to  prevent  flange  pressure  of  wheels  against  the  outer  rail  of  curves. 

While  speed  higher  than  that  for  which  the  curve  is  elevated  does 
increase  the  flange  pressure  against  the  outer  rail  it  also  increases  the 
weight  or  vertical  force  acting  down  upon  the  wheel,  and  there  are  con- 
ditions under  which  the  vertical  force  may  increase  relatively  faster  than 
the  horizontal  or  centrifugal  force.  The  less  the  elevation  the  greater  is 
the  weight  thrown  upon  the  outside  wheels,  at  any  speed,  and  the  less  the 
weight  on  the  inside  wheels — the  very  condition  which  conduces  to  the 
'easier  turning  of  the  car  truck  or  wheel  base,  to  cause  it  to  follow  the  curve 
or  to  make  derailment  less  probable.  A  car  loaded  unevenly,  with  the 
•excess  of  weight  on  the  inside  of  the  curve,  will,  at  slow  speed,  climb  the 
outside  rail  more  readily  if  that  rail  be  elevated  than  it  will  if  the  two 
rails  be  on  the  same  level,  because  there  is  an  undue  proportion  of  the 
weight  on  the  inside  wheels  and  less  weight  to  hold  down  the  wheel  flanges 
on  the  outside.  The  resistance  of  the  inside  wheels  to  lateral  sliding  may 
then  overcome  the  action  of  the  force  which  tends  to  constrain  the  flanges 
of  the  outer  wheels  to  follow  the  rail.  Danger  from  this  source  is  greatest 
on  sanded  rails.  The  same  action  holds  true  of  cars  with  top-heavy  loads — 
at  slow  speed  the  car  body  leans  heavily  toward  the  inside  of  the  curve 
and  tends  to  lift  the  outer  wheels  from  the  rail.  If  the  curve  was  level 
transversely  such  would  not  be  the  case. 

Reference  is  intended  mainly  to  tendencies,  for  they  do  not  reach  the 
danger  point  except  at  limits  which  would  indicate  extremely  careless  run- 
ning. It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  determine  in  any  case  whether  the 
greatest  source  of  danger  in  running  around  curves  which  are  level  trans- 
versely, at  very  high  speeds,  lies  in  the  liability  of  upsetting  the  car,  in 
the  spreading  of  the  rails  or  in  the  tendency  of  the  wheels  to  climb  the 
outer  rail.  It  is  the  habit  of  mathematicians  who  attack  this  problem  to 
consider  the  vertical  force  on  the  outer  rail  as  constant,  at  half  of  the  load, 
which  is  very  clearly  not  the  case;  and  then  figure  the  speed  at  which  the 
wheel  may  be  supposed  to  mount  the  rail  or  overturn  it.  The  premises 
in  an  investigation  of  this  kind  are  necessarily  uncertain.  The  moving 
-car  should  not  be  considered  as  a  whole.  For  the  purpose  of  the  investiga- 
tion it  is  in  two  parts — the  trucks  constituting  one  and  the  body  and  its 
load  the  other — and  within  limits  these  parts  act  independently  of  each 
other.  The  center  of  gravity  of  the  car  body  and  load  changes,  with  the 
speed,  relatively  to  both  the  trucks  and  the  track.  At  slow  speed  it  is 
shifted  toward  the  inner  rail  and  at  high  speed  it  is  shifted  toward  the 


262  CURVES 

outer  rail.  The  fact  that  locomotives  and  cars  running  at  high  speed  on. 
curves  have  been  known  to  completely  overturn  without  first  being  derailed 
to  the  ties  shows  that  the  outer  wheels  hold  down  to  the  rail  pretty  firmly 
when  centrifugal  force  is  acting  strongly  upon  the  car  body.  In  fact  the 
source  of  greatest  danger  to  the  derailment  of  the  wheels  by  mounting  the 
outer  rail  is  rough  surface  in  the  track. 

The  main  advantages  to  be  gained,  then,  by  elevating  curves  are  com- 
fort to  passengers,  in  traveling  at  high  speeds,  and  less  pressure  of  the 
wheel  flanges  against  the  outer  rail.  But  while  such  advantages  are  feas- 
ible and  very  desirable  for  trains  of  the  better  class,  still,  where  the  slow- 
speed  trains  are  comparatively  numerous  there  are  evil  effects  arising 
such  as  call  for  a  compromise  between  the  elevations  suitable  to  each  class. 
If  the  slow-speed,  heavy-traffic  trains  are  comparatively  few  in  number  the 
curves  should  be  elevated  for  the  high-speed  trains.  As  regards  traction- 
at  slow  speed,  more  force  is  required  to  haul  a  car  around  an  elevated  curve 
than  around  one  which  is  level  across,  owing  to  increased  curve  resistance. 
As  the  elevation  increases  there  is  an  undue  proportion  of  the  weight 
shifted  to  the  inside  wheels,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  gage  of  the  wheels, 
which  is  the  base  upon  which  the  car  stands,  is  narrower  than  the  wridth 
of  the  body  of  the  car.  Since  it  has  been  shown  that  it  is  the  tendency 
of  the  inner  wheels  to  outrun  the  outer  ones  which  causes  the  truck  to  run 
askew  to  the"  track,  it  must  be  clear  that-  increase  of  load  on  the  inner 
wheels  will  increase  the  tendency  of  the  truck  to  slew,  which,  as  previously 
pointed  out,  increases  the  curve  resistance.  The  effect  which  is  some- 
times thought  to  be  due  to  decreased  tractive  -power  of  locomotives  on  ele- 
vated curves  is  really  caused  by  increased  curve  resistance  in  the  cars. 

A  general  formula  for  curve  elevation  has  been  worked  out  upon  the 
mechanical  principle  that  by  elevating  the  outside  rail  the  force  of  grav- 
itation, which  may  be  considered  to  act  vertically  on  the  center  of  gravity 
of  the  car  as  a  whole,  is  resolved,  into  two  components — one  acting  per- 
pendicularly to  the  track,  and  the  other  across  the  track  parallel  to  the 
plane  of  its  elevation,  in  opposition  to  the  centrifugal  force,  so  as  to  hold 
it  in  check.  This  formula  is 

g  v2 

e= 

32.166  R 

where  e  is  the  elevation  in  outer  rail,  in  feet;  g  the  distance  in  feet  be- 
tween rails,  center  to  center  of  heads;  V  the  velocity  in  feet  per  second; 
R,  the  radius  of  the  curve,  in  feet.  Taking  the  velocity  in  miles  per  hour,, 
the  formula  becomes 

.06688#T72 

e= 

R 

But  such  a  formula  cannot  be  rigidly  applied  to  widely  varying  speeds 
and  to  curves  of  all  degrees  in  common  use,  because  in  actual  service  it  is 
not  practicable  to  vary  the  elevation  as  the  square  of  the  velocity.  To  do- 
that  would,  for  speeds  ordinarily  made  on  some  curves,  require  an  eleva- 
tion so  high  that  to  slow  down  upon  it  would  throw  too  much  weight  upon 
the  inside  wheels,  and  in  all  probability  run  some  of  the  cars  off  the  track ; 
or  to  stop  on  such  a  curve  might  put  a  top-heavy  car  in  danger  of  tipping 
over.  For  speed  of  60  miles  per  hour  this  formula  requires  an  elevation 
of  2J  ins.  per  degree,  which  is  far  in  excess  of  rates  of  elevation  used  in 
general  practice  for  that  speed.  To  find  rates  of  elevation  in  common  use 
for  speed  of  60  m.  p.  h.,  by  this  formula,  the  speed  used  therein  must  be 


CURVE  ELEVATION  263 

assumed  at  38  or  40  m.  p.  h.  In  practice  it  cannot  be  expected  to 
entirely  overcome  centrifugal  force  at  high  speed.  The  car  body  is  at- 
tached to  the  truck  so  as  to  act  on  springs,  and  any  great  pressure  of  the 
wheel  flange  against  the  outside  rail,  due  to  centrifugal  force  at  high 
speed,  is  taken  care  of  by  the  downward  force  which  the  car  body  exerts 
on  the  wheel  tread,  thus  preventing  the  flange  from  climbing  the  rail, 
and  also  to  some  extent  holding  the  rail  more  securely  against  spreading. 
It  is  readily  seen  how  a  downward  force  is  exerted  on  the  outside  wheels 
of  a  car  by  centrifugal  force  acting  oh  the  car  body,  which  is  held  to  the 
truck  only  by  a  pin  at  the  middle,  thus  allowing  the  center  -of  gravity  of  the 
body  to  shift  relatively  to  that  of  the  truck,  as  already  pointed  out. 

A  formula  which  gives  an  elevation  most  suitable  for  any  curve,  for 
the  different  classes  of  trains,  is  necessarily  empirical,  for  it  cannot  be 
derived  by  a  strict  application  of  mechanical  principles.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  curve  elevation  in  practice  is  determined  by  trial  and  not  by  mathe- 
matical calculation;  it  is  a  "cut  and  try"  process,  pure  and  simple.  After 
satisfactory  elevation  for  a  series  of  curves  has  been  found  it  is  customary 
to  express  the  practice  in  some  simple  rule  applying  to  various  degrees  of 
curvature,  but  the  rule  in  all  such  cases  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
report  of  experimental  work.  For  the  sake  of  preserving  a  scientific  aspect 
by  making  the  above  general  formula  for  centrifugal  force  seem  to  agree 
with  practice,  some  keep  twisting  it  by  the  introduction  of  constants  to 
suit  the  case,  but  in  this  there  is  a  good  deal  of  nonsense — practice  can  be 
expressed  by  a  simpler  formula.  Usually  the  outer  rail  is  elevated  according 
to  some  recognized  rule,  or  not  quite  enough  to  meet  the  supposed  require- 
ments, and  then,  if  necessary,  it  is  later  adjusted  until  the  cars  seem  to- 
ride  satisfactorily.  On  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  an  instru- 
ment made  on  the  principle  of  the  spirit  level  (§  195,  Chap.  XII.)  is  used 
on  the  cars  to  indicate  whether  they  are  properly  canted  for  the  speed  of 
the  train  and  to  show  the  excess  or  deficiency  in  the  superelevation  of  the 
outer  rail.  Experience  has  taught  certain  "rules  of  thumb"  which  are 
reliable  enough  for  trial  and  far  simpler  to  use  than  any  formulas  which 
involve  terms  expressing  centrifugal  force.  For  level  track  these  rules  are 
about  as  follows : 

On  electric  railways,  logging  roads,  or  on  any  road  where  speed  of  30 
m.  p.  h.  is  not  often  attained,  it  is  customary  to  elevate  the  outer  rail  ^ 
in.  per  degree  of  curve,  up  to  a  maximum  of  4  ins. 

For  roads  on  which  the  freight  traffic  predominates,  the  passenger 
trains  being  local  only,  and  speed  of  45  m.  p.  h.,  while  running,  is  not 
often  exceeded,  the  usual  rate  of  elevation  is  f  in.  per  degree,  up  to  a 
maximum  of  5  ins. 

On  roads  which  handle  a  mixed  traffic,  operating  through  or  express 
trains,  where  speed  exceeding  45  m.  p.  h.  is  commonly  made,  the  most  usual 
practice  is  to  elevate  1  in.  per  degree,  up  to  a  maximum  of  6  ins.  Where 
the  freight  traffic  may  be  disregarded  a  rate,  of  1 J  ins.  per  degree,  up  to  a 
maximum  of  6  ins.,  is  quite  frequently  employed:  rates  of  1J  to  2  ins., 
and  even  2J  ins.,  per  degree,  up  to  a  maximum  of  7  or  8  ins.,  are  also  in 
use,  but  not  so  frequently. 

The  rules  for  usual  conditions  on  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  R,  R,,  whereon  two  of  the  four  tracks  are  given  to  passenger  traffic 
exclusively,  are  as  follows :  For  main  passenger  tracks  curves  of  less  than 
1  deg.  are  elevated  at  the  rate  of  2  ins.  per  degree,  and  curves  of  1  deg. 
and  over  are  elevated  1  in.  per  degree,  plus  li  ins.;  main  freight  tracks, 
f  in.  per  degree ;  combination  tracks  1  in.  per  degree.  The  ..maximum 
elevation  is  6J  ins.  On  some  other  roads  .the  rate  of  elevation  for  passen- 


264  CURVES 

ger  train  speed  is  1  in.  per  degree,  plus  1  in.  This  use  of  a  constant  addi- 
tional to  a  uniform  rate  per  degree  gives  a  relatively  high  elevation  for 
-curves  of  the  smaller  degrees,  which  seems  to  be  a  principle  extensively 
followed.  In  a  larger  number  of  instances,  however,  this  result  seems 
to  be  attained  by  the  addition  of  a  variable  which  decreases  with  the 
curvature;  as,  for  instance,  the  rule  may  be  to  elevate  1  in.  per  degree, 
adding  1  in.  for  a  1-deg.  curve,  J  in.  for  a  2-deg.  curve,  J  in.  for  a  3-deg. 
curve,  f  in.  for  a  4-deg.  curve,  and  so  on,  the  elevation  for  1,  2,  3  and  4- 
deg.  curves  then  being  2  ins.,  2f-  ins->  3 j  ins.  and  4f  ins.,  respectively.  The 
justification  for  this  practice  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  fastest  speeds  on 
curves  are  made  on  the  curves  of  small  degree,  and  the  elevation  for  these 
curves,  though  relatively  high  for  the  curvature,  is  still  not  high  enough 
to  be  objectionable  to  the  freight  trains.  The  Philadelphia  &  Eeading  Ry. 
makes  use  of  a  rule  derived  with  the  idea  of  maintaining  the  proper  rela- 
tion between  curvature  and  speed,  by  which  the  superelevation  is  taken 
as  the  middle  ordinate  of  a  chord  equal  in  length  to  the  distance  run  by 
the  express  trains  in  one  second.  The  maximum  elevation  is  fixed  at  8  ins. 
The  foregoing  rules  show  that  under  usual  conditions  in  general 
practice  there  is  a  compromise  of  the  requirements  of  slow-speed  freight 
trains  and  of  the  speed  of  fast  passenger  trains.  It  is  important  also  to 
note  several  of  the  widely  prevailing  abnormal  conditions  under  which 
general  rules  are  not  followed.  On  curves  at  stations  where  all  trains 
stop  there  is  no  necessity  for  elevating  the  outer  rail,  and  in  usual  prac- 
tice it  is  elevated  but  little  or  not  at  all.  On  sharp  curves  in  front  of 
stations  where  some  of  the  trains  do  not  stop  it  is  better  to  slacken  speed 
than  to  place  full  elevation  in  the  curve,  because  the  inward  tilting  of  the 
cars  which  stop  on  such  a  curve  fully  elevated  is  an  inconvenience  to  pas- 
sengers getting  on  or  off,  and  when  the  platforms  are  slippery  from  rain 
or  snow  the  footing  is  very  insecure  and  passengers  are  in  much  danger 
of  injury  from  falling.  Also  in  the  vicinity  of  stations,  water  tanks,  un- 
protected grade  crossings,  draw  bridges,  etc.,  where  stops  are  made  or  speed 
habitually  reduced,  the  elevation  of  the  curves  is  governed  accordingly.  In 
some  cases  where  turnouts  occur  on  curves  the  ordinary  rules  for  eleva- 
tion are  not  followed,  the  speed  of  trains  being  reduced  at  such  places.  At 
a  crossing  on  curved  track  it  is  not  practicable  to  elevate  the  curve  at  the 
crossing,  and  speed  should  be  reduced. 

Local  conditions  of  grade  also  govern  the  matter  of  curve  elevation 
to  a  considerable  extent.  Thus,  for  example,  the  elevation  of  curves  on 
summits'  is  usually  less,  and  that  of  curves  in  the  hollows  usually  more, 
than  the  customary  elevation  in  vogue"  for  curves  of  the  same  degree  on 
level  road.  Where  heavy  grades  occur  on  double  track  the  conditions  of 
speed  in  the  two  directions  are  so  essentially  different  that  the  require- 
ments of  curve  elevation  are  not  the  same  for  both  tracks — the  curves  on 
the  up-grade  track  are  necessarily  elevated  for  a  much  slower  speed  than 
are  the  curves  on  the  down-grade  track.  Where  long,  heavy  grades  occur 
on  single  track  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  elevate  the  curves  satisfac- 
torily for  the  ascending  and  descending  trains,  the  usual  speeds  of  which 
may  differ  as  widely  as  10  or  15  m.  p.  h.  up  hill  and  50  or  60  m.  p.  h. 
down  hill.  This  is  only  going  a  longer  way  around  to  say  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  elevate  a  curve  satisfactorily  for  more  than  one  speed.  On  single- 
track  mountain  roads  it  is  customary  to  reduce  both  the  rate  of  curve 
elevation  and  the  maximum  elevation.  As  an  illustration  of  this  practice, 
the  standard  rule  of  the  Southern  Pacific  road  for  main  line,  except  on 
mountain  divisions  having  grades  over  1.8  per  cent,  is  to  elevate  the 
curves  1  in.  per  degree,  up  to  a  maximum  of  6  ins.  The  rule  for  all 


CURVE  ELEVATION  26f> 

mountain  divisions  having  grades  exceeding  1.8  per  cent  (as  also  for  all 
branch  lines)  is  to  elevate  the  curves  at  the  rate  of  J  in.  per  degree,  up  to 
.a  maximum  of  5  ins.  On  other  single-track  roads  where  long,  heavy 
grades  prevail  a  rate  of  curve  elevation  as  small  as  -J  or  f  in.  per  degree, 
with  maximum  elevation  as  low  as  3  or  4  ins.,  is  extensively  used. 

Curves  in  yards  and  sidings,  on  which  speed  is  necessarily  slow,  are, 
as  a  rule,  not  elevated  at  all.  Where  a  considerable  speed  is  liable  to  be 
made  on  such  tracks,  however,  a  reduced  rate  of  elevation  is  quite  fre- 
quently applied,  as,  for  instance,  rates  of  -J  in.  per  degree  to  half  the  rate 
I'or  main  line,  stopping  at  2  ins.,  which  seems  to  be  the  maximum  eleva- 
tion most  commonly  applied  to  side-track. 

Concerning  maximum  curve  elevation  for  main  tracks  the  majority  of 
roads,  including  roads  which  run  fast  express  trains,  place  the  limit  at  6  ins. 
An  important  matter  which  has  a  bearing  upon  this  question  is  the  limita- 
tion of  speed  in  relation  to  curvature.  There  is  a  decided  and  widely  prevail- 
ing belief  on  the  part  of  maintenance-of-way  engineers,  well  supported  by  ex- 
perience, that  at  limits  of  curvature  quite  closely  agreed  upon  the  speed  of 
the  fast  trains  should  be  restricted.  Coming  to  actual  figures  the  preponder- 
ance of  opinion  among  maintenance  of  way  men  agrees  that  speed  as  high  as 
60  m.  p.  h.  should  not  be  made  on  curves  sharper  than  4  deg.  There  are  more 
who  place  the  limit  lower  than  4  deg.  than  there  are  who  place  it  higher, 
and  but  few,  if  any,  place  it  above  6  deg.  The  basis  of  this  opinion  rests 
in  the  fact  that  the  speed  conditions  of  mixed  traffic  do  not  permit  the 
ideal  elevation  of  any  but  curves  of  small  degree  to  be  practiced.  Assum- 
ing maximum  elevation  at  6,  or  even  8  ins.,  any  of  the  customary  rules 
foi  the  fastest  traffic  cannot  be  followed  beyond  a  limit  of  curvature  which 
Is  comparatively  low.  It  is  also  taken  into  consideration  that  the  liability 
of  cars  to  derailment  from  the  binding  of  side  bearings,  from  broken  wheel 
flanges  or  other -defects  of  the  rolling  stock  increases  with  the  speed. and 
curvature,  so  that,  as  between  the  question  of  exceeding  the  most  generally 
accepted  maximum  elevation,  in  deference  to  sustained  speed,  and  that  of 
reducing  the  speed,  the  latter  course  is  the  safer.  A  rule  covering  the  case 
which  seems  to  meet  with  approval  is  to  establish  a  maximum  elevation 
for  speed  of  60  m.  p.  h.  on  a  4-deg.  curve,  say  5  or  6  ins.  The  speed  for 
4-deg.  curves  is  then  limited  to  60  m.  p.  h.  and  reduced  5  m.  p.  h.  for  each 
degree  above  4  deg. ;  i.  e.,  the  speed  for  6-deg.  curves  is  limited  to  50 
in.  p.  h.,  for  8-deg.  curves  to  40  m.  p.  h.,  for  10-deg.  curves  to  30  m.  p.  h.  and 
so  on. 

The  consequence  of  insufficient  elevation  for  the  speed  is  unpleasant 
riding  due  to  the  outward  tilting  of  the  car  body,  but  on  sharp  curves  the 
lilting  of  the  car  floor  to  the  level  position  when  running  at  the  highest 
speed  is  not  considered  objectionable.  On  the  other  hand  the  ill  effects  from 
heavy  slow-speed  freight  trains  on  sharp  curves  fully  elevated  for  fast 
passenger  traffic  are  widely  observed.  The  objectionable  effects  commonly 
referred  to  are  excessive  wear  to  the  inner  rail,  canting  of  the  inner  rail, 
abnormal  cutting  of  the  ties  under  the  inner  rail,  the  tendency  of  the 
track  to  constantly  increase  its  elevation,  owing  to  the  disproportion  of 
weight  bearing  upon  the  inner  rail;  displacement  of  the  track  in  line  and 
surface;  tendency  to  derailment,  particularly  at  bad  joints,  owing  to  the 
tilting  of  the  car  body  toward  the  inside  of  the  curve,  which  relieves  the 
outer  wheels  of  an  undue  share  of  the  load;  tendency  of  top-heavy  cars 
to  capsize:  and  increased  train  resistance.  The  tendency  of  the  inner  rail 
to  cut  the  ties  and  cant  under  excessive  elevation  for  slow-speed  trains 
Is  quite  marked,  and  conditions  of  this  kind  sometimes  require  the  use 


266  CURVES 

of  tie  plates  where  they  would  not  be  needed  if  the  case  was  otherwise^ 
Thus,  on  the  Philadelphia  &  Beading  By.,  where  the  maximum  elevation 
is  8  ins.,,  the  use  of  "heavy"  tie  plates  is  necessary  to  overcome  the  tend- 
ency of  the  inner  rail  to  cant  under  the  slow-speed  trains,  but  according 
to  official  report  tie  plates  are  not  found  to  be  necessary  under  the  outer 
rail. 

Where  the  roadbed  is  not  sloped  for  the  elevation  it  is  well,  when  put- 
ting  up  the  track  for  the  first  time,  to  allow  ^  in.  for  the  greater  settlemen  t 
of  the  high  side  of  the  curve. 

Running  Out  the  Elevation. — Concerning  the  manner  in  which  the 
elevation  should  be  run  out  at  the  ends  of  simple  curves  there  is  some 
difference  of  opinion,  but  in  the  largest  practice  full  elevation  is  given  at 
the  points  of  curve  and  the  run-off  is  made  wholly  on  tangent.  It  is 
the  practice  to  some  extent,  however,  to  make  half  or  two  thirds  of  the 
run-off  on  tangent  and  the  remainder  on  the  curve,  and  good  results  are* 
claimed.  The  philosophy  of  this  practice  is  that  in  approaching  a  curve 
the  car  begins  to  tilt  toward  the  inside  as  soon  as  it  strikes  the  elevated 
rail  and  continues  to  do  so  until  after  it  passes  into  the  curve;  and  that 
this  momentum  in  a  lateral  direction  counteracts  the  centrifugal  force 
which  develops  upon  striking  the  curve,  even  if  there  be  less  than  full 
elevation  at  the  point  where  the  curve  begins;  and  that  before  the  centri- 
fugal force  can  so  far  overcome  the  tilting  motion  as  to  produce  an 
effect  upon  the  car  body  the  car  will  have  reached  the  point  of  full  elev- 
ation, where  the  two  forces  are  supposed  to  come  to  a  balance. 

The  rate  of  running  out  the  elevation  is  another  point  on  which  men 
of  experience  differ,  but  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  in  practice  the 
length  of  the  run-off  is  30  to  60  ft.  per  inch  of  elevation,  the  preference 
seeming  to  lie  with  the  50-ft.  and  60-ft.  rates.  As  time  is  an  element 
in  the  tilting  of  the  car  body  to  the  inclination  of  the  track  it  seems  rea- 
sonable that  the  length  of  the  run-off  should  bear  some  relation  to  the 
speed,  while,  on  the  principle  that  the  car  should  not  be  tilted  for  an 
unnecessary  distance  or  'period  of  time  before  the  centrifugal  force  begins 
to  act  upon  it,  the  run-off  should  be  as  short  as  may  be  without  being 
abrupt.  The  condition  which  would  seem  to  govern  in  this  respect  is  the 
distance  between  the  trucks  of  the  passenger  cars,  as  oi/e  truck  should  not 
be  tilted  so  much  in  advance  of  the  other  that  the  car  body  cannot  readily 
adjust  itself  to  the  different  inclinations  of  the  two.  As  the  distance,  cen- 
ter to  center,  of  trucks  on  passenger  coaches  and  sleepers  is  40  to  55  ft. 
(on  standard  sleepers  it  is  54J  ft.)  it  would  seem  that  a  run-off  as  rapid 
as  40  ft.  per  inch  of  elevation,  which  would  permit  a  difference  of  only 
1  to  H  ins.  of  elevation  at  the  two  points  at  which  the  car  is  supporter^ 
should  not  be  objectionable.  In  my  own  experience  I  have  found  this  rate- 
satisfactory  for  fast  trains.  On  the  other  hand  the  practice  of  running 
the  elevation  out  a  long  distance  on  the  tangent  presents  an  unsightly 
appearance  and  subjects  the  cars  to  tilting  for  an  unnecessary  period  of 
time.  On  a  few  roads  the  length  of  the  run-off  is  the  same  for  all  curves, 
of  whatever  elevation.  One  of  these  roads  is  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa 
Fe  By.,  in  which  case  the  length  of  run-off  is  fixed  at  120  ft.  On  the  New- 
York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  the  rate  of  run-off  for  elevation  of  3 
ins.  and  under  is  120  ft.  per  inch,  but  for  elevation  exceeding  3  ins.  the 
length  of  the  run-off  is  fixed  at  360  ft.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some  careful 
observers  of  train  movements  on  curves  that  on  double  track  the  run-off 
for  the  elevation  at  the  entrance  to  a  curve  should  be  longer  than  at  the 
leaving  end. 


CURVE  ELEVATION  267  ' 

Any  arrangement  for  running  out  elevation  on  tangent  is  not  entirely 
satisfactory.  Straight  track  out  of  level  on  the  approach  to  a  curve  is 
just  as  objectionable  as  anywhere  else.  To  test  the  truth  of  this  proposi- 
tion let  the  reader  run  around  a  corner  and  attempt  to  lean  inward  before 
beginning  to  make  the  turn.  The  unbalanced  state  of  the  runner  in  that 
case  is  the  condition  of  a  car  which  careens  before  the  trucks  are  skewed, 
upon  entering  a  curve,  and  remains  careened  after  the  trucks  have  straight- 
ened, upon  leaving  the  curve,  as  must  happen  where  the  run-off  is  made 
on  tangent.  This  careening  of  the  car  before  it  enters  the  curve  causes 
the  wheel  flanges  to  seek  the  lower  rail  and  the  journal  bearings  to  take 
up  their  lateral  play  by  sliding  over  in  the  same  direction,  the  result  being 
that  the  wheel  flanges  do  not  meet  the  outer  rail  until  they  are  some  dis- 
tance into  the  curve,  where  they,  at  about  the  same  time  as  the  journal 
bearings,  are  liable  to  bring  up  suddenly  with  a  shock.  A  more  desirable 
arrangement  is  to  have  the  wheel  flanges  crowding  the  outer  rail  when  they 
enter  the  curve,  and  one  way  in  which  this  is  accomplished  is  to  com- 
pound the  curve  at  each  end  with  a  piece  of  easy  curve,  usually  -J  deg.^ 
just  long  enough  to  make  the  run-off.  In  this  way  the  wheels  can  leave 
the  tangent  on  level  track  and  strike  the  curve,  that  is  the  main  part  of 
the  curve,  at  full  elevation,  the  flanges  steadily  crowding  the  outer  rail 
all  the  while  the  full  elevation  is  being  attained.  This  is  the  most  satis- 
factory way  of  running  out  the  elevation  of  a  simple  curve.'  Of  course 
the  curve  is  in  principle  compound,  but  for  the  reason  that  the  compound- 
ing is  done  primarily  for  convenience  in  arranging  the  run-off  of  the 
elevation,  rather  than  for  advantages  in  respect  of  curvature,  the  arrange- 
ment is  not  usually  classified  with  compound  curves.  As  the  arrangement 
does  not  effect  a  gradual  change  of  curvature  it  does  not  come  within  the 
meaning  of  what  is  ordinarily  understood  as  an  easement  curve.  For  con- 
venience of  designation  it  might  be  called  a  "run-off"  curve. 

While  fairly  good  results  are  obtained  by  the  foregoing  method  of 
running  out  the  elevation  there  still  exists  the  undesirable  feature  that 
the  largest  portion  of  the  run-off  has  an  elevation  not  suited  to  the  curva- 
ture, being  far  too  much.  The  complaint  is  that  this  unfavorable  condi- 
tion gives  rise  to  a  centripetal  force  tending  to  hold  the  body  of  the  car 
inward  until  it  reaches  the  main  portion  of  the  curve,  when  the  unbalanced 
centripetal  force  is  suddenly  changed  to  one  that  is  centrifugal,  with 
obvious  consequences.  The  ideal  method  is  to  begin  the  change  of  direc- 
tion with  an  easy  curve  having  no  elevation  and  develop  the  curvature 
gradually,  or  by  a  uniform  rate  of  increase,  to  the  point  of  full  elevation, 
thus  permitting  the  run-off  at  any  point  to  be  elevated  to  suit  the  degree' 
of  curve  or  radius  at  that  point.  This  requires  that  the  curve  shall  begin 
with  radius  infinity,  or  very  long,  and  that  the  length  of  radius  shall 
decrease  gradually  until  the  full  degree  of  curve  is  reached.  Such  re- 
quirement is  met  by  easement  or  transition  curves,  which  are  treated  fur- 
ther along.  In  fact  the  only  method  of  running  out  curve  elevation  that 
is  entirely  satisfactory  is  in  connection  with  the  use  of  easement  or  spiral 
curves,  by  which  it  is  feasible  to  elevate  with  the  curvature  and  maintain 
tangents  level  transversely  their  whole  length.  Wherever  fast  speed  as- 
sumes importance  practice  is  rapidly  changing  in  the  direction  of  spiraling 
the  ends  of  the  curves. 

For  a  more  detailed  treatment  of  all  the  foregoing  features  of  curve 
elevation,  based  upon  an  investigation  of  the  practice  of  a  large  number 
of  roads,  the  reader  is  referred  to  a  paper  by  the  writer  included  in  the  com- 
mittee report  on  "Track,"  presented  before  the  American  Eailway  Engi- 
neering and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association,  at  the  annual  meeting  in  1901. 


268  CURVES 

Method  of  Elevating  with  Reference  to  the  Grade  Line. — Regarding 
the  question  as  to  whether  the  elevation  should  be  made  by  placing  the 
inner  rail  at  the  normal  grade  for  top  of  rail  and  raising  the  outer  rail 
the  necessary  amount,  or  by  placing  the  outer  rail  at  grade  and  depressing 
ihe  inner  rail,  or  making  half  of  it  superelevation,  in  the  outer  rail,  and 
the  other  half  depression  in  the  inner  rail,  it  may  be  said  that,  as  far 
.as  the  running  of  trains  is  concerned,  it  does  not  matter;  but  for  other 
considerations  the  best  practice  is  *to  place  all  the  elevation  in  the  outer 
rail,  leaving  the  inner  rail  at  grade.  Where  there  is  a  ditch  at  the  curve  one 
can  readily  see  how  this  method  of  elevating  will  allow  the  same  effective 
depth  of  ditch  with  less  excavation  than  with  either  of  the  other  two 
methods;  and  this  advantage  is  all  the  more  important  if  the  ditch  be 
•continuous  beyond  the  curve,  out  along  an  adjoining  tangent.  The  prac- 
tice of  placing  the  outer  rail  above  grade  and  the  inner  rail  below  it  ren- 
ders the  surfacing  of  old  track  near  'the  points  of  curves  less  satisfactory 
than  is  the  case  where  one  rail  is  placed  at  grade;  because  where  grade 
stakes  are  lost — as  they  usually  are  on  old  track — it  might  be  somewhat  dif- 
ficult to  place  either  rail  at  point  of  curve  to  its  proper  hight ;  but  it  is  al- 
ways an  easy  matter  to  run  either  rail  in  at  grade,  because  one  has  for  refer- 
ence the  general  surface  of  the  adjoining  rails  on  the  tangent.  It  therefore 
simplifies  the  track  work  to  either  elevate  the  outer  rail  or  depress  the 
inner  rail  the  whole  amount  of  the  required  elevation.  The  term  "depres- 
sion," as  used  in  the  present  connection,  refers  only  to  the  position  of  the 
inner  rail  with  reference  to  the  grade  line  and  does  not  necessarily  imply 
that  the  inner  rail  is  brought  to  position  by  lowering  or  cutting  down  the 
ballast  or  roadbed.  As  curve  elevation  is  arranged  when  the  track  is  bal- 
lasted it  is  usually  the  case  that  this  rail  must  be  raised  some  elistance, 
the  same  as  the  outer  rail. 

There  are  three  ways  of  elevating  curves  on  double  track  with  refer- 
ence to  the  grade  line.  The  most  common  of  these,  known  as  the  "saw- 
tooth" method,  is  to  have  corresponding  rails  of  each  track  on  the  same 
level.  By  this  method  the  inner  rail  of  the  outer  track  necessarily  comes 
in  a  depression,  and  drain  boxes  across  one  of  the  tracks  are  required  at 
intervals  to  prevent  the  collection  of  water  around  that  rail  when  a  thaw 
occurs  or  when  rain  falls  upon  frozen  ballast.  The  "step"  method  is  that 
whereby  the  outer  rail  of  the  inside  track  and  the  inner  rail  of  the  outside 
track  are  placed  at  the  same  level  (usually  at  grade),  the  elevation  of  the 
tracks  then  being  arranged  by  raising  the  outer  rail  of  the  outside  track 
and  depressing  the  inner  rail  of  the  inside  track.  By  the  "plane"  method 
the  tops  of  all  the  rails  of  both  or  all  tracks  are  placed  on  the  same  plane, 
so  that  there  is  an  unbroken  slope  across  both  or  all  tracks.  This  is  the 
best  arrangement  for  draining  the  ballast  and  the  one  most  favorable  for 
laying  a  crossover,  where  such  is  unavoidable  on  the  curve.  A  crossover 
is  impracticable  on  tracks  elevated  by  the  "saw-tooth"  method  and  it  is 
not  satisfactory  if  laid  on  tracks  elevated  by  the  "step"  method.  The 
"step"  arrangement  permits  drainage  without  cross  drains  and  for  double 
track  it  is.  perhaps  the  preferable  one.  The  objection  to  the  "plane" 
method  is  that  it  requires  the  raising  of  the  grade  of  the  outer  track  or 
tracks,  which  must  then  be  run  off  at  the  ends  of  the  curve.  On  three  and 
four-track  roads  the  change  of  the  grade  at  the  ends  of  the  curves  in  the 
outer  tracks,  required  by  this  method,  is  considerable.  This  is  the  method 
of  elevation  adopted  on  the  double,  three  and  four- track  lines  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania E.  R.  The  standard  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  and  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  River  roads  is  the  "saw-tooth"  method,  and  on  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.  the  "step"  method  is  standard.  The  New 


REVERSE   CURVES 

England  Eoadmasters7   Association,   at  its  convention  in   1897,  voted  in 
favor  of  the  "step"  method. 

»  46.  Reverse  Curves. — A  reverse  curve  is  one  formed  by  two  curves 
turning  in  opposite  directions  and  meeting  tangent  to  each  other.  Two- 
curves  turning  in  opposite  directions  but  having  a  piece  of  tangent  between 
them  do  not  constitute  a  reverse  curve,  although  they  are  sometimes  errone- 
ously called  such,  lie  Verse  curves  are  undesirable,  but  must  sometimes  be 
located.  Speed  should  be  reduced  at  such  curves,  because  at  the  instant 
the  car  is  leaving  one  curve  and  entering  the  other  centrifugal  forces  are 
acting  in  opposite  directions  on  its  two  ends  at  the  same  time. 

Elevation  cannot  be  put  in  at  the  P.  E.  C.  satisfactorily,  because  it 
is  a  point  of  curve  for  both  curves.  At  the  point  of  reverse  curve  the 
track  should  be  level  transversely,  and  the  elevation  run  in  both  ways  at 
the  ordinary  rate.  If  there  is  a  short  piece  of  tangent  between  two  curves 
turning  in  opposite  directions,  and  the  piece  is  not  long  enough  to  allow 
for  running  out  all  the  elevation  from  both  curves,  the  full  /  elevation 
should  not  be  put  in  at  the  P.  C.  of  either;  but  from  a  point  between  the 
two,  distant  from  each  in  proportion  to  the  elevation  of  each  curve,  run  in 
the  elevation  of  each  at  the  ordinary  rate  until  the  full'  elevation  is 
reached  somewhere  on  the  curve.  This  flattens  out,  as  it  were,  the  ends 
of  the  two  curves,  but  it  is  better  practice  than  to  run  out  the  elevation 
too  suddenly.  A  piece  of  tangent  between  curves  of  contrary  flexure,  how- 
ever short,  is  a  good  thing,  for  the  opposite  centrifugal  tendencies  of  the 
cars  at  the  point  of  reversal  of  a  reverse  curve  is  hard  on  draft  gear. 

47.  Compound  Curves. — A  compound  curve  is  formed  where  two  01 
more  circular  curves,  having  radii  of  different  lengths  and  turning  in  the 
same  direction,  meet  tangent  to  each  or  one  another  in  succession.     The 
points  of  tangency  are  known  as  points  of  compound  curve  (P.  C.  C.).     At 
such  points  the  curve  of  shorter  radius  is  usually  given  its  full  elevation 
and  the  excess  gradually  run  out  over  the  curve  of  longer  radius,  at  the 
usual,  rate.     On  some  roads,  however,  the  run-off  due  to  the  change  in  ele- 
vation is  distributed  half  on  each  section  of  the  curve.     The  rule  of  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  for  running  out  the  elevation  between 
two  curves,  on  a  tangent  which  is  too  short  to  provide  the  usual  length 
of  run-off  for  both,  is  to  divide  the  tangent  into  two  parts  in  proportion  to 
the  degree  of  the  curves  which  it  connects  (the  longer  part  being  next  the' 
curve  of  greater  degree)   and  then  make  90  ft.  of  the  tangent  "at  the 
dividing  point"  level.    From  this  piece  of  level  track  the  length  of  run-off 
in  each  direction  is  120  ft.,  using  so  much  of  the  curve  as  is  necessary  for 
the  purpose. 

48.  Curve  Monuments.- — A  valuable  aid  in  maintaining  curves  to 
good  alignment  is  the  ability  to  find  points  on  the  center  line  when  wanted. 
While  an  experienced  trackman  in  lining  curves  by  the  eye  can  keep  them 
smooth,  no  man  can  keep  a  long  curve  uniform  without  reference  points.    A 
portion  of  the  curve  may  get  out  of  line  slightly,  and  in  lining  it  some 
other  part  may  be  thrown  so  as  to  conform  to  the  portion  out  of  line,  per- 
chance, instead  of  throwing  the  portion  which  is  out  of  line  back  to  place. 
In  this  way,  after  some  years,  it  will  usually  be  found  that  the  curve  has 
departed  from  the  original  center  stakes,  to  one  side  or  the  other,  and,  even 
if  by  but  long  and  gentle  "swings",  still  the  curvature  cannot  be  uniform ; 
some  portions  will  be  too  sharp,  others  will  not  be  sharp  enough.     At  no- 
place in  the  curve  is  this  departure  so  noticeable  and  troublesome  as  at  the 
point  of  curve.     The  "heavy  .shock,"  so  called,  experienced  or  felt  when 
entering  or  leaving  a  circular  curve,  is  often  due  to  a  failure  to  keep  the  P. 
C.  or  P.  T.  where  it  should  be,  and  the  ends  of  the  curve  in  proper  align- 


270  CURVES 

ment.  Moreover,  all  foremen  do  not  understand  that  a  simple  circular 
curve  cannot  be  eased  off  at  the  end  without  introducing  at  the  curve  end 
of  the  eased  portion  a  longer  or  shorter  piece  of  greater  degree  than  the 
original  curve,  unless  the  whole  curve  be  thrown  in.  Hence,  when  the  end 
of  the  curve  gets  out  of  line,  some  foremen  will  attempt  to  throw  two  or 
three  rails  near  the  end  in  such  a  manner  as  to  run  the  curve  farther  out 
from  the  old  P.  0.,  with  a  view  to  easing  it  off.  This  practice  almost  always 
results  in  a  ecba,d  job"  affair,  and  the  consequence  generally  is  that  the  curve 
is  nevgr  again  got  into  good  alignment  without  a  new  setting  of  stakes. 

At  the  two  ends,  at  least,  of  every  simple  curve,  some  monument  of 
durable  material  should  be  set  to  mark  the  points.  The  expense  of  such 
provision  will  in  the  end  be  less  than  the  cost  of  sending  surveyors  occa- 
sionally to  find  the  points.  It  is  also  a  good  plan  to  have  monuments  every 
50  ft.  around  the  curve.  On  single  track  the  monuments  at  the  ends  of 
curves  are  sometimes  set  on  the  center  line,  but  usually  a  standard  distance 
outside,  say  7  or  8  ft.  from  the  center;  on  double  track  monuments  should 
be  midway  between  track  centers.  The  monument  is  often  so  placed  that 
its  top  is  made  the  grade  for  either  the  top  or  the  base  of  the  rail — better 
the  base,  as  then  it  is  lower  and  more  out  of  the  way.  Stone  posts  cut 
square,  about  3  ft.  long,  are  extensively  used  and  answer  well  for  curve 
monuments.  A  cross  is  usually  cut  on  top,  extending  from  the  four  corners, 
to  mark  the  center;  or  a  drilled  hole  filled  with  melted  brass  or  lead  is 
sometimes  used.  The  standard  curve  monuments  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lines 
West  are  iron  pins  2  ins.  in  diam.  and  4  ft.  long,  and  dressed  stone  posts 
6  ins.  square  on  top  and  3  ft.  long.  The  stone  posts  are  always  used  in  slag 
ballast. 

Short  pieces  of  rail  are  also  extensively  utilized  for  curve  monuments, 
and,  considering  that  such  short  pieces  accumulate  rapidly  and  can  other- 
wise be  used  only  for  scrap,  they  may  be  cheaper  than  stone.  To  make 
a  rail  monument  more  secure  against  disturbance  or  against  being  pulled  up, 
the  bottom  end  may  be  split  along  the  web  and  the  two  parts  bent  out  to 
form  a  "T",  or  an  old  splice  bar  may  be  bent  at  a  right  angle  and  bolted 
to  the  bottom  of  the  piece  of  rail.  In  roadbed  which  is  subject  to  heaving 
the  monument  should  be  set  in  cinders  extending  below  the  frost  line.  If 
the  monument  is  a  piece  of  rail  which  is  also  used  to  mark  the  grade,  it 
should  be  stood  on  a  flat  rock  in  the  bottom  of  the  hole  when  it  is  set. 
Stone  monuments  placed  at  points  where  the  curvature  changes  are  usually 
smoothly  faced,  so  that  a  record  of  the  station  number  and  degree  of  curve 
can  be  cut  thereon.  Monuments  at  other  points  on  the  curve,  as  at  points 
50  ft.  apart,  answer  fully  as  well  if  only  roughly  cut  or  perhaps  not 
squared  or  cut  at  all,  and  on  single  track  they  should  preferably  be  set 
along  the  inside  of  the  curve,  just  outside  the  ends  of  the  ties, — say  about  5 
ft.  from  the  center  of  the  track — a  few  inches  lower  than  the  bottoms  of 
the  ties,  covered  up  in  the  ballast.  Being  set  a  known  distance  apart  they 
may  be  easily  located  and  quickly  uncovered  when  wanted.  Pieces  of  rail 
or  large  stones  of  any  shape,  buried  up  and  permitted  to  settle  before  the 
reference  point  is  marked,  are  good  enough  for  this  purpose. 

Compound  curves  should  by  all  means  be  monumented  at  the  P.  C.  C/s 
and  for  some  distance  each  way  therefrom,  if  not  all  the  way  around  the 
•curve,  so  that  at  all  times  reference  to  the  centers  may  be  available.  Tran- 
sition or  spiral  curves  are  usually  marked  at  both  ends ;  that  is  at  the  point 
of  spiral  (P.  S.)  ;  or  the  point  where  the  spiral  joins  the  tangent,  and 
at  the  point  of  curve  (P.  C.)  or  point  where  the  spiral  joins  the  circular 
<iurve.  Spirals  should  also  be  monumented  for  points  on  center  not  farther 
apart  than  30  ft.  The  only  way  to  maintain  such  curves  in  proper  align- 


KAIL  BRACES  271 

incut  is  to  have  permanently  established  references  to  points  on  the  center 
line.  Without  these  references  the  section  foremen  cannot  keep  the  spiral 
to  its  place  as  well  as  they  can  a  circular  curve  without  permanent  refer- 
ence points,  and  a  spiral  curve  badly  out  of  line  affords  no  easement,  so  far 
as  the  curvature  is  concerned. 

49.  Rail  Braces. — Eail  braces,  where  needed,  can  render  good  service. 
There  is  usually  more  need  of  rail  braces  just  a  few  years  after  track  has 
been  laid  than  there  is  with  older  track,  for  the  reason  that  for  the  first 
few  years  after  track  is  built  the  ties  decay  more  nearly  all  at  the  same 
time.  When  double  spiking  on  the  outside  will  not  hold,  rail  braces  or  tie 
plates  must  be  used.  They  need  not  be  applied,  however,  until  the  track  be- 
gins to  show  signs  of  trouble  from  spreading.  About  five  braces  to  the 
30-ft.  rail,  on  the  outside,  will  usually*  be  found  sufficient  for  curves  as 
sharp  as  4  or  5  deg.  On  curves  of  8  or  10  deg.  and  sharper,  where  braces 
are  needed,  it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  use  them  on  every  other 
tie,  or  eight  or  nine  braces  to  the  30-ft.  rail.  These  statements  apply  only 
in  a  general  way,  for  the  number  of  braces  needed  in  any  case  necessarily 
depends  a  good  deal  upon  the  hardness  of  the  ties.  On  hardwood  ties  braces 
are  not  usually  needed  unless  the  curvature  is  very  sharp  or  the  traffic 
heavy,  while  curves  laid  with  softwood  ties  may  need  bracing  for  even 
moderate  conditions  of  curvature  and  traffic. 

Although  the  inside  rail  of  curves  is  subject  to  spreading  it  is  seldom, 
if  ever,  necessary  to  brace  it.  The  most  frequent  cause  of  the  spreading  of 
this  rail  is  that  the  gage  of  the  curve  is  too  narrow  for  the  locomotives 
running  over  it.  Undoubtedly  some  have  noticed  the  inside  rail  spread 
slightly  and  then  no  farther,  even  though  no  attention  was  paid  to  bringing 
it  back  to  proper  place.  The  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  is  simply  that 
the  locomotives  made  room  for  themselves.  The  inside  rail  may  also  spread 
slightly  under  the  friction  of  the  lateral  sliding  of  the  wheels,  but  not  to  do 
harm.  In  my  own  experience  I  have  never  seen  an  instance,  where  the  gage 
was  properly  adjusted,  that  double  spiking  of  the  spread  rails  on  the  inner 
side  of  a  curve  failed  to  hold.  A  strange  doctrine  which  has  frequently 
been  advanced  to  account  for  the  spreading  of  the  inner  rail  of  curves  is 
that  the  flange  pressure  against  the  outer  rail  pulls  the  ties  through  on  their 
beds,  the  inner  rail  in  some  unaccountable  manner  holding  fast  and  causing 
the  spikes  to  be  crowded  out  of  place.  When  it  is  considered  that  each  pair 
of  wheels  is  tied  together  by  the  axle  and  that  the  rails  are  tied  together 
by  the  ties,  it  would  seem  that  any  lateral  action  of  the  outer  wheel  should 
pull  the  inner  wheel  over  with  it  and  that  any  movement  of  the  tie  resulting 
from  such  action  should  bring  the  inner  rail  along.  To  any  question,  then, 
as  to  whether  the  lateral  pressure  of  the  wheels  against  the  outer  rail  will 
pull  the  ties  from  under  the  inner  rail,  one  may  at  least,  venture  the 
proverbial  argument  of  the  old  colored  gentleman,  that  "such  a  case  must 
be  very  rare."'  Those  who  think  it  necessary  to  brace  both  rails  usually 
place  the  braces  in  pairs,  opposite  to  each  other,  on  the  same  ties. 

It  should  further  be  said  that  the  use  of  braces  on  the  inner  rail  can- 
iiot  prevent  that  rail  from  canting  if  the  conditions  are  favorable  to  such 
action.  A  rail  brace  is  designed  to  oppose  lateral  pressure,  but  not  the 
vertical  pressure  which  causes  the  rail  to  tilt  and  cut  into  the  tie  at  the 
outer  edge  of  the  base.  WThere  this  tilting  occurs  the  weight  bearing  upon 
the  brace  through  the  rail  head  tips  the  brace  out  of  its  adapted  position, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  54,  loosening  the  spikes  and  readjusting  the  bearing  of 
.the  brace  against  the  rail.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  on  rails  which  cut 
into  the  ties  without  canting  the  effectiveness  of  the  braces,  if  used,  is 
diminished  in  much  the  same  manner.  Where  such  are  the  conditions  the 


£72  CURVES 

costlier  practice  of  using  tie  plates  is  a  more  satisfactory  means  of  pre- 
venting the  spreading  of  the  rails.  Combination  devices  embodying  the- 
features  of  both  the  tie  plate  and  the  rail  brace  are  used  to  some  extent, 
but  experience  with  tie  plates  alone  seems  to  demonstrate  that  they  are 
able  to  take  care  of  canting  rails  as  well  as  to  prevent  the  rails  from  cut- 
ting the  ties ;  and  where  the  rails  cut  the  ties  badly  some  means  of  protec- 
tion should  be  afforded  every  tie. 

It  is  better  economy  to  use  a  few  rail  braces  than  to  have  to  be  pull- 
ing spikes,  plugging  the  holes  and  redriving  the -spikes,  as  such  weakens 
the  tie  and  shortens  its  life.  Frequently,  however,  double  spiking  every 
tie  on  the  outside  of  the  outer  rail  of  the  curve  will  hold  it  without  rail 
braces,  and  it  is  a  much  cheaper  method.  As  already  stated,  double 
spiking  is  always  more  satisfactory  if  done  when  the  track  is  laid.  For- 
merly rail  braces  were  for  the  most  part  made  of  cast  iron,  thick  and  heavy r 
but  late  years  cast  steel  and  pressed  steel  braces  of  lighter  weight  have 
become  standard.  A  pressed  steel  or  cast  steel  brace  is  better  than  one  of 
cast  iron,  since  it.  is  not -broken  by  misdirected  spike-hammer  blows,  and. 
being  thinner,  gives  a  spike  more  leverage  or  purchase  with  which  to  hold. 
It  should  be  made  to  fit  accuratelv  the  rail  section  with  which  it  is  used. 


Fig.  54.  Fig.  55. 

and  it  should  extend  well  up  against  the  rail  head,  but  not  higher  than 
£  in.  below  the  top  of  the  rail  for  which  it  is  designed,  so  as  to  allow  J 
in.  for  wear  of  rail  and  f  in.  for  guttered  tires. 

The  principal  patterns  of  rail  braces  now  in  use  are  shown  by  Figs. 
55  to  GO  inclusive.  Figure  55  is  the  Alkins  forged  steel  brace.  The  flange 
of  the  brace  and  the  top  fish  into  the  rail  like  a  splice  bar,  the  wide  bear- 
ing on  the  rail  base  being  intended  to  hold  the  rail  firmly  to  the  tie,  sc* 
as  to  prevent  up  and  down  motion  in  the  same,  and  also  to  permit  the  first 
two  spike  holes  to  come  close  to  the  rail  base,  where  their  holding-down 
power  is  greatest.  Figure  56  is  the  Elliot  brace,  of  similar  design  in 
some  respects,  but  having  in  addition  a  top  shoulder,  to  fit  against  the 
head  of  the  rail,  and  claws  projecting  from  the  base  like  those  of  a  Goldie 
tie  plate,  to  enter  the  tie  and  afford  lateral  resistance  to  assist  the  spikes. 
Figures  59  and  60  show  two  designs  of  the  Weir  die-formed  steel  braces. 
The  flange  of  this  style  of  brace  is  cut  off  at  the  edge  of  the  rail  base  and 
abuts  squarely  against  the  same.  The  difference  in  the  designs  is  that  the 
one  shown  as  Fig.  59  has  open  spike  slots  in  the  edge  of  the  flange,  while 
that  shown  as  Fig.  60  has  enclosed  spike  holes  through  the  flange  and 
affords  more  bearing  surface  upon  the  tie.  In  another  design  the  side  spike 
holes  are  enclosed,  as  in  Fig.  60,  and  the  place  for  the  rear  spike  is  an 
open  slot  in  the  edge  of  the  flange,  as  in  Fig.  59.  Each  of  the  designs 
is  made  with  metal  of  either  of  two  thicknesses — J  in.  or  Vie  in->  a? 
desired,  the  thicker  brace  being  intended  for  rails  of  heavy  section.  The 
foregoing  pressed  steel  braces  of  the  box  form  are  supposed  to  fit  over  the 
spike  already  in  the  tie  when  the  brace  is  applied,  but  unless  this  spike  hap- 
pens to  be  at  or  near  the  center  of  the  tie  face  (which  is  not  likely  to  be  the 
case)  it  comes  in  the  way  of  the  brace  and  it  must  be  pulled  and  redri vert 


RAIL  BRACES 


273 


Fig.  56. 


Fig.  57. 


Fig.   58. 


before  the  brace  can  be  set.  On  the  Southern  Pacific  road  there  is  in 
service  a  forked  rail  brace  made  to  fit  around  one  spike  set  against  the 
base  of  the  rail.  It  is  made  of  cast  iron  and  is  about  7  ins.  wide. 

Figure  57  shows  the  Ajax  cast  steel  brace,  designed  to  set  over  the 
spike  already  in  the  tie,  as  well  as  over  the  rail  base,  and  fit  against  the 
web  of  the  rail  and  side  of  the  rail  head.  An  excellent  feature  of  this 
brace  is  that  it  can  be  set  without  interfering  with  the  spike  already  in 
the  tie  in  whatever  position.  For  use  on  sharp  curves  this  brace  is 
sometimes  ordered  made  with  a  f-in.  offset  to  overlap  the  ends  of  tie  plates. 
Figure  58  shows  the  Edwards  combination  rail  brace  and  tie  plate. 

As  the  joint  is  the  weakest  place  in  the  rail,  it  is  spread  the  most 
easily;  consequently  there  ought  to  be  a  rail  brace  designed  to  fit  against 
the  splice  bar.  In  event  such  a  design  was  gotten  up  it  would  be  well  to 
have  about  25  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  ordered  to  fit  the  splice  bars, 
as,  if  the  joints  could  be  made  secure,  the  braces  could  in  many  cases  be 
omitted  from  the  quarters.  The  practical  difficulty  in  designing  a  joint 
brace  to  fit  against  the  web  or  vertical  portion  of  the  splice  bar  is  the  pres- 
ence of  the  bolt  heads  or  nuts  and  the  creeping  of  the  rails.  In  view  of 
such  conditions  I  would  recommend  a  brace  bearing  only  against  the  hor- 
izontal leg  of  the  splice  bar.  Such  a  brace  might  consist  of  a  flat  plate 
punched  for  the  spikes  and  flanged  on  the  service  edge  to  take  the  bearing 
of  the  splice  bar.  To  provide  against  undercutting,  through  abrasion  of 
the  tie,  this  flange  should  project  downward  J  or  f  in.  into  the  tie. 

Rails  spread  worst  in  winter,  when  the  ground  is  frozen  and  the  ties 
are  held  rigidly  to  their  work.  This  is  usually  the  busiest  season  of  the 


Fig.  59. 


Fig.  60. 


year  for  regaging  and  bracing  spread  rails  on  curves,  and  when  the  demand 
for  braces  is  urgent  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  some  form  of  device 
must  be  improvised.  Broken  splice  bars  always  come  handy  for  this  ser- 
vice, and,  sometimes,  even  pieces  of  plank  are  used.  In  fact,  a  piece  of 
*3-in.  plank  about  12  ins.  long  and,  say,  4  to  6  ins.  wide,  makes  a  fair 
brace  for  temporary  service.  It  should  be  set  against  the  web  of  the 
rail  and  secured  by  at  least  two  spikes  against  the  end  of  it,  the  hook  of 
the  spike  head  being  driven  to  sink  into  the  block.  Then  to  prevent  the 
block  from  swinging  out  of  place  a  spike  should  be  driven  through  it. 
Good  rail  braces  may  be  made  of  old  fish  plates  by  bending  up  one  end 
so  that  it  will  fit  under  the  rail  head.  There  will  then  be  left  three  holes 
for  spikes,  and  a  fourth  spike  can  be  driven  at  the  end,  if  needed.  In  some 
cases  the  end  of  the  fish  plate  is  bent  over  against  the  web  of  the  rail, 


274  CURVES 

something  after  the  style  of  the  Ajax  brace.  In  setting  rail  braces  all  the 
old  spike  holes  under  the  braces  should  be  plugged. 

In  extremely  bad  cases,  on  very  sharp  curves,  switch  rods  spaced  a 
few  feet  apart  are  employed  to  prevent  spreading  of  the  rails.  A  bridle- 
brace  used  at  one  time  on  the  Stampede  switchback  of  the  Northern  Pa- 
cific Ky.  consisted  of  a  bar  with  the  ends  bent  around  to  clasp  the  flanges 
of  the  two  rails  on  the  outside  only.  They  were  easier  to  apply  than 
switch  rods  and  served  the  purpose  just  as  well. 

50.  Transition  Curves. — Easement,  elastic,  transition,  parabolic,, 
spiral,  and  tapering  curves,  as  they  are  variously  called,  all  signify  the 
same  thing — the  gradual  easing  off  or  flattening  out  of  circular  curves  at 
the  ends,  so  as  to  make  a  gradual  transition,  as  it  were,  from  the  tangent 
to  the  circular  curve.  It  has  already  been  explained  that  the  transition 
urve  enables  a  satisfactory  arrangement  of  the  run-off  of  curve  eleva- 
tion, since  it  affords  a  means  by  which  the  elevation  can  everywhere  be 
adjusted  to  the  desired  relation  with  the  curvature.  A  word  further  may 
be  said  by  way  of  emphasis.  After  entering  a  curve  a  car  has  two  move- 
ments relatively  to  the  tangent  behind :  one  progressively,  that  is,  moving 
in  the  same  direction  as  the  tangent;  and  another  normal  or  sidewise  to 
the  tangent.  Now  the  car  wheels  begin  their  movement  normal  to  the 
tangent  the  instant  they  strike  the  curve,  and  if  at  just  this  instant  the  car 
body  could  be  tilted  inward  sufficiently  by  rail  elevation,  at  just  thi& 
instant  its  movement  normal  to  the  tangent  would  receive  its  initial 
impulse  from  elevation,  and  not  from  side  pressure  from  the  wheels;  be- 
cause in  tilting  inward  from  elevation  in  the  track  the  car  body,  as  a 
whole,  actually  moves  inward  as  well.  But  such  an  arrangement  in  ele- 
vation cannot  be  had  on  simple  circular  curves,  for  the  elevation  must 
be  developed  gradually,  in  some  considerable  distance.  With  the  spiral,, 
however,  the  movement  normal  to  the  tangent  can  begin  more  gradually,, 
because  the  track  can  be  given  its  elevation  so  that  at  every  point  such 
elevation  is  adapted  to  the  degree  of  the  curve  at  that  point;  and  hence  at 
every  instant  leading  up  to  the  main  part  of  the  curve  the  car  body  is- 
being  gradually  tilted  inward  by  rail  elevation  at  the  same  time  that  it  is- 
being  accelerated  in  the  normal  direction — instead  of  being  started  by 
sudden,  pressure  from  the  wheels,  after  the  body  has  been  already  tilted 
while  running  over  an  elevated  approach  on  the  tangent. 

The  value  of  easement  or  transition  curves  is  greatest  where  sustained 
high  speed  is  practicable.  Elevation  for  3imple  circular  curves  can  be  run  in 
quite  satisfactorily  fo'r  good  speed,  and  it  is  only  where  extraordinary  results 
are  desired  that  the  greater  expense  and  care  necessary  to  maintain  the  ease- 
ment curve  can  be  justified.  The  most  practical  or  satisfactory  applica- 
tion of  the  easement  curve  is  then  not  so  much  to  curves  so  sharp  tl"=t  in 
any  event  speed  must  be  reduced  in  running  around  them,  but  to  those 
curves  of  comparatively  smaller  degree  where,  with  the  aid  of  the  transi- 
tion curve,  the  slackening  of  speed  may  be  avoided;  and  while  by  using 
the  transition  curve  a  slightly  higher  speed  on  curves  of,  say,  about  6  or 
8  deg.,  might  be  had  with  a  feeling  of  greater  comfort  or  security,  perhaps,, 
still  its  use  on  curves  less  than  6  or  8  deg.  must  no  doubt  be  the  more  justi- 
fiable practice.  Not  necessarily,  then,  are  transition  curves  best  suited 
to  roads  of  heaviest  curvature.  Furthermore,  it  will  usually  be  found 
that  the  surroundings  which  determine  the  location  of  a  sharp  curve  will 
allow  of  but  little  room  for  easements.  In  any  case  the  easement  should 
be  no  longer  than  to  give  sufficient  distance  in  which  to  run  out  the  ele- 
vation. Any  available  room  beyond  this  had  better  be  used  in  reducing 
the  curvature  of  the  central  or  circular  portion  of  the  curve. 


THE  CUBIC  PARABOLA  275 

51,  The  Cubic  Parabola. — A  transition  curve  having  a  variable 
radius  which  gradually  decreases  in  length  from  infinity,  at  the  point 
where  it  meets  the  tangent,  to  a  length  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  circular 
curve,  at  the  point  where  it  meets  it,  is  a  desirable  one  to  use,  but  it  is 
also  desirable  that  such  curve  should  have  an  equation  so  simple  that  it 
readily  adapts  itself  to  easy  calculations.  A  curve  whose  equation  is  of 
the  form  yn=  A  x  is  recommended,  because  of  its  simplicity  and  facility  of: 
application. 

If  some  point  be  taken  as  an  origin  and  rectangular  axes  of  co-ordi- 
nates be  drawn  through  this  j)oint,  and  points  on  the  curve  be  plotted  with 
reference  to  these  two  axes,  the  rate  at  wrhich  the  curve  departs  from  one 
of  the  axes,  depends  upon  the  power  n,  'this  power  being  given  to  the  func- 
tion which  determines  the  position  of  any  point  on  the  curve  with  refer- 
ence to  the  other  axis.  That  is  to  say,  the  curve  departs  from  one  axi& 
as  many  times  as  fast  as  it  does  from  the  other  axis,  by  the  n  th  power  of 
its  proportional  distance  from  the  other  axis,  at  any  point.  But  the  scale 
to  which  the  curve  is  drawn  depends  upon  the  value  given  to  A;  and  by 
the  scale  is  meant  the  relative  length  of  the  radius  of  the  curve  at  any 


_  -  -  -  nr 

__  —  —  —                    i 

__  —  -  — 

r                          i 
i 

i 

A  '         I               ___—  1—  •  •           ~  —  "  —  1 

n—  —  ~  —  '               -.- 

!:       i                 i       i 

! 

0 

Jl           2.7                             0.4           S                                      12 
.8 

5                                                              21.6                                      2 

j.  61. 

point.     Thus  the  value  of  n  determines  the  form  of  the  curve,  and  the 
value  given  to  A  the  size  of  it,  as  will  be  explained  presently. 

'Now  regarding  the  value  of  n,  simplicity  of  calculation  requires  that 
it  be  an 'integral  number  and  as  small  as  can  be  used.  To  make  it  1 
would,  of  course,  give  the  equation  of  a  straight  line;  and  to  make  it  2 
would  give  a  parabola,  the  maximum  curvature  of  which  comes  at  its  ver- 
tex or  origin,  which  is  not  a  curve  suitable  for  our  use.  The  exponent  3 
gives  the  cubic  parabola,  whose  radius  of  curvature  at  the  origin  is  of 
infinite  length,  being  what  is  desired,  and  so  to  save  complication  no  higher 
exponent  need  be  used.  To  show  to  best  advantage  how  this  curve  can  be 
ased  we  will  plot  it  and  point  out  its  main  features.  In  order  to  simplify 
matters  suppose  that  at  first  we  let  A  =  l;  then  the  equation  of  the  curve 
becomes  y3=x.  Let  through  the  point  0,  Fig.  61,  two  axes  of  co-ordi- 
nates, 0  X  and  0  Y ,  be  drawn' at  right  angles  to  each  other.  Then  all 
distances  measured  in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  0  X  will  be  denoted 
by  y  and  distances  measured  in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  0  Y  will  be  x 
distances.  Substituting  different  values  for  y  we  get:  y— 0,  x=Q;  y=\, 

x=l ;  y=2,  x=S ;  y=3,  x=27  ; y=10,  z=1000. 

It  is  seen  that  tha  curve  starts  from  0  and  after  making  a  sharp  bend 
rapidly  flattens  out;  and  that  its  distance  from  OF  at  any  point,  is,  com- 
pared with  its  distance  from  OX,  as  the  cube  of  its  distance  from  OX. 
Thus  the  curve,  while  leaving  OX  gradually,  leaves  OY  very  rapidly,  and 
the  curve  soon  flattens  out,  so  that  it  approximates  to  a  straight  line  par- 
allel to  OX;  or  in  other  words  it  becomes  a  curve  with  radius  rapidly  ap- 


276 


CURVES 


preaching  infinity.     But  let  us   consider  the  curve  near  the  origin   for 
values  of  y  less  than  1. 

Let?/  =  .9    then 
y  =  .8 
y  =  .7 


=  .729 
=  .512 
=  .343 


y  =  . 
2/  =  .5 

y  =  A 


.216 


x  =  .064 
£  =  .027 
y  =  .2  ........  z  =  .008 

y  =  .1  ........  a  =  .001 

2/=  01  .......  3  =  .000001 

While  the  curve  makes  a  sharp  bend  between  y=0  and  y=l,  it  is 

seen  that  as  y  gets  smaller  in  value  the  corresponding  value  of  x  gets 

smaller  in  proportion  to  the  cube  of  the  decrease  of  y.    Hence,  as  the  curve 

is  followed  toward  the  origin  it  approximates  to  a  straight  line  parallel 

to  OY  ,  and  at  the  origin  it  must  be  a  straight  line  or  curve  of  infinite  radius. 

Let  this  curve  be  cut  into  two  parts  or  branches,  call  them  for  con- 

venience, making  the  cut  at  the  point  of  sharpest  curvature.     This  point 

is  at  i/=0.3865,  z=0.0577    (see  Fig.  62),  at  which  point  the  radius  of 

curvature  is,  of  course,  a  minimum,  and  equal  to  0.56744,  or  1.46815  times 

Y 


Fig.  62. — Cubic  Parabola   Near  the  Origin. 

the  value  of  y.  By  following  the  curve  to  the  right  from  this  point  we 
pass  from  curvature  of  very  short  radius  to  curvature  which  rapidly 
approaches  infinite  radius,  but  reaches  it  only  at  infinite  distance — 
that  is,  never  reaches  it;  while  if  we  go  to  the  left,  or  toward 
the  origin,  we  pass  along  curvature  rapidly  approaching  infinite  radius, 
which  does  actually  reach  infinite  radius  at  a  definite  distance,  that  is, 
at  the  origin.  So  while  the  two  parts  of  the  curve  under  consideration 
vary  in  curvature  according  to  the  same  law,  each  at  the  same  rate  rela- 
tively to  itself,  and  while  each  branch  passes  through  all  degrees  of  cur- 
vature down  as  low  as  the  minimum  radius  named,  there  is  this  difference : 
comparatively,  the  flattened  portion  in  the  right-hand  branch  is  infinitely 
longer  than  the  more  curved  portion  of  the  same  branch;  while  with  the 
left-hand  branch  the  flattened  portion  is,  compared  with  the  more  curved 
portion  of  itself,  infinitely  times  as  short.  It  is,  then,  this  latter  branch 
or  part  of  the  curve  which  is  the  better  suited  for  an  easement  curve,  be- 
cause the  portion  of  the  curve  having  radius  very  great,  or  infinitely  long, 


THE   CUBIC   PARABOLA  277 

is  needed  only  for  a  short  distance  at  leaving  the  tangent.  The  portion 
referred  to  is  that  between  the  origin  and  the  point  marked  y=0.3865, 
#=0.0577,  and  is  therefore  only  a  small  portion  of  the  curve,  as  shown. 
This  portion  of  the  parabola  can  furnish  a  transition  curve  for  any  cir- 
cular arc  whose  radius  of  curvature  is  not  shorter  than  the  minimum  radius 
of  curvature  of  the  parabola.  In  practice,  however,  only  part  of  this  small 
portion  considered  is  generally  used,  so  that,  to  apply  it  to  curves  on  the 
ground,  its  scale  must  be  enormously  enlarged.  As  stated  previously,  this 
is  done  by  assigning  a  greater  value  to  A. 

Suppose,  for  the  sake  of  discussion,  that  A  be  taken  at  10.  The-values 
of  x  corresponding  to  values  of  y,  taken  in  succession  will  then  be  for  y— 

i/        i    -r     o    Q    /i     K  •    T i/  !/        !/        8/        27  /        64/        125/        ami 

/io.i  1'  *>  *9  o,  4,  5.    X—  /10ooo  9    /so  >     /io  >     /io  >      /io  >      1 10  >        /io>  d 

when  plotted  gives  the  broken  curve  in  Fig.  61,with  minimum  radius  1.7944, 
at  y=l.2222.  It  might  at  first  appear  that  the  broken  curve  is  of  different 
form  from  the  other.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case,  as  both  are  identic- 
ally of  the  same  form,  but  one  is  simply  drawn  to  a  larger  scale  than  the 
other.  It  is  found  that  the  scale  of  the  plotted  curve  increases  as  the  square 
root  of  A,  the  minimum  radius  always  being  equal  to  0. 56744  \M.>  and  com- 
ing at  ?/=0.38650V-4;  the  minimum  radius  also  equals  1.46815  times  this 
value  of  y.  So  by  assigning  a  suitable  value  to  A  in  the  equation  -we  may 
start  off  with  a  curve  leaving  the  tangent  at  radius  infinity,  and,  at  any  de- 
sired distance  out  on  the  curve,  obtain  curvature  which  will  coincide  with 
that  of  any  circular  curve  Avith  which  we  wish  to  join  it  at  that  point. 

Now  it  is  found  that  for  0.45  of  the  distance  between  the  origin  and  the 
point  of  minimum  radius  (p.  m.  r.)  the  cubic  parabola  follows  almost  pre- 
cisely a  curve  the  radius  of  which  varies  inversely  as  the  distance  measured 
along  the  Y  axis  (which,  within  the  same  limits,  would  be  practically  a 
measurement  along  the  curve)  ;  and  that  up  to  0.65  of  the  distance  to  the  p. 
m.  r.  its  departure  from  such  a  curve  is  inappreciable.  For  the  remainder 
of  the  distance  up  to  the  p.  m.  r.  the  rate  .of  change  of  curvature  becomes 
less — that  is,  the  radius  of  curve  gets  slightly  longer  than  what  would  be 
its  length  did  it  decrease  in  exact  proportion  to  the  increase  of  distance 
along  the  axis.  Coming  down  to  fine  points,  then,  this  much  may  be  said 
of  the  cubic  parabola :  If  used  within  .45  of  its  length  from  origin  to  p. 
m.  r.,  it  gives  a  curve  whose  radius  decreases  almost  precisely  as  length 
of  curve  increases,  and  up  to  .65  of  its  length  to  p.  m.  r.  it  does  not  depart 
appreciably  from  such  curve;  it  is,  therefore,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
the  ideal,  within  the  latter  limit. 

Although  beyond  the  .65  point  the  change  of  relation  between  the  length 
of  curve  and  radius, does  not  to  an  appreciable  extent  render  the  curve  less 
desirable  for  an  easement  curve,  and  although  it  does  not  usually  happen 
that  so  much  of  the  curve  is  needed  in  practice,  still  an  important  fact 
should  here  be  noted.  The  formulas  given  further  along  for  running  out 
the  curve,  although  very  exact  up  to  the  .65  point,  cannot  be  applied  to 
the  whole  length,  and  cannot  be  depended  upon  much  farther  than  this 
point.  The  effect  of  this  discrepancy  is,  of  course,  that  in  order  to  use  the 
full  length  of  the  cubic  parabola  to  the  p.  m.  r.  more  complicated  formulas 
than  those  given  must  be  used;  and,  furthermore,  to  get  reliable  results 
from  the  formulas  given,  the  length  of  the  easement  curve  used  should  not 
exceed  0.38  of  the  radius  of  the  circular  curve;  which,  as  applying  to  cir- 
cular curves  above  11  deg.,  might  make  an  undesirably  short  transition 
curve. 

It  now  comes  to  settling  upon  a  value  for  A,  to  suit  any  case  in  prac- 
tice. At  any  point  on  the  curve  up  to  the  .45  point  the  product  of  the  ra- 
dius at  that  point  by  the  distance  of  the  point  from  the  origin  (that  is,  the 


378 


CURVES 


y  distance)  is  almost  precisely  constant  and  is  equal  to  -J  A,  for  any  value 
of  A  whatever;  and  between  the  .45  point  and  the  .65  point  this  product 
is  practically  constant  and  always  very  approximately  ^  A.  This 
relation  holding  true  for  any  point,  permits  the  use  of  a  particular 
point,  so  that  up  to  the  latter  limit,  then,  A  for  any  particular  curve  may 
be  considered  to  be  the  product  of  three  quantities ;  viz.,  R,  ye  and  6 ;  and 
the  equation  becomes  ys=6  R  ye  x,  *  R  feeing  the  radius  of  the  circular  curve 
.and  ye  being  the  length  of  the  easement  curve,  measured  along  the  axis  or 
tangent.  As  R  and  yc  are  each  constant  for  any  chosen  case,  their  product 
is  then  a  constant,  and  it  is  usual  to  express  the  equation  in  the  form  y3= 
6Cx,  C  representing  the  product  of  the  radius  of  the  circular  curve  (which 
is  to  be  eased  off)  by  the  length  of  the  easement  curve  desired.  The 
formation  of  an  equation  for  an  easement  curve  in  any  given  case  becomes, 
then,  a  simple  matter,  and  approximate  formulas  for  laying  it  down  by 


M  H  G  D 

Fig.  65. — Tapering   Curve.  Fig.  63. 

•co-ordinates  from  the  tangent  considered  as  one  of  the  axes,  are  equally 
simple. 

Laying  out  the  cubic  parabola  by  tape-line  measurements  is  simple 
Work  and  it  may  be  quite  accurately  done.  Suppose  (Fig.  63)  it  is  desired 
to  lay  off  a  curve  to  the  left  of  the  line  BD  to  some  point  opposite  D.  The 
distance  BD  is  then  the  ye  of  the  formula.  Suppose  that  at  some  point  oppo- 
site D  it  is  desired  to  develop  a  curvature  of  radius  R.  We  then  have  the 

3 

equation  ys=6Cx=6Ryex;  or  x= —     — .     The  point  E  opposite  D  will 


then  be  distant 


6Rye 


(ye)* 


(BD} 


6R(BD)       GR 

Any  other  point  on  the  curve,  as  Ft  opposite  G,  will  then  be  distant  from 
(yty         (BOY 

BD,  GF=x»= =—          — .  Or  it  may  be  founrl  by  proportion,  thus: 


;  therefore  GF=ED- 


6R(BD) 
GF:ED=(BG)S: 


(BD)* 


*The  general  expression  is,  of  course,  ?/3  =  6  Ryyx.  As  we  are  dealing 
with  a  parabola  which  joins  a  circular  curve,  Re  and  R  are  equivalent  and  the 
equation,  which  otherwise  would  be  expressed  ys  =  6  Re  ye  x,  is  perhaps  most 
convenient  in  the  above  form. 


THE  CUBIC   PARABOLA 


279 


If  BAI=$BD  then  OM=ED- 


-^S      ED 


— ;  and  so  any  point  on  the 


(BD)S  8 

curve  between  B  and  E  may  be  found  by  computing  direct  from  the  form- 
ula ;  that  is,  by  substituting  in  the  place  of  y  the  distance  from  B  'to  the 
foot  of  the  perpendicular  dropped  from  the  point  on  the  curve  to  the  line 
BD;  or  its  distance  from  BD  will  be  such  portion  of  ED  as  the  cube  of  the 
distance  from  B  to  the  foot  of  its  perpendicular  is  to  the  cube  of  BD. 

Having  the  curve  laid  out  to  E,  it  may  be  desirable  to  get  its  direction 
at  that  point;  that  is  the  direction  of  the  tangent  to  the  curve  at  that  point, 
from  which  to  lay  off  a  circular  curve  by  deflection  angles,  perhaps.  From 
the  calculus,  the  tangent  of  the  angle  which  the  direction  of  a  curve  makes 

dy 
with  the  tangent  (BD )   at  any  point  =- 


Tn  this  case  it  would  be 


dx 


dx  '     3y 


(BD)  2 


BD 


dy 


6(7 
BD 


2C       2R(BD)       2R 


— ;  that  is,  the  tangent  of  the  angle 


BD 


EHD= ,  and  the -angle  HED=9Q  deg.  minus  the  angle  whose  tang,  is 

.  2R 

Setting  up  at  E,  then,  sighting  the  instrument  on  /),  and  turning 
2R 

off  toward  H  the  angle  RED,  puts  the  line  of  sight  on  tangent  to  the  curve 
at  E.    But  the  point  H  may  be  determined  by  direct  measurement. 
(?/e)2     (BD)2      ED       (ye)3^C       (BD)S-^6C 

Tang.EHD=— = — .     There- 

2C          2C         HD  HD  HD 

2C         (BD)Z      BD 
fore  HD=— 

(BD)2 


Measuring  off  HD,  back  from  D,= 


60  3 

BD,  gives  the  point  H  as  a  backsight  to  get  on  tangent  at  E. 

Suppose  it  is  desired  to  join  two  tangents  by  a  circular  curve  having 
this  parabolic  curve  at  each  of  its  ends.  Let,  in  Pig  64,  JK  be  one  of  the 
two  tangents.  Locate,  at  first  on  paper  (or  make  calculations  for  what- 
ever circular  curve  is  desired  for  the  main  part  of  the  curve)  the  point  M, 
this  being  the  tangent  point  of  such  curve.  Decide  what  length  (BD)  is 
desired  for  the  easement  curve,  and  measure  it  off  along  JK  equally  each 
side  of  M,  so  that  BM=$BD.  The  distance  (DE)  to  the  point  where  the 
parabola  joins  the  circular  curve  will  be,  as  before,  (BD)2-^6R,  where  R— 
the  radius  of  the  circular  curve.  M  "being  midway  between  B  and  D,  the 
distance  (MO)  to  the  parabola  will  be  -J  ED.  -Run  through  M'R  the  tan- 
gent M'K',  ED  being  equal  to  MM'=2MO.  Run  in  the  circular  curve 
M' N'  between  the  two  new  tangents.  This  curve  can  be  met  at  E  by  a  para- 


Fig.  64. 


280  CURVES 

bolic  transition  curve  which  passes  through  B  and  0  :  for,  from  similarity  of 
triangles,  PR=%HD,  because  RD=MM'=2MO=2X$ED=$ED;  and  ER 
=$ED.  Therefore  PR=^HD=^X^D=^BD=^MD=^MfR;  and  (very 
approximately)  M'P=PE,  as  two  tangents  drawn  from  a  point  to  a  circular 
curve  properly  should  be.  This  proves  that,  within  the  accuracy  to  which 
we  are  working,  the  tangent  line  M'P,  from  which  the  circular  curve 
was  run,  is  properly  offset  a  distance  MM'=2MO  from  the  tangent  JKf 
from  which  line  the  parabola  is  run.  Other  points  on  the  parabola  be- 
tween B  and  E  may  be  located  as  described  for  Fig.  63.  For  instance,  a 


point  S  will  be  from  JK  a  distance  ST=xs=  —  —  #e=—          —  ED 

(yeY         (BDY 

Should  any  point,  V,  which  it  is  desired  to  locate,  be  inaccessible  to 
a  measurement  from  JK,  it  may  be  located  from  the  circular  curve  M'N' 

(y—y.Y       (BD—Bzy 

by  a  measurement  W  V=  xe  —          —=ED  —          -  ;  or  it  may  be  used  as 

(2/e)3  (BDY 

a  check  upon  the  other  method.  The  distance  of  the  point  F  from  the  old 
circular  curve  MN  would,  of  course,  be  the  difference  between  MM'  and 
WV. 

The  parabola  at  the  other  end  of  the  curve  is  laid  out  in  the  same  way. 
To  put  a  parabola  on  the  end  of  an  old  curve,  the  old  curve  is  first  thrown 
in  a  distance  MM'  —  \  of  the  distance  calculated  for  ED  according  to  the 
formula  ;  the  old  curve  is  then  relocated.  Of  course,  the  circular  curve  can 
be  run  from  E,  and  need  not  be  located  back  as  far  as  M'  except,  as  a  check. 

The  necessary  formulas  are  now,  for  convenience,  grouped  together  : 

ys      y3 

(1)  ys=Ax=6Cx-,  or  x=— 

A         60 

(2)  0=Rya,  or  radius  of  circular  curve  X  BD. 

(3)  BM=MD=±BD. 

(ye)»       (BD 
(4) 

60  60        6R(BD)         6R 

(5)     MM'=2MO=$ED=$ER=%  tangential  offset  of  circular  curve  in  a 
distance=J  the  length  of  the  easement  curve. 

y3  y 


(6) 

(2/e)3  (BDY 

(BD—BZ 


(7)  WV=xe—         —=ED— 

(yey  (BD 

(8)  HD=%BD=%MD. 

y*         (ye)2 
(  9  )         Tang.  EHD  =  -  = 


20        20          2R(BD)       2R 

(10)  Min.  radius==0.56744\M=1.46815X2/  at  p.m.r. 

(11)  y  at  p.  m.  r.=0.38650\M. 

y3       y2       (yeY          y 

(12)  Ry  (Radius  at  any  point  y)  =  -  —  —  -  =R- 


6yx        6x  6yxe  y 

It  now  remains  to  show  the  application  of  these  formulas  to  a  prac- 
tical example.     Suppose  it  is  desired  to  ease  off  a  6  deg.  curve  which  has 


TAPERING   CURVES  281 

5  ins.  of  elevation.  As  a  precaution,  the  maximum  length  of  useful  curve 
to  which  the  formulas  will  apply  with  exactness  is  .38X-R  of  6  deg.  =  .38 
X955.4=363  ft.;  but  as  200  ft.  is  sufficient  length  in  which  to  run 
cut  5  ins.  of  elevation,  we  are  far  within  the  limit  of  accur- 
acy- ?/e  is  then  equal  to  .200  ft.,  and  our  equation  becomes  y3=Ax=6Ryex= 

f 
6X955.4X200X£=l,146,480:r;  or  x=—          — .     Simply  to  show  another 

1,146,480 

check,  we  find  that  the  minimum  radius  of  this  parabola  ==.  5  (L744\M== 
.56744V1,146,480=607.6 ;  which  comes  at  y=.38650 \M=413.8.  We  thus- 
use  less  than  half  the  available  curve,  and  hence  the  application  of  the 
formulas  to  this  curve  is  practically  precision. 

(ye)3         2003 

The  distance  xf  or  ED  will  be  -  —=6.98  ft;  and  the 

6C     1,146,480 

6.98 

offset  MMr  of  the  circular  curve  from  the  tangent^ =1.745  ft.     Com- 

4 

puting  independently  of  the  formula  the  departure  of  the  circular  curve 
from  the  tangent  BD,  after  being  set  over  1.745  ft.,  is  found  to  be  6.98  ft., 
at  100  ft.  from  M.  This  measurement  agrees  exactly  with  that  for  the 
point  E  at  which  the  parabola  should  meet  the  circular  curve,  and  thus 
shows  that  within  the  limits  stated  the  reliability  of  the  formula  cannot  be 
questioned.  From  (5)  it  is  also  apparent  that  ED  is  equal  to  4/3  of  the 
tangential  offset  of  the  circular  curve  at  a  distance  from  the  P.  C.  equal  to 
half  the  length  of  the  easement  curve. 

Tor  circular  curves  sharper  than  11  deg.  a  parabolic  curve  as  long  as 
200  ft.  cannot  be  accurately  computed  by  these  formulas,  the  limit  of  accur- 
acy being  restricted  to  a  length  of  about  .387^  as  before  stated.  Formulas 
might  be  given  which  would  accurately  apply  to  the  cubic  parabola  through- 
out its  full  length  to  the  p.  m.  r. ;  but  inasmuch  as,  for  the  most  part  ease- 
ment curves  are  used  with  circular  curves  of  less  than  11  deg.,  it  is  consid- 
ered that  within  this  limit  formulas  so  simple  and  accurate  as  the  forego- 
ing are  more  desirable  to  use  than  those  necessarily  more  complicated.  The 
formulas  for  computing  deflection  angles  for  laying  out  the  cubic  parabola 
with  the  instrument  are  not  as  simple,  and  it  is  therefore  more  usually  the 
case  that  the  curve  is  laid  out  by  offset  measurements  from  the  tangent,  as 
above  worked  out. 

52.  Tapering  Curves. — Another  method  of  easing  curves  that  is 
largely  in  practice  is  the  use  of  a  series  of  compound  curves  of  gradually 
changing  curvature,  the  chords  of  which  are  equal  and  comparatively  short, 
usually  from  30  to  50  ft.  The  engineering  departments  of  some  roads 
have  arranged  tables  of  deflection  angles  for  the  use  of  their  surveyors,  so 
that  these  compound  curves  can  be  run  out  by  the  ordinary  method  of  de- 
flection angles,  at  one  setting  of  the  instrument  at  the  P.  C.,  instead  of 
setting  up  anew  at  each  P.  C.  C.  located.  A  number  of  curves  varying  at 
different  rates  from  30  min.  per  30  ft.  (or  whatever  chord  length), 
up  to  perhaps  2  deg.  30  min.  per  30  ft.,  are  used  in  different  instances. 
For  instance,  in  easing  off  a  2-deg.  curve:  beginning  at  P.  C.,  it 
might  be  run  out  by  starting  with  30  ft.  of  a  30-min.  curve,  fol- 
lowed by  1-deg.  and  l|-deg.  curves  successively,  each  of  30-ft.  chords, 
after  which  the  2°  curve  would  be  run  in.  A  15°  curve  might  be  eased  off 
by  five  compound  curves  varying  by  .2°  30'  successively,  until  the  full  15° 
is  reached.  Tables  changing  by  30  min.,  1°,  1°  30',  2°  and  2°  30'  per  chore! 


CURVES 

length  would  apply  to  almost  any  curve  in  a  manner  to  suit  different 
men's  ideas  of  the  proper  rate  of  easement.  Formulas  for  length  of  tan- 
gent, and  whatever  modifications  .of  simple  circular  curve  formulas  are 
necessary  for  properly  locating  the  curves,  are  simple  and  easily  worked 
out.  These  curves  are  usually  called  "tapering"  curves.  Although,,  in 
the  process  of  running  them  out,  the  points  established  are  points  of  com- 
pound curvature,  the  track  need  not  be  lined  as  so  many  compound 
curves  but  can  be  made  to  vary  in  curvature  gradually  by  simply  using 
the  P.  C.  C.'s  as  points  of  a  gradually  varying  curve,  instead  of  points 
of  distinct  change  of  curvature.  In  this  form,  if  the  chords  be  short, 
the  curve  resembles  closely  the  cubic  parabola,  and  the  elevation  can  be 
put  in  more  satisfactorily,  perhaps,  since  the  full  curvature  is  in  this 
way  attained  by  a  gradually  varying  rate  instead  of  by  stages,  as  it  were. 

In  Fig.  65  (not  drawn  to  scale)  is  shown  a  circular  curve,  LM,  eased 
off  by  three  curves  of  different  radii.  Considering  the  case  a  general  one, 
a  number  of  formulas  applicable  to'  any  curve,  with  any  number  of 
compoundings,  will  be  derived.  Let  A  B  and  B  G  be  two  tangents. 
Then  the  angle  H  B  G  will  be  the  intersection  or  A  angle,  and 
it  is  required  to  know  what  measurements  are  necessary  for  laying  out 
between  these  tangents  a  circular  curve  with  tapering  ends  and  how  these 
measurements  are  derived.  If  G  be  the  center  of  the  main  or  middle  por- 
tion of  the  curve,  then  a  simple  curve  drawn  between  the  two  tangents  about 
this  center  would  be  D  K,  it  being,  for  the  present  purpose,  necessary  to 
show  only  half  of  it.  The  angle  I)  0  B  is  -JA,  and  the  tangent  distance 
D  B  is  (C  D  OT  C  K)  X  tang  -J  A.  Suppose,  however,  that  the  curve  L  M, 
the  center  of  which  is  Cf  is  the  main  or  middle  portion  and  is  eased  off  by 
any  number  of  compounded  circular  curves  having  equal  chord  lengths. 
The  tangent  distance  of  the  compound  curve  is  A  B,  which  for  conveni- 
ence we  will  divide  into  two  portions,  A  D  and  D  B.  Let  the  distance  A  D 
be  called  "t";  the  distance  C  D,  <e$";  and  the  distance  E  D=F  K,  "s." 
0  Pj  P  V  and  V  G  are  the  differences  of  the  successive  radii.  A  D=t,  is 
then  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  products  of  0  P,  P  V,  etc.  by  the  sines  of 
the  angles  which  these  lines,  0  P,'  P  V,  etc.,  respectively,  make  with  the 
line  0  A,  the  radius  of  the  first  curve.  In  other  words  the  distance  t,  for 
any  central  or  main  curve  which  may  be  used,  is  found  by  adding  together 
the  products  of  the  successive  differences  of  the  radii  of  the  curves  lead- 
ing up  to  the  central  curve,  by  the  corresponding  sines  of  the  total  curva- 
ture at  the  end  of  each  of  these  successive  curves.  In  like  manner  the 
distance  C  D,—8,,  for  any  central  curve,  may  be  found  by  subtracting  from 
0  A  (the  radius  of  the  first  curve)  the  sum  of  the  products  of  the  suc- 
cessive differences  of  radii  by  the  corresponding  cosines  of  the  angles  of 
total  curvature  at  the  ends  of  the  successive  curves. 

The  distance  ED,=Sj  is  equal  to  8  minus  the  radius  of  the  main  curve 
=S—  E. 

The  distance  from  the  middle  of  the  main  curve  to  the  intersection 

8 

point=F5=(/SrXex.  sec.  -jA)+s=—       —minus  radius  of  main  curve 

Cos.-jA 


=  ---  R 


The  distance  from  P.   C.  to  intersection  pomi^=AB=DB+t=SX 
tang.  4A+*. 

The  central  angle  of  each  portion  of  the  compound  curve  is  found  by 


TAPERING  CURVES 


283 


the  solution  of  an  isosceles  triangle,  two  sides  of  which  are  equal  to  the 
radius  of  the  curve;  and  whatever  chord  length  is  taken  forms  the  third 
side. 

The  deflection  angles  from  the  tangent  AB  to  each  P.  C. .  C.,  or  from 
tangent  at  any  one  of  the  P.  C.  C/s  to  any  other  P.  C.  C.,  are  found  by 
solving  triangles  wherein  two  sides  and  the  included  angle  will  be  found 
given  in  each  instance. 

Table  IX  gives  to  the  nearest  half  minute  the  deflection  angles  from 
the  P.  C.,  or  from  any  P.  C.  C.,  to  any  point  of  change  of  curvature,  for 
any  central  curve  from  2  to  10  deg.  The  portions  of  the  compound  curve 
change  1  deg.  each  40  ft.  The  distances  "8"  "t"  and  "s"  are  given,  also 
the  total  curvature  to  any  point,  and  the  long  chord  distance  from  the 
P.  C.  to  the  P.  C.  C.  of  the  main  curve.  There  is  also  included  a  list  of 
ordinates  for  laying  off  the  points  of  the  curve  by  linear  measurement  alone. 

In  running  out  the  curves  by  transit  it  is  best,  after  fixing  the  P.  C., 

to  establish  the  P.  C.  C.  of  the  main  curve,  using  the  tabular  long  chord 

distance  and  deflection  angle  or  a  direct  measurement  by  the  ordinate 

distances  given.     In  this  way  a  check  is  had  on  the  work  of  the  successive 

Table  IX. — Tapering  Curves. 


TAPERING  CURVB  CHANGING  1  DEGREE  PBB  40  FBET. 


Transit  at 

DEFLECTTIONS  TO 

P.  C.  1° 

P.  C   2° 

P.  C.  3° 

P.  C.  4° 

P.  C.  5° 

P.  C.  6° 

P.  C.  7° 

P.  C.  8" 

PC.  9" 

P.  C.  10° 

P.  C.  1° 
P.  C.  2° 

P.  C.  4° 
P.  C.  5" 
P.  C.  6° 
P.  C.  7° 
P.  O.  8° 
P.  C.  9° 
P.  C.  10° 

0-00 
0-13 
0-42 

El 

7-12 
11-40 

0-12 
0-00 
0-24 
1-Orf 
2-04 
3-18 
4—48 
6-34 
8-36 
10-54 

Q-30 
0—24 
0-tO 
0-36 
1-30 
2-40 
4-  06 
5-  48 
7-41 
9-591/, 

0-56 
0^-54 
0-36 
0-00 
0-48 
1-54 
3-16 
4-64 
6-18 
8-57  X 

1-30 
1-33 

1—13 
0-48 
0-00 
1—  (0 
2-18 
3-53 
5-42 
T-47J4 

a 

1—00 
0-00 
1-12 

2-42 
4-5*8 
6-29'xi 

3-03 

ts 
E5 

1—12 
0—00 
1-24 

5-03  '/i 

4-00 
4-14 

a 

3-20 
2-30 
1-24 
0-00 
1-36 
3-30 

5-06 

fcST 

5-12 
4-42 
3-56 
2-54 

1-36 

0-00 
1—48 

6-41  * 
6-48 
6-38 
6-13 
5-30 
4-32 
3-18 
1-48 
0-00 

FOR   TABLE  IX 


d 

!»§. 

«a     0 

"1 

A 

ORDINATES. 

| 

<c 

(CD,FigM) 

(XD,Figj66) 

Total  Curvat 
in  Taperir 
Curve  at  eai 
End  of  Mai 
Curve. 

-    <M  SJ   JJJ 

03  °  £  fcj 

_•£! 

i 

| 

lift 

S  ®1iJE-i 

2° 

2864.  9Ii 

2865.01 

20.00 

0°-24' 

0.08 

40.000 

P.  C.  2° 

40.000 

0^40    ~ 

3° 

1910.08 

1910.36 

40.00 

i°-i2' 

0.28 

79  998 

P.C.  3° 

r,9.9»6 

O.B98 

4° 

1432.  «9 

14S3.:i3 

59.99 

2°-24' 

0-70 

119.992 

P.  C.  4° 

119.976 

1.955 

5° 

1146.28 

1147.68 

79.97 

4°—  00' 

1.40 

159  969 

P.  C.  5° 

159  914 

4.187 

6° 

955.37 

957.81 

99.92 

6°-00' 

2.44 

199.909 

P.  C.  6° 

199.762 

7.674 

7° 

819.02 

822.93 

119.83 

3.91 

239.784 

P.  C.  7» 

239.448 

12.687 

8° 

716.78 

1H9.69 

ll'-W 

5-85 

279.545 

P.  C.  8° 

278.t65 

19.494 

9° 

•537.28 

645.63 

15».45 

14«-23V4' 

8.35 

319.  1*3 

P.  C.  9° 

317.871 

28.353 

MT 

573.  «9 

585.15 

179.09 

11.46 

358.463 

P,  0.  10° 

356.285 

39.509 

deflections  and  short  chord  measurements.  Should  the  main  curve  be 
of  such  degree  that  it  comes  between  those  given  in  the  table — say  a  5°  30' 
curve — run  in  the  tapering  curve  to  P.  C.  C.  5°,  putting  in  this  point  bv 
the  method  just  described.  Then  run  in  20  ft.  more  of  a  5°  curve  to  P. 
C.  C.  5°30'.  In  any  case,  for  the  last  compounding  of  the  tapering  curve, 
take  a  length  of  chord  which  would  divide  the  tabular  chord  in  the  same 
ratio  as  does  the  main  curve  divide  up  the  angular  distance  between  the 
two  adjacent  tabular  curves.  For  instance,  if  the  main  curve  were  5°  20', 
use  a  chord  -J  the  tabular  length,  or  13^  ft. ;  for  a  59  45'  curve  use  a  chord 
J  the  tabular  length,  or  30  ft.  Then  correct  the  values  of  8  and  t  as  fol- 
lows: multiply  respectively  the  sine  and  cosine  values  of  the  total  curva- 
ture up  to  the  main  curve,  by  the  difference  of  radii  of  main  curve  and 
the  last  branch  of  the  compound  curve ;  add  the  sine  product  to  t  and  sub- 
tract the  cosine  product  from  8,  such  values  of  t  and  8  being  taken  from 
the  table  for  the  last  branch  of  the  compound  curve. 

Mr.  Win.  Hood,  chief  engineer  of  the  Southern  Pacific  road,  many 
years  ago  worked  out  formulas  and  a  series  of  tables  applying  to  tapering 
curves,  which  are  used  on  that  road.  His  list  includes  tables  for  the  fol- 


284 


CURVES 


lowing  curves:  one  changing  30  min.  each  30  ft.,  applicable  to  curves  up 
to  10  deg. ;  one  changing  1  deg.  each  30  ft.,  applicable  to  curves  up  to  10 
deg. ;  one  changing  2  deg.  30  min.  each  30  ft.,  applicable  to  curves  up  to 
20  deg. ;  one  changing  2  deg.  30  min.  each  15  ft.,  applicable  to  curves  up 
to  20  deg.;  and  one  changing  15  min.  each  30  ft.,  applicable  to  curves  up 
to  5  deg. 

The  Torrey  Easement  Curve. — A  similar  system  of  transition  curves 
is  also  in  use  on  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.,  where  it  was  introduced  by 
the  late  Mr.  Augustus  Torrey,  chief  engineer.  Transitions  from  tangent 
to  curve  or  from  lighter  curve  to  sharper  curve  are  made  by  curves  of  regu- 
larly increasing  degree,  constructed  upon  a  series  of  chords  of  equal  length 
and  compounded  at  the  end  of  each  chord.  That  end  of  an  equal  chord 
which  joins  an  equal  chord  of  less  curvature  is  designated  as  the  "small 
end"  and  that  which  joins  an  equal  chord  of  greater  curvature,  the  "large 
end."  His  list  includes  ten  curves  of  the  following  tabulated  description : 


Length 
of 
equal  Chords. 

\ariation 
per 
Chord. 

AppUcab'e 
to  Curves 
up  to 

100  ft. 

Ideg. 

6  deg. 

100 

30  min. 

4 

« 

50 

Ideg. 

la 

< 

50 

30  min. 

6 

50 

15     " 

3 

25 

2  deg. 

20 

25 

1  deg.  30  min. 

15 

25 

1     " 

12 

25 

30  min. 

6 

25 

15     " 

3 

The  data  contained  in  the  tables  applying  to  these  curves  comprise  the 
following  linear  and  angular  measurements :  offset  from  the  tangent  through 
the  small  end  of  any  chord  to  the  large  end  of  any  chord; 
projection  upon  the  tangent  through  the  small  end  of  any  chord,, 
of  the  line  joining  that  point  of  tangency  with  the  large  end 
of  any  chord;  prolongation  to  the  •  tangent  through  the  small  end  of 
any  chord,  of  the  radius  drawn  through  the  large  end  of  any  chord ;  length 
of  long  chord  joining  the  small  end  of  any  chord  with  the  large  end  of  any 
chord;  angle  between  the  tangent  through  the  small  end  of  any  chord  and 
the  tangent  through  the  large  end  of  any  chord;  distance  on  the  tangent 
through  the  small  end  of  any  chord,  from  that  point  of  tangency  to  an  in- 
tersection with  the  radius  prolonged  through  the  large  end  of  any  chord; 
deflection  angle  from  the  tangent  through  the  small  end  of  any  chord,  from 
that  point  of  tangency  to  the  large  end  of  any  chord,  and  vice  versa  from 
the  tangent  through  the  large  end  of  any  chord,  from  that  point  of  tan- 
gency to  the  small  end  of  any  chord.  There  are,  in  addition,  tables  giv- 
ing data  showing  changes  in  line  which  follow  upon  the  use  of  the  various 
transitions  given  in  the  above  mentioned  ten  tables.  Problems  involving 
the  calculations  for  tangent  lengths,  central  curve,  easement  of  simple  curve 
already  built  and  easement  of  transition  from  one  curve  to  a  lesser  one  in 
the  same  direction  are  taken  up  and  formulas  deduced  therefor.  These 
problems  are  treated  in  a  manner  somewhat  different  from  the  foregoing 
treatment  of  tapering  curves,  since  the  formulas  derived  have  reference 
to  the  intersection  points  on  the  two  tangents  to  the  curve,  of  the  radii 
produced  through  the  ends  of  the  central  or  circular  portion  of  the  curve, 
instead  of  the  points  of  intersection  (D,  Fig.  65)  of  radii  drawn  from  the 
center  of  the  circular  portion  of  the  curve  perpendicularly  to  the  two  tan- 
gents. The  solution  of  these  problems,  together  witli  the  tables  referred 


8EARLES    SPIRAL  28-* 

to,  and  diagrams  illustrating  their  use,  have  been  embodied  in  a  neat  book 
of  pocket  size  entitled  "Switch  Layouts  and  Curve  Easements."  The  book, 
.also,  as  the  name  implies,  includes  the  solution  of  a  number  of  switch 
problems. 

53.  Searles'  Spiral. — The  "Searles  Spiral"  is  a  multiform  compound 
curve,  the  same  in  principle  as  the  tapering  curves  just  described,  but  sus- 
ceptible of  a  much  wider  range  of  application  and  a  much  finer  adjustment. 
A  single  spiral  for  any  curve  consists  in  chords  of  equal  length  subtend- 
ing arcs  of  circles  varying  in  degree  by  an  amount  which  is  practically  a 
common  difference  (equal  to  the  degree  of  curvature  of  the  first  arc),  up 
to  the  degree  of  the  main  or  central  portion  of  the  curve.  The  list  in- 
cludes different  spirals  with  chords  varying  in  length  by  1  foot,  all  the 
way  from  10  to  50  feet, — that  length  of  chord  to  be  chosen  which  for  any 
curve  seems  to  best  suit  the  requirements.  The  rate  of  variation  in  curva- 
ture between  any  two  adjacent  arcs  is  always  the  same  for  any  curve,  not- 
withstanding that  for  different  spirals  the  chord  lengths  are  not  the  same. 
The  real  difference,  then,  between  any  two  spirals  is  not  in  form  but  in  the 
room  taken  up  by  them,  or  in  the  relative  scale  on  which  they  are  laid  out. 
Its  points  as  laid  down  form,  for  all  practical  purposes,  the  locus  of  a  cubic 
parabola,  the  essential  difference  between  the  two  not  amounting  to  any- 
thing. 

"The  Railway  Spiral/'  a  book  of  pocket  size,  contains  a  table  of  deflec- 
tion angles  for  a  curve  of  20  points  or  less,  and  other  tables  giving  deflec- 
tions for  a  setting  of  the  instrument  at  any  point  of  the  twenty;  the  cen- 
tral angle  of  the  spiral,  up  to  any  point,  is  also  given.  The  variation  in 
curvature  between  any  two  adjacent  chords  being  practically  the  same,  the 
deflection  angles  remain  the  same  for  similar  points  in  all  spirals  of  any 
chord  length,  providing  all  the  chords  are  made  of  equal  length.  The  loca- 
tion of  these  spirals  with  the  transit  is  thus  reduced  to  the  simplicity  of 
running  out  simple  circular  curves.  There  are  alsj)  tables  corresponding 
to  all  chords  varying,  by  1  ft.,  between  10  ft.  and  50  ft.  These  tables 
give  the  degree  of  curve  for  the  arc  subtended  by  any  chord,  in  any  spiral 
not  longer  than  400  ft.,  thus  enabling  a  spiral  suitable  for  any  curve  to  be 
picked  out  of  the  tables.  The  choice  of  a  spiral  is  had  by  choosing  one 
such  that  the  last  chord  of  the  spiral,  and  one  more,  subtends  an  arc  equal 
in  curvature  to  the  main  curve,  or  very  nearly  so.  There  is  generally  a 
large  number  answering  the  requirements,  so  that,  by  choosing  from  tables 
of  different  chord  lengths,  a  spiral  of  almost  any  desired  length,  also,  may 
be  found.  These  tables  further  contain  values  of  ordinates  for  points  on 
the  spiral,  so  that  they  may  be  laid  off  by  tape-line  measurements  from 
assumed  axes. 

In  my  estimation  "The  Railroad  Spiral"  is  the  most  easily  adapted 
and  the  most  practical  printed  matter  to  be  had  on  transition  curves,  and 
it  is  published  in  a  form  convenient -for  immediate  application  to  the  uses 
of  the  field.  In  form  the  "spiral"  is,  for  railroad  use,  just  as  good  as  any 
of  the  curves  thought  to  be  nearer  the  ideal  but  more  complicated  to  cal- 
culate and  apply.  So  far  as  practical  results  are  concerned  there  is  no 
•sensible  difference  between  any  of  the  curves  mentioned  in  this  chapter 
but  there  are  considerable  differences  in  methods  of  application,  and  the  fact 
that  with  this  curve  the  same  deflection  angles  are  always  used,  for  any 
spiral,  very  much  simplifies  the  field  work  and  makes  it  undoubtedly  the 
easiest  to  lay  out.  An  investigation  by  the  track  committee  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Engineering  and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association,  in  1901, 
covering  83  of  the  principal  railroads  of  the  country,  showed  that  71  of 
those  roads  were  using  some  form  of  transition  curve.  The  form  of  tran- 


286 


CURVES 


Fig.  66. — The  Holbrook  Spiral. 


sition  found  to  be  in  most  extensive  use  was  the  Searles  spiral,  with  the 
Holbrook  spiral  next  in  order  of  preference,  these  two  being  mentioned 
more  frequently  than  all  other  forms  of  transition  curves  combined. 

54.  The  Holbrook  Spiral. — The  theoretically  true  easement  curve  is 
the  Holbrook  spiral,  worked  out  by  Mr.  Elliot  Holbrook  and  first  published 
in  1880.  (At  that  time  Mr.  Holbrook  was  an  engineer  with  the  Penn- 
sylvania Lines  West.  In  1900  he  became  chief  engineer  of  the  Kansas 
City  Southern  Ey. ) .  As  it  leaves  the  tangent  the  radius  decreases,  or  de- 
gree of  curve  increases,  with  the  distance;  that  is,  the  degree  of  curve  at 
any  point  is  directly  proportional  to  its  distance  measured  along  the  spiral 
from  the  P.  S.  or  point  of  spiral.  Supposing  R  to  be  the  radius  of  curva- 
ture at  any  point  of  the  spiral,  and  L  the  distance  of  the  point  from  the 
tangent  point  or  P.  S.,  measured  along  the  spiral,  then  the  definition  of  ;the 
Holbrook  spiral  is  expressed  by  RL=A,  where  A  represents  some  constant 
quantity.  To  illustrate  this,  suppose  it  is  desired  to  use  a  spiral  whose 
degree  of  curvature,  beginning  at  the  P.  S.,  increases  at  the  rate  of  1  min. 
per  foot  or  1  deg.  per  60  ft. ;  then,  that  the  equation  remain  true  it  must 
apply  to  any  point  on  the  spiral  which  one  may  choose  to  take.  If  it  be 
Laken  at  the  first  foot,  72  would  be  the  radius  of  a  1-min.curve, which  is  343,- 
774.68  ft.,  and  L=i.  Then  A=#L=343,774.68;  and  it  is  the  same  for 
any  other  point,  because  R  decreases  just  in  proportion  as  L  increases. 
Hence  to  find  the  radius  at  any  point,  distant  L  from  the  P.  S.,  we  use  the 
343,774.68 

formula R= — .     This  is  for  a  spiral  increasing  1  min.  per  foot; 

L 

but  if  it  increased  at  any  other  rate,  A  would  have  some  different  value, 
which  could  be  found  (nearly  enough)  by  dividing  343,774.68  by  the  rate 
of  change  of  curvature  in  minutes  per  foot.  To  find  the  length  of  spiral 
required  to  reach  a  circular  curve  of  any  certain  degree,  divide  the  degree 
of  curve  in  minutes  by  the  rate  of  change  in  minutes  per  foot — a  very  simple 
calculation. 

Without  taking  up  their  demonstration,  formulas  for  solving  the  sim- 
ple problem  of  running  in  a  spiral  at  each  end  of  a  simple  circular  curve, 
the  intersection  angle  or  A  being  given,  will  here  be  presented. 

Kef  erring  to  Fig,  66,  let  AG  and  GA'  be  tangents. 

A  =  intersection  angle. 


THE    IIOLBROOK    SPIRAL  287 

J9/?'=simple  circular  curve. 

B=P.  C.;  B'=P.  T. 

AF  and  A  '^'=  spirals. 

FF'=  circular  arc  in  new  position. 

A  i—  angle  which  tangent  to  spiral  at  any  point  (x  y)  makes  with 
the  tangent  line  GKA  ;  Ax  at  F=GKH=At.  It  is  also  the  central  angle 
of  the  spiral  at  any  point. 

D=  deflection  from  any  chosen  point  y^  on  tangent  to  any  point  (x,  y) 
on  spiral. 

D'=  deflection  from  a  point  on  tangent  GA,  200  ft.  from  A,  to  any  point 
(x,  y)  on  spiral. 

MOM'=A. 

E  and£"  are  points  where  the  circular  curve  in  new  position  becomes 
parallel  to  tangents  GA  and  GA'. 

Let  GA  be  the  axis  of  Y  and  AZ  the  axis  of  X,  taking  A  for  the  origin  ; 
x  and  y  will  then  be  the  co-ordinates  of  any  point  on  the  spiral. 

The  point  E  is  denoted  by  the  special  co-ordinates  XQ,  y0. 

The  following  general  formulas  are  now  given: 
(1).     RL=A. 

\Li        L  L2      L2 

(2).     AI=—  —  =  -  =  -  .    In  minutes  (2)  becomes  (3). 

R        2R       2RL      2A 

3437.7468  L2 
(3).     A1=_ 

2A 

12L*  1680L9  L5 

(4).     y=L-  -  +  -  -etc.  =L-r-       —  . 


.3.4.5.6.7.8.9  4(U2 

nearly  enough. 

2L3  120L7  L3 

(5)     x=  --  -  +etc.  =  --  ,  nearly  enough, 

2A1.2.3         8A31.2.3.4.5.G.7  6A 

(6).     x0=xt  —  Rt  vers.  sin  Af. 

(T).    yn=yf—Rt  sin  At. 

x 
(8).     Tang.  D=~      —  .  When  deflection  is  turned  off  from  P.  S. 

y—  2/1 

and  (8)  becomes  (9). 

x 

(9).     Tang.     D=— 


D'  is  calculated  for  ^=200  ft. 
T=length  of  tangent  GA 

T1=length  of  tangent  GB,  or  tangent  of  circular  curve  of  same  radius 
(Bt)  as  the  middle  part  of  the  curve  (FF') 
(10).     !T1=BtXtang.  JA.     We  then  have  (11). 
(11).     T=Tl+BM+MA  =  GM+ijQ=(Rt+x(})  tang.  jA+y0. 

We  now  have  all  the  measurements  necessary  to  lay  off  the  curve.  Be- 
ginning at  the  P.  S.  we  can  turn  off  computed  deflection  angles  for  different 
points  on  the  spiral  or  we  can  measure  them  off  from  the  axes  of  co-ordi- 
nates from  A  as  an  origin,  by  computing  x  and  y  for  such  points.  It  is 
well  to  establish  E  (x0,  y0)  by  measurement;  and  also  F,  which  equals 


288 


CURVES 


xtf  yt,  for  a  length  of  curve  equal  to  the  degree  of  the  central  circular  curve 
divided  by  the  rate  of  change  of  curvature.  When  the  spiral  is  so  long  or 
so  obstructed  that  it  cannot  be  run  from  one  setting  of  the  instrument  at 
A,  set  up  at  a  point  200  ft.  along  the  tangent  toward  G,  and  turn  off  the 
deflections  D'. 

Table  X  gives  values  of  the  elements  of  a  spiral  varying  1  deg.  per 
40  ft.  or  1J  min.  per  foot.  Points  are  taken  for  every  10  ft.  on  the  spiral 
and  the  table  is  given  as  an  example.  By  substituting  in  the  foregoing 
formulas,  convenient  tables  are  easily  worked  out  for  any  rate  of  change. 
The  sum  of  the  deflections  for  the  circular  arc  should  be  -JA — Af  and 

iA— Af 

the  length  of  the  circular  arc  is  then —  — X   100  ft. 

•J  deg.  of  circular  curve 

For  spirals  having  central  angles  up  to  about  12  deg.  (which  corres- 
ponds to  spirals  of  300  to  380  ft.  length  where  the  rate  of  increase  of  cur- 
vature is  1  deg.  per  40  to  60  ft.)  the  foregoing  formulas  give  results  which 
are  practically  exact,  in  fact  so  nearly  exact  that  the  discrepancies  are  not 
measurable  with  the  transit.  Beyond  this,  that  is  with  spirals  longer  than 
would  be  used  in  good  practice,  there  is  room  for  hair  splitting.  The 
Holbrook  spiral,  developed  by  different  methods,  is  the  curve  used  in  sev- 
eral field  books,  including  "The  Transition  Curve/'  by  C.  L.  Crandall,  and 
"The  Railway  Transition  Spiral,"  by  A.  N".  Talbot. 

Of  General  Application. — In  order  to  change  an  old  circular  curve  to 
one  of  the  same  degree  but  having  spirals  or  transition  curves  of  any  form 
at  the  ends,  the  old  track  must,  as  has  been  shown,  be  thrown  in  all  the 
way  around  the  curve.  The  old  track  may  be  kept  in  place  at  the  central 
portion  of  the  curve,  and  nearly  so  all  the  way  around,  by  increasing 
slightly  the  degree  of  the  circular  or  central  portion  of  the  curve.  In  order 
to  change  a  cicular  curve  for  one  having  transitions  at  its  ends,  in  a  man- 
Table  X.— Holbrook  Spiral. 


SPIRAL   INCREASING    1    DEGREE    IN   40   FEET. 

RL  =  A  =  3*3774.68  =  329183.1 
1.5 

£ 

ft 

0 
10 
20 

IB 

41! 

Bfl 

Degree. 

Deglfin. 

0    00 
0    16 
0    30 
0    45 
1    00 
1    15 

Radius 

W) 

Feet. 

Infinity 
22918.31 
11459.15 
7639.44 
5729.58 
4583.61 

Ai 

(Lft  X  3437.7468^ 

X 

/Zn 

y 

(L        L"\ 

Xo 

n-Pt  wxui^/O 

Feet. 

0000 
0.000 

o.oos 

0.005 
O.OI2 
0.023 

Vo 
W-Rf  *t"  A.,1 

Feet. 

0.000 
5.000 
10.000 
15.000 
20.000 
257(!00 

D 

(W  *  } 

D' 
(  tn.ng      x 

L 

FtT 

0 
10 

SK 
30 
40 
50 

(          24            ) 
Deg.    Min.   Sec. 

~~0       00       00~ 
00       45 
03       00 
06       46 
12       10 
18       45 

(&) 

~Feet. 

0.0000 
0.0001 
U.006 
0.020 
0.047 
0.091 

(         4QAi) 
Feet" 

O.OCO 
10.000 
20.000 
30.000 
40.000 
fiO.ttiO 

L;_J 

Deg.Min.Sec 

00    00    00 
00    00    15 
00    01    00 
00    02    15 
00    04    00 
00    0«    15 

(       ""    J/-300; 
r>ejf.  Min.  Sec. 

(ii) 
70 

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0(1 
101) 

1   30 
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2    00 
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3819.72 
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0.249 
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0.530 
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60.000 
69.999 
79.998 
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99.995 

0-039 
0-062 
0.093 
0.132 

0-182 

30.000 
35.000 
39.999 
44.999 
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1527.88 

30       45 
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27       00 
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0.9B8 
1.257 
1.598 
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2.455 

109.992 
1)9-988 
129.982 
139.974 
149.  9H4 

0.242 
0  316 
0.400 
0.499 
0-615 

54.998 
59.998 
64.997 
69.996 
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60    30    15 
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00    42    15 
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110 
120 
130 
140 

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4    15 
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1432.39 
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169.932 
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189-882 
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12    16 
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91      29      59 

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180 
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7.743 
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1U9.960 
114.949 
119.937 
124.922 

01    05 
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230 
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270 

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12.782 
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15.964 
17.736 
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5GH.4H4 
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289  021 

298.843 

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30-836 
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360 
870 

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390 
401) 

TRANSITION    CURVES 


289 


ner  not  to  change  the  length  of  the  disturbed  track  (so  as  to  avoid  cutting 
rails),  the  central  or  circular  portion  of  the  curve  must  be  thrown  outward 
at  its  middle  and  inward  at  its  ends,,  thereby  increasing  the  degree  of  curve; 
this  method  leaves  the  new  curve  as  nearly  as  may  be  on  the  old  ground. 
The  central  portion  of  the  old  curve  may  remain  undisturbed  by  compound- 
ing at  its  ends,  thereby  increasing  the  degree  of  curve  at  those  points.  The 
treatment  of  these  special  problems,  as  well  as  numerous  ones  arising  in 
the  application  of  transition  curves  between  the  branches  of  compound 
curves,  in  different  ways,  will  not  be  taken  up.  These  problems- the  reader 
will  find  worked  out  in  any  of  the  text  books  heretofore  mentioned. 

The  prevailing  method  of  running  out  the  elevation  on  transition 
curves  has  already  been  stated  in  defining  the  principal  purpose  of  these 
curves.  The  track  at  the  beginning  of  the  easement,  or  at  the  tangent 
point,  is  made  level  transversely,  and  the  elevation  for  the  circular  or  main- 
portion  of  the  curve  is  developed  with  the  easement,  full  elevation  being 
used  at  the  end  of  the  easement  or  beginning  of  the  main  curve.  In  a  few 
instances  there  are  exceptions  to  this  practice.  On  the  St.  Louis  &  San 
Francisco  R.  R.  the  form  of  easement  is  a  tapering  curve  of  25-ft.  chords 
and  the  development  of  the  elevation  begins  on  tangent  a  chord  length  in 
advance  of  the  point  of  easement.  The  purpose  of  this  arrangement  is  to 
give  the  elevation  required  for  the  first  chord  of  the  easement,  at  the  tan- 
gent point,  so  as  to  be  able  to  obtain  the  full  elevation  for  each  chord  of 
the  easement  as  it  is  reached  by  a  train  approaching  from  the  tangent. 
Similar  practice  is  in  vogue  on  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.,  where,  also, 
the  form  of  easement  is  a  tapering  curve.  With  the  cubic  parabola  or 
any  of  the  spirals  it  is  plain  that  no  question  of  the  necessity  of  any  such 
provision  arises.  In  the  largest  practice  the  transition  curves  of  the  same 
road  are  of  variable  lengths,  according  to  the  degree  of  the  main  curve  or 


MICHIGAN  CENTRAL  R.  R.— MIDDLE  DIVISION. 
CURVE  No.  10.    SECTION  No.  31.    CURVE  TO  LEFT. 


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1st        35000ft   of  Easement  Stakes  25  ft.  apart 

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50 

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2nd.      206.75  ft.  of  2°  31'  Intermediate  curve  ....  Stakes  50  ft.  apart 

50 

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1 

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100 

3rd      180000ft   of  2°  32'  Central  curve  Stakes  50  ft  apart 

100 

1UU 

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200 

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250 

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Elevation  to  give  outer  rail  between  points  marked  (*)  is  3%  ins. 

325 

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2-90 


CURVES 


the  elevation  of  the  same,  but  in  a  few  instances  all  the  transition  curves 
of  a  road  are  of  standard  or  constant  length, -as  was  stated  to  be  the  case 
with  the  run-off  of  simple  circular  curves  on  several  roads. 

On  some  roads  where  transition  curves  are  used  it  is  not  the  practice  to 
apply  them  to  curvature  that  is  easier  than  1  or  2  deg.,  while  on  others 
it  is  the  rule  to  ease  all  curves  of  whatever  degree,  even  down  to  -}  deg., 
such  being  the  practice  with  the  Vandalia  Line  and  the  Michigan  Central 
R.  R.  On  the  latter  road  each  roadmaster  and  section  foreman  is  sup- 
plied with  a  record  of  each  curve  under  his  charge,  in  the  accompanying 
tabulated  form. 


Some  Curves   on   the   Morenci  Southern  Ry.,  in  Arizona. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES. 

55.  Turnouts. — A  turnout,  as  the  name  implies,  is  an  arrangement  by 
which  a  car  may  pass  from  one  track  to  another.  The  principal  parts  of  a 
turnout  are  a  switch  and  a  frog,  with  a  connecting  piece  of  track  called  the 
lead.  Tlit  rails  connecting  the  switch  with  the  frog,  in  both  main  track  and 
turnout,  are  called  lead  rails,  or  the  main  lead  and  the  turnout  lead.  A 
switch  is  a  device  for  shifting  the  route  at  the  entrance  of  a  turnout.  A 
frog  is  a  union  of  two  rails  which  cross  each  other,  in  such  a  manner  that  a 
wheel  rolling  along  either  rail  will  have  an  unobstructed  flangeway  while 
passing  the  other  rail.  The  principle  of  the  turnout  is  to  cross  the  adjacent 
rails  of  the  two  tracks  at  the  frog  and  to  extend  them  beyond,  so  as  to 
bring  all  four  rails  of  both  tracks  near  together  to  a  point  called  the 
point  of  switch  or  toe,  where  the  rails  usually  stand  5  or  6  ins.  apart  be- 
tween gage  lines.  Then  by  means  of  two  rails,  each  having  one  end  free 
to  move,  a  car  may  be  switched  from  one  track  to  the  other.  These  two 
rails  constitute  the  switch ,  and  are  usually  called  the  switch  rails  or  mov- 
ing rails.  It  is  usual  to  call  the  whole  arrangement  from  switch  to  frog, 
"the  switch,"  but  the  proper  term  to  use  is  turnout. 

In  the  stub  switch  the  two  rails  of  each  track  are  cut  squarely  off 
at  the  toe  and  the  switch  rails  are  thrown  so  as  to  meet  the  fixed  ends  of 
the  lead  rails  of  either  track  squarely  end  to  end.  If  the  ends  of  the  rails  are 
cut  off  at  a  bevel,  so  as  to  lap  by  slightly  when  thrown,  the  switch  is  called 
a  lap  switch.  The  point  or  split  switch  is  made  up  of  a  rail  from  each 
track,  both  rails  being  tapered  a  long  way  back  and  connected  together,  so 
as  to  throw  alongside  the  through  rail  of  either  track.  In  this  switch  one  rail 
of  each  track  is  cut  off  squarely  at  the  heel  and  the  other  rail  is  left  con- 
tinuous; that  is,  one  main-track  rail  is  continuous,  and  one  rail  of  the 
side-track  is  continuous  with  the  main-track  rail,  being  bent  at  the  point  of 
switch  so  as  to  turn  from  main  track  into  the  side-track.  The  fixed  end 
of  the  switch  is  calleft  the  heel,  the  movable  end  to  toe.  In  a  stub  switch, 
the  heel  is  the  end  of  the  switch  farthest  from  the  frog;  in  a  split  switch, 
the  end  nearest  the  frog.  The  toe  of  the  split  switch  is  the  point  of  switch. 
The  distance  from  toe  to  heel  in  either  case  is  called  the  length  of  switch. 
The  distance  over  which  the  free  end  of  the  switch  is  moved  is  called  the 
throw  of  the  switch.  In  stub  switches  the  throw  must  obviously  be  the 
same  as  the  distance  between  the  gage  lines  of  the  fixed  rails  in  main  .track 
and  turnout  at  the  toe ;  but  in  point  switches  it  need  be  only  enough  to  give 
room  for  moving  the  point  rail  out  of  the  way  of  the  wheel  flanges;  four 
inches  is  sufficient.  The  turnout,  between  the  switch  and  frog,  is  usually 
made  a  simple  circular  curve. 

There  is  another  switch  used  to  some  extent,  known  as  the  Wharton 
switch.  With  this  switch  both  main  track  rails  are  unbroken  and  continu- 
ous. The  switch  rails  consist  of  one  point  or  grooved  rail,  which  works 
against  the  main-track  rail  on  the  side  opposite  the  frog,  and  another  rail 
to  which  it  is  connected,  which  works  against  the  outside  of  the  main-track 
rail  on  the  frog  side.  This  movable  rail  on  the  frog  side  has  a  sloped 


292 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


top  which  runs  up  higher  than  the  main  rail  against  which  it  is  thrown 
and  lifts  the  wheel  so  that  its  flange  passes  above  and  across  it  to  the  turn- 
out lead  rail.  Stub  and  split  switches  are  the  ones  in  most  general  use. 

56.  Stub  Switches. — Formerly  the  stub  switch  was  the  one  the  most 
used.  It  is  durable,  serviceable,  and  there  is  nothing  in  its  make-up  that 
is  particularly  delicate,  but  owing  to  certain  objectionable  features  it  ha^ 
gone  out  of  use  for  main-line  service  on  nearly  all  of  the  heavy-traffic  roads. 
Among  these  objectionable  features  or  points  of  weakness  are  the  frequent 
settlement  of  the  headblock,  due  to  the  heavy  pounding  of  the  wheeJs  at 
the  open  space  which  must  be  left  at  the  toe;  and  the  "tight  switch,"  due 
to  expansion  and  creeping  of  rails  in  hot  weather.  Quoting  from  a  com- 
mittee report  to  the  New  England  Koadm asters'  Association  in  1890,  "the 
stub  switch,  with  its  open  joint  in  winter  and  tight  joint  in  summer,  with 
a  loose  headblock  to  be  tamped  every  few  days,"  is  well  to  the  point.  The 
derailment  of  trains  which  trail  (approach  from  the  direction  of  the  frog) 
an  open  or  misplaced  stub  switch,  is,  however,  the  dangerous  and,  there- 
fore, the  most  objectionable,  feature.  Although  the  point  switch  was  in 
use  at  an  early  day,  still  the  preference  for  the  stub  switch  was  for  many 
years  so  strong  that  it  was  in  some  cases  equipped  with  a  rerailing  device 
to  prevent  wheels  from  leaving  the  track  when  trailing  the  switch  wrongly 
set.  One  arrangement  of  this  kind  was  the  Tyler  switch,  used  to  some- 
extent  at  one  time.  It  consisted  of  a  short  guard  rail  bolted  to  the  gage 


Fig.  67. — Diagram  of  Stub-Switch  Turnout. 

side  of  each  moving  rail  and  flared  to  cover  the  end  of  the  stub  rail,  with 
an  inclined  plane  bolted  to  the  outside  of  the  rail.  With  this  arrange- 
ment wrheels  trailing  the  switch  wrongly  set  would  be  caught  on  one  side  of 
the  track  by  the  guard  rail  and  on  the  other  side  by  the  inclined  plane  and 
guided  to  place  on  the  moving  rails. 

Measurements  for  Stub- Switch  Turnouts. — A  stub  switch  on  straight 
track  is  shown  by  diagram  in  Fig.  67.  A  B  and  C  D  constitute  the  switch 
or  moving  rails ;  B  E  is  the  throw ;  A  or  C  is  the  heel ;  B  or  D  is  the  toe 
or  point  of  switch ;  A  B  is  the  length  of  switch ;  F  is  the  point  of  frog.  The 
distance  from  D  to  F  is  called  the  lead;  from  C  to  F,  the  total  lead.  The 
whole  turnout  from  A  to  F  is  usually  made  a  simple  circular  curve,  as- 
already  stated,  and  in  that  case  the  point  A  is  easily  found  by  producing 
the  line  of  the  turnout  rail  of  the  frog  straight  ahead  until  it  intersects 
the  opposite  rail  at  7.  I  A  must  be  equal  to  /  F,  because  the  two  tangents 
from  the  same  point  to  any  simple  circular  curve  must  be  equal.  The 
formulas  for  the  various  measurements  of  a  stub-switch  turnout  are  simple 
and  are  given  below.  A  geometrical  demonstration  of  the  same,  prepared 
by  the  writer,  was  published  in  the  Eailway  and  Engineering  Review  for 
Dec.  31,  1897. 

The  distance  GF — that  is,  the  distance  from  heel  of  switcli  to  frog- 
point,  or  the  "total  lead" — is  twice  the  frog  number  times  the  track  gage,, 
or  2  n  g. 

The  radius  of  the  center  line  of  the  turnout  (r)  is  equal  to  twice  the 


STUB  SWITCHES  293 

•square  of  the  frog  number  times  the  gage,  or  the  total  lead  times  the  frog 
number.  The  formula  is  therefore  r=2u2g.  The  radius  of  the  outer  rail  of 
the  turnout  curve  is  then  2n2g-\-^g. 

The  length  of  switch  (AB)  or  the  distance  from  heel  to  toe,  in  feet,  is 
twice  the  frog  number  times  the  square  root  of  the  product  of  the  throw 
and  the  gage,  both  expressed  in  feet  [2/&V  (gt)~\  ;  or  it  is  equal  to  the  square 
root  of  twice  the  product  of  the  radius  and  the  throw  in  feet,  or  V  (2  r  #)• 

The   length  of  the  chord   AF  of  the   outer  rail   of   the  turnout  is 


These  formulas  are  easily  understood  and  used  by  any  person  acquaint- 
ed with  common  arithmetic.  As  an  example,  let  us  compute  the  distances 
from  heel  to  point  and  the  length  of  switch  rail  for  a  turnout  with  No.  8 
frog  and  a  switch  with  5-in.  throw.  The  distance  heel  to  point  =2  n  g 
=2X8X4,708=75.328  ft.  Length  of  switch  in  feet=2^V  (g  *)=BX8 
V(4.708X5/i2)=22.4ft. 

If  the  toe  of  the  frog  or  the  beginning  of  the  straight  portion  of  the 
frog  leg  is  taken  as  the  end  of  the  lead  curve,  the  "total  lead"  for  the  stub- 
switch  turnout  then  becomes  2n(g  —  k  sin  F)-\-k  cos  F'y  and  the  radius, 
3n2(g  —  k  sin  F)  ;  where  k  represents  the  length  of  the  straight  portion  of 
the  leg  in  advance  of  the  point  of  frog,  and  F  the  frog  angle. 

Some  trackmen  line  the  outer  lead  rail  quite  well  by  the  eye,  but  it  can 
be  located  to  the  exact  curve  with  but  very  little  trouble  by  stretching  a 
string  from  heel  to  frog  point  and  laying  off  the  middle  ordinate  equal  to 
-J  the  track  gage,  and  the  quarter  ordinates  }  of  this,  or  3/16  of  the  track 
gage.  To  be  exact,  the  middle  ordinate  of  the  center  line  of  the  turnout 
is  \g.  and  that  of  the  outside  rail  slightly  more;  but  the  difference  is  not 
as  great  as  1/16  in.  in  any  case.  In  practice,  however,  in  any  turnout  from 
straight  track,  regardless  of  frog  number,  the  middle  ordinate  MO  (Fig. 
67)  may  be  taken  at  \g,  or  14-J  ins.,  and  the  quarter  ordinate  M'O'  at  3/ic<7-- 
•=10f  ins.  The  middle  ordinate  of  a  chord  drawn  from  E  to  F,  that  is 
from  toe  to  frog  point,  is  always  7  ins.,  and  the  quarter  ordinate,  7Xf= 
3J  ins.,  for  any  length  of  lead  or  any  frog  number,  where  the  main  track 
is  straight.  Some  use  the  middle  ordinate  of  this  chord  in  preference  to 
the  one  from  heel  to  point.  Still  another  method  of  lining  the  lead  curve 
is  to  lay  the  outer  rail  by  offsets  from  the  main-line  rail  to  which  it  is  tan- 
gent. The  offset  at  the  middle  point  (0)  is  J  of  the  gage  (%g),  at  the 
quarter  point  it  is  1/16^  and  at  the  third  quarter  (0')  it  is  9/1Qg. 

Originally  the  standard  throw  for  stub  switches  was  5  ins.,  but  for 
the  heavier  rails  with  wider  heads  which  have  come  into  service  a  larger 
throw  is  necessary  in  order  to  provide  a  flangeway  of  sufficient  width.  Where 
the  width  of  the  rail  head  exceeds  2J  ins.  the  throw  should  be  at  least  5J 
ins.  Table  XI  (see  index)  gives  the  necessary  measurements  for  stub- 
switch  turnouts  with  frogs  of  different  angles,  including  the  length  of 
switch,  for  both  a  5-in.  and  5-J-in.  throw.  In  connection  with  stub  switch 
measurements  notice  should  be  taken  of  the  fact  that  the  length  of  switch 
•corresponding  to  a  throw  of  5  ins.  and  a  No.  11  frog,  or  frog  of  higher 
number,  exceeds  30  ft.  ;  and  for  a  throw  of  5J  or  6  ins.  the  length  of  switch 
reaches  30  ft.  with  a  frog  of  smaller  number.  For  this  reason  it  is  not 
practicable  to  have  the  full  length  of  free  switch  rail  with  frogs  of  the 
higher  numbers  (say  No.  9  and  above)  unless  rails  longer  than  30  ft.  are 
used.  In  practice,  not  to  exceed  25  or  26  ft.  of  a  30-ft.  rail,  or  'the 
length  of  switch  corresponding  to  a  No.  9  frog,  would  be  left  free.  Hence 
the  curvature  of  the  switch  must  sometimes  be  made  sharper  than  that  of 
the  lead. 

In  laying  a  turnout  from  curved  track  the  lead  distances  may  be  taken 


294  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

the  same  as  for  straight  track,  for  ordinary  frog  numbers,  without  notice- 
able error.  If  the  turnout  be  with  the  curve  (that  is,  from  the  inside  of 
the  curve),  its  degree,  corresponding  to  a  given  frog  number,  will  be  in- 
creased, over  that  for  straight  track,  approximately  by  the  degree  of 
curve  of  main  track.  If  the  turnout  be  against  the  curve  its  degree,  corre- 
sponding to  a  given  frog  number,  will  be  decreased,  from  that  for  straight 
track,  approximately  by  the  degree  of  curve  of  main  track;  and  when  the 
curvature  of  the  main  track  becomes  equal  to  that  which  the  turnout 
would  have  in  straight  track,  for  a  frog  of  given  number,  then  the  turnout 
becomes  straight.  In  order  to  find  the  number  of  the  frog  required  for 
a  straight  turnout  from  the  outside  of  a  curve  of  given  degree,  we  may 
consider  the  straight  track  as  the  main  line  and  the  curved  track  the 
turnout,  and  then  find  the  frog  required  for  a  lead  curve  from  straight 
track  equal  in  degree  to  that  of  the  curvature  given.  In  that  case  the 
radius  and  gage  are  given  to  find  the  frog  number.  From  a  previous 
formula  we'have  r=2n2g;  from  which  n=y  (r-r-2g). 

In  lining  the  lead  rails  of  turnouts  from  curves  the  middle  and 
quarter  ordinates  of  the  outer  rail  are  different  from  those  used  for  leads 
from  straight  track.  In  Table  XI  there  is  a  column  giving  the  rate  of  change 
in  the  ordinate  per  degree  of  curvature  of  main  track.  When  the  turn- 
out is  from  the  outside  of  the  curve  the  ordinate  should  be  decreased  at. 
this  rate,  and  when  it  is  from  the  inside  of  the  curve  the  ordinate  should 
be  increased  at  the  same  rate.  This  rate  of  change  is  found  by  dividing  the 
ordinate  for  straight  track  by  the  degree  of  turnout  curve  for  straight 
track  which  corresponds  to  the  number  of  the  frog  used. 

The  length  of  switch  in  turnouts  fronl  curves  is  also  practically  the 
same  as  in  turnouts  from  straight  track.  The  length  of  switch,  however, 
need  not  always  be  laid  down  to  exact  measurement,  since  it  can  be  deter- 
mined easily  by  trial,,  by  throwing  it  first  to  main  track  and  then  to  switch, 
backwards  and  forwards,  as  the  rails  are  being  spiked  at  the  heel.  Owing 
to  the  fact  that  some  rails  are  stiff er  than  others,  the  switch  will  sometimes 
curve  better  if  not  made  exactly  the  computed  length,  being  lengthened  or 
shortened  by  spiking  less  or  more  ties,  respectively,  as  it  seems  to  curve 
best  to  meet  the  fixed  ends  of  the  lead  rails. 

In  turnouts  from  the  inside  of  curved  track  the  curvature,  of  the  turn- 
out runs  up  pretty  fast  as  the  curvature  of  main  track  increases,  and  unless 
frogs  of  the  higher  numbers  are  introduced  the  limit  is  soon  reached.  Al- 
though freight  cars  and  some  switching  engines  may  be  successfully  oper- 
ated around  curves  as  high  as  60  deg.  or  more,  the  limit  for  ordinary  loco- 
motives, where  guard  rails  are  not  used,  is  about  16  or  17  deg.  So  frogs  of 
higher  number  than  would  ordinarily  be  used  on  straight  track  .may 
come  into  use  in  turnouts  from  the  inside  of  curves,  but  in  turnouts  from 
the  outside  of  curves  the  reverse  is  true ;  that  is,  frogs  of  the  lower  numbers 
are  brought  into  service.  » 

57.  Laying  Stub-Switch  Turnouts. — As  a  rule  but  few  turnouts 
are  put  in  when  track  is  first  built,  and  hence  the  work  of  laying  turnouts 
usually  involves  tearing  up  the  old  track.  A  matter  of  importance  in  lav- 
ing a  turnout  is  to  do  it  with  a  minimum  cutting  of  rails.  Where  the  track 
is  laid  with  square  joints  and  the  frog  is  of  such  angle  and  length  that  it 
can  go  in,  either  behind  two  30-ft.  rails  and  make  the  proper  lead  distance, 
or  else  with  one  30-ft.  rail  and  a  piece,  so  as  to  'take  up  just  60  ft.  and 
make  the  proper  lead  distance,  a  stub  switch  turnout  can  be  put  in  by  cut- 
ting only  one  main  rail — that  to  make  room  for  the  frog.  By  the  latter  ar- 
rangement one  rail  additional  must  be  cut  for  the  turnout  between  switch 
and  frog,  while  with  the  former  it  need  not.  The  deviation  of  a  few  feet 


LAYING    STUB-SWITCH    TURNOUTS  295 

either  way  from  the  exact  lead  distance  can  be  made  without  materially  im- 
pairing the  lead  curve ;  still  it  is  just  as  easy  to  make  a  frog  of  one  angle  as- 
another,  and  it  is  of  no  consequence  if  the  frog  number  be  fractional.  In 
standard  practice  the  exact  distances  may  be  had  as  well  as  not,  and  by 
standardizing  there  is  a  saving  of  expense,  as  then  fewer  frogs  need  be  car- 
ried in  stock.  This  matter  can  easily  be  provided  for  by  a  little  calculation. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  that  the  frog  is  made  a  standard  length  of  10  ft.  and 
that  its  point  is  6  ft.  from  its  heel  and  4  ft.  from  its  toe.  Let  the  throw 
be  5  ins.  Then  if  the  frog  be  put  in  behind  two  3'0-ft.  rails,  from  the  head- 
block,  the  lead  distance  will  be  64  ft.  and  the  frog  angle  corresponding 
to  this  lead,  5°  55';  the  number  is  9.67.  If  a  frog  of  the  same  length 
from  point  to  heel  and  toe  was  put  in  within  the  60  ft.,  the  lead  distance 
would  be  54  ft.  and  the  frog  angle  required  would  be  7°  01' ;  the  frog  num- 
ber corresponding  is  8.16.  Thus  by  making  the  frog  of  standard  length  each 
way  from  its  point,  a  standard  lead  distance  by  something  less  or  more  than 
60  -ft.,  as  the  case  may  be,  can  be  used  by  making  the  frog  angle  to  suit  this 
lead.  One  or  both  of  the  frogs  calculated  in  this  manner  might  be  chosen 
as  standard,  both  being  about  equally  convenient  for  laying;  say  No.  8.16 
where  the  shorter  lead  would  answer,  and  No.  9.67  where  the  longer  lead 
would  be  desired-  The  former  gives  a  turnout  curve  of  9°  8J',  the  latter  6° 
30^'.  To  purposely  make  frog  numbers  integral,  simply  for  the  sake  of  it,  is 
of  no  particular  convenience.  On  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry.  the 
scheme  for  avoiding  the  cutting  of  closure  rails  (  the  standard  frog  numbers 
with  one  exception  being  integral)  is  to  vary  the  lengths  of  the  frog  leg?* 
to  fit  in  with  closure  rails  of  standard  length — 24  ft.,  28  ft.  or  30  ft. — as- 
explained  in  connection  with  the  work  of  laying  point  switches  (§  69). 

After  the  location  for  the  headblock  has  been  determined  upon  and  the 
place  to  be  occupied  by  the  frog  has  been  noted,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is 
to  put  in  the  switch  ties,  if  such  are  to  be  used.  If  there  is  time  between 
trains,  the  main-track  rail  on  the  frog  side  had  better  be  taken  up  f6r  60 
feet  and  the  rail  on  the  other  side  blocked  up,  in  order  that  the  old  ties  may 
be  taken  out  without  so  much  digging.  In  this  way  the  ties  may  be 
changed  in  half  the  time  required  to  dig  between  each  two  and  take  them 
out  in  the  usual  manner;  besides,  at  least  one  rail  on  that  side  must  be 
taken  up  anyway,  to  let  in  the  frog.  If  there  is  not  time  between  trains, 
one  or  two  ties  may  be  removed  at  a  time,  as  opportunity  offers,  and  replaced 
with  switch  ties,  but  such  rails  as  must  be  taken  up  when  the  frog  goes  in 
should  not  be  full  spiked ;  on  straight  line,  it  is  well  enough  to  simply  tack 
down  part  of  the  spikes,  not  driving  them  all  the  way  down.  Care  should 
be  taken  not  to  dig  into  the  beds  of  the  old  ties  any  more  than  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  let  in  the  switch  ties  snugly,  as  thereby  much  tamping  can  be 
avoided.  If  short, ties  (8-ft.  ties)  are  to  be  used  in  the  turnout,  the  first 
thing  to  do  is  to  lay  a  guard  rail  opposite  the  place  where  the  frog  is  to  go 
in ;  and  in  any  case  the  guard  rail  can  be  and  should  be  laid  before  the  frog 
is  placed.  If  the  rails  on  hand  for  laying  the  turnout  are  not  suitable  for 
use  in  main  track,  then  the  main-track  rails  must  be  taken  up  and  cut.  In 
any  event,  frog,  guard  rail  and  long  switch  ties,  when  used,  go  in  first,  and 
after  these  the  headblock. 

By  using  blocks  of  the  same  thickness  as  the  headshoes,  or  slightly 
less,  the  headblock  may  be  put  in  without  the  headshoes  (splicing  all  joints' 
in  the  rails)  and  be  so  left  for  any  length  of  time,  in  case  the  work  is  inter- 
rupted at  this  point;  but  lead  rails  should  not  be  spiked  down  until  after  the 
switch  ties  have  been  tamped  to  surface,  the.  main  track  -between  switch 
and  frog  put  in  line  and  headshoes  in  place.  When  short  ties  instead  of 


SWITCHING    ARRAXGEMKXTS    AXD    APPLIAXCES 

switch  ties  are  used  in  the  turnout,,  the  track  between  headblock  and  frog 
should  be  put  to  surface,  if  not  already  so,  before  the  short  ties  are  laid. 

The  remainder  of  the  work  may  be  done  in  such  order  of  arrangement 
as  seems  most  convenient.  Lead  rails  may  be  bolted  together  and  to  the 
frog,  and  lie  in  the  track  secured  by  tacking  a  spike  011  a  tie  near  the 
toe  of  the  switch,  so  that  the  loose  end  may  not  be  swung  around  by  any 
means  and  get  in  the  way  of  the  flanges  of  passing  car  wheels.  Switch 
rods  may  be  placed  on  the  moving  rails  and  the  rails  may  then  be  partially 
spiked  down  again,  if  there  is  not  time  between  trains  to  connect  them  to 
the  stand  and  secure  it.  When  this  is  done  braces  should  be  put  down  tem- 
porarily to  keep  the  rail  ends  in  place  on  the  headshoes.  Angle  bars  or 
fish  plates  placed  endwise  against  the  web  of  the  rail  and  spiked  to  the 
headblock,  through  the  bolt  holes,  and  at  the  end,  serve  well  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  switch  rods  are  driven  on  from  the  headblock  end  of  the 
moving  rails,  blocking  up  the  rails  a  tie  or  two  back  from  the 
headblock  and  starting  all  the  rods  on  together,  if  they  are  nearly  enough 
of  the  same  gage  (as  they  should  be)  to  allow  it.  The  moving  rails  are  then 
blocked  up  at  their  ends  and  the  rods  driven  to  place.  There  is  no  need  of 
taking  splices  from  both  ends  of  the  moving  rails  in  order  to  get  the  rods  on, 
or  of  pulling  more  spikes  than  to  make  free  the  proper  length  of  switch 
rail.  Switch  rods  should,  as  a  general  thing,  be  equally  spaced;  but  some- 
times after  throwing  the  moving  rails  and  trying  a  few  times  it  may  be  seen 
that  they  can  be  moved  to  give  the  rails  a  better  curvature  than  where  all 
the  rods  are  equally  spaced ;  besides,  the  spacing  of  the  ties  will  not  always 
admit  of  even  spacing  of  rods.  Moving  rails  of  stub  switches  should  always 
be  the  full  length  of  30  feet,  so  as  to  avoid  having  a  joint  near  the  heel.  If 
ihere  is  a  piece  of  rail  to  go  in  on  that  side  of  the  headblock  it  should  be 
put  in  back  of  the  moving  rails.  With  the  frog  and  guard  rail  in,  switch 
rods  on,  and  moving  rails  connected  to  the  stand,  in  its  place,  the  main-track 
part  of  the  work  is  done. 

Where  track  is  laid  broken  jointed,  more  cuts  must  generally  be  made 
than  where  the  joints  are  even.  If  the  frog  is  No.  6_>  7  or  10  it  is  generally 
better  to  locate  the  headblock  underneath  a  joint  on  the  side  opposite  the 
frog.  With  a  frog  of  any  other  number  it  is  usually  better  to  locate  the 
headblock  under  a  joint  on  the  frog  side  of  the  track,  as  by  so  doing,  some 
cuts,  to  avoid  putting  in  short  pieces,  will  be  saved.  Where  the  headblock  is 
located  under  a  joint  there  will  frequently  be  sufficient  expansion  space  in 
the  joints  each  way  to  close  up  some  and  allow  room  for  the  necessary  open- 
ing between  the  rails  at  the  headblock ;  if  not,  then  a  piece  must  be  cut  off, 
If  hack  saws  are  used,  any  length  of  piece  can  be  taken  off,  but  it  is  difficult 
to  notch  and  break  off  a  piece  shorter  than  3  ins.  with  hammer  and  track 
chisel.  Whatever  length  of  piece  is  cut  off,  there  should  not  be  left  a  clear 
sr^ce  of  more  than  |  in.  at  the  headblock,  but  the  excess  opening  should  be 
distributed  among  the  joints  each  way.  Where  a  rail  must  be  taken  out  to 
be  cut,  so  as  to  give  more  opening  at  the  headblock,  the  moving  rail  should 
not  be  cut  unless  the  end  is  battered.  It  is  easier  to  take  out  one  of  the  rails 
behind  the  moving  rail.  Ends  of  moving  rails  on  headblocks  should  be  di- 
rectly opposite  each  other :  that  is,  squarely  across  the  track  from  each  other ; 
and  no  lip  should  be  permitted  to  exist.  Half  fish  plates  are  sometimes 
bolted  to  the  ends  of  stub  switch  rails,  to  strengthen  the  web  and  prevent 
the  end  of  the  rail  from  being  battered  down.  This  practice  was  quite  com- 
mon when  iron  rails  were  used. 

In  setting  a  switch  stanu  the  connection  with  the  head  or  neck  rod 
should  be  made  before  the  stand  is  secured  to  the  headblock,  and  the  moving 
rails  should  be  in  the  main-track  position,  without  lip.  If  the  stand  is  then 


LAYING    STUB-SWITCH    TURNOUTS  297 

made  fast  and  there  is  no  lost  motion,  and  the  throw  is  right,  there  will  be 
no  lip  when  the  switch  is  thrown  to  the  turnout. 

Lip  is  the  lateral  projection  of  a  rail  end  at  a  joint ;  it  is  most  bother- 
some and  dangerous  at  the  headblocks  of  stub  switches.  It  may  be  caused 
between  switch  and  lead  rails  by  improper  setting  of  the  switch  stand  or  of 
the  headshoes ;  by  improper  throw ;  by  wearing  of  parts  in  the  stand  or  of 
the  bolts  in  connecting  joints ;  or  by  the  switch  rail  becoming  loose  through 
wear  in  the  head  rod  connection  therewith.  The  remedy  for  the  first  cause 
is,  of  6ourse,  to  reset  the  stand  or  headshoes.  Oftentimes  proper  care  is 
not  exercised  to  make  the  gage  at  the  stub  ends  of  the  lead  rails  in  main 
track  or  turnout  correspond  with  the  gage  between  the  ends  of  the  switch 
rails.  The  best  way  to  prevent  improper  throw — that  is,  a  throw  not  corres- 
ponding to  the  movement  required  by  the  distance  between  the  lead  rail  ends 
in  the  headshoes — is  to  inspect  all  switch  stands  and  headshoes  before  Fend- 
ing them  from  the  storeroom.  Herein  lies  the  value  of  having  everything 
standard.  Lost  motion  must  be  taken  up.  Sheet  tin  cut  from  old  tomato 
cans  comes  handy  to  wrap  around  bolts  or  to  put  in  bearings  to  take  up  lost 
motion,  when  bolts  of  larger  size  or  new  parts  are  not  on  hand.  Bails  loose 
in  switch  rods  can  be  keyed. 

Lead  rails  should  be  curved  before  they  are  laid ;  otherwise  it  is  difficult 
to  prevent  them  from  twisting  the  headshoes  around  when  attempting  to 
spring  a  curve  into  them.  Both  legs  or  ends  of  frog  rails  are  usually  cut  off 
at  the  same  length,  and  as  the  turnout  lead  is  2  or  3  ins.  longer  than  the 
main-track  lead,  where  a  frog  is  put  behind  two  30-ft.  rails  there  will  be 
an  opening  of  corresponding  length  in  the  turnout  lead.  To  avoid  leaving 
the  rails  open  at  this  point  or  cutting  rails  to  close  the  space  it  is  usual  to 
fill  the  opening  with  a  short  piece  of  rail  which  trackmen  call  a  "dutchman." 
The  ends  of  all  cut  rails  meeting  at  a  splice  should  be  drilled,  so  that  all 
splices  in  both  main  track  and  turnout  may  be  full  bolted.  By  putting,  the 
cut  ends  of  the  rails  into  the  headshoes  the  drilling  of  some  holes  may  be 
avoided.  To  resist  creeping  as  much  as  possible  the  splices  between  frog 
and  switch  and  at  all  joints  in  the  vicinity  should  be  slot-spiked,  and  to  per- 
mit this  the  switch  ties  must,  of  course,  be  spaced  accordingly. 

When  laying  a  turnout  it  is  well  to  bring  to  the  site  an  assortment  of 
spare  pieces  of  rails  if  the  same  happen  to  be  conveniently  at  hand.  When 
such  is  done  it  is  often  the  case  that  combinations  of  pieces  can  be  selected 
which  will  save  cutting  rails.  It  is  well  for  section  foremen  to  keep  a  list 
giving  the  exact  length  of  each  spare  piece  of  rail  on  the  section,  and  the 
location  of  it.  By  a  piece  of  rail  is  meant,  of  course,  any  piece  shorter  than 
the  standard  rail  length.  Every  time  a  cut  can  be  avoided  there  is  a  saving 
of  time  and  usually  some  waste  o'f  material  is  avoided. 

There  are  so  many  little  details  connected  with  the  work  of  laying  a 
turnout,  and  circumstances  may  vary  so  much,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  de- 
scribe the  work  except  in  a  general  way.  Much  must  be  left  to  the  judgment 
of  the  foreman  in  charge.  Shortly  after  a  road,  has  been  built,  when  there 
are  many  turnouts  to  go  in,  and  when  many  of  the  foremen  are  new  and  in- 
experienced, it  is  economy  to  select  one  or  two  foremen  who  are  experts  at 
laying  turnouts,  and  give  them  crews  of  their  own,  to  put  in  all  the  turnouts 
to  standard  requirements.  In  order  to  make  fair  headway,  where  trains  must 
be  dodged,  the  work  must  be  crowded  a  little,  at  times ;  but  unless  men  have 
had  some  experience  they  cannot  do  this.  One  or  two  crews  engaged  in  lay- 
ing turnouts  soon  become  skillful  at  the  work,  whereas,  if  they  are  laid  on 
t'ach  section  by  its  own  crew  the  men  just  begin  to  learn  how  when  they  get 
through,  and  that  at  the  expense  of  the  company,  both  in  the  cost  and  qual- 
ity of  the  work.  It  is  well  to  make  up  the  extra  crew  or  crews  engaged  at 


298  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

this  work  by  taking  a  man  or  two  from  each  section,  for  a  few  sections  each 
way  from  where  the  work  is  being  done.  When  not  bothered  much  by  trains,, 
a  good  foreman  and  six  fair  trackmen  can  put  in  either  a  stub  or  a  split 
switch  turnout  in  one  day  of  ten  hours,  including  the  removal  of  old  track 
ties  and  putting  in  switch  ties.  The  remainder  of  what  is  said  concerning 
the  work  of  putting  in  the  different  parts  of  a  turnout  is  included  under  dis- 
cussions of  the  several  parts  of  a  turnout  as  they  are  separately  taken  up. 

58.  Frogs. — A  frog,  of  any  of  the  kinds  in  general  use,  is  made  of 
four  pieces  of  rail  properly  shaped  and  held  together  by  some  device  or  ar- 
rangement of  minor  parts.  Figure  68  shows  the  principal  parts  of  a  rigid 
frog  and  the  conventional  names  for  the  same.  The  pieces  of  rail  A  B  and 
C  D  are  called  the  wings  or  wing  rails.  The  ends  B  and  D  are  flared  3^  to 
4  ins.,  in  a  length  of  10  to  15  ins.,  to  serve  as  a  guard  for  the  wheel  flanges. 
The  portion  II  K  L  is  the  tongue,  it  being  usually  about  J  in.  thick  or  wide 
at  the  end  H,  and  sometimes  chamfered  off  about  1/16  in.  at  the  corners. 
The  imaginary  point  P,  where  the  gage  lines  of  the  frog  intersect,  is  the 
point  of  frog  or  simply  the  point;  the  blunt  end  H  is  the  point  of  tongue  and 
not  the  point  of  frog;  it  is  also  quite  commonly  called  the  half-inch  point.  The- 


Fig.  68. — Standard  Frog  Terms. 

ends  A  and  C  are  called  the  toe  of  the  frog;  the  ends  E  and  F,  the  heel. -The 
open  portion  T,  where  the  wings  are  nearest,  is  called  the  throat,  and  some- 
times the  knee.  The  space  between  the  toe  and  the  throat  is  called  the  mouth . 
The  spaces  between  the  wings  and  the  pieces  H  E  and  L  F  are  the  channels 
or  flangeways*  H  E  and  L  F  are  made  straight  and  are  called  the  point 
pieces;  H  E  is  the  main  point  or  long  point  and  L  F  the  side  point  or  short 
point.  H  E  is  supposed  to  be  used  fo-r  the  main  track,  and  hence  frogs 
made  in  this  way  are  known  conventionally  as  right-hand  or  left-hand,  ac- 
cording as  the  side  point  piece  is  on  the  right  or  left  side  as  one  faces  the 
point.  The  side  point,  however,  is  usually  supported  by  the  rail  flange  of 
the  main  point  and  used  as  a  main-track  or  side-track  rail  indifferently,  so 
that  with  rigid  frogs  it  is  not  usual  to  make  a  distinction  between  rights  and 
lefts.  Some  prefer  to  use  the  side  point  for  main  track,  for  the  reason  that 
if  it  is  weaker  than  the  main  point  it  will  receive  severe  treatment  from  the 
false  flanges  of  badty  worn  tires. 

In  the  process  of  the  manufacture  of  the  frog  the  point  pieces  should 
be  planed  down  cold  and  not  heated  and  forged.  A  dovetail  joint  between 
main  and  side  point  pieces  is  preferable  to  a  straight  joint  without  notch- 
ing. The  point  pieces  should  be  securely  riveted  together,  through  the  webs, 
with  not  smaller  than  £-in.  rivets.  In  order  to  avoid  drawing  the  temper 
of  the  metal  the  wing  rails  should  also  be  worked  cold,  or  heated  no  higher 
than  is  really  necessary  when  they  are  bent.  The  bending  should  be  to  the 
arc  of  a  small  circle  and  not  to  a  sharply  defined  angle.  The  throat  is  nec- 
essarily a  trifle  wider  than  the  channels  converging  thereat,  even  if  it  is  as- 
sumed that  the  wings  are  bent  to  an  angle ;  this  for  the  simple  reason  that 


FROGS  299 

the  measurement  of  the  throat  is  not  made  perpendicularly  to  the  direction 
of  either  channel.  As  the  wings  are  bent  to  an  arc  the  throat  must  needs  be 
somewhat  wider  still,  and  therefore  appreciably  wider  than  the  channels. 
As  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  find  the  point  of  frog  it  is  a  good  idea,  if 
the  construction  of  the  frog  will  admit,  to  indicate  this  point  by  a  punch 
mark  or  by  a  cross  cut  with  a  cold  chisel,  on  the  filling  or  plate. 

The  angle  of  the  frog  is  the  angle  K  P  L  or  E  P  F.  The  frog  number 
is  the  rate  at  which  the  rails  forming  the  frog  diverge  in  proportion  to  its- 
length  ;  it  might  also  be  correctly  called  the  proportion  of  the  frog.  It  may 
be  found  by  dividing  the  distance  from  point  of  frog  to  heebby-the  spread 
at  the  heel,  between  gage  lines  (P  G-'-E  F)  ;  or  by  dividing  the  length  of 
the  frog,  over  all,  by  the  sum  of  the  distances  between  gage  lines  at  heel  and 
toe,  or  on  both  ends — that  is,  M  G  -f-(  E  F  +  A  (7).  Example:  if  a  frog 
is  9  ft.  long  and  the  gage  sides  of  the  rails  are  7  ins.  apart  at  the  toe  and  5 
ins.  apart  at  the  heel,  then  the  frog  number  =(9X12)-v-(7+5)=  9.  It  is 
more  usual  to  denote  a  frog  by  its  number  than  by  its  angle,  and  the  angle 
is  usually  made  such  that  the  proportion  or  number  is  an  integral  number, 
although  there  is  no  particular  reason  why  it  should  necessarily  be  so. 

A  convenient  way  of  ascertaining  the  frog  number  when  no  measuring 
instrument  is  at  hand  is  to  cut  a  stick  the  length  ofEF  and  apply  it  to  the 
distance  P  G.  This  distance  expressed  in  lengths  of  the  stick  is,  of  course, 
the  frog  number.  The  number  of  a  frog  is  57.3  deg.  or  3438  min.  divided 
by  the  frog  angle;  or,  converse!}',  the  angle  of  a  frog  is  3440  min.  divided 
by  the  frog  number.  Trigonometrically  expressed,  the  number  is  half  the 
cotangent  of  half  the  frog  angle,  or  n—  -J  cot  ^  F. 

The  established  rule  for  finding  frog  numbers  is  as  above  stated. 
Nevertheless,  some  of  the  manufacturers  consider  the  frog  number  to  be  the 
ratio  between  any  distance  on  gage  line  and  the  spread  at  that  point,  a& 

1 
p  fj-^-E  F  (Fig.  68)  or  P  A—A  C.     This  makes  the  frog  number  - 

2  Sin  P' 
1 
(OT  practically  -        —for  frogs  of  ordinary  angle).  The  difference  between 

SinF 
this  value  and  -J  cot  -J  F  is  so  small  that  it  is  not  worth  taking  into  account. 

Number  9  and  No.  10  frogs  are  the  ones  in  largest  use  in  main  track. 
In  yards  Nos.  7  and  8  are  most  frequently  used,  with  No.  7  perhaps  in  the 
lead. 

Rigid  Frogs. — Frogs  are  of  two  kinds — rigid  or  stiff -rail  frogs  and 
spring-rail  frogs.  In  a  rigid  frog  all  the  parts  composing  it  are  supposed 
to  be  rigidly  connected.  The  parts  of  both  rigid  and  spring-rail  frogs  are 
joined  together  in  three  different  ways :  (1)  by  placing  filler  blocks  between 
the  pieces  of  rails  and  holding  them  together  with  bolts  passing  through  the 
webs;  (2)  by  riveting  the  flanges  of  the  pieces  of  rails  to  a  plate;  and  (3) 
by  clamps  or  by  clamps  and  wedges.  Figure  69  shows  a  bolted  frog;  Figure 
70,  a  riveted  frog;  and  Fig.  71,  a  clamped  frog,  all  being  common  types.  Of 
the  three  ways  the  bolted  frog  gives  the  best  satisfaction,  if  it  is  properly 
made.  The  base  of  the  main  point  piece  at  and  near  its  end  should  be  planed 
to  take  a  bearing  on  the  flanges  of  the  wing  rails,  as  shown  sectionally  in  Figs. 
69  and  71.  The  base  of  the  side  point  should,  in  the  same  manner,  be  planed 
to  rest  upon  the  flange  of  the  main  point  piece,  but  unless  the  frog  bolts  are 
kept  tight  the  support  from  these  parts  cannot  be  maintained  satisfactorily, 
for  the  bearing  is  rapidly  worn  away  after  the  parts  get  loose.  Without 
some  means  of  support  independent  of  the  frog  bolts  it  cannot  be  expected 
to  hold  the  tongue  to  place  under  load.  In  forming  the  point  pieces  the 
full  web  support  should  be  carried  to  the  extreme  end  of  the  piece.  In  order 


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SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


to  do  this  it  is  necessary  to  bend  the  end  of  the  piece  sufficiently  to  bring 
the  web  over  to  meet  the  line  of  the  planing.  An  example  of  such  bending 
is  shown  by  the  broken  lines  illustrating  the  webs  of  the  point  pieces  in  Fig. 
74.  Additional  support  for  the  tongue  should  be  obtained  by  shaping  the 
channel  filling  to  a  snug  fit  under  the  head  projections.  The  end  of  the 
tongue  is  sometimes  made  as  thin  as  f  in.,  but  seldom  thinner.  The  end  of 
the  tongue,  above  the  filling, -is  sometimes  cut  off  to  a  sloping  edge  (Fig.  69) 
instead  of  a  vertical  one. 

The  bolted  frog  usually  has  7  bolts.  They  should  be  1  or  1J  ins.  in 
diam.,  according  to  the  size  of  the  rail,  and  the  holes  should  be  drilled 
perpendicularly  to  the  axis  of  the  frog;  that  is,  perpendicular  to  the  line 
MG,  Fig.  68.  The  specifications  of  some  roads  require  that  the  bolts  of 
rigid  frogs  shall  be  set  perpendicular  to  the  main-line  rail,  but  such  increases 


Fig.  69. — Rigid  Bolted  and  Filled  Frog. 

their  angularity  with  the  turnout  rail.  The  drillings  for  the  bolts  of 
spring-rail  frogs  are  made  perpendicular  to  the  main- track  rail  or  gage 
line. 

Formerly  the  channel  filling  of  frogs  was  made  of  cast  iron,  but  wrought 
iron  or  rolled  steel  is  preferable,  and  these  are  now  the  standard  materials 
for  this  purpose.  Cast  filler  blocks  are  sometimes  made  in  one  solid  forked - 
like  piece  which  straddles  the  tongue  and  fills  both  channels.  The  Elliot 
Frog  &  Switch  Co.  accomplishes  the  same  end  with  wrought  iron  and 
steel  filling  by  welding  together  the  two  pieces  ahead  of  the  point. 
Another  method  of  forming  solid  filling,  in  practice  to  some  extent,  is  to 
cast-weld  it  in  place  after  the  rail  pieces  of  the  frog  are  bolted  together  or 
otherwise  assembled.  The  filler  blocks  should  be  machined  to  fit  snugly 
between  the  rail  pieces  and  they  should  extend  from  the  flare  of  the  wing 
rails  to  6  or  8  ins.  ahead  of  the  point.  Cast  beveled' washers  are  used  to 
provide  an  even  bearing  for  the  bolt  heads  and  nuts.  The  throat  of  a 
bolted  frog  should,  for  strength,  be  filled  and  bolted.  Usually  a  6-in. 
filler  is  placed  at  this  point,  but  in  Fig.  72  is  shown  a  frog  which  has 
been  used  by  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.  having  a  throat 


Fig.  70.— Rigid  Plate-Riveted  Frog. 


•  FROGS 


301 


LU 

Fig.  71. — Rigid  Clamped   Frog. 

filling  block  extending  a  sufficient  distance  into  the  mouth  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  a  foot  guard.  Blocks  are  also  placed  at  the  flare  of  the  wing 
rails  for  the  same  purpose.,  the  whole  arrangement  contributing  very  much 
to  increase  the  rigidity  of  the  frog. 

The  pieces  of  rail  in  a  plate  frog  are  secured  to  the  plate  by  two  rows 
of  rivets,  staggered,  and  sometimes  countersunk  on  the  under  side.  The  plate 
used  on  different  roads  varies  in  thickness  from  f  in.  to  1  in.,  f  in.  being 
quite  common.  The  plate  should  be  at  least  5  ft.  long,  and  no  wider  than  to 
allow  for  proper  security  in  riveting,  so  as  to  discommode  tamping  as  lit- 
tle as  possible ;  for  this  purpose  the  plate  "may  be  cut  with  the  long  edge& 
parallel  with  the  wing  rails  (see  Fig.  70)  rather  than  rectangular.  The 
rivets  should  be  about  J  in.  in  diam.  Frogs  constructed  on  tie  plates,  and 
other  frogs  which  have  tie  plates  riveted  to  them,  are  in  use  to  some  extent , 
to  prevent  cutting  into  the  ties.  Either  arrangement,  however,  can  hardly 
be  considered  an  improvement,  for  the  separate  tie  plates  when  substi- 
tuted for  the  ordinary  large  plate  do  not  make  so  rigid  a  frog ;  and  so  far 
as  the  purpose  of  a  tie  plate  is  concerned,  it  is  just  as  well,  and  perhaps 
better,  not  to  attach  the  plates  to  the  frog,  since  they  may  then  be  shifted 


Fig.  72. — Frog  with  Mouth  and   Heel  Filling,  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  Ry.      . 

to  suit  the  positions  of  the  ties;  otherwise  the  ties,  if  already  laid,  as  in 
renewing  a  frog  in  an  old  turnout,  might  have  to  be  shifted  to  suit  the 
positions  of  the  plates.  As  in  other  frogs,  the  point  'rails  of  plate  frogs 
should  be  riveted  together. 

The  pieces  of  rail  in  a  clamped  frog,  also  known  as  a  yoked  frog,  are 
held  in  two  ways:  (1)  by  wedges  which  are  driven  against  the  web  of  the 
rail  and  held  in  the  clamp  by  keys,  or  else  by  wedges  which  are  held  and 
adjusted  by  bolts  (the  better  method)  which  draw  them  to  a  close  fit,  a* 
in  Fig.  71;  and  (2)  by  solid  clamps  or  yokes  which  engage  the  frog  rail 
pieces  directty,  by  a  close  fit  around  the  rail  flange  and  against  the  web,  the 
clamps  being  held  to  place  by  adjustable  side  rods  that  pass  through  the 
clamps  and  are  made  fast  to  the  wing  rails.  One  well  known  example  of 
this  type  is  the  Strom  frog,  Fig.  73.  The  side  or  stay  rods  in  this  case 
hook  around  the  ends  of  the  wing  rails.  As  the  clamps-  wear  loose  they 
are  driven  on  further  and  held  against  slipping  back  by  following  up  with 
spring  cotters  on  the  rods.  The  fillings  and  wing  rails  are  held  against 


302 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


slipping  by  countersinking  the  heads  of  rivets  into  the  fillings.  No  bolts 
pass  through  either  the  rails  or  filling  pieces.  Another  frog  of  this  type 
is  the  Eamapo  yoked  frog,  Fig.  74.  The  yokes  or  clamps  are  adjustable 
by  means  of  stay  bolts  extending  parallel  with  the  wing  rails.  The  Weir 
clamped  rigid  frog  has  two  steel  clamps  4  ins.  wide  by  1-J  ins.  thick,  and  is 
tightened  by  means  of  two  steel  wedges.  The  filling  blocks  at  each 
clamp  (Fig.  75)  are  secured  by  a  long  through  pin.  But  few  claim  to 
obtain  satisfactory  service  from  the  clamped  frog.  The  clamps  work  loose 
in  spite  of  the  utmost  care  to  keep  the  wedges  screwed  or  driven  on  tightly. 
In  laying  the  frog  the  switch  ties  must  be  spaced  to  dodge  the  clamps  or 
else  they  must  be  notched  to  let  the  clamps  into  the  tie.  It  is  not,  there- 
fore, a  convenient  frog  to  use  where  switch  ties  are  already  in  or  where 
another  style  of  frog  has  been  taken  up,  as  some  respacing  of  the  ties  is 
usually  necessary.  Clamped  frogs  have  too  many  parts,  are  nearly  always 


Fig.  73. — Strom  Clamped  Frog. 

loose,  and  on  general  principles,  really  possess  the  least  merit  of  any  of  the 
three  forms.  As  expressed  by  vote  in  the  annual  convention  of  the  Eoad- 
masters'  Association  of  America,  in  1897,  29  preferred  the  bolted  and 
filled  frog,  9  the  plate  frog  and  7  the  clamped  frog.  A  clamped  frog  is 
stiffened  and  improved  by  placing  a  clamp  and  filling  block  at  the  throat. 

By  combining  the  principal  features  of  plate  and  bolted  frogs,  all 
weak  points  of  both  are  overcome  and  a  very  stiff  and  durable  frog  is  pro- 
duced. An  ordinary  bolted  frog  is  riveted  to  a  steel  plate.  The  plate  will 
keep  the  tongue  up  to  place  and  the  bolts  will  keep  the  wings  from  work- 
ing loose  and  shearing  the  rivets.  This  style  of  frog  is  now  extensively 
used  on  roads  where  rigid  frogs  are  preferred.  As  made  for  the  Pitts- 
burg  &  Western  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  roads,  the  wing  rails  are  not  riveted 
to  the  plate  ,  but  are  held  by  the  bolts  only.  The  rivets  which  hold  the 
frog  to  the  plate  are  passed  through  the  filling,  as  shown  in  Fig.  76.  This 
arrangement  permits  the  removal  and  renewing  of  the  wing  rails  without 
cutting  the  rivets.  One  feature  in  the  maintenance  of  plate  frogs  not  to 
be  overlooked  is  the  fact  that  the  plate  does  not  wear  out  with  the  frog, 
but  may  be  used  over  and  over. 

There  is  another  device  not  answering  exactly  to  the  description  of 
any  one  of  the  three  foregoing  types,  known  as  the  "U-plate"  frog.  It  is 
made  principally  for  use  with  rails  not  exceeding  60  -Ibs.  per  yard.  The 
wing  rails  are  bolted  to  the  point  pieces  by  means  of  heavy  steel  U-bars, 


Fig.  74.— Ramapo  Yoked  Frog. 


Fig.  75. — Weir  Frog  Clamp. 


FROGS 


303 


Fig.  76. — Combination  Bolted-Plate  Frog. 

which  are  riveted  to  the  point  pieces  each  side;  a  TJ-bar  is  also  placed  in 
is  that  a  deeper  channel  is  secured  than  could  be  had  with  ordinary  filling 
the  throat.  The  arrangement  is  shown  as  Fig.  77.  An  advantage  claimed 
blocks. 

Bigid  frogs  of  large"  angle  are  sometimes  made  with  short  pieces  of 
double-headed  wing  or  "easer  rail"  near  to  and  opposite  the  tongue,  so  as 
to  furnish  a  broader  bearing  surface  for  the  wheel  tread,  and,  thus  render 
cutting  less  severe.  This  double  head, is  made  by  planing  away  the  flange 
from  one  side  of  a  short  piece  of  rail  and  then  bolting  the  piece  to  the 
wing  rail.  The  space  for  a  short  distance  between  the  two  point  pieces 
in  rear  of  the  tongue  forms  a  place  for  the  outside  flange  of  badly  worn 
wheel  treads  to  spread  the  point  pieces  when  running  in  the  direction 
trailing  the  frog.  To  prevent  this  trouble  the  space  is  filled  with  a 
"heel  block"  or  "heel  raiser,"  as  shown  in  Fig.  76.  It  usually  consists  of 
a  short  piece  of  rail  planed  to  fit  between  the  point  pieces,  so  as  to  afford 


Section  AB. 
Fig.  77.— "U-Plate"  Frog. 

a  bearing  for  the  outer  flange  of  guttered  tires  and  carry  it  over  without 
spreading  apart  the  point  pieces.  The  broad,  end  of  this  piece  of  filler 
rail  is  sloped  clown  so  that  an  outside  flange  can  mount  it  gradually.  In 
some  instances  the  short  piece  of  rail  planed  down  for  the  heel  block 
is  inverted,  and  in  others  a  cast  steel  block  extending  far  enough  back  to 
serve  as  a  foot  guard  is  used.  In  any  case  the  "raiser"  or  "lifter"  piece 
should  extend  back  as  far  as  the  point  where  the  combined  width  of  block 
and  rail  head  covers  the  reach  of  the  engine  tires.  Heel  blocks  should  be 
securely  bolted  through  and  through  with  the  point  pieces,  as,  being 
wedge  shaped,  the  striking  of  "double  flanges"  tends  to  drive  the  block 
ahead  and  spread  the  point  pieces  apart.  In  some  instances  where  trou- 
ble of  this  kind  has  occurred  trackmen  have  taken  the  block  out  and 
thrown  it  away.  The  need  of  such  a  device  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that 


304 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


where  it  is  not  in  service  the  inner  top  edges  of  the  heads  of  the  point 
pieces  will  usually  be  found  chamfered  off  by  the  climbing  action  of  the 
wheels. 

Spring-Rail  Frogs. — In  an  ordinary  spring-rail  frog  the  wir.g  which 
takes  the  bearing  of  wheels  on  main  track  is  movable,  and,  except  when 
it  is  spread  by  the  flange  of  a  wheel  passing  through  the  turnout,  it  rests- 
against  the  point  pieces.  With  such  a  frog  there  is  normally  but  one  chan- 
nel. As  successive  wheels  pass  between  D  and  H  (Fig.  78)  the  movable 
wing,  or  "spring  rail,"  as  it  is  called,  is  pushed  aside  by  the  flanges  and 
returned  to  normal  postion  by  the  spring.  As  to  the  position  of  the  spring 
which  holds  the  movable  wing  against  the  point  rails  there  are  divers  ar- 
rangements. A  very  common  device  is  that  shown  in  Fig.  78,  consisting 
of  a  bolt  A-B  across  the  mouth  of  the  frog,  with  a  boxed  spiral  spring  at 
either  end.  The  objection  to  this  arrangement  is  that  the  bolt  or  spring; 


Fig.   78. — Ordinary    Bolted    Spring-Rail    Frog. 

is  exposed  at  both  sides  of  the  rail  to  the  chance  of  being  cut  by  a  derailed 
wheel.  A  safer  arrangement  in  this  respect  is  had  by  placing  the  springs 
in  the  position  shown  in  Fig.  83,  with  the  spring  bolt  through  the  tongue 
(Section  C-D},  but  it  stands  open  to  the  objection  that  only  a  slight  creep- 
ing of  the  rail  will  cause  the  bolt  to  bind  and  render  one  or  both  spring? 
inoperative  or  unable  to  return  the  spring  rail  to  its  normal  position.  In 
the  mouth  of  the  frog  the  spread  of  the  rails  gives  the  bolt  more  latitude 
of  movement  in  a  case  of  creeping,  and  it  is  not  so  liable  to  bind.  Another 
arrangement  which  is  considered  safer  against  derailed  wheels  than  the 
one  first  mentioned  is  that  of  using  a  boxed  spring  which  acts  against  the 
movable  wing  somewhere  between  point  of  frog  and  the  heel,  with  no- 
bolt  through  the  frog.  Figures  85  and  86  show  this  device.  It  is  found 
most  frequently,  but  not  exclusively,  with  hinge-rail  spring  frogs.  One- 
style  of  Weir  frog  has  both  arrangements — that  is,  there  is  a  spring  bolt 
across  the  mouth  of  the  frog  and  a  boxed  or  housed  spring  at  the  heel 
bend  of  the  movable  wing.  Any  rigid  frog  can  be  used  with  a  switch  turn- 
ing either  to  the  right  or  left,  whereas  the  same  spring-rail  frog  can  be 
used  only  with  switches  turning  in  one  direction;  hence  frogs  of  this  type- 
must  be  made  rights  or  lefts,  as  there  is  demand  for  them.  A  frog  or 


Seer i o.i  B-B. 


Fig.  79. — Anti-Creeping   Devices  for  Spring-Rail   Frogs. 


FROGS 


305 


switch  is  right  or  left  according  as  it  will  turn  a  car  to  the  right  or  left 
when  entering  the  turnout. 

The  spring-rail  frog  is  much  more  durable  than  the  rigid  frog,  as  it 
presents  a  continuous-bearing  main-track  rail,  and  does  not  therefore 
allow  the  wheel  to  drop  in  the  channel  after  trailing  the  point  and  cut 
into  the  wing  rail  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  tread.  Its  life  is  generally  con- 
ceded to  be  at  least  three  times  that  of  a  rigid  frog.  Spring-rail  frogs  of 
various  designs  have  to  a  large  extent  taken  the  place  of  rigid  frogs  for 
main-line  service  and  are  now  very  generally  standard.  For  the  successful 
operation  of  spring-rail  frogs  three  devices  are  recognized  as  particularly 
essential ;  namely,  an  anti-creeping  device,  a  holding-down  device  and  a 
reinforcement  for  the  spring  rail.  In  the  frog  of  ordinary  type  the  spring- 
rail  C  E  (Fig.  78)  is  secured  to  the  main-track  rail  only  by  a  splice  at 
the  joint  C.  A  connection  between  the  splice  and  turnout  leg  at  this  end 
of  the  frog  is  sometimes  made  by  bolting  a  heavy  bar  or  strap  between 
the  two,  as  shown  in  Fig.  79.  The  bolt  holes  of  this  strap  match  with 


\5&c.i~ior?  CO 
•Sect/or?   A  Fl 

Fig.  80. — Cast  Iron  Anchor  Block  for  Spring-Rail  Frogs. 

those  in  the  splice,  so  that  it  is  held  by  the  heads  of  the  ordinary  track 
bolts.  This  connection  holds  the  joint  at  the  toe  against  being  worked 
loose  or  spread  by  the  action  of  the  spring  rail  and  allows  of  no  creeping 
•of  that  rail  relatively  to  the  fixed  parts,  which,  if  permitted  to  occur,  would 
lock  or  bind  some  of  the  parts  of  the  frog  and  restrain  the  freedom  of  ac- 
tion of  the  spring  rail.  Thus,  for  instance,  creeping  might  cause  the 
holding-down  arms  to  bind  so  hard  in  their  housings  that  the  springs 
would  not  be  able  to  bring  the  movable  rail  back  against  the  point  piece 
•after  being  opened  by  passing  wheels.  There  is  also  a  danger  element  in 
unrestrained  creeping,  in  that  the  binding  action  on  the  spring  rail  may 
be  so  intense  that  it  will  not  spread  for  the  wheels  of  empty  freight  cars 
trailing  out  of  the  turnout.  In  such  cases  cars  have  been  known  to  climb 
the  rail  at  the  flare  and  go  off  the  track. 

Another  anti-creeping  arrangement  is  a  cast  iron  anchor  block  bolted 
in  between  and  through  the  two  joints  at  the  toe  and  spiked  to  the  tie 
underneath.  It  is  shown  in  Figs.  80  and  83.  Another  anti-creeping 
•device  is  had  by  attaching  the  spring  rail  to  one  end  of  a  parallel  arm  or 
link  arrangement  which  is  anchored  to  the  frog  plate,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
81.  One  pattern  of  Weir  spring  frog  designed  for  use  in  turnouts  with 
Wharton  switches  has  two  links  attached  to  the  spring  wing,  one  extend- 
ing from  its  pivot  toward  the  heel,  as  in  Fig.  81,  and  the  other 
extending  from  its  pivot  toward  the  toe,  or  in  the  opposite  direction 


306 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


from  that  of  the  other.  Owing  to  the  unbroken  rail  at  a  Wharton  switch 
the  tendency  of  the  main-track  lead  rail  to  creep  in  the  facing  direction 
is  greater  than  is  the  case  with  a  point  switch,  and  the  purpose  of  the  dou- 
ble link  arrangement  is  to  afford  a  stronger  resisting  device  and,  also,  by 
pivoting  each  link  to  stand  at  a  small  angle  with  the  spring  wing  (that  is, 
out  of  parallel  with  it),  to  always  force  the  spring  wing  against  the  point 
pieces,  no  matter  in  what  direction  creeping  takes  place.  In  Fig.  82  is 
shown  an  anti-creeping  device  consisting  of  a  link  carried  between  two 
strong  lugs  in  the  mouth  of  the  frog,  one  projecting  from  the  spring  rail 
and  the  other  from  the  turnout  leg. 

In  order  to  hold  down  the  free  end  of  the  spring  rail  while  wheels 
are  passing  a  low  joint  at  the  toe,  or  prevent  it  from  being  raised  by  dirt 
or  snow,  or  from  being  torn  up  by  dragging  brake  gear,  several  devices 
are  in  use.  That  shown  in  Figs.  78  and  83  is  common.  It  consists  of  a 
flat  bar  bolted  to  a  base  plate  and  passing  through  a  slot  in  the  web  of 
the  spring  rail,  beyond  which  it  is  attached  to  a  bolt  or  is  shouldered  and 
drawn  out  into  a  bolt  which  passes  through  the  rigid  rails.  Another 
device  consists  of  a  lug  or  plunger  bolted  to  the  web  of  the  spring  rail, 
and  working  into  a  holding-down  cuff  or  guide  box  secured  to  the  base 
plate,  as  shown  in  Figs.  81  and  82.  This  cuff  permits  some  longitudinal 
play  of  the  spring  rail  but  no  appreciable  vertical  play.  Another  form 

03  Q 


SECTION  A-B.  SECTION  C-D. 

Fig.  b1. — Link  Anti-Creeping  Device  for  Spring-Rail  Frog. 

of  holding-down  device  consists  of  a  narrow,  flat  plate  riveted  to  the  base 
of  the  spring  rail  and  extended  under  the  rigid  rails;  and  still  another 
consists  of  a  heavy  "monkey  tail"  strap  bolted  to  the  web  of  the  spring 
rail  at  the  end  and  twisted  downward  to  extend  under  the  rigid  rails.  This 
form  of  holding-down  device  for  a  plate  frog  is  bolted  to  the  web  of  the 
spring  rail  "at  the  side,  somewhere  near  the  end,  and  is  then  bent  around 
the  edge  of  the  plate  to  pass  underneath.  Figure  79  shows  a  combined  hold- 
ing-down and  anti-creeping  device  which  explains  itself.  •  The  anti-creep- 
ing attachment  to  the  splice  at  the  toe  is  obviously  not  used  with  this 
frog,  being  shown  in  this  figure  only  for  the  purpose  of  illustration. 
When  two  holding-down  devices  are  used  they  are  ordinarily  placed  oppo- 
site the  point  and  heel  respectively:  when  only  one,  it  is  placed  near  the 
heel.  The  spring  rail  is  prevented  from  being  opened  too  far  by  stops  or 
rail  braces  secured  to  the  base  plate  or  by  arranging  the  holding-down 
devices  to  answer  as  stops;  these  limit  its  movement  to  the  width  of  the 
proper  channel  or  flangeway.  They  ought  to  be  placed  opposite  throat, 
point,  and  heel  of  wing  rail  and  be  so  adjusted  that  they  act  together,  all 
opposing  any  abnormal  movement  of  the  spring  rail  at  the  same  time. 
Where  tie  plates  are  riveted  to  the  base  of  the  frog  the  ends  of  the  same 
are  sometimes  split  and  a  strip  of  metal  half  as  wide  as  the  plate  is  bent 
up  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  spring  rail  to  form  a  stop,  as  in  Fig. 
82  A.  In-  some  instances  where  enough  stops  have  not  been  provided  in 
the  construction  of  the  frog,  ordinary  rail  braces  have  been  used. 


JFROGS 


307 


The  flange  of  the  spring  rail,  opposite  the  point  pieces,  must  neces- 
sarily be  cut  away,  so  as  to  allow  its  head  to  rest  against  the  head  of  the 
point  piece.  This  trimming  of  the  flange  weakens  the  spring  rail,  and, 
for  a  long  time  a  valid  objection  to  the  use  of  the  spring-rail  frog  was  that 
when  the  spring  rail  broke  there  was  nothing  to  hold  the  broken  piece  in 
place,  whereas  in  a  bolted  or  plate-riveted  rigid  frog  the  broken  piece  is 
held  fast.  To  guard  against  the  probability  of  such  danger  all  spring 
rail  frogs  of  modern  pattern  have  the  spring  rail  reinforced  by  a  heavy 
wrought  iron  strap  or  equivalent  device  bolted  or  riveted  to  the  web.  This 
strap  is  usually  f  in.  thick  and  is  placed  on  the  outside  of  the-rail,  but 
an  additional  strap  about  fin.  thick  is  sometimes  secured  to  the  inside, 
thus  reinforcing  both  sides  of  the  web.  The  spring  rail  of  the  standard 
frog  of  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R.  is  reinforced  with  a  piece 


308 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


Fig.  83.— Ajax  "Style  G"  Spring-Rail  Frog. 

of  rail  5  ft.  2  ins.  long  planed  to  shape  and  bolted  on  with  the  heads  touch- 
ing and  a  filling  piece  between  the  webs.  The  middle  of  the  reinforcing 
rail  comes  about  opposite  the  point  of  frog.  To  prevent  dragging  parts 
from  catching,  the  heel  of  the  spring  rail  is  cut  off  at  a  slope  of  40  deg. 
with  the  horizontal. 

The  spring  rail  does  not  usually  rest  against  the  tongue  (Figs.  79 
and  81),  but  is  flared  out  over  a  length  of  about  8  ins.,  so  as  to  allow  the 
wheel  flange  to  pass  the  point,  when  entering  the  turnout,  without  crowd- 
ing the  spring  rail  over  (at  least  to  its  full  extent).  This  arrangement  is 
calculated  to  relieve  the  guard  rail  opposite  the  frog  of  some  strain.  The 
loose  end  of  the  spring  rail  should  be  flared  out  gradually,  so  as  to  avoid 
sharp  blows  when  it  is  set  over  by  trailing  wheels  and  prevent  sharp  wheel 
flanges  from  cutting  into  or  mounting  it.  The  usual  flare,  measured  when 
the  spring  rail  is  closed  against  the  point  piece,  is  3J  to  4  ins.,  and  the 
length  of  flare,  17  to  20  ins. ;  with  the  rigid  wing  the  flare  and 
length  of  flare  are  usually  the  same  as  in  rigid  frogs.  The  flare 
for  this  end  guard  should  not  begin  until  more  of  the  side  point  piece 
than  any  wheel  tread  can  cover  has  been  lapped  by  the  closely-fit- 
ting portion  of  the  spring  rail.  Ordinarily  this  specification  requires 
that  the  spring  rail  shall  extend  farther  toward  the  heel  than  the  fixed 
one,  and  it  very  much  reduces  the  risk  that  the  spring  'rail  will  bo 
•caught  and  opened  by  the  outer  edge  of  the  tread  of  deeply  worn  wheels 
trailing  the  frog  on  main  track.  Nevertheless  it  does  not  alleviate  the 
punishment  of  the  spring  rail  by  the  cutting  action  of  worn  wheel  treads. 
To  provide  against  trouble  of  this  kind  it  is  necessary  to  channel  or 
groove  the  head  of  the  spring  rail  (B-B,  Fig.  79)  parallel  to  the  main- 


SECTION   E-F  SECTION  G-H 

Fig.  84. — Eureka  Spring-Rail   Frog. 


FROGS 


309 


track  gage  line,  and  to  such  a  width  as  will  cover  the  reach  of  the 
outer  flange  of  any  badly  worn  tread.  Another  arrangement  is  where  the 
spring  rail  is  made  to  fall  or  drop  away  gradually  i  or  f  in.,  say  from  the 
point  N,  Fig.  78.  This  inclination  is  accomplished  by  reducing  the  thick- 
ness of  the  plate  under  that  part  the  proper  amount,  thus  placing  the  en- 
dangered portion  of  the  rail  out  of  reach.  An  arrangement  in  vogue  with 
the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R.  is  to  plane  down  the 
head  of  the  spring  rail  on  a  slope  from  the  point  where  the  guttered  tire 
reaches  over  the  point  piece  to  the  free  end  of  the  spring  rail,  where  the 


SECTION   THROUGH   HINGE. 


SECTION   THROUGH    POINT. 


ELEVATION   OF   HOLDING-DOWN    DEVICE 
AND  S>RINGJjOX. 

Fig.  85. — Frog  with  Hinged  Spring  Rail. 

head  retains  about  half  its  regular  depth.  The  foregoing  four  features 
of  design,  namely  the  anti-creeping  device,  the  holding-down  attachment, 
the  reinforcement  of  the  spring  rail  and  the  grooving  of  the  spring  rail 
for  worn  wheels,  should  all  receive  careful  attention  in  the  selection  of 
spring-rail  frogs. 

To  avoid  the  necessity  for  special  devices  to  prevent  disturbance  to 
the  spring  rail  by  creeping  of  the  track,  and  to  render  the  spring  rail  less 
dangerous  in  case  of  breakage,  several  designs  of  frogs  have  been  brought 
out  wherein  a  short  spring  rail  is  hinged  either  to  a  rigid  leg  or  to  the 
base  plate  opposite  the  mouth,  or  to  the  side  point  rail  at  the  heel,  thus 
removing  it  from  the  line  of  stress.  All  four  ends  of  the  frog  are  fixed,, 
as  in  a  rigid  frog.  In  the  Eureka  frog  (Fig.  84)  the  spring  rail  makes 
a  miter  joint  with  a  fixed  leg  in  the  throat  and  is  bolted  to  a  piece  of  rein- 
forcement rail  which  breaks  this  joint  and  is  hinged  at  I-Jf  thus  affording 
a  double  running  rail.  In  the  Weir  frog  of  this  type  (Fig.  85)  the  spring 
rail  is  outside  the  gage  line  of  the  main  running  rail  and  is  bent  so  as  to- 


<5ec/v'o/7  A  B. 
Fig.  86. — Vaughan   Spring-Rail   Frog. 


310 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


Fig.  87. — Wood   Sliding-Rail   Frog,  Pennsylvania  R.   R. 

project  somewhat  within  the  opening  between  the  point  piece  and  a  rigid 
piece  in  the  main  running  rail.  It  is  hinged  at  A,  and  held  up  to  the 
point  piece  by  a  spring  8,  acting  reversely  to  the  usual  direction  on  the 
shorter  arm  of  a  pivoted  lever,  which  effects  a  reduction  in  the  compression 
of  the  spring.  One  of  the  holding-down  devices  is  shown  at  B  and  con- 
sists simply  in  a  plate  riveted  to  the  base  of  the  spring  rail  and  projecting 
under 'the  rigid  portion  of  the  frog.  There  is  a  similar  device  at  the  flare 
of  the  spring  rail.  In  another  style  of  Weir  frog  the  holding-down  plate 
is  of  similar  design  and  works  through  a  guide  riveted  to  the  under  side 
of  the  main-point  piece.  The  filling  between  throat  and  point  is  of  steel 
and  arranged  to  hold  up  and  guide  the  wheel  flange,  even  though  the 
spring  rail  was  broken  or  entirely  removed.  The  Vaughan  frog,  shown  in 
Fig.  86,  is  quite  similar  to  that  just  described.  The  spring  rail  is  hinged 
at  the  heel,  however,  instead  of  at  the  mouth,  and  is  not  bent  so  sharply 


Section       A- A 


Sec// 


B-B 


Fig.  88. — Vaughan  Sliding  Spring-Rail  Frog. 

opposite  the  point  of  tongue.  The  filling  block  is  arranged  to  carry  the 
wheels,  in  case  of  accident  to  the  spring  rail,  as  in  the  other  case,  and  it 
has  a  rib  fitting  under  the  head  of  the  spring  rail. 

Promiscuous  Designs. — A  good  deal  of  attention  has  been  devoted  to 
frogs  of  special  design  for  yards,  or  for  the  junction  of  two  tracks  both  of 
which  carry  heavy  traffic,  the  object  in  view  being  a  continuous-bearing 
rail  for  trains  moving  over  the  frog  on  either  track — main  or  turnout.  The 
Wood  frog,  shown  in  Fig.  87,  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  this  type.  The  point 
pieces  are  made  rigid  or  fast  to  the  plate.  The  wing  rails  are  rigidly  at- 
tached to  each  other,  but  not  to  the  plate,  so  that  either  wing  rail  may 
rest  against  the  point  rails,  according  as  it  is  moved  to  position  by  the 
crowding  of  the  last  wheel  flange  which  passed  against  the  opposite  wing 


FROGS 


311 


rail.  There  is  no  spring  and,  the  wing  rails  being  held  rigidly  together 
by  base  clamps  at  C-H  and  E-F,  the  point  rails  thus  act  as  a  stop  for  them. 
This  frog  is  intended  for  use  in  yards,  where  speed  is  slow  and  the  turn- 
out side  of  the  frog  is  more  frequently  used  than  is  the  case  with  most 
frogs  on  main  line.  It  was  designed  by  Mr.  Joseph  Wood,  an  engineer  of 
the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.,  and  has  been  used  for  many  }^ears  on  the  United 
Railroads  of  New  Jersey  division  of  that  road.  The  design  is  open  to 
the  objection  that  the  automatic  setting  of  the  wing  rails,  when  not  in 
place  for  a  wrheel  approaching  in  the  facing  direction,  takes  place  with 
the  weight  of  the  wheel  on  one  of  the  wings.  The  movement"  of  the 
wings  under  load  must  therefore  be  attended  with  much  friction.  More- 
over, should  a  bolt,  a  nut,  or  any  piece  of  iron  drop  from  a  passing  train  into 
one  of  the  channels  of  the  frog,  the  wings  would  be  rendered  immovable 
and  serious  consequences  might  follow,  to  both  the  frog  and  the  train.  To 
accomplish  the  same  purpose,  namely,  to  produce  a  frog  with  double  spring 
rails  which  do  not  open  and  close  at  the  passage  of  every  wheel  or  truck 
over  the  frog,  there  is  a  design  known  as  the  Vaughan  sliding  spring-rail 
frog  (Fig.  88),  in  which  the  two  movable  wings,  instead  of  being  rigidly 
attached  to  each  other,  are  spring  connected  in  the  usual  manner.  These 
spring  rails  are  separated  by  a  spacing  block  on  the  spring  bolt  a  sufficient 


Fig.  89. — Double  Spring-Rail  Frog. 


distance  to  maintain  an  open  flangeway  in  the  track  in  use,  the  flange- 
way  in  the  unused  side  remaining  closed.  In  case  wheels  passing  over  the 
frog  in  the  facing  direction  run  through  the  closed  flangeway,  the  closed 
wing  is  forced  open,  compressing  the  spring,  as  in  the  ordinary  action  of 
spring-rail  frogs,  the  movement  of  the  other  wing  rail  follows,  as  soon 
as  it  is  released  from  load,  and  the  frog  then  remains  set  for  that  route. 
When  the  frog  is  set  by  trailing  wheels  both  wing  rails  are  moved  to 
place  simultaneously,  without  bringing  the  spring,  into  action.  Both  wings 
are  backed  by  proper  stops,  and  should  one  of  them  be  blocked  by  any 
object  falling  between  it  and  the  tongue,  the  other  wing,  being  retained 
only  by  springs,  is  allowed  to  move;  hence  the  objectionable  feature  con- 
sequent upon  attaching  both  sliding  wing  rails  rigidly  together  is  removed. 
The  Douglass  double  spring-rail  frog  is  a  plate  frog  of  substantially  the 
same  construction  operating  in  the  sarn^  manner. 

Of  double  spring-rail  frogs  which  .open  and  close  at  every  passage - 
of  a  wheel  or  truck  there  are  a  few  examples  in  service.  The  frog  shown 
as  Fig.  89  is  of  substantial  construction,  with  heavy  link  anti-creeping 
attachments  on  both  wings,  and  either  wing  acts  independently  of  the 
other.  The  Eureka  double  spring-rail  frog  operates  on  the  same  principle, 
being  of  the  same  design  as  that  illustrated  by  Fig.  84,  except  that  the 
movable  wing  rail  is  duplicated  on  the  other  side  of  the  point.  A 
double  spring-rail  frog  (Fio-.  90)  in  use  on  the  Michigan  Central  R. 
R.,  designed  by  Mr.  0.  F.  Jordan,  formerly  roadmaster  with  that  road,  has 


312 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


wing  rails  rigidly  secured  at  both  ends.  At  the  toe  the  wings  are  spliced} 
to  the  lead  rails  in  the  ordinary  manner.,  while  at  the  other  end  of  the  frog 
they  extend  2J  ft.  past  the  heel  of  the  point  pieces  and  are  securely  bolted 
to  the  fixed  main  and  turnout  rails  through  filler  blocks  8  ins.  long.  The 
flare  at  these  blocks  is  the  usual  4  ins.,  and  the  wing  rails,  which  are  19 
ft.  long,  are  bent  to  rest  normally  against  the  point  pieces  by  the  action 
of  their  own  spring.  Ordinarily  the  elasticity  of  the  rails  themselves  is 
sufficient  to  hold  them  to  place,  but  to  provide  against  accident  they  are 
reinforced  at  the  mouth  by  a  spring  bolt.  The  pressure  of  the  wheel 
flanges  opens  the  wing  and  the  width  of  flangeway  is  limited  by  stops 


Fig.  90 — Jordan   Double  Spring-Rail    rrog,   Michigan   Central    R.   R. 
secured  to  the  base  plate  to  which  the  point  pieces  are  riveted.     Vertical 
movement  of  the  wing  rails  is  restricted  by  hold-downs  of  the  usual  form. 
This  frog  is  used  only  in  yard  tracks. 

None  of  the  foregoing  double  spring-rail  frogs  is  in  extensive  use. 
They  are  rather  expensive  for  general  yard  service,  and  the  propriety  of 
placing  at  the  end  of  double  track,  or  at  the  junction  of  two  main  tracks, 
where  high  speed  is  made,  any  frog  with  movable  parts  to  be  automatically 
set  by  the  train  is  certainly  questionable.  As  a  matter  of  fact  spring-rail 
frogs  of  any  description  are  used  but  little  in  yards.  In  such  places 
the  speed  is  necessarily  slow  and  the  spring  rail  is  not  so  much  needed  as 
it  is  in  main  line,  and  then  there  is  also  the  forcible  objection  that  they 
cannot  be  blocked  as  effectually  as  rigid  frogs,  and  are  for  this  reason 
a  greater  source  of  danger  to  brakemen  in  getting  their  feet  caught.  It 
i?  also  proper  to  remark  that  spring-rail  frogs  are  not  considered  as  safe 
in  the  outside  rail  of  curves  as  are  rigid  frogs,  for  the  reason  that  the 
yielding  wing  throws  all  the  duty  of  guiding  the  wheels  between  toe  and 
point  upon  the  guard  rail ;  with  a  rigid  frog  this  duty  is  imposed  only  while 
the  wheels  are  passing  between  throat  and  point. 


FOR  HEAVY  TRAFFIC    BOTH  WAYS        < 


FOR  HEAVY  TRAFFIC    ONE  WAY         ° 

t  Worn  Wheel         \ 


Sec//o>»  AE>  Section  CO 

Fig.  91. — Anvil-Faced   Frog. 


FROGS  313' 

For  service  under  heavy  traffic  there  is  a  rigid  frog  with  hardened 
steel  parts  to  take  the  bearing  opposite  the  point,  where  the  wear  is  usually 
most  rapid.  This  frog,  known  as  the  "Anvil-Faced"  frog,  is  in  use  on 
a  number  of  roads,  the  Pennsylvania,  the  Southern  and  the  Lake  Shore 
and  Michigan  Southern,  among  others,  and  is  illustrated  by  Fig.  91.  The 
upper  engraving  shows  the  design  for  heavy  traffic  over  both  tracks,  while 
the  lower  design  is  intended  for  heavy  traffic  on  only  one  track  through 
the  frog.  The  frog  is  constructed  in  the  ordinary  manner,  the  space  for 
the  hardened  portion  being  provided  for  by  bending  the  wing  rail  around 
it. 

On  some  of  the  English  railways  trial  has  been  made  of  frogs  with 
hot-pressed  flangeways.  In  the  Tyler  &  Ellis  frog  (made  by  the  Tyler  & 
Ellis  Mfg.  Co.  Ltd.,  at  Peterboro,  Northamptonshire,  England)  the  main 
rail  through  the  frog  is  continuous,  the  flangeway  for  the  turnout  being 
formed  by  heating  the  rail  and  pressing  it  into  the  head  by  hydraulic 
machinery.  The  metal  displaced  is  not  cut  away,  being  forced  down- 
ward to  strengthen  the  web.  Some  of  these  frogs  used  on  the  Great 
Xorthern  Ry.  (England)  are  reported  officially  to  have  given  fairly 
satisfactorv  results.  They  are  in  use  on  some  of  the  railwavs  of  South 


Fig.  91  A. — Split  Twin-Rail  Frog,  Midland  Ry. 

America,  and  they  have  been  tried  experimentally  on  the  Pennsylvania 
R.  R.,  in  West  Philadelphia.  Another  method  of  manufacturing  frogs, 
designed  by  the  well-known  railway  engineer,  Mr.  Price  Williams,  in  co- 
operation with  Mr.  E.  P.  Martin,  equally  well  known  as  an  iron  and 
steel  manufacturer,  is  worked  by  the  Railway  Switch  &  Crossing  Co., 
Ltd.,  15  Victoria  St.,  Westminster,  London,  England.  The  frogs  are 
known  as  "split  twin-rail  crossings,"  the  four  legs  being  formed  by  split- 
ting up  the  ends,  of  a  rail  rolled  double  the  usual  width,  by  sawing,  and 
opening  out  the  two  halves  of  the  same  to  form  the  frog  angle.  Figure 
91  A  shows  an  ordinary  frog  made  by  this  method  of  rail-splitting.  After 
opening  out  the  split  ends  of  the  rail,  grooves  are  planed  out  for  the 
flangeways,  and  wing  rails  bent  to  proper  shape  are  then  clamped  on. 
The  four  legs  of  the  frog  and  the  tongue  are  therefore  one  solid  piece, 
and  there  can  be  no  "ducking"  of  the  point  under  traffic.  As  will  be 
noticed,  both  the  frog  and  guard  rail  shown  are  assembled  by  means  of 
cast  chairs,  with  tightening  wedges  driven  against  the  web  of  the  rail. 
Double-pointed  crossing  frogs  are  made  by  the  same  process  (See  Rail- 
way and  Engineering  Review,  Feb.  23,  1901).  The  Midland  Ry.  (Eng- 
land) is  one  of  the  roads  on  which  these  frogs  are  in  service. 

Some  Features  of  Frog  Design. — The  .usual  practice  in  making  frogs 
has  been  to  cut  off  the  legs,  at  toe  and  heel,  evenly.  This  arrangement 
brings  the  two  splices  at  each  end  of  the  frog  directly  opposite,  and  unless 


314  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

the  point  pieces  in  frogs  of  small  angle  are  of  unusual  length  there  is  not 
room  enough  inside  the  rail  ends  for  two  angle  bars,  to  splice  the  joints, 
•so  that  fish  plates  must  be  used  or  else  the  bottom  leg  of  one  of  the  angle 
bars  must  be  cut  away.  The  same  kind  of  interference  occurs  at  the  toe 
of  short  rigid  frogs.  This  trouble  may  be  avoided  by  making  one  point 
piece  and  one  wing  rail  each  longer  than  its  mate  by  the  length  of  a  splice 
bar,  as  in  Pig.  92.  I  have  seen  this  plan  carried  out  in  practice,  with  good 
results  in  more  ways  than  that  just  stated.  To  further  discuss  the  advan- 
tages of  the  arrangement  it  need  only  be  said  that  the  principle  of  break- 
ing joints  is  of  universal  application  in  engineering  practice.  Nothing 
lies  in  the  way  of  standardizing  frogs  designed  on  this  plan.  If  the  angle 
of  the  frog  was  computed  with  the  idea  of  laying  the  frog  in  one  of  two 
ways  relatively  to  two  30-ft.  rails  in  main  track,  as  heretofore  discussed, 
a  piece  of  rail  of  fixed  length,  less  than  30  ft.  (or  whatever  standard  rail 
length)  by  the  amount  one  wing  rail  is  longer  than  the  other,  should  go 
with  the  frog  to  be  put  in  main  track  or  turnout,  according  as  the  frog  is 
to  be  used  as  left  or  right.  Since  spring-rail  frogs  can  be  used  but  one 
way,  the  rigid  or  turnout  leg  should  always  be  cut  off  enough  longer 
(about  2  ins.)  than  the  main  or  movable  leg  to  make  up  for  the  increased 
length  of  the  turnout  lead  over  the  main-track  lead,  thus  making  it 


Fig.  92. — Frog  with  Unequal  Legs. 

possible  to  square  the  joints  at  the  headblock  or  heel  of  switch  without 
extra  cutting  or  by  using  a  short  piece  of  rail  ("dutchman").  The  frogs 
shown  as  Figs.  82A  and  83  are  made  in  this  manner,  and  the  practice  is 
now  standard  with  a  number  of  roads.  With  spring-rail  frogs,  also,  the 
turnout  side  should  be  curved  to  fit  the  lead  corresponding  to  the  number 
or  angle,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  for  a  short  stretch  of  straight  track 
in  the  turnout  at  the  frog.  If  the  leg  of  the  frog  is  long  enough  that 
portion  can  be  sprung  to  the  'curve,  but  it  might  just  as  well  be  curved 
when  the  frog  is  made.  An  example  of  this  practice  of  curving  the  fixed 
wing  of  a  spring-rail  frog  is  shown  in  Fig.  82A. 

A  good  deal  might  be  said  on  the  question  of  the  proper  length  of 
frogs,  particularly  rigid  frogs.  As  the  wear  of  rigid  frogs  under  heavy 
traffic  is  rapid,  it  is  an  old  and  familiar  text  that  it  is  a  waste  of  material 
to  make  the  legs  longer  than  is  required  to  obtain  the  necessary  spread 
for  splicing;  hence  9  or  10  ft.  has  been  the  customary  length  of  rigid 
frogs.  It  should  be  understood,  however,  that  the  length  of  the  frog  has 
much  to  do  with  the  conditions  of  wear.  When  the  wing  of  a  frog  not 
longer  than  10  ft.  gets  loose  there  is  then  in  the  track  a  pretty  short  piece 
of  rail  to  flop  up  at  the  passage  of  every  wheel  over  the  toe.  A  frog  made 
of  long  pieces  is  not  so  soon  loosened  under  the  jar  of  the  traffic  as  is  one 
made  of  short  pieces.  Eigid  frogs  should  be  at  least  12  ft.  long  and  a 
length  of  15  ft.  is  much  better.  The  Chicago,  Eock  Island  &  .Pacific 
Ey.  uses  in  main  track  rigid  frogs  of  plate-riveted  pattern  15  ft.  long. 
The  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.  has  standard  rigid  frogs  17  ft.  and  20 
ft.  1  in.  long  (Fig.  157A).  The  worn  parts  of  a  15-ft.  rigid  frog  will 
still  make  a  10-ft.  frog  for  use  in  yards  or  side-tracks.  The  most  frequent 
length  of  spring-rail  frogs,  up  to  No.  10,  is  15  ft.  The  length  of  spring- 
rail  frogs  of  higher  number  is  usually  greater.  With  the  Pennsylvania 
E.  E.  the  standard  toe-to-heel  lengths  corresponding  to  No.  10,  No.  11 
and  No.  13  frogs  are  15  ft.,  18  ft.  and  20  ft.,  respectively. 


FROGS 


315 


The  standard  width  of  channel  for  frogs  is  If  ins.  If  proper  attention 
be  paid  to  the  gage  of  the  track  and  of  the  guard  rail,  this  width  allows 
plenty  of  room  for  wheel  flanges.  One  object  in  restricting  the  width 
of  channel  or  flangeway  to  the  actual  requirements  is  to  so  constrain  the 
wheel  that  its  tread  reaches  as  far  as  possible  over  the  wing  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  tongue,  thereby  increasing  the  bearing  surface.  As  be- 
tween channels  If  ins.  wide  and  1J  ins.  wide,  on  a  No.  9  frog,  say,  the 
wheel  tread  is  constrained  to  follow  the  wing  rail  in  the  former  case  1-J  ins. 
farther  than  might  occur  in  the  latter  case,  and  the  bearmg-for  some 
little  distance  is  J  in.  wider.  Increase  in  width  of  channel  or  flangeway 
increases  the  length  and  width  of  the  open  spaces  behind  the  gage  lines, 
between  the  point  of  tongue  and  the  throat,  on  both  sides  of  rigid  frogs 
and  on  the  turnout  side  of  spring-rail  frogs.  A  recognition  of  this  prin- 
ciple is  shown  in  one  of  the  designs  of  the  Elliot  company,  known  as  the 
"Main  Line"  frog,  in  which  the  flangeway  for  the  turnout  is  considerably 
narrower  than  the  one  for  main  track,  thus  affording  all  possible  bearing 
for  the  wheel  tread  in  the-  vicinity  of  the  point.  To  refer  again  to  the 
matter  of  flaring  the  guard  ends  of  the  wing  rails,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
method  of  making  the  flare  by  beveling  off  the  side  of  the  rail  head  is 
rather  too  abrupt,  and  not  as  satisfactory  as  that  of  bending  the  end  of 
the  rail  to  make  the  flare. 

Frogs  should  be  designed  and  constructed  to  standard  specifications, 
so  that  like  parts  of  frogs  of  the  same  number  and  pattern  will  be  inter- 
changeable. Before  specifications  are  finally  adopted,  however,  they  should 
be  put  to  the  test  of  making  a  frog  and  be  submitted  for  the  criticism  of 
the  frog  maker.  In  this  way  slight  modifications  may  sometimes  be  sug- 
gested which  will  improve  the  design.  It  is  well  to  have  a  care  about  being  too 
rigorous  with  the  minor  and  unimportant  details.  A  case  in  point  comes 
to  mind  where  the  engineers  of  a  certain  road  had  spent  a  good  deal  of 
time  preparing  an  elaborate  set  of  specifications,  which  covered  all  such 
minute  details  as  the  exact  location  of  every  bolt  and  rivet,  and  other 
folderols,  and  before  testing  their  correctness  they  were  printed  in  pam- 
phlet form.  When  the  manufacturer  came  to  make  the  frogs  he  found 
bolts  which  interfered  with  others  and  with  hold-downs,  and  the  work- 
men found  other  incongruities.  It  is  not  always  important  that  bolts  and 
rivets  should  come  in  just  such  and  such  places,  but  it  is  important  that 
all  frogs  of  the  same  designation  should  be  made  alike.  To  this  intent 
the  specifications  may  point  out  the  dimensions  wanted  and  should  require 
a  certain  uniformity  of  parts  and  interchangeability.  Of  course  it  is 
necessary  that  the  drilling  of  the  main  bolt  holes  in  different  frogs  should 
correspond.  Details  not  concerned  in  these  requirements  may  then  be  left 
to  the  frog  maker.  In  a  general  way  the  same  principles  of  design  apply 
to  the  specifications  for  split  switches.  Table  XII  is  submitted  as  an 

Table  XII. — Standard  Dimensions  for  Spring-Rail   Frogs  of  Various  Angles. 


f-/f06  N? 

LONG  POINT 

SHORT  POINT 

3"    POINT  r°  TOE 

FIXED  WING  RAIL 

MOVABLE.  MHG  HAIL 

TOTAL  LENGTH 

HOLfS  >f  POIN7 

•+ 

8'-<>' 

7'-  //* 

(>'-   (.- 

a  '  -  7' 

3'-  '0  " 

/5' 

6 

s 

8'-C 

7'-/t" 

(,'  -  6* 

0'-  7" 

so'-  3- 

/S'       • 

z 

t 

ff-6- 

7'-  7* 

6'  -  t>" 

<?'  -  7' 

/<7'-/<J' 

/S'      " 

2 

7 

a'-  ' 

7  '  -  £  " 

£'  -  £' 

/O'      7' 

//'   -J- 

/s-     • 

e. 

<f 

a'-    ' 

7'-S" 

6'  -4" 

a'    7' 

//'  -a~ 

/J' 

<. 

A 

8'-  • 

7-  /" 

C-  C 

/•    /• 

A?'-/* 

/J" 

7 

/o 

a'-  • 

T-O" 

<,'-  £ 

/'     /• 

/-?'-  8" 

/S'     ' 

7 

/ 

/O'-     " 

8'-L' 

S'-O 

2-      7" 

/4'-  3' 

/8'      • 

7 

2 

10-     ' 

8'-2- 

a1-  o 

2'     7' 

1-4'  -8f 

AJ' 

7 

3 

12'-     " 

10'-  0' 

6'-  0 

3'     0' 

/S'  -  /• 

2d'      ' 

<5 

-4 

12'-     * 

JO'-O' 

a'  -  o 

J'    0" 

'S'-t,- 

20 

8 

S 

I2'-0" 

3'-8- 

a--  0- 

3'-0- 

/a'-2- 

20'-    " 

d 

316  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

example  of  the  dimension  features  of  a  set  of  specifications  for  the  spring- 
rail  frogs  of  a  certain  large  railway  system.  These  specifications  cover 
frogs  made  from  60-lb.,  70-lb.,  85-lb.  and  100-lb.  rails. 

The  advantage  of  interchangeable  parts  is  that  spare  pieces  may  be 
kept  on  hand  for  the  repair  of  broken  ones  or  ordered  to  replace  worn 
parts.  Thus,  the  point  pieces  of  a  rigid  frog  will  outlast  the  first  set  of 
wings,  and  to  get  all  the  available  wear  out  of  these  frogs  the  worn  wings 
may  be  exchanged  for  new  ones,  or  the  worn  wing  of  a  frog  in  a  turnout 
to  the  right  may  be  exchanged  for  the  unworn  wing  of  a  frog  in  a  turnout 
to  the  left.  With  bolted  and  clamped  frogs  such  exchanges  may  be  made 
in  the  track,  but  plate-riveted  frogs  require  to  be  sent  to  the  shop.  In  the 
former  case  it  is  usual  to  have  a  spare  frog  on  hand  to  put  down  in  the 
place  of  one  of  them  between  which  an  exchange  of  wings  is  made,  but 
where  such  is  not  the  case  and  wings  are  to  be  exchanged  at  a  distance, 
the  switch  may  be  spiked  at  some  favorable  interval  between  trains  and 
a  short  piece  of  rail  spliced  in  temporarily  to  take  the  place  of  the  frog 
while  the  transfer  is  being  made.  When  repairing  frogs  by  changing  the 
wings  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  shim  up  the  worn  point.  Interchange- 
able wings  for  crossing  frogs  are  referred  to  in  connection  with  the  sub- 
ject of  crossings. 

As  frogs  must  undergo  unusual  service  the  material  used  in  making 
them  should  be  first  class;  nevertheless  they  are  frequently  made  from 
rails  of  second  quality.  Rails  not  quite  up  to  standard  size  in  width  or 
depth  of  head  or  in  total  hight  of  section  should  obviously  not  be  selected 
for  frog  material;  likewise  rails  with  such  defects  in  head,  web  or  base  as 
might  affect  the  strength. 

Laying  Frogs. — With  If-in.  flangeways  through  the  frog  there  will 
be  no  trouble  from  wheel  flanges  striking  the  wing  rails,  providing  the 
frog  is  laid  to  exact  gage.  Some  trackmen  are  always  apprehensive  of 
spiking  a  frog  to  gage,  even  on  straight  track,  but  there  is  no  necessity 
for  fear  in  this  regard:  indeed  if  there  be  any  cause  for  anxiety  it  should 
be  rather  for  not  laying  the  frog  to  gage.  The  nearer  the  frog  is  spiked 
to  gage,  the  less  severe  will  be  the  blows  of  the  wheel  flanges  on  the 
wings.  If  the  wing  is  struck  heavily  by  wheel  flanges  the  spikes  holding 
the  frog  are  usually  spread,  and  accordingly  some  will  brace  the  frog 
wings  with  rail  braces ;  but  this  it  not  the  proper  thing  to  do.  When  the 
wings  are  being  severely  used  it  indicates  that  the  frog  is  out  of  gage, 
and  the  proper  remedy  is  simply  to  put  it  in  gage.  On  this  point  there 
are  some  inconsistencies  of  practice.  The  rules  of  some  American  railroads 
require  that  the  gage  of  both  tracks  within  the  limits  of  the  turnout 
(point  of  switch  to  heel  of  frog)  shall  be  J  or  ^  in.  wider  than  standard, 
and  that  outside  of  these  limits  the  gage  shall  be  narrowed  to  standard 
in  a  distance  of  30  ft.  in  each  direction.  In  tracks  where  there  are  several 
switches  in  succession  or  close  together,  as  in  the  ladder  of  a  yard,  the  wid- 
ening of  the  gage  is  maintained  throughout,  or  past  all  of  the  switches 
and  frogs.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  extensively  the  practice  on  English  and 
European  roads  to  lay  frogs  and  switches  and  the  track  intervening  ^  in. 
tight  for  gage,  the  idea  being  to  prevent  lateral  play  of  the  wheels  and 
steady  the  motion  of  the  trains  past  the  turnouts. 

The  way  to  lay  a  frog  is  to  first  splice  it  to  the  main-track  rails  at  toe 
and  heel,  spike  the  heel  to  gage  for  main  track,  and  then  do  the  same  at 
the  toe ;  then  spike  it  to  gage  at  a  point  about  6  ins.  back  of  the  point  of 
tongue  and  drive  the  remaining  spikes  straight  down  without  using  the 
gage.  A  clamped  or  bolted  frog  spiked  only  at  the  heel  and  toe  can 
usually  be  sprung  a  little  at  the  point,  in  case  it  is  not  exactly  straight; 


FROGS  317 

or,  if  the  frog  is  long  enough,  it  may  be  sprung  to  an  easy  curve,  if  desired ; 
but  with  a  plate  frog  or  any  short  frog  made  of  rails  of  heavy  section  this 
cannot  be  done.  In  laying  a  plate  frog  it  is  not  necessary  to  adz  down  the 
switch  ties  to  make  room  for  the  plate,  but  let  the  plate  rest  on  the  tops 
of  the  ties;  then  when  spiking  the  turnout  rail  opposite  the  frog,  spring 
the  ties  up  to  it.  A  frog  when  first  put  in  is  all  the  better  for  being  the 
thickness  of  the  frog-plate  high.  In  laying  frogs  care  should  be  taken  to 
leave  the  proper  allowance  for  expansion  at  the  joints  at  each  end  of  the 
frog  and  for  several  joints  in  the  adjoining  rails.  The  angle  bars  should 
then  be  slot  spiked  at  all  these  joints,  so  as  to  hold,  as^vveft  as  may  be, 
against  creeping.  As  the  frog  forms  part  of  two  tracks  it  should  be  in  line 
with  the  turnout  lead  and  the  side-track  rail  beyond  the  frog,  as  well  as 
with  the  main-track  rail,  but  where  the  rails  creep  badly  it  is  difficult  to 
maintain  this  condition  at  all  times;  hence  the  necessity  for.  frequent 
readjustment.  The  ties  under  the  spring  rail,  particularly,  should  be 
evenly  surfaced,  so  that  the  rail  will  be  evenly  supported  and  slide  evenly 
on  its  plates. 

The  question  of  widening  the  gage  on  curves,  already  discussed,  has 
to  do  also  with  frogs.  A  frog  on  the  inside  of  a  curve  gets  the 
worse  for  widening  the  gage,  and  there  is  no  remedy,  for  the  wheel  flanges 
will  continually  be  pounding  the  inside  wing  rail  and  breaking  the  frog 
bolts  or  loosening  rivets  on  some  other  parts.  The  cause  is  clear.  A  refer- 
ence to  the  M.  C.  B.  standard  frog  and  wheel  gage  (Fig.  96)  will  show  that 
when  standard-gage  wheels  are  running  on  standard-gage  curve  and  the 
flange  of  the  outer  wheel  is  crowding  the  rail,  the  back  of  flange  of  the 
inner  wheel  will  reach  over  just  If  ins.  from  the  gage  side  of  its  rail ; 
hence  it  cannot  strike  hard  against  the  inside  wing  rail  of  any  frog  spiked 
to  gage,  unless  the  flange  of  the  outer  wheel  be  badly  worn.  If,  however, 
the  gage  of  the  track  at  this  point  be  widened,  one  of  several  things  must 
happen :  either  by  the  amount  the  gage  is  widened,  by  just  so  much  must 
the  channel  of  the  frog  be  made  wider  than  standard ;  or  by  just  so  much 
must  both  wheels  be  jogged  over  by  the  wing  rail ;  or  by  just  so  much  must 
the  frog  be  jogged  over  under  the  wheels,  unless  the  wing  is  loosened  or 
the  bolts  broken;  or  else  the  sudden  jar  against  the  inside  wheel  must 
spring  the  car  axle.  The  last  named  effect  must  at  least  subject  the  axle 
to  much  strain.  It  would  certainly  be  interesting  to  know  just  what  pro- 
portion of  broken  car  axles  is  due  either  to  improper  gage  at  such  points 
in  the  track  or  to  improper  gaging  of  the  wheels.  Of  course,  it  is  not 
usual  to  find  a  frog  on  the  inside  of  a  heavy  curve;  but  suppose  the  gage 
is  widened  -J  in.  and  there  is  a  frog  on  the  inside  of  the  curve.  Then, 
unless  the  channel  of  the  frog  be  widened  to  2J  ins.,  the  front  pair  of 
wheels  of  every  car  truck  passing  that  frog  will  get  a  jog  sidewise,  which 
in  turn  must  jolt  the  car.  Neither  are  conditions  much  more  favorable 
to  frogs  on  the  outside  of  curves.  Bolts  in  bolted  frogs  will  be  broken 
notwithstanding  the  widening  of  the  opposite  guard  rail  flangeway,  be- 
cause the  rear  pair  of  wheels  in  each  truck  seek  the  inner  side  of  the  curvb> 
•and  if  the  gage  at  the  frog  be  widened,  such  wheels  will  run  that  amount 
Tiearer  the  inside  rail  of  the  curve  and  strike  against  the  wing  rail  of  the 
frog.  Such  effects  must  certainly  be  telling  upon  rolling  stock,  and  the 
time  will  come,  no  doubt,  when  more  railway  men  will  be  brought  to  a 
realization  of  the  fact  that  standard-gage  track  means  standa'rd-gage  curve. 
The  evil  effects  of  widening  the  gage  of  track  on  curves  have  long  been  seen. 
Indeed,  in  years  past  it  has  been  the  practice  of  some  roads  to  tighten 
the  gage  ^  in.  at  frogs  on  the  inside  of  curves,  so  as  to  provide  against 
blows  to  the  wing  rail  by  wheels  with  worn  flanges. 


318 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


Effect  of  Guttered  Tires. — The  life  of  frogs  of  any  type  depends  to 
no  inconsiderable  extent  upon  the  vigilance  of  the  mechanical  department 
in  maintaining  the  locomotive  tires  in  good  condition.  The  manner  in 
which  damage  may  occur  from  deeply  worn  wheel  treads  has  already  been 
pointed  out  in  connection  with  features  of  frog  design  intended  to  provide 
against  the  same.  No  frog  is  well  designe'd  without  a  heel  raiser,  and 
in  spring-rail  frogs  the  grooving  of  the  movable  wing  is  an  essential,,  but 
the  question  then  arises  as  to  how  deeply  this  wear  of  the  tires  may  be  per- 
mitted to  go  before  these  devices  will  fail  to  give  the  desired  protection.  The 
heel  raiser  protects  the  frog  against  spreading  of  the  point  pieces  by  the 
false  flanges  of  guttered  tires,  but  it  does  not  protect  it  against  heavy 
blows  from  the  sani£  or  prevent  the  wearing  down  of  the  side  point.  Ab- 
normal wear  to  the  wings  of  rigid  frogs  caused  by  badly  worn  tires  cannot 
be  prevented.  For  such  reasons  it  is  usual  to  set  a  limit  upon  the  allow- 
able .depth  of  rut  in  locomotive  tires;  and  this  limit  is  quite  liable  to  be 


Set    for   Main   Line. 


Set    for    Siding. 
Fig.  93. — The  Price  Frog. 


a  compromise  of  the  views  of  the  track  and  motive-power  departments, 
for  the  trouble  and  expense  of  frequently  taking  locomotives  into  the 
shops  and  turning  down  the  tires  is  considerable.  In  1891  the  New  Eng- 
land Roadmasters'  Association  recommended  8/16  in.,  and  in  1895  the 
Headmasters'  Association  of  America  recommended  J  in.,  as  this  limit. 
As  to  standard  rules  on  this  matter  various  railways  seem  to  stand  about 
evenly  divided  for  J  in.  and  f  in.  as  the  limit,  but  unless  the  roadmasters 
are  watchful  even  the  higher  limit  is  liable  to  be  exceeded  in  service. 
Some  railways  place  the  limit  at  f  in.  for  freight  engines  and  at  5/16  in. 
for  passenger  engines,  but  both  are  too  high.  The  limit  for  passenger 
engines  should  not  exceed  3/16  in.,  and  for  freight  engines  the  limit  should 
not  exceed  J  in.  in  road  service  and  5/16  in.  in  yard  service.  Tire-dressing 
brake  shoes  are  helpful  in  maintaining  tires  in  good  condition.  It  is  the 
business  of  roadmasters  to  report  engine  tires  found  worn  deeper  than  the 
limit  in  force,  and  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  depth  of  rut  a  pocket 
templet  is  convenient.  The  effect  of  hollow-worn  tires  on  the  stock  rail 
of  split  switches,  just  in  rear  of  the  point  where  the  planing  of  the  point 
rail  runs  out,  is  about  the  same  as  on  frogs  and  is  again  referred  to. 


FROGS  319 

Continuous-Rail  Frogs. — Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  devise 
some  arrangement  to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  frog  and  at  the  same  time 
leave  the  main-line  rail  unbroken.  Obviously  the  only  manner  in  which 
this  can  be  accomplished  is  by  carrying  the  wheels  over  the  main  rail  at 
the  point  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  turnout  rail.  As  there  are  a  few  frogs  of 
this  kind  in  service,  some  account  of  the  same  is  proper.  The  Price  frog.,  de- 
signed by  Mr.  C.  B.  Price,  formerly  division  superintedent  of  the  Alle- 
gheny Valley  By.,  has  been  used  on  that  road  and  on  the  Pennsylvania 
E.  E.  As  will  be  seen  by  the  engraving  at  the  left  in  Fig.  93,  the  main  rail 
is  unbroken  and  continuous,  but  the  turnout  rail  is  in  two  parts,  and  is  con- 
nected to.  and  operated  by,  the  switch  stand,  so  that  wrhen  the  switch  is  set 
for  a  siding  movement  the  two  parts  of  the  frog  are  brought  up  against 
the  main-line  rail  and  locked  in  that  position,  as  shown  by  the  engraving 
at  the  right.  The  construction  of  the  frog  is  such  that  it  forms,  in  effect, 
a  continuous  rail  for  the  passage  of  the  wheels,  and  at  the  same  time  raises 
them  up  high  enough  to  permit  the  flanges  to  pass  over  the  top  of  the  main- 
line rail.  For  siding  movements  the  device  fits  over  the  main-line  rail  in  a 
manner  similar  to  the  closing  of  the  movable  wing  against  the  point  rail 
in  spring-rail  frogs.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  frog  has  "safety  wings"  or 
inclined  planes  which  fit  over  the  main-line  rail  for  some  distance.  This  ar- 
rangement serves  a  double  purpose :  by  thus  lengthening  out  the  movable 
wing  on  the  turnout  side  the  frog  is  given  a  desirable  degree  of  stability, 
and  there  is  secured  a  provision  for  the  safety  of  a  train  on  main-track 
which  might  find  the  switch  wrong  and  the  frog  resting  upon  the  main  rail, 
in  which  event  it  would  pass  over  the  safety  wings  in  the  same  manner 
that  it  would  pass  through  en  ordinary  spring  rail  frog,  and  ^hat  without 
injury  to  either  train  or  frog.  There  is  also  provided  a  means  to 
prevent  the  frog  being  thrown  prematurely,  for  switchmen  would 
be  liable  to  set  the  switch  for  the  main  line,  after  the  last  pair 
of  wheels  had  cleared  the  switch ,  when  entering  the  siding,  thus  re- 
moving the  frog  from  the  main  line  and  causing  a  derailment.  A  de- 
vice for  overcoming  this  difficulty  is  a  spring  guard  rail  mounted  to  form 
an  inside  "protector  bar"  or  spring  rail,  which  normally  fits  up  against 
the  gage  side  of  the  lead  rail,  between  the  switch  and  ordinary  guard  rail, 
as  is  shown  in  the  figure.  The  flanges  of  the  wheels  of  a  train  in  passing 
into  the  siding  crowd  back  this  bar  and  cause  a  hooked  lug  which  is  con- 
nected to  it  to  engage  with  a  notch  or  lug  on  the  operating  rod  and  thus 
prevent  its  movement  until  all  of  the  wheels  have  passed  safely  beyond 
the  frog. 

The  MacPherson  Frog,  designed  by  Mr.  Duncan  MacPherson,  division 
engineer  with  the  Canadian  Pacific  By.,  is  one  of  the  standard  devices 
of  that  road,  and  is  in  service  on  quite  a  large  number  of  other  roads. 
Figure  94  shows  the  frog  in  both  the  open  and  closed  positions.  It  con- 
sists of  two  parts,  which  are  well  clear  of  the  main  track  rails  when  the 
switch  is  not  set  for  the  turnout,  thus  avoiding  wear.  One  piece  of  the 
frog  consists  of  a  point  rail,  which  is  thrown  up  to  the  main  rail  at  the 
proper  angle  for  the  frog,  and  the  other  piece  consists  of  a  rail  curved  or 
flared  at  the  end  to  make  a  proper  junction  with  the  point  rail,  across  the 
top  of  the  main  rail.  These  parts  are  high  enough  to  overlap  the  main 
rail  and  carry  the  wheel  flanges  well  clear  of  that  rail.  The  frog  is  con- 
nected with  the  switch  by  pipe  line  and  bell  crank,  both  frog  and  switch 
being  interlocked  and  thrown  by  the  same  movement  of  the  switch  stand, 
so  that  the  frog  is  always  set  right  for  the  position  of  the  switch.  A 
wrong  setting  of  the  frog  cannot  endanger  trains  on  main  line.  Should 


3-20 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


Set    for    Main    Line.  Set    for    Siding. 

Fig.  94. — MacPherson  Frog,  Canadian  Pacific  Ry. 

a  train  on  main  line  trail  the  frog  when  it  is  set  for  the  turnout,  the 
wheel  flange  would  catch  the  flaring  end  of  the  frog  rail  and  force  it  aside, 
while  the  outer  portion  of  the  wheel  tread  would  force  aside  the  point 
piece  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  main  rail.  This  frog  may  be  used  with 
any  type  of  switch,  either  split  or  stub,  by  interlocking  the  movements  of 
the  two.  On  the  roads  where  it  is  in  service  it  is  in  some  cases  used 
with  the  ordinary  split  switch,  and  in  other  cases  with  the  Mac  Pherson 
switch,  which  is  constructed  on  the  Wharton  principle  and  is  described 
further  along. 

The  Coughlin  "swing-rail"  frog,  in  use  on  the  Western  Maryland, 
Lehigh  Valley  and  other  roads,  consists  essentially  of  a  piece  of  rail  about 
(>  ft.  long,  which,  when  set  for  the  siding,  is  swung  diagonally  across  the 
main  rail,  in  line  with  the  fixed  leads  of  the  turnout.  It  is  pivoted  at 
one  end  and,  when  thrown  for  the  siding,  the  other  end  rests  in  a  seat  at 
the  fixed  end  of  the  turnout  lead  rail,  with  which  it  makes  a  miter  joint. 
The  hinge  of  the  swing  rail  and  the  seat  referred  to  are  supported  by  a 
base  plate,  which  extends  under  and  supports  also  the  main-track  rail, 
but  is  not  rigidly  attached  thereto.  The  swing  rail  is  made  from  a  piece 
of  100-lb.  rail,  with  the  base  and  web  cut  away  from  that  portion  which 


Set    for   Main    Line. 


Set    for    Siding. 
Fig.  95. — Coughlin  Swing-Rail  Frog. 


GUARD  RAILS 


321 


passes  over  the  main  line  rail.  The  fixed  ends  of  the  turnout  lead  rails 
are  elevated  to  conform  to  the  swing  rail,  which  carries  the  wheels  If 
ins.  above  main  rail,  and  is  guided  to  the  proper  hight  to  slide  across  the 
main_  rail,  by  raising  plates.  Frog  and  switch  are  connected  by  a  pipe 
line  through  a  bell-crank,  and  both  are  moved  by  the  same  stand,  which 
may  be  placed  either  at  the  switch  or  opposite  the  frog.  In  the  opera- 
tion of  a  specially  designed  switch  stand  of  the  cam  class,  intended  for 
use  in  connection  with  these  frogs,  the  first  half  throw  of  the  lever  sets 
the  switch  and  the  second  half  or  completion  of  the  throw  operates  the 
frog  and  locks  the  switch. .  In  throwing  the  stand  back  to  its_  position 
for  main  line,  the  reverse  movement  takes  place,  the  frog  being  operated 
at  the  first  half  of  the  return  stroke,  and  then  the  switch.  When  thrown 
to  the  siding  the  swing  rail  is  locked  in  position  against  side  or  vertical 
movement  by  wheels  on  the  turnout,  but  a  tripping  bar  is  provided  which 
permits  the  swing  rail  to  be  pushed  aside  should  a  train  on  main  track 
trail  the  frog  while  it  is  set  for  the  siding.  When  set  for  the  main  track 
the  swing  rail  is  moved  to  a  position  parallel  with  the  main-line  rail, 
clearing  by  an  ample  flangeway,  so  that  no  guard  rail  is  needed.  It 
would  seem  proper,  however,  to  use  a  guard  'rail  in  the  turnout,  opposite 
To  prevent  the  frog  from  being  thrown  while  a  car  is  between 

GAUGE  OVER _BJJ-  _5'_Aj£ 


the  frog. 


WIDTH  OF  TREAD  - 


.  _JNSIOE_  GAUGE  OF  FLRNGES .- 

BASE  LINE  aF  GAUGE 


G$U6E  OF  WHEELS  4  d'/8  . 
GAUGE_QFJRA£KJ--  8& 


GAU  Gf  <  fGWffO  AND  WIN£_ 


Fig.  96. — M.  C.  B.  Standard  Terms  and  Gaging  Points  for  Wheels  and   Track. 

it  and  the  switch  a  detector  bar  is  used.  This  device  and  its  operation 
are  described  under  §  82  of  this  chapter,  on  the  "Machine  Operation  of 
Switches." 

Both  the  MacPherson  and  Coughlin  frogs  may  be  and  are  used  with- 
out guard  rails  in  the  main  track,  and  in  connection  with  a  Wharton 
switch  they  thus  preserve  the  continuity  of  the  rails  and  an  unobstructed 
track  throughout  the  length  of  the  turnout — apparently  a  very  safe  ar- 
rangement for  high-speed  trains.  They  are  not  intended  for  use  in  yards 
or  at  turnouts  where  a  great  deal  of  switching  is  done.  The  prevailing 
disposition  toward  these  devices  seems  to  be  to  first  try  them  at  outlying 
turnouts  in  main  line,  that  are  used  only  occasionally,  but  where  the 
speed  on  main  line  is  rapid. 

59.  Guard  Rails, — The  purpose  of  the  ordinary  guard  rail  in  turn- 
outs is  to  so  constrain  the  wheel  flange  that  the  flange  of  the  wheel  on 
the  other  end  of  the  axle  is  kept  clear  of  the  point  of  frog.  In  order  that 
this  condition  may  obtain,  the  frog  should  be  laid  to  exact  gage  and  the 
wheels  should  be  set  according  to  measurements  which  conform  to  standard 
track  gage.  Unless  both  of  these  conditions  be  fulfilled  wheels  will  not 
pass  smoothly  by  the  frog.  Figure  9G  shows  a  pair  of  wheels  of  standard 
shape,  gaged  according  to  the  Master  Car  Builders'  standard  (4  ft.  8-J 
ins.),  on  track  of  standard  gage.  The  gaging  point  of  the  wheels  is  on 
the  flange  fillet  (the  curve  by  which  the  flange  meets  the  tread)  17/04  in. 
Dut  from  the  tread.  This  point  on  the  fillet  is  the  supposed  normal  lim- 


322  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

ilirig  point  of  contact  between  the  wheel  and  the  rail.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  width  of  flangeway,  or  space  between  guard  rail  and  running- 
rail,  is  If  ins.  This  width  of  flangeway  allows  a  play  of  3/16  in.  between  the 
back  of  wheel  flange  and  guard  rail,  and  the  same  amount  of  play  between 
the  back  of  flange  and  frog  wing.  When  this  play  between  back  of  flange  and 
guard  rail  is  taken  up  by  the  motion  of  a  wheel  the  flange  fillet  of  the 
mating  wheel  may  then  just  reach  the  frog  tongue,  but  the  flange  is  held 
away,  so  that  it  cannot  impinge  upon  the  point  when  it  comes  facing; 
that  is,  when  it  approaches  the  frog  from  the  direction  of  the  switch. 
For  wheels  trailing  a  frog  no  guard  rail  is  needed. 

If  the  flangeway  of  the  guard  rail  on  track  of  standard  gage  be  made 
wider  than  1 J  ins.  the  wheel  flanges  will  impinge  on  the  point  of  tongue.  I ' 
the  gage  at  the  frog  be  wider  than  4  ft.  8J  ins.,  as  on  a  curve,  the  flange- 
way  should  be  increased  by  just  the  amount  the  gage  is  widened,  or  the 
flanges  will  strike  a  heavy  blow  on  the  wing  of  the  frog.  In  other  words, 
the  service  side  of  the  guard  rail  head,  opposite  the  frog  tongue,  should 
be  4  ft.  6f  ins.  (4  ft.  SJ  ins. — If  ins.)  from  the  gage  line  of  the  frog,  re- 
gardless of  the  gage' of  the  track.  As  a  rule  which  applies  in  all  cases, 
then,  the  guard  rail  should  be  spaced  not  from  the  rail  adjacent  but  from 
the  gage  line  of  the  frog  or  the  rail  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  track. 
This  ruJe  is  often  overlooked  when  laying  the  guard  rail  opposite  a  frog, 
in  the  turnout.  From  the  fear  that  flanges  will  impinge  on  the  end  of 
the  tongue  many  trackmen  make  the  gage  at  the  frog  J  in.  wide  without 

< 4'  9" H 

4-  5" 


4'  SVz" 

Fig.  97. — Guard  Rail  Gages. 

making  due  allowance  in  the  flangeway  of  the  guard  rail,  the  result  being 
that  the  turnout  wing  of  the  frog  must  undergo  rough  usage.  While 
there  is  no  necessity  for  increasing  the  gage  of  the  turnout  at  the  frog, 
and  while  so  doing  makes  an  unsightly  jog  in  the  rail,  still,  whatever  be 
the  gage  of  the  track,  the  guard  rail  should  always  be  spaced  the  same 
distance  from  the  gage  side  of  the  frog,  as  above  stated.  This  distance, 
4  ft.  Of  ins.,  might  properly  be  called  the  guard  rail  distance. 

Wheels  are  supposed  to  be  gaged  according  to  the  M.  C.  B.  stand- 
ard, or  4  ft.  Gf  ins.  from  the  back  of  flange  on  one  wheel  to  the  gage  line 
of  the  flange  on  the  other.  This  measurement,  called  the  check  gage  dis- 
tance, is  the  same  as  the  guard  rail  distance,  and  when  such  is  observed, 
both  guard  and  wing  rail  blows  and  point  impingements  are  avoided.  The 
standard  distance  between  wheels  is  4  ft.  of  ins.,  back  to  back  of  flanges, 
and  to  provide  for  variation  in  thickness  of  flanges  a  deviation  is  allowed 
between  the  limits  of  4  ft.  5J  ins.  and  4  ft.  5J  ins.,  which  permits  a  maxi- 
mum flange  thickness  of  17/16  ins.,  and  a  minimum  thickness  of  15/1C  ins. 
(for  new  wheels).  A  standard  distance  back  to  back  of  flanges,  is  not, 
however,  a  consistent  gage  for  mounting  wheels  in  all  cases,  because  if  the 
flanges  are  not  of  standard  thickness  such  a  gage  permits  a  comparatively 
wide  range  of  measurements  between  gage  lines  of  the  flanges;  that  is,  in 
the  gage  of  wheels.  For  wheel  flanges  not  of  standard  thickness  there  is 
only  one  logical  basis  of  measurement,  and  this  is  from  the  back  of  one 
flange  to  the  gage  line  on  the  flange  fillet  of  the  other.  This  measure- 
ment and  the  guard  rail  distance  must  be  the  same;  otherwise  the  proper 
relationship  of  the  wheels  to  the  track  at  switches  cannot  be  maintained. 


GUARD  RAILS  323 

Although  the  thickness  of  flange  does  affect  the  back-to-back  measure- 
ment of  wheels  set  to  proper  gage  no  harm  results  so  long  as  this  distance 
is  not  less  than  4  ft.  5  ins. 

Some  complication  appears  to  arise  over  the  proper  gaging  of  wheels 
with  worn  flanges;  for  although  the  ideal  condition  obtains  with  new 
wheels  gaged  in  the  manner  just  pointed  out,  both  guard  and  wing  rail 
blows  follow  upon  appreciable  flange  wear,  since  the  check  gage  distance 
then  becomes  less  than  the  guard  rail  distance  and  the  wheels  have  more 
lateral  motion  or  play  across  the  track.  This  trouble  can  be  remedied  by 
pressing  the  wheels  farther  apart  an  amount  equal  to  the -wear  of  one 
flange.  This  change  restores  the  wheels  to  the  standard  check  gage  dis- 
tance, and  as  long  as  this  gage  is  not  exceeded  there  can  be  no  impinge- 
ment on  the  point  of  tongue.  It  should  be  stated  that  the  desired  results 
from  this  treatment  of  worn  wheels  cannot  be  had  unless  the  flanges  be 
of  equal  thickness ;  but  two  wheels  differing  in  thickness  of  flange  to  any 
appreciable  extent  should  not  be  used  on  the  same  axle,  since  with  such 
the  check  gage  distance  cannot  be  made  to  measure  the  same  both  ways 
over  the  pair.  The  M.  C.  B.  rules  permit  a  variation  in  thickness  not 
to  exceed  1/10  in.  With  -this  precaution  it  must  be  plainly  evident  that 
a  rigid  adherence  to  the  4  ft.  6|-in.  measurement  between  back  and  gage 
lines  of  flanges  is  the  solution  of  the  worn  or  irregular  wheel  flange  diffi- 
culty. The  M.  C.  B.  rules  require  that  wheels  with  flanges  worn  to  a 
thickness  of  iyic  ins.  or  less  shall  not  be  remounted. 

For  track  of  4  ft.  9  ins.  gage  the  standard  width  of  guard  rail  flange- 
way  and  frog  channel  is  2  ins.  Figure  97  shows  the  standard  guard  rail 
gage  suggested  by  the  M.  C.  B.  Assn.  for  both  standard-gage  and  4  ft. 
9-in.  tracks.  It  is  seen  that  the  same  distance  of  4  ft.  5  ins.  is  main- 
tained between  service  sides  of  guard  and  wing  rails  in  either  case.  The 
guard  rail  distance  in  this  case  is  4  ft.  7  ins.,  "thus  exceeding  the  standard 
check  gage  distance  by'|  in.  and  permitting  minimum  guard  and  wing 
rail  blows  to  that  extent,  from  wheels  of  standard  gage ;  if  a  frog  of  stand- 
ard channel  width  (1J  ins.)  be  used  the  wing  rail  blow  is  increased  to  -J 
in.  It  is  thus  seen  that  on  4  ft.  9-in.  track  w-ith  2-in  flangeways  ideal 
conditions  for  wheels  set  to  standard  gage  are  impossible. 

It  may  be  well  enough  to  here  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  gag- 
ing point  of  wheels,  although  officially  defined,  has  no  fixed  position,  so 
far  as  may  be  determined  from  conditions  of  contact  with  the  rail.  The 
point  or  line  on  the  wheel  to  which  the  gage  is  referred  is  that  which 
is  supposed  to  coincide  with  a  plane  which  stands  perpendicular  to  the 
track  on  the  gage  line  of  the  rail,  when  the  flange  is  crowding  the  rail  to 
the  limit  of  lateral  movement.  On  a  new  wheel  this  point  is  supposed  to 
be  on  the  flange  fillet,  and  it  may  or  may  not  come  in  contact  with  the 
rail,  even  when  the  flange  is  crowding  the  rail  to  the  limit.  This  sup- 
posed gaging  point  is  not  easily  identified,  even  on  new  wheels,  and  on 
worn  wheels  it  cannot  be  distinctly  located.  .  The  limit  of  the  lateral  mo- 
tion of  a  wheel  relatively  to  the  rail  depends  upon  the  shape  of  the  top  cor- 
ner of  the  rail  head  and  the  condition  of  the  wheel  flange  fillet  respecting 
wear.  The  line  of  contact  between  flange  and  rail  is  not  precisely  de- 
terminable  even  with  new  wheels  and  rails,  and  it  may  change  with  wear 
of  either  wheel  or  rail.  By  means  of  models  or  observations  of  experi- 
ments with  actual  wheels  and  rails  the  gaging  point  can  be  located  ap- 
proximately for  any  assumed  contour  of  wheel  and  rail.  For  the  M.  C. 
B.  standards  it  was  located  for  new  wheels  and  a  rail  with  a  top  corner 
radius  of  £  in.  For  the  above  reasons  the  technical  thickness  of  wheel 
flange  cannot  be  exactly  determined.  The  only  fixed  point  on  the  wheel 


324  SW ITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

from  which  definite  gage  measurements  can  be  taken  is  the  back  of  the 
flange,  and  no  comparison  of  the  wheel  gage  with  that  of  guard  rails,  frog 
points  and  frog  wing  rails  is  reliable  unless  the  back  of  the  wheel  flange 
is  made  the  basis  of  measurement. 

So  far  as  danger  of  impinging  on  the  frog  tongue  is  concerned,  there 
is  no  necessity  for  maintaining  the  guard  rail  distance  except  at  the  point 
directly  opposite  the  point  of  tongue.  In  fact  such  an  arrangement  i& 
in  practice  on  some  roads,  including  the  Great  Northern  Ey.  The  guard 
rail  is  bent  sharply  at  the  middle  with  a  jim-crow  and  the  bend  is  placed 
opposite  the  point  of  tongue  at  the  proper  guard  rail  distance.  For  sev- 
eral reasons,  however,  it  is  considered  better  practice  to  lay  the  guard 
rail  parallel  with  the  gage  line  of  the  frog  for  some  little  distance,  at 
least  3  or  4  ft.  In  the  first  place,  the  wear  on  the  straight  piece  of  guard 
rail  is  not  so  rapid  as  it  is  on  the  small  amount  of  restraining  surface 
presented  by  a  sharp  bend.  There  is  an  element  of  safety  in  maintain- 
ing the  guard  rail  at  the  proper  guarding  distance  (4  ft.  6f  ins.)  for  some 
distance  in  rear  of  the  point  directly  opposite  to  the  point  of  tongue. 
Somejtimes  a  loose  or  widely-gaged  wheel  or  a  wheel  on  a  bent  axle  will 
ride  the  point,  and  if  there  is  a  foot  or  two  of  straight  guard  rail  at  the 
proper  gage  distance  the  wheel  is  likely  to  be  brought  back  again.  With 
spring  frogs  the  length  of  guarcl  rail  set  to  proper  guard  rail  distance 
should  at  least  cover  the  movable  wing  in  advance  of  the  point.  This 
arrangement  relieves  the  spring  rail  from  side  pressure,  particularly  if 
the  frog  is  on  the  outside  of  a  curve  (where  a  spring-rail  frog  ought  not  to 
be),  and  it  reduces  the  risk  of  derailment  in  case  the  spring  rail  should 
break  or  some  other  accident  happen  to  the  frog. 

The  flare  at  the  ends  of  guard  rails  is  usually  4  to  6  ins.  from  the 
running  rail,  and  it  should  be  made  gradually,  say  in  a  distance  of  4  to  6 
ft.,  so  as  to  draw  the  wheels  to  the  guard  point  without  jar  or  shock.  The 
easier  or  more  gradual  the  flare  the  better  is  the  guard  rail  able  to  with- 
stand the  side  blows  from  badly  gaged  wheels  or  wheels  with  badly  worn 
flanges  which  have  not  been  regaged.  If  the  rail  is  of  proper  length  it 
can  be  sprung  to  make  the  flare  without  curving,  but  if  it  is  short  it  should 
be  curved.  The  practice  of  heating  the  rail  and  bending  or  curving  the 
ends  within  the  short  distance  of  a  foot  or  two  is  a  bad  one  and  produces 
a  poor  guard  rail,  which  is  'the  cause  of  unpleasant  riding.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  but  that  car  axles  are  often  severely  strained,  if  not  broken, 
by  the  sudden  jogging  of  the  wheels  against  short  guard  rails,  or  against 
those  which  are  curved  or  bent  at  the  ends  too  suddenly.  In  order  to 
strengthen  the  guard  rail  against  overturning  it  is  quite  extensively  the 
practice  to  flare  the  ends  8  to  12  ins. ;  in  which  case  tilting  or  overturn- 
ing cannot  take  place  except  by  a  square  lift  at  the  center  of  the  rail. 
For  the  same  purpose  it  has  been  the  practice  with  a  few  roads  to  turn  the 
ends  of  the  guard  rail  at  right  angles,  toward  the  center  of  the  track,. 
for  a  length  of  18  ins.  or  so.  In  the  instance  of  one  road  whereon  this 
principle  has  been  adopted  the  head  and  web  are  cut  from  the  squarely 
bent  ends  and  three  holes  are  punched  through  the  base  which  remains, 
for  spiking  these  ends  to  the  ties.  No  spikes  are  then  driven  in  the 
flangeway  to  hold  down  the  straight  portion  of  the  guard  rail,  which  is  7 
ft.  in. length,  the  total  length  of  the  guard  rail  before  bending  being  12 
ft.  On  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  the  flare  of  each  end  of  the  guard  rail 
is  made  in  two  distinct  bends,  one  2-J  ft.  from  center  to  give  the  flange- 
way  a  gradual  taper  and  the  other  5J  ft.  from  center  and  2  ft.  from  the 
end  of  the  rail,  to  bend  in  a  short  portion  to  a  clearance  of  8  ins.  from 
the  running  rail,  for  stability  against  "rolling"  or  tilting. 


GUARD  RAILS  325 

Guard  rails  should  be  at  least  18  ft.  long  and  are  all  the  better  if 
longer.  A  guard  rail  as  short  as  8  or  10  ft.  in  length,,  without  reinforc- 
ing devices,  is  easily  torn  out  by  derailed  wheels,  if  it  does  not  get  loose 
from  ordinary  service.  A  long  guard  rail  can  be  firmly  held  in  place 
by  the  spikes  alone,  and  it  affords  plenty  of  rail  to  make  a  gradual  flare. 
Guard  rails  placed  on  the  inside  of  curves  should  be  a  full  rail's  length. 
They  can  be  flared  for  a  gradual  approach  to  the  necessary  guarding  point, 
and  if  the  portion  parallel  to  the  running  rail  be  restricted  to  a  short 
length  at  the  middle  the  unusual  length  will  not  increase  the  liability  of 
the  wheel  flanges  to  bind  in  the  flangeway.  Where  a  turnout  is  laid  only 
temporarily,  and  there  happen  to  be  no  pieces  of  rail  of  convenient  length 
for  guard  rails,  it  is  well  to  use  a  whole  rail  in  preference  to  cutting  it. 
The  guard  rail  should  be  placed  centrally  opposite  the  frog  point  or  nearly 
so  (as  the  ties  at  the  ends  of  the  guard  rail  will  determine),  not  only  for 
sake  of  appearance  but  because  the  wheel  should  be  guarded  as  gradually 
while  trailing  the  frog  as  when  moving  facing  to  it;  for  while  there  is  no 
need  of  guarding  a  wheel  trailing  a  frog,  still  the  guard  is  there  and  the 
wheel  flanges  must  meet  it  just  the  same  as  when  they  come  facing.  It 
is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  lay  the  guard  rail  with  its  center  in  ad- 
vance of  the  frog  point.  The  standard  practice  of  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  Ey.  is  to  lay  guard  rails  opposite  frogs  to  bring  the  middle  point 
2  ft.  8  ins.  in  advance  of  the  frog  point. 

The  top  of  the  guard  rail  should  not  stand  higher  than  that  of  the 
running  rail,  as  if  it  does  it  comes  in  the  way  of,  and  is  liable  to  'receive 
heavy  side  blows  from,  the  inside  false  flange  of  blind  drivers,  the  tires 
of  which  are  wider  than  those  of  the  flanged  drivers  and  are  usually 
placed  closer  back  to  back.  Neither  should  the  top  of  the  guard  rail  be 
much  lower  than  that  of  the  running  rail,  as  if  it  is  some  of  the  effective- 
ness of  the  rail  as  a  guard  is  lost".  On  a  certain  road  where  it  was  at- 
tempted to  use  75-lb.  guard  rails  with  100-lb.  running  rails,  without  rais- 
ing the  former  off  the  ties,  it  frequently  happened  that  the  wheel  flanges 
would  climb  the  flared  ends  of  the  guard  rail  and  cause  derailment.  On 
the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River  R.  R.  the  guard  rail  is  set  to  bring  its 
top  |  in.  lower  than  that  of  the  running  rail,  in  order  to  escape  interfer- 
ence with  worn  blind  drivers,  as  just  explained. 

Old  flange-worn  rails  from  the  outer  side  of  curves  make  good  guard 
rails,  as  they  are  already  curved  and  serve  the  purpose  just  as  well  as  a 
new  rail.  Old  iron  rails  have  been  much  used  for  guard  rails  but  are 
now  becoming  scarce  and  are  of  too  small  section  to  match  with  the  new 
rails  laid  in  these  days  unless  chairs  or  raising  blocks  are  used  to  bring 
the  top  of  the  guard  rail  to  proper  hight.  Figure  99  shows  the  form  of 
cast  chair  and  brace  in  service  on  the  Southern  Pacific  road,  designed  to 
allow  the  use  of  a  50-lb.  guard  rail  with  a  ?'5-lb.  or  76-lb.  running  rail. 
The  casting  is  ribbed,  as  indicated  by  the  broken  line,  and  is  set  upon  a  spe- 
cial Servis  tie  plate  12  ins,  long  and  5  ins.  wide,  with  two  spike  holes 
punched  to  come  at  the  edge  of  the  chair.  Three  of  these  chairs  are  used 
on  the  standard  guard  rail  (10  ft.  long),  one  being  placed  at  the  noddle 
and  one  near  each  end,  where  the  bend  is  made  for  the  flare,  the  length 
of  the  straight  portion  of  the  guard  rail  being  7  ft.  4  ins.  By  means  of 
a  bolt  and  a  pipe  filler  or  spacing  sleeve  the  two  rails  are  securely  braced 
together. 

The  ends  of  a  guard  rail  cut  off  squarely,  as  they  usually  are,  form 
ugly  obstructions  to  snow  plows  and  flangers  and  to  parts  of  brake  rig- 
ging which  may  be  hanging  loose  or  dragging,  and  oftentimes  such  parts 
are  torn  loose  at  guard  rails  and  cause  derailment.  Moreover,  trainmen 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

are  occasiqnlly  injured  by  stubbing  against  them  and  falling,  even  though 
the  ends  of  the  guard  rail  are  blocked;  for  foot  guards  usually  pass  under 
the  head  of  the  rail.  It  is  therefore  a  good  plan  to  have  the  ends  of 
guard  rails  sloped  down  to  the  rail  base,  something  like  the  end  of  the 
piece  shown  in  Fig.  98.  .  By  heating  the  end  and  cutting  out  a  triangu- 
lar portion  of  the  web  the  head  is  bent  to  slope  down  to  the  base  and  a 
hole  is  punched  through  the  end  for  a  spike.  Guard  rails  made  in  this 
way  will  not  catch  and  hold  anything  which  may  be  dragged  against 
them,  and  they  are  therefore  not  so  liable  to  be  torn  out.  Pieces  of  rail 
of  lengths  suitable  for  guard  rails  may  be  sent  to  the  shops  to  be  so  shaped 
and  then  stored  until  needed.  Short  pieces  of  rail  2  or  3  ft.  long  which 
cannot  be  utilized  in  making  frogs,  and  which  usually  go  to  the  scrap  pile, 
may  be  utilized  in  this  way  by  splicing  on  to  the  ends  of  guard  rails  al- 
ready laid,  using  old  fish  plates  for  splices.  On  some  roads  the  ends  of 


o      o 


I) 

Fig.  98. — Sloped  End  Piece  for  Guard  Rail. 

the  guard  rails  are  sa\ved  off  to  a  slope.  This  is  a  much  better  arrange- 
ment than  the  squarely  cut  ends,  but  the  sharp  under  corners  at  the  end 
of  rail  head  still  have  some  tendency  to  catch  things  dragged  against  it. 

Before  laying  a  guard  rail  which  rests  upon  the  ties  metal  must  be 
taken  from  the  edge  of  the  flange  which  comes  next  the  running  rail  or 
notches  must  be  cut  out  of  the  same,  to  afford  spiking  space  in  the  flange- 
way.  Unless  the  flanges  of  the  two  rails  interfere  with  bringing  the 
heads  to  a  proper  flangeway  it  is  better  to  notch  out  for  the  spikes  than  to 
plane  or  chip  off  the  edge  of  the  flange  along  the  whole  length  of  the 
straight  portion.  The  best  way  to  take  off  a  strip  of  the  flange  or  to  cut 
out  places  for  the  spikes  is  to  turn  the  guard  rail  on  its  head,  notch  out 
with  the  track  chisel,  in  outline,  on  the  base,  the  strip  or  portions  to  be 
cut  away  and  then  break  them  out  with  the  hammer,  slanting  the  stroke 
inward  toward  the  rail  web.  Some  go  to  needless  pains  in  work  of  this 
kind,  by  laying  a  piece  of  rail  for  an  anvil  and  cutting  full  depth  I'o  re- 
move the  necessary  metal.  As  either  steel  or  iron  rails  will  break  to  a 
notching  it  saves  much  time  and  effort  to  merely  notch  the  metal  and 
break  it  off.  In  fact  the  metal  is  sometimes  broken  off  without  notching 
with  a  chisel,  but  the  work  is  irregular  and  no  time  is  gained. 

The  way  to  lay  a  guard  rail  is  to  place  it  in  position  and  spike  the 
portion  opposite  the  frog  point  first.  A  sharp  pick  is  an  excellent  tool  to 
use  in  case  the  rail  must  be  sprung  to  place  while  spiking  it.  After  the 
middle  portion  is  secure  for  the  whole  distance  over  which  it  is  to  be 
laid  parallel  to  the  running  rail,  spring  out  the  ends,  if  they  are  not  al- 
ready curved,  and  secure  them  in  the  proper  position,  after  which  spike 
down  the  remaining  portion  of  the  rail,  both  sides,  throughout,  double- 
spiking  the  ends  and  the  middle  portion,  if  the  rail  is  to  be  held  by  spikes 


Fig.   99. — Guard   Rail   Chair  and    Brace. 
S.  P.  Co. 


Fig.   100. — Edwards   Guard 
Rail  Brace. 


GUARD  RAILS 


327 


Fig.  100  A. — Graham  Guard  Rail  Brace,  Southern  Ry. 

only.  In  some  cases  guard  rails  are  secured  by  spikes  alone ;  and  if  the 
rail  is  of  good  length  it  may  remain  quite  firmly  in  place  while  the  ties 
are  new;  but  there  is  considerable  leverage  tending  to  overturn  it  inward 
to  the  track,  and  it  is  now  extensively  the  practice  to  fortify  guard  rails 
with  some  form  of  brace. 

Guard  Bail  Braces  and  Clamps. — There  are  many  ways  of  bracing  or 
giving  additional  security  to  guard  rails.  A  common  practice  has  beerr 
to  tightly  fit  one  or  more  pieces  of  3-in  hardwood  plank  endwise  between 
the  webs  of  the  guard  rail  and  frog  wing,  spiking  the  plank  to  the  top  of  a 
tie.  This  method,  however,  is  open  to  the  objection  that  the  planking 
is  in  danger  of  being  torn  out  at  any  time  by  dragging  brake  rigging. 
The  Graham  guard  rail  brace  is  a  metallic  device  applied  in  the  same  way. 
It  consists  of  a  pressed  steel  strut  of  inverted  U-section,  flanged  for  spik- 
ing to  the  ties,  and  reaching  from  guard  rail  to  frog  wing  (Fig.  100 A). 
The  ends  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  side  of  the  rail  web  and  head,  like 
a,  rail  brace.  It  is  used  on  the  Southern  Ry.  and  other  roads. 

Ordinary  rail  braces  are  commonly  used  for  the  purpose,  spaced  sym- 
metrically each  side  the  middle  of  the  rail.  Four  braces — one  at  each 
end  of  the  straight  portion  and  one  at  each  end  of  the  rail — answer  very 
well.  A  very  secure  way  is  to  drill  holes  through  the  webs  of  the  guard 
and  running  rails  and  through  these  to  bolt  the  guard  rail  fast  to  the  run- 
ning rail,  using  1-in.  bolts.  Spools  or  spacing  blocks  should  be  used  with 
the  bolts,  so  as  to  permit  the  nuts  to  be  turned  on  tightly  without  tilting 
the  guard  rail  or  narrowing  the  flangeway.  Heavy  washers  for  the  out- 
side, made  by  cutting  up  old  fish  plates,  are  sometimes  used.  A  heavy 
clamp,  similar  in  design  to  a  frog  clamp,  placed  opposite  the  frog  point, 
and  sometimes  at  the  ends  of  the  straight  part  of  the  guard  rail,  is  used  to 


Fig.  101. — Guard   Rail  Clamps. 


328 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


some  extent.  At  the  left  in  Fig.  101  there  is  shown  the  Wharton  adjust- 
able guard  rail  clamp.  It  consists  of  a  heavy  forging  A,  a  cast  filler  D, 
a  cast  wedge  block  B  and  a  steel  wedge  (7,  with  cotter  pin.  The  cast 
filler  D  is  composed  of  two  similar  triangular-shaped  pieces  with  rounded 
saw-tooth  projections,,  which,  as  they  are  moved  by  each  other,  give  varia- 
tions in  the  opening  of  the  flangeway  to  suit  any  desired  adjustment.  The 
device  shown  in  the  upper  right  side  of  the  figure  is  the  Pennsylvania 
Standard  guard  rail  clamp  made  of  iron  4  ins.  wide  and  1^  to  1£  ins. 
thick,  according  to  the  size  of  the  rail.  The  metal  spacing  blocks  are 
secured  by  a  vertical  flat  key  bolt  and  split  key  driven  under  the  clamp, 
and  the  clamp  is  tightened  and  secured  by  driving  the  horizontal  soft 
steel  wedge  and  spreading  open  the  split  end.  The  device  shown  in  the 
lower  right  side  of  the  figure  is  in  use  on  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana, 
the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  and  other  roads.  It  is  a  steel  plate 
clamp  10  ins.  wide  and  -J  in.  thick,  bent  up  at  the  inner  end  to  bolt  to 
the  web  of  the  guard  rail  and  formed  into  a  clasp  at  the  outer  end,  which 


Fig.   102. — Standard  Guard   Rail,   Maine  Central    R.   R. 

is  passed  under  the  running  rail  and  hooked  over  the  edge  of  the  flange. 
Jt  is  applied  to  the  flared  end  of  the  guard  rail,  as  shown  in  the  plan 
view,  and  the  adjustment  is  by  means  of  a  series  of  holes  in  the  end  of 
the  guard  rail,  the  clamp  being  moved  to  bolt  on  nearer  to  or  farther 
from  the  end  as  a  narrower  or  wider  flangeway  is  desired.  The  Edwards 
guard  rail  brace  (Fig.  100)  is  made  all  in  one  piece,  to  fit  under  the  head 
of  the  guard  rail  on  the  off  side  and  to  hook  around  the  outside  edge  of 
the  flange  of  the  running  rail. 

The  standard  guard  rail  of  the  Maine  Central  R.  R.  has  ends  bent  to 
form  clamps,  as  shown  in  Fig.  102.  The  guard  rail  is  10  ft.  long,  bent  at 
the  middle  and  flared  to  a  clearance  of  4  ins.  at  the  ends.  At  each  end  of 
the  rail  the  base  and  web  are  cut  out  to  leave  a  projecting  piece  of  the 
head  12  or  15  ins.  long,  and  this  head  is  turned  down  like  a  ram's  horn, 
passed  underneath  the  running  rail  and  clinched  over  the  base  on  the 
other  side.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  head  and  web  are  cut  away  and 
the  flange  (instead  of  the  head)  of  the  guard  rail  is  bent  under  and  around 
to  embrace  the  outer  flange  of  the  running  rail.  The  arrangement  holds 
the  guard  rail  securely  against  canting  or  being  torn  out  by  derailed 
wheels  or  dragging  parts. 

The  method  of  securing  the  guard  rail  to  the  running  rail,  in  any 
manner,  is  opposed  by  some  trackmen  on,  the  ground  that  the  position  of 
the  guard  rail  is  thus  dependent  upon  the  stability  of  the  rail  to  which  it 
is  attached,  whereas  it  should  be  maintained  in  position  with  reference  to 
the  frog  regardless  of  the  position  of  the  rail  opposite.  If  the  guard  rail 


GUARD  RAILS 


329 


is  laid  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  frog,  however,  the  objection  is  not 
serious,  because  the  running  rail,  by  itself  alone,  is  ordinarily  secure 
enough  for  a  guard  rail,  and  if  the  guard  rail  is  well  spiked  (as  it  should 
be)  there  is  but  small  probability  that  the  two  will  be  moved  out  of  gage. 
Of  course  the  true  principle  would  be  to  unite  guard  rail  and  frog  in- 
stead of  guard  rail  and  running  rail,  and  those  inclined  to  the  position 
stated  claim  that  if  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  guard  rail  clamp  is  worth 
having  at  all  it  should  be  such  as  will  secure  the  guard  rail  to  the  frog ;  in. 
other  words  preserve  the  proper  gage  of  guard  and  wing  rails.  -As_a  sug- 
gestion on  this  idea  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  D.  M.  Taylor  for  the  sketch  of  a 
proposed  device  shown  as  Fig.  103.  It  consists  of  a  round  bar  threaded 
into  a  steel  casting  bolted  to  the  guard  rail,  at  one  end,  and  flattened  at 
the  other  end  or  so  shaped  as  to  be  most  conveniently  fastened  to  the  frog. 
The  steel  casting  (A)  might  be  similar,  in  shape  and  method  of  attach- 
ment, to  some  switch  lugs  now  in  use,  but  quite  heavy.  If  the  gage  bar 

6A6E.  Of  GUARD  RAIL  AND  W/NG  RAIL 


r* 

3/4 *2  3/efiAT  W/2  ROUND 

Fig.  103. — Proposed  Device  for  Holding  Guard  Rail  to  Gage. 

was  to  be  attached  to  a  plate  frog  the  simplest  method  would  perhaps  be 
to  use  bolts  as  shown  at  B,  and  as  the  service  stress  on  the  bar  would  be 
that  of  compression,  there  might  be  a  shoulder  on  the  bar  to  abut  against 
the  frog  plate.  If  it  is  to  be  attached  to  a  spring  frog  without  plate  the 
end  of  the  bar  might  be  forged  into  some  such  shape  as  is  shown  at  C, 
admitting  of  easy  removal  by  simply  knocking  out  the  tightening  wedge 
which  holds  the  bar  to  its  place  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  sometimes 
used  with  clamped  frogs.  The  device  would  certainly  be  practicable,  and 
would  not  probably  cost  any  more  than  some  of  the  guard  rail  clamps 
now  in  use.  Further  on  the  matter  of  guard  rail  clamps,  it  may  be  stated 
that  one  objection  to  the  use  of  a  non-adjustable  filling  block  between 
main  and  guard  rail,  bolted  through  and  through,  is  that  it  does  not  per- 
mit the  guard  rail  to  be  reset  and  moved  in  to  a  proper  flangeway  when 
the  service  side  becomes  unduly  worn. 

An  interesting  departure  in  guard  rail  design  has  been  in  satisfac- 
tory service  for  several  years  on  the  Duluth  &  Iron  Range  R.  R.,  in  the 
shape  of  an  angle  bar  guard.  This  device  was  first  designed  for  use  with 
100-lb.  rails  and  spring-rail  frogs,  but  has  since  been  adopted  for  use 
with  spring-rail  frogs  in  80-lb.  track.  The  design  shown  in  Fig.  104  is 
for  100-lb.  track,  the  rail  being  5J  ins.  high,  5J  ins.  wide  on  base,  with 
a  head  2f  ins.  wide.  The  guard  rail  is  20  ft.  long  and  made  of  a  6x6x 
-J-in.  steel  angle  fitted  in  the  factory  and  shipped  with  the  frog.  All  the 


330 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


details  and  measurements  are  given  on  the  engraving.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  there  are  seven  cast  spacing  blocks,  in  three  sets,  with  bolts 
for  securing  the  guard  angle  firmly  to  the  running  rail.  The  guard 
1  


SWITCH  RODS  331 

angle  is  further  secured  by  spiking  it  to  the  ties  through  punched  holes, 
spaced  to  correspond  to  the  standard  tie  spacing.  The  ends  of  the  guard 
angle  are  sloped  down  H  ins.,  in  12  ins.,  as  shown,  to  make  it  les&  ob- 
structive to  loose  parts  of  rolling  stock.  The  angle  bar  in  place  weighs 
about  the  same  as  a  100-lb.  T-rail  of  corresponding  length  used  for  the 
same  purpose.  A  commendable  feature  of  the  design  is  the  length  of 
the  guard  rail,  and  another  is  the  large  portion  of  the  length  which  is 
given  to  make  the  flare — six  feet  on  each  end,  leaving  8  ft.  of  the  guard 
rail  straight  or  set  to  a  If-in.  flangeway.  On  some  of  the  railways  of 
Germany  guard  rails  of  similar  design  are  in  service,  the  difference  being 
that  a  bulb  angle  is  used  instead  of  a  plain  angle  bar.  This  bulb  angle  is  a 
specially  rolled  shape,  the  bulb  projecting  from  the  outside  of  the  vertical 
leg  of  the  angle  instead  of  from  the  inside,  as  in  the  regular  commercial 
shape;  that  is,  the  bulb  is  on  the  service  side  of  the  guard  angle. 

For  various  causes  guard  rails  sometimes  need  to  be  taken  up  and 
reset.  Among  these  causes  are  the  spreading,  canting  or  rolling  of  the 
guard  rail,  from  wheel  pressure;  wearing  away  of  the  service  side  of  the 
head ;  the  wearing  down  of  the  running  rail  or  the  cutting  of  the  ties  under 
this  rail,  which  leaves  the  guard  rail  too  high  for  the  worn  tires  of  blind 
drivers.  Deeply  guttered  blind  tires  are  severe  on  guard  rails  and  frog 
wings  in  any  case,  because' they  are  usually  1  to  1J  ins.  wider  than  the 
flanged  tires  and  set  in  closer  back  to  back,  so  that  the  inner  false  flange 
which  runs  into  the  flangeway  of  the  guard  rail,  must  either  climb  out 
again  when  it  meets  the  flared  end  or  crowd  against  the  guard  rail  with 
tremendous  force.  The  coning  of  blind  tires  on  the  inside  and  outside 
of  the  tread  helps  matters  for  guard  rails  and  frog  wings  when  the  tires 
become  worn. 

Another  cause  of  the  loosening  or  the  spreading  of  guard  rails  arises 
in  winter,  when  the  flangeway  gets  closely  packed  with  snow.  It  will 
thaw  and  then  freeze  and  expand,  but  owing  to  the  shape  of  the  cavity 
the  expanding  material  cannot  easily  force  itself  out,  and  consequently 
there  is  exerted  a  powerful  force  tending  to  spread  the  two  rails  apart. 
This  trouble  may  be  avoided  by  blocking  the  guard  rail  its  whole  length. 
For  blocking  the  flangeway  along  the  straight  portion  of  a  guard  rail  the 
channel  filling  of  worn-out  frogs  comes  handy,  and  is  sometimes  used. 
Being  of  the  proper  width  and  shape  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  drill  holes 
in  the  guard  and  main  rails  corresponding  to  some  of  those  in  the  filling 
blocks,  and  then  bolt  the  guard  and  main  rails  together  like  the  wing  rail 
and  point  pieces  of  a  frog. 

60.  Switch  Rods. — A  switch  rod,  sometimes  called  a  "bridle  rod"  or 
"tie  bar,"  is  an  iron  bar  having  slots  or  connections  near  or  at  its  ends  to- 
fit  the  flanges  or  webs  of  the  two  switch  rails,  to  hold  them  to  gage.  A 
stub  switch  rod  is  usually  made  from  If-in.  or  IJ-in.  round  iron.  If  it  is 
designed  to  gripe  the  rail  flange  it  should  be  a  forging  rather  than  a  rod 
with  cleat  attachments  for  this  purpose.  It  ought  to  fit  snugly  the  two- 
rails  at  exactly  standard  gage  distance  apart.  The  rod  placed  next  the 
beadblock  is  usually  extended  a  few  inches  beyond  the  slot  on  one  end  and 
flattened  and  drilled,  to  join  with  a  connecting  rod  to  the  switch  stand; 
it  is  sometimes  called  the  "eye  bar,"  "neck  rod,"  or  "head  rod."  This  rod 
should  fit  the  rail  flange  so  closely  that  it  must  be  driven  on  in  order  to 
get  it  to  place.  The  bolt  joining  it  to  the  connecting  rod  should  fit  both 
it  and  the  connecting  rod  snugly.  This  rod  should  be  placed  as  near  the 
headshoe  as  it  can  be  worked,  so  as  to  make  the  throw  of  the  ends  of  the 
moving  rails  correspond  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  throw  of  the  connect- 
ing rod  or  the  switch  stand.  It  should  also  be  placed  squarely  with  the 


332 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


two  rails ;  that  is,  perpendicular  to  each  switch  rail  when  set  for  the  main 
track.  It  can  be  kept  from  slewing  around  by  a  guard  attached  to  the 
headblock,  or  by  driving  two  stakes  beside  it  into  the  ballast.  With  the 
stub  switches  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Ey.  the  head  rod  is  a  flat  bar  about  4 
ins.  wide  and  1  in.  thick,  supporting  the  moving  rails  and  sliding  on  a 
flat  headshoe  to  which  the  stub  ends  of  the  lead  rails  are  secured  by  rivet- 
ed lugs. 

A  loose  rod  may  be  made  to  fit  snugly  by  driving  a  key  between  the 
edge  of  the  rail  flange  and  the  end  of  the  slot,  and  then  clinching  the  key. 
If  the  rails  do  not  then  come  to  gage  and  there  is  not  room  in  the  slots 
to  permit  them  to  be  adjusted  the  necessary  amount,  the  adjustment  can 
be  facilitated  by  trimming  from  the  edge  of  the  rail  flange  and  keying  it 
over  that  much.  For  this  purpose  switch  rods  should  be  so  slotted  that 
tlje  part  of  the  slot  for  the  rail  web  is  wider  than  the  thickness  of  the 


Fig.  105.— Switch  Rods. 

web  by  at  least  J  in.,  thus  making  it  possible  to  key  and  adjust  the  rail 
flange.  If  the  rods  are  not  all  pretty  nearly  of  the  same  gage  this  adjust- 
ment should  always  be  made,  so  as  to  put  the  two  rails  to  the  same  gage 
throughout.  Different  sizes  of  wire  nails  and  telegraph  wire  make  ex- 
cellent keys  for  this  purpose. 

In  order  to  protect  the  rods  from  getting  bent  in  derailments,  which 
will  occur  more  or  less  in  switching  at  stub  switches,  a  sawed  tie  should 
be  placed  each  side  of  each  rod,  leaving  a  space  of  about  2J  ins.  between 
the  ties  for  the  rod;  but  unusually  wide  spaces  should  not  be  left  between 
the  other  ties  with  the  idea  that  bunching  two  together  in  a  place  will  make 
up  for  the  unequal  distribution.  It  is  at  all  events  a  good  plan  to  have 
ties  closely  spaced  under  moving  rails,  in  order  to  hold  up  the  wheels  in 
case  of  derailment.  Ties  placed  in  this  manner  also  keep  the  rods  to 
place.  In  case  rods  become  badly  bent  one  should  not  attempt  to  straight- 
en them  cold;  but  build  a  fire  and  heat  them,  before  straightening.  Bal- 
last should  not  be  dressed  between  the  ties  to  reach  the  rods,  and  before 
winter  sets  in  particular  attention  should  be  given  to  the  matter  to  see 
that  the  ballast  is  everywhere  clear  of  the  rods,  and  that  little  trenches  are 
dug,  if  necessary,  to  drain  the  spaces  about  the  rods.  The  necessity  of 
such  precaution  is  to  prevent  the  rods  from  freezing  fast. 

Figure  105  shows  an  assortment  of  switch  rods.  The  rod  D  is  the 
ordinary  stub  switch  rod  or  '*back  rod,"  and  the  right-hand  connection  on 


11EADSHOES 


333 


G  shows  the  way  it  gripes  the  rail  flange.  Eods  G,  Ef  and  F  are  differ- 
ent forms  of  head  rods,  E  being  for  use  with  a  ground  switch  stand  and 
F  with  a  revolving  switch  stand.  Eod  B  is  a  connecting  rod  made  to  join 
with  the  head  rod  F.  The  four  connections  shown  to  the  left  hand  on  G 
are  some  ways  of  attaching  rods  to  point  switch  rails ;  other  figures  in  this 
chapter  show  still  other  methods.  The  rod  A  has  the  well  known  Lorenz 
spring  or  safety  connection  for  point  switch  rails,  referred  to  further  on. 

61.  Headshoes. — Head  shoes  or  "headchairs"  are  made  either  of  cast 
iron,  wrought  iron  or  steel  plate.  A  cast  shoe^  if  thick  enough,  will  give  good 
service.  A  wrought  or  steel  plate  shoe  is  made  by  riveting  properly  shaped 
lugs  OT  stops  to  a  heavy  plate.  They  will  not  break  in  two,  as  cast  shoes  do 
sometimes  when  engines  or  cars  get  off  the  track,  but  when  poorly  made  the 
parts  get  loose.  A  cast  shoe  should  be  at  least  1J  ins.  thick  underneath 
the  rails,  and  for  heavy  traffic  the  thickness  should  be  2  ins.  It  should 
be  cored  to  fit  snugly  the  section  of  the  rail  used  with  it.  The  metal 
should,  of  course,  be  tough  and  of  good  quality.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  headshoes  in  use  are  badly  designed  in  one  particular:  there  is  at  the 


Fig.  106. — Cast  Iron  Headshoe. 


Fig.  107.— Steel  Plate  Headshoes. 


back  of  seat  of  the  stub  or  lead  rail — that  is,  between  the  lead  rail  and 
the  moving  rail — a  backing  or  ridge  on  the  cross  bar  ("X,"  Fig.  106)  f  to 
1  in.  thick,  thus  requiring  the  joint  to  be  unnecessarily  wide.  There  is  no 
necessity  for  a  thickness  of  metal  at  the  back  of  seat  of  more  than  -J-  in. 
If  it  is  not  more  than  that  the  joint  can  be  reduced  to  f  or  J  in.,  and  thus 
the  heavy  pounding  due  to  a  wide  joint  can  be  avoided.  To  prevent  this 
thin  wall  of  metal  or  backing  from  breaking  out  by  the  creeping  of  the  rail, 
the  corners  of  the  slot  for  the  rail  flange  should  be  cast  solid,  thus  requir- 
ing the  corners  of  the  flange  of  the  stub  rail  to  be  clipped  off  in  order  to 
lit  the  space.  This  arrangement  provides  plenty  of  metal  as  an  abutment 
for  the  end  of  the  rail.  A  headshoe  with  a  thick  wall  back  of  the  seat 
can  be  made  to  answer,  however,  by  cutting  out  with  a  hack  saw  a  piece 
from  the  flange  and  web  at  the  end  of  the  lead  rail  or  moving  rail,  so  as 
to  allow  the  head  of  the  rail  to  project  over  the  backing  or  ridge,  and  in 
this  way  reduce  the  opening  at  the  joint.  The  Kamapo  headshoe  (B,  Fig. 
120)  is  well  designed  in  this  respect. 

In  Fig.  107  are  shown  two  forms  of  steel  plate  headshoe.  The  Buda 
rivetless  headshoe  A  is  the  standard  form  on  the  Union  Pacific  road  and 
B  is  the  Elliot  headshoe.  The  former  is  of  f -in.  rolled  steel  plate,  with  de- 
pendent flanges  to  fit  over  the  sides  of  the  headblock,  to  hold  the  headshoes 
square  with  the  block.  The  lugs  for  holding  the  rails  in  their  seats  are 


334  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

held  to  the  plate  by  bosses  of  rectangular  section  which  extend  through  the 
plate  and  are  countersunk  on  the  under  side  thereof.  There  is  a  design 
of  headshoe  which  relieves  the  connecting  rod  of  the  duty  of  holding  the 
moving  rails  to  position.  For  this  purpose  there  is  a  rib  or  lug  between 
the  main  and  side-track  positions  on  the  seat  for  the  ends  of  the  moving 
rails,  so  that  in  either  position  of  the  switch  the  ends  of  the  moving  rails 
rest  as  it  were  in  a  rut.  In  order  to  throw  the  moving  rails  from  one  posi- 
tion to  the  other  it  is  necessary  to  lift  them  out  of  these  ruts  or  over  the 
intervening  lugs,  and  this  is  done  by  means  of  a  foot  lever  which  holds  the 
rails  above  and  clear  of  the  lugs  while  they  are  being  thrown.  This  device 
is  in  use  on  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  B.  E. 

The  spike  holes  through  a  headshoe  should  be  square  and  no  larger 
than  wi]l  nicely  let  a  spike  through.  The  headblock  should  be  made  smooth 
and  even,  where  the  shoe  rests  upon  it.  The  two  shoes  should  be  cast  from 
the  same  pattern  and  should  be  spiked  to  place  at  standard-gage  distance 
apart  respecting  like  points  in  each.  The  proper  way  to  lay  them,  how- 
ever, is  to  first  fit  them  to  the  lead  rails  and  then  to  spike  them  down  with 
the  gage  resting  upon  the  stub  ends  of  the  lead  rails.  Headshoes  should 
be  set  squarely  across  the  track;  that  is  to  say,  squarely  with  the  rails  for 
main  line.  If  a  headshoe  is  set  skewing  it  gives  trouble  when  moving 
rails  are  expanded  by  heat  and  shoved  tightly  against  the  back  of  the  slid- 
ing seat.  Where  the  headshoe  is  set  squarely  with  the  rails  for  main  line 
the  switch  may  be  thrown,  even  though  the  rails  are  shoved  up  tightly, 
by  the  assistance  of  a  hammer  or  coal  pick,  with  some  oil.  If  the  shoe  is 
^o  skewed  that  there  is  less  room  for  the  moving  rail  when  thrown  for  the 
turnout,  the  rail  cannot  be  driven  over;  if,  however,  the  shoe  is  skewed  the 
other  way,  the  switch  rail,  after  being  driven  or  thrown  to  the  turnout, 
will  expand  so  that  it  cannot  be  driven  back  to  main  line  again. 

62.  Switch  Stands. — An  early  form  of  switch  stand,  commonly 
known  as  the  "harp"  pattern,  consisted  of  a  straight  lever  held  upright  in  a 
harp-shaped  frame,  carrying  a  target  on  its  upper  end,  the  connecting  rod 
being  attached  to  the  lever  either  above  or  below  the  pivot  point  of  the 
latter.  This  simple  device  furnished  a  cheap  and  reliable  means  for  hold- 
ing and  throwing  the  switch  rails  and,  during  daytime,  showed  plainly 
er  ^ugh  the  position  of  the  switch,  since,  when  set  for  the  side-track,  the 
lever  had  to  be  thrown  out  of  its  normally  vertical  position.  It  was  not, 
however,  adapted  for  a  conveniently  arranged  switch  light,  for  which  rea- 
son it  long  ago  went  largely  out  of  use  on  main  line  and  other  tracks 
where  night  indication  of  the  position  of  the  switch  became  important. 
Old  stands  of  this  pattern  are  now  sometimes  seen  in  yards,  and  in  a  few 
instances  it  has  been  fitted  with  an  attachment  for  a  switch  lamp  and  is 
used  on  main  line,  such  being  the  case  on  some  parts  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  roads.  This  attachment  usu- 
ally consists  of  an  upright  rod  carrying  the  lamp,  the  rod  being  revolved 
by  means  of  a  crank  in  gear  with  the  lever  or  with  the  main  connecting  rod. 

The  switch  stand  in  general  service  for  main  track  is  the  revolving 
stand,  consisting  principally  of  four  parts — an  upright  frame,  a  shaft,  a 
lever  and  a  target.  The  shaft  usually  stands  in  a  vertical  position,  the 
bottom  end  being  turned  up  for  a  crank,  to  which  is  attached  a  rod  connect- 
ing with  the  switch  rails.  The  shaft  is  usually  held  in  an  "open"  or 
"closed"  cast  iron  frame  secured  to  the  headblock.  The  "closed"  pattern 
frame  is  usually  a  cast  iron  shell  or  cylinder,  and  is  sometimes  called  a 
"column  stand."  A  lever,  which  can  be  thrown  around  horizontally,  is 
attached  to  the  shaft.  The  upper  portion  of  the  frame  is  usually  flanged 


SWITCH  STANDS  335 

out  to  form  a  "table"  or  "top  plate/'  the  edge  of  which  is  notched  to  pro- 
vide rests  to  hold  the  lever  firmly  in  certain  positions  corresponding  to 
the  different  positions  of  the  switch,  provision  being  also  made  to  lock  the 
lever  fast  in  any  of  these  positions.  The  lever  is  usually  hinged  to  a  col- 
lar which  is  keyed  to  the  shaft,  so  that  the  outer  portion  of  the  lever  can  be 
turned  down  when  being  placed  in  the  rest  notch,  thus  leaving  no  parts 
projecting;  this  arrangement  is  commonly  known  as  a  "drop  lever."  As 
far  as  moving  the  switch  is  concerned  these  three  parts — the  frame,  the 
shaft  and  the  lever — are  the  important  parts,  and  each  should  be  com- 
posed of  as  few  pieces  as  possible;  multiplicity  of  parts  gives  rise-to  lost 
motion.  The  frame  or  stand  proper  should,  if  practicable,  be  in  one  solid 
casting,  and  the  shaft  and  crank,  one  piece  or  forging ;  the  lever,  if  hinged, 
must  consist  of  two  pieces,  one  of  which  is  usually  a  collar  projecting  out- 
ward from  the  shaft,  the  outer  end  of  the  lever  hanging  vertically  for  the 
normal  position.  Near  the  upper  end  of  the  shaft,  or  on  another  shaft 
geared  to  it,  is  placed  a  banner  or  target  to  denote  the  position  of  the 
switch.  The  foregoing  general  description  applies  particularly  to  what  is 
commonly  known  as  a  rigid  stand. 

General  Principles  of  Design. — With  any  stand  rigidly  attached  to  the 
switch  rails  two  things,  among  others,  are  required  for  satisfactory  opera- 
tion, namely  an  exact  throw,  corresponding  to  that  of  the  switch,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  absence  of  lost  motion.  A  poor  stand  used  with  a  stub 
switch  is  a  costly  affair.  The  cost  of  derailments  caused  by  lip,  and  the 
time  spent  driving  keys,  adjusting  the  position  of  stand,  headshoes,  etc., 
will  soon  amount  to  more  than  the  difference  in  cost  between  a  good  and 
a  poor  stand.  With  point  switches  using  a  spring  connection  with  the 
stand,  thus  affording  a  means  of  adjustment  for  taking  up  lost  motion,  the 
throw  of  the  stand  need  not  be  so  exact,  and  some  stands  might  serve  the 
purpose  quite  well  which  would  not  answer  at  all  for  rigid  connections. 
Rigidly-connected  switches  whether  point  or  stub,  require  closely- throwing 
stands,  but  good  stands  should  be  provided  in  all  cases,  because  stands  are 
sometimes  changed  about,  especially  in  yards  or  in  temporary  construction. 
Besides  being  well  designed,  switch  stands  should  be  well  and  carefully 
made.  A  forged  shaft  connected  to  castings  in  the  rough  will  soon  wear 
and  accumulate  lost  motion,  no  matter  how  close  the  fitting  at  first.  The 
parts  of  the  shaft  which  fit  into  the  casting  should  be  turned  in  a  lathe,  the 
bearings  in  the  casting  should  be  reamed,  and  all  joints  whatsoever  should 
be  made  to  fit  closely  and  accurately.  The  crank  pin  should  be  turned 
and  the  eyes  of  the  connecting  and  head  rods  should  be  reamed  to  fit  the 
bolts  closely.  All  joints  where  there  is  movement  of  parts  should  be  either 
accessible  or  provided  with  oil  holes,  for  switch  stands,  to  work  easily, 
should  be  kept  oiled.  A  good  stand  cannot  be  made  without  considerable 
machine  work. 

An  important  point  too  often  overlooked  in  the  design  of  switch  stands 
is  in  regard  to  the  throw.  A  stand  whose  crank,  is  the  same  length  as  the 
throw  of  the  rails,  and  which  is  made  to  be  revolved  through  90  deg.  from  a 
position  of  the  crank  which  is  either  perpendicular  to  or  parallel  to  the 
switch  rails,  will  really  move  the  rails  more  than  the  desired  throw,  when 
the  crank  is  turned  out  of  a  position  perpendicular  to  the  switch  rails,  from 
them ;  or  out  of  a  position  parallel  to  the  switch  rails,  toward  them.  When 
turned  out  of  a  position  perpendicular  to  the  switch  rails,  toward  them; 
or  out  of  a  position  parallel  to  the  switch  rails  from  them  it  will  move  the 
rails  less  than  the  desired  throw.  To  make  this  matter  clear  we  refer,  in 
Pig.  108,  to  a  concrete  example.  Let  D  E  represent  the  near  moving  rail, 
C  H  the  head  rod,  C  B  the  connecting  rod  and  A  B  the  crank  of  the  switch 


336  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

stand.  Suppose  A  B  to  be  5  ins.  and  B  C,  the  connecting  rod,  55  ins.  in 
length;  then  the  point  C  is  distant  from  the  fixed  point  A,  55-{-5=60  ins. 
Now  turn  the  crank  around  90  deg.,  or  from  the  position  A  B  to  A  B'.  G  will 
then  move  to  position  C"  and  the  distance  from  A.  will  be  the  square  root  of 
(552 — 52)  =54.77  ins.  The  point  C  and  the  moving  rails  have  then  moved 
a  distance=60 — 54.77=5.23  ins.,  or  about  J  in.  farther  than  the  intended 
throw — enough  to  give  bad  lip,  unless  there  is  lost  motion  in  the  stand  or 
the  turnout  lead  rail  fits  the  headshoe  loosely  enough  to  be  keyed  over 
that  much  to  meet  it.  The  variation  between  the  throw  of  the  rails  and 
the  length  of  the  crank  is  the  same  for  the  other  ways  spoken  of  and  is  de- 
termined in  the  same  manner. 


H  i 

A  B  C  G' 

-^) 
1 

1 
1 

>'    i 

^ 

I 

Y  9  _  -J  ?  —  •* 

C 

H 

Fig.  108. 

Manufacturers  sometimes  leave  enough  lost  motion  in  the  stand  to 
make  up  for  this  variation,  but  it  works  in  only  two  out  of  the  four  pos- 
sible ways  the  stand  may  be  used,  as  heretofore  enumerated.  In  the  other 
two  ways,  the  real  throw  being  less  than  the  intended  throw  (equal  to  the 
length  of  the  crank),  the  movement  in  the  rails  will  fall  short  of  the  in- 
tended throw  by  the  variation  just  calculated  added  to  the  lost  motion, 
thus  making  matters  all  the  worse.  And  so  it  is  that  trackmen  in  setting 
switch  stands  sometimes  have  difficulty  in  getting  the  stand  to  throw  the 
rails  without  lip:  they  have  struck  one  of  the  two  ways  in  which  the  lost 
motion  works  in  a  manner  contrary  to  that  intended.  Now,  no  crank  of 
length  other  than  the  throw  will  answer  for  this  stand,  for  wnile  in  the 
two  cases  of  increased  throw  a  shorter  crank  would  do,  in  the  other  two  case* 
of  decreased  throw  a  longer  one  would  be  needed,  and  obviously  it  could 
not  be  both  for  the  same  stand;  and  for  convenience  every  stand  of  this 
kind  should  be  so  made  that  it  can  be  set  either  to  push  or  pull  the  moving 
rails  when  turned  from  a  position  in  which  the  crank  stands  on  the  dead 
center  or  perpendicular  to  the  moving  rails  when  set  for  the  main  line. 
This  is  called  setting  the  stand  "the  strong  way  for  the  main  line/"  referred 
to  again  further  on.  As  lost  motion  only  makes  the  difficulty  worse  in 
two  cases  out  of  the  four  possible  ways  of  using  the  stand,  and  is  objection- 
able for  other  reasons,  evidently  this  kind  of  stand  cannot  give  entire  satis- 
faction in  two-throw  stub  switches  as  they  are  found. 

These  problems  of  adjustment  can  be  overcome  by  setting  the  crank  so 
that  it  turns  through  an  angle  of  90  deg.,  from  a  position  in  which  it  stands 
at  an  angle  of  45  deg.  to  the  direction  of  the  moving  rails  before  throwing. 
It  will  be  seen,  in  Fig.  109,  that  if  the  connecting  rod  BC  be  perpendicular 
to  the  moving  rail  D  E  before  being  thrown,  it  is  practically  perpendicular 
after  being  thrown,  and  C  C'  is  therefore  practically  equal  to  B  B'.  The 
triangle  BAB'  being  necessarily  isosceles,  and  the  angle  B  A  B'}  90  deg., 
B  B'  (the  throw)  being  the  hypotheneuse  of  an  isosceles  right  triangle  will 
be  \/2  or  1.41  times  the  length  of  crank,  in  every  case.  This  manner  of 
setting  the  crank  is  the  better  arrangement  for  a  quarter-turn  stand  and 


SWITCH  STAXDS  337 

lience  the  better  one  for  two-throw  switches  in  general,,  although  it  does 
not  permit  setting  the  crank  on  the  dead  center  for  any  position  of  the 
switch. 

Eef erring  again  to  Fig.  108,  let  us  consider  a  stand  for  use  with  a 
three-throw  switch-  It  must  be  revolved  through  an  angle  of  180  deg. 
while  passing  over  from  its  extreme  position  one  way  (AB)  to  the  other 
extreme  position  (AB")  ;  and  as  the  connecting  rod  in  both  positions  is 
perpendicular  to  the  moving  rail  (practically  so)  the  throw  is  right  for 
these  two  positions.  The  position  of  the  crank  when  properly  set  for  the 
middle  track,  however,  will  not  be  midway  between,  or  90  deg.  from,  these 
two  positions  (if  the  throw  from  the  middle  track  each  way  to  the  others 
be  equal,  as  it  always  is)  for  the  same  reason  which  applied  to  the  two-throw 
switch,  heretofore  explained.  The  position  of  the  crank  for  the  middle 
track  will  be  a  certain  number  of  degrees  measured  around  from  B",  or  E, 
accordingly  as  the  stand  is  on  the  left  or  right  hand  as  one  stands  at  the 
headblock  looking  toward  the  frog,  the  exact  number  of  degrees  depending 
upon  the  length  of  the  connecting  rod  BC.  With  the  throw  5  ins.  and  the 
connecting  rod  55  ins.  long,  the  angle  would  be  87  deg.  24  rain.  For  a  three- 
throw  switch,  then,  the  stand,  to  work  satisfactorily,  should  be  right  or  left, 
having  the  middle  lever-rest  slightly  to  the  right  or  left  of  the  midway  po~ 
•sition,  according  to  the  same  rule  just  cited  for  the  crank. 


C'     C 


Fig.  109. 

A  stand  having  the  middle  lever-rest  90  deg.  from  the  other  two  rests 
or  a  stand  not  having  the  crank  of  the  shaft  just  exactly  the  right  length 
for  the  throw  desired,  can  be  made  to  satisfactorily  operate  a  three-throw 
or  a  two-throw  switch  by  setting  it  slightly  skewed  on  the  headblock.  The 
position  can  be  easily  found  by  trial.  It  will  readily  occur  to  anyone  that 
by  slightly  turning  the  stand  about  the  axis  of  the  shaft  the  perpendicular 
distance  from  the  switch  rail  to  crank-pin  will  be  changed  for  the  middle 
lever-rest  but  practically  not  for  the  lever  in  the  two  extreme  rests,  since 
as  the  stand  is  skewed  around  through  a  small  angle  either  way  the  crank 
pin  in  either  of  these  positions  moves  parallel  to  the  track.  This  slight 
skewing  of  the  stand  presents  a  rather  unsightly  appearance,  when  observing 
it  from  near  by,  but  it  permits  of  a  more  satisfactory  throw  to  the  rails  and 
it  may  not  seriously  interfere  with  the  service  of  the  target;  if  it  does,  the 
tarirot  may  be  moved  around  slightly.  All  switch  stands  for  the  main  track 
on  the  same  road  should  throw  alike — that  is,  to  avoid  confusion,  they 
should  all  throw  either  in  the  same  direction  as  the  movement  of  the  switch 
rails  or  all  in  the  opposite  direction  to  such  movement.  The  feature  of  de- 
sign which  determines  this  matter  is  whether  the  lever  and  crank  are  both 
on  the  same  side  of  the  shaft  or  on  opposite  sides  of  the  same. 

Locating  and  Setting. — The  location  of  the  switch  stand  on  single 
track  is  a  matter  of  some  importance  and  has  been  discussed  a  good  deal. 


338  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

For  convenience  of  train  operation  the  stand  should  be  on  the  engineer'^ 
side  when  approaching  the  switch  in  the  facing  direction,  as  then  it  is  seen 
to  best  advantage  when  "flying  in"  cars.  For  stub  switches  this  is  un- 
doubtedly the  better  arrangement,  but  for  split  switches  the  safest  arrange- 
ment is  to  put  the  stand  on  the  turnout  side  of  the  track.  The  explana- 
tion in  the  latter  case  is  that  with  the  stand  on  the  turnout  or  frog  side  the 
connecting  rod  when  holding  the  switch  points  to  the  main-track  position  is 
in  a  state  of  tension,  and  any  bending  of  this  rod  by  derailed  wheels  or 
dragging  parts  of  cars  only  pulls  the  points  against  the  stock  rail  more 
firmly.  If,  however,  the  stand  was  on  the  opposite  side,  the  connecting 
rod  for  the  same  position  of  the  switch  would  be  in  compression,  and  any 
bending  of  the  same  would  shorten  the  rod  and  tend  to  open  the  points. 
It  is  also  probably  true  that  with  two  or  more  switches  close  together  train- 
men are  not  so  liable  to  throw  the  wrong  switch  when  the  stands  are  ar- 
ranged in  this  manner.  In  some  cases,  however,  it  might  be  advisable  to 
disregard  these  rules,  in  order  to  give  the  engineer  the  best  view  OL  the 
stand  when  approaching  the  switch;  as,  for  instance,  where  the  switch  is 
so  located  that  the  trains  must  approach  it  around  a  curve  in  a  cut,  or  where 
the  view  is  obstructed  by  trees  or  buildings,  in  which  case  the  stand  would 
usually  be  seen  to  best  advantage  by  placing  it  on  the  same  side  as  the  out- 
side of  the  curve.  On  double  tracks  at  usual  distances  between  centers  it 
is  of  course  necessary  to  put  switch  stands  of  ordinary  hight  on  the  outside, 
and  as  this  is  the  engineer's  side  (except  in  the  case  of  left-hand  running) 
it  is,  for  another  good  reason,  the  better  arrangement.  The  stand  for  a 
switch  on  the  middle  one  of  three  tracks  is  sometimes  placed  on  the  out- 
side and  connected  by  means  of  a  long  rod  extending  across  the  interven- 
ing track,  between  the  ties;  otherwise,  or  if  placed  between  the  tracks,  a 
low  stand  or  ground  lever  must  be  used. 

The  stand  should  be  set  a  good  distance  clear  of  the  track,  so  as  to 
avoid  being  knocked  down  by  a  derailed  car  running  out  of  line.  Six  feet 
from  tEe  rail  is  considered  a  safe  distance.  Where  there  are  two  or  more 
stands  near  each  other  on  the  same  side  of  straight  track  the  shafts  and 
connecting  rods  should  be  of  variable  lengths  (by  about  2  ft.),  so  that  both 
targets  or  both  switch  lights  may  be  seen  distinctly  by  an  engineer  approach- 
ing the  switch.  On  double  track  it  is  well  to  place  the  lowest  stand  in  the 
advance.  At  switches  the  roadbed  or  ballast  on  the  stand  side  should  be 
graded  level  with  the  tops  of  the  ties  sufficiently  wide  for  a  runway,  which 
should  extend  about  100  ft.  each  way  from  the  headblock. 

Switch  stands  should  be  secured  to  the  headblock  by  lag  screws  or  by 
bolts  passed  up  through  from  below,  so  that  the  nuts  will  be  on  top  where 
they  may  be  seen.  The  holes  through  the  base  or  foot  flanges  of  the  stand 
should  be  drilled  or  reamed  out  so  that  the  lag  screws  or  bolts  fit  snugly. 
The  way  to  set  a  stand  properly  is  to  connect  it  to  the  switch  rails  set  for 
main  track,  square  it  with  the  headblock  and  tack  spikes  around  the  sides 
of  the  base  to  hold  it  temporarily,  so  that  it  may  be  thrown  for  trial.  If  lost 
motion  is  found  it  should  be  taken  out  before  permanently  securing  the 
stand.  When  the  stand  throws  properly  for  both  main  track  and  turnout 
the  position  of  the  bolt  holes  in  the  base  may  be  marked,  the  holes  may  be 
bored  and  the  stand  bolted  fast.  In  resetting  a  stand  the  old  bolt  or  spike 
holes  should  be  plugged  and  new  holes  should  be  bored.  The  best  plan, 
however,  is  to  pull  the  spikes  from  the  headshoes  and  shift  the  headblock  '> 
or  3  ins.  lengthwise,  so  as  to  get  clear  of  the  old  holes.  A  switch  stand 
designed  by  Mr.  A.  A.  Robinson  while  chief  engineer  of  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.,  has  a  commendable  feature  in  the  shape  of  de- 


SWITCH  STANDS 


339 


pending  flanges  at  the  sides  of  the  base,  which  fit  over  the  edges  of  the 
headblock  and  hold  the  stand  square  with  the  block.  Wherever  it  is 
practicable  to  do  so,  the  stand  should  be  so  set  that  when  it  is  turned  for 
main  track  the  crank  will  stand  perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  the 
track.  In  this  way  the  sidewise  pressure  from  the  moving  rails  bears 
directly  against  the  shaft  and  its  bearings,  where  otherwise  it  would 
operate  to  revolve  the  crank.  This  is  called  setting  the  stand  "the  strong 
way  for  the  main  line"  and  the  arrangement  is  of  importance,  since  it 
saves  much  wear  to  the  parts  of  the  stand  by  lessening  the  tendency  of 
the  shaft  to  being  revolved  by  the  jarring  of  passing  trains. 

Safety  Arrangements. — One  danger  ever  present  with  the  switch  which 
has  but  a  single  connection  with  the  stand  is  the  liability  of  the  breaking 
of  the  connecting  rod  or  the  breaking  of  a  bolt  in  one  of  the  connections  of 
the  rod,  in  which  event  the  jarring  effect  of  a  passing  train  would  very- 
likely  open  the  switch.  In  the  case  of  a  switch  on  straight  track,  with 
proper  connections  carefully  attended  to,  the  risk  is  not  great,  but  on 
curves  the  connecting  rod  of  stub  switches  should  not  be  depended  upon 
to  hold  the  moving  rails  to  place,  especially  where  the  throw  is  toward 
the  outside  of  the  curve;  for  by  reason  of  the  necessary  absence  of  spikes 
along  the  moving  rails'  the  outward  pressure  against  the  rod  is  consid- 


Fig.  110.— Stop  Device  for  Stub  Switch. 

erable.  A  stop  device  frequently  used  to  relieve  the  connecting  rod  con- 
sists of  a  switch  rod  extended  a  short  distance  beyond  the  rail  on  the 
stand  side,  the  portion  of  the  rod  outside  the  rail  being  flattened  to  slide 
through  a  slot  in  a  cast  or  forged  block  made  fast  to  .the  headblock.  The 
stop  is  effected  by  a  hole  and  pin,  as  shown  in  Fig.  110,  the  hole  in  the 
block  coming  even  with  that  in  the  rod  for  the  main-track  position  of 
the  switch.  There  should  be  only  one  hole  in  the  rod.  A  latch  arrange- 
ment used  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  road  consists  of  a  flat  notched  rod 
sliding  through  a  block  similarly  to  the  one  just  described.  There  is  a 
notch  in  the  block  even  with  that  in  the  rod  when  the  switch  is  set  for 
main  track,  and  in  this  notch  rests  a  weighted  foot  lever  pivoted  to 
the  headblock.  It  is  perhaps  more  convenient  than  the  rod  and  pin  ar- 
rangement. It  is  the  practice  with  some  roads  to  use  a  stop  or  safety 
attachment  on  all  stub  switches.  It  is  questionable,  however,  whether 
any  device  requiring  extra  manipulation  in  throwing  or  locking  tho 
switch  is  to  be  recommended  further  than  for  switches  from  curves.  They 
are  necessarily  the  cause  of  some  delay  in  throwing  the  switch,  from 
which  results  an  occasional  blunder  and  derailment  when  "flying  in" 
cars.  Nevertheless  mistakes  of  this  kind  cannot  offset  the  security  which 
such  appliances  afford  to  fast  trains  at  switches  from  curves. 

With  the  Flickinger  ground-lever  switch  stand,  which  is  used  with 
both  stub  and  split  switches,  the  safety  attachment,  although  independent 


340  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

of  the  connecting  rod,  is  operated  by  the  action  of  the  switch  stand 
itself,  so  that  no  extra  attention  need  be  given  to  the  safety  or  stop  de- 
vice. Keferring  to  Fig.  Ill,  the  barrel  or  cylinder  A-A  is  provided  with 
a  screw  and  turns  within  the  larger  cylinder  B,  the  latter  being  provided 
with  a  suitable  female  thread.  The  pitch  of  the  screw  is  such  that  a 
half  revolution  (a  complete  throw  of  the  lever  from  one  side  to  the 
'other)  moves  the  cylinder  a  distance  corresponding  to  the  throw  of  the 
switch.  The  switch  target  is  placed  upon  a  vertical  shaft  housed  in  the 
frame  of  the  stand,  or  cylinder  B}  and  is  revolved  by  the  action  of  a 
crank  on  the  cylinder  A.  For  use  in  yards  the  lever  is  thrown  into  latched 
rests  and  the  mechanism  as  thus  far  described  constitutes  all  of  the 
necessary  parts  of  the  stand.  For  use  on  main  line  there  is  an  extra 
piece,  marked  "safety  rod"  in  the  figure,  which  is  attached  to  the  switch 
rail  and  slides  underneath  the  stand  in  coincidence  with  the  movement 
of  the  cylinder  A.  The  safety  rod  is  adjustable  and  the  pivotal  end 
of  the  lever  is  provided  with  an  arm  on  either  side  which  fits  into  a 


Fig.  111.— Flickinger  Switch  Stand,  L.  S.  &  M.  S.   Ry. 

notch  in  the  safety  rod  at  C  when  the  lever  is  thrown  down  into  its  rest. 
This  arrangement  insures  the  holding  of  the  switch  rails  in  their  closed 
position  in  case  the  connecting  rod  should  break  or  become  disconnected. 
This  stand  is  in  use  on  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern,  the  Pitts- 
burg  &  Lake  Erie  and  other  roads,  on  both  main  line  switches  and  in 
yards. 

Where  there  is  only  one  connection  or  means  for  holding  the  switch 
to  the  main-line  position  extra  precaution  is  necessary  to  guard  against 
the  accidental  disengagement  of  the  connecting  rod  from  the  stand  or 
the  switch  rails.  The  bolt  through  the  connecting  rod  and  head  rod 
connection  should  be  passed  up  from  below  and  the  nut  should  be  secured 
with  a  cotter  pin  or  jamb  nuts,  or  the  thread  should  be  ruptured  out- 
side the  nut.  In  addition  to  this  a  piece  of  tie  or  block  of  suitable  size 
should  be  embedded  in  the  ballast  close  under  the  rod,  extending  under 
the  range  of  movement  of  the  bolt,  so  as  to  prevent  it  from  dropping  out 
in  case  it  should  break  or  the  nut  become  loose.  Whenever  the  headblock 
is  to  be  tamped  this  piece  of  tie  must  be  taken  out,  but  it  can  be  put 
back  without  much  trouble.  It  is  considered  safer  practice,  however,  to 
have  the  connecting  rod  join  directly  with  the  switch  rail  instead  of 
the  head  switch  rod,  as  then  one  connection  is  avoided  and  there  is  one 
less  joint  for  the  development  of  lost  motion.  This  can  be  done  by  using 


SWITCH  STANDS 


341 


Fig.  112. — Switch   Rail  Safety  Connections — Fig.   113. 

a  connecting  rod  which  gripes  the  flange  of  the  rail  after  the  manner  of 
an  ordinary  switch  rod;  as  does  Bar  D,  Fig.  105,,  or  Connecting  Eod  A, 
Fig.  118.  Figure  112  (E)  shows  a  head  rod  connection  for  stub  switches 
adopted  at  an  early  day  by  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  and 
later  by  the  Southern  Pacific  road.  The  head  rod  has  a  1-J-in.  pin  pro- 
jecting upwa'rd  near  its  end  (Bar  C,  Fig-  105)  and  the  connecting  rod 
it<  extended  to  pass  under  the  head -of  the  rail.  With  the  head  rod  in 
place  the  connecting  rod  must  be  swung  parallel  with  the  rail  in  order 
to  be  connected  with,  or  disconnected  from,  the  former;"  the  connection 
cannot  be  broken,  therefore,  so  long  as  the  connecting  rod  remains  at- 
tached to  the  stand.  The  Elliot  company  has  a  similar  arrangement 
known  as  the  "safety  end"  head  rod.  As  shown  in  Engraving  H,  Fig. 
112,  there  is  a  large  pin  near  the  end  of  the  head  rod,  with  a  "safety  clip'' 
to  hold  the  connecting  rod  from  disengagement  except  when  swung  parallel 
with  the  track. 

Figure  113  (B)  shows  another  safety  connection,  used  also  on  the 
Southern  Pacific  road.  Rods  A  and  B  are  locked  together  and  slipped 
over  the  end  of  the  rail,  from  which  neither  can  become  detached  without 
reversing  the  process.  Still  another  arrangement  for  dispensing  with 
the  use  of  a  bolt  at  the  connection  between  the  head  rod  of  a  switch  and 
the  rod  connecting  with  the  switch  stand  is  in  use  on  the  Gulf,,  Colorado 
&  Santa  Fe  Ry.  It  was  designed  by  Roadmaster  M.  O'Dowd  and  is 


Fig.  114.— O'Dowd  Switch 
Connection,  G.,  C.  &  S.  F0   Ry. 


Fig.  115.— MarK  Switch  Stand. 


342 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


Fig.  116. — Safety  Arrangements  for  Switch  Stand  Cranks. 

used  with  split  switches.  Eod  No.  1  of  the  switch,  as  shown  by  the 
lower  engraving  at  the  right  in  Fig.  114,  terminates  in  a  head  which 
seats  a  pin,  and  through  this  head  there  is  a  rectangular  hole.  The  rod 
connecting  with  the  switch  stand  is  hinged  on  this  pm  and  terminates  in 
a  hook  which  enters  the  hole  when  the  rod  is  swung  to  it?  normal  posi- 
tion to  l)e  attached  to  the  stand.  The  two  parts  thus  become  interlocked 
and  the  rod  cannot  be  swung  to  the  position  of  disengagement  without 
taking  the  switch  stand  from  the  headblock.  Longitudinal  stress  on  the 
connection  is  taken  by  the  hook,  the  pin  acting  merely  to  .  prevent  the 
hook  from  slipping  out  of  engagement.  On  some  switches  of  the  Balti- 
more &  Southwestern  R.  R.  the  head  rod  is  flat,  standing  edgewise 
vertically,  and  the  end  of  the  connecting  rod  is  flattened  to  correspond, 
the  two  being  connected  by  bolting  together  with  two  bolts.  The  connect- 
ing rod  used  with  some -of  the  vertical-lever  switch  stands  of  the  harp 
pattern  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R.  is  one  solid  rod  from  switch  stand 
to  the  farthest  switch  point  rail,  being  fastened  to  the  clips  of  the  point, 
Tails  and  thus  serving  for  both  connecting  rod  and  head  switch  rod. 

If  the  crank  pin  projects  upward,  so  that  the  weight  of  the  con- 
necting rod  is  carried  by  the  crank,  a  key  or  cotter  put  through  the  pin 
and  spread  will  secure  the  connecting  rod;  but  if  the  pin  hangs  down- 
ward from  the  crank  a  key  or  cotter  alone  should  not  be  depended  upon 
to  hold  up  the  connecting  rod.  A  strip  of  wood,  fish  plate  or  other 
device  should  be  spiked  across  the  headlock  so  as.;to  project  underneath 
the  rod  near  the  stand,  for  all  positions  of  the  rod,  and  thus  make  it- 
impossible  for  the  rod  to  drop  down  and  become  detached  from  the  pin. 
With  the  foregoing  points  in  view  several  of  the  manufacturing  com- 
panies have  designed  stands  with  special  reference  to  avoiding  the  'use 
of  pin,  cotter  or  nut  at  the  crank  pin  connection.  In  the  Buda  stand 
B  and  the  Weir  stand  C,  Fig.  116,  the  base  of  the  stand  is  extended  so 


SWITCH  STANDS 


343 


as  to  embrace  the  range  of  motion  of  the  crank.  The  crank  pin  hangs 
downward  and  meets  this  extension  of  the  base,  so  that  in  stand  0  the 
rod  cannot  be  disconnected  without  first  taking  the  stand  .apart;  in 
stand  B  a  notch  in  the  base  will  permit  the  rod  to  be  dropped  from  the 
crank  pin  by  bringing  the  crank  over  the  notch  and  swinging  either  the 
stand  or  the  rod  around  out  of  its  normal  position,  without  disturbing  the 
shaft  fastenings.  The  stand  shown  as  Fig.  117  was  got  up  on  the  same 
idea.  It  was  designed  in  1881  by  the  late  Mr.  W.  G.  Curtis,  engineer 
maintenance  of  way  of  the  Southern  Pacific  road,  for  use  with  the  con- 
necting rod  shown  as  Fig.  113  (B).  For  an  up-turned  crahk~pm  the 
Elliot  and  Buda  stands  A  and  E,  respectively  (Fig.  116),  provide  a 
"safety  bottom  cap"  in  the  form  of  a  projection  from  the  lower  housing 
of  the  shaft,  said  projection  covering  the  crank  pin  in  the  "rest"  posi- 
tions of  the  crank.  On  stand  A  the  rod  can  be  detached  by  simply  lifting 
it  when  the  crank  is  thrown  half  way,  but  to  do  this  with  stand  E  the 
crank  must  be  partially  thrown  and  the  housing  disconnected.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  in  stands  A,  0  and  E  the  pin  is  formed  by  bending  the 
end  of  the  crank,  the  shaft,  crank  and  pin  constituting  a  single  piece  or 
forging — a  simple  and  commendable  arrangement.  In  stand  D  the  shaft 
is  bent  into  a  double  crank,  to  which  the  rod  is  attached  by  a  strap  con- 
nection, as  is  also  the  case  with  the  Banner  stand,  Fig.  118.  Eod  A  is 
used  to  connect  with  stub  switches  and  rod  B  with  point  switches.  The 
Whittemore  switch  stand  (8,  Fig.  119)  is  similarly  designed  respecting 
the  crank  and  the  connection  with  the  same,  and  the  crank  and  lever 
throw  180  deg.  for  a  single  movement  of  the  switch.  The  correspond- 
ing quarter  revolution  of  the  target  is  effected  by  means  of  the  gear 
wheels  shown.  The  lever  is  attached  direct  to-  the  crank  shaft,  or  the 
one  to  which  the  smaller  gear  wheel  is  keyed.  With  the  Mark  switch 


Fig.  117. — Switch  Stand,  S.  P.  Co. 


Fig.  118. — Banner  Switch  Stand. 


344: 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 


Fig.    119. — Whittemore   Switch   Stand.  Fig.    120. — Ramapo    Headshoe; 

Green  Foot  Guard. 

stand  (Fig.  115)  the  connecting  rod  cannot  be  detached  from  the  stand 
without  first  disconnecting  it  from  the  switch;  it  must  then  be  tilted,  as 
shown  by  the  dotted  lines,,  in  order  to  disengage  it  from  the  crank. 

Targets. — Targets,  or  day  signals  used  on  switch  stands  to  indicate 
the  position  of  the  switch,  are  arranged  in  many  shapes,  but  in  genera] 
they  may  be  divided  into  three  classes;  namely,  position  targets,  color 
targets  and  shape  targets.  By  the  first  named  term  is  meant  a  target 
formed  by  a  single  disc  or  sheet  of  metal  or  other  device,  which,  by  its 
position,  indicates  the  position  of  the  switch;  by  a  color  target  is  meant 
one  having  two  target  sheets  or  plates  set  at  right  angles,  the  position 
of  the  switch  being  indicated  by  the  color  displayed;  and  a  shape  target 
is  one  which  indicates  the  position  of  the  switch  by  the  shape  of  the  plate 


Fig.  121. — Switch  Stand  Targets. 


SWITCH  STANDS 


345 


facing  the  direction  of  the  track.  As  a  rule  the  two  features  of  shape  and 
color  are  combined.  On  a  good  many  roads  the  preference  is  for  a  posi- 
tion target  or  signal,  a  simple  form  of  which  is  a  single  piece  of  sheet 
metal  (Fig.  123)  set  parallel  with  the  track  for  the  main-track  position 
of  the  switch,  so  that  it  does  not  show  in  the  direction  of  the  track  except 
when  the  switch  is  set  for  the  turnout.  This  is  commonly  known  as  a 
"blind"  target,  or  one  which  "shows  its  edge  for  safety."  It  is  usually 
painted  red,  sometimes  with  a  white  trimming,  although  the  color  is  obvi- 
ously a  secondary  matter.  There  is  seemingly  only  one  objection  against 
the  use  of  this  target,  and  that  is  that  in  case  the  target  shouldJ^ecome  de- 
tached from  the  shaft  there  would  be  nothing  in  day  time  to  indi- 
cate an  open  switch-  If  the  target  is  properly  riveted  to  the  shaft  this  ob- 
jection is  not  serious,  because  the  probability  of  its  being  knocked  or  torn 
off  and  remaining  unnoticed  for  any  considerable  time  is  remote,  to  say  the 


Fig.  122.— Switch  Stand  with  High  Target.        Fig.  123.— Elliot  Snow  Cap  Stand. 

worst,  and,  in  any  case,  the  same  may  be  said  of  a  target  of  any  kind.  Of 
course  it  is  widely  recognized  as  safe  practice  to  regard  the  absence  of  a  sig- 
nal, where  there  ought  to  be  one,  as  a  danger  indication,  but  as  this  rule 
presupposes  that  the  engineman  will  be  able  to  locate  the  switch  and  will 
bear  it  in  mind  before  reaching  it,  the  system  cannot  be  considered  fault- 
less. As  for  a  night  indication  there  can  be  no  question  about  the 
advisability  of  showing  a  light  for  each  position  of  the  switch,  be- 
cause it  is  not  an  unusual  occurrence  for  switch  lights  to  go  out.  The  stand- 
ard switch  signal  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  By.  is  of  the  blind  target 
form,  but  the  method  of  indication  is  peculiar  in  that  the  target  shows 
blind  for  danger  (open  switch),  or  the  reverse  of  ordinary  practice.  At 
night,  however,  the  lamp  shows  green  for  safety  arid  red  for  the  open  posi- 
tion of  the  switch. 

Targets  which  show  both  ways  should  be  composed  of  two  entirely 
distinct  shapes.  Target  D,  Fig.  121,  for  instance,  is  a  very  undesirable 
form.  During  stormy  weather  or  when  smoke  or  steam  is  blown  in  front 
of  a  target,  or  at  night,  the  shape  is  distinguishable  more  readily  than 
the  color.  For  this  reason  all  the  targets  on  any  road  ought  to  be  of 


346  SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS    AND    APPLIANCES 

the  same  shape,  and  both  position  and  color  targets  should  not  be  used 
on  the  same  road.  The  position  target  gives  the  safer  indication  at  night, 
and  if  the  switch  light  has  gone  out  it  is  at  least  of  some  service.  Another 
idea  in  shape  targets  is  to  separate  the  sign  plates  for  the  two  indica- 
tions, as  in  Engraving  B,  Fig.  121.  The  standard  switch  target  of  the 
Union  Pacific  E.  E.  is  a  rectangular  white  plate  with  a  round  red  plate 
at  right  angles  and  underneath. 

The  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  and  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chi- 
cago &  St.  Louis  ("Big  Four")  roads  use  a  target  having  the  white  plato 
in  the  form  of  a  comparatively  narrow  strip  hung  to  the  shaft  at  an 
angle  of  45  deg.  with  the  horizontal,  in  which  position  it  somewhat  re- 
sembles a  semaphore  arm  set  at  clear.  The  red  plate  is  set  horizontally, 
or  corresponding  to  the  position  of  a  semaphore  arm  set  at  danger.  In 
one  sense  it  might  be  termed  a  position  signal.  A  target  of  this  descrip- 
tion is  shown  in  Fig.  122.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  "semi-semaphore" 
target. 

The  target  for  a  three-throw  switch  stand,  where  main  track  is  the 
middle  track,  is  sometimes  made  to  point  to  the  side  toward  which  the 
switch  is  thrown.  The  fish-tail  notched  targets,  A  and  0,  and  the  arrow- 
shaped  target  B9  Fig.  121,  are  examples  of  this  kind.  Stands  should 
be  set  far  enough  from  the  -track  to  have  the  target  clear  of  trainmen 
hanging  to  the  sides  of  cars;  and,  of  course,  the  larger  the  target 
the  greater  must  be  the  distance.  Eivets  are  a  more  satisfactory  fasten- 
ing for  securing  the  target  to  the  shaft  than  are  bolts,  for  bolts  are  the 
more  liable  to  work  loose,  and  even  a  slight  looseness  permits  consider- 
able swing  in  a  thin  metallic  plate  or  sheet.  On  sharp  curves,  on  double 
track,  switch  targets  are  sometimes  set  skewing  to  the  track,  so  as  to  show 
to  better  advantage  at  a  distance  around  the  curve. 

White  for  the  closed  position  of  the  switch  and  bright  red  for  the 
open  position  are  the  colors  used  almost  universally  for  the  targets  of 
switch  stands  on  main  track.  On  double  track  the  back  of  the  white 
plate  of  a  color  target  may  be  painted  black  or  mud  color,  but  for  the 
security  of  "back-up"  movements  it  is  well  to  have  the  red  plate  show 
both  ways.  On  blind  targets  there  should  be  a  disk  or  ring  of  white  on 
the  red,  as  the  contrast  shows  off  to  good  effect  at  night,  red  paint  not 
being  visible  as  such  in  dim  light.  It  is  important  to  have  targets  show 
plainly  at  night;  for  although  switch  lamps  ought  to  be  used  (on  all 
facing-point  switches,  without  any  question)  they  go  out  sometimes,  es- 
pecially where  there  is  no  night  watchman  or  track-walker  to  care 
for  them.  To  prevent  confusion  of  signals  to  trains  on  main  line  it  is 
to  some  extent  the  practice  to  avoid  the  use  of  red  to  indicate  the  open 
position  of  switches  leading  from  side-tracks.  In  some  cases 'of  this  kind 
green  is  substituted  for  red  to  show  that  the  switch  is  open  to  the  main 
side-track.  On  the  standard  switch  stand  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan 
Southern  Ey.  the  closed  position  of  the  switch  is  indicated  by  a  circular 
target  16  ins.  in  diam.,  painted  white  for  main  line  and  green  for  side- 
tracks. The  red  target,  showing  the  open  position  of  the  switch,  is  rectan- 
gular (16x24  ins.)  for  both  main  line  and  side-tracks. 

To  keep  switch  targets  looking  fresh  and  distinct  in  color  they  should 
be  frequently  painted.  The  rules  of  some  roads  require  such  painting 
to  be  done  every  six  months  or  during  the  spring  and  fall  of  each  year. 
A  sheet  of  rusty  iron  does  not  readily  catch  the  eye  at  a  distance  in  cloudy 
weather.  Targets  are  discolored  by  the  greasy  hands  of  lamp  lighters 
and  of  brakemen  who  take  hold  of  the  target  when  throwing  the  switch. 
The  appearance  of  the  targets  may  be  much  improved,  therefore,  by  wash- 


SWITCH  STANDS 


347 


ing  them  about  once  each  month  or  two,  when  the  paint  may  be  made 
to  appear  nearly  as  fresh  as  when  first  put  on.  This  practice  of  washing 
targets  at  intervals  of  a  few  weeks  is  in  vogue  on  some  roads.  On  a  few 
roads,,  one  of  which  is  the  Grand  Trunk  Ey.,  enameled  switch  targets 
have  been  used  experimentally,  the  idea  being  that  by  cleaning  them  oc- 
casionally, repainting  is  unnecessary. 

Dwarf  and  Ground-Lever  Stands. — The  most  usual  hight  of  switch 
stands  for  main  track  is  6J  to  8  ft.  to  top  of  target  staff.  When  particu- 
larly designated,  such  is  known  as  an  '•intermediate"  stand.  In  yards, 
where  the  tracks  are  close  together,  there  is  not  room  for  standjf  of  inter- 
mediate hight,  so  that  dwarf  or  pony  stands  (2J  to  4  ft.  high  to  top  of 
target)  and  ground  or  horizontal  stands  must  be  used.  A  dwarf  switch 
stand  extensively  used  in  yards  and  side-tracks  on  the  Denver  &  Eio 
Grande  E.  E.  is  designed  with  a  yoke  lying  horizontally  over  the  top  of 
the  stand  casting  or  frame  and  keyed  to  the  upright  shaft.  A  circular  red 


Fig.  124. — Grounds-Lever  Switch  Stands. 

target,  to  show  the  open  position  of  the  switch,  is  attached  to  each  end 
of  this  yoke  and  hangs  at  the  side  of  the  stand.  The  arrangement  thus 
provides  a  red  target  at  each  side  of  the  stand,  lower  than-  the  top  of  the 
stand  casting  and  out  of  the  way  of  poling.  There  is  no  target  showing 
when  the  switch  is  closed,  as  when  it  is  in  that  position  the  red  targets 
show  edgewise.  Lights  should  be  placed  on  dwarf  stands  to  prevent  train- 
men from  running  into  them  in  the  dark. 

In  the  less  frequented  parts  of  yards  a  simple  ground-lever  stand  or 
tumbling  lever  is  much  used.  One  form  has  a  heavy  ball  on  the  end  of 
the  lever  (Fig.  124)  so  that  the  switch  may  be  held  in  place  without 
locking  or  latching.  Such  are  commonly  known  as  "drop-lever"  stands. 
With  ground  levers  weighted  at  the  end  it  is  not  necessary  to  throw  the 
lever  as  far  as  the  dead  center  in  order  to  hold  the  switch  to  place,  and 
so  for  unusual  pressure,  as  when  point  rails  are  trailed  through,  the  stand 
will  throw  automatically,  if  not  latched  or  locked.  Figures  124,  125,  126 
and  127  show  other  forms  of  ground-throw  stands,  those  in  the  last  two 
figures  being  for  three-throw  stub  switches.  With  these  stands  either 
one  of  the  double  levers  may  be  thrown  to  move  the  switch  into  the 
middle  position,  and  then  by  throwing  the  other  lever  the  switch  is 
moved  into  the  second  position.  By  throwing  both  levers  at  the  same 
time  the  switch  may  be  moved  from  one  extreme  position  to  the  opposite 


348 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


extremity-  Figure  125  shows  a  ground  lever  equipped  with  a  target 
and  lamp  rest,  being  low  enough  to  permit  the  poling  of  freight  cars 
over  it  when  the  lamp  is  on.  For  lack  of  room  ground-lever  or  drop- 
lever  stands  are  sometimes  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  track,  as  in  Fig. 
135,  being  attached  to  the  head  switch  rod  by  means  of  a  short  connect- 
ing rod.  In  this  position  the  stand  is  not  conveniently  placed  for  flying 
in  cars. 


Fig.  125. — Ground-Lever  Switch  Stand  with  Target. 

The  standard  switch  stand  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.,  for  both 
main  track  and  sidings,  is  a  simple  ground  lever  attached  to  the  switch 
points  through  a  Lorenz  spring  on  the  head  rod.  Eevolving  stands  are 
not  used.  On  some  of  the  divisions  on  the  main  line  of  this  road  the  use 
of  signals  at  trailing  switches  at  outlying  points  and  at  stations  where 
but  little  switching  is  done  is  dispensed  with,  there  being  neither  targets 
nor  switch  lights.  The  practice  of  dispensing  with  switch  lights  and  targets 
on  trailing  point  switches  on  double  track  is  also  standard  with  the  Penn- 
eylvania  Lines  West. 

By  a  bevel  gear  or  other  arrangement  the  levers  of  some  ground 
stands  are  made  to  throw  in  a  direction  parallel  with  the  track.  They 
are  the  safer  stand  to  use  while  cars  are  moving  on  an  adjoining  track,  since 
the  operator  is  in  danger  of  being  struck  while  handling  a  lever  which 
throws  crosswise  between  the  tracks.  The  upper  stand  in  Fig.  128  is 
of  this  kind.  It  is  provided  with  a  latch  to  hold  the  lever  securely  in 
the  main-track  position.  The  latch,  shown  in  detail  as  Engraving  H, 
Fig.  119,  is  weighted  to  swing  over  the  lever.  To  release  the  lever  the 
latch  must  be  raised,  which  can  be  done  either  with  the  hand  or  the  foot. 
A  foot  tripping  device  is  shown  on  the  latch  illustrated  with  the  "Low- 
Target  Pattern"  in  Fig.  129A,  and  more  in  detail  in  Fig.  132A,  the  side 
of  the  casting  in  the  latter  case  being  broken  to  show  the  engagement 
of  the  foot  trip  with  the  latch.  By  means  of  a  spring  key  inserted  through 
a  hole  in  the  base  casting  the  latch  may  be  held  out  of  engagement  with 
the  lever,  pennitting  the  stand  to  act  automatically.  For  locking  the 


SWITCH   STANDS 


349 


Fig.  127. — Three-Throw  Ground-Lever  Switch  Stands. 

switch  there  is  a  hole  near  the  top  -of  the  latch  in  which  a  padlock  may 
be  used. 

There  are  several  patterns  of  parallel-throw  ground  stands  working 
on  the  bevel-gear  principle.  Among  the  devices  in  service  are  the  "Crown," 
the  "Globe"  and  the  "'New  Century"  stands.  The  last  named  of  these 
is  illustrated  in  Fig.  129 A.  A  semi-circular  iron  case  encloses  a  bevel 
pinion  on  the  axial  shaft  of  a  weighted  lever,  which  engages  with  a  bevel 
gear  segment  on  the  vertical  crank  spindle.  The  end  of  the  weight  on  the 
lever  has  a  deep  recess  providing  a  convenient  hand  hold  for  raising  the 
lever.  When  not  latched  or  locked  the  stand  will  permit  automatic  opera- 
tion  of  the  switch.  The  upper  edge  of  the  target  stands  17  ins.  above 
the  tops  of  the  ties.  By  means  of  a  coupling  shown  in  the  engraving  at 
the  right  of  the  figure,  a  target  staff  may  be  attached  to  the  vertical 
spindle  of  the  stand,  supporting  a  target  at  the  ordinary  hight  (about  7 
ft.  above  the  ties)  for  main-line  service.  On  several  of  the  southern  rail- 


Fig.  128. — Ground-Throw  Stands  with  Targets. 


Fig.  129. 


350 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Seven-Ft.  Target  Pattern. 

Fig.    129  A. — New    Century    Switch    Stand. 

roads  this  "7-ft  target  pattern"  is  the  standard  for  main-line  switches. 
The  side  projecting  flanges  of  the  coupling  serve  for*  a  step  when  placing 
the  lamp  in  position. 

Another  parallel-throw  ground  stand  with  low  revolving  target  is  the 
Odenkirk  pattern,  in  use  on  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  New  York,  Chicago 
&  St.  Louis  ("Nickel  Plate")  roads.  Eef erring  to  Fig.  130,,  the  base  or 
main  casting  which  forms  a  box  enclosing  the  working  parts  is  cylindrical, 
and  within  this  cylinder  a  so-called  cam  C  revolves,  the  throwing  lever  be- 
ing attacked  at  the  right-hand  end  of  the  shaft  S.  This  cam  is  a  round 
casting  with  a  helicoidal  groove  2  ins.  wide  running  half  way  around  on 
each  side.  A  sliding  rod  0  operates  directly  beneath  the  cam,  the  inner  end 
of  the  rod  carrying  a  pin  P,  upon  which  revolves  the  roller  R.  As  the  cam 
is  turned  over  by  the  lever  this  roller  follows  the  groove,  moving  the  sliding 
rod  to  and  fro.  The  connecting  rod  running  to  the  switch  rails  is  joined 
onto  the  sliding  rod  by  the  bolt  T.  The  distance  A-B  is  the  throw  of  the 
switch.  The  mechanism  is  simple  and  includes  no  gears.  The  roller  is 
case-hardened  and  is  supposed  to  stand  the  wear  very  well,  operate  easily 
and  with  practically  no  lost  motion.  The  banner  signal  is  revolved  by  means 
of  a  small  crank  at  the  lower  end  of  its  shaft,  the  crank  being  moved  by  a 
projection  on  the  sliding  bar  0.  All  these  parts  are  tightly  enclosed  within 
the  base  casting  and  are  free  from  dust,  snow  -and  ice.  They  are  accessible 
by  removing  the  cover  plate  L  from  the  end  of  the  base  casting  and  taking 
off  the  three  nuts  shown  in  the  figure.  The  same  stand  with  a  low  sema- 


Fig.   130. — Odenkirk   Low   Switch    Stand. 


SWITCH   STANDS 


351 


phore  arm  is  shown  as  Fig.  131.  By  a  slight  modification  in  the  shape  of  the 
cam  and  the  omission  of  a  lock  or  latch  the  stand  is  made  to  throw  automati- 
cally when  the  switch  is  "run  through."  The  lower  stand  in  Fig.  128  is  the 
Ramapo  pattern,  the  automatic  feature  of  which  is  explained  farther  along. 
The  lever  of  this  stand,  after  being  lifted  from  its  rest,  is  thrown  in  a  direc- 
tion crosswise  the  track.  In  point  of  construction  it  is  essentially  a  vertical 
stand  laid  horizontal!}'. 


Fig.  131. — Odenkirk  Switch  Stand  with  Low  Semaphore. 

Another  style  of  low  switch  stand  operating  on  the  cam  principle 
consists  principally  of  a  drum  and  slot.  The  Stoney  drum  switch  stand,  de- 
signed by  Chief  Engineer  E.  W.  Stoney,  of  the  Madras  Ry.  (India),  and 
extensively  used  on  that  road,  is  shown  as  Fig.  132.  This  device  comprises 
a  cast-iron  cylinder  or  barrel  which  turns  on  an  axle  fixed  in  a  suitable  cast- 
ing, being  actuated  by  a  weighted  lever  handle  centered  on  the  same  axle, 
and  passing  through  a  short  slot  in  the  drum.  The  switch  is  moved  direct  by 
a  roller  on  a  pin  fixed  to  the  connecting  rod.  This  roller  fits  in,  and  is  driven 
by,  a  spiral  slot  S  in  the  drum.  The  handle  requires  only  a  light  weight  to 


JLocked/ or  Locked,  for. 

one  side, the 
othjerlrauiiaJble 


Fig.  132. — Stoney  Drum  Switch  Stand. 


352 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


hold  the  points  and  works  easily.  It  is  made  either  trailable,  or,  by  simply 
turning  the  lever  over,  to  lock  the  switch  dead  to  one  or  both  sides,  or  so 
that  it  shall  be  locked  for  one  side  and  trailable  for  the  other.  This  arrange- 
ment is  effected  by  simply  altering  the  shape  of  the  slot  in  the  drum  which 
actuates  the  connecting  rod,  as  explained  by  the  line  engravings  in  the  figure 
and  the  accompanying  legends.  The  drum  may  be  further  locked,  so  as  not 
to  be  moved,  by  a  simple  sliding  locking  bar  secured  by  a  padlock,  as  shown. 
In  this  country  there  are  switch  stands  designed  on  the  same  principle.  One 
of  these  devices  is  a  Weir  ground-throw  stand  with  weighted  lever,  which, 
when  not  padlocked,  is  automatic,  like  one  style  of  the  Stoney  stand,  and,  as 
is  also  the  case  with  the  Stoney  stand,  the  lever  throws  parallel  with  the 
track.  The  Weir  stand  has  a  revolving  target  geared  to  the  barrel  shaft,  and 
its  general  appearance  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Weir  three-throw  switch  stand 
Fig.  163.  The  Wrigley  switch  stand,  used  on  the  Erie  E.  E.,  has,  like  the 
Stoney  stand,  a  slotted  drum,  which  operates  a  balance  lever  attached  to  the 


Fig.  132  A. 


Fig.  132  B. — Monitor  Switch  Stand,   Hocking  Valley  Ry. 


switch  connecting  rod.  It  can  be  made  to  throw  automatically  in  one  or 
both  directions.  It  has  a  revolving  target  17  ins.  above  the  tie  face  and  ha? 
an  attachment  for  working  a  detector  bar,  if  desired. 

The  Monitor  switch  stand,  which  has  been  standard  with  the  Hocking 
Valley  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  roads  a  long  time,  works  on 
the  principle  of  a  screw.  The  stand  and  parts  are  shown  in  Fig.  132B.  The 
frame  of  the  stand  consists  of  a  base  plate  and  cylinder  cast  in  one  piece. 
This  stationary  cylinder  is  grooved  to  receive  the  end  of  a  revolving  cylin- 
der. The  revolving  cylinder  is  closed  at  the  outer  end,  and  through  a 
slot  in  a  head  or  partition  of  the  stationary  cylinder  there  is  a  sliding 
bar  worked  by  a  disk  fitting  a  screw  on  the  inside  of  the  revolving  cylinder. 
This  sliding  bar  is  coupled  to  the  connecting  rod  of  the  switch.  The  revolv- 
ing cylinder  is  provided  with  a  socket  for  a  lever,  and  as  the  lever  is  turned 
the  sliding  bar  is  actuated  by  the  screw  and  moves  toward  or  from  the 
track  in  a  straight  line.  There  are  no  springs  or  gear  wheels,  and  the  work- 
ing parts  are  completely  housed  from  snow  and  ice.  It  can  be  used  with  or 
without  a  staff  and  target.  For  yard  service  the  revolving  cylinder  is  fitted 
with  a  weighted  drop  lever,  which  will  permit  the  stand  to  throw  automati- 
cally if  the  switch  points  are  trailed  when  wrongly  set.  For  main-track 
service  there  is  a  hand  latch  (L)  which  drops  automatically  into  a  notch 
in  the  sliding  bar  as  soon  as  the  switch  is  thrown  home.  This  latch  relieves 
the  screw  mechanism  of  all  trains  from  passing  trains.  In  throwing  the 
switch  it  is  necessary  to  first  lift  the  latch  from  its  seat.  The  stand  is  locked 


SWITCH   STANDS 


353 


by  securing  the  latch  with  a  padlock  at  a  notch  in  the  latch  sleeve.  If  the 
stand  is  to  be  used  for  an  automatic  trailing  switch  for  main  line  it  should 
not  latch  when  thrown  for  the  siding.  In  that  case  a  weighted  drop  lever  is 
used  to  hold  the  switch  in  position.  The  target  shaft  fits  the  socket  of  the 
shifting  arm  in  a  square  hole,  and  if,  in  setting  the  stand,  the  colors  of  the 
target  are  not  right,  it  is  only  necessary  to  raise  the  staff  out  of  the  socket 
and  give  it  a  quarter  turn. 

For  three-throw  switches,  where  the  main  line  is  the  middle  track,  an 
ordinary  stand  throwing  180  deg.  will  answer,  because  by  setting  the  tar- 
get to  show  safety  for  the  middle  position  it  or  the  switch  light  will  show 
danger  when  the  stand  is  turned  for  either  of  the  other  tracks.  By  a 
specially  arranged  target  the  signal  will  indicate  in  daytime  to  which  of 
the  two  side-tracks  the  switch  is  set.  As  already  shown,  the  target  is 
sometimes  made  arrow-shaped,  so  as  to  point  toward  the  side  on  which 
the  switch  is  set.  The  necessity  for  arranging  the  target  to  indicate  the 
position  of  the  switch,  however,  is  not  as  great  as  a  corresponding  arrange- 
ment for  the  switch  light,  for  on  straight  track  the  position  of  the  switch 
may  easily  be  seen  a  considerable  distance  in  daytime,  whereas  such  is  not 
the  case  at  night.  The  photographic  view  in  Fig.  134A  shows  an  arrange- 
ment used  by  the  Duluth  South  Shore  &  Atlantic  By.  to  indicate  the 
position  of  a  three-throw  switch  at  night.  The  switch  is  of  the  stub  pat- 
tern, and  the  switch  stand  is  of  ordinary  construction,  with  the  top  table 
notched  for  three  positions  of  the  lever.  The  target  is  of  the  ordinary 
pattern  which  shows  a  disc  when  the  switch  is  set  for  main  track  and 
blind  when  the  switch  is  set  for  either  siding.  Bolted  to  one  side  of  the 
switch  stand  there  is  an  upright  frame  (BB)  carrying  at  the  top  a  rectan- 


Fig.  133. — Ground-Throw  Stand  and 
High  Semaphore. 


DOUBLE  GUARD  FOR  FROGS. 

Fig.  134.— Sheffield  Foot  Guard. 


35-i 


SWITCHING    ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Signal  Lights  for  a  Three-Throw  Switch, 
D.,  S.  S.  &  A.  Ry. 


Fig.  134  A. — High  Semaphore  Switch  Signal,  Pennsylvania  Lines  West. 
gular  wooden  box  open  top  and  bottom.  In  two  sides  of  this  box  there 
are  three  lenses  in  a  row,  the  colors  from  left  to  right  (as  seen  in  the  pic- 
ture) being  red,  green  and  white.  Attached  to  the  moving  rails  of  the 
switch  there  is  a  rod  (.4)  sliding  through  a  guide  at  the  bottom  of  the 
switch  stand  and  bent  to  stand  in  an  upright  position  (C).  This  up- 
right rod  (C)  carries  the  switch  light  inside  of  the  box.  In  any  of  the 
set  positions  of  the  switch  this  light  shines  through  one  of  the  bull's-eyes 
and  indicates  by  the  color  of  the  light  the  position  of  the  switch.  For  in- 
stance, if  the  switch  is  set  for  the  main  track  the  light  will  shine  through 
the  middle  or  green  bulPs-eye,  giving  a  green  light.  If  the  switch  is  set 
for  the  left-hand  siding  there  will  be  a  red  light,  and  if  it  is  set  for  the 
right-hand  siding  there  will  be  a  white  light. 

When  both  turnouts  are  on  the  same  side  of  the  main  track  an  ordi- 
nary stand  thrown  to  the  first  shows  danger  but  when  thrown  to  the  second 
it  shows  safety.  For  a  switch  of  this  kind  a  stand  having  a  specially 
arranged  target-revolving  device  is  required,  so  that  danger  will  be  shown 
when  the  stand  is  thrown  for  either  turnout.  There  is  a  Weir  stand  of  this 
kind  having  the  target  arranged  upon  a  separate  shaft,  which  is  so  geared 
with  the  main  shaft  of  the  stand  (see  Fig.  129)  that  when  turned  from 
the  main  track  position  to  that  for  the  first  turnout  it  is  thrown  out  of 
gear  and  locked  fast  against  further  turning  when  throwing  the  stand 
for  the  other  turnout.  When  thrown  back  to  main  track  the  gears  engage, 
as  the  idle  quarter  of  the  driving  gear  is  passed,  and  the  target  revolves 
back  to  safety.  Stands  for  three-throw  point  switches  and  automatic 
stands  for  point  switches  are  taken  up  in  connection  with  those  subjects, 
further  along  in  this  chapter  (§  71  and  68). 


SWITCH  STANDS 


355 


Hiqh  Targets.— The  question  of  safety  for  high-speed  trains  has  led 
some  roads  into  the  use  of  high  switch  targets  that  may  be  seen  over  the 
tops  of  cars,  over  shallow  cuts  in  curves,  or  other  obstruction;  or  at  a  long 
distance  on  straight  line.     The  usual  arrangement  consists  oi  a  gr ound- 
lever  stand  connected  to  a  braced  target  rod  or  shaft  12  to  18  it.  nign. 
The  target  shaft  is  braced  by  an  inclined  ladder  running  from  the  end  oi 
a  long  headblock  and  stayed  sidewise  by  angle  irons  or  pipes  footing  into 
a  cross  piece  framed  into  the  headblock,  as  shown  in  Figs.  122  and  133. 
On  some  roads  the  target  is  set  on  a  collared  shaft  resting  in  bearings  on 
a  post  or  framing  independent  of  the  stand,  so  as  to  be  free  from  the 
jarring,  which  might  put  out  the  switch  light.    The  shaft  is  then  connected 
with  the  switch  rails  or  to  the  stand.   The  ground-lever  type  of  stand  used 
in  connection  with  a  high  signal  is  coming  more  and  more  into  use,  and 
is  standard  on  the  Southern  Ky.,  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West,  the  Cleve- 
land, Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  and  other  roads.     On  the  Southern 
By.  the  standard  arrangement  for  throwing  and  signaling  switches  is  a  New 
Century  switch  stand  with  a  large  revolving  target  on  a  staff  about  17  ft. 
high,  braced  with  ladder  and  stay  rods  as  in  Fig.  122-     On  the  P.  L.  W. 
the  standard  switch  signal  at  high-speed  points  is  a  semaphore  blade  18  ft. 
high  on  a  wooden  pole  standing  8J  ft  from  the  rail,  at  the  switch.     A 
parallel-throw  ground-lever  stand  is  connected  with  both  switch  and  sig- 
nal, as  shown  in  Fig.  134A.    A  similar  or  like  arrangement  is  also  in  use 
on  the  Peoria  &  Eastern  division  of  the  C.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ey.    Under 
dangerous  conditions  the  P.  L.  W.  use  a  distant  switch  signal  in  addition 
to  the  semaphore  at  the  switch. 

Switch  Locks. — The  almost  universal  arrangement  for  locking  switches 
is  to  padlock  the  lever  of  the  stand.  Numerous  devices  have  been  invented 
to  dispense  with  padlocks  on  switch  stands  and  the  extra  movements  at- 
tending the  use  of  the  same  when  locking  or  unlocking  the  stand,  but 
such  have  never  come  into  extensive  service.    There  are,  however,  in  prac- 
tical use  a  few  patterns  of  switch  stand  designed  with  a  self-contained 
lock.     A  number  of  stands  of  this  description  have  been  in  use  on  the 
Burlington  &  Missouri  K.  K.  since  1896,  giving  satisfactory  service.     The 
stand  was  designed  by  Mr.  T.  E.  Calvert,  general  superintendent,  and  in 
addition  to  the  permanently  attached  lock  it  is  also  arranged  to  permit 
the  automatic  operation  of  the  switch  when  the  stand  is  set  in  either  of 
the  rest  positions.    Eef erring  to  Fig.  134B,  there  is  a  hollow  lever  8,  one 
end  of  which  encircles  the  main  shaft  of  the  stand  without  being  rigidly 
attached.    At  the  outer  end  of  this  lever  there  is  hinged  a  handle  M,  which 
normally  drops  to  a  vertical  position  into  a  notch  in  the  outer  rim  of  the 
stand  table  E.    Rigidly  attached  to  the  main  shaft  T  by  means  of  a  bolt 
and  key  there  is  a  star-shaped  interlocking  head  or  pinion  Nf  and  fitting 
tightly  into  one  of  the  recesses  of  this  head  is  an  interlocking  bolt  L  with 
an  arrow-shaped  head.    At  the  other  end  this  bolt  terminates  in  a  stud,  as 
shown  in  the  perspective  view,  Sketch  9.     A  coiled  spring  holds  the  head 
of  the  bolt  into  engagement  with  the  interlocking  head  under  all  condi- 
tions.   The  lock  P,  Sketch  1,  is  in  an  opening  in  the  side  of  the  lever,  being 
slipped  into  place  from  the  inside  before  the  interlocking  bolt  and  spring 
are  inserted.    It  is  then  held  in  place  by  a  coiled  spring.    When  the  handle 
M  is  in  the  normal  position  the  bolt  Y  of  the  lock,  Sketch  5,  fits  into  a  slot 
in  the  head  of  the  handle  made  by  cutting  away  on  one  side  of  the  radial 
opening  m.     A  perspective  view  of  the  handle  and  the  locking  slot  is 
shown  as  Sketch  8.     In  this  manner  the  handle  is  locked  in  position. 
After  the  key  has  been  inserted,  the  locking  bolt  Y  pulled  back  and  the 
handle  raised,  the  solid  face  of  the  circular  head  on  the  handle  holds  the 


356 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


lock  bolt  back  (Sketch  6)  and  the  key  cannot  be  turned  to  be  withdrawn 
until  the  switch  has  been  moved  to  such  position  that  the  handle  may 
again  be  dropped  to  its  normal  position;  so  that  the  handle  must  be  in  the 
rest  notch  at  one  side  of  the  table,  and  in  normal  position,  before  the 
key  can  be  removed.  Where  it  is  desired  that  they  key  may  be  withdrawn 
only  when  the  switch  is  set  and  locked  for  main  line,  a  small  bolt  IF  is 
screwed  into  the  rest  notch  at  the  side-track  side  of  the  table  (Sketch  7), 
so  as  to  prevent  the  handle  M  from  dropping  to  normal  position  on  that 
side,  and  make  it  impossible  to  withdraw  the  key  when  the  switch  is  set 
for  side-track.  This  arrangement  necessitates  throwing  the  handle  back 
to  the  main-track  side  and  the  locking  of  the  stand  before  the  key  can  be 
removed. 


Fig.  134  B— Automatic  Switch  Stand  with  Self-Contained  Lock,  B.  &  M.  R.  R.  R. 

Another  aim  in  getting  up  the  design  was  to  make  a  stand  which 
would  be  automatic  when  thrown  and  locked,  but  rigidly  connected  while 
being  thrown,  so  that  if  snow  or  other  obstruction  should  prevent  the 
switch  point  from  closing  against  the  stock  rail  the  switch  stand  lever 
could  not  be  thrown  into  the  rest  position  and  locked.  As  a  means  to 
this  end,  the  head  of  the  handle  M  when  raised  to  the  horizontal  position, 
as  shown  in  Sketch  1  at  M'}  bears  tightly  against  the  interlocking  bolt, 
holding  the  same  into  rigid  engagement  with  the  interlocking  head  Nf 
so  that  while  the  switch  is  being  thrown  this  bolt  is  prevented  from  any 
backward  movement  and  the  shaft  T  cannot  revolve  except  with  the  lever. 
In  the  head  of  the  handle  M  there  is  a  radial  opening  m  (Sketch  2),  and 
when  the  handle  is  dropped  to  the  vertical  or  normal  position  this  opening 
stands  opposite  the  stud  end  of  the  interlocking  bolt  L,  permitting 
the  bolt  to  recede  from  its  normal  position  in  case  sufficient  force  should 
be  applied  to  the  crank  of  the  stand  to  revolve  the  interlocking  head 
against  the  action  of  the  interlocking  bolt  and  spring.  Thus  the  stand 
is  rigidly  connected  while  being  thrown  and  automatic  when  locked. 
For  automatic  operation  the  tips  of  the  interlocking  bolt  are  so  shaped 
that  during  the  first  part  of  the  automatic  action  the  switch  starts  hard. 
The  movement  then  becomes  easier  until  the  center  of  the  throw  is 
reached,  when  a  rib  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  bolt  again  resists  the 


SWITCH   STANDS 


357 


throwing  action  until  considerable  force  is  applied.  If  the  switch  is  moved 
past  the  center  the  pressure  of  the  spring  on  the  bolt  will  quickly  force 
around  the  interlocking  head  and  complete  the  throw  of  the  switch,  but 
if  pressure  on  the  switch  points  is  released  before  the  center  point  is 
passed  the  action  of  the  spring  on  the  interlocking  bolt  will  operate  to 
quickly  throw  the  switch  back  to  place.  Thus,  should  a  car  or  locomotive 
trail  against  the  switch  points  when  set  in  the  wrong  position,  without 
running  through  them  far  enough  to  throw  the  tip  of  the  interlocking 
head  past  the  dead  center,  the  points  will  be  returned  to  place  against 
the  stock  rail  as  soon  as  the  train  backs  away.  It  will  be- noticed  that 
the  interlocking  head  has  three  recesses  (Sketch  3),  two  of  which  are 
disposed  at  right  angles  to  the  one  shown  in  engagement  with  the  inter- 
locking bolt.  This  arrangement  allows  the  shaft  to  be  turned  a  quarter 
of  a  revolution  in  relation  to  the  interlocking  bolt,  thus  permitting  the 
throw  of  the  stand  to  be  changed  from  right  to  left,  or  vice  versa,  without 
changing  the  position  of  the  stand.  In  order  to  return  the  interlocking 
bolt  L  to  its  proper  recess  in  the  head  N  after  the  switch  has  been  "run 
through"  and  thrown  automatically,  there  is  a  second  radial  opening  mr 
in  the  head  of  the  handle  M,  Sketch  2.  By  turning  the  handle  up  to 
the  position  M"  (Sketch  1)  this  opening  is  brought  opposite  the  stud 
end  of  the  interlocking  bolt  L,  permitting  the  bolt  to  recede  and  the  lever 
to  be  swung  around  on  the  interlocking  head,  thus  bringing  the  interlock- 
ing bolt  and  head  again  into  their  customary  relative  position. 


3ef  for  Ma/n  i/ffe 

Fig.  134  C. — Cafferty-Knox  Lever  Lock  for  Switch  Stand. 

The  Automatic  Safety  Lock  switch  stand  has,  like  the  one  already 
described,  an  enclosed  lock  within  the  lever  of  the  stand.  This  stand, 
with  its  lever,  latch  and  cap  are  shown  by  the  three  engravings  in  Fig.  136. 
A  vertical  cover  actuated  by  a  coiled  spring  affords  protection  to  the 
keyhole.  This  cover  moves  directly  upward  between  guides,  thus  making 
it  possible  for  trainmen  to  introduce  the  key,  unlock  and  throw  the  switch 
with  one  hand,  as  at  night,  when  carrying  a  lantern.  The  lever  is 
released  by  pulling  the  safety  latch,  after  unlocking  the  stand  with  the 
key.  Engravings  A  and  B  show  the  two  positions  in  which  the  latch 
may  be  set.  The  latch  catches  in  one  position  (Engr.  A)  before  the 
locking  bolt  comes  into  action,  and  in  that  position  it  secures  the  switch 
without  locking  the  stand.  This  arrangement  is  for  convenience  when 
shifting  cars.  Permanent  locking  is  effected  by  compressing  the  latch 


358 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


and  throwing  the  lever  up  against  the  shoulders  of  the  locking  stud, 
whereupon  the  locking  bolt  falls  and  the  switch  cannot  then  be  thrown 
without  the  use  of  the  key.  The  stand  in  the  locked  position  is  shown 
by  Engraving  B. 

The  Cafferty-Knox  lever  lock  for  switch  stands,  designed  by  Mr. 
T.  S.  Cafferty,  roadmaster  with  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Ky., 
and  Mr.  Wm.  F.  Knox,  is  a  simple  locking  mechanism  consisting  of  an 
ordinary  spring  bolt  lock,  placed  within  the  switch  stand  lever  and  engaging 
with  a  lock  notch  cut  into  the  side  of  the  lever  rest  in  the  table  of  the 
stand.  As  the  lever  locks  automatically  when  closed  into  the  rest  notch, 
a  spring  is  provided  which  holds  the  lever  outward  to  prevent  it  from 
locking  when  it  is  not  pressed  home,  or  as  it  would  be  left  while  switching. 
The  lock  is  applied  to  the  lever  by  planing  or  filing  out  a  recess  in  the 
front  side  and  covering  the  same  with  a  plate  screwed  on.  It  can  be 
applied  to  any  drop-lever  stand  that  works  in  the  ordinary  manner.  It  is 


Fig.  135. — Ground-Lever  Stand  in  Track.  Fig.  136. — Automatic  Safety  Lock 

Switch  Stand. 

not  necessary  that  a  new  handle  be  used,  as  the  lock  can  be  placed  in  the 
old  handle  equally  as  well  as  in  a  new  one,  after  which  all  that  is  necessary 
to  do  is  to  chip  a  notch  in  the  top  plate  of  the  stand  to  receive  the 
bolt  from  the  lock.  Figure  134C  shows  the  lock  as  applied  to  a  stand 
of  ordinary  pattern.  The  engraving  at  the  left  shows  the  position  of  the 
keyhole  in  the  front  of  the  lever,  and  the  small  engraving  shows  the 
lock  details.  The  engraving  at  the  right  of  the  figure  shows  the  position 
of  the  parts  when  the  switch  is  unlocked,  with  the  lever  still  resting  in  its 
notch  in  the  table,  as  it  would  be  left  while  switching. 

Advantages  claimed  for  switch  stands  with  enclosed  locks,  additional 
to  those  already  indicated,  are  that  the  lock  is  boxed  in  out  of  the  way, 
where  it  cannot  be  knocked  off  or  easily  tampered  with  by  malicious 
persons:  it  cannot  fall  down  into  the  mud  or  snow;  and,  what  amounts 
to  a  matter  of  considerable  economy,  it  can  be  used  only  for  a  switch  lock. 
It  cannot  be  used  for  locking  a  boat,  a  barn,  a  coal  shed  or  other  private 
property,  whereon  may  usually  be  found  no  small  percentage  of  the 
switch  locks  issued  by  railroads  from  time  to  time. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  lubricate  the  inside  works  of  switch  locks  with 
a  few  drops  of  oil  occasionally.  With  such  treatment  they  will  work 
easier  and  last  longer.  When  locks  get  dry  or  rusty,  so  that  the  key 
turns  hard,  or  if  the  parts  become  so  worn  that  the  key  will  not  work  the 
first  time,  the  train  men  are  quite  likely  to  break  them. 

63.  Headblocks. — Fifteen  feet  is  the  usual  length  for  headblocks, 
and  8x14  ins.  or  8x16  ins.  about  the  proper  size.  Eight  inches  thick- 
ness gives  good  stiffness.  It  is  difficult  to  properly  tamp  a  headblock 


SWITCH  TIES  359 

which  is  thicker  than  this;  and  for  the  same  reason  the  adjoining  ties 
each  side  of  the  headblock  should  not  be  too  close.  A  good  width  is 
the  best  provision  against  settlement.  Sawed  headblocks  are  the  better, 
but  hewn  ones  do  very  well  if  the  uppe'r  face  is  not  winding.  In  la}7 ing 
a  headblock  the  bed  should  not  be  dug  out  for  it  quite  as  deep  as  the 
combined  thickness  of  headblock  and  headshqe  under  base  of  rail.  It  is 
better  to  leave  it  above  \  in.  high,,  on  a  firm  bed,  after  the  headshoes  are 
in  place.  Headblocks  should  be  placed  squarely  across  the  main  track 
and  the  joints  between  switch  and  lead  rails  should  be  exactly  opposite.  The 
headblock  for  point  or  split  switches  is  often  made  double  or  of  two 
pieces,  each  about  6x8,  or  7x9  ins.  in  size,  placed  far  enough  apart  to  let 
in  the  Lorenz  spring,  if  one  is  used  on  the  head  rod,  and  framed  together 
at  the  ends. 

64.  Switch  Ties. — Switch  ties  vary  in  length  from  8J  ft.  next  the 
headblock  of  stub  switches  or  at  the  heel  of  point  switches,  up  to  14  ft. 
under  the  frog.  Except  for  appearance,  though,  the  first  five  or  six 
ties  under  the  lead  rails  next  the  headblock  in  a  stub  switch,  may  just  as 
well  be  the  common  8-ft.  ties.  It  adds  much  to  the  appearance  of  things 
to  have  all  the  ends  on  the  turnout  side  cut  off  the  same  distance  from  the 
lead  rail  of  the  turnout,  or  at  any  rate  to  have  the  lengths  vary  uniformly 
between  the  headblock  and  the  last  long  tie  under  OT  beyond  the  frog. 
Where  this  is  not  done  it  is  usual  to  base  the  order  on  36  ties,  in  sets  of  three 
each,  varying  in  length  by  6  ins.,  from  8J  ft.  up  to  14  ft.  and  if  more  or 
less  are  needed  one  tie  is  added  to  or  taken  from  each  of  so  many  of  the 
sets  of  three.  For  a  No.  9  frog  39  6x8-in.  ties,  or  38  7x9-in.  ties,  spaced 
12  ins.  apart  in  the  clear,  in  either  case,  would  be  needed,  the  extra  three 
being  accounted  for  by  including  an  extra  tie  in  that  many  of  the  sets. 
Extra  sets  of  14J-ft.  and  15-ft.  ties  (and  in  some  instances  15J-ft.  and 
16-ft.  ties)  should  be  included  and  be  placed  beyond  the  frog,  to  avoid  run- 
ning the  short  ties  of  the  side-track  in  between  the  ends  of  main-tra-ck  ties 
\\here  the  two  tracks  separate.  The  number  of  ties  required  in  any  case  is 
readily  ascertained  by  dividing  the  whole  distance  by  the  sum  of  the  space 
in  the  clear  and  the  width  of  one  tie  face. 

Ties  for  ordinary  three-throw  switch  turnouts  vary  from  9  ft.  next 
the  headblock,  up  to  20  ft.  at  the  heels  of  the  two  main  frogs.  The  length 
of  any  tie  may  be  found  by  doubling  the  length  of  the  corresponding  tie 
in  a  single  turnout  and  subtracting  the  length  of  the  standard  track  tie. 
The  same  number  is  required  as  for  a  two-throw  switch.  In  laying  switch 
ties  for  three- throw  switches  the  middle  of  the  tie  should  be  placed  on  the 
center  line  of  the  middle  track-  This  is  readily  done  by  marking  the  middle 
of  the  tie  and  using  the  track  gage  to  get  center.  In  three-throw  switches 
where  the  main  frogs  are  not  placed  opposite  each  other  the  length  of 
any  switch  tie  may  be  found  by  adding  the  two  tie  lengths  corresponding 
to  that  position  in  both  turnouts  and  subtracting  from  such  sum  the  length 
of  the  standard  track  tie.  The  middle  of  the  tie  will  then  not  come  at 
the  center  of  the  middle  track,  but  on  that  side  of  the  center  which  is 
toward  the  shorter  turnout,  a  distance  equal  to  half  the  difference  between 
the  lengths  of  ties  corresponding  to  its  position  in  the  two  turnouts. 

In  two-throw  switches  it  is  not  always  advisable  to  put  in  long  switch 
ties.  If  the  turnout  is  laid  for  only  temporary  use  it  is  a  waste  of  labor 
and  material  to  take  out  short  ties,  put  in  long  ones,  and  then  again  to 
replace  the  long  ones  with  short  ties  when  the  turnout  is  torn  up.  Short 
ties  answer  just  as  well  for  ties  in  turnouts  as  long  ones  do,  the  differ- 
ence being  that  in  case  the  track  between  headblock  and  frog  gets  out  of 
surface  long  ties  can  be  much  easier  and  better  tamped  than,  short  ones ; 


360 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


because  the  short  ties  in  main  and  turnout  leads  must  be  so  interlaid  that 
there  is  little  room  left  between  them  for  tamping,  except  to  work  length- 
wise under  their  ends.  For  six  or  eight  ties  next  the  headblock  the 
main-track  ties  answer  fo'r  the  rails  of  both  tracks,  so  that  when  short 
ties  are  used  instead  of  long  ones  no  ties  for  the  turnout  should  be  placed 
between  the  main-track  ties  as  far  as  the  turnout  rails  can  be  properly 
spiked  to  the  main-track  ties.  The  outside  rail  of  the  turnout  curve 
should  in  any  case  be  spiked  to  an  occasional  main-track  tie,  to  prevent 
the  turnout  rails  being  crowded  out  of  line  in  case  of  derailment.  Which- 
ever kind  of  tie  is  used  (long  or  short)  the  spacing  under  the  frog  should 
be  such  that  the  toe  and  heel  are  made  supported  joints  and  a  tie  is  placed 
directly  under  the  point  of  frog,  or  as  nearly  thereto  as  may  be  allowable, 
with  clamp  frogs.  Under  point  switches  the  ties  must  be  spaced  with 
reference  to  the  tie  rods. 


SECTION      00 


Fig.  137.— The  Hart  Foot  Guard. 

Where  long  switch  ties  are  used  in  turnouts  from  the  outside  of 
curves,  the  elevation  of  the  main-track  curve  comes  the  wrong  way  for  the 
turnout  curve.  While  this  does  not  matter  for  the  speed  ordinarily  made 
through  turnouts,  it  makes  a  bad  sort  of  arrangement  in  the  turnout  track 
where  it  leaves  the  switch  ties,  beyond  the  frog ;  for  at  this  point  the  inside 
rail  of  the  turnout  curve  is  necessarily  quite  high.  By  using  short  ties 
instead  of  long  ones  a  much  better  arrangement  for  the  turnout  curve  can 
be  made  throughout,  as  it  can  then  be  made  level  across,  opposite  the 
frog,  or  the  inside  rail  of  the  turnout  curve  may  then  be  made  lower  than 
the  outside  one,  without  regard  to  the  elevation  in  the  main  track. 

65.  Foot  Guards. — Between  two  rails  lying  less  than  about  6  ins. 
apart  in  the  clear,  at  the  heads,  there  is  a  bootjack  space  from  Which 
one's  foot,  if  caught,  cannot  be  quickly  released.  Many  trainmen  have 
been  trapped  in  such  places  while  coupling  cars  and  have  been  killed  or 
injured.  The  laws  of  many  of  the  states  now  require  some  form  of  guard 
to  prevent  feet  from  being  caught  in  this  way.  The  wings,  mouth,  and 
heel  of  frogs;  guard  rails,  the  lead  rails  at  the  toe  of  stub  switches  or  the 
heel  of  point  switches ;  or  wherever  the  heads  of  two  rails  are  more  than 
2  ins.  and  less  than  6  ins.  apart — should  be  blocked  in  such  a  manner  that 
a  foot  cannot  get  caught  between  the  lower  corners  of  the  rail  heads. 

Pieces  of  plank  cut  wedge-shaped  to  fit  the  space  to  be  filled  do  very 
well.  Such  blocking  after  being  driven  snugly  to  place  is  made  fast 
either  by  spiking  to  the  ties  or  by  drilling  a  hole  through  the  webs  of  the 
rails  and  bolting  it  fast.  The  latter  method  is  the  better  one,  because  it 
permits  of  removing  the  block  without  splitting  it.  The  work  of  surfac- 
ing and  other  repairs  occasionally  requires  the  temporary  removal  of  the 


FOOT  GUARDS 


361 


guards.  A  wooden  wedge  guard  for  a  plate  frog  must  either  be  secured 
in  this  way  or  else  be  made  long  enough  to  reach  a  tie  to  which  it  may  be 
spiked.  The  block  for  a  guard  rail  should  extend  some  8  or  12  ins.  beyond 
the  end  of  the  guard  rail/ so  that  it  may  be  sloped  down.  Figure  137 
illustrates  a  method  of  blocking  the  openings  in  frogs,  guard  rails  and 
other  places  with  wood,  known  as  the  Hart  foot  guard.  The  blocks  of 
wood  may  be  bolted  to  the  web  of  the  rail  as  shown  or  they  may  be  secured  by 
60d  wire  nails  driven  through  ^-in.  holes  in  the  web  of  the  rail  and  clinched 
on  the  block.  The  objectionable  lower  corners  of  the  rail  head  are 
rendered  harmless  and  dirt  or  other  material  falling  on  the  frog  has  more 
room  in  which  to  be  crowded  out  of  the  way  of  wheel  flanges  than  is  the 
case  where  the  guard  fills  the  whole  space  to  the  under  sides  of  the  rail 
heads.  On  roads  where  wooden  guards  are  used  it  is  quite  customary  to 
saw  out  the  pieces  to  shape  in  the  car  shops  from  waste  pieces  of  lumber 
and  thus  send  them  to  the  section  foremen  ready  made.  Where  such 
is  the  practice  the  guards  are  cut  to  a  few  standard  patterns  and  come 
very  cheap.  Cinder  filling  is  also  used  for  foot  guards. '  It  answers  the 
purpose  well  enough,  but  snow  and  ice  are  not  readily  cleaned  from  it  in 
winter,  and  in  case  it  becomes  necessary  to  remove  the  guard  it  is  some- 
thing of  a  job  to  pick  out  the  frozen  cinders. 


Fig.  138. — Looped   Metal   Foot  Guard. 

Of  metallic  foot  guards  there  are  several  kinds,  a  common  feature  con- 
sisting essentially  in  adjustable  wedges,  spread  apart  either  with  or  without 
springs.  The  Green  guard  (A,  Fig.  120)  has  two  flat  plates,  one  above 
the  other,  held  apart  between  the  flange  and  head  of  the  rails  by  spiral 
springs.  The  National  guard  consists  of  a  telescoping  box  open  on  the 
under  side,  the  two  halves  being  spread  apart  by  spiral  springs.  The 
Sheffield  guard  (Fig.  134)  is  a  fan-tail  device  consisting  of  pressed  steel 
plates  -J  in.  thick  spiked  to  the  ties.  For  guard  and  frog  wing  rails 
and  lead  rails  the  foot  guard  is  of  suitable  length  and  in  one  piece,  but 
for  heel  and  mouth  guards  for  frogs  the  device  consists  of  two  parts 
adjustable  to  the  different  angles  of  frogs  ordinarily  in  use.  No  spring 
is  used  with  this  guard.  In  cases  where  the  end  of  the  guard  does  not 
reach  a  tie  a  hook  extension  with  a  hole  for  spiking  is  used.  Figure 
138  shows  two  forms  of  kfoped  metal  guard,  that  at  the  right,  consisting 
of  an  iron  strap  or  bar  standing  edgewise  and  looped  back  and  forth 
between  the  rails,  being  known  as  the  Nevens  foot  guard.  The  lead  rail 
guard  of  this  type  consists  of  a  bar  presented  edgewise  and  looped  similarly 
at  the  wider  end,  but  running  straight  for  the  greater  portion  of  its 
length  along  the  middle  of  the  opening  between  the  rails.  The  Weir  foot 
guard  is  quite  similar,  consisting  of  a  steel  bar  presented  edgewise  to  the 


362  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

foot  and  held  in  position  by  brackets  secured  to  the  webs  of  the  rails. 
Eeference  has  already  been  made  to  a  permanent  solid  guard  for  frogs 
made  by  extending  the  channel  and  mouth  filling  into  the  flare,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  72.  On  some  old-style  rigid  frogs  in  service  on  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  Ey.  the  wing  rails  are  not  flared  but  are  cut  off  short,  and 
against  the  stub  ends  of  the  same  a  grooved  cast  piece  is  bolted  to  the  frogr 
being  shaped  to  form  the  filling  of  the  channel  and  the  flaring  part  of 
the  wing,  and  therefore  to  serve  as  the  foot  guard.  If  the  hight  of  the 
rail  will  permit  it,  the  blocking  of  the  heels  of  frogs,  split  switches,  and 
derails  can  be  much  facilitated  by  entering  the  bolts  of  the  splice  bars 
so  that  the  nuts  come  on  the  gage  side  of  the  rail;  moreover,  the  nuts  can 
then  be  more  easily  got  at  when  loose.  The  laws  of  Canada  permit  rail- 
way companies  to  remove  foot  guards  from  frogs  and  guard  rails  during  the 
winter  months,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  railway  committee  of  the 
privy  council.  The  idea  is  that  the  removal  of  the  guards  facilitates 
clearing  the  parts  of  snow  and  ice,  but  all  of  the  railways  of  Canada  do 
not  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege. 

66.  Switch  Lamps. — Wherever  night  trains  are  run  there  should 
be  lights  to  indicate  the  position  of  the  switches.  On  single  track,  or 
where  there  are  stub  switches  or  facing-point  switches  on  double  track,  it  is 
foolhardy  to  run  trains  at  night  without  switch  lights;  nevertheless,  on 
some  roads  this  is  done.  The  usual  arrangement  for  holding  the  lamp 
in  position  is  to  shape  the  top  of  the  target  staff  to  fit  a  socket  in  the 
bottom  of  the  lamp.  To  insure  that  the  lamp  will  be  put  on  with  the 
lenses  facing  in  the  right  direction  the  aperture  of  this  socket  should  be  of 
oblong  section,  or  of  such  shape  that  the  lamp  cannot  be  put  on  to  face 
toward  the  wrong  quarter.  A  lamp  having  a  heavy  bottom  or  socket  which 
fits  down  over  the  tip  of  the  staff  is  a  more  stable  affair  than  one  which 
sets  in  a  fork  attachment  held  to  the  staff  by  a  set  screw.  The  jarring  of 
the  stand  is  liable  sooner  or  later  to  work  such  a  contrivance  loose,  and  it 
is  easily  bent.  In  the  case  of  either  of  these  conditions  the  lamp  i& 
tipped  from  the  upright  position  and  the  glow  of  the  lens  strikes  the 
ground  within  a  comparatively  short  distance  of  the  stand  or  is  sent 
skyward,  thus  misdirecting  the  intensity  of  the  light.  It  is  a  good 
scheme  to  fit  a  spiral  spring  or  block  of  rubber  into  the  lamp  socket,  for 
in  putting  a  lamp  in  position  the  wick  may  be  jarred  down  if  the  lamp 
is  dropped  suddenly  to  place.  Lights  are  most  liable  to  be  jarred  out 

over  stub  switches,  and  unless  the  lamps  for  such  places  are  provided  with 
spring  sockets  or  with  spring-supported  oil  pots  it  is  sometimes  difficult 
to  keep  the  lights  burning.  In  any  case  it  is  necessary  to  look  carefully 
to  the  surfacing  of  the  headb lock  and  watch  the  joint  opening  on  the 
headshoes.  At  low  OT  wide  joints  on  the  headblocks  of  stub  switches  the 
oil  pots  of  the  switch  lamps  have  been  known  to  turn  somersaults  or  flop 
bottom  up,  and  rigidly  supported  lamps  have  been  thrown  off  the  stand. 

Color. — In  the  largest  practice  the  colors  for  switch  lights  correspond 
with  the  colors  of  the  switch  stand  targets ;  that  is,  a  closed  switch  is  indi- 
cated by  a  white  light  and  an  open  switch  by  a  red  light.  In  order  to  give 
a  distinct  indication  for  switches  not  on  main  line  some  roads  use  white 
and  green  for  switches  from  side-tracks  and  in  yards.  Where  such  switches 
are  used  at  night  only  occasionally  it  is  the  practice  of  some  roads  not 
to  light  them  at  all,  and,  as  a  rule,  such  is  undoubtedly  the  best  practice 
to  follow.  On  a  goodly  number  of  roads  green  and  red  are  the  colors  for 
switch  lights,  and  the  practice  is  growing  in  favor.  Notwithstanding  that 
green  is  the  standard  color  for  caution  it  is  nevertheless  preferable  to 
white  for  the  safety  indication  of  switch  lamps,  since  it  is  not  so  liable  to- 


SWITCH   LAMPS  363 

be  mistaken  for  some  lantern,  house  light  or  other  white  light.  Another 
objection  to  the  use  of  white  is  the  possible  breaking  or  falling  out  of  a 
red  lens,  in  which  event,  the  light,  if  not  extinguished,  would  show  white 
and  thus  give  a  wrong  indication.  A  green '  light  is  not  visible  as  far 
as  a  white  light  but  it  can  be  seen  far  enough  for  all  the  purposes  of  a 
switch  light. 

On  single  track  it  is  necessary  to  have  switch  lights  show  both  waysj 
consequently  two  white  or  green  and  two  red  lights  should  show  from 
each  lamp.  But  on  double  track  it  is  well  to  dispense  with  the  back 
safety  light,  so  that  the  lamp  shows  safety  only  on  the  side  facing-approach- 
ing trains  on  its  track.  There  is  no  necessity  for  showing  a  safety  light  to 
trains  which  do  not  use  the  track  on  which  the  switch  is  located.  Unnecessary 
lights  tend  to  confusion,  where  many  are  near  together;  and  when  seen 
at  a  distance,  around  a  curve,  there  is  no  visible  evidence  to  an  engineer 
as  to  which  of  the  lamps  are  showing  for  his  track.  By  retaining  the  two 
red  lights  there  will  be  positive  evidence  of  danger  when,  as  sometime* 
happens  on  double  track,  trains  running  both  ways  must  temporarily  use 
the  same  track.  Some,  however,  prefer  the  use  of  only  one  red  light,, 
so  as  to  avoid  showing  danger  to  an  approaching  train  on  the  opposite' 
track  when  the  switch  is  set  for  the  side-track.  It  is  evident  that  where 
one  or  more  of  the  lenses  in  a  switch  lamp  is  dispensed  with  the  lamp  should 
fit  the  socket  in  only  one  way  out  of  the  possible  four — that  is,  the  ?ame 
lens  should  always  face  the  same  quarter  for  the  same  position  of  the 
switch.  To  insure  that  no  mistake  will  be  made  in  placing  the  lamp  one 
corner  of  the  tip  of  the  switch  stand  shaft  may  be  chamfered  and  the 
corresponding  corner  of  the  socket  filled,  or  one  side  of  the  tip  may  be 
grooved  for  a  rib  in  a  corresponding  position  in  the  socket. 

Lamp  Construction  and  Design. — Switch  lamps  are  made  of  tin, 
sheet  iron,  galvanized  iron,  sheet  steel  or  cast  iron.  Heavy  galvanized 
iron  or  sheet  steel  is  more  durable  than  tin,  as  it  is  not  so  easily  warped 
when  heated  or  so  easily  jammed  out  of  shape  in  handling.  The  lamp 
should  be  put  together  with  rivets  in  preference  to  solder,  as  then  if  the 
oil  pot  explodes  and  burns  out,  the  lamp  will  not  fall  apart  from  the 
melting  of  the  solder.  The  Monitor  switch  lamp  has  a  cast  iron  body, 
in  one  piece,  without  solder  or  rivets.  In  general,  switch  lamps  are 
composed  of  three  principal  parts;  namely,  a  case  for  holding  the  lenses, 
a  base,  to  which  the  socket  is  usually  attached,  and  an  oil  pot  and  burner. 
Quite  frequently  the  case  and  base  are  one  piece  or  are  permanently  joined 
together,  the  oil  pot  being  removed  through  an  opening  in  the  top  which 
has  a  hinged  cover,  or  through  a  hinged  or  vertically  sliding  door  in  the 
side.  Where  the  case  and  base  are  separable  the  attachment  is  usually 
by  means  of  a  bayonet  catch  lock  (Engraving  E,  Fig.  139).  In  some 
lamps,  however,  there  is  no  base  proper,  the  case  being  supported  upon  a 
fork  attachment  to  the  switch  stand  which  fits  into  tubes  at  the  side 
(Engravings  Sf  Fig.  139),  the  oil  pot  then  being  inserted  into  the  bottom 
of  the  case  and  held  in  position  by  means  of  a  spring  snap  (Engravings  P 
and  S'y  Fig.  139).  If  the  top  is  hinged  or  removable  the  opening- should 
be  large  enough  to  admit  one's  hand,  because  the  surest  way  to  light  a 
switch  lamp  in  a  hard  wind  is  through  the  top. 

Figure  139  shows  several  designs  of  switch  lamps.  Engavings  //and  G 
show  two  patterns  of  Gray  switch  lamps,  the  latter  being  used  on  the  Bos- 
ton &  Maine,  Central  Vermont,  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  and" 
other  roads.  On  this  lamp  the  lower  part  of  each  lens  guard  is  omitted, 
the  object  being  to  remove  any  support  on  which  snow  might  lodge  and 
partially  obstruct  the  light.  The  lenses  in  lamp  H  are  not  guarded.  En- 


364 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Fig.  139.— Switch -Lamps. 

gravings  E,  8  and  S'  show  two  designs  of  the  Bessemer  heavy  sheet  steel 
lamp,  the  first  being  provided  with  a  malleable  iron  base  with  socket,  and  the 
second  and  last  with  a  fork  socket  or  fork  tubes  with  spiral  springs  in  the 
tops  of  the  tubes  (£')  to  relieve  the  jar.  Both  of  these  lamps  are  venti- 
lated at  the  top  by  the  Watt  "upper  draft,  non-sweating"  system,  shown  by 
diagram  in  Engraving  P.  The  manner  of  placing  the  lenses  is  shown  by 
Engraving  8,  and  the  manner  of  removing  the  oil  pot  by  Engraving  8'. 
Engraving  W  shows  the  Armspear  switch  lamp,  provided  with  a  spring 
socket,  to  relieve  the  lamp  from  the  jar  of  passing  trains,  and  with  a 
hinged  top.  The  spindle  for  adjusting  the  wick  extends  through  the  case, 
so  that  it  may  be  turned  from  the  outside,  and  there  is  a  glass  covered 
peep  hole  for  observing  the  hight  of  the  flame.  In  this  lamp  the  safety 
and  danger  lenses  are  of  different  size,  thus  rendering  it  impossible  -to 
make  a  mistake  when  replacing  broken  lenses.  Engraving  V  shows  an 
Adams  &  Westlake  switch  lamp  with  spring-seated  fork  tube  socket,  the  oil 
pot  being  removed  from  the  bottom  of  the  lamp.  On  low  or  dwarf  stands 
where  the  lamps  are  attached  in  this  way  it  is  quite  customary  to  reverse 


SWITCH   LAMPS  365 

the  fork  on  the  top  of  the  shaft,  turning  it  up  side  down,  and  leaving  it 
in  that  position  during  daytime,  so  as  to  get  the  prongs  out  of  the  way. 

Engraving  T  shows  one  pattern  of  Dressel  switch  lamp,  with  sliding 
side  door.  Engraving  F  shows  the  standard  switch  lamp  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania R.  E.,  including  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  &  Baltimore  K.  K. 
It  is  a  combined  lamp  and  target,  and  is  used  on  all  facing-point  switches 
and  all  switches  within  yard  limits,  whether  facing  or  trailing.  On  trail- 
ing switches  outside  of  yard  limits  no  switch  lamps  are  used,  as  stated  in 
connection  with  switch  stands.  On  some  divisions  of  the  road  the  practice 
of  dispensing  with  lights  and  targets  on  trailing  switches  a%  outlying 
points  is  not  standard,  as  the  advisability  of  so  doing  is  left  to  the  discre- 
tion of  the  division  officers.  The  targets  are  of  steel,  riveted  to  the  square 
lamp  case  and  painted  to  correspond  with  the  color  of  the  lenses.  This 
lamp  is  placed  upon  a  low  spindle  4  ft.  outside  the  rail,  opposite  the  second 
switch  rod,  to  which  the  spindle  crank  is  attached  by  a  connecting  rod 
passing  under  the  stock  rail.  The  lamp  remains  in  place  during  daytime, 
being  permanently  fixed  to  the  spindle,  and  is  filled,  cleaned,  lit  and 
painted  on  the  ground.  -On  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  K.  R.  there  is  in 
extensive  service  a  switch  stand  designed  with  a  large  cast  iron  bulb  in  a 
break  in  the  crank  shaft  about  half  way  between  the  hinge  of  the  lever  and 
the  target.  In  four  sides  of  this  bulb  are  placed  the  lenses,  and  inside  it 
are  the  font  and  burner  for  the  switch  light. 

Lenses. — The  ordinary  size  of  lens  for  main-line  switch  lamps  is  44- 
to  of  ins.  diam.  For  yard  switch  lamps  4  ins.  in  diam,  is  a  common  size 
of  lens  for  intermediate  switch  stands  and  3  ins.  is  the  ordinary  size  for 
dwarf  stands.  The  blue  lenses  for  back  lights  in  dwarf  stands  are  usually 
2  ins.  in  diam.  Bridge  lamps  and  pot  lamps  for  tunnels  have  lenses  as 
large  as  8  or  8f  ins.  diam.  Lenses  fo'r  switch  lamps  should  be  plano-convex 
or  double  convex  rather  than  flat  panes,  as  the  two  former  concentrate  the 
rays  into  a  parallel  beam,  and  throw  it  stronger  and  farther.  Generally, 
concentric  portions  of  such  lenses  are  taken  out  to  lessen  the  weight.  The 
absence  of  these  portions  from  either  face  does  not  affect  the  efficiency  of 
the  lens,  for  when  taken  from  the  convex  face  the  convexity  is  not  changed, 
being  simply  telescoped.  But  if  taken  from  the  outer  face  the  creases  will 
catch  dust  and  sleet  or  snow,  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  light  at  times. 
It  is  better  therefore  to  have  the  broken  or  "corrugated"  surface  inside  the 
lamp,  even  though  such  adds  some  difficulty  to  the  cleaning  of  it.  Figure 
139  shows  three  forms  of  plano-convex  lens,  A  B  and  C,  the  first  being 
known  as  a  "solid"  lens  and  the  other  two  as  "corrugated"  lenses.  Engrav- 
ings D  and  P  show  double  convex  lenses.  The  lens',  of  whatever  color, 
should  be  one  solid  piece.  Colored  lenses  are  sometimes  built  up  like  the 
classification  ]amps  of  engines,  by  sliding  a  thin  pane  of  colored  glass  be- 
hind a  white  bull's-eye.  Such  is  a  dangerous  arrangement  for  switch  lamps, 
for  if  the  flame  of  the  lamp  becomes  to  high  the  thin  colored  glass  may 
break  from  the  heat  and  drop  out  of  place,  allowing  the  lamp  to  show 
a  white  light  and  thus  give  a  wrong  indication.  It  is  important  to  have 
the  flame  of  the  lamp  at  the  focal  point  of  the  lens ;  otherwise  the  light  will 
not  show  so  strongly.  The  focal  length  of  each  lens  is  usually  marked  on 
the  glass. 

Oil  and  Burners. — Kerosene  is  better  than  lard  oil  for  switch  lamps, 
because  the  former  will  burn  all  night  without  a  readjustment  of  the  wick, 
whereas  lard  oil  not  always  will,  particularly  if  of  poo'r  quality.  It  is  seldom 
that  lard  oil,  one  time  with  another,  runs  uniformly.  If  there  is  too  much 
mineral  oil  in  the  mixture  it  will  smoke,  heat  up  the  oil  pot  and  explode  or 
throw  out  the  burner ;  and  if  there  is  not  enough  of  it  the  oil  will  thicken 


366  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

or  freeze  in  cold  weather.  On  some  roads  where  lard  oil  is  used  it  is  the 
practice  to  increase  the  mineral  ingredient  in  winter  time.  The  Minot 
heater  for  lard  oil  burners  (Engr.  M,  Fig.  139)  consists'  of  a  wire  looped 
to  reach  down  into  the  font.,  with  the  tip  ends  bent  around  to  touch  or 
nearly  touch  the  flame.  The  heat  conducted  along  this  wire  warms  the  oil 
and  prevents  it  from  thickening.  The  ordinary  plain  flat  burner  for  lard 
oil  lamps  is  shown  as  Engr.  Y.  Style  N  is  the  same  burner  with  a  ratchet 
for  adjusting  the  wick  and  Style  U  is  the  Dudley  burner.  The  burners 
for  switch  lamps  using  kero&'ene  oil  are  usually  made  with  a  flame  spreader 
(Engr.  R)  which  dispenses  with  the  use  of  a  chimney.  The  spindle  for 
raising  the  wick  should  extend  to  the  outside  of  the  lamp,  so  as  to  enable 
the  light  to  be  adjusted  out  of  doors  in  windy  weather  without  opening  the 
lamp. 

To  save  cost  of  attendance  a  long-time  burner,  known  as  the  Dodson 
switch  and  signal  lamp,  is  used  on  a  number  of  roads,  among  which  are 
the  Norfolk  &  Western,  the  Delaware  &  Hudson  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka 
&  Santa  Fe.  The  features  of  the  lamp  are  a  large  oil  pot,  a  small  flame  and 
reflectors  to  concentrate  the  light.  The  oil  pot  or  reservoir  holds  about  a 
quart  and  the  wick  is  round  and  about  -J  in.  in  diam,,  burning  a  flame 
about  f  in.  high.  There  is  a  short  tubular  chimney,  and  below  and  above 
the  flame  there  are  reflectors  (the  chimney  extending  through  the  upper 
one)  shaped  to  throw  the  light  into  the  lenses.  The  so-called  lamp  con- 
sists of  the  oil  pot  and  burner  with  its  reflectors  and  globe,  and  is  made  to 
fit  any  switch  lamp.  In  actual  service,  with  a  good  quality  of  oil,  it  burns 
continuously  about  seven  days  without  refilling,  trimming  or  attention  of 
any  kind.  If  the  oil  is  poor  the  wick  will  crust  over  and  require  attention 
more  frequently.  The  volume  of  light  from  this  lamp  is  not  as  great  as  it 
is  from  ordinary  switch  lamps. 

Electric  Switch  Lights. — In  yards,  where  there  are  a  large  number  of 
switches,  it  is  a  convenience  and  a  saving  of  a  great  deal  of  labor  to  light 
the  signal  lamps  by  electricity.  If  there  is  an  electric  light  plant,  an  elec- 
tric light  circuit  or  a  night-operated  power  plant  in  the  vicinity  the  extra 
expense  for  the  switch  light  service  is  not  usually  excessive,  and  the  wir- 
ing of  the  necessary  circuits  is  a  simple  matter.  Incandescent  lights  of  8 
candle  power  and  4  candle  power  are  the  ones  most  frequently  used.  Mat- 
ters of  particular  convenience  are  that  the  lamps,  which  do  not  require 
cleaning,  do  not  have  to  be  taken  down  during  the  daytime,  and  remain 
permanently  upon  the  switch  stands ;  and  the  duty  of  lighting  up  or  extin- 
guishing the  lamps  on  all  the  switches  may  be  performed  just  at  the  proper 
time,  by  simply  throwing  a  circuit  switch  in  the  power  house.  In  lighting 
up  the  switches'  of  a  large  yard  with  oil  lamps  it  is  necessary  to  begin 
placing  the  lamps  an  hour  or  two  before  they  are  needed,  and,  likewise,  in 
taking  them  down  in  the  morning,  part  of  the  lamps  burn  a  considerable 
time  in  daylight.  Engraving  Kf  Fig.  139,  shows  the  Dressel  electric  at- 
tachment for  switch  lamps,  being  an  incandescent  lamp  socket  suspended 
from  a  cap  fitting  over  the  top  of  the  lamp  case. 

In  order  to  show  something  of  practice  in  the  arrangemnt  of  electric 
lights  in  switch  lamps  and  the  connections  threfor,  the  details  of  two  or 
three  installations  of  the  kind  will  be  described.  In  the  yards  of  the  Atch- 
ison, Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ky.,  at  Ft,  Madison,  la.,  the  switch  lamps  are 
of  the  ordinary  pattern,  with  an  incandescent  electric  light  of  8-candle 
power,  fitting  a  socket  inside.  As  first  installed,  the  wiring  was  brought 
to  the  switch  stand  in  an  underground  pipe  line,  which  was  tapped  by  a 
branch  pipe  standing  vertically  3  or  4  ft.  clear  of  the  stand  and  arching 
over  so  as  to  enter  the  top  of  the  switch  lamp.  Some  trouble  was  experi- 


SWITCH  LAMPS  OO  < 

-enced  with  this  method  of  bringing  the  circuit  to  the  lamp,  as  the  switch- 
men, in  throwing  the  switch,  took  hold  of  the  pipe  with  one  hand  and  the 
lever  of  the  switch  stand  with  the  other,  with  the  result  that  the  pipes  were 
frequently  pulled  over  and  the  circuit  broken,  the  lamp  socket  short- 
circuited,  or  the  filaments  of  the  lamp  broken  by  the  jar.  Accordingly, 
this  method  of  leading  the  circuit  to  the  lamp  was  changed  and  by  the  new 
plan  the  circuit  was  run  up  the  switch  stand  so  as  to  enter  the  lamp  casing 
from  below. 

In  the  yards  of  tLe  Ogden  Union  Railway  &  Depot  Co.,  which  serve 
for  the  terminals  of  the  Union  Pacific,  the  Southern  Pacific  and-the  Oregon 
Short  Line  roads  in  Ogden,  Utah,  the  switch  signals  are  lighted  by  16-c.  p. 
incandescent  lamps  on  a  110- volt  circuit  from  a  plant  owned  by  the  ter- 
minal company  for  lighting  the  depot  buildings,  freight  houses,  transfer 
sheds  and  the  grounds.  The  top  part  or  .casing  of  an  ordinary  oil  switch 
lamp  is  used,  on  a  fork  attachment,  as  shown  in  Fig.  139A,  and  the  wires, 
which  are  brought  in  under  the  hinged  ventilation  cap,  are  suspended  from 
a  pole  set  5  to  7  ft.  from  the  switch  stand.  These  poles,  which  do<  not 
appear  in  the  view,  are  high  enough  to  carry  the  wires,  where  they  cross 
the  tracks,  well  above  the  cars.  The  lamp  socket  is  rigidly  attached  to  a 
<?up  made  to  fit  the  inside  of  the  top  part  of  the  lamp  case. 


Fig.  139  A. — Electric  Switch  Lights,  Ogden  Union  Ry.  &  Depot  Co. 

In  the  Chicago  Clearing  Yard  (Fig.  214A),  operated  by  the  Chicago 
Union  Transfer  Ry.,  the  lamps  on  something  like  425  switches  are  lighted 
by  8-c.  p.  incandescent  electric  lights  .  These  lights  are  arranged  on  four 
circuits  running  separately  from  the  power  house.  The  electric  current 
on  the  circuits  as  they  leave  the  power  house  is  at  high  potential,  and 
transformers  are  distributed  at  points  along  the  yard,  from  which  secon- 
dary circuits  radiate  to  the  switch  stands.  These  secondary  circuits  con- 
sist of  lead  covered  cables  laid  in  iron  conduits,  making  a  water-proof  ar- 
rangement. The  switch  lamps  have  special  castings  for" the  electric  attach- 
ments, so  as  to  facilitate  the  removal  of  the  electric  bulbs  and  make  them 
easily  accessible  for  inspection  or  repairs'.  At  the  power  house  there  are 
special  instruments  installed,  one  for  each  circuit,  showing  at  any  time  the 
actual  number  of  lamps  burning  on  the  circuit,  thus  giving  a  constant  check 
at  the  power  house  to  show  whether  or  not  any  individual  lamp  has  burned 
out  in  service.  The  importance  of  this  arrangement  may  be  appreciated 
when  it  is  considered  that  much  time  would  be  required  to  go  over  the  entire 
lot  of  425  lamps  to  find  whether  or  not  all  were  burning. 


368  SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

In  connection  with  the  Taylor  system  of  interlocking,  electric  lights 
of  one-candle  power  are  being  used  in  the  switch  lamps.  Such  were  adopted 
after  a  sufficient  number  of  trials  to  demonstrate  that  an  electric  light  of 
this  power,  placed  at  the  focus  of  the  lenses,  is  satisfactory.  Four  of  the 
lights  are  arranged  in  series  on  a  110-volt  circuit.  The  current  used  is  J 
ampere. 

Care  of  Switch  Lamps. — All  dirt,  oil  and  soot  should  be  wiped  from 
the  lenses  and  other  portions  of  the  lamp  daily,  and  the  font  should  be 
emptied  and  rinsed  as  often  as  the  oil  in  it  becomes  greenish  or  dirty.  The 
wick  should  be  trimmed  by  scraping  off  the  burnt  portion  with  the  fingers 
or  with  a  match  stick,  and  not  by  cutting.  While  the  lamp  is  not  lighted 
the  wick  should  be  turned  down  so  that  its  top  is  within  the  tube,  to  pre- 
vent overflowing  of  oil.  The  wick  should  be  long  enough  to  reach  the  bot- 
tom of  the  font  and  the  latter  should  not  be  filled  higher  than  a  half  inch 
below  the  top.  The  air  vents  of  the  burners  should  be  kept  open,  and  when 
the  wick  becomes  clogged  with  refuse  matter  a  new  wick  should  be  substi- 
tuted. Trouble  from  clogging  of  the  wicks  is  usually  caused  by  dirty  oil 
or  oil  of  poor  quality,  the  impurities  in  which  are  separated  by  the  seep- 
age process  in  the  wick.  After  lighting  a  lamp  it  should  be  allowed  to  burn 
for  a  time  and  heat  up  the  burner  before  the  wick  is  finally  adjusted.  As 
the  burner  warms  up  the  flame  naturally  increases  in  size,  and  the  lamp 
should  not  be  left  until  the  wick  is  properly  adjusted ;  otherwise  the  lamp 
may  smoke,  after  a  few  minutes.  In  foggy  weather  it  is  customary  to 
light  switch  lamps  earlier  than  usual  and  permit  them  to  burn  later  before 
taking  down  in  the  morning.  Where  switch  lamps  are  numerous  within 
carrying  distance  it  is  a  good  plan  to  take  them  all  to  some  central  point 
for  cleaning,  filling  and  lighting  before  they  are  distributed  in  the  evening. 
Light  hand  cars  (described  in  §  133,  Chap.  IX)  are  much  used  for  carry- 
ing switch  lamps'. 

A  convenient  arrangement  for  carrying  switch  lamps  by  hand  is  to 
hang  them  on  a  pole  and  carry  a  pole-load  in  each  hand.  In  order  to  load 
the  poles  to  a  balance  at  the  middle,  notches  may  be  cut  or  nails  driven 
into  the  top  side  of  the  pole  to  indicate  regular  spacing  intervals.  By 
means  of  a  stout  leather  strap  buckled  to  the  poles  and  passed  over  one's 
shoulders  a  heavy  load  of  lamps  may  be  easily  carried.  If,  however,  the 
switches  are  widely  scattered Jt  is  a  waste  of  time  to  carry  the  lamps  back 
and  forth,  and  the  best  plants  to  have  a  box  under  lock  at  each  isolated 
switch  and  at  each  point  where  a  few  switches  are  grouped  within  conven- 
ient distance,  to  which  the  lamps  may  be  taken  to  be  cleaned  and  filled  and 
sheltered,  during  the  daytime.  If  lard  oil  is  u&'ed  which  tends  to  thicken  in 
cold  weather  it  will  save  trouble  to  carry  a  can  of  warm  oil  from  box  to 
box  and  fill  the  lamps  just  before  lighting  them,  in  the  evening.  The 
most  trouble  in  this  respect  usually  comes  from  the  practice  of  filling  the 
lamps  in  the  morniner,  so  that  the  oil  remains  in  the  cold  lamps  all  day.  If 
the  oil  is  of  fair  quality  and  thin  when  the  lamp  is  lighted  the  heat  of  the 
burner  will  usually  prevent  it  from  thickening.  In  putting  up  or  taking 
down  switch  lamps'  the  track- walker  or  lamp  tender  should  keep  his  greasy 
hands  off  the  targets.  To  enable  lamp  tenders  to  clean  lamps  properly 
and  keep  them  in  neat  condition  they  should  be  supplied  with  clean  new 
waste. 

The  Michigan  Central  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  roads 
have  complete  sets  of  rules'  governing  the  care  of  switch  and  other  signal 


SWITCH   LAMPS  369 

lamps.  On  the  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  road  there  is  a  standard  lamp  body  for  all 
signal  purposes,  and  all  signal  lamps,  including  semaphore,  switch,  order 
board,  train  marker  and  engine  classification  lamps,  are  in  charge  of  the 
signal  department.  To  see  that  the  signal  lamps  are  properly  cared  for 
there  is  a  lamp  inspector  reporting  directly  to  the  signal  engineer  and  also 
to  the  various  superintendents,  trainmasters  and  roadmasters.  His  duties 
are  to  travel  over  the  road  continually,  visit  all  points  where  signal  lamps 
of  any  description  are  used,  inspect  them  carefully  and  report  their  condi- 
tion to  the  official  in  direct  authority  over  the  man  caring  for  the  lamps. 
He  also  instructs  persons  in  charge  of  lamps  as  to  their  proper  care  and 
is  supposed  to  s'ee  that  the  rules  are  obeyed. 

All  new  lamps  on  the  line  are  issued  from  Topeka,  and  at  that  point 
also  all  the  damaged  and  defective  lamps  are  repaired.  Once  a  month  the 
lamp  inspector  returns  to  Topeka  to  inspect  and  test  all  new  and  repaired 
lamps  and  to  mark  with  a  special  stamp  all  those  which  pas's  inspection. 
The  storekeeper  is  not  permitted  to  issue  lamps  which  do  not  bear  the 
stamp  of  the  inspector.  Adjacent  to  the  shop  where  all  the  lamps  are 
repaired  there  is  a  suitable  testing  room  equipped  for  the  use  of  the  lamp 
inspector.  Close  to  the  repair  shop  are  two  vats,  one  filled  with  lye  and 
one  with  hot  water,  and  near-by  is  a  room  provided  with  a  number  of  hooks 
at  one  end  and  a  small  bin  at  the  other.  All  lamps  and  burners  that  come 
in  off  the  road  are  placed  in  one  end  of  this  room,  the  burners  being  put  into 
the  bin.  Once  a  month  the  lamp  inspector  visits'  this  room  and  carefully 
inspects  all  the  lamps  and  burners,  throwing  out  the  worthless  ones  for 
scrap  and  laying  to  one  side  all  that  are  worth  repairing.  These  are  then 
dipped  in  hot  lye  and  afterwards  in  hot  water,  which  removes  the  paint, 
oil,  soot  and  dirt  from  the  lenses'  and  lamp.  They  are  then  dried  and  sent 
to  the  tinsmith,  who  makes  the  necessary  repairs,  gives  them  a  serial  num- 
ber and  letter,  if  they  do  not  already  have  one,  and  then  sends  them  to 
another  room  where  they  are  painted  and  hung  up  to  dry.  When  dry  they 
are  carried  to  the  inspector's  testing  room,  where  they  are  subjected  to  the 
blower  test  for  leaks',  are  examined  to  see  if  the  lenses  are  in  right,  and 
are  tried  on  the  particular  switch  fork,  bracket,  or  holder,  to  which  they 
belong.  If  they  are  in  proper  condition  the  inspector  marks  them  with  a 
label,  takes  a  record  of  the  number  and  sends  them  to  the  storehouse  to  bo 
issued  on  requisition. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  the  lamp  inspector  is  required  to  submit 
all  new  lamps  and  lenses  u&'ed  on  any  line  of  the  system  to  the  following 
tests :  Blower  test,  under  pressure  measured  on  a  Pitot  tube  the  equivalent 
of  a  wind  velocity  of  80  miles  per  hour ;  and  the  color  test.  All  lenses  must 
be  free  from  waves,  air  bubbles,  or  imperfections  on  the  outer  or  inner  con- 
vex surfaces.  Ruby  and  green  lenses  and  colored  semaphore  glass  must  be 
of  the  same  color  and  depth  of  color,  within  the  limits  established  as  maxi- 
mum and  minimum  standard  colors.  All  color  tests  must  be  made  with 
standard  burners,  with  flame  1  in.  high  properly  focussed  on  the  photo- 
meter bar  in  the  lamp  inspector's  office.  There  are,  on  an  average,  250 
lamps  repaired  and  inspected  each  month,  the  repairs  being  made  by  one 
tinsmith  and  helper,  including  everything  excepting  the  painting,  which 
takes  from  six  to  ten  hours  a  month  for  one  man.  The  list  of  rules  relating 
to  the  care  of  signal  lamps  on  this  road  is  given  in  §  4,  Supplementary 
Notes. 

The  rules,  of  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  are  similar  to  those  of  the  A., 


370  SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

T.  &  S.  F.  Ky. ;  in  fact  the  latter  were  largely  copied  from  the  former.    The 
following  is  a  blank  form  for  a  defective  lamp  report : 

MICHIGAN  CENTRAL  RAILROAD. 
DEFECTIVE  LAMP  REPORT. 


Station —190  -^ 


To— 

At- 
Type  of  Lamp— — 


Trouble  with  Lamp- 


If  damaged  externally,  by  what  means- 


NOTE. — A  blank  must  be  filled  out        Signature  — 
and   placed  i  side  of  each  lamp 
sent  in.  Occupation. 


This  blank  is  printed  on  a  stiff  card  3Jx5J  ins.,  and,  as  required  by  the 
instructions,  is  filled  out  and  placed  inside  of  each  lamp  sent  in  to  head- 
quarters for  repairs. 

67.  Clearance  Posts. — Some  mark  or  reference  object  ought  always 
to  be  at  hand  to  indicate  the  shortest  distance  beyond  the  frog  at  which  a 
car  standing  on  the  side-track  may  be  safely  passed  by  trains  on  main 
track.  Unless  the  track  be  heavily  elevated  toward  the  inside  (a  very  un- 
usual condition)  12  ft.  between  track  centers  will  give. ample  room  for  pass- 
ing.   This  distance  between  centers  gives  about  7  ft.  between  the  outsider 
of  the  two  near  rails ;  some  make  it  6 J  ft.     On  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Ry.  the  standard  clearance  distance  is  7  ft.  for  main  tracks  and 
6  ft.  3-J  ins.  for  side-tracks.  A  post  about  4x4x36  ins'.,  standing  about  8 
ins.  out  of  the  ground,  is  sometimes  set  midway  between  the  two  tracks  at 
the  clearing  point.    The  post  is  usually  painted  white  with  a  black  tip,  the 
top  corners  being  rounded  off.     In  this  position  the  post  is  a  source  of  dan- 
ger to  trainmen  running  between  the  tracks  after  dark  and  for  this  reason 
they  are  often  pulled  up  and  thrown  away.    A  better  location  for  the  post 
is  outside  of  either  main  or  side-track,  opposite  the  clearing  point,  4  or  5 
ft.  from  the  rail,  and  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ry.  this  principle  is  followed, 
the  post  being  placed  outside  the  turnout  track.    The  sign  i&  conspicuous, 
being  a  black  board  with  two  white  disks,  nailed  to  a  tall  post.  The  standard 
clearance  post  on  the  main  line  of  the   Southern  Ry.   is  cast  iron,  of 
-j— shaped  section,  flattening  out  into  a  plate  at  the  top,  painted  white 
and  lettered  "C.  P."  in  black.    On  some  of  the  branch  lines  a  wooden  post, 
painted  white  and  lettered  "Clear  this1  Post,"  is  used.     In  each  case  the 
post  is  set  between  the  tracks.    On  railways  in  India  the  standard  reference 
for  clearance  is  a  whitewashed  half-rounded  tie  laid  across  the  space  between 
the  tracks. 

68.  Point  Switches. — In  computing  the  lead  distance  and  radius  of 
point-switch  turnouts'  it  has  been  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  use  the 
formula  for  stub  switches.  Without  looking  into  the  matter  it  is  naturally 
enough   supposable   that   the   lead    from    headblock    to    frog      in  a  stub- 
switch  turnout  will  answer  for  the  lead  from  heel  of  point  rail  to  frog  in  a 


POINT    SWITCHES  371 

point-switch  turnout,  the  throw  in  the  one  case  being  about  the  same  dis- 
tance as'  the  spread  in  the  other;  and  in  practice  this  is  what  has  actually 
been  done  to  quite  a  large  extent.  While  these  lead  distances  from  the  two 
kinds  of  switch  are  nearly  the  same  for  frogs  up  to  and  including  JSTo.  9, 
still  the  problems  are  essentially  different  in  the  two  cases,  and  within  this 
range  of  frog  numbers  the  turnout  curvature  for  the  point  switch  is  con- 
siderably the  sharper,  in  comparing  the  two  types  of  switch  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  stub  switch  rails  when  thrown  for  the  siding  form 
part  of  the  turnout  curve,  while  the  point-switch  rails  do  not,  and  this  is 
why  there  is  no  close  agreement  of  turnout  curvature  for  the  same  -frog  in 
the  two  cases.  With  frogs  of  higher  number  than  9  the  lead  distances  cor- 
responding to  the  two  kinds  of  switch  and  the  same  frog  differ  too  widely 
to  be  overlooked,  the  stub-switch  lead  being  too  long  for  the  point-switch 
turnout.  The  term  "shortened  lead,"  so  largely  in  use  among  trackmen, 
refers  to  a  point  or  split  switch  with  a  stub-switch  lead  —  that  is,  a  lead 
calculated  for  a  stub  switch,  with  the  heel  of  the  split  rail  spliced  on  at  the 
point  corresponding  to  the  position  of  the  headblock  of  the  stub  switch. 
As  the  point  switch  of  ordinary  length  (15  to  18  ft.)  is  shorter  than  the 
stub-switch  rail  for  all  frogs  of  higher  number  than  6J,  a  point  switch 
used  with  a  stub  lead  falls  short  of  the  point  corresponding  to  the  heel  of 
the  stub  switch  (point  of  curve),  and  hence  it  is  commonly  supposed  that 
the  "theoretical"  lead  is  "shortened."  In  a  strict  sense  the  term  is  a  mis- 
nomer, for  the  stub  lead  is  not  the  "theoretical"  lead  for  a  point-switch 
turnout. 

With  the  point  switch  the  turnout  curve  begins  at  the  heel  of  the  point 
rails.  It  meets  here  a  straight  switch  rail  at  a  tangent,  and  on  the  headblock 
the  switch  rail  meets  the  main-track  rail  at  an  angle,  the  degree  of  which 
depends  upon  the  length  of  the  switch  rail  and  the  spread  at  its  heel.  In 
a  comparatively  few  instances  the  switch  rail  is  curved  to  the  turnout,  but 
stich  is  not  general  practice,  and  nothing  of  account  is  gained  by  curving 
the  point  rail  between  the  end  of  the  planed  portion  and  the  heel.  In  Fig. 
140  let  A  L  and  K  F  be  the  gage  lines  of  two  main-track  rails,  and  let  the 
gage  be  represented  by  g.  Let  F  be  the  frog  point  and  let  the  angle  D  F  K 
represent  the  frog  angle,  which  we  call  F.  Let  A  B  be  a  switch  point  rail, 
of  length  pf  making  an  angle  with  A  L  which  we  will  call  P.  Let  B  C  be  the 
spread  at  the  heel  B,  and  call  it  h.  The  conditions  require  that  a  circular 
curve  be  drawn  through  F  tangent  to  the  line  D  F  and  meeting  at  the  othei* 
end  (B)  a  straight  switch  rail  at  a  tangent  when  the  switch  rail  is  in  the  po- 
sition of  open  switch.  The  formulas  for  the  measurements  necessary  to  lay 
out  the  switch  appear  below.  For  the  derivation  of  the  same  the  'reader  is 
referred  to  the  Eailway  and  Engineering  Eeview  of  Apr.  2,  1898. 

(g—h)(cosF+cosP) 
(  1  )  .     Lead  distance  K  F=— 

sin  F+sinP 

In  words,  the  lead  distance  from  heel  of  switch  rail  to  frog  point  is  the 
quotient  of  two  quantities,  the  dividend  being  the  gage  of  the  track  less  the 
spread  at  the  heel,  multiplied  by  the  sum  of  the  cosines  of  the  frog  and 
switch  point  angles,  and  the  divisor  the  sum  of  the  sines  of  these  two  angles. 

g—li 
(2).     Eadius  of  outer  rail  B  F= 


(sin  F-f-sin  P)  tang  £  (F-P) 
(3).     Chord  B  F=y[(K  F)2+(g-li)'2] 
(4).     Middle  ordinate  0  N=(r+$g)vem$(F-P) 

Substituting  the  values  of  sin  jP-|-sin  P  and  cos  F-j-cos  P  in  other 
terms  these  formulas  are  rendered  calculable  by  logarithms  and  we  have  :  — 


372 

<  1') .     Lead  distance  K  F= 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

'  g-li 


2') .     Eadius  of  outer  rail=r-j-^— • 

t 

g—li 


<3').     Chord  BF= 


<4').     Middle  ordinate  0  ^r=(r+jflr)vers  J(F-P) 


?.  sin  J  (P+P) 

Tables  XIII  and  XIV  (see  index  for  page  number)  give  the  lead  dis- 
tances and  other  measurements  for  point-switch  turnouts  corresponding  to 
frogs  of  different  numbers,,  various  lengths  of  switch  point,  spread  at  the 
heel  etc. 


Fig.  140. 


Fig.  141  .—Switch   Point  Lock. 


When  the  toe  of  frog  or  other  point  on  the  frog  leg,  instead  of  the  point 
of  frog,  is  made  or  assumed  as  the  end  of  the  lead  curve,  as  is  sometimes 
done,  certain  modifications  of  the  above  formulas,  as  applying  to  lead  dis- 
tance and  radius  of  curvature,  are  necessary.  In  that  case  the  value  of  g  in 
the  formula  must  be  decreased  by  an  amount  found  by  multiplying  the  dis- 
tance from  frog  toe  or  end  of  lead  curve  to  frog  point  (call  this  distance  fc) 
by  the  sine  of  the  frog  angle  F.  The  lead  found  by  using  this  value  of  g 
must  then  be  increased  by  k  cos  F.  We  then  have  : 

(g—h-Jc&inF)  (cosP+cosP) 
(1")     Lead  distance  K  F=  ----  \-Tc  cos  F 


=also 


g—h  — 


sin  P+sin  P 


\-Jc  cos1  F 


g  —  h  —  k  sin  F 


=also- 


(sinP+sinP)  tangj  (F-  P)         2sin|  (F+P)  sinj  (F-P) 


POINT   SWITCHES  373 

g  —  li  —  lt  gin  F 

(3").     Chord  (heel  of  switch  rail  to  toe  of  frog)  =— 

sini(F+P) 

(4").     Middle  Ordinate=(r+J#)  vers  ±(F-P) 
(g-h-  fcsinF)  tangj  (F-P) 

=also  — — • — 

2  sin  4  (P+P) 

Mr.  Wellington  B.  Lee  has  developed  a  set  of  arithmetical  formulas- 
for  finding  the  lead  and  radius  in  point-switch  turnouts  which  are -based 
upon  the  frog  and  switch-point  numbers'.  These  formulas,  in  connection 
with  an  article  of  some  length,  were  published  in  the  Engineering  News- 
of  Apr.  21,  1898,  and  subsequently  reprinted  in  the  switch  and  frog  cata- 
logue of  the  Ramapo  Iron  Works,  Hillburn,  N.  Y.  The  formulas  are  given 
below.  Employing  as  far  as  possible  the  foregoing  notation,  the  switch 
number  (ft)  is  the  length  of  switch  rail  (p)  divided  by  the  spread  at  the 
heel  (h),  or  p-s-h.  Let  the  frog  number  be  represented  by  N,  the  gage  by  gf. 
and  the  spread  at  the  toe  of  the  frog  by  /.  We  then  have 
(A).  d=g—h—f 
(B) .  Chord  of  outer  rail  in  turnout,  from  heel  of  switch  rail  to  toe  of  frog,. 


(C).     Main  lead,  heel  of  switch  rail  to  toe  of  frog,  =b=\/ (a2— d2) 
(D).     Radius  of  outer  rail  of  t\iTnoMi=r-\-^g=anN-~(n — N) . 
(B).     Middle  ordinate  of  chord  a=a?-±-S(r+$g) 

In  the  case  of  a  frog  having  the  turnout  leg  curved  between  toe  and 
point  of  frog  the  spread  (/)  at  the  toe  becomes  zero,  for  the  purpose  of  the 
formulas,  and  the  chord  distance  (a)  and  lead  distance  (&)  then  extend 
from  heel  of  switch  rail  to  point  of  frog. 

The  middle  ordinate  of  the  outside  rail  of  the  point-switch  turnout 
does  not  remain  constant  for  different  frog  angles,  as  it  does  with  the  stub- 
switch  turnout,  but  decreases  with  decrease  in  the  angle  of  the  frog  (al- 
though not  in  the  same  ratio)  until  that  angle  equals  the  angle  of  the- 
switch  point,  when  the  middle  ordinate  becomes  zero  and  the  turnout 
curve  becomes  a  straight  line  throughout,  from  point  of  switch  to  point 
of  frog.  And  unlike  the  formulas  for  stub-switch  turnouts,  those  for 
point  or  split-switch  turnouts  do  not  apply  with  a  close  degree  of  approxima- 
tion when  the  main  track  is  curved.  The  following  modifications  of  the 
same  are  reliable,  however,  and  give  results  which,  within  the  range  of 
the  frog  numbers  in  common  use,  are  very  close  to  the  exact  values  and 
certainly  near  enough  for  track  purpoffes.  First,  when  the  turnout  is 
with  the  curve,  the  degree  of  turnout  curve  is  increased  very  approximately 
by  the  degree  of  curve  of  main  track;  but  the  lead  distance  is  longer  than 
that  for  straight  main  track ;  and  the  change  in  middle  or  quarter  ordinate 
of  outside  rail,  per  degree  of  curve  of  main  track,  is  not  found  by  dividing 
the  ordinate  for  straight  track  by  the  degree  of  turnout  curve  for  straight 
track,  as  in  the  case  with  the  stub  switch.  The  difference  in  lead  may 
be  found  by  dividing  the  square  of  the  frog  number  by  144  and  multiply- 
ing the  quotient  by  the  degree  of  curve  of  main  track  (Dn2-^144).  Add 
this  result  to  the  lead  distance  for  straight  track.  To  find  the  change  of 
middle  or  quarter  ordinate  per  degree  of  curve  of  main  track,  divide  the 
ordinate  for  straight  track  by  the  degree  of  turnout  curve  for  straight  track 
and  multiply  the  quotient  by  1J;  that  is,  (ord.-f-D)  XI 4-  Multiply  this 
result  by  the  degree  of  curve  of  main  track  and  add  the  product  s'o  found 
to  the  ordinate  for  straight  track. 

When  the  turnout  is  against  the  curve,  the  degree  of  turnout  curve- 


374  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 

is  not  decreased  approximately  by  the  degree  of  curve  of  main  track, 
but  at  a  faster  rate.  The  proper  lead  distance  is  found  by  sub- 
tracting from  the  lead  distance  for  straight  track  an  amount  equal 
to  Z>ft--=-144,  where  n  is  the  frog  number  and  D  is  the  degree  of  curve 
of  main  track.  The  change  in  middle  or  quarter  ordinate  per  de- 
gree of  curve  of  main  track  is  found  by  dividing  the  ordinate  for  straight 
track  by  the  degree  of  turnout  curve  for  straight  track  and  multiplying  the 
quotient  by  1-J  ;  that  is.  (ord.-^-D)  X1J-  Multiply  this  change  so  found  by 
the  degree  of  curve  of  main  track  and  subtract  such  product  from  the  ordi- 
nate for  straight  track. 

Finding  Lead  without  Computation. — The  lead  distance  of  a  point- 
switch  turnout  may  be  found  quite  readily  and  with  sufficient  accuracy 
by  a  little  rough  surveying  on  the  ground,  or  by  a  scale  drawing  on  paper. 
Referring  to  Fig.  140,,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  condition  essential  to  a 
circular  turnout  curve  between  frog  and  switch-point  rail  is  that  the  two 
tangents  BD  and  DF  shall  be  of  equal  length.  All  that  is'  necessary,  then, 
to  find  the  proper  location  of  the  switch,  after  establishing  the  location  of 
the  frog,  is  to  ascertain  by  string  measurements  what  position  of  the  switch 
rail  will  bring  these  tangents  equal.  This  work  the  trackman  may  go 
about  in  the  following  manner:  First  determine  upon  the  location  of  tlio 
frog  point  (F)  and  then  stretch  out  and  stake  down  a  string  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  turnout  gage  line  of  the  frog.  This  direction  may  be  found 
by  placing  the  frog  on  top  of  the  rail  in  proper  line  or  by  setting  a  stake  on 
a  line  which  diverges  from  the  main  rail  according  to  the  spread  of  the 
frog  legs.  If  the  turnout  leg  of  the  frog  is  curved  the  proper  spread  may 
be  given  to  the  string  by  knowing  the  frog  number;  as,  for  instance,  if  a 
No.  9  frog  is  being  used  set  a  stake  2  ft.  from  main  rail  (FK)  at  a  dis- 
tance of  18  ft.,  or  3  ft.  from  that  rail  at  a  distance  of  27  ft.,  from  F. 
With  the  string  stretched  through  the  points  D  and  F,  fit  *the  switch-point 
rail  against  the  main  rail  and  stretch  out  a  string  along  the  gage  side 
straight  beyond,  shifting  the  point  rail  back  and  forth  until  the  intersec- 
tion point  D  is  equally  distant  from  B  and  F ;  or  from  B  and  the  toe  of  the 
frog,  in  case  the  latter  point  is  made  the  end  of  the  turnout  curve.  This 
method  applies  to  the  problem  of  laying  a  turnout  in  either  straight  or 
curved  track.  In  case  the  main  track  is  curved  the  spread  of  the  tangent 
line  DF  should  be  measured  not  from  the  main  rail  FK  but  from  the  gage 
line  of  the  main  rail  of  the  frog  produced. 

Regarding  the  alignment  of  the  turnout  from  toe  to  heel  of  frog 
some  engineers'  set  forth  views  and  specifications  more  finely  drawn  than 
any  necessities  of  the  case  would  seem  to  require.  The  old  idea  was  that 
there*  should  be  a  piece  of  straight  rail  in  advance  of  the  frog  to  swing  the 
car  trucks  into  line  with  the  same  and  thus  avoid  any  centrifugal  ten- 
dency in  the  wheels  and  side  pressure  against  frog  or  guard  rail.  Ac- 
cordingly, it  was  to  some  extent  the  practice  in  the  early  days  to  lay  the 
turnout  leg  of  £he  frog;  straight  and  continue  the  track  straight  for  a  few 
feet  in  advance  of  the  toe  of  the  frog.  The  advantage  in  this  arrangement 
is  more  fancied  than  real,  for  the  centrifugal  force  in  the  body  of  a  car 
does  not  disappear  until  the  whole  car  has  passed  out  of  the  curve ;  and  the 
piece  of  tangent  in  front  of  the  frog  appreciably  sharpens'  the  turnout 
curvature  for  the  same  frog  angle.  Moreover,  the  path  traveled  by  a  wheel 
over  a  frog  is  not  fixed  altogether  by  the  alignment  of  the  frog,  but  quite 
largely,  if  not  entirely,  by  the  guard  rail  opposite,  so  that,  in  any  event, 
the  wheel  is  not  likely  to  take  a  straight  course  through  the  frog.  With 
frogs  of  proper  length  it  is  feasible  to  spring  the  leg  to  the  curvature  of 
the  turnout  within  3  or  4  ft,  of  the  point  of  frog,  and  when  such  is  done 


POINT    SWITCHES  375 

it  is  not  worth  while  to  consider  the  straight  piece  separate  from  the  curve, 
in  the  computations.  And  finally,  it  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the 
turnout  leg  of  spring-rail  frogs  may  just  as  well  as  not  be  curved  when 
the  frog  is  made,  and  the  construction  of  frogs  in  this  manner  is  growing  in 
practice. 

The  advantages  in  favor  of  the  point  switch  are  that  it  cannot  run 
tight  from  expansion  in  hot  weather  nor  is  its  serviceability  or  safety  affect- 
ed by  contraction  in  cold  weather;  there  is  no  joint  at  the  headblock  to 
be  pounded  out  of  surface;  and  cars  cannot  be  derailed  in  trailing  the 
switch  when  it  is  open.  There  is  only  one  way  in  which  cars  can  bB  derailed 
at  a  point  switch,  and  that  is  when  the  switch  (of  ordinary  design)  is  partly 
thrown  and  the  car  or  train  meets  the  switch  facing.  In  this  event  the 
wheels  on  one  side  of  the  track  take  the  main  rail  and  the  wheels  on  the 
other  side  follow  the  turnout  rail,  thus  resulting  in  derailment.  But  such 
an  occurrence  cannot  result  from  forgetfulness.  It  is  also  to  be  considered 
that  the  point  switch  breaks  the  continuity  of  the  main  rails'  on  only  one 
side  of  the  track,  and  then  not  by  a  squarely-cut  joint,  whereas  the  stub 
switch  breaks  the  continuity  of  the  'rails  on  both  sides  of  the  track.  The 
point  switch  is  therefore  a  safer  switch  than  the  stub  switch  and  should 
be  maintained  at  less  expense.  About  the  only  respect  in  which  the  point 
switch  is  inferior  to  the  stub  switch  is  that  during  winter  time  more  atten- 
tion is  required  to  keep  the  switch  clear  of  snow  and  ice.  With  the  stub 
switch  snow  cannot  be  confined  so  as  to  interfere  with  the  movement  of 
the  switch  -rails  to  the  same  extent  that  it  can  with  the  point  switch.  The 
stub  switch  is  still  considerably  used  in  main  track,  particularly  on  moun- 
tain roads,  the  generally  accepted  explanation  for  the  practice  being  that 
the  heavy  snowfall  of  such  regions  obstructs  the  operation  of  point  switches 
more  frequently  than  the  switches  can  be  properly  looked  after.  On  this 
question  a  brief  quotation  from  an  article  by  Mr.  Jerry  Sullivan  .on 
"Weather  Conditions  as  Affecting  Track  in  the  Kocky  Mountains,"  pub- 
lished in  the  Eailway  and  Engineering  Review  of  Apr.  22,  1899,  is  to  the 
point.  Mr.  Sullivan  says,  in  part: 

"I  do  not  see  why  split  switches  are  not  more  generally  used  in  the 
mountains.  I  believe  the  average  number  of  delays  to  trains  per  year  would 
be  less  with  split  than  with  stub  switches,  because  the  number  of  warm 
days  in  summer  is  many  times  greater  than  the  number  of  stormy  days' 
in  winter,  and  as  between  a  tight  switch  and  one  covered  with  snow  the 
time  consumed  in  getting  into  a  siding  is  much  less  in  the  latter  case, 
because  the  brakeman  can  step  to  the  engine  and  get  a  s'coop  and  broom  or 
coal  hammer  and  get  the  points  clear  in  less  than  5  minutes ;  while  in  hot 
weather  I  have  known  trainmen  to  spend  15  minutes  hammering  with  a 
coal  pick,  or.  trying  to  butt  the  rails  over  with  a  piece  of  scrap  iron.  Again, 
the  rails  of  a  stub  switch  may  appear  to  be  all  right  when  the  section  gang- 
passes'  over  in  the  morning  and  they  will  not  come  back  to  look  after  it 
during  the  day;  whereas,  if  split  switches  are  used  the  foreman  will  send 
a  man  to  clean  them  out  in  case  of  snow  In  this  case  he  knows  to  a  cer- 
tainty when  the  weather  will  interfere  with  the  working  of  a  split  switch, 
but  in  the  other  case  he  does'  not  know  when  the  stub  switch  will  get 
tight.  A  snow  storm  in  the  mountains  is  usually  limited  in  area,  and  may 
interfere  with  50  or  75  miles  of  track,  but  a  hot  day  will  tighten  switches 
on  300  or  400  miles  of  track.  ...  I  think  the  snow  is  a  bugaboo ;  and 
I  believe  that  later  on  our  roads  will  use  point  switches  and  spring  frogs 
and  find  them  superior  in  every  way,  even  at  high  altitudes." 

Point  Switch  Construction. — The  point  or  split  switch  consists  of  a 
pair  of  movable  rails  planed  to  wedge  points  and  set  to  work  against  two 


376 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND  APPLIANCES 


fixed  rails'.  A  plain  switch  of  this  type,  of  ordinary  design,  is  shown  as- 
Fig.  142.  The  rails  A  and  B  are  the  main-track  rails,  the  latter  being  a 
lead  rail.  Kails  C  and  D  are  in  the  turnout  lead  and  the  rails  P  and 
P'  are  the  point  rails  or  split  rails,  usually  planed  back  on  the  head 
a  distance  of  6  or  7  ft.  The  switch  is  shown  in  the  closed  posi- 
tion,, or  set  for  main  track.  Kail  A  is  known  as  the  through  rail  and 
rail  E  as  the  stock  rail.  The  latter  is  on  the  frog  side  of  the  track  and 
is  bent  to  the  switch  angle  or  to  fit  the  planing  of  the  point  rail;  some 
trackmen  call  it  the  "knee  rail."  The  bend  at  E  is  sharp  or  angular,  being 
put  in  with  a  jim-crow,  and  is  usually  made  10  to  15  ins',  ahead  of  the  end 
of  the  point  rail,  thus  allowing  for  some  thickness  in  the  end  of  the  point 
rail  and  for  creeping  steel.  The  track  at  E  should  therefore  be  right  for 
gage.  In  addition  to  bending  the  rail  at  E  it  is  quite  widely  the  practice 
to  "crank"  it  or  kink  it  at  the  bend,  so  as  to  "house"  or  shield  the  end 
of  the  point  rail  behind  the  kink.  While  this  "cranking"  of  the  stock  rail, 
as  the  English  call  it,  permits  the  point  rail  to  extend  into  the  recess  be- 
hind the  kink,  close  to  the  bend  and  at  the  same  time  lie  in  even  alignment 
with  the  general  gage  line,  it  is  nevertheless  objectionable  wherever  creep- 
ing steel  is  bothersome.  If  the  stock  rail  creeps  frogward  or  the  point  rail 
creeps  in  the  opposite  direction  the  kink  will  spread  the  point,  and  if  the 
stock  rail  creeps  from  the  point  rail  the  kink  will  then  protrude  beyond  the 
alignment  of  the  point  rail. 


n 


Fig.  142.— Point  or  Split  Switch. 

The  most  common  length  of  switch  point  is  15  ft.  This  length  is  suit- 
able, and  the  fact  that  a  30-ft.  rail  will  make  two  15-ft.  points  makes  it  a 
convenient  length  for  the  manufacturer.  Point  rails  18  ft.  in  length  are 
quite  common,  however,  and  20-ft.  points  are  used  with  ordinary  frogs  to 
some  extent.  At  end  of  double  track  24-ft.  and  30-ft.  point  rails  are  used 
in  a  few  instances.  In  yards  10-ft.  and  12-ft.  point  rails  are  sometimes 
used.  The  spread  at  the  heel — that  is,  the  distance  between  gage  lines 
at  the  joints  II  and  H' — is  about  the  same  as  the  throw  at  the  toe  of  a 
stub  switch,  depending  upon  the  width  of  the  rail  base.  With  rails  of 
small  section  the  spread  may  be  5  to  5J  ins.,  but  with  rails  of  80-lb.  sectioL? 
or  larger  the  spread  is  usually  5J  to  6  ins.  for  15-ft.  points  and  6  to  G-J  ins. 
for  18-ft.  points.  A  point  rail  15  ft.  long  spreading  5J  ins',  at  the  heel 
meets  the  main-track  rail  at  the  point  of  switch  at  an  angle  of  1  cleg.  45 
min. 

The  form  of  split  switch  now  in  general  service  is  patterned  after  the 
Clarke-Jeffery  design,  which  was  worked  out  bv  Mr.  Leverett  H.  Clarke, 
while  chief  engineer  of  the  Illinois  Central  R.  R.,  and  Mr.  E.  T.  Jeffery, 


.  POINT   SWITCHES  377 

then  an  employee  of  the  same  road  and  later  president  of  the  Denver  & 
Rio  Grande  K.  R.  The  distinctive  features  of  this  switch  are:  (1)  The 
planing  of  the  base  of  the  point  rail  in  a  manner  to  seat  it  on  the  flange 
of  the  stock  rail  or  main  rail;  and  (2)  the  crowning  of  the  point  rail  above 
the  top  of  the  stock  rail  (or  main  rail)  at  the  point  where  the  tread  or  tire 
of  a  wheel  just  reaches  the  gage  side  of  the  latter.  The  arrangement  of 
seating  the  base  of  the  point  rail  on  the  flange  of  the  stock  rail  is  shown 
in  Fig.  142. 

At  the  end  of  the  point  rail  it  is  necessary  to  plane  the  head  entirely 
away,  both  sides,  down  to  the  web,  and  in  order  to  do  this  ancT  ha~ve  "the  gage 
side  of  the  point  rail  straight  the  rail  must  be  bent  inward  (toward  the 
gage  side),  at  the  point  where  the  planing  of  the  head  begins.  From  this 
point  the  gage  side  of  the  point  rail  head  is  then  planed  straight  away  to 
meet  the  web  at  the  point  end.  To  avoid  heavy  pressure  from  the  wheels 
on  the  thin  portion  of  the  point  rail  the  top  of  the  same  is  planed  down  on  a 
slope  to  bring  the*  end  ^  in.  or  such  matter  lower  than  the  top  of 'the  stock 
rail.  This  sloping  of  the  top  of  the  point  rail  is  carried  back  15  to  18  ins. 
from  the  end,  and  sometimes  farther,  as  is  presently  explained.  The  idea 
in  view  is  that  the  point  rail  should  not  extend  as  high  as  the  stock  rail 
until  a  point  is  reached  where  it  is  strong  enough  to  bear  the  whole  load. 
The  effect  of  carrying  the  load  on  the  point  rail  where  it  is  too  thin  cr  too 
narrow  is  to  crush  the  top  surface,  causing  the  metal  to  flow  against  the 
stock  rail  and  spoil  the  adjustment.  It  is  also  customary  practice  to  plane 
out  the  inside  face  of  the  point  rail  along  the  top  edge  (V,  Fig  142),  leav- 
ing a  shoulder  on  the  web  to  be  housed  under  the  head  of  the  stock  rail. 
This  arrangement  permits  the  full  thickness'  of  the  web  to  be  carried  to 
the  end  of  the  point  rail,  thereby  making  possible  much  stronger  construc- 
tion than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  In  England  a  new  method  of  making 
split  switches  is  being  tried,  the  points  being  rolled  to  a  taper,  out  of  ordin- 
ary rail,  instead  of  planing  the  rail  down.  The  idea  in  avoiding  the  use 
of  the  planing  machine  is  to  preserve  the  skin  or  original  rolled  surface 
of  the  rail  intact,  which  is  supposed  to  be  tougher,  and  therefore  better  able 
to  stand  wear,  than  the  planed  surface  of  point  rails  made  in  the  usual 
way.  The  taper-rolled  rail  is  also  supposed  to  be  stronger  than  the  planed 
one.  Some  of  these  rolled  point  switches  are  in  use  on  the  Midland  Ry. 

On  each  tie,  at  least  as  far  back  as  the  point  where  the  bases  of  the 
point  and  stock  rails  s'eparate,  and  sometimes  a  tie  or  two  farther,  the  point 
and  stock  rails  rest  upon  iron  or  steel  plates  (8)  known  as  slide  plates. 
These  slide  plates  should  extend  under  both  point  and  stock  rails,  on  the 
one  side,  and  under  both  point  rail  and  through  rail  on  the  other  side.  A 
short  slide  plate  passing  under  the  point  rail  only  and  abutting  against 
the  flange  of  the  stock  rail  is  not  satisfactory  under  heavy  traffic.  Slide 
plates  should  also  be  of  good  width — at  least  5  ins.  They  are  frequently 
made  so  narrow  that  they  settle  into  the  timber  when  the  ties  become  old, 
and  in  such  cases  one  end  of  the  plate  usually  dips  and  leaves  the  point  and 
stock  rails  unevenly  supported.  As  far  as  the  point  rail  rests  upon  the 
flange  of  the  stock  rail  or  is  higher  than  the  stock  rail  the  plates  are  stepped 
or  thickened  by  a  riser  (L,  Fig.  142)  to  make  a  proper  bearing  for  each 
rail  and  hold  the  rails  at  the  desired  relative  hight.  This  stepping  of  the 
slide  plates  is  done  either  by  shouldering  a  solid  plate  or  by  pressing  up  a 
portion  of  the  same,  or  by  riveting  a  shim  to  one  end  of  a  plain  plate.  The 
solid  plate  is  preferable,  as  if  the  rivets  in  the  built-up  plates  work  loose 
they  are  liable  to  stick  up  and  catch  the  point  rail  when  the  switch  is 
thrown.  As  the  risers  decrease  in  thickness  from  the  point  toward  the 
heel,  or  vary  in  thickness  according  to  the  position  of  the  plate,  it  is 


378  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

important  to  lay  tlie  plates  in  their  proper  order,  and  to  avoid  mistake  the 
plates  should  be  stamped  with  numbers  consecutively  from  the  point  toward 
the  heel.  Usually  part  of  the  plates  (sometimes  alternate  ones)  or  all  of 
them  are  extended  outside  the  stock  rail  far  enough  to  support  a  rail 
brace,  which  may  be  riveted  to  the  plate  or  backed  by  turning  up  the  end 
•of  the  plate.  An  efficient  brace  may  be  made  by  splitting  in  halves  that 
portion  of  the  plate  which  extends  outside  the  stock  rail,  punching  a  spike 
hole  in  one  of  these  parts  and  then  bending  up  the  other  half  to  hold  the 
flange  of  the  rail. 

We  now  come  to  the  second  principle  of  the  Clarke- Jeff ery  design. 
To  prevent  guttered  tires  or  wheel  treads  from  fouling  the  stock  rail  when 
trailing  the  switch,  the  point  rail  is  cambered  and  raised  J  or  f  in.  higher 
than  the  stock  rail  at  the  point  where  the  overreaching  tread  meets  the 
gage  line  of  the  latter ;  from  this  point  it  should  slope  down  gradually  both 
ways  to  the  level  of  the  stock  rail.  The  difference  in  hight  shown  at  W 
in  Fig.  142  is  not  so  necessary  at  that  point  as  it  is  farther  back  where 
the  rails  are  separated — say  at  the  last  tie  bar  R.  Ordinarily  the  humping 
of  the  point  rail  to  carry  false  flanges  trailing  the  switch  so  that  they  will 
pass  over  the  stock  rail  without  spreading  it  is  done  in  the  following  man- 
ner: The  top  or  head  of  the  point  rail,  in  a  length  of  about  5  ft.  from  the 
point  end,  is  planed  down  on  a  gradual  slope,  striking  -J  to  f  in.  deep  at 
the  end.  This  planed  top  then  slopes  from  a  point  J  to  f  in.  lower  than 
the  top  of  the  stock  rail  to  a  point  4  to  f  in.  higher  than  the  top  of  the 
stock  rail  at  the  end  of  the  5  ft.  For  the  next  5  ft.  the  top  of  the  point  rail 
runs'  level  and  i  to  f  in.  higher  than  the  top  of  the  stock  rail,  and  in  the 
next  3  to  5  ft.  it  drops,  on  risers  of  varying  thickness,  without  planing, 
to  the  level  of  the  stock  rail.  In  this  connection  it  is  important  that  the 
joint  at  the  heel  of  the  point  rail  should  be  kept  in  fair  surface.  If  this  joint 
is  permitted  to  get  low  when  the  point  rail  is  humped  it  leaves  the  track 
in  rough  condition,  and  if  the  point  rail  is  not  humped  a  low  joint  at  the 
heel  tends  to  cause  the  stock  rail  to  spring  up  and  stand  higher  than  the 
rear  portion  of  the  point  rail.  An  objection  urged  against  the  humping 
of  the  point  rail  is  that  it  forms  rough  surface  in  the  track  and  gives  rise 
to  a  lifting  sensation  when  riding  over  it  at  high  speed.  On  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  roads  the  practice  is  not  followed,  but  the  effect  of  badly  worn  tires 
on  trailing  point  switches  is  well  worthy  of  consideration.  Derailments 
have  been  known  to  happen  from  the  fouling  of  the  stock  rail  by  badly 
worn  wheels,  where  the  point  rail  was  not  high  enough  to  lift  the  wheel 
tread  clear  of  the  stock  rail.  To  provide  against  this  danger  without  put- 
ting the  point  rail  out  of  surface  it  is  the  practice  on  the  Burlington  & 
Missouri  Eiver  R.  R.  to  plane  down  the  stock  rail  £  in.  for  a  distance  of 
2  ft.  covering  the  fouling  point. 

The  two  point  rails  are  connected  by  tie  rods'  (R,  Fig.  142),  the  one 
nearest  the  point  ends  being  known  as  the  head  rod  or  "Rod  No.  1" ;  the  rod 
farthest  from  the  point  ends  is  sometimes  called  the  "heel  rod."  The  head 
rod,  whether  the  switch  stand  connection  comes  at  the  end  or  not,  is 
usually  extended  both  ways  under  the  main  rails,  to  provide  against 
the  possibility  that  the  point  rails  might  in  some  manner  be  lift- 
ed. In  some  instances  a  "carrying  bar"  (2  ins.  x  J-in.)  bent  to  set  un- 
der the  head  rod,  across  the  tie  spacing,  is  spiked  clown  near  each 
end  of  this  rod  to  hold  it  to  place  in  case  it  should  become  disconnected 
from  either  point  rail.  In  some  designs  of  point  switch,  now  considerably 
out  of  date,  the  solid  ends  of  the  tie  rods  are  formed  into  an  "L"  or  a  "T" 
and  bolted  to  the  web  of  the  point  rail  direct;  but  such  an  arrangement 
is  not  approvable,  for  the  reason  that  the  creeping  of  the  rails  brings  a 


POINT    SWITCHES  379 

strain  upon  the  rods  and  is  liable  to  break  them,  oft'  at  the  shank.  In  gen- 
eraJ  practice  the  connection  with  the  point  rail  is  usually  made  by  means 
of  a  T  or  L-shaped  lug  or  clip  bolted  to  the  web  of  the  rail  and  hinged  to 
the  tie  rod.  It  may  be  stated  as  a  principle  to  be  followed  generally  that 
the  tie  rods  should  not  be  rigid  against  creeping  rails.  If  the  tie  rods  are 
nat  horizontally  or  of  round  section  they  should  be  hinged  to  the  point-rail 
fastenings,  but  if  the  rods  are  of  flat  section  and  stand  edgewise  vertically, 
hinged  connection  with  the  fastenings  is  not  so  necessary,  as  the  spring  in 
the  rods  will  take  care  of  a  considerable  amount  of  creeping  without  danger- 
ously cramping  the  parts.  It  may  be  well  to  explain  that  the-hinging  of 
horizontally  flat  tie  rods  is  precautionary  rather  than  always  necessary. 
As  the  lead  rails  from  the  heels  of  both  switch  points'  run  to  the  frog,  it  is 
not  possible,  where  there  is  proper  construction,  for  one  point  rail  to  be 
pushed  out  of  true  with  the  other  by  creeping  steel.  If,  however,  the  switch 
is  used  with  a  spring-rail  frog  that  is  not  provided  with  an  effective  anti- 
creeping  attachment,  or  if  the  closure  rails'  of  the  turnout  lead  are  not  cut 
to  a  proper  fit,  leaving  an  excess  of  open  space  at  the  joints,  the  creeping 
of  the  frog  is  likely  to  drive  one  point  rail  ahead  of  the  other. 

An  advantage  claimed  for  tie  rods  which  are  edgewise  vertically  is 
that  they  stand  the  rigid  way  to  oppose  canting  of  the  point  rails.  Tie-rod 
clips  should  preferably  be  attached  to  the  web  of  the  point  rail,  as  connec- 
tion with  the  flange  cannot  be  made  so  secure  or  so  rigid  against  canting  of 
the  rail ;  and  as  the  bolts  are  in  shear  against  a  thin  bearing  the  vibration 
of  the  parts  under  traffic  tends  to  wear  the  bolts,  enlarge  the  holes  and 
cause  the  rods  to  loosen  and  rattle.  It  is  a  good  feature  of  switch  design 
to  crook  the  clips  or  the  ends'  of  the  tie  rods  so  that  the  latter  set  lower  than 
the  tops  of  the  ties,  where  they  will  have  protection  against  derailed  wheels 
or  anything  dragging.  On  the  Michigan  Central  E.'  R.  the  usual  practice  of 
placing  the  switch  rods  as  low  as,  or  below,  the  tops  of  the  ties  is  followed, 
and  then  2xlO-in.  oak  blocks  with  the  corners  chamfered  are  spiked  to  the 
ties',  on  either  side  of  each  rod,  to  protect  it  from  derailed  wheels  and  drag- 
ging parts.  When  in  this  position  and  creeping  of  the  lead  rails  takes 
place,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  close  watch  of  the  rods.  If  they  become  shoved 
against  the  ties  the  switch  will  not  work  freely  until  the  ties  are  moved  or 
the  lead  rails  are  driven  back. 

One  of  the  most  frequently  discussed  questions  concerning  the  design 
of  split  switches  is  in  reference  to  the  number  of  tie  rods.  In  the  largest 
practice  the  preference  has  always  been  for  four  tie  rods  on  15-ft.  point 
rails.  Late  years  there  has  been  some  tendency  to  decrease  the  number  of 
rods  or  tie  bars  on  point  switches,  but  the  change  has  not  been  general.  Tie 
rods  are  some  hindrance  to  the  tamping  of  the  switch  ties  and  also  to 
clearing  the  switch  of  snow  and  ice,  but  otherwise  they  are  not  objectionable. 
They  serve  to  brace  and  stiffen  the  point  rails,  and  as  their  number  is 
decreased  reinforcing  straps  and  stop  blocks  are  used  to  make  up  for  the 
loss  in  stiffness.  In  yards  a  single  tie  rod  connecting  reinforced  point  rails, 
or  one  or  two  tie  rods  without  the  reinforcement  are  customary  arrange- 
ments, but  for  main  track  it  is  essential  to  have  at  least  two  rods',  for  the 
reason  that  if  the  head  rod  should  break  or  become  disconnected  from  one 
of  the  point  rails  there  would  be  nothing  to  hold  the  point  'rail  to  place. 
Where  two  rods  are  used  and  the  first  one  breaks  or  becomes  disconnected 
the  second  one  will  still  perform  the  necessary  functions.  In  the  absence 
of  reinforcing  straps  four  tie  rods  will  serve  to  hold  the  pieces  of  a  point 
rail  in  place  in  case  of  a  break,  and  have  frequently  done  so.  The  number 
of  tie  rods  depends  to  some  extent  upon  the  length  of  the  switch  points.  On 
point  rails  longer  than  18  ft.  it  is  quite  customary  to  have  five  rods',  and  in 


380  SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

some  instances  five  rods  are  used  on  18-ft.  points  (Fig.  142  A).  In  the- 
matter  of  tie  rods  with  some  of  the  English  railways  a  distinction  is  made 
as  to  the  character  of  the  switch,  three  rods  being  used  on  facing  switches 
and  only  two  rods  on  trailing  switches. 

So  far  as  the  determination  of  the  lead  distance  and  the  running  of  the 
lead  curve  are  concerned,  the  throw  of  the  point  switch  is  unimportant.  As 
already  explained,  mathematically,  the  turnout  measurements  and  curvature 
depend  upon  the  number  or  angle  of  the  frog  and  the  length  and  spread  of 
the  point  rails.  The  throw,  however,  must  be  sufficient  to  keep  the  free 
end  of  the  open  point  well  clear  of  the  wheel  flanges.  In  practice  the 
throw  ranges  from  3J  to  5-J  ins.,  but  most  frequently  it  is  4J  ins.;  4  ins. 
is  about  the  least  approvable  distance  unless  guard  rails  are  used  ahead  of 
the  points.  On  roads  where  both  point  and  stub  switches  are  in  service  it 
is  well  to  have  the  throw  of  the  point  switches  the  same  as  the  standard 
throw  fox  the  stub  switches,  as  then  the  switch  stands  will  be  inter- 
changeable. As  a  matter  of  economy  there  is  some  advantage  in  the 
maximum  throw  for  point  switches,  as  increase  in  the  width  of  the 
flangeway  lessens  the  side  pressure  of  the  wheel  flanges  along  the  rear 
portion  of  the  point  rail  (say  from  some  point  near  the  heel  to  the 
point  where  the  planing  runs  out),  and  consequently  there  should  be  less 
straining  of  the  rods  and  fastenings,  less  wear  on  the  connections  and  le&fc 
frequent  repairs. 

Switch-Point  Guard  Rails. — If  the  throw  is  less  than  4  ins.  guard 
rails  should  be  placed  in  advance  of  the  points,  as'  shown  at  G  in  Fig.  142. 
These  guard  rails  serve  to  keep  the  flanges  of  loose  or  improperly-gaged1 
wheels  away  from  the  open  point  when  they  approach  from  the  facing  direc- 
tion, and  also  to  protect  the  points  from  damage  by  dragging  brake  beams, 
etc.  The  ends  of  such  guard  rails  should  be  placed  as'  near  the  ends  of  the 
point  rails  as  safe  clearance  will  permit,  taking  into  consideration  the 
extent  of  the  rail  creeping,  and  the  flangeway  in  this  case  need  not  be  as 
narrow  as  with  guard  rails  opposite  frogs;  2  or  2-J  ins.  is'  close  enough. 
It  might  be  well  to  again  emphasize  the  importance  of  using  a  guard  rail 
of  proper  length,  say  not  less  than  15  ft.,  especially  because  so  many  seem  to 
think  short  guard  rails  in  a  place  like  this  are  sufficient.  Except  undei 
extraordinary  conditions  short  guard  rails  should  not  be  used  anywhere.  FOT 
its  *  own  security  alone  the  guard  rail  should  not  be  shorter  than  the 
length  stated.  A  guard  rail  should  always  be  laid  with  the  expectation 
that  it  is  going  to  stay.  The  short  insecure  guard  rails  laid  in  front  of  fac- 
ing-point switches  have  been  the  cause  of  derailments  and  wrecks,  the  acci- 
dent usually  happening  in  this  way:  A  derailed  wheel  or  part  of  a  car 
truck  dragging  in  the  track  would  strike  the  end  of  the  guard  rail  and  drive 
it  ahead,  causing  the  flared  end  of  the  guard  rail  to  force  aside  the  open 
point  rail,  which  would  pull  open  the  point  rail  on  the  opposite  side  and 
split  the  train.  It  is  therefore  very  important  that  guard  rails  in  front 
of  switch  points  should  be  made  secure  against  dislodgment  by  end  blows, 
As  a  means'  to  this  end  the  flange  of  the  guard  rail  may  be  notched  and 
slot-spiked  and  the  end  farthest  from  the  switch  point  should  be  sloped  down 
to  the  ties  (Fig.  98). 

Guard  rails  ahead  of  split  switches  are  not  used  as  much  as  formerly, 
and  if  used  at  all  it  i&'  frequently  the  case  that  only  one  is  laid,  and  that 
ahead  of  the  open  point  when  the  switch  is  set  for  main  line.  In  some 
cases  where  only  one  such  guard  rail  is  used,  however,  it  is  made  30  ft." 
long  and  placed  ahead  of  the  closed  point,  to  guard  the  wheels  from  the 
end  of  the  point  rail  which  is  closed  when  traffic  enters  the  switch,  and  to- 
afford  additional  security  to  trains  coming  out  of  the  switch  at  good  speed,, 


POINT    SWITCHES  381 

until  the  trucks  are  swung  into  line  with  main  track.  Where  heavy  traffic 
passes  out  of  a  siding,  and  particularly  where  the  turnout  curve  is  sharp, 
it  will  usually  be  found  that  the  wheel  flanges'  cut  into  the  through  rail  in 
front  of  the  switch  and  cause  abnormal  side  wear.  This  action  is  due  to 
the  resistance  of  trucks  to  slew  under  heavily  loaded  cars  that  are  down  on 
the  side  bearings,  and  if  there  is  a  guard  rail  on  the  stock-rail  side  fe'et  to 
a,  proper  flangeway  (If  ins.)  it  will  take  the  wear  which  otherwise  would 
have  to  be  received  by  the  through  rail.  One  of  the  roads  whereon  the  mat- 
ter of  switch-point  guard  rails  has  received  careful  study  is  the  Philadelphia 
&  Heading  Ey.  The  practice  there  is  to  place  a  guard  rail  in  -front  of  the 
open  point  at  all  facing  switches,  and  at  end  of  double  track  a  guard  rail 
is  laid  in  front  of  both  points.  At  the  ends  of  lay-off  sidings  that  are  much 
used  and  at  other  points  where  switches  are  used  trailing  as  a  rule,  a  guard 
rail  is  placed  in  front  of  the  closed  point,  to  prevent  side  wear  to  the 
through  rail  from  wheels  trailing  out  of  the  switch.  Guard  rails  so  placed 
are  laid  to  .a  flangeway  of  If  ins.  At  ordinary  facing  switches  they  are  laid 
to  a  flangeway  of  If  iris.,  and  at  facing-point  junctions  the  flangeway  is 
made  2  ins.  (for  standard  gage).  The  guard  rail  in  any  case  is  9  ft.  long, 
with  the  end  3  ins.  from  the  switch  point,  and  the  rail  is  well  spiked  and 
braced.  At  the  switch-point  end  the  guard  rail  is  flared  to  an  opening  of 
4  ins.,  in  a  distance  of  1  ft.,  and  at  the  other  end  it  is  flared  to  an  opening 
of  5  ins.,  in  a  distance  of  5  ft. 

At  all  facing-point  or  "point-on"  switches  leading  to  the  outside  of 
curves  (which  of  course  includes  all  such  switches  on  single  track)  there 
should  be  a  guard  rail  of  good  length  ahead  of  the  open  point,  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  curve,  set  at  standard  guard  rail  distance,  so  as  to  act  in  restraint 
of  the  outward  tendency  of  the  wheels  and  protect  the  end  of  the  outer 
point  rail  from  undue  wear.  The  end  of  the  guard  rail  next  the  point 
should  be  curved  rather  more  suddenly  than  is  usually  the  case,  sa  as  to 
guide  the  wheels  as  long  as  possible  before  they  reach  the  end  of  the  point 
rail.  It  should  not  be  curved  inward  past  the  line  of  the  guard  side  of 
the  open  point;  to  be  on  the  s'afe  side  it  is  well  to  keep  it  slightly  within 
that  line.  In  a  case  of  this  kind  the  end  of  the  point  rail  should  be  well 
shielded  behind  the  bend  of  the  stock  rail. 

In  ofder  that  the  guard  rail  may  be  laid  to  fully  protect  the  facing 
point  on  the  outer  side  of  the  curve  until  after  the  wheel  is  well  past  the 
end  of  the  same,  it  is  quite  largely  the  practice  to  have  the  point  rail  on 
the  outer  side  2  to  3  ft.  longer  than,  and  extend  that  distance  in  advance 
of,  its  mate,  so  as  to  make  room  directly  opposite  for  the  guard  rail.  The 
guard  rail  opposite  the  extended  end  of  the  long  point  rail,  if  set  to  a  proper 
flangeway,  will  relieve  the  end  of  that  point  rail  from  wear.  The  connect- 
ing rod  is  attached  to  the  long  point  rail  near  the  end  and  'slides  through 
a  slotted  block  or  guide  of  some  kind  under  the  base  of  the  rail  opposite. 
To  obtain  the  necessary  strength  for  the  extended  end  of  the  long  point 
that  rail  should  be  reinforced. 

The  Vaughan  point  switch  consists  of  long  and  short  point  rails 
gaged  to  prevent  cars  from  "splitting"  or  "straddling"  the  switch.  Ee- 
f erring  to  Fig.  142A,  there  is  a  pair  of  18-ft.  switch  points  with 
five  tie  rods,  of  the  ordinary  construction,  except  that  the,  planing  of 
the  head  of  the  main  point  rail  is  run  out  bluntly  2  ft.  9  ins.  in  rear 
of  the  point  end ;  the  web  and  base  of  this  point  rail,  however,  are"  car- 
ried the  full  length,  or  to  a  point  opposite  the  end  of  the  mating  switch  rail. 
At  the  end  of  the  short  point  the  gage  out  to  out  of  point  rails  is  4  ft.  6§ 
ins.,  which  corresponds  to  the  standard  distance  from  the  back  of  a  wheel 
flange  to  the  gage  line  on  the  flange  fillet  of  the  opposite  wheel  on  the  same 


382 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


axle.  It  is  thus  clear  that  after  a  wheel  has  taken  either  side  of  the  long 
point  the  wheel  on  the  opposite  end  of  the  same  axle  must  necessarily  take 
the  same  side  (right  or  left)  of  the  short  point;  it  is  impossible  for  a  pair 
of  wheels  to  take  both  sides  of  the  points  (reference  being  had  to  the  wheel 
flanges,  of  course).  In  other  words,  if  a  wheel  takes  the  flangeway  side  of 
the  long  point  it  is  impossible  for  the  mating  wheel  to  take  the  flangeway 
side  of  the  short  point ;  and,  after  a  wheel  has  taken  the  gage  side  of  the 
long  point  the  mating  wheel  is  compelled  to  take  the  proper  side  of  the 
short  point.  With  the  points  in  any  position  the  wheels  cannot  get  off  the 
rails.  Should  the  short  point  by  misadjustment,  accident  or  carelessness 
in  throwing  the  switch  remain  slightly  open,  the  wheel  flanges'  cannot  get 
behind  it,  as  the  flange  of  the  mating  wheel,  behind  the  long  point,  will 
crowd  it  over  and  complete  the  throw  of  the  switch.  An  extra  heavy  tie 
rod  strut  is  used  at  the  short  point  to  preserve  the  proper  spacing  of  the 
point  rails.  The  throw  of  the  switch  for  standard-gage  track  is  3£  ins, 
and  the  long  point  rail,  from  rod  No.  2  to  the  end,  is  slightly  curved.  As 
the  service  end  of  the  short  point  rail  ordinarily  comes  about  3-J  to  4  ft. 
in  rear  of  the  bend  in  the  stock  rail,  the  gage  of  the  track  directly  at  the 


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Fig,    142  A.-— Vaughan   Split  Switch,   West  Jersey  &  Seashore   R.   R. 

short  point  is  necessarily  wide,  being  about  4  ft.  9J  ins.,  or  1J  ins.  wider 
than  standard.  The  tapering  of  the  short  point  rail  from  the  general 
alignment  is  made  in  a  distance  of  2  ft.,  as  shown,  so  that  the  widening 
of  the  gage  extends  only  a  comparatively  short  distance,  and  cannot  affect 
the  riding  of  any  switch  turning  from  tangent  or  from  the  inside  of  a  curve. 
When  the  turnout  is  from  the  outside  of  a  curve  the  best  alignment  for  the 
outer  main-track  rail  is  obtained  by  using  the  long  point  for  main  track,  or 
the  reverse  of  the  arrangement  shown.  This  arrangement  does  not  afford  the 
full  protection  to  be  had  from  this  style  of  switch  when  used  normally,  but 
still  provides  a  switch  which  cannot  be  "straddled."  Whenever  it  is  feasible 
with  facing-point  switches,  the  short  point  is  used  for  main  track,  as  shown, 
in  order  to  have  the  long  point  act  as  a  guard  rail  for  it.  It  is  therefore  cus- 
tomary to  order  these  switches  made  right  or  left  hand.  The  bend  in  the  stock 
rail  comes  at  the  usual  distance  in  advance  of  the  switch  points,  or  about  16 
ins.  ahead  of  the  extended  base  and  web  of  the  short  point  rail.  In  other 
words1,  a  pair  of  points  of  ordinary  construction  can  be  lifted  out,  and  a 
Vaughan  switch  of  equal  length  dropped  into  the  same  place  will  fit  with- 


POINT    SWITCHES  383 

out  further  bending  or  changing  of  the  stock  rail.  Referring  to  the  side 
view  of  the  short  point  rail,  shown  in  the  figure,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the 
web  portion  which  extends  beyond  the  service  point,  is  If  ins.  lower  than 
the  top  of  the  stock  rail.  The  service  end  of  the  short  point  rail  is  f  in. 
lower  than  the  top  of  the  stock  rail,  and  the  top  of  the  rail  in  rear  of  this 
point  is  planed  back  on  a  slope  which  rises  to  a  level  with  the  top  of  the 
stock  rail  in  10  ins.  and  to  a  point  5/16  in.  above  top  of  stock  rail  in  a 
distance  of  5  ft.  further,  so  as  to  carry  the  outer  flange  of  badly  worn 
wheels  clear  of  the  fouling  point  in  the  angle  wliere  the  split  and  stock 
rails  separate. 

The  protection  which  these  switches  afford  has  been  thoroughly  demon- 
strated by  the  large  number  of  switches  in  practical  use  and  also  by  tests 
in  which  the  switch  was  only  partially  thrown  and  left  in  various  positions 
while  cars  were  thrown  against  the  points.  Special  tests  were  also  made  by 
running  cars  against  the  points  of  the  switch  with  the  main-track  point  rail 
held  open  fully  f  in.  by  blocks  inserted  between  it  and  the  stock  rail,  as 
would  be  the  case  if  the  switch  was  blocked  with  snow  or  with  a  bolt,  piece 
of  ice,  or  other  obstruction  dropped  from  a  car.  In  every  case  all  the  wheels 
safely  pass'ed  the  open  point.  The  main  tracks  of  the  Atlantic  City  divi- 
sion of  the  West  Jersey  &  Seashore  R.  R.  were  equipped  throughout  with 
these  switches  when  100-lb.  rails  were  laid,  and  a  large  number  have 
been  used  in  new  work  and  for  renewals  in  yards.  There  are  also  a  large 
number  of  the  switches  in  use  on  the  various  lines  of  the  Pennsylvania 
R.  R.  east  of  Pittsburg  and  Erie.  The  designer  of  this  switch  is  Mr.  D. 
F.  Vaughan,  supervisor  with  the  West  Jersey  &  Seashore  R.  R.,  the  same 
gentleman  who  designed  the  Vaughan  spring-rail  frog  (Fig.  86)  and  the 
Vaughan  sliding  spring  rail  frog  for  yard  use  (Fig.  88). 

Wherever  the  connecting  rod  is  coupled  rigidly  to  the  head  rod  and  to 
the  switch  stand,  an  accurate  throw  of  the  stand,  to  correspond  to  the 
throw  of  the  points,  is  required ;  any  lost  motion  from  wear  of  bolts  or  other 
parts  will  leave  the  points  loose.  Loose  points  in  facing  split  switches  act 
in  the  same  way  that  lip  does  in  stub  switches;  as  soon  as  the  point  becomes 
loose  enough  to 'catch  a  flange  the  wheel  is  derailed.  The  danger  from  this 
source  is  the  more  imminent  where  the  switch  turns  to  the  outside  of  a 
curve,  and  to  avoid  trouble  in  such  locations  a  switch  point  lock,  otherwise 
called  a  "deadlock/'  is  sometimes  used  on  the  main  point  and'  stock  rail. 
Referring  to  Fig.  141,  a  shaft  (A)  is  secured  to  the  headblock  by  hangers 
(C)  and  is  turned  by  a  lever  (B)  placed  opposite  the  switch  stand.  The 
shaft  is  crosswise  the  track,  under  the  stock  rail,  a  short  distance  back  of 
the  extreme  point.  This  shaft  has'  two  lugs  (L)  which,  when  the  shaft  is 
turned  up,  straddle  the  point  and  stock  rails  and  hold  them  securely  to- 
gether regardless  of  the  connecting  rod.  The  lugs  should  be  beveled  back 
a  little  from  their  ends  so  as  to  engage  the  rails  without  catching.  By  at- 
taching the  switch  lock  to  a  chain  jus't  long  enough  to  reach  the  lever  B 
in  its  raised  position  the  lever  is  held  up  while  the  switch  is  locked  and 
the  shaft  is  kept  from  revolving  and  disengaging  the  lugs  from  the  rails. 
When  opening  the  switch  the  lever  must  of  course  be  turned  down,  but 
before  locking  it  again  the  lugs  must  necessarily  be  brought  to  engage  the 
rail  in  order  to  get  the  lever  up  and  the  lock  to  its  place.  The  switch  cannot 
be  locked,  therefore,  unless  the  point  is  resting  against  the  stock  rail.  On 
double  track,  at  any  rate,  some  such  locking  device  should  be  placed  on  all 
facing-point  switches.  It  will  hold  the  switch  securely  in  place  in  event 
the  connecting  rod  should  break  or  become  disconnected,  or  the  switch  stand 
be  broken  down  by  a  mail  sack  or  baggage  thrown  from  a  moving  train,  or 
by  a  derailed  car  running  out  of  line,  or  by  a  piece  of  lumber  projecting 


384  SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

from  the  side  of  a  car,  or  by  an  unfastened  car  door  hanging  out,  or  in  any 
other  manner.  With  the  closed  point  rail  locked  in  this  manner  the  dividing 
or  derailing  of  a  train,  which  sometimes  happens  when  a  derailed  wheel 
strikes  the  open  point  rail  and  throws  the  switch  under  the  train,  can  also 
be  avoided. 

An  automatic  switch  point  lock  devised  by  Boadma&ter  W.  E.  Emery, 
of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry.,  has  been  used  on  that  road.  Referring 
to  Fig.  155 A,  there  is  a  fixed  automatic  padlock  (B)  attached  to  the  outer 
flange  of  the  stock  rail  by  means  of  a  short  heavy  bar  (H)  slotted  for  the 
hasp(  F).  The  hasp  is  attached  to  the  side  of  the  head  switch  rod  and 
when  the  switch  is  thrown  to  the  main  position  the  hasp  enters  the  padlock 
and  secures  the  point  rail.  The  open  position  of  the  switch  is  indicated  by 
the  dotted  lines.  In  opening  the  lock  an  ordinary  switch  key  is  used,  as  in 
any  other  lock,  the  lock  automatically  holding  itself  open  until  the  switch 
is  thrown  over  for  the  side-track.  When  it  is  desired  to  close  the  switch 
the  point  rails  are  simply  thrown  over,  as  ordinarily,  and  the  lock  closes 
automatically.  When  it  is  desired  to  render  the  lock  inoperative  for  the 
purpose  of  switching  cars  the  switch  key  is  put  into  the  lock,  turned  half  to 
three-quarters'  of  the  way  round  and  left  in  that  position  until  the  switching 
is  done;  the  key  is  then  removed  before  the  switch  is  thrown  for  the  last 
time.  In  designing  this  lock  Mr.  Emery  had  in  view  that  switches  provided 
with  the  same  would  not  need  an  ordinary  lock  on  the  switch  stand,  and  that 
the  device  could  be  used  in  combination  with  distant  or  home  signals'. 

In  point  switches  having  plenty  of  throw,  lost  motion  due  to  wear  of 
parts  or  spread  of  gage,  may  be  taken  up  temporarily  by  placing  washers  be- 
tween the  head  switch  rod  fastening  and  the  point ;  that  is,  in  case  the  fast- 
ening is  bolted  to  the  web  of  the  point  rail,  as  shown  at  M  in  Fig.  142.  The 
point  rails  are  thereby  spread  apart,  and  as  the  shape  of  the  fastening  is  usu- 
ally such  that  it  is  most  secure  only  when  tightly  bolted  against  the  web  and 
flange  of  point  rail,  the  practice  should  be  resorted  to  only  as'  a  temporary 
expedient.  Sometimes  trackmen  take  up  lost  motion  by  setting  in  the 
through  rail  or  stock  rail  near  the  point  of  switch  and  bracing  or  respiking 
the  same,  but  unless  the  main  rails  are  wide  for  gage  in  the  first  place,  the 
practice  is  not  to  be  recommended,  since  it  interferes  with 'the  gage  and 
makes  an  unsightly  jog  in  the  alignment.  Close  gage  should  be  maintained 
at  the  bend  of  the  stock  rail.  It  is  usual  to  brace  both  main  rails  at  this 
point  to  hold  them  to  gage  against  the  force  exerted  in  throwing  the  switch 
tightly  home,  and  also  against  the  side  pressure  of  the  wheels  in  taking  the 
switch.  A  very  secure  device  quite  frequently  employed  for  this  purpose  is 
a  stub-switch  rod  placed  at  or  just  in  advance  of  the  bend  in  the  stock  rail. 
A  long  bolt  passing  through  holes  drilled  in  the  webs  of  the  stock  rails  just 
ahead  of  the  point  rails  has  also  been  used  to  maintain  the  gage,  but  as  such 
a  device  stands  up  clear  of  the  ties  where  it  is  liable  to  be  caught  by  drag- 
ging brake  rigging,  or  cut  by  derailed  wheels  it  is'  not  so  desirable  as  the 
switch  rod.  A  long  sliding  plate  or  "gage  plate"  at  the  ends  of  the  point 
rails,  continuous  under  both  main  rails,  is  a  good  device  and  is  now  quite 
commonly  employed.  This  plate  may  be  turned  up  at  the  ends'  to  serve  as  a 
backing  for  braces,  as  is  the  case  with  plate  E,  Fig.  143,  or  there  may  be 
seats  planed  out  for  the  rails,  as  at  A,  Fig.  144. 

Adjustable  Switch  Rods  and  Point  Rails, — An  arrangement  for  taking 
up  lost  motion,  so  as  to  hold  the  points  closely  to  either  main  rail,  or  to 
adjust  the  throw  of  the  points,  sometimes  made  necessary  by  wear  of  parts 
or  variation  in  switch  stands,  is  the  adjustable  head  rod,  of  which  there  are 
many  patterns'.  On  the  Transit  split  switch  (Fig.  144)  use  is  made  of  an 
adjustable  connection  between  rod  and  fastening,  the  points  being  spread 


POINT    SWITCHES 


385 


apart  or  drawn  in  accordingly  as  the  rod  is  advanced  or  moved  backward 
along  the  diagonally-set  row  of  holes  in  the  fastening  clip  B.  The  Weir 
company  accomplishes  the  adjustment  by  means  of  a  turnbuckle  placed  in 
the  head  rod  (G,  Fig.  145).  Both  threads  of  this  turnbuckle  are  right-hand, 
so  that  the  adjustment  cannot  be  affected  by  meddlesome  persons  who  might 
tamper  with  the  buckle.  To  adjust  the  points  it  is  necessary  to  first  discon- 
nect the  head  rod  from  the  point  rail  by  removing  the  bolt  from  the  fasten- 
ing lug  to  which  this  rod  is  attached.  This  company  has  another  device  in 
the  shape  of  a  flat  head  rod  (H,  Fig.  145)  in  two  pieces,  one  of  which  id 
drilled  with  bolt-holes'  at  1^  ins.  centers,  and  the  other  at  11  insr  centers, 
each  rod  being  provided  at  the  end  with  a  slotted  hole.  Owing  to  the  differ- 
ence in  the  drilling  of  centers  each  change  makes  a  difference  of  £  in.  either 
in  the  lengthening  or  shortening  of  the  head  rod.  When  adjustment  is  ne- 
cessary the  bolts  in  the  slotted  holes  are  loosened,  the  center  bolt  withdrawn, 
and  the.  rod  moved  as  occasion  requires — lengthening  or  shortening.  It  is 
possible  to  obtain  any  adjustment  up  to  2-|-  ins.,  thus  providing  for  widening 


-CD 


386 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


of  prase  arrl  the  difference  in  throw  of  switch  stands.  Anotlie!\arrangciiient 
working  on  the  same  principle  is  by  a  differential  drilling  of  the  tie  rod  and 
the  switch-point  fastening  or  lug,  as  shown  by  Fig.  14G.  The  lugs  are 
drilled  at  1£  ins.  centers  and  the  switch  rods  at  1-J  ins.  centers,  and  by  this 
difference  in  drilling  an  adjustment  of  J  in.  is  obtained  at  each  change  of 
position.  Either  switch  rail  may  be  adjusted  independently  of  the  other,  or 
both  may  be  adjusted  at  the  same  time.  It  may  here  be  noticed  that  an  ad- 
justment which  takes  place  in  the  rod  itself,  between  the  point  rails,  affords 
a  means  for  adjusting  one  point  rail  only,  and  that  is  the  one  on  the  side 
opposite  the  connecting  rod ;  hence  the  advantage  of  an  independent  adjust- 
ment for  each  point  rail. 


Fig.   145. — Switch    Point  Adjustments   and   Connections. 

Device  F  (Fig.  145)  operates  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  (7.  Ln  de- 
vice B  the  adjusting  bolt  passing  through  the  two  opposing  lugs  has  threads 
cut  right  and  left  on  its  two  ends,  and  the  sliding  bars'  attached  to  the  point 
rails  are  slotted  fo'r  the  bolts  which  secure  them  to  the  head  rod.  Devices  A 
and  E  permit  of  independent  adjustment  on  either  side.  The  former  has 
the  clevis  adjustment,  which  is'  accomplished  by  removing  the  coupling  bolt 
and  twisting  the  turnbuckle-ended  clevis.  In  the  latter  device  the  fastening 
lug  operates  as  a  sliding  clip  on  the  rod  and  it  is  changed  by  adjusting  the 
nuts  on  the  horizontal  bolts  passing  through  the  fixed  yoke  8.  A  similar 
device  is  shown  in  Fig.  148.  With  device  D  the  throw  of  the  stand  usually 
exceeds  that  of  the  points,  the  arrangement  requiring  that  the  connecting 
rod  should  slip  loosely  through  the  hub  on  the  tie  rod.  By  properly  setting 
the  adjustable  jam-nuts  the  switch  points  can  be  thrown  firmly  against  the 
stock  rail  -at  either  side,  it  being  possible  to  increase  or  diminish  the  throw 
of  the  points  as  desired  OT  to  compensate  for  any  excess  of  throw  of  the 
stand  over  that  of  the  switch.  The  standard  device  of  the  Union  Switch  &• 
Signal  Co.  for  adjusting  the  throw  of  switches  is  quite  similar  and  is  shown 
in  Fig.  247. 

On  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Tty.  a  head-rod  adjustment  is  effected 
by  dividing  the  rod  between  the  point  connections  and  joining  the  parts 


POINT   SWITCHES 


387 


l>y  means  of  a  sleeve  coupling.  For  this  purpose  a  piece  of  heavy  pipe  7-J 
ins.  long  is  welded  to  the  end  of  one  piece  of  the  flat  (f  in.  x  2  in&'.)  head 
rod  and  tapped  out  to  receive  the  threaded  rounded  end  of  the  other  piece, 
the  screw  being  1J  ins.  in  diam.  Engraving  K,  Pig.  190,  shows  the  applica- 
tion of  this  means  of  adjustment  to  the  tie  bars  of  a  movable-point  frog. 
The  Elliot  "key  wedge"  adjustment  is  shown  by  Engraving  H,  Fig.  112. 
The  head  rod  forms  the  only  tie  rod  between  the  reinforced  switch  points', 
and  this  head  rod  has  two  slots  similar  to  those  of  a  stub-switch  rod,  into 
which  are  fitted  pieces  of  T-bar  to  which  the  switch  points  are  attached. 


Fig.  146.— Weir  Switch  Point  Adjustment. 

'The  switch-point  connection  to  the  T-bar  is  by  means  of  two  bolts'  (one 
each  side  the  head  rod)  through  a  filler  block  and  an  adjusting  wedge  W. 
The  wedge  is  drilled  with  a  series  of  holes  properly  spaced  for  the  two  bolts, 
and  adjustment  is  effected  by  taking  out  the  bolts  and  moving  the.  wedge 
out  or  in.  each  movement  over  the  distance  of  a  hole  spacing  changing  the 
gage  i  in. 

Figure  14?  shows  the  parts  of  the  Eccentric  switch  rod  adjustment  and 
the  application  of  the  same  to  the  head  rod  and  remaining  tie  rod  of  the 
"Gauge"  split  switch.  This  adjustment,  devised  by  Mr.  Axel  A.  Strom,  is 
effected  by  means  of  an  eccentric  washer  at  the  connection  of  the  tie  rod 
with  the  clip  fastening  on  the  switch  point.  As  shown  in  detail  at  the  right 
in  the  figure,  there  is  a  boss1  on  the  under  side,  of  the  washer  which  fits  a 
circular  opening  in  the  clip.  The  hole  for  the  connecting  bolt  is  eccentric 
with  this  boss,  and  by  rotating  the  washer  the  position  of  the  point  rail 
may  be  moved  from  or  toward  the  tie  rod,  as  desired.  In  order  to  lock  the 
washer  in  the  adjusted  position  it  is  provided  on  the  under  side  with  two 
stop  studs  which  engage  with  holes  on  the  clip.  The  connection  with  the 
•clip  and  washer  is  between  the  jaws  of  the  tie  rod,  and  to  adjust  the  posi- 
tion of  the  point  rail  it  is  nece&'sary  to  disconnect  the  tie  rod  and  reset  the 
washer.  On  the  clip  there  are  14  locking  holes,  corresponding  to  as  many 
positions  for  the  adjusting  washer,  and  each  successive  position  of  the  wash- 
er is  adapted  to  a  variation  of  1/16  in.  in  the  gage  the  switch  points.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  the  consecutive  numbers  indicating  the  different  posi- 
tions of  the  washer  alternate  from  side  to  side,  the  purpose  of  the  arrange- 
ment being  to  use  the  same  locking  hole  for  two  positions  of  the  adjusting 
washer,  thus  making  it  possible  to  arrange  within  small  compass  a  sufficient 
number  of  holes  for  an  adjustment  of  desired  fineness.  In  manipulating 
the  washer  for  successive  positions  of  minimum  change,  as  when  setting 
the  points  by  trial,  it  is  first  turned  to  an  assumed  position;  then  in  the 
opposite  direction  for  the  position  next  in  sequence;  back  again  beyond  the 
first  position,  for  the  third  trial;  in  the  contrary  direction,  beyond  the 
second  position,  for  the  fourth  trial,  and  so  on.  The  Bristol  adjuster 


Fig.  147. — Eccentric  Switch  Point  Adjustment. 


388 


SWITCHING   ABRIDGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


works  on  a  similar  principle.  It  consists  of  a  washer  of  octagon  shape  drilled 
eccentrically  3/16  in.  This  washer  is  ^  in.  thick  and  fits  into  an  octagon 
hole  in  the  clip.  To  adjust  the  switch  rail  the  clip  is  removed  from  be- 
tween the  jaws  of  the  switch  rod  and  the  washer  is  taken  out  and  turned 
the  required  amount. 

Notwithstanding  that  rigidly  connected  switch  points  are  still  pre- 
ferred on  several  of  the  large  railway  systems  where  track  engineering  has 
been  closely  studied,,  the  advantages  in  the  use  of  means  for  adjusting  the 
point  rails  of  split  switches  are  well  established.  Adjustable  switch  rods  and 
point  rails  are  now  very  commonly  used,  being  standard  on  perhaps  a  ma- 
jority of  the  railroads  of  the  country,  and  they  aru  growing  in  favor.  One 
objection  urged  against  the  use  of  these  adjustment  devices  in  general  is 
the  incompetency  of  section  foremen,  it  being  feared  on  the  part  of  some 
railway  managements  that  means  for  adjusting  the  switch  rails  might  lead 
to  ignorant  or  careless  use  of  the  same  by  men  in  charge.  Some  mainte- 
nance-of-way  officials  also  profess  to  apprehend  that  in  case  the  gage  should 
widen  at  the  stock  rail  their  foremen  might  take  up  the  lost  motion  by 
adjusting  the  switch  points  in  place  of  regaging  the  rails.  It  is  perhaps 
unnecessary  to  remark  that  men  who  are  not  equal  to  the  adjustment  of 
split  switches  might  be  expected  to  get  into  trouble  with  some  other  mat- 
ters over  which  section  foremen  usually  have  charge;  and,  at  best,  they 
must  be  poor  support  to  a  roadmaster.  The  objection  that  adjustment 
devices  give  meddlesome  persons  opportunity  to  tamper  with  the  switch 
carries  but  little  weight,  for  persons  maliciously  inclined  may  find  other 
ways  for  doing  harm  which  are  just  as  convenient.  A  weighty  argument 
in  support  of  adjustable  switch  points  is  the  commonly  observed  fact  thac 
unless  means  of  adjustment  are  provided  the  section  foremen  will  impro- 
vise means  of  their  own,  placing  nut  locks,  washers,  telegraph  wire,  etc. 
between  the  clips  and  the  web  of  the  point  rail.  It  is  also  to  be  considered 
that  adjustment  devices  come  handy  when  switches  or  stock  rails  are  being 
renewed.  Point  switches  made  to  the  same  standard  drawing  are  not  al- 
ways closely  enough  alike  in  essential  dimensions  to  fit  the  main  rails  in  the 
same  manner;  and  rails  nominally  of  the  same  section  are  liable  to  vary 
slightly  with  wear  of  the  rolls'.  In  renewing  a  split  switch  with  one  having 
rigidly  connected  point  rails  or  with  no  means  of  adjusting  the  throw  of 
the  same  it  is  usually  necessary-  to  regage  the  main  rails,  reset  the  switch 
stand  or  tamper  with  the  clips.  It  is  to  some  extent  the  practice  to  inter- 
change the  point  rails'  of  switches,  taking  a  worn  point  from  the  open  side 
(if  one  switch  and  exchanging  with  that  of  a  switch  that  is  not  used  a  great 
deal,  or  the  worn  point  from  the  closed  side  of  one  switch  and  exchanging 


n  u  n_n 


inrn 


Fig.  148. — Reinforced   Split  Switch  with   Adjustable   Points. 


POINT   SWITCHES  389 

with  the  open  point  in  another  switch  turning  in  the  opposite  direction 
that  is  not  much  used.  Where  this  is  done  a  means  for  adjusting  the  point 
rails  is'  a  decided  convenience 

On  some  roads  the  matter  of  switch  point  adjustment  receives  very 
careful  attention,  as  on  the  Santa  Fe  Pacific  E.  K.,  where  the  standard 
practice  is  to  adjust  the  points  so  close  to  the  stock  rail  that  a  sheet  of 
ordinary  writing  paper  between  the  two  will  be  torn  before  it  can  be  pulled 
out.  As  to  the  merits  of  the  various'  devices  for  this  purpose  it  may  be  said 
that  several  of  those  in  service  give  satisfaction.  Not  a  few  prefer  to  use 
Mgidly-connected  points  with  an  adjustable  rod  connecting  fhe~same  with 
the  switch  stand,  or  to  have  the  means  of  adjustment  at  the  coupling  of 
the  connecting  rod  with  the  head  rod.  A  fault  sometimes'  charged  against 
screw  adjustment  devices  is  that  the  threads  wear  and  fail  to  hold,  and 
another  difficulty  complained  of  is  that  where  such  devices  are  exposed  to 
the  drippings  from  refrigerator  cars  the  turnbuckles  or  nuts  soon  become 
'rusted  fast  by  the  brine  and  rendered  hard  to  turn  or  adjust.  In  a  com- 
mittee report  to  the  Koadmasters'  Association  of  America,  in  1900,  it  was 
recommended  that  devices'  for  adjusting  split  switches  should  permit  the 
adjustment  of  both  point  rails  and  that  the  limit  of  the  adjustment  should 
be  restricted  to  the  minimum  throw  of  the  points. 

Reinforced  Switch  Points. — Switch  points  in  main  track  should  be 
reinforced,  the  necessity  arising  not  from  lack  of  strength,  but  from  a 
demand  for  some  means  of  holding  together  the  disconnected  parts  in  case 
the  point  rail  should  break.  -A  record  covering  950  point  switches  on  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ry.  shows  an  average  of  one  breakage  every 
two  years,  the  break  usually  occurring  at  a  flaw  in  the  rail.  From  various 
reported  cases  of  broken  switch  points  it  seems  that  breakage  occurs  most 
frequently  between  the  second  and  third  tie  rods,,  or  about  at  the  point 
where  the  switch  rail  begins  to  carry  the  full  load  when  the  wheels  ^come 
facing.  It  is  usual  to  reinforce  both  the  main  and  turnout  point  rails,  and 
the  most  common  form  of  reinforcement  is  a  wrought  iron  bar  or  strap  J 
to  f  in.  thick  riveted  to  the  web  of  the  rail  with  f-in-  or  f-in.  rivets,  prefer- 
ably on  either  side,  as  appears  in  Fig.  145  (Engravings'  G  and  H),  Figs. 
146  and  148.  In  some  instances  the  straps  are  bolted  on,  with  the  intention 
of  using  them  on  a  new  set  of  switch  points  when  the  old  ones  become 
worn  out,  but  riveting  is  the  more  secure  and  the  preferable  method.  In 
extensive  practice  switch  points  are  not  reinforced  farther  back  than  the 
planed  portion  of  the  rail,  but  to  afford  desirable  security  the  reinforce- 
ment should  extend  the  whole  length,  or  as  far  as  the  heel  splice.  Without 
a  reinforcement  a  break  in  the  switch  rail  anywhere  back  of  the  last  tie  rod 
is  a  very  dangerous  thing.  For  switches  used  in  yards  and  in  tracks  where 
fast  trains  do  not  run  it  is  not  considered  necessary  to  reinforce  the  point 
rails. 

Figure  148  shows  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company's  manner  of  rein- 
iorcing  switch  point  rails.  On  the  flangeway  side  of  the  point  a  plain,  flat 
wrought  iron  bar  is  used  for  a  reinforcing  strap,  while  on  the  gage  side 
there  is  an  angle  bar  with  a  4-in.  horizontal  leg,  to  which  the  switch  rod  is 
c^ttached.  As'  the  three  pieces  are  securely  riveted  through  and  through  a 
high  degree  of  lateral  stiffness  is  imparted  to  the  rail.  The  adjustable  head 
•rod  is  similar  to  type  E,  Fig.  145,  and  permits  either  point  to  be  adjusted. 
The  Wharton  company  controls  the  patent  on  a  switch  point  reinforcement 
consisting  of  a  channel.  The  back  of  the  channel  is  riveted  to  the  web  of 
the  switch  rail  and  the  switch  rod  connection  is  made  by  means  of  a  pin 
through  the  flanges  of  the  channel. 

In  the  Channel  split  switch  (Fig.  149),  the  standard  switch  of  the 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 

Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  and  other  .roads,  each  point  rail  is  rein- 
forced by  a  10-ft.  piece  of  45-lb.  rail,  called  a  "supporting  rail/'  the  two 
being  securely  united  by  bolts  and  cast  separating  blocks,  at  such  a  distance 
apart  that  a  foot  guard  is  unnecessary.  The  head  rod  is  attached  to  the 
supporting  rails  by  the  ordinary  stub  switch  slot  connection,  and  is  held 
fast  against  slipping  along  the  rail  by  the  retaining  block  E.  As  may  be 
seen,  there  are  adjustment  holes  in  the  web  of  the  supporting  rail,  thus  per- 
mitting the  rod  to  be  moved  up  on  the  flared  end,  so  as  to  take  up  wear  at 
the  points  and  lost  motion  in  the  connections.  The  gage  plates  P  extend 
entirely  across  the  ties,  forming  slide  plates  for  the  points  and  supporting 
rails,  and  have  s'eats  planed  out  at  the  ends  to  receive  the  stock  and  through 
rails.  As  there  is  no  wear  on  the  supporting  rails,  and  as  they  are  the 
same  size  (45-lb.  section)  for  point  rails  of  all  sizes,  all  that  is  required  in 
renewing  the  switch  is  to  bolt  on  new  point  rails'.  Such  is  a  convenient 
arrangement,  especially  when  the  track  is  being  relaid  with  steel  of  larger 
section.  As  the  supporting  rails  make  the  switch  very  stiff  it  is  not  an  easy 
matter  to  lock  up  the  switch  stand  with  an  obstruction  between  the  point 
rail  and  stock  rail.  With  the  ordinary  split  switch  it  sometimes  happens 


Fig.  149.— Channel   Split  Switch. 

that  the  point  rails  will  bend  and  permit  this  to  be  done.  To  prevent 
passing  objects  from  catching  on  the  supporting  rails  the  ends  of  the  same 
are  sloped  down  to  the  base,  as  shown.  As  with  the  Elliot  Key- Wedge 
Adjustment  switch  (Engraving  H,  Fig.  112),  so  with  the  Channel  switch, 
the  point  rails  are  firmly  held  against  any  force  tending  to  cant  them  and 
bend  the  clips  or  tie-rod  fastenings.  The  "Curve"'  split  switch  (for  turn- 
outs to  outside  of  curve)  has  a  long  point  for  the  main  switch  rail,  with  a 
"supporting"  rail  of  the  Channel  switch  type;  and  a  short  point  rail  for  the 
through-rail  side,  with  a  guard  rail  in  front  of  the  same  protecting  the  ex- 
tending end  of  the  long  point  rail  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  track.  The 
short  point  has  no  supporting  rail  and  the  tie  rods  and  clips  are  like  those 
used  on  the  Transit  switch  (Fig.  144). 

A  stop  block  or  stop  lug  (B,  Fig.  148)  is  a  cast  or  bent  piece  bolted 
either  to  the  point  rail  or  to  the  stock  or  through  rail  to  back  up  the  point 
rail  when  it  is'  thrown  to  that  side.  It  is  of  sufficient  thickness  to  block 
the  space  between  the  two  rails  when  the  switch  is  thrown  to  that  side, 
and  on  15-ft.  points  it  is  usually  placed  midway  between  the  heel  and  where 
the  planing  starts.  It  is  particularly  serviceable  on  the  main  point  of  u 
switch  which  turns  to  the  outside  of  a  curve,  on  switches'  with  less  than 
four  tie  Tods  and  on  switch  points  longer  than  15  ft.,  but  it  is  a  good  plan 


POINT    SWITCHES  391 

to  use  it  on  all  point  switches.  On  extra  long  switch  points  it  is  customary 
to  use  two  or  more  stop  lugs.  On  the  Michigan  Central  II.  R.  switch  points 
22  ft.  long,  used  in  connection  with  No.  14  frogs,  have  five  tie  rods  and  three 
stop  blocks,  and  are  reinforced  both  sides  back  to  a  point  2  ins.  from  the 
heel  splice.  To  hold  the  rail  in  line  in  case  of  breakage  between  the  rein- 
forcement and  the  splice  there  is  a  flat  bar  of  iron,  called  an  "S-brace/' 
fitted  over  the  base  of  the  point  rail,  butted  against  the  web  of  the  same  at 
the  2-in.  space  and  spiked  to  the  tie.  Point  rails  24  ft.  long  used  with  Xo. 
15  frogs  at  end  of  double  track  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey. 
have  five  rods,  and  stop  blocks,  but  the  rails  are  not  reinforced.  The  point 
switches  for  track  of  100-lb.  rails  on  the  Duluth  &  Iron  Range  R.  R.  are 
20  ft.  long  and  have  five  tie  rods  spaced  3  ft.  2  ins.  apart,  the  head  rod 
coming  9  ins.  from  the  point  end.  On  each  point  rail  there  is  one  3xf-in. 
reinforcing  bar  secured  to  the  web  on  the  flangeway  side,  with  f-in.  rivets. 
This  reinforcing  bar  is-  6  ft.  9  ins.  long,  and  extends  to  the  third  tie  rod. 
The  switch  has  no  stop  lugs. 

The  pushing  of  switch  points  by  creeping  rails  leads  to  repair  work 
sooner  or  later,  usually  to  move  the  headblock  and  switch  ties  out  of  con- 
tact with  the  switch  rods.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  to  hold  this  creep- 
ing in  check,  and  as  both  point  rails  lead  to  the  frog  the  best 
way  to  go  about  it  is  to  slot-spike  the  four  sets  of  splice  bars 
at  the  ends  of  the  frog,  the  splices  at  the  heels  of  the  point  rails  and  the 
intervening  splices  on  the  lead  rails.  In  addition  to  this  it  is  frequently 
the  practice  to  bolt  on  a  twisted  anchor  strap  to  the  inside  splice  bar  at  the 
heel  of  each  point  rail  and  spike  it  to  the  three  or  four  ties  over  which 
it  extends.  This  is  about  all  that  can  be  done,  conveniently,  and  unless  the 
creeping  is  bad  it  will  usually  accomplish  the  purpose.  Where  creeping 
is  bothersome  it  usually  does  more  harm  than  good  to  anchor  the  heels  of 
the  switch  points  to  the  through  rail  and  stock  rail.  This  is  sometimes 
done  by  means  of  a  cast  heel  block  or  filler  between  the  two  rails, 'bolted 
through  and  through  and  used  in  lieu  of  a  foot  guard.  In  some  places 
where  such  devices  have  been  used  they  have  given  considerable  trouble  by 
causing  the  creeping  rails  to  throw  or  crowd  the  joints  out  of  line.  The 
same  results  have  also  been  experienced  with  spacing  devices  to  hold  the 
heel  of  the  point  rail  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  stock  rail.  An  ar- 
rangement sometimes  used  for  this  purpose  consists  of  bolts  through  both 
rails  with  gas  pipe  collars  to  hold  the  rails  at  the  proper  distance  apart.  A 
better  arrangement  where  creeping  is  bothersome  is  a  shouldered  tie  plate 
with  seats  at  the  proper  spacing  for  the  two  rails.  The  rails  may  then 
creep  unhindered  but  will  be  maintained  at  the  proper  distance  apart.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  the  creeping  of  the  through  rail  or  stock  rail,  if  permitted 
to  do  so  freely,  is  seldom  bothersome.  The  creeping  of  the  through  rail, 
cannot  affect  the  adjustment  of  the  point  rails,  while  with  the  stock  rail 
a  moderate  amount  of  creeping  may  not  require  readjustment  of  the  point 
rails,  much  depending  upon  the  relative  position  of  the  bend  in  the  rail. 

In  this  country  it  is  customary  to  bolt  up  the  heel  splice  of  point  rails 
as  tightly  as  at  ordinary  joints.  On  some  of  the  foreign  railways  this 
splice  is  left  sufficiently  slack  to  permit  the  switch  'rail  to  work  freely,  or 
without  bending  the  splice  bar,  while  in  other  instances,  as  with  the  Neth- 
erlands State  Railways,  the  point  rails  are  hinged  to  heel  castings  without 
splicing. 

Automatic  Point  Switches. — The  term  "automatic,"  as  applied  to  point 
switches'  or  switch  stands,  has  reference  to  the  action  of  the  point  rails 
for  a  car  or  train  trailing  the  switch  when  it  is  set  the  wrong  way.  Tho 
wheel  flanges  crowd  the  points  over  against  the  direct  or  indirect  tension 


392 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


of  a  spiral  spring,  so  that  no  damage  is  done  to  the  point  rails  or  other 
parts,  as  would  necessarily  result  were  the  connections  rigid  throughout. 
The  term  "safety"  is  sometimes  used  in  the  same  sense,  but  its  full  mean- 
ing, as  applied  in  every  case,  should  be  interpreted  advisedly.  Automatic 
action  of  the  switch  may  be  had  by  the  use  of  a  spring  connection  with  the 
head  rod,  by  a  spring  connecting  rod,  or  by  an  automatic  stand.  The 
-first-named  device  answers  to  the  description  of  the  Lorenz  spring,  con- 
trived at  an  early  date,  being  perhaps  the  oldest  device,  and  certainly  one 
of  the  best  known  devices,  for  permitting  the  automatic  working  of  split 
switches  when  such  are  set  the  wrong  way  for  trailing  movements  through 
them.  It  is'  shown  as  Engraving  A,  Fig.  105;  Engraving  M,  Fig.  145; 
and  in  Figs.  142 A  and  157.  A  spiral  spring  is  placed  between  two  lugs  or 
within  a  frame,  on  the  head  rod,  and  the  connecting  rod  instead  of  being 
attached  directly  to  the  head  rod  is  made  to  operate  the  points  by  acting 
on  this  spring.  The  rod  is  passed  through  the  coil  of  the  spring  and 
through  holes  in  the  lugs,  and  acts'  against  either  end  of  the  coil  (depend- 
ing on  which  way  it  is  thrown)  by  means  of  a  collared  spool  or  sleeve 
backed  by  jam-nuts  on  the  rod.  If  the  throw  of  the  stand  exceeds  the  throw 


Fig.  150.— "P.  O.  D."  Spring  Connecting  Rod,  B.  &  M.  R.  R.  R. 


of  the  points  (as  it  should  with,  this  device)  these  nuts  may  be  so  adjusted 
that  some  of  the  throw  of  the  stand  or  connecting  rod  must  be  taken  up  in 
compressing  the  spring.  Lost  motion  can  thus  be  taken  care  of,,  the  point 
rails  being  held  firmly  against  either  side  to  which  they  are  thrown,  and 
if  trailed  the  wrong  way  they  will  yield  to  the  wheel  flanges  and  then  re- 
turn to  the  position  in  which  they  were  last  set.  As  a  precaution  against  en- 
tire failure  the  spring  is  sometimes  composed  of  two  coils — one  within  the 
other — the  probability  that  both  springs  will  break  at  the  same  time  being 
less,  it  is  thought,  than  of  the  breakage  of  a  single  spring  heavier  than 
either.  For  security  on  facing-point  switches  springs  attached  to  the  side 
of  tne  head  rod  should  be  placed  on  the  side  facing  the  frog. 

An  objection  raised  against  the  use  of  an  automatic  switch  on  single 
track  or  an  automatic  facing-point  switch  on  double  track  spring  connected 
in  the  main-line  position,  in  either  cas'e,  is  that,  with  hard-packed  snow  or 
some  small  obstruction  between  the  point  and  stock  rail  it  is  possible  to 
throw  the  stand  completely  without  bringing  the  point  rail  quite  up  to  its 
place.  Moreover,  should  the  spring  on  an  automatic  facing-point  switch 
break  the  latter  would  at  once  become  a  dangerous  affair.  The  same  objec- 
tions apply,  of  course,  to  spring  connecting  rods  and  to  such  types  of  auto- 
matic stand  as  can  be  locked'  without  throwing  the  points  clear  home ;  also  to 
any  stand  designed  to  hold  the  points  to  place  by  the  agency  of  spring  pres- 
sure or  torsion  acting  directly  on  the  shaft  or  the  crank.  With  the  foregoing 
dangers  in  view,  so  far  as  springs'  on  the  head  rod  and  spring  connecting 
rods  are  concerned,  it  is  the  practice  on  some  roads  to  have  one  of  the  thim- 
bles on  the  connecting  rod  bear  directly  against  the  solid  lug  on  the  head 
rod,  for  the  closed  position  of  the  switch,  and  the  other  thimble  against 
the  spring,  for  the  open  position,  thereby  maintaining  a  rigid  connection 


POINT    SWITCHES  393 

when  the  switch  is  set  for  main  line  and  providing  a  spring  connection  when 
the  switch  is  set  for  the  side-track.  A  standard  arrangement  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania R.  R.  is  a  Lorenz  spring  connected  with  the  switch  and  with  a 
simp]e  ground  lever  in  this  manner,  as'  illustrated  in  Fig.  14.2 A. 

The  action  of  the  spring  connecting  rod  (J  and  K,  Fig.  145)  is  essen- 
tially the  same  as  that  of  the  Lorenz  spring,  the  only  difference  being  that 
the  spring  is  placed 'in  the  connecting  rod  instead  of  on  the  head  rod.  The 
Burlington  &  Missouri  River  R.  R.  has  in  use  in  some  of  its  yards  a  spring 
connecting  rod  in  which  the  rod  itself  is  shaped  to  form  the  spring.  The 
design  was  suggested  by  Roadmaster  Patrick  O'Donnell,  and -it  4s  locally 
known  as  the  "  P.  0.  D."  spring.  By  reference  to  Fig.  150  it  will  be  b'een 
that  about  12  ins.  of  the  rod  is  formed  by^a  3xf  in.  steel  bar  looped  eight 
times  and  securely  bolted  into  slotted  shanks  in  the  two  end  pieces  of  the 
rod.  The  convolutions  are  6J  ins.  long  and  1  in.  apart.  The  rod  is  used 
with  a  rigid  stand,  and  in  case  the  point  rails  are  trailed  in  the  wrong 
position  the  rod  will  stretch  or  be  squeezed  together,  permitting  the  points 
to  be  set  over  and  the  wheels  to  pass  through  the  switch  without  doing 
damage  to  the  points,  and  then  return  the  points  to  position  after  tho 
wheels  have  passed. 

Figure  143  shows'  a  "spring  split  switch,"  used  mostly  on  electric 
railways  in  such  places  as  passing  sidings  or  loops,  being  intended  to  au- 
tomatically switch  cars  to  one  side  when  they  pass  the  switch  in  the  facing 
direction  and  permit  them  to  trail  out  when  passing  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. A  housed  spring  attached  to  one  of  the  point  rails  serves  to  hold 
the  opposite  point  rail  firmly  against  the  main  rail,  and  in  this  way 
serves  as  a  slack  adjustment  device.  A  similar  arrangement  can  be  had 
by  drilling  through  the  webs  of  both  point  and  stock  rails'  and  using  a 
bolt  and  spiral  spring  similar  to  the  spring  bolt  on  a  spring-rail  frog.  I£ 
the  head  of  the  bolt  be  made  to  catch  the  point  rail,,  the  coiled  spring  may 
be  made  to  bear  against  the  rail  on  the  outside  of  the  track  or  it  may  be 
placed  in  a  housing.  It  must  be  obvious  that  either  arrangement  serves 
its-  purpose  for  one  side  only  and  tends  to'  produce  the  opposite  effect  with 
lost  motion  on  the  other  side.  For  this  reason  the  device  is  seldom,  if 
ever,  used  on  point  rails  which  are  intended  to  be  thrown  by  a  switch 
stand. 

Automatic  Switch  Stands. — Switch  stands  arranged  for  the  automatic 
operation  of  point  switches  may  be  divided  into  two  classes :  the  "fly-back" 
and  the  "set-over."  Stands  of  the  former  class  return  the  switch  to  its 
original  position  after  being  forced  aside  by  trailing  wheels;  with  the 
"set-over"  stands  there  is  provided  a  connnection  with  sufficient  resist- 
ance to  hold  the  points  for  proper  service,  but  the  points  are  moved 
through  a  complete  throw  upon  being  forced  aside.  This  arrangement 
thus  permits  of  an  automatic  change  in  the  position  of  the  switch.  The 
foregoing  spring  switches  and  spring  connecting  rods  have  the  so-called 
"fly-back"  action.  With  devices  of  the  fly-back  variety  the  switch  is  re- 
tained in  one  position,  as  locked,  despite  an  automatic  or  improper  use  of 
it.  With  the  set-over  or  complete-throw  automatic  stand,  the  switch, 
if  misused  by  careless  employees  by  trailing  out  of  a  side-track  when  it  is 
set  for  main  line,  may  chance  to  remain  open  in  the  face  of  main- 
line trains.  In  this  respect,  therefore,  it  is  inferior  to  the  fly-back  device. 
It  is1  considered,  however,  that  it  serves  as  a  telltale  on  careless  employees, 
whereas  the  other  device  does  not;  and  that  in  case  a  train  should  trail 
part  of  its  length  through  a  wrongly  set  switch  provided  with  this  stand, 
and  then  back  up,  the  train  would  not  be  broken  in  two  by  straddling  the 
tracks,  as  it  unavoidably  would  be  with  a  fly-back  arrangement.  In  in- 


394 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


stances  of  such  culpable  negligence,  however,  the  fly-back  device  would 
act  as  telltale  and,  for  such  occurrences  alone,  despite  the  consequnces  lo 
the  train,  it  would  seem  to  be  the  more  valuable  device  for  the  company. 
Some  complete-throw  automatic  stands  do  also  have  in  their  favor  the  ad- 
vantage that  the  points  are  not  held  in  position  by  direct  spring  pressure 
or  torsional  action  on  the  shaft.  There  is  therefore  no  direct  stress  on 
the  spring  and  consequently  less  liability  that  it  will  break  in  service. 

The  Long  "safety"  stand  is  of  the  fly-back  type.  It  is  used  on  the 
Bangor  &  Aroostook,  Chicago  &  Alton,  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hart- 
ford, the  Southern  and  other  roads.  Briefly  stated,  the  shaft  of  the  stand 
is  engaged  with  a  stiff  spiral  spring  made  of  14ft.  of  steel  bar  and  coiled 
around  the  shaft.  The  hand  lever  for  revolving  the  shaft  is'  not  engaged 
directly  therewith,  except  when  it  is  raised  to  throw  the  switch;  normally 
it  is  engaged  with  the  spiral  spring.  The  crank  is  rigidly  connected  with 
the  point  rails.  The  spring  around  the  shaft  takes  up  all  play  or  lost  mo- 
tion, so  that  the  connecting  rod  is  held  by  the  force  exerted  by  the  spring. 
This'  spring  will  allow  the  shaft  to  turn  and  the  switch  to  be  thrown  auto- 
matically should  a  car  or  train  trail  through  it  when  it  is  set  the  wrong? 


LONG    SAFETY    STAND 

Fig.  151. — Automatic  Switch   Stands. 


WEIR 
AUTOMATIC    STA.ND 


way.  More  in  detail,  the  shaft  or  crank  spindle  A  (Fig.  151)  extends  in 
cne  solid  piece  from  target  to  crank,  through  the  tubular  handle  shaft  B, 
outside  of  which  the  spring  E  and  its  collars  C,  D,  and  F  are  carried.  In 
hand  operation  the  handle  is  positively  engaged  with  the  shaft  A,  by  its 
knife-blade  end,  which  enters  a  slot  in  the  shaft  as  the  handle  is  thrown 
up,  and  all  these  parts  move  as  one:  they  are  locked  in  place  by  folding 
the  handle  into  a  notch  in  the  frame  H.  Any  obstruction  between  point 
and  stock  rails  will  not  allow  the  shaft  to  turn  far  enough  to  permit  the 
handle  to  be  folded  into  the  notch,  and  hence  is  detected  at  once.  A  spur 
fib,  on  the  lower  end  of  the  handle  shaft  B,  holds  the  spring  from  unwind- 
ing, causing  the  spur  Ca,  on  the  upper  spring  collar  C,  to  press  against 
the  arm  Ac  which  is  fixed  on  the  crank  shaft  A,  thus  applying  the  power 
of  the  spring  against  the  shaft,  the  switch  rod  and  the  switch. 
An  automatic  movement  of  the  switch  will  move  the  rod  in  the 
direction  of  the  arrow,  and  the  power  thus  applied  will  act  to  wind  up  and 
increase  the  stress  on  the  spring,  the  reaction  of  which  will  promptly  re- 


POINT    SWITCHES  395 

turn  the  switch  to  position  after  the  wheels  pass  off.  For  an  automatic 
action  in  the  reverse  direction,,  the  switch  and  crank  being  in  the  other 
position,  the  spur  Ba  holds  against  the  upper  end  of  the  spring,  the  power 
of  which  is  applied  against  the  arm  A  b  on  the  shaft  below  the  spring. 
The  tension  of  the  spring  is  increased,  when  required,  by  forcibly  turning 
collar  D,  under  the  collar  0,  against  the  spring,  by  a  bar  inserted  under 
the  step,  the  door  lib  being  removable  to  obtain  access  to  the  spring. 

The  Weir  automatic  stand,  shown  also  in  Fig.  151,  is'  of  the  com- 
plete-throw type.  It  is  used  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern,  Chicago,. 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  Central  of  Georgia  and  other  roads.  On  "the  back 
side  of  the  stand  there  is  a  V-shaped  box  cast  as  part  of  the  stand,  con- 
taining spring  pockets  P,  top  and  bottom.  On  the  back  of  this  box  there 
is'  a  hood  H,  held  to  place  by  bolts  engaging  with  springs  in  the  pockets  P. 
The  springs  are  seated  in  the  back  sides  of  the  pockets  and  hence  their 
action  on  the  bolts  tends  to  draw  the  hood  towards  the  front,  of  the  stand 
—that  is,  towards  the  shaft.  Within  the  lever  casting  C,  which  is  rigidly 
fastened  to  the  shaft,  there  is'  a -sliding  bar  8  connected  by  means  of  a  link 
to  the  hood  H.  The  other  end  of  the  sliding  bar  is  operated  on  by  the 
handle  by  a  cam-like  action  which  crowds  the  bar  towards  the  hood  when 
the  handle  is  folded  downward,  but  permits  it  to  slide  from  the  hood  when 
the  handle  is  thrown  up  to  the  horizontal.  There  is  thus  no  strain  on 
the  springs  when  the  stand  is  thrown  by  hand.  The  lever  is'  not  locked 
in  any  definite  position,  but  upon  being  folded  down,  when  the  switch 
is  thrown  to  either  side,  the  sliding  bar  8  is  crowded  backward,  compress- 
ing the  springs,  the  reaction  of  which  produces  a  turning  effect  on  the 
shaft  and  forces  the  switch  points  tightly  against  the  stock  rail.  Tho 
stock  or  through  rail  thus  acts  as  a  final  stop  to  the  action  of  the  springs; 
and  should  lost  motion  result  from  wear  of  parts  or  widening  of  the  gage, 
the  throw  of  the  crank  is  automatically  adjusted  to  the  changed  condi- 
tions. The  tension  of  the  springs  can  be  regulated  by  a  set  screw  in  the 
back  of  the  hood,  which  does  not  appear  in  the  figure.  In  the  automatic 
action  of  the  stand  the  shaft  is  turned  against  the  pressure  of  the  springs 
until  the  sliding  bar  and  link  (which  form  a  toggle-joint)  are  moved  over 
the  center,  when  the  action  of  the  springs  sets  the  points  entirely  over  the 
other  way. 

One  of  the  best  known,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  widely  used,  auto- 
matic switch  stands  is  the  Eamapo  device  (Snow's  patent),  Fig.  152.  Of 
the  two  stands  shown  that  at  the  right  is  provided  with  a  crank  of  fixed 
length  and  that  at  the  left  with  a  crank  of  adjustable  length.  In  other 
respects  the  stands  are  of  identical  construction  and  their  manner  of  oper- 
ation is  the  same.  The  crank  and  shaft  are  rigidly  engaged  with  the 
handle,  so  that  in  hand  operation  there  is  positive  action  between  handle 
and  switch.  There  is  a  "safety  block5'  J5,  ribbed  to  fit  into  the  grooved 
"safety  cap"  C.  When  the  handle  is  raised  to  throw  the  switch  the  safety 
block  is  lifted  by  link  motion  and  the  handle  cannot  be  lowered  and  locked 
to  the  stand  until  the  points  are  thrown  entirely  home,  permitting  the 
safety  block  to  slide  into  the  safety  cap.  Any  obstruction  between  a  switch 
point  and  the  stock  rail  is,  therefore,  readily  detected.  The  under  side  of 
the  cap  or  head  C  forms  one  jaw  of  a  clutch,  and  the  block  E,  sliding  in 
a  guideway  in  the  frame  of  the  stand  and  backed  by  a  spring,  forms  the 
other  jaw.  Obviously,  this  block  is  held  against  turning.  If  the  switch  is 
set  the  wrong  way  for  trailing  wheels,  the  shaft  and  cap,  being  locked  to- 
gether, turn  as'  one.  forcing  down  the  lower  jaw  of  the  clutch  (see  right- 
hand  view  in  the  figure),  which,  as  soon  as  the  teeth  pass,  being  actuated 
by  the  spring,  sets  the  points  over  to  the  other  position.  The  projecting 


396 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND   APPLIANCES 


stud  S  is  a  stop  which  serves  to  limit  the  throw  of  the  crank.  The  stand  is 
als'o  made  with  the  crank  upturned  to  meet  the  bottom  of  the  base  casting, 
so  that  the  connecting  rod  cannot  be  taken  off  without  releasing  the  shaft 
from  its. fastenings.  If  desired,,  the  stand  can  be  made  to  work  automatic- 
ally one  way  only,  so  that  the  points,  if  wrongly  set  for  a  train  trailing 
them  on  main  track,  will  be  automatically  thrown  without  damage,  but  not 
for  a  train  trailing  out  of  the  siding  when  the  points  are  set  for  main  track. 


ADJUSTABLE  THROW 


Fig.  152. — Ramapo  Automatic  Switch  Stand. 

The  adjustable  crank,  above  referred  to,  consists'  of  a  heavy  eye  bolt  screwed 
into  a  stout  shank  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  As  this  device  permits  a 
change  to  be  made  in  the  throw  of  the  stand  the  advantage  in  the  use  of 
the  same  is  readily  seen.  A  switch  stand  with  an  adjustable  crank  will 
work  with  any  switch  with  which  it  is  desired  that  it  shall  be  used,  as  the 
throw  may  be  adjusted  to  correspond  to  that  of  the  switch;  whereas  the 
crank  of  fixed  length  requires  that  the  stand  shall  be  specially  made  to  fit  the 
throw  of  the  switch.  Figure  153  shows  an  adjustable  connecting  rod  in- 
tended for  use  with  this  stand.  The  rod  has'  a  screw  jaw  on  one  end,  and 
this  device,  in  connection  with  the  adjustable  crank,  enables  an  adjustment 
of  the  points  from  one  side  to  the  other,  so  that  in  setting  up  the  stand  it 
may  be  firmly  spiked  to  the  headblock  and  the  rod  afterwards  adjusted  to 
the  proper  length  to  throw  the  switch  to  a  close  fit  in  either  direction.  The 
adjustable  crank  and  the  adjustable  connecting  rod  thus  obviate  the  neces- 
sity for  adjustable  head  rods  and  adjustable  points  in  split  switches.  The 
screw  jaw  on  the  connecting  rod  and  the  adjustable  crank  cannot  be  turned 
without  disconnecting  the  two,  so  that  the  arrangement  is  not  readily  tam- 
pered with,  and  the  parts  cannot  of  themselves  work  loose  and  change  the 
adjustment  of  the  switch  or  stand. 

The  Axel  stand  (Fig  154)  is'  similar  in  action  to  the  Ramapo  stand, 
and  about  the  only  difference  in  construction  is  in  the  position  of  the 


H' Thread— - 


^h 

_i_/^ 

-SCT 

)  i                              \\ 

*r  i. 

Fig.  153. — Adjustable  Connecting   Rod. 


POINT    SWITCHES 


397 


THROWN    BY    HAND 


THROWN    AUTOMATICALLY 


Fig.  154. — Axel  Automatic  Switch  Stand. 

clutch.  The  shaft  C  is  one  piece  from  crank  to  target.  The  spider  A  and 
the  clutch  jaw  B  are  essentially  one  piece,  the  spider  being  cast  with,  or 
made  fast  to,  the  frame  of  the  stand.  The  upper  jaw  E,  of  the  clutch, 
forms  one  piece  with  the  shank  D,  which  is  square  in  cross-section  and  held 
against  turning  by  the  head  H.  The  handle  is  rigidly  attached  to  the  shaft 
and  folds  downward  into  a  notch  in  the  head  H,  so  that  the  points 
must  be  closed  home  before  the  handle  can  be  put  to  place.  In  the  auto- 
matic action  of  the  stand  the  head  is  turned,  disengaging  the  clutch  against 
the  compression  of  the  spring.  This  stand  is  used  on  the  Burlington,  Ce- 
dar Eapids  &  Northern  and  some  other  roads. 

The  Wharton  automatic  stand  (Suffern  and  Kidd's  patent),  shown  in 
Fig.  155,  is  similar  to  the  Weir  stand  in  action,  but  quite  dissimilar  in  ap- 
pearance and  in  detail  of  construction.  The  cast  iron  frame  is  made  in 
two  parts,  A  and  A1.  The  shaft  B  is  of  rolled  steel  and  square  in  cross- 
section.  The  crank  B^  is  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  shaft,  as  ordinarily,  and 


Vl/UlCAL    5CCTION 
HALF     THROWN  AUTOMATICALLY. 

Fig.    155.— Wharton    Automatic    Switch 
Stand. 


Fig.   155  A.— Emery   Switch 
Point  Lock. 


398 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


a  locking  plunger  C  extends  from  top  to  bottom  of  the  stand,  turning  with 
the  shaft  B  and  resting  on  the  top  of  the  frame  by  the  collar  C1.  At  the 
lower  end  of  the  plunger  C  there  is  a  locking  finger  C2,  which  fits  into  a 
slot  in  the  upper  crank  D  when  the  lever  is  lowered.  The  extending  arm 
C3  C4  is  provided  with  a  hole  at  C3  to  receive  the  lock,  and  with  a  slot  at 
O4,  in  which  slides  a  brass  nut  pivoted  to  the  hand  lever  H,  by  which  means 
the  plunger  C  is  raised  and  lowered  with  the  hand  lever.  Parts  C,  C1,  C2, 
Cs  and  O4  are  in  one  piece  of  malleable  iron.  The  malleable  iron  Crank  D, 
rigidly  fastened  to  the  main  shaft,  is  provided  with  a  slot  to  receive  the 
locking  finger  and  a  brass  nut  pivoted  to  the  jaw  Fl.  Part  E  is  a  cylinder 
serving  for  a  spring  casing  and  El  are  trunnions  upon  which  the  spring 
casing  swings.  The  rod  F  extends  through  cylinder  jf,  one  end  being  rigid- 
ly fastened  to  jaw  F1,  to  which  the  brass  nut  sliding  in  slotted  crank  D  is 
pivoted.  The  spiral  spring  G  is  coiled  around  the  rod  F  and  confined  be- 
tween the  end  of  jaw  F1  and  the  end  of  the  spring  casing.  In  the  figure 
the  stand  is  shown  as  it  would  appear  when  half  thrown  automatically. 
The  locking  finger  C2  is  in  the  slot  in  crank  D  and  prevents  the  brass  nut 
pivoted  to  jaw  F1  from  sliding  inward  toward  the  shaft.  The  spring  is 
therefore  compressed  and  the  jaw  F1  and  rod  F  are  forced  into  the  spring 
casing.  As  soon  as  the  central  position  (dead  center)  is  passed  the  spring 
expands  and  forces  the  shaft  and  handle  around  to  the  opposite  position, 
thereby  throwing  the  switch  points  over  against  the  stock  rail.  In  throw- 
ing the  stand  by  hand  the  plunger  and  locking  finger  are  raised,,  the  brass 
nut  pivoted  to  jaw  F1  slides  inward  in  its  slot  in  crank  D  and  the  spring 
is  not  compressed.  Unlike  the  Weir  stand,  the  spring  is  not  compressed 
except  during  the  automatic  operation  of  the  stand.  The  throw  of  the 
crank  is  adjusted  by  the  nut  on  the  rod  Ff  the  length  of  this  rod  limiting 
the  turning  of  the  crank  D  and  hence  the  throw  of  the  crank  J51.  As  the 
locking  finger  C2  cannot  be  lowered  into  its  slot  until  the  points  have  been 
thrown  their  full  distance,  the  handle  of  the  stand  cannot  be  lowered  and 
locked  if  there  is  an  obstruction  to  the  movement  of  the  points.  In  or- 


Fig.  156. — Standard  Switch  Stand,  Southern  Pacific  Co. 


POINT    SWITCHES  399 

der  to  engage  or  disengage  the  connecting  rod  it  is  necessary  to  remove  lid 
A*  and  the  spring  casing  and  turn  the  shaft  so  that  the  crank  passes  be- 
yond'the  embrace  of  the  cast  arc  A'-.  A  stand  with  the  same  spring  appli- 
cation is  made  in  a  yard  pattern  only  about  10  ins.  high,  to  top  of  the  lever. 

The  standard  switch  stand  of  the  Southern  Pacific  road  is  designed 
with  a  spring  action  to  return  the  points  to  their  original  position  in  case 
they  should  be  trailed  through  by  a  car  or  engine,  when  set  in  the  wrong 
position,  and  by  means  of  a  locking  device  the  switch-stand  lever  cannot  be 
dropped  into  its  normal  position  without  first  throwing  the  switch  point 
fully  up  against  the  stock  rail.  This  stand  (Fig.  156),  designed  by  Mr. 
J.  11.  Wallace,  engineer  maintenance  of  way  of  the  company,  consists  of 
the  ordinary  vertical  cast  iron  shell,  with  a  rotary  head  or  cap  (D)  fitted 
over  the  top  of  the  shell  and  rigidly  attached  to  a  crank  shaft  (C)  of  square 
cross  section.  The  crank  (E)  which  throws  the  switch  is  a  steel  casting 
slotted  to  straddle  the  horizontal  projection  of  a  cast  steel  locking  frame 
(F)  which  encloses  a  spiral  spring  on  a  bolt  passing  through  the  spring 
box,  at  the  foot  of  the  stand.  This  spring  exerts  its  tension  .against  the 
•collared  ends  of  sleeves  passing  through  disks  which  form  two  sides  of  the 
frame.  Thus  by  compressing  the  spring  the  locking  frame  is  capable  of 
movement  in  either  direction.  This  frame  has  slotted  openings  ( G-}  which 
register  with  a  circular  opening  in  the  end  of  the  crank  when  the  switch 
stand  is  set  in  either  the  open  or  closed  position.  Attached  to  the  switch- 
stand  lever  there  is  a  vertical  rod  (.4)  formed  into  a  pin  at  the  lower  end, 
which  fits  into  the  opening  at  the  end  of  the  crank  and  into  the  slot  in  the 
locking  frame.  This  rod  is  connected  with  the  lever  at  such  a  distance 
from  the  fulcrum  of  the  latter  that  when  the  lever  is  raised  from  its  nor- 
mal position  it  withdraws  the  pin  from  the  slot,  permitting  the  stand  to 
be  thrown  without  engaging  the  spring  mechanism.  The  lever  cannot  then 
be  dropped  to  its  normal  position  until  the  switch  points  have  been  thrown 
fully  home,  permitting  the  locking  rod  to  enter  the  crank  opening  and 
the  slot  in  the  locking  frame.  When  this  connection  is  made  the  crank, 
the  main  shaft  (C)  and  the  revolving  head  (D)  are  locked  into  an  en- 
gagement writh  the  spring,  and  any  ordinary  force  applied  to  the  switch 
rail  cannot  move  it  from  its  position.  A  car  or  train  trailing  through  the 
switch  points  placed  in  the  wrong  position  will,  however,  set  them  over 
against  the  tension  of  the  spring,  and  after  the  wheels  have  passed,  the 
power' of  the  spring  will  move  the  switch  back  to  its  original  position. 

The  Steelton  switch  stand,  the  standard  of  the  Nashville,  Chattanoo- 
ga &  St.  Louis  By.,  is  designed  for  use  with  a  Lorenz  spring  and  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  lever  cannot  be  latched  to  lock  the  stand  unless  the  switch 
has  been  thrown  entirely  home.  The  spring  is  in  full  use  for  all  purposes 
for  which  it  is  intended,  and  works  both  ways.  Eeferring  to  Fig.  157.,  it 
will  be  noticed  that  the  stand  has  a  spring  connection  with  the  switch 
points  through  a  Lorenz  spring,  in  the  same  manner  as  with  any  plain 
stand  used  with  this  spring.  When  the  handle  or  lever  is  raised  to  throw 
the  switch,  however,  the  shaft  is  put  in  rigid  connection  with  the  switch 
points,  through  a  rod  connecting  rigidly  with  the  head  tie  bar  of  the  points 
at  one  end  and  curved  over  at  its  other  end  so  as  to  lie  between  jaws  keyed 
to  the  shaft.  Projecting  through  these  jaws  is  the  lock  rod  F,  attached 
to  the  end  of  the  lever  or  handle  D,  at  C.  When  the  handle  D  is  raised  to 
throw  the  switch  the  rod  F  is  shoved  downward  through  a  hole  in  the 
curved  rod  connecting  with  the  head  rod,  thereby  placing  the  stand  in  rigid 
connection  with  the  switch  points  so  long  as  the  lever  D  remains  in  the 
raised  position.  As  this  lever  cannot  be  dropped  until  it  is  thrown  far 
enough  around  to  meet  the  notch  in  the  table  of  the  stand,  it  is  clear  that 


400 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Fig.  157.— Steelton  Switch  Stand,   N.,  C.  &  St.   L.  Ry. 


the  rigid  connection  to  the  switch  cannot  be  broken  until  the  points  are 
thrown  fully  up  to  the  stock  rail.  As  soon  as  they  have  been  thrown  thus 
far,  however,  the  lever  is  folded  into  the  notch,,  the  lock  rod  F  is  drawn 
upward,  the  rigid  connection  is  broken  and  the  stand  remains  spring-con- 
nected to  the  switch  points  through  the  Lorenz  spring;  so  that  in  what- 
ever position  the  stand  is  set  or  locked  a  train  trailing  the  points  set  the 
wrong  way  will  throw  them  automatically  against  the  spring  connection. 
An  important  advantage  which  the  N".,  C.  &  St.  L.  people  have  found  with 
this  type  of  stand  is  that  spreading  of  the  gage  at  the  stock  rails  or  loosen- 
ing of  the  stand  is  promptly  made  known  by  the  refusal  of  the  stand  to 
work.  If  the  lock  bar  F  fails  to  fit  into  the  hole  in  the  head  rod  connec- 
tion it  is  impossible  to  operate  the  stand,  as  the  lever  cannot  be  raised  out 
of  its  notch.  Hence  a  loose  condition  of  things  at  the  switch  cannot  ex- 
ist very  long,  even  if  it  should  occur,  for  in  order  that  the  stand  may  be 
used  the  section  foremen  are  required  to  keep  the  track  at  the  switch  to 
the  proper  gage  and  the  stand  securely  fastened.  The  automatic  switch 
stand  of  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River  R.  R.  (Fig.  134B)  is  described  in 
connection  with  lever-lock  switch  stands. 

There  is  reasonable  distrust  in  the  general  use  of  automatic  switch 
stands  or  other  automatic  switch  devices.  In  the  first  place,  it  is 
not  to  be  denied  that  the  use  of  automatic  switches  and  automatic 
stands,  by  switching  crews,  begets  carelessness.  For  this  reason' 
many  think  it  is  not  worth  while  to  provide  automatic  devices 
with  the  sole  object  of  permitting  trains  to  trail  from  side-tracks 
through  wrongly  set  switches  without  damaging  the  switch  or  being  de- 
railed. As  such  trains  usually  move  at  slow  speed  no  great  damage  can 
result  from  derailment,  and  it  would  undoubtedly  conduce  to  better  disci- 


POINT    SWITCHES  401 

pline  if  the  results  of  the  negligent  use  of  the  switch  were  visibly  indi- 
cated by  injured  point  rails  or  by  derailment,  in  case  the  switch  is  pro- 
vided with  a  point  lock.  It  is  highly  desirable,  however,  that  a  switch  should 
operate  automatically  when  wrongly  set  and  trailed  by  a  main-line  train, 
since  in  forcing  the  points  over  against  rigid  connections  there  is  some 
risk  of  derailment,  and  in  any  case  the  injury  to  the  points  or  their  rigid 
connections  leaves  the  switch  in  dangerous  condition  for  facing  trains.  On 
-double  track,  therefore,  it  would  seem  desirable  that  trailing  switches 
should  work  automatically,  at  least  one  way ;  that  is,  when  wrongly  set  for 
main-track  trains.  For  single  track  greatest  safety  can  be  rrad-only  by 
the  use  of  a  switch  point  lock  for  the  main-track  position  of  the  switch. 
This  arrangement  renders  unserviceable  any  automatic  device  •  for  trains 
trailing  out  of  the  side-track  when  the  switch  is  set  for  main  track;  but  it 
is  no  hindrance  to  the  automatic  throwing  of  the  switch  when  wrongly 
set  for  trains  trailing  through  it  on  main  track.  Hence  there  is  some  util- 
ity in  using  a  Lorenz  spring,  spring  connecting  rod  or  automatic  stand  with 
a  switch  point  lock.  Next  best  to  this  arrangement  is  a  Lorenz  spring 
or  automatic  stand  rigidly  connected  for  the  main-track  position ;  that  is, 
adjustable  only  for  the  side-track  position.  For  double-track  trailing 
switches  some  form  of  automatic  stand  which  has  positive  or  rigid  engage- 
ment of  the  hand  lever  with  the  point  rails  in  hand  operation  is  undoubt- 
edly preferable.  This  form  of  automatic  stand  is  preferable  to  the  auto- 
matic switch  spring  connected  both  ways,  because  it  does  not  permit  of 
being  locked  until  the  point  has  been  thrown  entirely  home  against  the 
stock  rail. 

The  argument  against  the  use  of  a  spring  connection  or  automatic  ar- 
rangement for  the  main- track  position  of  the  switch,  on  single  track,  is 
not  entirely  one  sided,  for  if  an  engine  is  run  out  of  a  side-track  through 
a  rigidly-connected  switch  set  in  the  wrong  position  the  injury  to  the  points 
or  the  connections  may  leave  the  switch  in  dangerous  condition  for  fac- 
ing trains;  and  the  fear  is  that  an  engine  crew  might  do  this  and  depart 
without  stopping  to  examine  the  condition  of  the  switch ;  in  fact  such  cases 
are  on  record.  But  in  the  use  of  the  automatic  stand  or  a  spring  connec- 
tion for  facing-point  switches  there  is  (whether  justly  founded  or  not)  wide- 
spread distrust  in  the  integrity  of  any  clutch  or  spring  device  to  hold  the 
points  firmly  to  their  place.  Should  the  spring  break  or  become  weak- 
ened through  service,  it  is  thought,  and  actually  asserted  as  having  oc- 
curred, that  the  points  after  having  been  automatically  thrown  may  chance 
to  remain  partly  open,  which,  under  some  circumstances,  would  be  the 
most  dangerous  position  possible;  it  is  also  possible  for  the  same  condition, 
to  result  from  excessive  wear  of  clutches.  At  any  rate  the  use  of  auto- 
matic stands  for  facing-point  switches  is  considered  among  trackmen  a  de- 
batable question.  For  facing-point  switches  on  double  track  a  switch-point 
lock  is  undoubtedly  a  desirable  arrangement,  whether  an  automatic  stand  or 
spring  connection  is  used  with  it  or  not. 

Where  a  car  or  train  has  trailed  through  a  non-automatic  or  rigidly- 
connected  point  switch  set  the  wrong  way,  the  switch  should  be  looked 
after  immediately,  because  the  points,  or  the  connection  with  them,  will 
usually  be  found  loosened  to  an  extent  which  leaves  the  switch  in  a  dan- 
gerous condition  for  facing  trains.  The  tie  rod  clips  should  be  closely  ex- 
amined to  see  whether  they  are  bent,  as  if  they  are  they  will  permit 
the  point  rails  to  cant  out  of  their  proper  position  against  the  stock  rails. 
The  switch  stand  also  should  be  carefully  inspected,  and  particularly  with 
reference  to  the  crank  of  the  main  shaft,  as  any  bending  of  the  same  out 
of  its  proper  shape  necessarily  changes  the  throw  of  the  stand.  The  con- 


102 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND  APPLIANCES 


necting  rod  should  also  be  carefully  inspected  with  reference  to  any  bend- 
ing from  the  original  shape.  The  bending  of  a  straight  rod  shortens  the 
distance  between  its  end  connections,  and  the  straightening  of  a  rod  crooked 
at  some  part  (as  connecting  rods  frequently  are)  lengthens  the  distance 
between  its  end  connections,  in  either  of  which  cases  the  throw  of  the  switch 
may  be  considerably  changed.  The  extent  of  such  damage  may,  of  course, 
be  ascertained  by  throwing  the  switch. 

On  some  roads  automatic  switches  or  stands  are  used  in  yards  but  not 
on  main  track.  Such  practice  is  explained  by  a  fear  concerning  the  en- 
tire reliability  of  such  devices  in  high-speed  tracks,  but  with  a  view  to 
avoid  damage  to  switch  points  where  a  great  deal  of  switching  is  being 
done  at  slow  speed,  and  where  trainmen  are  frequently  more  or  less  care- 
less. It  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  for  trainmen  working  on  yard  tracks  to 
trail  a  train  against  rigidly  connected  point  switches  wrongly  set.  Of  course 
such  is  bad  discipline,  but  these  matters  are  not  under  the  control  of  the 
track  department,  and  for  this  reason  some  roadmasters  find  that  thev 
can  avoid  a  good  deal  of  trouble  by  using  spring  devices  with  their  split 


9"  6W6f/7'fro<?)  same  as  9'  72-/ti 
Present  Width  of f/anqemi/s  Adopted /895 


Fig.  157  A. — Standard  Frog  and  Turnout  Measurements,  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry. 

switches  in  yards.  As  an  instance,  I  have  official  information  of  a  Ramapo 
switch  stand  used  in  a  yard  on  a  switch  that  is  trailed  in  the  wrong  posi- 
tion habitually.  The  engines  or  cars  throw  the  points  automatically,  and 
the  switch  has  been  used  in  this  manner  for  more  than  five  years,  without 
any  trouble. 

69.  Laying  Point-Switch  Turnouts, — For  laying  point  switches 
originally — that  is,  when  they  are  not  being  laid  to  replace  stub  switches — 
a  little  calculation  will  enable  one  to  fix  upon  a  standard  frog  angle  or 
length  of  frog  which  will  give  the  proper  lead  without  cutting  any  rail.  In 
fthis  respect  the  point  switch  has  many  advantages  over  the  stub  switch, 
since  there  are  no  joints  to  calculate  upon  meeting  exactly.  The  only  dif- 
ficulty to  be  guarded  against  is  that  of  meeting  a  joint  the  inside  splice 
bar  of  which  might  interfere  with  the  throwing  of  the  point  rails,  or  pos- 
sibly of  having  a  joint  come  too  near  the  bend  in  the  stock  rail.  Usually, 
a  frog  numbered  somewhere  between  9  and  10 — depending  upon  the  length 
of  the  frog,  the  length  of  the  points  and  the  spread  at  the  heel — will  re- 
quire a  lead  such  that,  in  either  square  or  broken-jointed  track,  by  taking 
out  three  30-ft.  rails  on  the  frog  side,  the  frog,  two  30-ft.  rails  an<3.  the 
points  may  be  connected  and  put  down  to  bring  no  joint  to  interfere. with 


LAYING    POINT-SWITCH    TURNOUTS  403 

the  point  rails  or  the  bent  rail.  More  attention  is  being  given  to  the  matter 
of  avoiding  the  cutting  of  rails  than  was  formerly  the  case.  On  the  Chi- 
cago &  Northwestern  By.  the  angles  of  the  frogs  or  the  lengths  of  the  same 
are  so  calculated  that  closure  rails  of  convenient  length  will  fit  into  the 
leads  without  cutting — in  ordinary  cases  30-ft.  rails  are  used.  The  data 
of  these  frogs  and  the  lead  measurements  are  contained  in  Fig.  157 A.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  no  two  frogs  of  different  number  are  of  the  same  length. 
Sometimes  by  using  a  fish  plate  inside  at  the  joint,  instead  of  an  angle  bar, 
or  by  cutting  off  the  lower  leg  of  the  angle  bar,  a  joint  otherwise  too  close 
becomes  not  bothersome.  To  trim  off  the  horizontal  part  of  an  angle  bar, 
notch  the  bar  along  the  angle  with  a  track  chisel,  as  in  preparing  to  cut  a 
rail,  lay  the  angle  bar  over  a  rail,  angle  up,  and  strike  the  vertex  with  a 
sledge  hammer.  Whenever  it  is  feasible  to  do  so  it  is  well  to  have  the  point 
rails  break  joints  with  the  through  rail  and  stock  rail.  The  roadmaster 
who  starts  out  laying  his  turnouts  to  some  standard,  will  save  himself  much 
trouble  in  later  years. 

The  rails  on  the  side  opposite  the  frog  need  not  be  disturbed  at  all. 
After  the  location  of  the  frog  has  been  determind  upon  and  the  switch 
ties  have  been  put  in,  the  guard  rail  in  main  track  opposite  the  frog  may 
be  laid.  Next,  the  frog,  point  rails  already  connected,  the  intervening  lead 
rails  and  the  bent  or  stock  rail  must  all  go  in  at  the  same  time.  By  tak- 
ing measurement  the  bent  rail  can  be  made  ready  beforehand.  A  sure  and 
accurate  way  of  taking  these  measurements  is  to  place  the  frog,  the  point 
rails  and  the  intervening  rails  end  to  end  at  the  side  of  the  main  rails, 
in  the  order  they  are  to  come  when  the  turnout  is  completed,  and  mark 
the  desired  points  on  the  track  rails  with  a  chisel.  The  bend  in  the  stock 
rail  is  best  made  sharply,  with  a  jim-crow,  and  it  should  correspond  to 
the  angle  of  the  point  rails.  This  completes  the  order  of  the  main-track 
part  of  the  work.  The  turnout  rails  may  be  laid  when  it  comes  most  con- 
venient. -Until  the  stand  is  connected  no  train  should  be  allowed  to  pass  the 
points  without  first  spiking  them  to  place,  and  to  make  secure  for  trains 
that  come  facing  they  should  be  braced  temporarily  with  angle  bars  or 
blocks  of  wood  spiked  to  the  ties.  The  headblock  may  be  put  in  either 
before  or  after  the  point  rails,  but  it  is  usually  placed  along  with  the  switch 
ties.  Regarding  the  remainder  of  the  work  the  same  rules  and  practice 
apply  as  when  laying  a  stub-switch  turnout. 

70.  Changing  Stub  Switch  to  Point  Switch. — Before  doing  any- 
thing at  all  toward  substituting  a  point  switch  for  a  stub  switch  it  should 
first  be  ascertained  whether  the  old  switch  stand  is  going  to  throw  right  for 
the  point  rails;  if  not,  a  stand  of  proper  throw  should  be  provided.  Up 
to  and  including  a  No.  10  frog,  the  toe  "of  the  stub  switch  may  be  used 
for  the  heel  of  the  point  switch  with  the  same  frog,  by  changing  slightly 
the  curvature  of  the  turnout  rails.  All  that  need  be  done,  then,  besides 
altering  the  curvature,  is  to  change  the  headblock  to  its  proper  place  under 
the  point  rails  and  to  connect  the  point  rails  to  the  old  stub  lead  rails. 
The  point  rail  on  the  frog  side  is  spliced  to  the  main-track  lead  rail  and  the 
other  point  rail  to  the  turnout  lead  rail.  The  old  moving  rail  on  the  side 
opposite  the  frog  is  spliced  at  the  old  toe  joint,  forming  the  through  rail, 
while  the  other  moving  rail  is  made  the  bent  rail,  or  is  replaced  by  a  bent 
rail,  which  is  then  spliced  to  the  turnout  rail.  The  ties  which  were  used 
under  the  old  moving  rails  may  have  to  be  adzed  in  order  to  let  the  slide 
plates  under  the  point  rails,  or  they  may  have  to  be  rearranged  to  suit 
the  switch  rods,  or  new  ones  be  placed  in  their  stead. 

71.  Three-Throw  Switches.— A  "three-way"  or  "three-throw" 
switch  is  one  which  can  be  thrown  for  three  tracks.  The  combination  where 


404 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


such  a  switch,  is  used  is  sometimes  called  a  double  turnout.  It  affords  con- 
venience in  switching,  besides  a  saving  in  space,  labor  and  material.  There 
are  two  kinds :  one  having  turnouts  to  opposite  sides  of  the  main  track  and 
the  other  having  both  turnouts  to  the  same  side  of  main  track.  Where 
the  main  track  is  straight  and  the  turnouts  lead  to  opposite  sides  they  are 
usually  made  the  same  degree  of  curve,  and  consequently  frogs  of  the 
same  number  are  used  in  both,  in  order  that  they  may  be  placed  directly 
opposite  each  other.  The  inside  wing  rail  of  each  frog  then  acts  as  guard 
rail  for  the  other  frog.  Where  two  frogs  would  come  near  each  other  in 
opposite  sides  of  the  same  track  it  is  always  desirable  to  place  them  directly 
opposite,  rather  than  nearly  so,  because  if  they  are  not  opposite,  a 
guard  rail  must  be  provided  for  each,  which,  for  lack  of  room,  must 
neccessarily  be  short  and  insecure.  The  guard  rail  opposite  the  frog 
which  is  farther  from  the  headblock  may,  by  using  a  special  filler 
block,  be  bolted  on  to  form  an  extension  of  the  inside  wing  rail  of 
the  other  frog,  and  be  made  secure;  but  a  guard  rail  for  the  frog  nearest 
the  headblock  would  in  that  case  come  within  or  near  the  mouth  of  the 
opposite  frog,  where  it  would  be  either  impracticable  or  especially  unde- 
sirable. In  all  respects  regarding  distances  both  turnouts  are  the  same  as 
a  single  turnout  having  a  frog  of  the  given  number;  the  length  of  switch 
rail  is  the  same  and  the  lead  distance  is  the  same. 


Fig.  158.  Fig.  159. 

Where  the  two  outside  rails  of  both  turnouts  cross  each  other  a  third 
frog  (F",  Fig.  158)  is  needed.  It  is  called  the  "middle"  or  "crotch"  frog, 
and  its  legs  should  be  curved  to  fit  the  two  turnouts.  Its  number  is  always 
approximately  .707  times  the  number  of  the  main-track  frog.  Its  point  is 
located  in  the  middle  of  the  track  a  distance  (K  F")  from  the  toe  of  the 
(stub)  switch  which  is  found  by  multiplying  the  gage  by  1.414  times  the 
main-track  frog  number,  and  subtracting  from  this  product  (1.414  gn) 
the  length  of  switch  rail  for  the  same  frog  number.  It  is  thus  seen  that  the 
distance  from  heel  of  switch  to  point  of  crotch  frog  is  7  tenths  of  the  total 
lead,  and  the  distance  from  crotch  frog  to  main  frog  is  3  tenths  of  the 
total  lead,  or  2.82  X  frog  number.  The  crotch  frog  may  therefore  be 
spiked  to  place  at  any  time,  by  measurement,  and  the  lead  'rails  can  be 
cut  to  fit  in  with  it  afterward.  Where  no  frog  of  a  number  equal  to  .707 
times  the  number  of  F  or  F'  can  be  had,  a  frog  of  nearly  that  number  may 
be  used  and  the  turnout  curve  made  compound,  the  point  of  the  crotch 
frog  being  made  the  P.  C.  C.  Any  frog  having  an  angle  not  greater  than 
twice  the  angle  of  the  main-track  frog  will  answer,  but  the  lead  distances 
to  both  the  middle  and  main-track  frogs  will  in  that  case  not  be  the  same 
as  with  a  proper  middle  frog;  the  problem  becomes  more  complicated  and 
the  formulas  for  simple-curve  turnouts  cannot  be  applied.  In  the  prac- 
tice of  some  roads  the  standard  angle  or  number  for  yard  frogs  is  such  that 
these  frogs  may  be  used  as  crotch  frogs  for  the  standard  frogs  for  main 
track ;  as,  for  instance,  No.  7  and  No.  10  frogs  and  No.  6 J  and  No.  9  frog* 


THREE-THROW   SWITCHES  405 

go  well  together  for  this  purpose.  On  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe- 
Ky.  three  sizes  of  frogs  are  standard;  namely,  No.  9,  No.  6J  and  No.  4-J. 
No.  6-J  is  the  crotch  frog  for  main-line  double  turnouts,  where  the  main 
frogs  are  No.  9.  Where  No.  6J  frogs  are  used  in  double  turnouts  the 
crotch  frog  is  No.  4J. 

Where  both  turnouts  lead  from  the  same  side  of  straight  track  the 
frogs  (F,  F'  and  F",  Fig.  159)  remain  the  same  as  with  turnouts  leading 
from  opposite  sides:  F'  should  equal  F  in  angle  and  be  placed  directly 
opposite  to  it.  It  is  very  undesirable  to  have  it  unlike  F,  as  in  that  event 
it  could  not  be  placed  opposite  to  it,  the  objection  to  which  practice  has 
already  been  stated.  The  number  of  F"f  the  crotch  frog,  remains  .707 
times  the  number  of  the  main  frog  F  or  Ff  and,  instead  of  being  found  in 
the  middle  of  the  main  track,  as  before,  it  is  now  on  the  frog  rail  of  the 
main  track.  The  turnout  Z  may  then  be  considered  without  reference  ta 
turnout  X,  the  same  as  any  ordinary  turnout  from  the  main  track,  hav- 
ing a  frog  angle  F"  and  a  throw  twice  the  ordinary.  The  length  of  switch 
rail  for  Z  may  be  found  by  the  ordinary  formula  and  is  almost  identical 
with  the  switch  rail  for  X;  for,  while  the  radius  for  Z  is  practically  only 
half  (I  R  —  J  g)  that  for  X,  the  throw  is  twice  that  for  X  and  the  switch 
rails  for  the  two  turnouts  are  practically  equal  in  length.  The  greatest 
objection  to  a  three-throw  switch  of  this  kind  is  that  while  the  switch  rail 
for  the  second  turnout  is  required  to  be  no  longer  than  for  the  first,  it  must 
be  thrown  a  distance  great  in  proportion  to  its  length.  The  lead  distance 
(D  F")  of  the  crotch  frog  F",  from  the  headblock,  is  found  by  the  same 
formula,  that  would  be  used  for  any  turnout;  viz.,  2  gn"  minus  length 
of  switch  rail.  By  substitution,  2'gn"  will  be  found  equal  to  1.414  gny 
as  given  above.  The  location  of  the  point  of  F"  may  be  found  also  by 
trial.  Put  in  the  two  main  frogs  and  line  the  lead  rails  to  them.  The 
point  F"  is  found  on  the  main  track  gage  line  at  such  a  point  that -the 
distance  between  the  far  rail  of  the  main  track  and  the  far  rail  of  the 
turnout  is  twice  the  track  gage.  In  measuring,  the  tape  line  must,  of 
course,  be  held  squarely  across  both  tracks  at  the  same  time ;  which  means 
that  it  must  change  direction  at  the  middle.  All  such  fussing,  however, 
gives  more  trouble  than  to  find  the  location  by  computing  and  measuring 
off  the  proper  distance  from  the  headblock. 

The  consideration  of  X  and  Z  as  turnouts  from  the  same  side  is  only 
conventional,  for  if  we  consider  X  the  main  track  we  may  consider  Y  and  Z 
as  turnouts  from  the  opposite  sides  of  a  curve,  they  really  being  such. 
The  frog  F  being  of  such  number  as  will  require  from  straight  track  a 
turnout  of  curvature  equal  to  that  of  the  main  curve,  as  heretofore  ex- 
plained for  turnouts  from  curves,  the  turnout  Y,  being  against  the  curve, 
has  its  curvature  decreased  by  the  main  curvature  and  becomes  straight 
track ;  while  the  turnout  Z}  having  a  frog  of  the  same  number  and  turning 
with  the  curve,  has  its  curvature  increased  by  the  main  curvature,  or 
doubled.  So  the  problem  of  turnouts  from  opposite  sides  of  a  curve  is 
identical  with  that  of  turnouts  from  opposite  sides  of  straight  track,  at 
least  so  far  as  regards  the  relation  between  middle  and  main  frog  num- 
bers and  lead  distances. 

In  case  the  number  of  F"  is  not  .707  times  the  number  of  F,  and  the 
curve  for  turnout  Z  is  compounded  at  F",  the  lead  distance  for  F"  and  the 
curvature  as  far  as.  F"  would  be  found  in  the  same  way  as  for  a  single 
turnout.  The  determination  of  the  curvature  from  F"  to  Fe,  as  well  as  the 
location  of  Ff,  depends  upon  the  angle  of  F"  and  leads  to  problems  too 
lengthy  and  too  complicated  to  be  taken  up  here.  An  expert  trackman  could, 
after  lining  the  lead  rails  BF  and  BF",  locate  the  frog  F'  very  well  by  trial 


-iOG 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND  APPLIANCES 


by  keeping  its  point  at  proper  gage  distance  from  rail  BF  and  swinging  it 
with  reference  to  F"  until  the  relative  position  of  the  two  would  seem  to 
admit  of  a  suitable  curve.  But  such  problems  rarely  occur  and  ordinarily 
their  solution  should  be  left  to  the  engineer. 

By  going  a  little  farther  and  providing  a  double  set  of  moving  rails, 
a  third  turnout  (W,  Fig.  160),  turning  either  to  the  right  or  to  the  left, 
may  be  put  in  facing  the  other  way,  the  rails  EF  and  Gil  serving  as  its 
moving  rails  and  all  being  thrown  by  one  switch  stand.  The  moving  rails 
EF  and  GH  may  have  their  own  switch  rods  independently  of  the  rods 
for  AB  and  CD,  ordinary  rods  being  used.  In  order  to  throw  both  sets  of 
moving  rails  together  they  may  be  fitted,  on  one  side,  near  the  .headblock, 
with  a  filler  block  of  wood  or  iron  and  bolted  together;  or  a  double  head 
rod,  like  the  one  shown  in  the  figure,  may  serve  both  sets  of  moving  rails. 
The  two  sets  combined  are  not  so  stiff  that  they  cannot  be  thrown  by  an 


Fig.  160. — Double-Ended  Turnout. 

ordinary  switch  stand;  but  to  add  another  pair  to  serve  an  additional  turn- 
out opposite  to  W,  facing  the  same  way,  would  probably  make  a  switch  too 
hard  to  throw  in  the  ordinary  manner.  A  three-throw  stand  will  not  throw 
the  rails  EF  and  GH  to  the  track  Z.  Ordinary  three-throw  headshoes  with 
the  lugs  knocked  off  answer  for  this  switch.  In  case  turnout  Z  was  omit- 
ted the  same  arrangement  of  moving  rails  would  still  serve  the  tracks  W,  X 
and  F;  that  is,  two  turnouts  from  the  same  side  facing  in  opposite  direc- 
tions; or  if  X  was  omitted  there  would  be  two  turnouts  facing  in  opposite 
directions  and  turning  from  opposite  sides.  The  figure  thus  serves  to  show 
in  how  many  different  ways  two  sets  of  moving  rails  may  be  made  to  do 
service,  as  where  space  is  wanting  or  where  convenience  may  be  gained, 
and  by  using  nothing  more  than  ordinary  stub  switch  material.  The  ends 
F  and  H  of  the  moving  rails  when  thrown  for  turnout  W  are  at  the  point  of 
curve.  In  order  to  save  room  a  switch  like  the  one  shown  in  Fig.  160  was 
laid  by  the  writer  several  years  ago,  and  was  successfully  operated,  being  in 
main  track,  at  the  entrance  to  a  yard,  where  it 'was  used  many  times  each 
day. 

Three-Throw  Point  Switches. — There  are  various  arrangements  for 
operating  three-throw  point  switches.  Figure  161  shows  one  operated  by 
two  stands  on  the  same  headblock.  There  are  two  sets  of  point  rails,  CY 


Fig.  161. — Three-Throw  Point  Switch. 


THREE-THROW   SWITCHES 


407 


and  BX,.  each  held  together  by  rods  independently  of  the  other.  The 
rods  for  the  set  BX  are  marked  b,  ~b,  etc.,  and  those  for  CY,  a,  a,  etc.  The  set 
CY  is  operated  by  the  rod  E,  and  the  set  BX  by  the  rod  R' '.  The  stock  Tails 
A  and  Z  are  both  bent,  when  the  turnouts  lead  to  opposite  sides ;  but  when 
they  lead  to  the  same  side  only  one  of  them  is  bent.  By  sighting  along 
the  plane  of  the  paper,  either  facing  or  trailing  the  switch,  the  illustra- 
tions will  appear  much  clearer  to  the  reader.  The  switch  is  now  set  for 
the  main  track  BY.  By  pushing  on  the  rod  R,  the  points  CY  only  will 
be  moved,  placing  C  against  B  and  setting  the  points  for  the  turnout  CZ. 
To  set  the  switch  for  the  track  AX  the  points  BX  are  pulled  over  by  the 
rod  R',  so  that  point  X  is  against  Y  when  Y  is  set  for  main  track.  It  will 
be  seen,  then,  that  before  either  set  of  points  can  be  thrown  for  its  turn- 
out, the  other  set  must  be  placed  in  the  position  which  it  would  have  for 
the  main  or  middle  track;  and  that  when  set  for  main  track,  use  is  made 
of  one  point  rail  of  each  set.  The  action  is  like  that  of  the  three-throw 
stub  switch,  in  that,  while  throwing  from  one  outside  track  to  the  other 
outside  track,  the  switch  must  first  be  thrown  to  or  by  the  position  for  the 
middle  track — except  that  in  this  case  it  must  be  done  with  two  stands 
instead  of  one.  Both  rods  R  and  E'  may  be  operated  from  the  same  side, 
or  each  may  be  operated  by  its  own  stand  placed  on  either  side  of  the  track. 
It  avoids  confusion,  however,  and  it  is  considered  better  in  many  ways,  to 
have  two  headblocks,  with  the  switch  points  widely  removed  from  each 


Fig.  162. — Tandem  Point  Switches. 

other,  arranged  in  tandem,  as  shown  in  outline  in  Fig.  162.  The  point 
of  switch  for  track  CZ  is  just  in  rear  of  the  heel  of  the  points  BX,  so 
that  the  ends  of  the  points  CY  nicely  clear  the  splices.  In  order  that  the 
frogs  in  the  main  or  middle  track  may  be  placed  opposite  each  other  their 
angles  must  be  such  that  their  proper  lead  distances  shall  vary  by  the 
distance  heel  to  heel  of  switch  points.  This  scheme,  like  the  other,  is  a  com- 
bination of  single  turnouts,  the  arrangement  serving  the  purpose  of  a  three- 
throw  switch  only  as  regards  saving  of  room  and  material.  The  switch 
points  cannot  be  made  to  interfere  with  each  other,  as  in  the  case  of 
two  stands  operating  on  the  same  headblock.  Should  it  be  desired  to  use 
the  turnout  AX,  it  matters  not  what  is  the  position  of  the  points  for  the 
turnout  CZ,  but  in  order  to  use  the  turnout  CZ,  the  switch  for  turnout  AX 
must  first  be  set  in  the  normal  position.  In  tandem  split  switches  the  front 
set  of  points  is  sometimes  15  ft.  in  length,  with  a  rear  set  10  ft.  long.  As 
with  stub  switches,  so  with  split  switches,  both  turnouts  may  lead  to  the 
same  side  of  main  track,  the  crotch  frog  then  coming  on  the  main  rail, 
as  in  Fig.  159. 

The  true  three-throw  point  switch  is  that  where  both  sets  of  point? 
are  operated  by  one  stand,  those  previously  mentioned  being  really  two 
switches  separately  operated.  The  Weir  three-throw  switch  stand  and  the 
way  it  is  connected  to  the  switch  points  is  shown  in  Fig.  163.  The  con- 
necting rods  have  projecting  pins  which  follow  in  a  groove  cut  in  a  cylin- 


408 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND  APPLIANCES 


drical  shell  or  barrel  turned  by  the  hand  lever.  The  groove  is  so  arranged 
on  the  cylinder  that,  as  the  lever  is  thrown  either  way  from  the  central  or 
upright  position,  one  rod  is  held  still  while  the  other  is  moved,  and  vice 
versa.  The  lever  has  a  spring  locking  bar  which  fits  into  notches  on  the 
semi-circular  locking  plate,  the  same  being  part  of  the  housing  of  the 
stand.  The  Hasty  three-throw  switch  stand  is  shown  in  Figs.  164  and 
165.  The  levers  which  throw  the  two  connecting  rods  are  operated  by  a 
cam  arrangement  which,  through  a  certain  range  of  the  motion  of  the 
lever,  can  throw  one  of  the  rods  without  moving  the  other;  while  through 
the  remainder  of  its  range  of  motion,  it  throws  the  other  without  moving 
the  first.  Spring  connection  may  be  had  with  three-throw  point  switches 
the  same  as  with  ordinary  switch  points.  If  a  switch  rod  or  bridle  plate 
is  not  used  to  hold  the  stock  rails  to  gage  at  the  point  of  switch  the  stock 
rails  should  be  well  braced  on  several  ties,  to  take  the  pull  of  the  two 
connecting  rods.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  adjustment  of  the  point*  rails 
some  switch  manufacturers  are  now  making  three-throw  point  switches 
with  all  tie  rods  adjustable. 

In  these  point-switch  double  turnouts  the  lead  distance  for  main- 
track  frogs,  and  other  measurements,  are  those  heretofore  given  for  point 
switches,  according  to  the  number  of  the  frog  used,  the  same  as  in  single 
turnouts.  The  number  of  the  middle  or  crotch  frog,  where  the  two  points 
are  thrown  on  one  headblock,  is  always  greater  than  .707  times  the 
main-track  frog  number,  and  is  given  in  Tables  XIII  and  XIV.  The 
angle  of  this  middle  frog  (F")  is  found  by  the  formula 

19 

cos  P"'=cos  F-\  --  , 
#+i<7 

where  R  is  the  radius  of  the  center  line  of  the  turnout  curve.  The  num- 
ber corresponding  to  the  angle  is  found  by  the  well-known  formula 

n"=i  cot  $F" 

The  lead  distance  from  headblock  to  point  of  middle  frog  is  not  the 
same  as  it  is  with  three-throw  stub  switches,  but  is  equal  to 


'where  g  is  the  gage  of  the  track;  li,  the  spread  at  the  heel;  F"s  the  mid- 
dle frog  angle  ;  P,  the  switch  angle  ;  and  p,  the  length  of  the  switch  point. 


Fig.  163.— Weir  3-Throw  Point  Switch  and  Stand.    Fig.  164. — Hasty  Triple  Stand. 


THREE-THROW   SWITC 1IES 


409 


Fig.  165. — Three-Throw  Split  Switch  with  Hasty  Stand. 

Where  two  points  are  thrown  from  different  headb locks.,  as  in  Fig.  162, 
the  angle  of  the  middle  frog  and  its  position  can  be  computed  by  co- 
ordinate geometry.  Obviously  it  will  not  be  placed  in  the  middle  of  the 
main  track,  but  a  few  inches  from  the  middle  and  toward  that  side  of  the 
track  which  has  the  frog  of  lesser  angle.  The  most  rapid  and  most  sat- 
isfactory method  of  determining  the  location  of  these  points  and  the  crotch 
frog  angle  is  to  lay  out  the  turnouts  on  the  draughting  board  to  as  large 
scale  as  is  convenient.  Measurements  scaled  off  such  a  drawing  will  be 
accurate  enough.  Lengths  of  switch  ties  also  can  most  conveniently  be  had 
from  this  drawing,  and  also  the  position  'of  the  mark  on  each  tie  which 
corresponds  to  the  center  of  the  main  track.  Mr.  A.  Torrey's  book,  "Switch 
Layouts,"  gives  data  for  a  large  number  of  pieces  of  special  work  of  this 
kind  and  affords  a  convenient  and  valuable  reference. 

Three  Tracks  on  Four  Rails. — There  is  a  special  arrangement  of  tracks 
used  to  some  extent  on  ore  and  coal  docks  which  requires  a  three-throw 
switch.  In  order  to  spot  cars  to  best  advantage  for  dumping  into  the 
pockets,  four  rails  are  laid  over  the  dock  about  4  ft.  11  ins.  apart  c.  to  c. 
or  4  ft.  8J  ins.  apart  in  the  clear,  between  heads,  as  shown  in  Fig.  166. 
The  four  rails  thus  stand  to  gage  for  three  tracks,  and  the  arrangement  for 
shifting  cars  from  the  middle  track  to  the  track  at  either  side,  or  vice 
versa,  consists  of  a  special  double  turnout  with  a  three-throw  switch  and 
small-angle  frogs  in  the  middle  track.  The  turnout  shown,  which  is  in 
service  on  the  Duluth  &  Iron  Range  R.  R.,  has  two  No.  25  spring-rail 
frogs  and  a  No.  4r|  crotch  frog.  The  right  and  left  leads  from  the  three- 
throw  switch  turn  out  by  14-deg.  curves,  which  are  reversed  at  the  heel  of 
the  crotch  frog,  into  15J-deg.  curves  as  far  as  the  heel  of  the  spring  frog 
in  the  main  or  middle  track.  The  frogs  (Fig.  .167)  have  been  styled  "sin- 
gle-pointed," which  term  has  reference  to  the  construction  of  the  point 
piece  of  the  frog,  by  planing  a  single  piece  of  rail  to  a  point  instead  of  join- 
ing two  pieces  of  rail  together,  as  in  ordinary  practice. 

72.  The  Lap  Switch. — Figure  169  shows  the  Elliot  lap  switch.  In 
a  general  way  it  differs  from  the  stub  switch  only  in  having  the  ends  of  the 
moving  and  stub  rails  beveled  so  as  to  lap  a  few  inches  by  each  other  on 
the  heaclshoe.  For  strength,  the  ends  of  the  stub  rails  are  flared  and  tho 
web  is  retained  on  the  beveled  portion,  the  bevel  being  formed  by  planing 
off  one  side  of  the  head  and  base.  The  ends  of  the  fixed  rails  are  bolted 
together  through  filling  blocks  which  restrict  the  creeping  of  the  moving 


410 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


Tails  to  a  safe  limit.  The  switch  was  designed  to  overcome  one  of  the  ob- 
jections raised  to  the  stub  switch  due  to  the  running  of  the  rails  from  ex- 
pansion, contraction  or  creeping  of  the  steel.  The  switch  rails  are  some- 
times rendered  immovable  from  running  tight  together,  and  sometimes  the 
joint  is  too  wide  from  contraction  in  a  cold  day.  The  lap  switch  provides 
a  continuous-bearing  rail  regardless  of  a  moderate  amount  of  running,  and 
saves  a  good  deal  of  work  at  tamping  headblocks,  especially  in  yard  tracks 
that  are  not  well  ballasted.  In  yards,  where  the  tracks  are  much  cut  up 
by  switches  and  excessive  contraction  cannot  occur  it  would  be  well  to  use 

nnnnnnnnnnnnnn 


u  LJ  u 

Fig.  169.— Elliot  Lap  Switch. 

a  spring  connecting  rod  with  this-  switch,  to  keep  the  beveled  ends  of  the 
rails  in  contact  and  prevent  strain  on  the  connecting  rod  when  the  'rails 
expand. 

73.  The  Wharton  Switch. — The  only  switch  wherein  both  main- 
track  rails  remain  unbroken  is  the  Wharton  or  "lifting"  switch.  Except 
when  thrown  for  the  siding  it  stands  entirely  clear  of  main  track.  In  Fig. 
170,  which  shows  diagrammatically  the  old  form*  of  Wharton  switch,  A 
and  B  represent  two  moving  rails  connected  together  like  the  split  rails  of 
a  point  switch,  the  rods  connecting  them  being  bent  to  pass  under  the  main- 
track  rail  H .  The  rail  B  was  formerly  a  grooved  rail,  but  is  now  usually 
made  a  split  or  point  rail.  The  outside  switch  rail  A  is  an  ordinary  T-rail 
bent  in  a  vertical  plane.  Both  switch  rails  rest  on  a  series  of  graduated 
iron  blocks,  called  "elevation  castings,"  which  rise  gradually  from  the  point 
of  switch  so  that  about  3J  it.  therefrom  they  are  If  or  2  ins.  higher  than 
the  main  rails.  In  passing  through  the  switch  the  wheels  are  thus  lifted 
so  that  their  flanges  clear  the  rail  H  in  passing  across  it.  The  elevation 
castings  are  continued  behind  the  heel  of  the  switch  to  gradually  slope 
the  turnout  rails  down  to  a  direct  bearing  on  the  ties.  In  one  form  of  this 
switch  the  shaft  Z),  which  operates  the  rails  B  and  A,  extends  back  and 
operates  also  the  automatic  trip  rail  C.  This  device  is  an  ordinary  guard 
rail  with  one  end  pivoted  to  an  iron  chair  at  K,  while  the  other  end  is 
moved  in  against  the  main  rail  II  when  the  switch  is  thrown  for  the  turn- 
out. By  this  arrangement  the  switch,  if  -wrongly  set  for  a  train  trailing 
it  on  main  track,  is  thrown  automatically  by  the  crowding  of  the  wheel 
flanges  against  the  guard  rail  which,  through  its  connection  with  the  shaft 


"    SECTION  AT  U  H    W1ICN  SET  KOI!  TUHHOUT 

Fig.  170.— Diagram  of  Old  Wharton  Switch. 


THE  WHAETON  SWITCH 


411 


D,  throws  the  moving  rails.  In  yards  the  shaft  need  only  be  held  by  a 
weighted  lever  E.  For  a  main  track  switch  the  lever,  if  set  wrongly  for 
main  track,  would  not  in  all  probability  be  locked ;  in  case  it  was,  however, 
a  train  trailing  through  the  switch  would  break  or  bend  the  elevated  rail 
A  or  its  connection  to  ~D,  but  would  not  be  derailed.  In  case  the  switch 
(old  style)  was  wrongly  set  for  a  train  coming  out  of  the  turnout  the 
wheels,  after  leaving  the  switch  rails,  were  caught  by  the  safety  guard  rails 
F  and  G  and  so  guided  that  they  dropped  to  place  on  the  main  rails.  Sec- 
tions of  these  guard  rails  are  shown  in  the  figure.  The  guard  F  is  tho 
same  hight  as  the  main  track  rail  throughout  its  whole  length,  -except  for 
a  few  inches  near  the  end  next  to  switch  rail  A,  where  it  is  sloped  down 
about  1£  ins.  The  inner  side  of  G  has  a  rib  which,  as  it  leaves  the  rail  BJ 
gradually  approaches  nearer  the  main-track  rail  L.  This  rib  and  the 


H 


); 


412 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


sloping  side  easily  move  the  wheel  over  to  place,  which  of  course  acts  ta 
pull  over  the  opposite  wheel.    The  guard  G  should  be  well  braced. 

The  improved  Wharton  switch  is  made  entirely  of  T-rail  and  is  usu- 
ally about  18  ft.  long.  Figure  171  shows  the  form  used  on  the  Cleveland,. 
Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  ("Big  Four")  Ry.  Instead  of  the  grooved 
rail  a  guarded  point  rail  forms  that  side  of  the  switch.  This  serves  to 
prevent  the  wheel  flanges  on  the  opposite  side  from  riding  the  main  rail. 
In  place  of  the  catch  guards  (F  and  6r),  described  in  connection  with  the 
previous  figure,  two  plain  guard  rails  are  employed.  That  at  the  end  of 
the  point  rail  is  intended  to  form  a  continuation  of  the  guard  bolted  to  the- 
point  rail ;  that  on  the  opposite,  or  frog,  side  makes  it  certain  that  when  a 
train  is  entering  the  turnout  the  wheel  treads  overlap  the  main  rail  far 
enough  to  catch  the  outside  switch  rail.  It  also  guards  wheels  trailing  out 
of  the  switch  while  they  are  coming  down  off  the  high  rail  and  relieves  the 


THE  WHARTON  SWITCH 


413 


-main  rail  on  the  opposite  side  from  side  pressure.  It  is  evident  that  this 
arrangement,  unlike  the  catch  guards,  will  not  prevent  the  derailment  of  a 
train  running  out  of  the  siding  through  an  open  switch.  The  movable 
.guard  or  automatic  trip  rail  is  not  always  used.  As  used  in  Austria,  the 
point  rail  is  made  shorter  than  the  outside  switch  rail,  and  the  latter  ex- 
tends farther  ahead  on  the  track.  When  a  wheel  is  coming  out  of  the 
switch  the  guard  rail  at  the  end  of  the  point  rail  is  thus  enabled  to  hold 
it  (the  wheel)  before  it  leaves  the  outside  switch  rail.  By  duplicating  the 
.parts  for  opposite  rails  the  Wharton  switch  is  made  three-throw.  _ 

Owing  to  its  bulkiness  and  its  cost  the  Wharton  switch  has  never  come 
into  what  may  be  termed  general  use.  For  shunting  or  flying  in  cars 
rapidly  it  is  not  as  satisfactory  as  the  point  or  the  stub  switch ;  and  in  fact 
derailments  have  happened  to  trains  coming  out  of  the  switch  at  speed 
which  would  have  been  safe  over  a  point  or  stub  switch.  It  has,  however, 
long  been  in  use  on  a  few  roads,  and  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  its 
.superiority  to  all  others  in  point  of  safety  to  trains  on  main  line.  For 
outlying  turnouts  infrequently  used,  especially  at  high-speed  points,  it  is 
unquestionably  the  best.  As  the  switch  has  no  contact  with  the  main  line 
when  not  in  use  it  is  subject  to  but  very  litle  wear,  and  the  main-track 
.rails  are  free  to  expand  in  either  direction  without  fouling  the  switch  rails 
or  shoving  the  switch  rods  .against  the  ties.  It  is  therefore  an  economical 


Set    for    Siding. 


Set    for   Main   Line. 


Fig.  172 — Mac  Pherson  Switch,  Canadian  Pacific  Ry. 

switch  to  maintain,  so  far  as  attention  and  cost  of  repairs  are  considered. 
For  turnouts  from  the  outside  of  curves,  where  it  is  particularly  undesir- 
able to  break  the  rail,  the  Wharton  switch  is  the  remedy,  and  is  frequently 
recommended  for  such  locations.  For  many  years  previous  to  1901  this 
was  the  standard  switch  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Ky.,  and  was  used  on  the 
whole  length  of  the  road.  It  is  now  in  use  to  at  least  some  extent  on  a 
goodly  number  of  roads,  being  the  standard  switch  on  the  Mexican  Central 
Ky.,  the  standard  switch  for  main  track  on  the  Plant  System,  and  one  of 
the  standard  switches  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis, 
the  Delaware,  Lacka wanna  &  Western,  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West  and 
other  roads. 

The  underlying  principle  of  the  Wharton  switch  is  so  sound  that  several 
modifications  of  the  device  have  been  adopted  in  the  practice  of  late  years. 
An  interesting  example  of  this  kind  is  the  MacPherson  switch,  designed  by 
Mr.  Duncan  MacPherson,  division  engineer  with  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ky. 


SWITCHING  AEKANGEMENTS   AND  APPLIANCES 

Figure  172  shows  the  switch  in  both  the  open  and  closed  positions,  as  used  on 
this  road.  In  this  particular  instance  the  switch  is  used  with  a  MacPherson 
frog  (Fig.  94),  the  two  being  interlocked.  As  may  be  seen,  the  switch  is  con- 
structed on  the  Wharton  principle,  having  a  point  rail  on  one  side  of  the 
track  and  a  raised  switch  rail  sloped  at  the  end,  for  lifting  the  wheels  over 
the  main  rail  at  the  other  side  of  the  track.  As  used  on  this  road  the  con- 
necting rod  is  rigidly  attached  to  the  switch  in  ordinary  use,  but  in  case  the 
switch  is  set  the  wrong  way  for  a  trailing  train  the  forcing  of  the  points  will 
shear  a  split  pin  and  bring  a  spring  into  play,  so  that  the  points  are  not  dnm- 
aged  by  being  forced  open,  and  a  record  is  left  showing  that  the  switch  has 
been  improperly  used.  Eef  erring  to  Fig.  173,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  an 
adjustable  spiral  spring  coiled  about  the  connecting  rod,  one  end  of  the 
spring  being  attached  to  a  lug  held  to  the  connecting  rod  by  jam-nuts  and 
the  other  end  to  a  turned-up  end  of  the  head  switch  rod.  The  end  of  the 
connecting  rod  projects  through  the  turned-up  end  of  switch  rod  No.  1 
and  terminates  in  a  flat  piece  -Jxf  x3  ins.  long.  Through  this  flat  terminal 
there  is  a  f-in.  pin  which,  in  the  ordinary  condition  of  affairs,  holds  the 
connecting  rod  and  the  head  switch  rod  in  rigid  connection,  and  the  spring 
does  not  come  into  service.  When,  however,  the  points  are  forced  aside  by 
trailing  wheels  the  pin  is  sheared  and  the  points  are  forced  open  against 


/-<?"  —  JL  ---- 


Fig.  173. — Spring  Connection  of  the   MacPherson   Switch. 

the  tension  of  the  spring,  which  then  serves  to  return  the  points  to  their 
original  position  after  the  wheels  have  passed.  The  engraving  also  shows 
a  section  of  the  switch  rails  opposite  the  switch  stand.  The  two  inner 
rails  are  guard  rails,  the  56-lb.  rail  being  attached  to  the  point  rail  and  the 
other  guard  rail  being  set  so  as  to  hold  the  wheels  well  over  toward  the  slop- 
ing switch  rail  (see  also  Fig.  172).  This  sloped  rail,  which  serves  to  ele- 
vate the  wheels  opposite  the  point  rail,  is  reinforced  by  a  f-in.  strap,  as 
shown.  As  used  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ey.,  these  switches  are  laid  in 
ordinary  main-line  turnouts  but  not  at  junction  points  or  in  turnouts  where 
the  siding  is  used  as  frequently  as  main  line.  They  are  also  in  service  on 
numerous  other  roads,  among  which  are  the  Boston  &  Maine,  the  St.  Law- 
rence &  Adirondack,  the  Southern  Pacific,  and  the  Canada  Atlantic. 

74.  Derailing  Switches. — Where  the  grade  of  a  side-track  descends- 
toward  the  switch  it  is  unsafe  to  leave  cars  standing  upon  it  without  some 
reliable  means  to  prevent  them  from  running  out  and  fouling  main-line 
trains,  in  case  they  break  loose.  Under  favorable  conditions  cars  might  be 
expected  to  sta'rt  unaided  on  a  grade  of  about  four-tenths  of  one  per  cent, 
but  wind  will  start  cars  down  an  easier  grade,  and  heavy  wind  might. start 
them  on  the  level.  The  setting  'of  brakes  should  not  be  depended  upon  to 
hold  cars  that  are  left  alone;  and  so,  wherever  there  is  likelihood  that  cars 
on  side-track  may  start  from  gravity  or  be  blown  or  easily  pushed,  the  only 
safe  policy  is  to  provide  for  derailing  them  before  they  can  get  far  enough 
to  obstruct  main  track.  If  the  side-track  is  used  exclusively  as  a  passing  sid- 
ing the  rule  does  not  apply. 

A  derailing  switch  may  consist  of  a  single  moving  rail  connected  with 
a  switch  stand,  on  a  headblock ;  although  it  is  better.,  if  it  is  much  used,  to 
put  in  a  headshoe.  Sometimes  two  moving  rails  are  used,  the  same  as  in  a 
etub  switch.  One  moving  rail  is  all  that  is  required  to  derail  the  car,  but 


DERAILING    SWITCHES 


415 


the  use  of  two  facilitates  hauling  the  car  back  again.  The  lower  engraving 
of  Fig.  174  shows  the  derailing  switch  with  a  single  moving  rail  set  for 
derailing.  A  single  moving  rail  should  heel  toward  the  frog  and  the  rail 
should  be  thrown  inward,  as  shown  in  the  figure,  so  as  to  guide  the  wheels 
away  from  main  track.  In  side-tracks  it  is  placed  in  the  outer  rail,  or  the 
one  farthest  from  main  line.  In  the  derailing  position  it  should  be  backed 
by  a  few  rail  braces  near  the  end,  as  at  A  in  the  figure.  When  two  moving 
rails  are  used  they  may  heel  either  toward  the  frog  or  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, as  suits  convenience.  When  they  heel  toward  the  frog  they  should 
throw  inward,  but  when  they  heel  the  other  way  they  obviously  -should  throw 
outward. 

A  single  switch  point  with  a  bent  stock  'rail,  the  switch  point  heeling 
toward  the  frog  and  throwing  inward  for  derailment,  is  the  device  most 
extensively  used  for  a  derailing  switch,  being  the  usual  standard  for  main- 
track  derails  near  interlocked  crossings.  The  point  rail,  in  its  position  for 
derailment,  should  be  backed  by  two  or  three  rail  braces.  If  a  spring  con- 
necting rod  or  Lorenz  spring  be  used  with  the  point  rail,  as  appears  in  the 
upper  engraving  of  Fig.  174,  a  car  entering  the  side-track  may  pass  over 
the  point  in  the  open  position  without  breaking  it  or  the  connection. 
Switch  points  for  derails  may  be  made  more  blunt  (of  larger  angle)  than 
those  commonly  in  service  in  turnouts,  but  for  derails  in  side-tracks  old 
point  'rails  too  badly  worn  for  further  service  in  main  track  may  be  used. 
The  throw  of  the  stand  should  be  such  that  a  derailed  wheel  may  pass  be- 
tween the  point  and  stock  rails  without  spreading  them  apart.  At  the  heel 


Fig.  174. — Derailing  Switches. 

of  the  point  rail  the  nuts  of  the  splice  bolts  should  come  on  the  gage  side, 
There  have  been  numerous  instances  where  the  leading  derailed  wheels 
have  sheared  the  nuts  outside  the  splice,  thus  permitting  the  wheels  follow- 
ing to  force  in  the  point  rail,  mount  the  main  rail  and  proceed  thereon. 
One  objection  to  the  use  of  a  switch  point  derail  in  main  line  is  that  the 
rail  is  broken  on  one  side  of  the  track,  and  where  rails  creep  badly  the  derail 
may  frequently  be  {hrown  out  of  adjustment.  A  remedy  for  trouble  of  this 
kind  is  a  heavy  anti-creeping  casting  bolted  rigidly  in  between  the  main 
rail  and  the  bent  stock  rail  behind  the  heel  of  the  point  rail. 

The  derailing  switch  stand  need  be  only  a  ground  lever.  When  cars 
are  standing  in  the  side-track  unattended  it  should  always  be  set  for  derail- 
ing, and  by  all  means  it  should  be  kept  locked.  In  side-tracks  much  used, 
however,  the  only  proper  arrangement  is  to  connect  the  derail  with  the 
main-line  switch  or  stand.  The  derail  is  closed  when  the  main  switch  is 
opened  and,  vice  versa,  it  is  opened  when  the  main  switch  is  closeel.  This 


416 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Fig.  175. — Derails   Interlocked  with   Main  Switch. 

method  assures  that  the  derail  will  be  always  properly  set,  and  it  avoids  the 
inconvenience  which  otherwise  would  result  from  having  to  throw  the  extra 
stand  each  time  the  side-track  is  used.  The  connection  is  usually  by  means 
of  throw  rods  and  bell  crank  (B,  Fig.  175).  The  lower  engraving  of  this 
figure  shows  an  Elliot  lap  switch  derail  connected  with  the  main  switch 
by  a  cable.  When  the  main  switch  is  closed  this  cable  pulls  open  the  derail, 
and  when  the  main  switch  is  opened  the  derail  is  closed  by  a  weighted  lever 
arranged  as  shown.  The  same  derail  is  also  installed  with  a  pipe-line  con- 
nection, which  gives  positive  action  both  ways.  On  the  Southern  Pacific 
road  derails  are  put  in  all  sidings  which  descend  toward  the  switch  on 
grades  of  21  ft.  per  mile  or  over,  and  the  derail  is  thrown  independently 
of  the  main  switch.  To  remind  the  man  who  opens  or  closes  the  switch,  of 
the  derail"  there  is  a  derailing  switch  notice  sign  attached  to  the  target 
shaft  of  the  main-line  switch  stand,  with  the  sign  facing  the  throw  lever. 
This  sign  is  a  cast  iron  plate  8x10  ins.  x  J  in.  thick,  with  a  rim  f  in.  thick, 
painted  white,  with  black  letters  reading :  "Attend  to  Derailing  Switch." 
Among  other  derailing  devices  the  Wharton  switch,  shortened  in 
length  and  simplified  in  construction,  is  used  a  good  deal  in  main  track 


Fig.   176.— Wharton  Throw-Off,   Philadelphia  &   Reading    Ry. 


DERAILING    SWITCHES 


417 


in  connection  with  interlocking.  It  is  known  as  the  Wharton  "throw-off" 
and  is  shown  in  Fig.  176.  When  -set  for  clear  running  if  affords  the  im- 
portant advantage  of  an  unbroken  track,  thus  insuring  safety,  smooth  run- 
ning and  no  wear  from  traffic.  As  it  is  operated  with  a  6-in.  throw,  it  is, 
when  open,  well  out  of  the  way  of  passing  wheels,  with  no  chance  for  the 
traffic  to  run  afoul  of  a  slightly  opened  point.  For  use  on  curves,  where  it 
is  usually  undesirable  to  break  the  rail  and  put  in  a  switch  point,  the  Whar- 
ton throw-off  is  particularly  well  adapted.  There  are  some  conditions,  how- 
ever, under  which  the  Wharton  derail  is  liable  to  give  trouble.  JDerails  of 
this  type  which  turn  to  the  inside  of  curves  will  not  always  act  where  the 
outer  rail  of  the  curve  is  badly  flange  worn.  Where  the  side  and  top  corner 
of  the  rail  head  was  much  worn  the  wheel  flanges,  which  tend  to  crowd  the 
rail,  have  been  known  to  pass  behind  the  switch  point  and  not  follow  the  de- 
rail. To  overcome  such  difficulties  as  this  it  has  been  the  practice  on  some 
roads  to  renew  the  outside  running  rail  of  the  curve  every  six  months. 

The  Dailey  automatic  "cut-out"  switch  (Engr.  T,  Fig.  177),  designed 
by  Mr.  A.  G-.  Dailey,  superintendent  of  tracks  with  the  Michigan  Central 
R.  R.,  where  it  is  in  extensive  use  for  derails  in  side-tracks,  consists  of  a 


Fig.  177. — Derailing   Devices. 

swing  rail  about  5  ft.  long  heeling  toward  the  frog  and  throwing  inward 
in  the"  track.  It  is  connected  with  the  main  switch  by  means  of  pipe  line 
and  bell  cranks,  which  open  the  derail  when  the  main  switch  is  closed  and 
set  it  for  passage  when  the  main  switch  is  opened  for  the  side-track.  The 
piece  of  swing  rail  is  hinged  to  a  heavy  base  plate,  which  extends  between 
and  under  the  ends  of  the  fixed  rails,  there  being  a  shoulder  at  each  con- 
nection to  prevent  the  fixed  rails  from  closing -in  on  the  swing  section  when 
expansion  or  creeping  occurs.  At  the  heel  of  the  derail,  on  the  outside  of 
-the  track,  an  old  switch  point  is  laid  to  deflect  derailed  wheels  from  the  ties 
and  away  from  main  line.  -  The  web  of  this  deflecting  point  rail  is  cut  out 
for  the  pipe  line  and  the  latter  is  protected  from  being  cut  by  derailed 
wheels  by  planking.  This  device  is  also  in  service  on  the  Chicago  &  Grand 
Trunk,  Pere  Marquette  and  other  roads. 

In  connection  with  derails  mention  may  be  made  of  the  scotch  block, 
two  forms  of  which  are  shown  in  Fig.  178.  This  device  is  used  in  connec- 
tion with  interlocking  apparatus  and  is  often  substituted  for  a  derailing 
switch,  on  side-track,  where  it  is  desirable  that  cars  shall  stand  as  near  the 
fouling  point  as  possible  and  still  be  prevented  from  running  out  upon 


418  SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

main  track.  In  case  the  car  should  strike  the  block  at  good  speed  it  would, 
of  course,  be  derailed.  The  chock  is  pivoted  to  a  bearing  piece  securely 
bolted  to  the  rail,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  thrown  back  or  moved  into 
the  "reverse"  position  to  permit  the  passing  of  a  train  is  made  clear  by  the 
appearance  of  the  pipe-line  throw  rods.  At  the  right-hand  side  of  the  illus- 
tration the  chock  is  shown  in  connection  with  a  detector  bar,  which  will 
not  permit  it  to  be  thrown  under  a  car  or  train  or  immediately  in  front  of 
a  car  or  locomotive.  The  Travis  derail  (Fig.  177,  Engraving  P)  consists 
of  a  scotch  block  pivoted  to  a  plate  outside  the  track  and  swung  over  the 
rail  for  the  derailing  position,  as  it  appears  in  the  figure.  The  front  F  is 
beveled  down  and  there  is  a  rib  G  running  diagonally,  so  as  to  catch  the 
flange  and  carry  the  wheel  athwart  the  rail.  It  is  used  in  interlocking 
work,  and  is  especially  serviceable  on  curves  too  sharp  for  the  convenient 
use  of  a  point  rail  or  where  a  guard  rail  inside  the  outer  rail  of  the  curve 
will  not  permit  of  a  point  rail  being  used.  Like  the  Wharton  throw-off,  it 
overcomes  all  the  objections  which  stand  against  the  use  of  the  point  or  split 
rail  in  such  places.  The  main  or  movable  part  is  a  heavy  malleable  iron 
casting  weighing  61  Ibs. ;  the  whole  apparatus  weighs  170  Ibs.  The  Smythe 
derailer  consists  of  a  steel  casting  hinged  to  a  base  piece  at  the  side  of  the 
rail,  in  a  manner  to  flop  over  and  rest  upon  the  rail  for  the  derailing  posi- 
tion. The  top  of  the  casting  has  a  diagonal  groove  whicfi  carries  the  wheel 
flange  across  and  off  the  rail. 


Fig.  178. — Scotch   Blocks. 

Wherever  a  derail  is  used  in  main  track  it  is  desirable  to  prevent,  as  far 
as  possible,  the  ditching  of  derailed  trains.  In  order  to  hold  the  wheels  to 
the  ties  a  long  gua'rd  rail  should  be  laid  in  the  track  about  8  ins.  from  the 
opposite  rail,  extending  from  a  point  in  advance  of  that  where  the  wheels 
are  derailed.  Figure  176  shows  two  guard  rails  for  this  purpose.  In  side- 
tracks, the  object  of  the  derail  being  to  prevent  obstruction  to  main  line, 
the  derailed  car  must  be  diverted,  and  it  is  not  desirable,  therefore,  to  use 
a  guard  rail  for  holding  the  wheels  to  the  ties.  In  such  places,  however,  it 
may  save  damage  to  derailed  rolling  stock,  and  facilitate  the  work  of  haul- 
ing it  on  the  track  again,  if  a  short  stretch  of  smooth,  unobstructed  ground 
is  provided  in  the  vicinity  of  the  derail.  In  case  the  derail  comes  on  a  fill 
the  embankment  should  be  shouldered  out  to  a  respectable  distance  from 
the  ends  of  the  ties.  To  place  a  derail  in  track  where  the  embankment 
slopes  rapidly  from  the  ties,  as  one  may  sometimes  see,  has  the  appearance 
of  "looking  for  trouble." 

On  some  roads  point  derails  in  main  track  are  protected  in  the  closed 
position  by  a  guard  rail  placed  opposite  and  set  to  the  ordinary  distance 


DERAILING    SWITCHES 


419 


{4  ft.  6J  ins.),  as  in  laying  a  guard  rail  opposite  a  frog.  This  guard  rail 
(Sketch  Ef  Fig.  177)  extends  from  a  point  a  few  feet  in  advance  of  the  de- 
rail, and  the  flangeway  holds  to  standard  width  (1}  or  1J  ins.)  some  3  or 
4  ft.  in  rear  of  the  point  rail  end,  where  the  guard  rail  flares  rapidly,  so  as 
not  to  interfere  with  the  function  of  the  derail  when  set  for  derailing. 
Usually  this  guard  rail  is  continued,  at  a  distance  of  about  8  ins.  inside  the 
miming  rail,  in  position  to  hold  derailed  wheels  to  the  ties,  as  above  noted. 
Although  point-switch  derails  in  main  track  are  usually,  if  not  always,  se- 
cured in  the  closed  position  by  a  point  lock,  the  purpose  of  a  guard  rail 
opposite  is,  of  course,  to  prevent  wheel  flanges  from  crowding  the_end  of 
the  point  rail  when  it  is  closed.  On  double  track,  derails  are  placed  in  an 
outer  rail,  so  as  to  avoid  obstructing  the  other  track  in  case  of  derailment. 
This  arrangement  sometimes  brings  the  derail  on  the  inside  rail  of  a  curve. 
Where  a  side-track  derail  is  interconnected  with  the  main-line  switch 
or  switch  stand  a  brakeman  will  quite  frequently  forget  about  the  derail 
when  a  car  or  train  is  entering  the  turnout,  and  close  or  attempt  to  close 
the  switch  immediately  the  last  car  passes  over  it.  If  he  succeeds  in  latch- 
ing the  stand  before  all  the  wheels  have  passed  the  derail  the  latter  will 
usually  be  set  over  by  the  trailing  wheels  at  the  cost  of  broken  or  bent 
throw  rods,  in  case  the  connection  is  rigid;  but  if  he  is  not  quick  enough, 
in  the  interval  between  the  passing  of  the  wheels,  to  get  the  derail  fully 


Fig.  179. — Derailing  Turnout. 

<open  and  the  stand  latched,  he  is  quite  liable  to  suddenly  meet  with  rough 
handling  at  the  end  of  the  throw  lever;  in  fact  persons  attempting  to  close 
a  switch  under  circumstances  of  this  kind  are  sometimes  injured  more  or 
less  seriously.  Damage  to  the  throw  rods  may  be  prevented  in  cases  of  this 
'kind  by  a  spring  connection  with  the  derail,  as  by  a  Lorenz  spring  (Fig. 
175),  but  trouble  for  the  brakeman  can  be  avoided  only  by  the  use  of  a 
detector  bar  (Fig.  224,  described  further  along),  which  should  be  placed 
between  the  main  switch  and  the  derail,  and  which  will  not  permit  the  lat- 
ter to  be  thrown  until  all  the  wheels  have  passed.  As,  however,  the  instal- 
lation of  a  detector  bar  is  a  matter  of  considerable  expense  it  is  not  usually 
provided  in  side-tracks.  Such  being  the  case  it  is  pertinent  to  observe  a 
danger  in  the  way  of  connecting  a  derail  with  a  main  switch  or  stand 
working  on  the  automatic  "set-over"  plan.  In  case  such  a  stand  should  be 
latched  before  a  car  entering  the  turnout  has  passed  the  derail  the  wheels 
irailing  the  derail  would  automatically  throw  the  switch  and  stand  and 
leave  the  switch  set  in  the  wrong  position.  Instances  are  also  conceivable 
where  trouble  might  arise  with  automatic  "fly-back"  stands  operated  in  the 
eame  manner.  The  safest  stand  for  such  work  is,  therefore,  a  rigid  one. 

Where  considerable  headway  may  be  attained  cars  might,  unless  de- 
railed a  good  distance  back,  run  over  the  ties  far  enough  to  foul  the  main 
track.  So  where  the  grade  of  the  siding  is  a  long  one,  or  steep,  like  a  siding 
tfor  coal  chutes,  for  example,  something  more  than  simple  derailment  is 


420  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND  APPLIANCES 

necessary.  Figure  175  shows  an  arrangement  whereby  the  derail  may  be 
located  near  the  main  line  switch  and  still  throw  cats  a  good  distance 
clear.  There  is  a  deflecting  guard  rail  Q,  and  a  plank  P  placed  so  as  to 
run  the  wheels  over  the  rail.  The  surest  and  best  way  of  accomplishing 
the  purpose  is  to  lay  a  derailing  turnout  or  stub  track,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
179.  As  the  arrangement  is  intended  for  use  only  in  emergency  cases,  old 
material  can  be  worked  up  in  this  way  to  good  advantage.  When  the  track 
is  extended  beyond  such  a  turnout  the  contrivance  is  known  as  a  "divert- 
ing track"  or  ''catch  siding."  Such  are  sometimes  used  in  main  track,  for 
purposes  explained  presently. 

Catch  Sidings. — For  stopping  runaway  cars  or  trains  on  heavy  grades, 
without  derailing,  resort  is  sometimes  had  to  catch  sidings.  A  notable  exam- 
ple of  such  provision  is  to  be  found  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  road,  between 
Hecto'r  and  Field,  B.  C.,  near  the  summit  in  the  Eocky  Mountains,  where 
there  is  a  nine-mile  grade  of  4.4  per  cent.  Along  this  grade  there  are  spur 
tracks  or  "blind  sidings"  one  mile  apart,  each  tended  by  a  switchman. 
Each  spur  track  runs  up  into  the  mountain  side  several  hundred  feet  on  a 
very  steep  grade  which  rises  in  the  direction  in  which  the  grade  of  the  main 
track  falls.  Normally  the  switches  are  all  set  for  the  side-track  and  are 
not  closed  for  main  track  unless  called  for  by  whistle.  Hence  if  a  train  or 
detached  cars  get  beyond  control  and  come  down  the  grade  they  are  diverted 
to  a  heavy  up  grade  at  the  first  switch,  without  giving  any  signal.  As  the 
speed  at  which  runaway  cars  are  liable  to  enter  such  a  siding  is  high  the 
curvature  of  the  turnout  should  be  easy  and  the  angle  of  the 'switch  points 
small.  Wherever  it  is  feasible  to  do  so,  it  would  be  well  to  have  the 


Fig.  180. — Sand  Track  for  Catch  Siding. 

switches  for  such  sidings  turn  from  the  outside  of  a  curve  in  main  track. 
This  arrangement  wrould  permit  of  easy  curvature  in  the  turnout,  or  per- 
haps enable  the  turnout  to  branch  off  at  a  tangent.  In  lieu  of  the  up-grade 
arrangement  the  catch  siding  is  sometimes  buried  in  sand  to  the  depth  of 
a  few  inches  over  the  rails.  Sand  tracks  are  more  common  in  Europe  than 
in  this  country.  A  cross-sectional  view  of  a  sanded  catch  siding  in  use  at 
Dresden,  Saxony,  is  shown  in  Fig.  180.  The  rails  of  the  diverting  track 
are  laid  gantlet  fashion,  on  the  same  ties  with  the  main  rails,  and  the  stretch 
of  diverting  track  is  provided  at  both  ends  with  a  switch  for  connecting 
with  the  main  line.  Guard  timbers  or  angle  irons  for  retaining  the  sand 
are  placed  at  both  sides  of  each  rail  of  the  siding,  which  gradually  dips 
deeper  until  it  is  covered  by  2  or  3  ins.  of  sand.  The  arrangement  is  con- 
sidered very  efficient  for  the  purpose.  In  this  particular  instance  the  catch 
siding  is  1640  ft.  long  and  1148  ft.  of  the  same  is  covered  with  sand.  In 
very  dry  weather  the  sand  is  kept  damp.  The  braking  effect  of  sand  sid- 
ings is  discussed  in  "Engineering"  (London,  England)  for  Dec.  10,  1897, 
and  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  International  Eailway  Congress  for  July,  1899. 
75.  Side-Tracks. — A  side-track  means,  of  course,  any  track  not  used 
as  main  track.  By  the  term  "spur"  or  "stub  track"  is  usually  meant  a 
side-track  which  is  connected  to  another  track  with  only  one  switch.  If 
the  freight  traffic  from  a  side-track  is  small,  or  if  it  is  moved  principally 
in  one  direction  a  spur  track  answers  quite  well.  To  suit  convenience  in 
switching,  a  spur  track  should  open  out  into  the  main  track  in  the  direction 
in  which  most  of  the  cars  are  moved  when  outward  bound.  On  single-track 
roads  where  much  traffic  is  moved  from  a  side-track  in  both  directions,, 


SIDE-TRACKS  421 

especially  if  the  main  track  be  level  at  the  place,  it  ought  to  open  out  into 
the  main  track  both  ways;  such  is  usually  called  a  "siding."  On  double 
track,  where  considerable  traffic  "is  moved  in  both  directions,  a  spur  for 
each  track  is  preferable  to  a  siding,  with  its  two  switches,  on  one  track ;  and 
all  such  spurs  are,  for  both  convenience  and  safety,  laid  trailing  to  the 
movement  of  the  trains. 

Wherever  it  is  practicable  spurs  and  sidings  used  for  loading  or  stor- 
ing cars  should  turn  out  from  the  main  track  at  a  slightly  descending  grade 
for  a  distance  beyond  the  frog  sufficient  to  give  clearance  from_the  main 
line,  as  under  ordinary  conditions  a  derailing  switch  may  then  not  be 
needed.  The  remainder  of  the  length  should  preferably  be  level,  so  that 
cars  may  be  moved  readily  with  pinch  bars.  Sidings  used  for  passing 
tracks  should,  if  possible,  be  level  with  the  main  track  or  on  the  same  grade 
with  it.  To  have  them  lower  or  higher  than  the  main  track  often  results 
in  a  loss  of  time  getting  out  of  or  into  them  with  heavy  freight  trains. 
Where  there  is  little  or  no  filling  to  be  done,  side-tracks  may  just  as  well 
be  laid  15  ft.  c.  to  c.  from  main  track,  to  provide  desirable  room  where 
loading  is  being  done  and  to  give  safe  room  for  trainmen  working  at  re- 
pairs or  attending  to  hot  boxes,  between  the  tracks. 

Whenever  it  can  be  done  side-tracks  should  be  located  where  a  good 
view  may  be  had  both  ways  along  the  track.  If  there  is  a  curve  in  main 
track  the  side-track  should  be  on  the  outside,,  as  then  the  view  around  the 
curve  will  not  be  obstructed  by  standing  cars.  Switches  should  not  be  lo- 
cated near  bridges,  ravines,  high  embankments,  etc.,  when  they  can  well  be 
avoided,  as  derailment  at  such  points  is  usually  hard  on  rolling  stock.  As 
far  as  the  service  will  permit,  switches  from  curves  should  be  avoided.  In 
some  instances  where  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  turnout  leave  the  main 
track  on  a  sharp  curve  the  frog  is  located  at  the  required  point,  but  a  long 
lead  is  run  back  around  the  curve  to  bring  the  switch  on  tangent.  This  ar- 
rangement is  illustrated  and  more  fully  described  under  the  subject  "Gantlet 
Tracks,"  §  77,  of  this  chapter. 

Regarding  the  alignment  of  the  piece  of  track  immediately  beyond  the 
frog  where  a  turnout  is  laid  to  a  parallel  track,  room  and  material  may  be 
saved  by  continuing  the  turnout  curve  beyond  the  frog  and  reversing  to 
bring  it  parallel  at  the  proper  distance.  While  for  spur  tracks  where  but 
little  shifting  is  done  a  decreased  first  cost  in  this  manner  might  be  justi- 
fiable, not  to  consider  the  room  saved,  the  saving  in  cost  effected  by  revers- 
ing the  curve  at  the  entrance  of  sidings  much  used  for  loading  or  for  pass- 
ing tracks  will  hardly  compensate  for  the  trouble  which  these  reverse 
curves  will  give.  Where  the  main  line  is  straight  and  a  No.  9  frog  is  used, 
for  instance,  by  continuing  the  turnout  curve  beyond  the  frog  and  revers- 
ing between  it  and  a  parallel  side-track  distant  15  ft.  between  centers, 
clearance  of  12  ft.  between  centers  may  be  had  in  61.2  ft.  from  the  point 
of  frog,  measured  along  main  track;  while  by  continuing  the  turnout 
straight  beyond  the  frog  for  50.7  ft.  and  connecting  with  the  side-track  by 
a  curve  of  same  degree  as  the  turnout  curve  (as  in  the  other  case),  the  dis- 
tance required  to  give  the  same  clearance  is  67  ft. ;  hence  a  saving  of  only 
6  ft.  of  track  is  effected.  It  is  hardly  worth  while,  then,  to  attempt  to 
save  anything  by  continuing  the  turnout  curve  beyond  a  frog  of  number 
no  larger  than  9  if  the  distance  between  track  centers  does  not  exceed  15 
ft.  Clearance  may  be  had  in  less  distance  by  making  the  track  straight 
for  some  distance  beyond  the  frog  than  by  reversing  the  curvature  at  that 
point.  But  where  the  distance  between  main  line  and  side-track  is  small 
the  curvature  must  be  reversed  at  the  heel  of  frog,  sometimes,  to  avoid  a 
curve  of  too  great  degree  leading  into  the  parallel  side-track.  It  is,  per- 


4:22  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

haps,  not  advisable  to  lay  the  track  straight  beyond  the  frog  any  further 
than  will  allow  room  between  it  and  the  parallel  side-track  for  a  curve  not 
greater  in  degree  than  the  turnout  curve.  This  rule  might  sometimes  cut 
the  piece  of  tangent  off  pretty  short,  or  cut  it  out  altogether,  and  thus  re- 
quire the  curve  to  spring  from  the  heel  of  the  frog.  As  the  subject  of  clear- 
ance is  again  touched  upon  it  may  be  remarked  in  this  particular  connec- 
tion, that  on  some  roads  the  clearance  point  or  clearance  post  is  established 
at  the  end  of  the  connecting  curve  which  is  farthest  from  the  frog;  in 
other  words,  at  the  nearest  point  where  the  siding  becomes  parallel  to  main 
track.  Such  practice  is  defended  by -the  argument  that  the  clearance  point, 
as  so  understood,  is  readily  and  conspicuously  definable,  even  in  the  ab- 
sence of  a  post  or  other  sign  of  special  character;  that  to  designate  it  at 
any  point  nearer  the  frog  is  only  tolerating  encroachment  on  dangerous 
ground.  When  a  car  "shoved  in  just  to  clear"  stands  at  an  angle  with  main, 
track  there  is  no  latitude  for  backward  movement,  and  thoughtless  shift- 
ing of  the  car,  as  with  a  pinch  bar,  by  some  non-railroader,  in  order  to 
gain  a  more  advantageous  position  for  loading,  might  lead  to  trouble.  Of 
course,  the  question  of  room  and  the  distance  between  track  centers  cuts 
some  figure  in  the  matter,  but  a  derail  at  the  proper  point  will  insure  safety 
without  wasting  legitimate  siding  room. 

Side-tracks  may  be  laid  with  culled  ties,  but  they  should  be  full 
spiked,  because  they  are  generally  allowed  to  become  further  decayed  before 
renewing  than  are  ties  in  main  track.  Except  under  p'retty  light  rail  the 
space  between  ties  in  side-track  may  be  increased  considerably  beyond  that 
required  for  main  line.  For  passing  sidings  12  ties  of  average  size,  and 
for  loading  tracks  10  ties  of  ordinary  size,  per  rail  length  of  30  ft.,  do  well 
enough  on  straight  line.  Old  rails  can  be  used  with  economy,  but  if  the  ends- 
are  badly  battered  the  battered  portions  should  be  cut  off  before  laying.  On 
tracks  occupied  most  of  the  time  by  standing  cars,  rails  in  almost  any  condi- 
tion of  wear  (so  long  as  pieces  of  the  head  are  not  broken  out)  are  service- 
able. On  passing  sidings  a  somewhat  better  class  of  rail,  generally  speak- 
ing, is  required,  but  rails  with  heads  only  moderately  slivered  or  roughened 
by  wear  are  not  objectionable.  Side-tracks  subject  to  constant  use  by  loco- 
motives, as  the  ladder  tracks  and  the  main  thoroughfares  of  yards,  should 
be  laid  with  smooth  steel  not  inferior  to  second-class  rails  of  fair  quality; 
that  is,  worn  rails  which  would  still  do  in  main  track  but  which  are  some- 
times removed  in  stretches  to  make  room  for  laying  new  rails  continuously : 
rails  with  heads  too  badly  roughened  for  main-track  service  should  not  be 
used  on  such  tracks  as  these  (A  classification  of  rails  is  given  under  "Re- 
ports and  Correspondence,"  §  194,  Chap.  XII).  If  bolts  are  scarce  and 
must  be  used  sparingly  the  two  holes  nearest  middle  of  the  splice  are- 
the  proper  ones  to  use.  If  arranged  differently  it  might  so  happen  that  a 
failure  of  one  of  the  bolts  would  leave  the  remaining  one  too  far  from  the 
middle  to  be  of  any  service.  When  old  spikes  are  used  they  should  be 
straightened  before  redriving,  and  if  the  head  is  greasy  time  and  trouble 
may  be  saved  by  sticking  it  into  the  sand  or  dust  before  attempting  to- 
drive  it. 

Where  old  steel  is  being  utilized  in  laying  side-tracks  rails  of  different 
sections  and  shapes  are  quite  likely  to  be  found,  and  quite  frequently  rails 
in  side-track  must  be  spliced  with  rails  of  heavier  section,  such  as  are  used 
in  main  track  and  laid  through  the  turnout.  In  order  to  bring  the  tops 
of  such  rails  to  the  same  level  and  the  heads  to  the  same  gage  at  the  joints- 
where  they  meet,  step  chairs  or  compromise  splices  must  be  provided.  Such 
splices  for  main  track  are  elsewhere  referred  to.  For  use  in  unimportant 
side-tracks  a  cast  step  chair  supported  upon  a  tie  is  good  enough.  As- 


SIDE-TRACKS  423 

the  tops  of  switch  ties  are  supposed  to  lie  in  the  same  plane  it  is  not  con- 
sidered good  practice  to  use  compromise  splices  or  chairs  on  the  same. 
Where  the  rails  in  main  line  and  side-track  are  of  different  section  it  is  well, 
therefore,  to  lay  one  length. of  side-track  beyond  the  frog  with  rails  of  the 
pattern  used  in  main  track,  as  above  intimated.  The  same  rule  would  also 
apply  to  a  change  of  rail  section  at  a  switch  in  main  track.  As  it  is  possi- 
ble fox  side-tracks  to  get  too  rough  or  uneven,  they  should  be  put  in  good 
surface  and  line  at  the  time  they  are  laid  and  then  surfaced  occasionally 
thereafter,  particularly  when  ties  are  renewed. 

Lap  Sidings. — On  single-track  roads  it  commonly  occurs  that  two 
trains  moving  in  opposite  directions  must  take  side-track  at  the  same  place 
to  let  a  third  train  pass,  and  at  points  where  the  meeting  in  this  manner 
is  frequent  or  habitual  it  is  desirable  that  both  trains  may  enter  the  siding 
and  leave  it  without  backing  up  and  without  interference,,  such  as  one  of 
the  trains  waiting  for  the  other  to  pull  by.  One  arrangement  to  permit 
simultaneous  independent  movements  of  this  kind  is  a  double  siding,  the 
two  tracks  of  which  may  lie  either  on  o/pposite  sides  or  on  the  same  side 
of  main  line.  In  the  latter  case  they  are  connected  in  ladder  style  at  each 
end  with  the  turnout  from  main  track.  An  example  of  such  construction 
generally  followed  is  to  be  seen  on  the  relocated  portion  of  the  Wyoming 
division  of  the  Union  Pacific  K  .E.  Passing  tracks  are  located  at  average 
intervals  of  3  miles,  and  some  of  these  sidings  are  8000  ft.  long.  In  almost 
all  cases  the  sidings  consist  of  two  tracks  side  by  side,  on  the  same  side  of 
main  line,  the  first  one  being  laid  14  ft.  c.  to  c.  from  main  line,  with  a  view 
to  use  for  main  track  in  case  the  road  should  be  double-tracked.  These 
sidings  are  of  sufficient  length  to  permit  two  long  freight  trains  running 
in  opposite  directions  to  pass  a  train  of  superior  class,  without  interference, 
and  if  the  road  should  be  double-tracked  there  would  still  be  the  outside 
siding  remaining. 

From  an  operating  standpoint,  however,  this  arrangement  of  sidings 
is  not  always  the  most  advantageous.  Where  a  train  is  waiting  on  side- 
track time  is  saved  by  having  the  engine  stand  near  the  telegraph  office,  as 
orders  can  then  be  delivered  quickly,  and  as  soon  as  the  track  is  clear  the 
train  can  pull  out  without  delay.  It  is  also  the  practice  on  some  roads  to 
place  interlocking  levers  in  the  telegraph  offices  or  towers  for  throwing  the 
switches  of  passing  sidings  in  the  vicinity  thereof,  so  that  trains  may  enter 
or  leave  the  same  at  good  speed  without  being  delayed  in  stopping  to  open 
or  close  the  switch.  In  order  that  such  methods  of  operation  may  apply  to 
waiting  trains  which  are  oppositely  headed,  it  is  necessary  to  arrange  the 
sidings  on  opposite  sides  of  main  track  and  overlapping  each  other  at  one 
end,  where  the  telegraph  office  may  be  located  conveniently  to  both 
switches.  Kef  erring  to  Sketch  A,  Fig.  181,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  arrange- 
ment is  equivalent  to  a  stretch  of  double  track  between  the  distant  extremi- 
ties of  the  two  sidings  (A  and  D),  with  a  crossover  half  way  between  them. 

As  a  general  proposition  long  sidings  for  single  track  should  be  lo- 
cated with  a  view  to  future  incorporation  into  main  line  in  case  the  road 
should  be  double-tracked,  and  for  such  a  scheme  the  arrangement  of  lap 
sidings  will  usually  afford  the  best  economy  in  grading.  When  a  road  is 
double-tracked  most  of  the  sidings  previously  used  for  passing  tracks  are 
abandoned,  or  relaid  with  steel  and  connected  in  to  be  used  as  one  of  the 
main  tracks.  In  the  case  of  lap  sidings  it  usually  requires  but  little  extra 
grading  to  shift  the  two  side-tracks  into  line  for  the  double  main  track ;  or, 
if  it  is  desired  to  maintain  a  middle  siding  between  the  main  tracks,  the 
old  single  track  becomes  the  siding  and  the  old  lap  sidings  are  converted  into 
the  outside  double  track,  without  disturbing  the  alignment. 


424 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


A  brief  reference  will  be  made  to  some  of  the  plans  fo'r  locating  lap 
sidings  with  a  view  to  later  change  them  into  main  track  use  without 
extensive  shifting  of  the  alignment.  Where  the  sidings  are  made  to  lap 
each  other  without  changing  the  original  alignment  of  the  main  track,  as 
in  Sketches  "A"  and  "B,"  Fig.  181,  the  arrangement  is  known  as  a  "plain 
lap."  The  distance  C  to  B  is  called  "the  lap,"  and  obviously  the  frogs 
for  the  two  turnouts  should  be  far  enough  apart  to  allow  clearance  distance 
between  leads  throughout  the  lap,  thus  permitting  trains  to  pass  through 
both  turnouts  at  the  same  time.  When  C  B  is  much  longer  than  is  required 
for  this  purpose  it  is  called  a  "long  lap,"  Sketch  "B"  shows  the  sidings  ar- 
ranged to  lap  on  a  curve.  So  far  as  the  ultimate  purpose  of  the  arrange- 
ment is.  concerned  it  is  a  much  more  desirable  form  than  the  foregoing, 
since  to  double-track  the  line  it  would  suffice  to  reline  the  curve  to  con- 
form to  the  broken  lines,  the  outer  one  of  which,  as  will  be  seen,  is  a  simple 
curve  between  the  original  line  A  E  and  the  new  tangent  G  K\  and  the  in- 
ner one  a  similar  curve  between  the  east-bound  siding  and  the  old  main 


WEST-BOUND  SIDING. 


EAST-BOUND  SID/NG 

"A-PLAIN  LAP  ON  STRAIGHT    TRACK. 


TELEGRAPH 

omcc. 


"C"~COFtKSCHEW   LAP. 

Fig.  181.— Lap  Sidings. 

line  F  D.  The  new  curve  could  be  kept  within  the  tangent  limits  of  the 
old  curve  E  C  B  F,  and  practically  on  the  same  roadbed,  by  compounding 
or  spiraling.  In  the  case  of  double-tracking  in  Sketch  "A"  it  is  evident 
that  one  siding  must  be  thrown  to  the  opposite  side  of  main  track  or  else 
the  main  track  for  some  distance  must  take  the  form  of  a  reverse  curve; 
or  the  whole  stretch  of  straight  track  must  be  relined  and  thrown  to  a  new 
location  throughout — any  one  of  which  is  an  objectionable  plan.  To  obviate 
these  difficulties  the  "corkscrew"  lap,  shown  as  Sketch  "C,"  is  sometimes 
resorted  to.  The  line  A  E  C  G  D  is  the  original  main  track  simply  thrown 
over  at  C.  The  new  track  C  B  F  D  is  constructed  for  the  main  track  in  the 
new  position,  while  C  G  D  becomes  a  siding.  The  curves  at  E  and  F  are 
made  of  small  degree  with  a  piece  of  tangent  between  them,  from  which  the 
sidings  take  thei'r  lead.  The  turnout  at  D  is  given  a  long  lead,  so  as  to 
form  an  easy  curve  for  the  main  line.  If,  however,  there  be  a  curve  at  D, 
the  main  track  should  be  lined  into  the  curve  and  the  siding  connected  in 
the  usual  manner.  While  this  arrangement  presents  rather  an  odd-looking 
main-track  alignment,  it  nevertheless  requires  a  minimum  of  alteration  in 
changing  to  double  track.  As  the  tracks  between  F  and  D  and  between  H 
and  A  are,  throughout  most  of  their  length,  parallel  to  the  general  direction 
between  A  and  Z),  it  becomes  necessary  only  to  cut  the  crossover  and  throw 


CROSSOVERS 


425 


the  comparatively  short  portions  of  curved  track  at  C  and  B  into  the  align- 
ment of  the  straight  track  on  either  side.  In  case  it  was  required  that  the 
distance  between  main  and  side-tracks  should  exceed  the  standard  distance 
between  double  tracks,  in  order  to  advance  the  clearance  point  of  both  sid- 
ings, it  would,  in  double-tracking,  be  necessary,  of  course,  to  throw  nearly  the 
whole  stretch  A  H  F  D  toward  A  D  the  amount  of  the  excess;  but  such  a 
change  would  involve  no  great  amount  of  trouble  with  tracks  on  the  same 
bed.  Sidings  specially  arranged  for  the  convenience  of  traffic  on  double- 
track  roads  are  referred  to  in  the  chapter  on  "Double-Tracking/' 

76.  Crossovers. — A  crossover  is  a  double-ended  turnout  "connecting 
two  tracks,  and  consists  of  two  turnouts  facing  in  opposite  directions,  con- 
nected between  frogs  by  a  short  piece  of  diagonal  track.  If  the  two  tracks 
are  straight  and  parallel  and  near  together,  the  piece  of  track  between  the 
frogs  should  be  straight,  and  consequently  the  frogs  in  both  turnouts  should 
be  of  the  same  number  or  angle ;  where  the  frogs  are  of  different  angles  the 
track  connecting  the  two  must  be  curved  in  an  awkward  manner,  or  else  one 
of  the  parallel  tracks  must  be  thrown  into  a  double  reverse  curve,  which  is 
sometimes  done  in  the  case  of  a  side-track  the  alignment  of  which  is  unim- 
portant. A  condition  essential  to  the  satisfactory  laying  and  operation  of  a 
crossover  between  two  tracks  that  are  near  together  is  that  they  shall  both 
be  on  the  same  level.  If  they  are  not  at  the  same  level  they  should  be  so 
placed  at  the  crossover,  and  for  convenience  of  tamping  and  tie  renewing 


Fig.  182. 


Fig.  183. 


the  track  between  the  frogs  should  be  laid  with  long  switch  ties  extending 
through  and  under  both  outside  tracks.  For  tracks  at  13  ft.  centers  this  ar- 
rangement requires  ties  21  ft.  long  which,  however,  are  not  as  long  as  ties 
sometimes  used  behind  the  frogs  in  turnouts  from  three-throw  switches. 
The  usual  arrangement  is  to  lay  both  turnouts  of  the  cross-over  with  switch 
ties  of  ordinary  lengths  and  use  short  ties  (8  ft.  long)  under  the  track 
connecting  the  frogs,  interlaid  with  the  ends  of  the  ties  in  the  outside  tracks. 
The  method  of  laying  a  crossover  is,  after  determining  the  starting 
point,  simply  that  of  laying  a  single  turnout.  This  starting  point  is  the 
point  of  frog  on  either  track,  after  the  location  of  the  point  of  frog  on  the 
other  track  has  been  decided  upon.  The  first  point  of  frog  is  chosen  arbitrar- 
ily, but  the  second  must  be  located  at  a  definite  distance  from' it,  depending 
on  the  frog  angles  and  the  distance  between  the  tracks.  After  the  second  point 
of  frog  has  been  located  the  measurements  for  that  turnout  must  be  taken 
with  reference  to  that  point.  On  straight  parallel  tracks  the  distance  be- 
tween frog  points  in  a  crossover  may  be  measured  in  two  ways ;  either  along 
the  parallel  tracks,  as  A  B  in  Fig.  182,  the  line  from  B  to  C  being  per- 
pendicular to  the  tracks ;  or  by  a  direct  measurement  between  the  two  frog 
points,  called  the  "diagonal  distance,"  represented  by  A  C  in  the  figure. 
The  diagonal  distance  is  the  simplest  to  use,  since  it  is  direct;  whereas, 
when  using  the  other  measurement,  A  B,  the  point  0  must  be  established 
directly  or  squarely  across  from  B  — a  method  requiring  two  operations.  A 
rule  sometimes  used  for  the  parallel  distance  A  B  is  the  product  of  the  frog 


426  SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

number  by  the  difference  between  the  distance  center  to  center  of  the  two* 
tracks  2nd  twice  the  track  gage — 

A  B  =  n  (F  G  —  2  g), 

where  n  equals  the  frog  number,  F  G  the  distance  center  to  center  of  the 
two  tracks,  and  g  the  gage  of  the  track.  This  rule  is  only  approximate, 
and  always  gives  a  distance  too  long.  The  correct  distance  may  be  found 
very  nearly  (within  an  inch)  by  decreasing  the  distance  found  by  the  above 
rule  by  the  quotient  of  36  ins.  divided  by  the  frog  number.  It  is  certainly 
a  near  enough  rule  for  business  purposes.  An  approximate  rule  for  the 
parallel  distance  where  the  frogs  are  not  of  the  same  number  is  to  multiply 
the  distance  between  track  centers  minus  twice  the  gage,  by  half  the  sum 
of  the  two  frog  numbers,  or  AB=^(n-\-nf)  (F  G~2g). 

The  correct  parallel  distance  is  the  difference  between  two  quotients: 
one  of  which  is  the  distance  center  to  center  of  the  two  tracks  less  the  track 
gage,  divided  by  the  tangent  of  the  frog  angle ;  the  other  is  the  gage  of  the 
track  divided  by  the  sine  of  the  frog  angle;  that  is, 

BC  g 

AB= 

tang  F  sin  F 

The  length  of  the  tangent  A  H  is  found  by  dividing  the  distance  cen- 
ter to  center  minus  the  track  gage,  by  the  sine  of  the  frog  angle,  and  de- 
creasing this  quotient  by  the  gage  of  the  track  divided  by  the  tangent  of 
the  frog  angle ;  that  is, 

BC  g 

AH= 

sin  F          tang  F 

This  formula  is  of  use  in  determining  the  length  of  tangent  to  lay  at 
the  heel  of  the  frog  before  reversing  with  a  curve  of  the  same  degree  as 
the  turnout  curve  to  bring  the  side-track  parallel  with  the  main  line. 

The  diagonal  distance  A  C  is  the  square  root  of  the  sum  of  the  squares 
of  the  parallel  distance,  and  the  distance  center  to  center  minus  the  gage ;  or 

AC=  V  [  (AB) 2+  (BC) 2]  =also  V  [  (AH)  2+#2] 

Table  XV  (see  index)  gives  the  correct  "parallel"  and  "diagonal"  dis- 
tances, and  length  of  tangent  between  points  of  frogs,  for  different  gages 
center  to  center  of  tracks  varying  by  6  ins.,  and  for  frogs  of  different  num- 
bers. For  gages  c.  to  c.  of  tracks  intermediate  between  those  given  in  the 
table  the  corresponding  frog  distances  and  tangent  lengths  may  be  found 
by  interpolation. 

Before  starting  to  lay  a  crossover  both  the  tracks  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
crossover  should  be  put  in  good  alignment.  The  distance  center  to  center 
of  the  two  tracks  is  most  conveniently  and  expeditiously  found  by  measur- 
ing between  the  gage  lines  of  rails  on  the  same  (right  or  left)  side  of  each 
track;  that  is,  either  D  E  or  F  G,  in  Fig.  182.  A  convenient  way  to  find 
the  second  point  of  frog  by  trial,  is  to  lay  the  first  frog  and  put  down  tem- 
porarily a  straight  rail  at  its  heel  to  line  properly  with  the  frog.  Then 
slide  a  track  gage  along  it,  keeping  the  tool  perpendicular  to  the  rail  until 
it  meets  the  gage  line  of  the  near  rail  of  the  other  track.  The  point  where 
the  track  gage  just  reaches  is  the  point  of  frog.  A  device  called  a  frog  board 
is  also  used  to  some  extent.  It  consists  of  a  triangular  piece  of  board  7  or  8 
ft.  long,  the  edges  of  the  board  meeting  at  an  angle  corresponding  to  the 
angle  of  the  frog  to  be  used.  After  the  first  frog  is  laid  a  track  gage  is 
placed  across  the  turnout  at  the  .frog  point,  perpendicular  to  the  line  of  the 
frog.  The  position  of  the  point  of  the  second  frog,  on  the  rail  of  the  other 
track,  is  estimated  roughly,  and  the  frog  board  is  moved  along  near  this  point 
until  a  string  stretched  from  the  end  of  the  gage  to  the  point  of  the  frog 


CROSSOVERS  427 

board  is  in  line  with  the  edge  of  the  board.  With  the  board  in  this  position 
the  point  of  the  same  is  at  the  point  of  the  second  frog.  The  use  of  the 
frog  board  is  shown  in  Pig.  183.  F  is  the  point  of  the  first  frog,  or  the  one 
put  in  arbitrarily ;  F  B  is  the  track  gage ;  G  D  E  is  the  frog  board ;  B  E  is 
the  string.  Slide  the  board  along  the  rail  until  the  string  B  E  can  be  made 
to  line  with  the  edge  C  E  of  the  board.  The  point  F',  or  the  position  of  E, 
the  end  of  the  board,  is  then  the  point  of  the  second  frog. 

Where  the  two  parallel  tracks  are  on  a  curve  the  track  between  the  two 
frog  points  of  the  crossover  cannot  be  straight  if  the  two  frogs  are  of  the 
same  number.  For  slight  degrees  of  curvature  and  frogs  of  small  number, 
say  No.  7  or  less,  and  the  tracks  near  together,  the  connecting  track  may  be 
made  straight  between  the  frog  heels  by  using  the  same  parallel  or  diagonal 
distances  as  for  straight  tracks ;  but  this  piece  of  track  will  be  slightly  out 
of  line  with  the  two  frogs.  But  for  ordinary  frogs  of  the  same  number 
the  connecting  track  between  the  two  frogs  on  parallel  curved  tracks  (using 
the  same  parallel  or  diagonal  distance  as  for  straight  tracks)  should  be 
curved  to  a  radius  which  is  longer  than  that  of  the  main  line  in  the  propor- 
tion of  the  length  of  tangent  (A  H)  to  the  parallel  distance  (A  B).  This- 
curve  must  then  be  compounded  with  the  turnout  curve  at  the  point  of  the 
outer  frog  and  reversed  to  the  turnout  curve  at  the  point  of  the  inner  frog. 
Such  is  better  practice  than  that  of  extending  both  turnout  curves  to  a 
point  of  reversal  somewhere  between  the  frogs.  Where,  however,  there  is 
considrable  distance  between  parallel  tracks,  room  may  be  saved  by  'revers- 
ing the  curves  between  the  frogs.  For  this  prupose  both  frogs  may  be  of 
the  same  or  of  different  angle.  But  by  using  frogs  of  different  angle  the 
connecting  track  between  them  may  be  made  straight,  the  frog  of  greater 
angle  being  placed  in  the  outer  track.  In  selecting  the  frog  for  the  outer 
track  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  goes  in  on  the  inner  side  of  the 
curve  in  that  track,  in  which  case  tournout  curvature  runs  up  fast  as  the 
angle  of  the  frog  increases.  There  is  no  simple  rule  for  finding  the  proper 
distance  between  frogs  in  crossovers  between  parallel  curved  tracks,  and 
the  problems  are  so  diversified  that  they  will  not  be  taken  up  here.  A  prac- 
tical way  of  laying  such  crossovers  is  to  use  such  a  frog  in  the  outer  track 
as  will  answer  to  a  turnout  of  suitable  curvature.  Then  tie  two  strings  of 
equal  and  sufficient  length  to  the  ends  of  two  sticks,  each  of  which  is  equal 
in  length  to  the  gage  of  the  track.  Stretch  out  the  two  strings,  keeping 
the  parallelogram  rectangular  and  holding  it  so  that  the  outer  string  lines 
straight  with  the  frog  already  laid  or  with  a  frog  board  placed  at  the  point 
chosen  for  that  frog.  The  point  where  the  other  string  crosses  the  gage 
line  of  the  near  rail  of  the  inner  track  will  be  the  point  of  the  second  frog. 
Such  measurements  can  then  be  taken  from  string  to  rail  as  will  determine 
the  angle  of  this  frog.  Plotting  the  crossover  to  large  scale  is  the  readiest 
method  of  getting  the  measurements  in  the  office. 

On  double-track  roads,  crossovers  are  laid  trailing  to  the  movements  of 
the  trains.  This  arrangement  requires  the  trains  to  "back  over,"  but  in 
using  the  crossover  to  clear  the  track  for  a  following  train  it  really  effects 
a  saving  in  time,  since  it  gives  the  flagman  who  goes  out  ahead  a  start  equal 
to  the  train  length  before  the  train  can  back  over ;  and  after  the  train  fol- 
lowing has  passed,  the  train  which  has  backed  over  can  pull  straight  ahead. 
But  aside  from  these  advantages,  the  element  of  safety  is  with  the  trailing 
switch.  The  two  switches  of  crossovers  are  sometimes  connected  with  one 
stand  placed  midway  the  crossover.  In  other  instances  a  stand  is  some- 
times used  at  only  one  switch  of  the  crossover,  the  other  switch  being  oper- 
ated by  a  pipe  line  and  bell  crank  connection  between  the  two.  Either  ar- 
rangement is  especially  useful  in  busy  yards  where  the  switches  are  thrown 


428 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


by  hand,  as  it  saves  the  time  that  would  be  required  for  the  switchman  to 
run  from-  one  end  of  the  crossover  to  the  other  if  a  stand  was  used  at  each 
switch. 

77.  Crossings. — At  the  crossing  of  two  tracks  four  frogs  are  required. 
The  manner  of  constructing  these  frogs  depends  largely  upon  the  angle  at 
which  the  tracks  meet.  Crossing  frogs  are  sometimes  referred  to  as  single 
or  double-pointed ;  but  unless  these  terms  "single"  and  "double"  are  under- 
stood they  are  liable  to  lead  to  confusion  in  other  connections.  A  frog  can 
have  but  one  point,  which,  real  or  imaginary,  must  be  the  intersection  of  the 
two  gage  lines.  Figure  184  shows  the  outline  of  a  crossing  of  two  straight 
tracks.  There  are  four  frog  points :  Ff  F',  F",  and  F'".  The  angles  at  F 
and  F"  are  acute  and  equal  and  those  at  F'  and  F'"  are  obtuse  and  equal. 
The  frog  angle  at  F  is  the  angle  A  F  B  and  the  point  pieces  are  A  F  and 
B  F.  The  frog  angle  at  F'  is  A'  F'  B'  and  the  point  pieces  are  A'  F'  and  F'B'. 
The  wing  rails  of  the  first-mentioned  frog  are  G  E  and  G  D;  those  of  the  sec- 
ond-named are  G'  E'  and  C"  D'.  The  two  frogs  shown  as  F  and  F'  are  each 
ordinary  frogs,  in  no  way  different  except  in  their  angles,  the  same  being 
supplements  of  each  other.  Now  when  a  wheel  approaches  in  the  facing  direc- 
tion a  frog  of  ordinary  angle,  the  wing  rails  forming  the  mouth  of  the  frog 


Fig.  184. 

guard  the  flange  before  it  reaches  the  throat;  but  if  the  frog  angle  be  large, 
as  at  F',  the  wing  (Cr  D')  will  not  guard  a  wheel  flange  (approaching  from 
W)  until  after  it  nas  passed  the  throat;  and  the  same  with  the  wing  G'  E' 
for  a  wheel  approaching  from  D' .  Hence  in  frogs  of  such  large  angle  there 
must  be  two  guard  rails  or  wings  not  required  by  frogs  of  ordinary  angle  in 
order  to  guard  the  wheel  flanges  in  advance  of  the  throat.  These  guards 
are  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  frog,  like  the  piece  H  K  for  the  frog  F'". 
They  belong  also  with  the  frog  Fr,  but  have  been  omitted  in  the  figure  for 
sake  of  clearness  of  description.  It  is  this  piece  H  K  which  gives  rise  to 
the  name  "double-pointed,"  but  it  constitutes  two  guard  wings,  and,  using 
the  conventional  names  for  frog  parts,  the  frog  is  double-guarded  or  double- 
winged,  rather  than  double-pointed ;  the  double  points  referred  to  being  the 
sharp  angles  in  the  wing  rails.  With  this  understanding,  however,  and  in 
deference  to  common  practice,  we  call  it  double-pointed.  As  names  denot- 
ing the  positions  of  the  frogs  in  the  crossing,  it  is  quite  largely  in  vogue  to 
call  the  frogs  F  and  F"  the' "end"  frogs  and  F'  and  F"'  the  "middle"  frogs. 
At  a  crossing  of  straight  tracks  the  angles  about  all  the  four  frog  points  are 
the  same  as  those  about  the  intersection  of  the  center  lines  of  the  tracks; 
but  if  one  or  both  of  the  tracks  be  curved  at  this  point  the  angles  at  the 
corners  will  all  be  different.  The  angle  at  each  point  is,  of  course,  the 
angle  made  with  the  tangent  of  the  curve  at  that  point,  and,  as  previously 
noted  for  other  special  problems  of  like  nature,  the  readiest  method  of  so- 
lution is  to  plot  the  tracks  to  large  scale  and  take  the  angles  off  the  draw- 
ing. Crossings  on  curved  track  are  usually  avoided,  if  possible.  On  foreign 


CROSSINGS 


429 


roads  it  is  quite  customary  to  introduce  a  piece  of  tangent  at  the  crossing. 
Construction. — In  a  general  way,  four  styles  of  crossing  construction  are 
recognized.  For  crossings  of  small  angles — 15  deg.  and  less — the  usual  ar- 
rangement is  that  "disconnected  frogs."  The  end  frogs  are  of  oxdinary 
construction  and  ordinary  length,  and  there  are  connecting  rails  between 
these  and  the  middle  frogs.  For  angles  of  8  deg.  and  above,  the  middle 
frogs  are  usually  double-pointed,  but  fo'r  smaller  angles  use  is  made  of  mov- 
able-point frogs  referred  to  more  in  detail  further  along.  For  angles  be- 
tween 15  and  35  or  40  deg.  the  crossing  is  usually  made  in  four  sections, 
the  end  and  middle  frogs  meeting  at  joints  all  around,  as  in  Engraving  A, 
Fig.  185  (Weir  Frog  Company's  crossing  patterns).  This  style  of  crossing 
is  known  as  "long-angle  construction."  The  fourth  style  is  known  as  "short- 
angle  construction."  In  this  style,  which  is  usually  employed  for  angles  of 
35  or  40  deg.  and  higher,  the  rails  of  one  track  are  continuous  over  the 
frogs,  or  throughout  the  length  of  the  crossing,  with  the  rails  of  the  other 
track  butted  against  them  as  arms.  If  the  crossing  is  made  as  a  single  sec- 
tion, known  as  a  "through  rail"  crossing  there  are  no  joints  between  the  cor- 
ners, as  in  Fig.  186  (Elliot  Frog  &  Switch  Company's  pattern) ;  if  it  is  made 
in  two  sections,  for  convenience  of  shipment,  the  crossing  is  cut  in  two  at 


Fig.  185. 

joints  in  one  of  the  tracks,  as  in  Fig.  188  (Pettibone,  Mulliken  &  Com- 
pany's patterns).  When  shipping  a  crossing  made  in  one  section  (Figs.  186 
and  191)  either  two  or  four  arms  are  usually  taken  off.  It  should,  of  course, 
be  understood  that  in  designating  types  and  styles  of  construction  the  rela- 
tion of  the  angles  to  the  various  conventional  terms  and  to  the  range  of  ap- 
plication of  certain  details  should  be  taken  broadly.  Each  manufacturer 
has  his  own  standards  in  these  respects,  and  among  the  railways  there  are 
no  generally  recognized  standards  for  frog  and  switch  construction. 

For  short-angle  construction  the  end  frogs  are  usually  double-pointed, 
and  such  is  also  frequently  the  case  with  long-angle  crossings.  The  guard 
rails  are  then  extended  from  the  four  corners  and  joined,  or  are  made  con- 
tinuous, forming  what  is  called  a  "double-rail"  crossing,  illustrated  by  En- 
graving B,  Fig.  185,  and  by  both  engravings  in  Fig.  188.  Figure  192 
(Kamapo  Iron  Works  patterns)  shows  the  double-pointed  end  frog  for  a 
double-rail  crossing  at  an  angle  as  small  as  20  deg.  Engraving  A,  Fig.  185, 
shows  a  "single-rail"  crossing.  If  the  inside  guards  of  a  double-rail  cross- 


430 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Fig.  186.  Fig.  187. 

ing  are  not  continuous  they  should  preferably  break  joints  with  the  running 
rails,  as  in  Fig.  189  (Paige  Iron  Works  pattern),  and  the  filler  blocking 
should  break  joints  with  both.  In  a  short-angle  crossing  with  double  track 
the  arms  between  the  tracks  should  be  made  of  proper  length  to  fit  with- 
out connecting  pieces,  and  preferably  without  a  joint  in  either  guard  or 
running  rails.  An  important  modern  improvement  in  crossing  construc- 
tion is  the  use  of  reinforcing  rails  with  easer  ends,  to  carry  the  outer  flange 
of  worn  wheels.  Figure  187  shows  the  application  of  this  feature  to  the 
obtuse  corners  of  a  long-angle  crossing,  and  Fig.  189  shows  a  crossing  with 
reinforcing  rails  throughout.  In  this  case  the  easing  rails  in  the  outer 
corners  break  joints  with  the  main  rails,  thus  affording  very  rigid  construc- 
tion. 

As  the  flanges  of  street-car  wheels  are  usually  smaller  than  those  of 
steam  cars,  the  flangeways  in  a  street  railway  track  crossing  a  steam  road 
may  be  narrowed  accordingly,  and  much  to  the  benefit  of  the  crossing  for 
the  steam  cars.  The  situation  is  also  improved  by  narrowing  the  gage  of 
the  street  car  track  over  the  crossing  about  i  in.,  as  such  steadies  the  mo- 
tion of  the  street  cars  and  reduces  the  flangeway  otherwise  required.  The 
crossing  of  a  steam  road  with  a  street  railroad  is  sometimes  made  by  leaving 
the  rails  of  the  steam  road  undisturbed,  except  to  cut  notches  across  them 
just  deep  enough  and  wide  enough  to  let  the  street  car  flanges  through. 
The  street  railway  rails  are  then  butted  against  the  steam-road  rails  and 


Fig.  188. 


CROSSINGS 


431 


bolted  to  them  by  splices  fitting  the  angle.  The  street  railway  rails  must 
foe  broken  for  sufficient  distances  to  make  room  far  the  steam  road  flange- 
ways  and  guard  rails.  When  the  rails  of  the  steam  road  become  battered 
at  the  notches  they  can  be  removed  and  new  ones  substituted  without  tear- 
ing up  the  crossing.  The  best  form  of  crossing  for  steam  roads  and  street 
railways,  however,  is  one  wherein  the  rails  of  the  steam  road  are  reinforced 
thoughout  the  length  of  the  crossing,  as  such  reduces  the  battering  at  the 
notches.  Such  a  crossing  is  shown  as  Fig.  191.  The  sectional  view  shows 
how  the  flangeway  along  each  street-car  rail  is  made  by  planing  out  a  groove 
in  the  head  of  the  guard  rail  for  the  same,  which  is  laid  touching  the  head 
of  the  main  rail  and  solidly  bolted  to  the  same  through  filler  pieces.  A 
flangeway  for  the  street  railway  1  in.  to  1J  ins.  wide  and  f  to  J  in.  deep  is 
usually  ample.  Such  crossings  are  preferably  built  entirely  with  T-rails  of 
the  section  used  on  the  steam  road.  The  compromise  splices  necessary  to 
connect  with  the  rails  of  the  street  railway,  which  are  usually  of  the  girder 
type,  then  come  outside  of  the  crossing,  and  such  construction  is  more  satis- 
factory than  that  of  joining  the  two  kinds  of  rail  together  in  the  crossing. 
33y  careful  measurements  the  bolt  holes  in  the  rails  of  the  steam  road  may 


Fig.  189.  Fig.  190. 

be  drilled  in  the  rail  in  place  and  the  crossing  then  laid  without  tearing  up 
or  obstructing  the  steam  road.  The  notches  are  readily  cut  out  of  the  rail 
head  with  hack  saw  and  cold  chisel.  The  rails  in  the  steam  road  should 
fte  continuous  over  the  crossing,  even  in  the  case  of  a  double-track  street 
railway.  If  a  joint  happens  to  come  within  the  crossing  as  located,  the 
rails  may  readily  be  cut  and  moved  along  to  bring  the  joint  off  the  cross- 
ing. When  renewal  of  the  crossing  becomes  necessary  the  rails  for  the 
steam  road  may  be  drilled  and  notched  beforehand,  ready  for  laying  in  place 
as  soon  as  the  time  comes  for  the  change. 

In  long-angle  construction  it  is  largely  the  practice  to  bend  the  wing 
and  guard  rails  to  the  obtuse  angles.  Rails  for  crossings  are  frequently 
bent  25  deg.  and  sometimes  35  deg.,  and  perhaps  even  more  than  this  in  a 
lew  instances,  but  objections  are  raised  to  heavy  bending,  for  two  reasons: 
First,,  a  rail  cannot  be  bent  to  a  well-defined  angle,  and,  secondly,  the  heat- 
ing of  the  rail,  which  is  necessary  for  heavy  bending,  softens  the  metal  right 
at  the  point  where  the  wear  is  heaviest.  Aside  from  the  angle,  the  neces- 
sity for  heating  rails  when  bending  depends  upon  the  hardness  of  the  metal 
and  the  size  of  the  section.  Under  average  conditions  in  these  respects  a 
rail  can  be  bent  cold  to  an  angle  of  about  15  deg.  as  the  maximum.  The 
observation  of  some  authorities  is  to  the  effect  that  the  bending  of  rails  for 


433 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


Fig.  191. — Crossing  for  Steam  and  Street  Roads. 

crossing  frogs  should  be  restricted  to  the  limitations  of  cold  bending.  For 
angles  higher  ithan  this  they  consider  a  well  spliced  joint  as  generally  the 
preferable  arrangement.  In  assembling  the  arms  of  crossing  frogs  two 
kinds  of  joints  are  made,  namely  mite'r  and  butt  joints.  For  obtuse  angles 
the  miter  joint  is  perhaps  the  most  common  style  and  for  acute  angles  the 
butt  joint,  but  when  the  rails  in  one  of  the  tracks  are  continuous  (the  flange- 
way  being  cut  through  the  head  only)  the  pieces  must  be  butted  together 
all  around,  as  in  Fig.  188.  For  angles  above  25  deg.  and  to  and  includ- 
ing 35  deg.  it  is  the  standard  practice  of  the  Cleveland  Frog  &  Crossing 
Co.  to  use  miter  joints  in  both  the  obtuse  and  acute  corners ;  up  to  and  in- 
cluding £5  deg.  the  rails  forming  the  obtuse  corners  are  bent;  from  35  to  90 
deg.  the  standard  construction  consists  of  continuous  rails  for  one  track, 
with  arms  abutted  against  them  for  the  other  track.  Figures  186  and  18r* 
show  both  butt  and  miter  joints  for  90-deg.  angles.  In  long  miter  joints, 
as,  for  instance,  in  the  acute  corners  of  crossings  at  45  deg.  and  less,  the 
web  should  support  the  rail  head  to  the  extreme  end  of  the  joint  or  apexr 
as  in  the  40-deg.  frog,  Fig.  192.  In  order  to  carry  the  full  web  support 
in  this  manner  the  end  of  the  rail  is  bent  before  the  planing  for  the  miter 
is  begun.  The  engraving  for  the  20-deg.  end  frog,  in  the  same  figure,  show:-; 


Fig.  192. — End  Crossing  Frogs. 


CROSSINGS 


433 


how  the  web  is  carried  out  to  the  end  of  each  piece  when  "main  point  and 
side  point"  construction  is  employed,  as  in  ordinary  single-pointed  frogs. 
Kolled  iron  or  steel  makes  the  strongest  filling,  but  such  must,  of  course, 
be  used  in  separate  pieces.  The  crossing  frogs  shown  in  Engraving  Bt  Fig. 
185  and  in  Fig.  189  are  "cross  filled"  with  rolled  pieces  halved  together,  so 
as  to  be  continuous  both  ways.  The  filling  of  the  4.0-deg.  end  frog  in  Fig. 
192  is  in  two  pieces  planed  to  fit  together  along  the  axis  of  the  frog.  The 
angle  splices  for  crossing  frogs  should  fit  accurately  and  they  should  be 
heavy.  In  order  to  get  the  proper  strength  they  should  fill  all  the  space 
between  the  head  and  flange  of  the  rail.  Engraving  6r,  Fig.  188;  and  Figs. 
186,  191,  and  194  show  examples  of  extra  heavy  angle  splice  construction. 
The  type  of  stout  splice  shown  sectionally  in  Figs.  186  and  194  affords  the 
maximum  sectional  area  for  the  thickness.  Cast  angle  splices  of  this  style 
—that  is,  extending  flush  with  top  of  rail — as  thick  (horizontally)  as  6  ins. 
have  been  used  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Western  Ey.  The  Cleveland  Frog  & 
Crossing  Co.  makes  a  heavy,  solid  cast  steel  angle  bar  which  has  the  angle 
filled  up  and  extended  flush  with  top  of  rail,  to  form  a  triangular  "easer 
block"  outside  the  'rail  head,  as  shown  in  Fig.  193.  Another  stiffening 
device  used  a  good  deal  is  an  angle  brace,  most  frequently  across  acute  corn- 
ers, as  shown  in  Fig.  192  and  by  Engraving  B,  Figs.  185  and  194.  In 


Fig.  193.— Easer  Block  Angle  Splice.  Fig.  194. 

one  style  this  brace  consists  of  a  heavy  strap  with  the  ends  bent  up  against 
the  arms  of  the  frog,  but  on  the  60-deg.  frog  shown  in  Fig.  192  the  brace 
strap  and  angle  splice  are  welded  together,  forming  a  solid  A-shaped  splice. 
In  some  instances  these  brace  straps  are  placed  farther  out  from  the  apex 
than  in  the  positions  shown,  being  sometimes  as  long  as  18  ins.  Aside  from 
their  general  utility  these  corner  braces  are  of  good  service  to  prevent  bend- 
ing of  the  crossing  arms  in  handling  during  shipment.  A  bolt  across  the 
mouth  of  the  frog  (R,  Fig.  188),  with  large  beveled  washers,  is  a  good  ar- 
rangement for  securing  the  joints  in  the  wing  rails.  The  40-deg.  frog  in  Fig. 
192  is  shown  with  the  large  washers  and  two  bolts,  the  latter  passing 
through  the  webs  of  the  point  pieces.  Still  another  stiffening  arrange- 
ment is  a  base  plate.  In  the  largest  practice  plates  are  used  only  at  the 
corners  (B,  Fig.  185),  but  in  short-angle  work  continuous  plates  the  full 
length  of  the  crossing,  under  one  of  the  tracks  (Fig.  186),  are  used  to  some 
extent. 

Movable-Point  Frogs. — In  small-angle  crossings  the  guard  rail  of  each 
middle  frog  (HK,  Fig.  184)  is  sometimes  set  to  shade  the  two  points  by 
about  ^  in. ;  that  is  to  say,  the  channels  between  H  and  F'"  and  K  and  F'" 


434 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


LJ 


Fig.  195.— Movable-Point  Frog. 

are  each  made  -J  in.  narrower  than  the  channels  between  M  and  F'"  and  L 
and  F'".  This  arrangement  affords  some  degree  of  security,  but  as  the  angle 
gets  smaller  it  cannot  insure  safety.  For  crossing  angles  of  less  than  8  deg. 
the  throats  of  two  middle  or  double-pointed  frogs  would  come  so  nearly  op- 
posite that  it  would  be  impossible  to  guard  the  points,  in  which  case  the 
point-rail  crossing,  otherwise  known  as  the  movable-point  frog  (Fig,  195), 
is  used.  It  consists  of  two  sets  of  short  switch  points  placed  face  to  face  be- 
tween two  bent  rails.  They  are  moved  in  opposite  directions  at  the  same 
time,  either  by  direct  connection  with  a  double-throwing  stand  on  the  Weir 
or  Hasty  idea  (Figs.  163  and  164) ;  or  by  a  "T"  or  oppositely-acting  be!) 
cranks  connecting  with  an  ordinary  stand  or  with  interlocking  apparatus, 
as  appears  in  the  figure ;  or  by  connecting  both  pairs  of  points  to  a  balance 
bar,  as  in  Fig.  190— the  throwing  of  one  set  of  points  then  moving  the  other. 
This  arrangement  also  causes  the  points  to  operate  automatically  if  trailed 
when  wrongly  set.  The  Weir  automatic  stand  for  movable  point-rail  crossings 
(Eng.C,  Fig.185)  has  an  adjustable  spring  working  on  a  tail  piece  of  the  bal- 
ance bar,  on  the  principle  of  the  action  of  the  Weir  automatic  switch  stand 
(Fig.  151).  As  soon  as  a  trailing  wheel  throws  the  point  rails  past  the 
half-way  position  the  spring  assists  in  throwing  them  the  remainder  of  the 
distance  and  closes  them  tightly  against  the  opposite  stock  rail,  both  sets 
of  points  being  operated  simultaneously  and  in  opposite  directions.  The 
Elliot  Frog  &  Switch  Company's  arrangement  for  throwing  both  sets  of 
points  at  the  same  time,  and  which  is  also  automatic,  is  shown  by  Engrav- 
ing D,  same  figure.  Figure  196  shows  a  stand  for  movable-point  frogs  used 
on  the  Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago  Ey.  There  is  a  parallel-throw  ground 
lever  turning  a  shaft  and  beveled  pinion,  the  latter  being  engaged  with  a 
sector  gear  on  the  arm  of  a  balanced  lever  connected  to  the  two  sets  of  points. 


Plate  2l~x  /2"x  '/s" 


Fig.  196.— Stand  for  Movable-Point  Frog,  P.,  Ft.  W.  &  C.  Ry. 


CROSSINGS 


435 


Other  details  in  connection  with  the  operation  of  the  stand  are  made  clear 
in  the  illustration.  Another  advantage  in  the  use  of  the  movable-point  frog 
that  is  worthy  of  mention  is  that  it  provides  a  continuous-bearing  rail ;  and 
another  condition  under  which  the  use  of  the  frog  becomes  desirable  is  where 
one  or  both  of  the  tracks  are  on  a  curve. 

All  parts  of  a  crossing  should  be  made  with  rails  of  exactly  the  same 
form  and  size,  and  if  the  tracks  be  laid  with  rails  of  different  weight  the 
heavier  or  deeper  section  should  be  used  throughout.  If  the  difference  in 
section  be  such  that  compromise  splices  are  required  in  one  of  the  tracks, 
a  length  of  rail  of  the  same  section  as  that  used  in  the  crossing-  should 
connect  with  each  frog,  so  as  to  remove  from  the  proximity  of  the  cross- 
ing any  diversity  of  conditions  in  the  joints.  In  loading  or  unloading 
crossings  or  sections  of  the  same,  as  during  shipment,  considerable  care  is 


flare  pece 


Fig.  197. — Mansfield   Reversible  and   Interchangeable  Crossing  Frogs. 

necessary  to  avoid  knocking  the  legs  out  of  line.  At  crossings  on  double 
track  two  joints  in  each  track,  not  far  from  the  crossing,  in  the  direction 
from  which  the  creeping  takes  place,  should  constantly  be  kept  open,  so 
that  the  running  of  the  rails  in  the  two  tracks,  in  different  directions, 
will  not  throw  the  crossing  frogs  into  bad  alignment. 

Reversible  and  Interchangeable  Crossing  Frogs. — As  all  the  parts  of 
a  double-rail  crossing  are  not  subject  to  wear  from  the  traffic  it  would  ap- 
pear that  if  the  frogs  were  made  reversible  or  interchangeable  the  wear 
could  be  distributed  more  uniformly  over  the  parts  and  thus  increase  the 
service  of  the  frogs.  Mr.  M.  W.  Mansfield,  engineer  maintenance  of  way 
for  the  Indianapolis  Union  Ry.,  has  put  this  idea  into  practice  to  some  ex- 
tent. The  diagram  of  a  set  of  frogs  designed  for  the  Erie  R.  R.  according 
to  Mr.  Mansfield's  plan  is  shown  as  Fig.  197.  The  two  tracks  cross  each 
other  at  an  angle  of  45  deg.  52  min.  and  each  frog  is  made  symmetrical 
with  respect  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  center  lines  of  the  filler 
blocks.  All  legs  symmetrical  with  either  axis  of  the  frog  have  the  same 


436 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND   APPLIANCES 


length,  and  these  lengths  are  not  arbitrary.  Having  the  gage  of  the  track 
and  width  of  flangeway  the  angle  of  the  crossing  then  determines  the  length 
of  the  legs.  The  flare  of  the  guard  rails  is  made  by  curved  pieces  spliced 
on,  as  shown.  As  both  ends  of  each  frog  are  the  same,  and  all  four  frogs 
exactly  alike,  any  or  all  of  the  frogs  may  be  reversed  in  place,  or  any  one 
will  fit  in  the  place  of  any  other.  The  utility  of  the  design  for  the  purpose 
intended  may,  for  example,  be  considered  with  reference  to  Frog.  No.  2. 
Under  traffic  the  wear  upon  this  frog  comes  upon  the  points  Hf  F  and  E ; 
that  is,  wheels  rolling  along  the  track  "S"  pass  over  E  and  F  and  wheels 
rolling  along  track  "M"  pass  over  H  and  F.  The  part  F  is  then  subject  to 
wear  from  the  wheels  on  both  tracks,  while  the  part  G,  being  on  the  guard 
rail,  undergoes  no  wear  at  all.  Now  if  the  frog  be  reversed  in  the 
same  position  the  guard  rails  change  places  with  the  running  rails  and  the 
wear  will  come  upon  parts  H,  G  and  E,  the  part  G  then  being  subject  to 
"double  wear"  and  the  part  F  relieved  of  wear.  Thus  by  reversing  the  frog 
in  its  place  all  parts  of  the  frog  are  brought  into  service  and  the  service 
upon  all  of  the  parts  is  equalized,  inasmuch  as  the  parts  in  double  wear  are 


Fig.  198. — The  Fontaine  Crossing. 

in  service  only  half  of  the  time.  Or  suppose  that  Frog  No.  2  be  inter- 
changed with  No.  1.  The  wearing  parts  then  become  F,  E  and  6r,  corre- 
sponding to  the  parts  (7,  A  and  D  respectively,  the  part  E  (corresponding  to 
part  A)  coming  into  double  service.  Next  suppose  the  frog  be  inter- 
changed with  No.  3.  The  wearing  parts  then  become  E,  G  and  H,  corre- 
sponding to  parts  J ' ,  P  and  W,  respectively,  the  part  G  (corresponding  to 
part  P)  then  coming  into  double  service.  By  interchanging  the  frog  with 
No.  4,  not  shown,  the  parts  F,  H  and  G  become  the  wearing  parts,  with 
part  H  in  double  service.  Thus  by  interchanging  each  frog  with  the  frogs 
at  all  of  the  four  corners  of  the  crossing,  each  of  the  four  points  about  the 
throat  of  the  frog  is  in  turn  brought  into  double  service  and  the  wear  upon 
all  the  parts  of  the  frog  is  equalized. 

With  frogs  of  this  kind  in  a  crossing  of  two  tracks  one  of  which  is 
much  used  and  the  other  but  little  used,  as,  for  instance,  the  crossing  of  a 
main  track  by  a  siding  or  branch  line  handling  but  a  small  amount  of 
traffic,  the  economy  of  wear  is  equally,  if  not  more,  apparent.  Suppose  track 
"M"  be  a  main  track  or  a  track  much  used  and  the  track  "S"  a  side- 
track or  track  but  little  used.  It  is  evident  that  in  a  case  of  this  kind  the 
wear  on  frog  No.  2  would  come  principally  upon  the  parts  H  and  F,  while 
the  part  E  would  come  but  little  into  service ;  and  on  frog  No.  1  the  same  ap- 
plies to  the  parts  A  and  D  in  the  main  track,  and  part  G  in  the  side- 
track. If  now  frogs  No.  2  and  1  be  reversed  in  place  or  interchanged,  the 
parts  H  and  F  and  A  and  D  will  be  relieved  of  wear  from  the  traffic  in  the 


CROSSINGS  437 

main  track  and  the  parts  G  and  E  of  frog  No.  2  and  B  and  C  of  frog 
No.  1  will  come  into  main-line  service.  The  life  of  the  frog  should 
therefore  be  practically  doubled.  Two  sets  of  these  frogs  in  service  at  the 
crossing  of  the  Belt  Ey.  with  the  Cleveland  division  of  the  Cleveland,  Cin- 
cinnati, Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ey.,  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  after  being  reversed 
and  changed  four  times,  had  given  between  two  and  three  times  the  amount 
of  service  previously  obtainable  from  frogs  of  ordinary  pattern  used  in 
the  same  crossing.  Interchangeable  crossing  frogs  of  the  same  design  are 
also  in  service  on  the  Chicago,  Indianapolis  &  Louisville  Ey. 

Crossing  Support. — Crossing  ties  should  be  long  switch  ties, "placed 
diagonally  to  the  two  tracks  rather  than  squarely  across  one  of  them,  tha 
preference  being  to  place  the  ties  at  right  angles  to  the  longer  diagonal  of 
the  crossing,  and  thus  symmetrical  to  both  tracks.  In  some  situations,  how- 
ever, it  is  considered  good  practice  to  lay  the  ties  at  right  angles  to  the 
line  of  heavier  traffic.  On  a  few  roads  ordinary  ties  are  used,  the  ties  of 
the  two  tracks  being  interlaid  so  as  to  come  as  nearly  as  may  be  at  right 
angles  in  each  track.  Large  sleepers  placed  longitudinally  under  the  rails, 
halved  together  where  they  cross  under  the  frogs  (Fig.  91),  are  sometimes 
used,  in  place  of  ties.  For  square  crossings  the  Buffalo  &  Susquehanna 
E.  E.  uses  sleepers  12x16  ins.  in  size.  Mr.  Jerry  Sullivan  described,  in  the 
Eailway  Eeview  for  Apr.  9,  1892,  a  substantial  foundation  for  crossings 
where  the  intersection  angle  is  90  deg.  or  nearly  so.  He  excavates  to  a  depth 
of  19  ins.  under  the  rail  base  and  lays  7x9-in.x9-ft.  sawed  ties  side  by  side  in 
the  bottom  of  the  trench,  over  a  length  of  9  ft.  of  track.  On  top  of  .these, 
and  crosswise,  three  pieces  of  12xl2-in.x9-ft.  timber  are  laid,  two  being 
used  as  sleepers  for  the  rails  of  one  track  and  the  other  lying  in  the  middle 
of  the  same  track,  all  three 'pieces  then  acting  as  cross  ties  for  the  other 
track.  The  idea  seems  a  good  one  and  no  doubt  a  further  improvement 
would  be  had  by  using  bed  ties  of  12  ft.  length  and  two  extra  12x1 2^in. 
timbers  properly  spaced  outside  the  three,  as  per  his  arrangement. 

The  drainage  of  crossings  is  very  important.  Unless  the  ground  under 
the  crossing  can  be  kept  reasonably  dry  it  cannot  be  expected  to  maintain 
the  crossing  in  good  surface.  The  best  practice  seems  to  favor  the  use  of  a, 
good  depth  of  broken  stone  ballast,  with  drain  tile  for  foundations  that  are 
shut  in,  or  from  which  the  water  cannot  readily  escape.  A  committee  'report 
to  the  Eoadmasters'  Association  of  America,  in  1896,  recommends  a  pit  4 
ft.  deep  framed  with  timbers  and  filled  with  crushed  rock,  with  a  drain 
from  the  bottom  of  the  pit.  When  tile  is  laid  under  track  at  a  crossing  the 
foundation  should  be  excavated  to  slopes  which  will  give  drainage  to  the 
tile. 

Continuous-Rail  Devices. — As  the  angle  between  the  two  tracks  ap- 
proaches 90  deg.  it  becomes  more  difficult  for  crossing  frogs  to  give  satis- 
faction, owing  to  the  open  channel  space  lying  more  nearly  square  across  the 
rails  and  allowing  the  wheels  to  drop.  Numerous  devices  have  been  contrived 
and  tested  for  overcoming  this  objectionable  feature,  but  without  any  per- 
manent succes.  The  result  of  a  noteworthy  attempt  at  solving  the  difficulty 
is  the  Fontaine  crossing  (Fig.  198),  tried  some  years  ago  on  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio ;  Yandalia ;  Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago  and  other  roads. 
It  consisted  of  four  vertical  turrets  connected  together  by  heavy  rods  and  en- 
closed within  a  strong  frame  of  channel  iron.  At  each  corner  there  was  a- 
short  piece  of  rail  mounted  upon  a  small  turntable  arrangement  rotated  by 
connection  with  an  interlocking  tower.  It  is  said  to  have  preserved  a  smooth 
riding  crossing  and  to  have  shown  durability  to  a  marked  degree,  but  the 
•unavoidable  accumulation  of  rust  and  grit  caused  revolving  parts  and  lock- 
ing bars  to  work  so  hard  that  their  operation  became  unreliable.  Four  of 


438  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 

these  devices  used  in  the  crossing  of  the  Chicago  Terminal  Transfer  and  the 
Chicago  &  Grand  Trunk  roads  at  49th  Street,  in  Chicago,  from  1892  to 
1897  were  finally  condemned  and  sold  for  scrap.  During  the  five  years  they 
were  once  rebuilt  at  an  expense  of  about  $800,  and  they  were  a  source 
of  annoyance  the  whole  time.  It  required  the  services  of  an  extra  man 
practically  day  and  night  to  keep  the  crossings  oiled  and  in  proper  adjust- 
ment. Every  little  while  one  of  the  revolving  posts  would  break,  requir- 
ing one  of  the  tracks  to  be  abandoned  until  repairs  were  made.  The  reason 
for  relating  this  much  of  experience  with  the  Fontaine  crossing  is  that  it 
was  an  exceptionally  well  built  device,  and  the  information  concerning  the 
same  may  be  of  value  to  persons  inclined  to  experiment  with  crossings  got 
up  on  the  same  idea,  which  seems  to  be  a  favorite  one  with  inventors. 

Gantlet  Tracks. — It  sometimes  becomes  necessary  for  the  trains  of  two 
(usually  parallel)  tracks  to  traverse  the  same  space  for  a  short  distance 
where  there  is  not  room  enough  for  two  tracks  at  clearing  distance  apart: 
such,  for  instance,  as  the  passing  of  a  double-track  road  through  a  narrow 
street;  o'r  over  a  bridge  or  through  a  tunnel  built  for  single  track.  In  such 
cases  no  switch  is  needed,  as  the  rails  of  both  tracks  may  be  laid  side  by 
side  on  the  same  ties,  as  near  each  other  as  may  be  convenient — say  8  ins. 
apart.  The  crossing  of  the  two  inner  rails  is  made  by  ordinary  frogs,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  199.  This  arrangement  of  two  tracks  on  the  same  ties  is 
known  as  a  "gantlet  track."  The  weighing  track  over  track  scales  is  usually 
gantleted  with  another,  so  that  cars  which  are  not  to  be  weighed  may  pass 
without  bringing  load  upon  the  scales. 


Fig.  199.— Gantlet  Track, 

An  interesting  application  of  gantlet  tracks  was  put  into  temporary 
service  in  the  Musconetcong  tunnel  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.  in  1899  while 
a  portion  of  the  same  was  being  lined.  There  was  a  double  track  through 
the  tunnel,  and  during  hours  when  the  work  of  lining  was  being  carried  on 
it  was  found  desirable  to  divert  all  traffic  to  the  center  of  the  tunnel,  so  as 
to  get  room  at  the  sides  for  tram  cars  which  were  used  to  carry  out  the 
excavated  rock.  A  rail  was  laid  outside  each  main  track  and  used  with  the 
outer  rail  of  the  latter  for  a  tram  track  of  2  ft.  gage.  As  the  traffic  was 
heavy  (an  engine  or  train  passing  through  the  tunnel  every  10  minutes,  on 
the  average)  it  was  found  expedient  to  use  the  regular  tracks  at  such  times 
as  the  tunnel  work  did  not  interfere.  No  work  was  done  nights  and  Sun- 
days, and  at  other  times  the  work  did  not  obstruct  the  regular  tracks  all  of 
the  while.  To  make  room  for  the  side  supports  of  the  arch  centering  the 
main  tracks  were  thrown  in  to  11J  ft.  centers,  as  shown  in  Fig.  19'9A.  The 
arrangement  for  single-track  operation  consisted  in  laying  two  rails  in  the 
space  between  the  tracks,  to  gage  with  the  inner  rails  of  the  main  tracks, 
thus  forming  a  second  track  alongside  each  main  track.  The  outside  of 
the  inner  rail  of  the  main  track  in  this  case  was  the  gage  side  for  the  "sec- 
ond" track,  and  the  two  so-called  "second"  tracks  were  gantleted  together 
in  the  space  between  the  two  main  tracks.  In  other  words,  for  east-bound 
movements  there  were  two  tracks  on  three  rails,  or  two  tracks  using  one  rail 
in  common ;  for  west-bound  movements  there  was  a  like  arrangement  inde- 
pendent of  the  other;  and  the  inner  of  the  two  tracks  for  movements  in 
each  direction  were  gantleted.  The  illustration  shows  the  arrangement  of 


CROSSINGS 


439 


the  ties  laid  for  the  support  of  the  extra  rails,  including  the  rails  of  the 
tram  tracks,  laid  outside  the  main  tracks  for  'running  the  excavated  rock  out 
of  the  tunnel  while  traffic  was  being  operated  over  the  gantlet  tracks.  The 
rails  for  the  gantlet  tracks  were  laid  on  the  ends  of  the  ties  of  the  two  main 
tracks,  but  too  near  the  ends  to  permit  them  to  be  securely  spiked.  In 
order  to  hold  these  rails  to  gage  it  was  necessary  to  interlay  ties  between 
the  ends  of  the  ties  of  the  main  tracks,  as  shown.  As  the  ties  in  the  main 
tracks  did  not  everywhere  stand  opposite  each  other,  it  was  not  practicable 
to  lay  ties  for  the  gantlet  track  between  each  pair  of  ties  in  the  main  tracks. 
It  was  feasible,  however,  to  lay  10  or  12  ties  per  rail  length  for  Holding  the 
gantlet  tracks  to  gage. 

The  switch  connections  for  the  gantlet  operation  are  shown  in  Fig. 
171A.  For  west-bound  main-track  movements  the  rails  A  and  B  were  used, 
while  for  west-bound  movements  through  the  gantlet  the  rails  B  and  C 
were  used.  For  east-bound  main-track  movements  the  rails  X  and  Y  were 
used,  and  for  east-bound  movements  through  the  gantlet  the  rails  Y  and  Z 
were  used.  The  switching  of  trains  from  each  main  track  to  the  gantlet 
was  by  an  ordinary  point  switch  operated  from  an  interlocking  tower  and 
telegraph  office  outside  and  near  one  end  of  the  tunnel.  All  train  move- 
ments over  the  gantlet  were  controlled  from  towers  at  either  end  of  the 
tunnel.  The  turnout  lead  from  each  main  track  into  the  gantlet  was  a  5- 
deg.  curve,  and  as  the  arrangement  was  only  temporary  there  was  no  frog 


Fig.  199  A. — Temporary  Gantlet  and  Tram  Tracks,   Musconetcong  Tunnel. 

where  the  outer  rail  of  this  turnout  crossed  the  gage  line  of  the  main  track. 
Each  time  a  change  was  made  from  double-track  to  gantlet  operation,  or  vice 
versa,  the  rail  in  common  between  each  main  track  and  the  gantlet  was  dis- 
connected at  a  joint  (see  G  and  H)  and  thrown  over,  the  time  consumed  in 
removing  the  splice  and  bolting  it  on  again  being  about  two  minutes. 

A  glance  at  Fig.  199  will  show  that  without  some  means  of  protection 
a  gantlet  track  forms  a  dangerous  obstruction  to  the  passage  of  derailed  cars. 
A  car  on  either  track  derailed  on  either  side  is  almost  sure  to  be  carried  over 
and  break  the  train,  after  passing  the  frog  at  one  end  or  the  other  of  the 
gantlet.  '  To  avoid  trouble  of  this  kind  as  far  as  possible  a  bridge  guard, 
consisting  of  two  rails  gradually  drawn  in  to  meet  in  the  center  of  the  track, 
is  laid  at  the  heel  of  the  trailing  frog  in  each  track. 

How  to  Avoid  Switches  on  Curves. — The  elements  of  danger  always 
present  with  switches  leading  from  the  outside  of  curved  track  make  it 
desirable,  as  heretofore  stated,  to  avoid  such  arrangements  wherever  the  sit- 
uation will  permit.  In  some  instances,  however,  it  is  found  to  be  necessary 
to  lead  a  side-track  or  branch  line  from  the  outside  of  a  sharp  curve.  Under 
such  a  condition  the  frog  must  be  placed  on  the  curve,  but  by  going  to  some 
expense  the  switch  may  be  placed  back  on  straight  line  and  the  lead  gant- 
leted  around  the  curve  to  the  frog  placed  at  the  desired  point  of  departure. 
In  one  application  of  the  arrangement  which  I  have  seen  a  side-track 
branches  from  a  sharp  curve  the  P.  C.  of  which  comes  at  the  end  of  a  swing 
bridge.  For  lack  of  room  the  opportunity  for  laying  a  switch  and  desirable 


440  SWITCH  ING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

lead  on  that  side  of  the  bridge  was  otherwise  not  good,,  and  so  to  solve  the 
difficulty  the  switch  was  put  in  on  tangent,  in  advance  of  the  bridge,  and 
the  lead  gantleted  across  the  bridge  to  the  frog  leading  out  of  the  curve 
just  beyond. 

Gantlet  leads  are  in  use  at  several  places  on  the  Denver  &  Eio  Grande 
E.  E.j  for  the  purpose  here  in  view,  and  the  operation  of  the  same  is  quite 
satisfactory.  An  illustration  of  a  layout  of  the  kind  is  shown  in  Fig.  168, 
some  pages  back.  The  particular  turnout  is  from  third-rail  track  (4  ft. 
SJ-in.  and  3-ft.  gages)  at  Hecla  Junction,  a  few  miles  west  of  Salida,  Colo,, 
where  a  narrow-gage  branch  line  leaves  a  7°  30'  curve  in  the  main  track 
and  extends  to  some  iron  ore  mines  at  Calumet.  (It  may  prove  interesting 
to  state  that  the  grades  on  this  branch  line  reach  a  maximum  of  7J  per 
cent.)  In  the  illustration  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  headblock  of  the 
stub  switch  is  located  on  straight  track  57  ft.  from  the  point  of  curve.  In 
a  distance  of  30  ft.  from  the  headblock  the  lead  rails  of  the  narrow-gage 
turnout  separate  from  the  'rails  of  the  main-line  narrow-gage  track  a  dis- 
tance of  1  ft.,  from  which  point  onward  they  are  carried  the  same  distance 
apart.  The  throw  of  the  switch  in  this  case  is  5  ins.  The  point  of  frog 
is  488  ft.  from  the  headblock,  the  rails  for  the  narrow-gage  tracks  being 
gantleted  1  ft.  apart  to  a  point  within  36  ft.  of  the  point  of  frog,  where  the 
curvature  of  the  long  lead  is  reversed  to  turn  out  through  the  No.  10  frog. 
The  ties  in  the  gantleted  lead  are  of  ordinary  length,  or  8  ft.  long. 

78.  Slip  Switches. — At  a  crossing  of  two  tracks  traffic  may  be 
switched  from  one  track  to  the  other  by  a  set  of  switch  points  in  each 
track,  the  two  facing  in  opposite  directions  and  connected  by  a  curve — all 
contained  between  the  two  end  frogs  of  the  crossing.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment is  very  convenient  for  crossover  work,  or  where  economy  of  space  is 
necessary.  It  is  called  a  "slip  switch"  or  "combination  crossing."  No 
frogs  are  used  in  passing  through  it  from  one  track  to  the  other.  These 
switches  are  used  mostly  in  yards  for  connecting  a  leader  with  the  parallel 
tracks  which  it  crosses.  For  this  purpose  it  accomplishes  not  only  a  great 
saving  of  track  room  longitudinally  of  the  yard,  as  compared  with  a  series 
of  crossovers  with  frogs  of  the  same  angle  as  are  used  in  the  leader,  but 
it  also  affords  a  much  better  alignment  for  a  train  movement  across  all 
or  a  number  of  the  parallel  tracks.  Consider,  for  illustration,  six  parallel 
straight  tracks  at  13  ft.  centers.  A  series  of  crossovers  using  No.  6  frogs, 
with  headblocks  10  ft.  apart  on  the  intermediate  tracks,  will  extend  about 
725  ft.  lengthwise  the  yard;  and  a  train  moved  from  Track  No.  1  to  Track 
No.  6  will  pass  through  ten  turnouts  and  meet  with  nine  reversals  of  curva- 
ture. A  leader  across  the  same  yard,  with  No.  6  frogs  at  the  crossings 
and  slip  switches  connecting  with  all  the  intermediate  tracks  will  extend 
only  about  445  ft.  in  longitudinal  yard  space,  thus  saving  280  ft.  in  length 
of  yard ;  and  a  train  moved  from  the  first  to  the  sixth  track  will  traverse 
only  two  turnouts  and  one  reversal  of  curvature. 

A  slip  switch  is  single  or  double  according  as  it  gives  access  from 
either  track  to  the  other  in  one  or  both  directions.  It  is  evident  that  with 
the  "single  slip"  (Fig.  200)  the  movement  of  trains  in  one  direction  on 
each  track  is  trailing  to  the  slip  points,  in  which  case  the  train  must  back, 
in  passing  to  the  other  track.  With  the  "double  slip"  (Fig.  201)  a  train 
may  pull  straight  ahead  from  one  track  to  the  other  when  approaching 
the  crossing  in  either  direction  on  either  track,  slip-switch  connection  being 
made  across  both  obtuse  angles  of  the  crossing.  As  already  stated,  two 
kinds  of  middle  frogs  (rigid  and  movable-point)  are  used  at  crossings,  and 
of  course  either  may  be  used  in  connection  with  slip  switches,  whether  the 
latter  be  single  or  double.  With  crossing  frogs  of  the  larger  angles,  however, 


SLIP   SWITCHES 


441 


the  movable-point  frog  permits  the  laying  of  a  mo're  suitable  curve,  the 
inside  guard  rails  of  the  rigid  frogs  being  somewhat  in  the  way,  when 
such  are  used.  . 

Figure  202  shows  a  device  employed  by  the  Morden  Fro^  &  Crossing 


4:4:2  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

Works  to  secure  the  outer  rail  of  the  slip  curve,  where  there  are  rigid  mid- 
dle frogs,  by  bolting  it  to  the  guard  wing  of  the  frog.  The  connection  is 
by  means  of  channel  or  U-bars,  as  shown  in  the  sectional  view  A-B. 
The  idea  is  to  assure  that  all  parts  of  the  combination  will  be  laid  in 
exactly  their  proper  relative  positions  and  secure  them  against  being 
changed  from  such.  In  the  yard  tracks  of  the  Southern  Union  Station 
(Boston  Terminal  Co.)  in  Boston  a  similar  device  is  used  at  the  heel 
joint  of  each  point  rail  in  slip  switches,  including  the  point  rails  for  the 
movable-point  frogs.  It  consists  of  a  channel  bar  10  ins.  long  and  3  ins. 
deep  with  two  bolt  holes  in  each  flange — one  for  a  bolt  each  side  of  the  joint. 
This  channel  is  bolted  against  the  splice  bar  on  one  side  and  against  the 
web  of  the  stock  rail  on  the  other  side.  The  rails  are  of  100-lb.  section, 
the  slip  points  -being  13  ft.  long  and  the  movable  points  of  the  middle 
frogs  10  ft.  10  ins.  long,  and  in  order  to  obtain  free  working  of  the  same 
it  is  found  necessary  to  leave  the  heel  splices  slightly  loose.  In  order  to  do 
this  without  permitting  slack  nuts  the  splice  bars  are  tightened  up  against 
1-in.  pipe  thimbles  or  spools  on  two  of  the  bolts  just  long  enough  to  pre- 
vent the  splice  bars  from  pinching  the  rails  when  the  bolts  are  tightened. 
In  order  to  receive  this  spool  the  bolt  holes  in  the  rails  are  reamed  out  to 
a  diameter  of  If  ins.  Another  device  used  for  the  same  purpose  as  the 
two  channel  fastenings  just  mentioned  is  a  cast  filling  block  of  short  length 
through-bolted  with  the  webs  of  the  rails. 


/anqe  of /fait 


SECT/ON  A-B 


SECTION  C-D 

-gy,        ,y, „,          HP— 

Fig.   201  A. — Anti-Creeping    Heel    Castings   for    Movable-Point    Frogs    and    Slip 

Switches. 

The  angle  or  number  by  which  a  slip  switch  is  designated  is  the  angle 
or  number  of  the  crossing  in  which  it  is  located.  There  is  a  limit  to  the 
room  available  for  a  slip  switch  as  the  number  of  the  crossing  frog  gets 
smaller.  With  frogs  lower  than  No.  6  the  curve  that  must  be  laid  to  con- 
nect the  heels  of  the  two  sets  of  switch  points  becomes  so  sharp  as  to  be 
impracticable  of  operation.  A  No.  6  slip  is  about  the  lower  limit  for 
switch  engines;  and  No.  8  for  passenger  trains,  when  used  in  connection 
with  a  movable  point  frog;  Number  15  is  about  the  upper  limit.  As  usu- 
ally laid,  the  point  rails  of  slip  switches  are  evenly  matched,  but  the  Weir 
Frog  Co.  uses  long  and  short  points,  as  is  shown  in  Fig.  201.  The  longer 
point  is  placed  on  the  inner  side  of  the  slip  curve,  for  the  purpose  of  effect- 
ing an  increase  of  gage  in  the  curve  without  having  to  increase  it  at  the 
bend  of  the  stock  rail  or  introduce  a  kink  in  the  inner  rail  of  the  curvo 
after  it  leaves  the  point  rail.  The  manner  in  which  this  is  accomplished 
becomes  entirely  clear  if  it  is  considered  that  the  long  point  extends  past, 
and  the  bend  in  the  stock  rail  lies  beyond,  the  real  point  of  switch.  If. 
therefore,  the  gage  be  correct  at  the  bend  of  the  stock  rail,  it  must  be  some- 
what wider  at  the  point  of  switch.  It  will  be  further  noticed  that  this  slip 
switch  has  long  tie  plates  or  steel  bridle  plates,  8  ins.  wide  by  \  in.  thick, 
extending  under  the  slip  point  and  stock  rails  and  continuous  beyond  the 
T-crank  housings,  and  also  under  the  movable  frog  points  and  bases  of  the 
two  stands  operating  the  slip  points  and  frog  points.  This  arrangement 


SLIP   SWITCHES  443 

is  intended  to  decrease  the  tendency  to  lost  motion  or  change  of  relative 
position  between  operating  and  moving  parts. 

The  standard  No.  8  double  slip  switch  of  the  Chicago  &  Western 
Indiana  E.  K.,  adapted  for  interlocking.,  is  curved  through  the  slip  11  deg. 
2;>  in  in.,  and  the  actual  distance  between  the  frog  points  at  the  ends  of  the 
crossing  "diamond"  is  76  ft.  The  length  of  the  slip  switch  points  is  18  ft. 
and  the  slip  curve  begins  at  the  heel  of  the  planing,  which  runs  out  7  ft. 
9  ins.  from  the  point  end.  The  throw  is  4  ins.  The  gage  of  the  track  on 
the  slip  curve  is  4  ft  SJ  ins.  The  movable  frog  points  are  8  ft.  8f  ins. 
long  and  the  throw  4  ins.  The  slip  switch  points  have  a  reinforcing  bar 
f  in.  x  2- 1  ins.  x  10  ft.  long  on  the  gage  side  and  another  J  in.  x  2J  ins.  x  9 
ft.  2  ins.  long  on  the  back  side,  ending  10  ins.  in  rear  of  the  switch  point. 
The  movable  frog  points  have  reinforcing  bars  f  in.  x  2£  ins.  in  section  on 
both  sides,  that  on  the  gage  side  being  4  ft.  long  and  that  on  the  back 
side  being  3  ft.  2  ins.  long,  ending  10  ins.  in  rear  of  the  point.  The  rail  is 
of  80-lb.  section,  and  the  slip  and  crossing  points  and  connecting  rails  are 
well  supported  upon  tie  plates  and  securely  braced.  Both  rail  braces  and 
braced  tie  plates  are  used,  the  latter  being  formed  by  splitting  the  end  of 
the  plate  along  the  center  line  and  turning  up  half  of  the  end  for  a  stop, 
the  other  half,  which  remains  flat,  being  punched  for  the  outside  spike.  At 
the  points  where  the  thrust  of  the  switch  rails  is  received  by  the  main 


Fig.  202. 

rails,  through  plates  6  ins.  wide  and  J  in.  thick  are  used,  with  rail  braces. 
Both  the  movable  frog  points  and  the  slip  switch  rails  heel  at  a  common 
point,  and  as  a  means  of  securely  splicing  them,  as  well  as  to  avert  derange- 
ment of  the  interlocking  and  other  troubles  from  creeping  rails,  the  joints 
are  bolted  through  and  through  with  heavy  cast  filler  blocks  of  anti-creep- 
ing pattern,  the  details  of  which  are  shown  in  Fig.  201  A.  The  castings 
at  each  heeling  point  are  three  in  number  and  33  ins.  long.  The  castings 
are  made  to  fit  the  rails  snugly,  and  to  allow  free  movement  of  the  point 
rails  the  casting  is  tapered  off  at  the  point  where  movement  is  necessary. 
To  provide  for  tightly  bolting  up  the  splice  bars  the  bolts  have  pipe  thim- 
bles which  take  the  pressure  between  the  outer  splice  bar  and  the  casting, 
thus  permitting  the  necessary  lateral  movement  for  the  switch  rail,  which, 
being  short,  would  either  work  very  stiff  or  fail  to  throw  at  all  if  room  was 
not  provided  in  this  manner. 

There  are  various  throwing  arrangements  for  slip  switches.  The  simplest 
is,  of  course,  to  place  a  switch  stand  opposite  each  end  of  the  slip  and  an- 
other opposite  the  center  to  throw  the  movable-point  frog,  in  case  such  is 
used.  This  arrangement  for  throwing  each  set  of  points  independently  of  the 
others  is  in  vogue  to  some  extent,  ground  levers  being  the  type  of  stand 
usually  employed,  but  it  makes  a.  good  deal  of  work  for  the  switchmen. 
Except  in  interlocking,  the  points  of  slip  switches  are  usually  operated 
by  one  switch  stand  placed  opposite  the  middle  of  the  crossing.  In 
double  slips  all  four  sets  of  points  have  connection  with  the  same  stand  and 
are  operated  together.  In  most  instances  connection  is  made  from  stand 
tc  points  by  means  of  "tumbling  rods"  (pipe  lines)  and  bell  or  T-cranks. 


444 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


To  keep  the  adjustment  of  the  tumbling  rod  correct  it  is  necessary  to  pre- 
vent relative  movement  of  the  end  and  middle  ties,  and  this  is  sometimes 
done  by  spiking  a  plank  (usually  2x6  ins.)  to  the  tops  of  the  ties  just  in- 
side the  tumbling  rod,  or  by  a  long  iron  plate  running  the  entire  length 
of  the  slip  beneath  the  tumbling  rod  and  spiked  to  the  ties.  The  Elliot 
throwing  arrangement  consists  of  a  rocker  shaft  extending  the  length  of 
the  slip  in  the  usual  place,  outside  the  track,  with  suitable  connection  to 
the  points  and  to  an  operating  stand  midway  of  the  crossing.  The  inten- 
tion of  this  form  of  connection  is  to  eliminate  the  effect  of  expansion  and 
contraction  as  a  disturbing  influence  on  the  switch  adjustments. 


Fig.  203. — Double  Stand  for  Slip  Points  and  Movable-Point  Frog,  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  Ry. 

Where  movable-point  frogs  are  used  with  slip  switches  separate  stands 
are  usually  employed  to  operate  each,  one  being  placed  within  reach  of  the 
other;  that  is,  one  stand  operates  the  frog  points  and  another  the  slip 
points,  as  in  Fig.  201.  As  the  frog  points  cannot  properly  be  used  while 
the  slip  is  thrown  for  service  (not  at  all  in  case  of  double  slips)  it  matters 
not  what  their  position  may  bo  in  such  event.  It  is  also  clear  that,  with 
the  slip  points  set  in  their  normal  position,  only  one  stand  at  a  time  need; 
be  thrown  for  any  train  movement  whatsoever  about  the  crossing.  With 
the  slip  points  open  to  the  crossing  tracks,  however,  it  might  be  neces- 
sary to  throw  both  stands  in  order  to  permit  a  movement  over  the  cross- 
ing, and  some  think  that  both  of  these  operations  should  be  controlled  by 
the  same  stand.  By  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  switchman  in  throw- 
ing the  wrong  stand,  or  in  not  throwing  both,  or  even  in  throwing  the 
lever  to  the  wrong  position  in  the  case  of  a  single  stand,  it  is  possible,. 
evidentl}7,  to  run  the  wheels  against  a  pair  of  points  wrongly  set  for  the 
intended  movement.  When  both  frog  and  slip  points  are  thrown  together 
six  sets  of  points  must  be  operated  by  one  stand,  in  the  case  of  double 
slips.  While  such  must  be  a  hard-throwing  arrangement,  still  its  use 
avoids  the  possibility  of  some  mistakes  which  might  result  from  confu- 
sion in  the  use  of  two  stands. 

A  single  stand  for  operating  both  middle  and  end  points  must  be  a 
triple  or  three-throw  device,  one  movement  being  requisite  for  setting  the 
slip  points  and  two  movements  for  setting  the  movable-frog  points.  The 
Elliot  arrangement  (Fig.  104 A)  for  this  purpose  consists  of  two  rocker- 
shafts,  each  connected  to  a  pair  of  points  at  both  ends  of  the  slip  and  ix> 
a  parr  of  movable-frog  points,  but  working  reversely;  the  rocker-shafte 
are  operated  by  a  Hasty  stand  (Fig.  164).  WTien  the  switch  stand  lever 
is  in  the  middle  notch,  as  shown,  it  gives  both  slips ;  but  in  throwing  the 


Y-TRACKS  445 

lever  from  the  middle  to  either  of  the  extreme  notches,  only  one  pair  of 
points  in.  each  slip  is  moved;  and  this  pair  gives  that  track  for  which  the 
frog  points  are  set.  The  other  pair  of  points  in  each  slip  remains  unchanged 
from  the  position  held  when  the  lever  is  in  the  middle  notch.  With  the 
lever  in  either  extreme  notch,  then,  the  situation  is  just  this:  one  of  the 
tracks  through  the  crossing  is  clear,  while  in  the  other  track  through 
the  crossing  a  pair  of  points  in  each  slip  is  set  to  give  the -slip.  A  train 
attempting  to  pass  through  the  crossing  in  either  direction  on  this  latter 
track  would,,  therefore,  be  turned  into  one  of  the  slips  and  "would  force 
the  points  at  the  far  end  of  the  same,  but  could  not  run  against  the  cen- 
ter or  movable  frog  points.  It  is  therefore  impossible  for  a  switchman 
to  make  a  mistake  on  the  center  points  and  they  cannot  be  run  against  in 
any  event.  In  throwing  the  lever  from  one  extreme  notch  to  the  other 
extreme  notch  all  slip  and  center  points  change  position  and  way  is  given, 
over  the  other  track  through  the  crossing.  When  desired,  the  switch 
points  are  connected  to  the  shafts  with  spring  connecting  rods,,  so  that 
the  splifc  rails  cannot  be  damaged  in  event  the  switch  is  forced  when  wrong- 
ly set  for  a  trailing  train,  as  just  explained. 

The  Cleveland  Frog  &  Crossing  Co.  at  one  time  produced  a  three- 
throw  stand  operating  directly  on  a  lever  pivoted  at  the  center,  for  throw- 
ing the  movable  center  frog  points,  and  on  a  large  bell  crank  for  throw- 
ing the  switches  at  both  ends  of  the  slip.  Some  of  these  stands  were 
-used  on  the  Vandalia  Line  (Terre  Haute  &  Indianapolis  R.  R.),  and  al- 
though the  working  principle  was  evidently  correct,  the  stands  were  made 
too  light  for  the  service.  The  double  stand  shown  as  Fig.  203  was  then 
-designed  as  a  substitute.  It  combines  a  compact  arrangement  of  two 
handles,  one  for  throwing  the  center  or  movable-frog  points  and  the  other 
for  throwing  the  end  or  slip  points.  The  handle  A,  lettered  as  shown, 
to  prevent  mistake,  turns  the  plain  pinion  Bf  which  actuates  the  rack  bar 
C  to  the  left  or  right.  The  rack  bar  works  underneath  the  pinion  and 
is  connected  by  turnbuckles  to  the  rods  0  and  P,  for  throwing  the  end 
points.  Handle  D  for  throwing  the  center  points  turns  the  beveled  pin- 
ion E  by  a  shaft  passing  within  the  shaft  to  which  pinion  B  is  keyed. 
Pinion  E  moves  the  sector  gear  F,  swinging  underneath,  F  being  one  piece 
with  the  arms  M  and  N,  which  are  connected  with  the  center  points  by 
rods.  The  bottom  plate  of  the  stand  is  of  iron,  1  in.  thick,  and  the  stand 
weighs  300  Ibs.  The  sector  gear  F  and  the  rack  bar  C  are  made  of  cast 
steel.  The  switch  target,  being  in  this  case  a  low  one,  is  revolved  by  a 
•rod  connecting  with  the  arm  M.  The  gears  (shown  in  broken  lines)  are 
enclosed  under  a  cast  iron  box,  as  a  means  of  protection  against  snow  and 
dirt.  This  type  of  stand  is  in  service  on  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan 
^Southern  Ry.  The  Chicago  Junction  Ry.  has  in  use  for  slip  switches  a 
stand  performing  similar  functions,  on  which  the  two  levers  are  inter- 
locked in  such  a  way  that  the  movable  frog  points  cannot  be  set  contrary 
to  the  position  of  the  slip  points.  This  stand  was  designed  and  made  by 
rthe  Ajax  Forge  Co. 

79.  Y-Tracks,— A  "Y"  consists  of  three  tracks  called  "legs"  ar- 
ranged in  the  form  of  a  triangle,  each  track  connecting  with  the  other  two 
by  switches.  When  locomotives  or  cars  are  run  around  it  they  come  back 
to  the  first  track  turned  about  from  the  way  they  started.  If  not  too  long, 
-and  land  is  cheap,  it  is  less  expensive  than  a  turntable  and  more  conveni- 
ent, especially  where  there  are  cars  to  be  turned  with  the  locomotives.  In 
•order  to  save  room,  the  legs  of  a  Y  are  visually  made  curved  track  their 
whole  length.  Where  the  main  track  is  used  for  one  leg  it  is  usually 
straight  and  the  other  two  legs  curved.  The  "Y"  enclosing  the  least  pos- 


446 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


sible  ground  is  one  having  the  three  legs  equally  curved  and  of  as  sharp 
degree  of  curvature  as  the  rolling  stock  will  stand  with  guard  rails.  The 
three  switch  points  of  such  a  "Y"  lie  at  the  vertices  of  an  equilateral  tri- 
angle having  sides  the  same  length  as  the  radius  of  the  curves.  That  is 
to  say,  if  each  of  the  three  legs  be  20-deg.  curves,  the  equilateral  triangle 
whose  vertices  lie  at  the  three  points  of  switch  has  sides  287.9  ft.  in  length, 
or  the  same  length  as  the  radius  of  the  curves.  The  length  of  track  re- 
quired beyond  the  switch  points  of  the  "Y"  depends  on  how  many  cars  are 
to  be  turned  with  the  locomotive.  On  a  "Y"  of  the  Peoria  &  Pekin  Union 
Ry.,  at  Peoria,  111.,  12  to  15  passenger  trains  are  turned  daily,  without  un- 
coupling from  the  locomotives.  Before  this  means  of  turning  was  put  into- 
service  combination  and  certain  other  cars,  which  it  was  desired  to  run  with 
the  same  end  always  forward,  had  to  be  turned  singly  on  a  turntable,  con- 
suming a  good  deal  of  time. 

A  turnout  connecting  two  tracks  at  a  crossing,  with  switches  outside 
the  end. frogs  of  the  crossing,  is  known  as  a  "transfer";  the  same  term  ib 
also  applied  to  a  connecting  track  between  two  roads  which  cross  on  sep- 
arated grades.  Wherever  a  transfer  track  is  maintained  between  two  roads 
at  a  crossing  it  requires  only  an  additional  turnout  to  make  a  "Y."  Unless 
the  crossing  is  at  a  large  angle,  however,  say  between  70  and  90  deg.,  the 
'room  required  for  this  additional  turnout  (on  desirable  curvature)  is  rath- 
er excessive.  If  the  two  tracks  cross  at  right  angles,  or  nearly  so,  there  is 
opportunity  for  putting  in  a  "Y"  by  leading  two  turnouts  from  one  of  the 
tracks  to  the  other  in  opposite  directions  from  a  three-throw  switch. 


Fig.  204. — Automatic  Switch.  Fig.  205. 

For  light  steam  or  dummv  roads,  electric  roads,  or  wherever  the  roll- 
ing stock  can  use  heavy  curves,  automatic  switches  can  be  arranged  at  the 
three  turnout  points,  of  a  "Y"  to  be  thrown  by  the  locomotive  itself.  In 
Fig.  204  there  is  shown  an  automatic  switch,,  and  in  Fig.  205,  a  "Y"  laid 
with  these  switches.  The  point  rail  A  is  held  by  a  housed  spring  B  which 
closes  it  after  each  wheel  flange  passes  by,  the  action  being  similar  to  that 
of  the  hinge  rail  of  a  spring  rail  frog.  The  device  C,  placed  opposite  the 
point  rail,  is  called  a  "mate;"  its  true  point  (the  intersection  of  the  two 
gage  lines)  is  placed  about  opposite  the  end  of  the  point  rail,  or  slightly  in 
rear  of  it.  The  locomotive  trails  around  the  "Y"  in  the  direction  of  the 
arrow  points,  and  the  operation  of  the  switches  is  apparent. 

80.  Turntable  and  Drawbridge  Joints. — Where  but  one  track  ex- 
tends both  ways  from  a  turntable,  considerable  trouble  is  often  experienced 
with  the  joints  at  the  ends  of  the  table.  A  common  arrangement  for  latch- 
ing-turntables  is  a  flat  bar  or  bolt  working  in  guides  and  fitting  between 
stop  lugs  or  into  a  socket,  being  usually  operated  by  a  lever;  and  another 
arrangement  extensively  used  is  a  hinged  bar  thrown  over  into  a  cast-iron 


TURNTABLE    AND    DRAWBRIDGE    JOINTS  447 

jaw  or  between  stop  lugs.  In  either  case  the  parts  of  the  latch  are  usually 
attached  to  the  track  ties,  both  on  the  turntable  and  on  the  abutment  or 
pit  wall.  Careless  hostlers  are  much  in  the  habit  of  bringing  the  table  to 
rest  by  shoving  out  or  dropping  the  latch  bar,  instead  of  first  stopping  the 
table.  Unless  firmly  held  by  masonry,  or  braced  by  heavy  coping  timbers 
extending  around  the  pit,  the  abutment  track  is  in  this  way  thrown  out  of. 
line  and  at  the  other  end  of  the  turntable  there  is  formed  an  ugly  lip  which, 
in  the  dark,  is  likely  to  be  unnoticed  arid  the  cause  of  derailing  locomotives 
when  moving  off  'the  table.  It  is  in  this  way  that  serious  damage  or  incon- 
venience is  sometimes  charged  to  defective  track  when  the  reHl  ~cause  is 
bad  discipline  among  employees  not  supposed  to  be  responsible  for  the  con- 
dition of  the  track.  This  trouble  can  be  avoided  by  latching  the  table  to 
the  masonry  of  the  pit  wall  instead  of  to  the  abutment  track;  or  by  using 
a  latch  which  cannot  be  put  into  place  for  locking  the  table  until  tho 
table  has  been  brought  to  rest  in  the  right  position. 

One  device  of  the  type  first  described  consists  of  vertical  rollers  pressed 
against  the  pit  wall  by  an  adjustable  spring  and  locking  into  curved  re- 
cesses in  castings  built  into  the  pit  wall.  If  the  table  is  swinging  too  hard 
when  the  latch  springs,  the  lock  will  roll  out  and  permit  the  table  to  pass 
on  by,  thus  avoiding  sudden  shock.  A  device  of  the  other  type  mentioned, 
which  is  used  a  good  deal,  is  a  sliding  cross  bar  with  "T"  ends  fitting  be- 
tween the  webs  of  the  rails.  It  lies  in  the  track,  at  the  end  of  the  turntable, 
and  when  the  turntable  has  been  swung  into  line  with  the  fixed  track  thi=3 
bar  is  shoved  with  the  foot  or  by  a  lever  to  place  the  "T"  ends  across  the 
joints  in  the  rails.  A  wide  flat  bat  is  sometimes  used  in  place  of  the  double 
T-iron.  A  still  simpler  arrangement,  employed  on  some  roads,  is  a  piece  of 
plank  used  in  the  same  way.  The  length  of  the  plank  corresponds  to  the 
gage  of  the  rails,  web  to  web.  When  the  tracks  have  been  brought  even  the 
plank  is  slid  across  the  joints;  that  is,  the  plank  lies  crosswise  in  the  track, 
half  on  the  table  and  half  on  the  abutment.  The  simplest  arrangement 
of  all  is  to  dispense  with  latching  devices  entirely,  which  requires  that  the 
table  must  be  held  in  place  or  watched  when  an  engine  is  passing  on  or  off, 
until  the  first  pair  of  wheels  has  passed  the  joint,  the  rigidity  of  the  wheel 
base  being  sufficient  to  hold  the  table  in  line  after  that.  The  practice  of 
dispensing  with  latches  is  extensively  in  vogue.  It  saves  trackmen  a  good 
deal  of  trouble,  and  seems  to  be  satisfactory  from  every  other  stanelpoint. 
To  prevent  the  rails  from  cutting  into  the  ties  at  the  ends  of  the  table  and 
into  the  timbers  on  the  pit  walls  they  are  sometimes  supported  at  these 
points  on  steel  plates  or  cast  iron  chairs. 

End  Rails  for  Drawbridges. — A  common  arrangement  for  the  rails  at  the 
ends  of  drawbridges  is  a  butt  joint,  the  rails  being  seated  in  grooved  chairs 
or  on  wrought  plates  with  riveted  lugs  for  lateral  guards,  placed  on  solid 
bearings  on  the  abutment  side.  The  bridge  rails  are  movable,  being  usu- 
ally held  together  by  switch  rods  and  guarded  laterally  by  the  backs  of  paral- 
lel angle  irons  bolted  to  the  ties.  Some  sort  of -lifting  device  is  provided  to 
lift  the  rails  out  of  the  seats  when  the  bridge  is  about  to  be  turned.  In 
addition  to  the  bridge  lock  and  the  end  seats  a  knuckled  strut  between  the 
webs  of  the  rails  is  sometimes  used  to  hold  the  stub  ends  securely  in  line 
at  the  joints.  Any  misadjustment  of  the  end  bearings  of  the  bridge  per- 
mits some  springin.sr  in  the  ends  of  the  rails,  and.  owing  to  temperature 
changes,  wide  open  joints  cannot  be  avoided  at  all  times ;  so  that,  sooner  or 
later,  heavy  pounding  is  liable  to  arise.  One  way  of  obviating  trouble  of 
this  kind  is  bv  a  "carrier  rail"  joint  (Fig.  206).  A  short  piece  of  rail, 
A -B,  is  bolted  to  the  outside  of  each  lift  rail  on  the  bridge,  so  that  it  drops 
down  just  outside  the  abutment  rail  when  the  bridge  is  closed.  The  ends 


-148 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


of  this  short  piece  of  rail  are  sloped  off,  "easer"  fashion,  to  lift  the  outside 
flange  of  badly  worn  tires,  and  the  wheel  is  carried  over  the  joint  without 
shock.  With  this  provision  it  is  not  necessary  to  maintain  a  close  joint  in 
the  rails  at  the  ends  of  the  bridge,  and  hence  trouble  from  the  expansion  of 
the  rails  in  hot  weather  can  be  avoided  to  a  considerable  extent.  One  fea- 
ture of  the  butt  joint  or  stub  end  which  is  counted  for  safety  is  that,  with 
expansion  or  creeping  of  the  rails  there  is  no  tendency  for  the  rails  to  lip 
at  the  bridge  joint. 

Abutment  tfa//^ 


A  B 

Fig.  206. — Drawbridge  Joint. 

Another  type  of  drawbridge  joint,  widely  considered  the  most  satisfac- 
tory, is  the  split  or  skew  joint,  less  frequently  called  a  miter  joint.  Such 
joints  are  made  10  to  24  ins.  long,  the  two  sets  of  rails,  for  the  fixed  track 
and  the  movable  span,  overlapping  on  solid  supports  resting  upon  the  abut- 
ment or  wall  timber.  On  double  track  the  lap  of  the  joints  should  be  trail- 
ing to  the  train  movements.  In  order  to  swing  the  bridge  one  set  of  rails, 
usually  that  on  the  bridge,  must  be  lifted  above  the  other.  To  maintain 
the  gage  of  the  movable  rails  they  are  held  together  by  switch  rods.  The 
lifting  mechanism  commonly  in  use  is  a  cam  acting  on  the  rail  base,  oper- 
ated by  a  lever  attached  to  a  cam  shaft  at  each  end  of  the  bridge  or  by  a 
single  lever  at  the  middle  of  the  bridge,  connected  with  the  two  end  cam 
shafts  by  throw  rods.  The  movable  rails  are  held  between  beveled  guard 
blocks,  so  as  to  drop  into  proper  alignment.  To  show  some  of  the  details  of 
a  joint  of  this  type  illustrations  (Figs.  207-210)  are  presented  of  the  joints 
of  a  plate-girder  swing  bridge  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ry. 
at  Ottawa,  111.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  rails  are  lifted  by  a  cam  arrange- 
ment of  the  simplest  form.  The  cams  are  attached  to  a  shaft  extending 
across  the  track  underneath  the  rails,  which  shaft  is  turned  by  a  lever 
thrown  to  the  position  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines  when  the  rails  are 
raised  (Fig.  208).  It  will  be  noticed  also  (Fig.  209)  that  the  webs  of  the 
rails  where  they  are  bent  at  their  ends  to  form  the  skew  joint  are  retained, 


uuuuuuui 


Fig.  207.— Plan  of  Lift  Rails  and  Drawbridge  Joint,  C.,  B.  &  Q.  Ry. 


TURNTABLE    AND    DRAWBRIDGE    JOINTS 


449 


Fig.  208. — Details  of  Rail  Lift  for  Drawbridge  Joint,  C.;  B.  &  Q.  Ry. 

thus  very  much  strengthening  the  support  for  the  rail  head.  The  details 
of  the  hinge  splice  at  the  heel  of  each  movable  rail  are  shown  in  Fig.  210. 
The  angle  bars  are  bent  in  the  middle  enough  to  turn  up  %  in.  in  16  ins. 
The  top  is  then  planed  down  in  line  with  the  other  half  of  the  bar,  so  as  to 
fit  snugly  under  the  head  of  the  rail  in  its  lowered  position.  The  bottom 
flange  of  the  splice  bar  is  cut  'away  for  8i  ins.  back  from  the  end.  The 
bolt  hole,  in  the  rail,  nearest  the  joint  is  reamed  to  1  in.  diam.,  and  the  sec- 
ond hole  is  slotted  out  to  Ixl3/16  in.,  as  shown.  Other  details  are  made 
sufficiently  clear  in  the  illustrations. 

To  overcome  the  difficulty  with  creeping  rails  at  the  ends  of  draw- 
bridges it  is  customary  to  place  expansion  joints  in  the  track  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  bridge.  One  form  of  joint  designed  for  use  in  such  cases 
is  shown  as  Fig.  211.  A  pair  of  disconnected  switch  points  is  placed  be- 


Fig.  209. — Details  of  Skew  Joint  for  Drawbridge,  C.,   B.  &  Q.   Ry.        •     | 


450 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Fig.  210. — Hinge  Splice  for  Drawbridge  Lift  Rails,  C.,  B.  &  Q.  Ry. 

tween  two  stock  rails  and  held  tightly  to  place  by  a  set  of  three  spring 
clamps  on  each  point  rail.  The  spring  clamp  is  adjustable  and  bears 
against  the  web  of  the  point  rail  by  the  friction  roller  Ff  thus  permitting 
free  longitudinal  movement.  By  setting  the  device  with  the  gage  a  trifle 
wide  on  .the  start  considerable  expansion  or  creeping  of  the  rails  can  be 
taken  care  of  before  the  gage  becomes  too  tight  for  safety.  The  arrange- 
ment can  be  improved  upon,  however,  by  separating  the  point  rails  on  the 
two  sides  some  distance  instead  of  placing  them  opposite.  This  change 
would  permit  a  guard  rail  to  be  laid  opposite  each  split  point  to  keep 
wheel  flanges  from  contact  with  it.  On  double  track  the  split  rails  would, 
of  course,  be  laid  trailing  to  the  traffic,  but  in  any  event  a  guard  rail  pro- 
tecting the  split  rail  its  whole  length  would  be  approvable. 

81.  Yard  Tracks. — The  matter  of  arranging  tracks  in  freight  yards 
so  as  to  minimize  the  amount  of  switching  and  the  amount  of  interfer- 
ence between  working  crews,  to  the  end  that  trains  may  be  made  up  with 
the  least  amount  of  handling  and  with  greatest  dispatch,  is  of  great  import- 
ance ;  yet  most  of  the  large  freight  yards  throughout  the  country  have  been 
enlarged  from  smaller  ones  without  keeping  with  any  definite  plan.  While 
as  to  details  experienced  yardmen  might  not  entirely  agree  as  to  the  best 
arrangement  of  tracks  for  any  given  yard,  there  are,  nevertheless,  certain 
features  of  yard  design  which,  in  the  main,  meet  with  general  approval.  Of 
course  the  locality  has  much  to  do  with  the  way  a  .yard  should  be  arranged, 
and  the  question  of  making  most  use  of  available  ground  is  often  the  mat- 
ter of  weightiest  consideration.  A  yard  entirely  satisfactory  in  one  case 
might  not  meet  the  requirements  of  some  other  place  where  the  conditions 
peculiar  to  the  traffic  may  have  special  demands.  The  arrangement  of 
tracks  in  one  yard  may  not  be  a  .satisfactory  pattern  for  another.  By  way 
of  illustration,  the  yard  may  be  at  a  terminal  point,  where  its  function  is 
to  distribute  the  traffic  going  to  various  industrial  establishments,  factories, 
grain  elevators,  steamship  wharves,  coal  docks,  stock  yards,  freight  stations, 
team  tracks  etc.,  and  to  assemble  into  trains  the  outbound  shipments  orig- 
inating at  or  delivered  from  such  sources ;  or  the  business  of  the  yard  may 
be  partly  or  principally  that  of  handling  the  interchange  of  traffic  with 
other  roads.  The  handling  of  traffic  between  the  yards  of  several  railways 


Fig.  211. — Weir  Expansion  Joint. 


YARD  TRACKS  451 

in  a  large  city  or  important  railway  center,  commonly  known  as  "switch- 
ing/' is  frequently  carried  on  by  a  "terminal/7  "belt  line"  or  "union"  rail- 
way company,  which  may  also  have  yard  facilities  of  its  own.  The  yard 
may  be  at  a  junction  point  with  other  roads  or  with  branches  or  lines  of  the 
same  road  or  system,  where  the  trains  are  broken  up  and  the  converging 
traffic  separated  and  again  made  up  into  trains  for  the  various  routes.  The 
yard  may  be  at  a  division  point,  where  a  readjustment  of  the  make-up  of 
some  or  all  of  the  trains  becomes  necessary  for  the  forward  movement.  The 
conditions  requiring  such  a  rearrangement  are  various.  The  traffic  origin- 
ating on  the  division  and  brought  in  by  the  local  trains  must  be-elassified 
and  distributed  among  other  local  arid  through  trains.  Some  of  the  traffic 
arriving  on  through  trains  for  points  on  the  next  division  ahead  must  be 
shifted  to  local  trains:  and  a  considerable  change  in  the  maximum  grades, 
as  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  division,  may  require  a  reformation  of  the 
trains  on  the  basis  of  a  different  tonnage  rating.  In  a  yard  at  any  point 
the  distribution,  storage  or  dispatch  of  the  empty  cars  necessarily  constitutes 
part  of  the  work. 

The  character  of  the  work  to  be  done  in  any  yard  in  question  is  thus 
seen  to  depend  very  largely,  if  not  quite  entirely,  upon  the  situation  respect- 
ing the  traffic.  The  men  best  acquainted  with  yard  operation  are  yard- 
masters,  conductors,  locomotive  engineers,  brakemen  and  switchmen;  and 
before  laying  out  or  enlarging  any  yard  the  engineer  in  charge  should  call 
to  his  aid  these  different  employees  and  with  them  look  over  the  ground. 
As  future  requirements  are  always  an  important  consideration,  the  traffic 
department  should  also  be  consulted.  The  proper  la}ring  out  of  yard  tracks 
is  thus  seen  to  be  a  broad  study,  requiring  time,  careful  investigation  and  to 
some  extent  the  gift  of  prophecy. 

As  a  first  principle  it  may  be  laid  down  that,  with  roads  handling  any 
considerable  amount  of  traffic,  the  yards  should  be  so  ample  in  capacity  and 
so  arranged  .that  the  main  track  need  not  be  used  in  switching.  In  order  to 
accomplish  this,  or  at  any  rate  to  avoid  frequent  crossing  of  the  main  track, 
the  yard  should  all  lie  on  one  side  of  it.  If  the  road  be  double  track  the  best 
arrangement  is  to  have  the  main  tracks  diverge  far  enough  to  make  room  for 
the  yard  between  them,  else  there  must  be  more  or  less  crossing  at  least  one 
oi  the  main  tracks.  Generally  speaking,  a  yard  should  consist  of  at  least 
two  distinct  sets  of  tracks  or  divisions:  "receiving"  tracks  and  "classifi- 
cation" or  "distribution"  tracks.  The  purpose  of  the  receiving  tracks  is 
to  hold  trains  temporarily  as  they  arrive  at  the  yard,  permitting  the  main 
track  to  be  cleared  immediately  and  the  release  of  the  power  and  the  road 
crew.  The  distribution  tracks  are  next  in  order  to  the  receiving  tracks  and 
the  ones  on  which  the  cars  are  separated  or  distributed  as  the  trains  are 
broken  up.  On  these  tracks  the  cars  for  various  routes  and  destinations  are 
-collected,  and  the  different  classes  of  freight  are  got  together  and  made  up 
into  trains,  and  from  them  the  trains  a're  iisually  dispatched  ahead.  In  the 
largest  practice  this  division  of  a  yard  is  known  as  the  "classification" 
tracks,  but  the  term  "distribution"  is  in  considerable  use  and  more  fre- 
quently expresses  the  purpose. 

Where  the  traffic  is  so  heavy  that  the  distribution  of  cars  must  be  carried 
on  uninterruptedly  a  third  division,  known  as  the  "advance"  or  "departure'' 
tracks  is  made,  to  receive  the  trains  as  soon  as  they  are  made  up  on  the 
distribution  tracks  and  hold  them  while  they  await  orders  to  proceed.  In 
terminal  yards  such  tracks  would  be  used  only  by  the  outbound  trains. 
The  necessity  for  departure  tracks  can  be  dispensed  with  by  increasing 
the  number  of  distribution  tracks,  and  at  the  same  time  shorten  the  total 
length  of  yard.  Where,  for  any  reasons,  there  may  be  periods  in  which 


4:52  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 

trains  in  considerable  numbers  must  be  held  for  some  time,,  a  fourth  divi- 
sion, known  as  storage  tracks,  is  sometimes  made.  The  necessity  for  still 
another  division  is  sometimes  recognized,  but  seldom  provided  for  in  this 
country,  namely  that  of  sorting  tracks,  for  arranging  the  cars  of  a  train 
in  station  order  after  being  made  up  on  the  distribution  tracks.  Where- 
the  yard  is  at  a  division  point  and  traffic  is  heavy  both  ways,  it  is  convenient 
and  customary  to  have  receiving  and  distribution  tracks  for  each  direction. 
At  terminal  points  the  distribution  tracks  connect  with  tracks  leading  to  the 
different  freight  stations,  team  tracks,  elevators,  docks,  warehouses,  etc. 

Yard  Design. — The  tracks  in  the  various  divisions  of  a  yard — receiving 
tracks,  distribution  tracks,  etc. — are  usually  arranged  parallel,  leading  off 
at  intervals  from  a  straight  piece  of  track  called  a  "ladder"  or  "backbone," 
shown  in  Fig.  212.  All  the  frogs  in  a  ladder  should  be  of  the  same  angle, 
including  the  frog  connecting  with  main  track  or  the  main  siding  at  A; 
that  is,  if  all  the  tracks  are  to  be  parallel  and  run  straight  from  the  frogs. 
The  irog  at  A  may,  however,  be  of  different  angle  from  that  of  the  others, 
and  frequently  is,  in  which  case  either  the  ladder  must  leave  the  frog  A  by 
a  curve  or  else  the  parallel  tracks  must  leave  the  frogs  on  the  ladder  by 
curves,  or  both ;  also,  to  shorten  the  ladder  without  using  frogs  of  undesir- 
ably large  angle,  curves  may  be  introduced  behind  all  the  frogs,  whether  A 
be  like  the  others  or  not,  and  such  is  frequently  done.  The  arrangement 
of  running  the  parallel  tracks  straight  from  the  ladder  is  the  simplest  and 
affords  the  advantage  of  an  unobstructed  view  from  end  to  end  of  a  train 
of  cars,  both  sides,  after  it  has  been  pushed  in  past  the  frog,  thus  enabling 
the  engineer  to  take  signals  directly  from  brakemen  coupling  or  uncoupling 
cars.  In  Ibme  cases  where  the  ladder  curves  from  the  frog  to  make  a  large 
angle  with  the  main  track  or  main  siding  it  is  not  possible  to  join  con* 
secntive  parallel  tracks  with  the  same  (the  ladder),  owing  to  lack  of  room 
for  the  turnouts.  In  such  a  case  the  parallel  yard  tracks  are  usually  con- 
nected in  sets  of  two  or  three,  and  only  one  track  of  the  set  is  joined  directly 
with  the  ladder.  Another  arrangement  is  to  have  the  parallel  tracks  lead 
out  from  the  ladder  in  pairs  from  three-throw  switches,  like  the  turnout* 
X  and  Z  in  Fig.  159,  it  not  being  necessary  to  have  the  frogs  F  and  F' 
opposite  each  other,  which  might  make  the  curvature  of  the  turnout  Z 
undesirably  sharp.  The  use  of  three-throw  split  switches  in  this  manner 
has  been  applied  in  the  "sorting  sidings"  of  the  Midland  Ey.  at  Wellingboro,. 
England. 

The  distance  between  any  two  frogs  leading  from  the  ladder  is  the 
distance  between  the  centers  of  the  parallel  tracks  leading  from  them, 
divided  by  the  sine  of  the  frog  angle.  In  the  figure, 

ED  C  G 

AB  = ,  and  BC  = 

sin  BAD  sin  C  B  G 

C  G  is,  of  course,  equal  to  E  F,  the  distance  between  track  centers. 
This  distance  is  sometimes  assumed  to  be  equal  to  the  distance  between 
track  centers  multiplied  by  the  frog  number.  The  results  found  by  that 
formula  are  approximate.  All  the  parallel  tracks  need  not  necessarily  be 
the  same  distance  apart.  Table  XVI  (See  index)  gives  distances  between 
frog  points  or  headblocks  on  ladders,  corresponding  to  the  number  of  the 
frog  used,  and  for  various  distances  between  track  centers. 

A  leader  is  a  diagonal  track  crossing  several  parallel  tracks  at  such  an 
angle  as  to  admit  of  connecting  with  each  track  crossed  by  means  of  a  slip 
switch.  By  such  an  arrangement  a  set  of  receiving  tracks  long  enough  to 
hold  two  or  more  trains  may  have  switch  connections  each  train  length  to 
permit  the  prompt  release  of  road  engines ;  or  the  leader  may  be  used  across- 


YARD  TRACKS  453 

any  set  of  long  tracks  to  enable  the  rear  portion  of  the  cars  on  any  track 
to  be  taken  out  without  switching  the  whole  string  of  cars,  which  might 
be  longer  than  one  engine  can  handle,  especially  under  unfavorable  con- 
ditions such,  for  instance,  as  through  deep  snow. 

The  switch  stands  on  ladder  tracks  should  be  arranged  on  the  side 
opposite  the  frogs,  especially  if  they  are  to  be  tended  by  a  switchman  on 
foot,  as  he  then  has  clear  running  space  between  them.  Where  cars  are  to 
be  switched  by  poling,  the  stands  between  the  tracks  should  be  low  enough 
to  permit  the  pole  to  clear  the  stand  with  a  lamp  on.  The  number~of  the 
track  may  be  painted  on  the  target  of  the  stand.  In  order  to  reduce  the 
distance  between  the  switches  to  a  minimum,  a  minimum  allowable  distance 
between  tracks  and  a  maximum  allowable  frog  angle  are  used.  Twelve  feet 
is  about  the  minimum  distance  between  track  centers  that  is  extensively 
employed,  although  yard  tracks  are  sometimes  laid  as  close  as  llf  or  11 J  ft., 
c.  to  c.,  where  room  is  scarce.  The  maximum  frog  angle  advisable  is  per- 
haps that  of  a  No.  7  frog,  giving  a  turnout  curve  of  12°  26'  for  a  stub  switch 
and  a  curve  of  about  13°  for  a  point  switch.  A  No.  6  frog,  giving  a  lead  of 
about  17°,  is  frequently  used.  Where  there  are  so  many  movements  as  there 
are  in  yards,  however,  much  wear  and  tear  to  both  rolling  stock  and  track 
results  from  sharp  turnout  curves,  and  many  think  that  a  No.  8  frog, 
giving  a  lead  curve  of  about  10°,  should  be  the  maximum  angle  to  use. 
Where  the  switches  on  the  ladder  are  operated  from  a  tower,  and  available 
ground  is  plentiful,  it  is  advisable  to  place  the  tracks  farther  apart  and 


Fig.  212.— Ladder  Track. 

use  turnout  curves  of  still  smaller  degree.  A  spacing  of  13  ft.  c.  to  c.  of 
tracks  is  quite  commonly  employed,  even  where  the  switches  are  operated  by 
hand.  Such  is  the  spacing  distance  in  vogue  on  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R. 
in  connection  with  No.  9  frogs  on  the  ladder  and  a  No.  11  frog  where  the 
ladder  connects  with  the  main  track.  On  the  Lehigh  Valley  R.  R.  No.  10 
frogs  are  standard  for  yard  tracks  in  all  new  work  where  the  available  room 
will  permit,  and  nothing  less  than  No.  8  is  used.  Between  main  track  and 
the  first  yard  track  room  is  usually  needed  for  signals,  water  cranes,  etc., 
and  15  ft  c.  to  c.  is  the  minimum  distance  to  be  recommended.  On  the 
Michigan  Central  R.  R.  this  distance  is  made  16  ft.  So  far  as  track  work 
and  the  work  of  switching  are  concerned  plenty  of  room  between  yard  tracks 
is  desirable  and  a  convenience  in  many  ways,  and  13  ft.  between  centers  is 
none  too  much.  A  liberal  allowance  of  space  between  the  tracks  affords 
roo^  for  piling  track  material  while  repairs  are  under  way  and  for  piling 
snow  when  the  tracks  become  obstructed  in  winter;  it  is  also  a  measure 
of  safety  to  brakemen  in  switching  cars.  It  is  sometimes  recommended 
that  where  economy  of  space  is  important  an  extra  width  of  spacing  may  be 
made  at  intervals  of  five  or  six  tracks  in  order  to  allow  for  the  piling  of 
material,  drainage,  etc.  Tracks  running  parallel  with  ladder  tracks  should 
be  at  least  15  ft.  distant,  c.  to  c.,  to  allow  room  for  trainmen  to  give  signals, 
throw  switches,  etc.,  between  moving  trains.  Although  on  tracks  cut  up  as 


454  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 

ladder  tracks  are  there  ought  to  be  but  little  trouble  from  expansion  or  con- 
traction with  stub  switches,  still  point  switches  are  undoubtedly  the  better 
to  use,  since  with  these  there  is  less  tamping  of  headblocks  and  fewer  cases 
of  derailment. 

The  ruling  principle  in  yard  design  is  that  the  movements  of  the  cars 
shall  be  forward :  backward  movements,,  at  least  so  far  as  the  general  work 
of  switching  is  concerned,  interfere  with  orderly  operation.  In  order  to  ful- 
fill this  requirement  it  is  necessary  that  the  switching  tracks  shall  be  open 
at  both  ends,  so  that  traffic  may  enter  at  one  end  and  pass  out  at  the  other, 
and  there  should  be  direct  passage  from  each  track  in  any  set  into  any  track 
of  the  set  next  in  order.  The  arrangement  essential  to  these  conditions  is 
a  ladder  at  both  ends  of  each  set  of  tracks.  The  receiving  division  should 
be  large"  enough  to  hold  temporarily  several  trains,  should  they  arrive  at 
about  the  same  time,  until  each  may  in  turn  be  run  out  for  the  distribution 
of  its  cars  according  to  their  various  destinations  or  the  classification  of  the 
commodities.  The  number  of  tracks  required  in  the  receiving  set  will 
then  depend  a  good  deal  upon  the  train  schedule;  that  is,  how  the  trains 
arrive — whether  a  large  portion  of  them  arrive  within  a  period  of  a  few 
hours  or  whether  the  service  is  more  or  less  evenly  distributed  over  the  whole 
24  hours. 


Fig.  213. — Ladder  Arrangements  for  Sets  of  Tracks. 

It  is  usually  stated  that  each  receiving  track  should  be  long  enough 
to  hold  the  longest  train  that  is  ordinarily  hauled  over  the  division,  taking 
account  of  double  headers.  It  is  contended,  however,  by  some  careful  stu- 
dents of  practical  yard  design  that  such  a  length  for  all  of  the  receiving 
tracks  is  seldom  necessary,  as  trains  of  empty,  loaded,  and  partly  empty 
and  partly  loaded  cars  vary  much  in  length,  and  engines  of  different  classes 
are  rated  differently,  so  that  it  is  rarely  the  case  that  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  trains  entering  the  receiving  division  consecutively  are  of  the  maxi- 
mum length.  A  committee  of  the  American  Railway  Engineering  and 
Maintenance  of  Way  Association  has  recommended  that  when  the  trains 
of  maximum  length  represent  less  than  20  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of 
trains  entering  the  yard  the  average  train  length  will  then  be  the  most 
practicable  basis  for  the  length  of  the  receiving  tracks,  providing  these 
tracks  are  all  of  equal  length.  If  some  of  the  trains  are  longer  than  the 
longest  receiving  track  it  then  becomes  necessary  to  cut  the  train  and  dis- 
pose of  it  on  two  tracks,  and,  of  course,  this  arrangement  is  undesirable  if 
it  applies  to  a  considerable  portion  of  the  traffic  handled  daily.  Equality  in 
the  length  of  the  tracks  of  a  set  requires  that  the  ladders  at  the  two  ends 
shall  be  parallel  (A,  Fig.  213),  but  such  a  feature  is  not  an  essential  of 
yard  design.  A  set  of  tracks  of  trapezoidal  outline, — that  is,  with  ladders 
converging  (B,  Fig.  213) — is  a  flexible  arrangement,  and  if  the  lengths  of 
the  tracks  included  cover  the  variation  from  the  train  of  average  length  to 
that  of  maximum  length  the  convenience  of  the  scheme  is  apparent.  In 
deciding  upon  the  length  of  yard  tracks  the  prospective  changes  in  length  of 


YARD  TRACKS  455 

trains  through  increase  in  weight  of  locomotives  and  in  the  possibilities  ot' 
grade  revisions,  should,  of  course,  be  considered. 

The  purpose  of  distribution  tracks  is  to  separate  the  cars  by  routes,  by 
destinations  or  by  commodities.  Thus,  in  a  junction  yard  some  or  all  of  the 
trains  are  broken  up  for  the  distribution  of  the  cars  to  the  lines  meeting  at 
the  junction.  In  a  terminal  yard  the  inbound  traffic  must  be  distributed 
to  various  destinations  in  the  locality.  In  a  division  yard  the  traffic  de- 
stined for  points  on  the  adjoining  division  must  be  separated  from  the 
through  freight,  and  shipments  of  miscellaneous  products  received  in  large 
quantity  by  local  trains  are  usually  separated  and  rearrange^  for  the  for- 
ward movement  more  or  less  into  trains  of  the  same  class  of  commodities, 
such  as  coal  trains ;  trains  carrying  agricultural  products ;  general  merchan- 
dise and  manufactured  articles ;  and  fast  freights,  carrying  stock,  refrigerat- 
ed meats  and  dairy  products,  fruits  and  other  perishable  goods.  The  time  ele- 
ment in  the  movement  of  freight  is  a  condition  relevant  to  the  distribution 
of  cars  in  yards.  The  number  of  distribution  tracks  required  is  governed  by 
the  number  of  divisions  to  be  made  of  the  traffic  in  the  regular  work  of  the 
yard.  The  length  of  these  tracks  should  be  determined  by  the  general  ar- 
rangement of  the  yard  in  respect  to  the  making  up  and  starting  of  the  out- 
bound trains.  In  the  great  majority  of  the  yards  in  this  country  the  trains 
are  made  up  on  and  start  from  the  distribution  tracks,  in  which  case  the 
tracks  should  accommodate  the  longest  trains  that  are  ordinarily  handled: 
and  some  allowance  should  also  be  made  as  to  the  number  of  the  tracks,  sc 
that  the  switching  movements  may  proceed  after  some  of  the  tracks  have 
been  filled  up  and  the  trains  are  awaiting  orders.  In  this  case,  as  in  that  ol 
the  receiving  tracks,  the  trains  vary  in  length,  and  it  is  therefore  not  usually 
necessary  that  all  of  the  tracks  of  the  set  should  be  of  equal  length.  B> 
converging  the  ladders  at  the  ends  of  the  set  the  lengths  of  the  tracks  ma} 
be  graduated  from  the  longest  'required  to  the  average  length  of  the  trains 
or  shorter,  if  desired.  Where  the  yard  includes  a  set  of  departure  tracks 
the  lengths  of  the  distribution  tracks  are  not  so  important,  as  in  that  cas( 
any  congestion  of  cars  on  the  distribution  tracks  may  be  relieved  by  run- 
ning them  ahead  to  the  proper  place  on  the  departure  tracks.  For  the  in- 
bound .traffic  in  terminal  yards  the  distribution  tracks  may  usually  be 
shorter  than  in  division  or  juntion  yards,  as  the  cars  after  being  distributee 
are  not  usually  handled  in  trains  of  full  length.  There  is  also  anothei 
condition  which  has  arisen  during  late  years  rendering  distribution  track? 
of  full  train  length  unnecessary,  and  that  is  the  separation  of  air-brakec 
cars  from  those  not  so  equipped.  In  making  up  trains  the  cars  with  air 
brakes  are  coupled  together,  next  the  engine,  with  the  non-air  cars  on  behind, 
and  in  order  to  assemble  the  cars  in  this  way  it  is  necessary  to  first  make 
up  these  parts  of  the  train  on  two  tracks.  Where  the  tracks  in  a  yard  sel 
are  more  numerous  than  the  space  on  one  side  of  the  ladder  will  provide 
room  for,  or  require  a  ladder  of  undesirable  length,  a  double  or  V-shaped 
ladder  is  sometimes  used.  By  arranging  the  ladders  at  both  ends  of  the 
set  in  the  same  manner,  but  oppositely  disposed,  as  in  Sketch  (7,  Fig.  £13 
the  longest  tracks,  which  may  be  used  for  the  heaviest  business,  come 
central,  or  in  position  most  convenient  to  the  switching  movements.  Tan- 
dem switches  or  switches  entirely  separated,  at  the  point  where  the  lad- 
ders branch  from  the  main  lead,  are  perhaps  preferable  to  a  three-throw 
.-witch,  although  the  three-throw  switch  is  sometimes  used  in  such  a  place, 
The  departure  tracks  should  be  long  enough  to  hold  the  longest  train? 
operating  on  the  division. 

Sorting  tracks,  for  arranging  the  cars  of  a  train  in  station  order, 
usually  consist  of  a  series  of  stub  tracks  of  short  length,  located  conven- 


456  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

iently  to  the  distribution  tracks,  but  preferably  between  the  distribution 
and  the  departure  tracks/ although  not  necessarily  in  the  direct  line  of 
travel.  In  Europe  "gridiron"  tracks  are  used  to  some  extent  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  arrangement  consists  of  a  set  of  short  tracks  with  a  ladder  at 
each  end,  the  length  of  the  tracks  and  the  number  of  the  same  being  ar- 
ranged with  reference  to  the  capacity  for  holding  the  cars  of  an  entire 
train.  By  shifting  the  cars  of  a  train  into  such  a  set  of  tracks  they  may 
be  pulled  out  at  the  other  end  in  sections  and  in  station  or  "industry'' 
order.  To  solve  the  most  complicated  problem  of  sorting,  the  cars  must 
be  'run  through  the  grid  twice  or  there  may  be  a  double  grid,  as  in  Sketch 
D,  Fig.  213.  The  number  of  tracks  should  at  least  equal  the  square  root 
of  the  number  of  cars  to  be  switched,  the  car  capacity  of  each  track  in  that 
case  being  equal  to  the  number  of  tracks.  Thus,  to  arrange  in  consecu- 
tive order  a  train  of  cars  numbered  from  1  to  60,  but  promiscuously 
coupled,  would  require  a  grid  of  at  least  eight  tracks  with  a  capacity  of 
eight  cars  each.  At  the  first  sorting  the  cars  numbered  1  to  8  would  be 
shifted  to  track  No.  1,  cars  9  to  16  to  track  No.  2,  and  so  on;  but  the 
cars  on  each  track  would  not  likely  be  in  consecutive  order.  At  the  second 
sorting,  or  on  the  second  grid,  the  cars  would  be  placed  in  regular  order 
back  and  forth  across  the  eight  tracks.  The  handling  of  cars  in  this  man- 
ner with  an  engine  would  require  too  many  movements  for  practical 
switching,  so  that  the  only  feasible  scheme  fo'r  such  a  system  of  sorting 
would  be  that  of  gravity  operation.  The  most  notable  example  of  "grid- 
iron" sorting  tracks,  arid  the  one  usually  referred  to  in  literature  on  the 
subject,  is  that  of  the  Edge  Hill  yard,  near  Liverpool,  England,  where 
the  switching  is  by  gravity. 

As  a  matter  of  practice  it  is  not  essential  to  any  considerable  sav- 
ing in  time  or  to  greater  convenience  to  have  cars  precisely  in  station  or 
district  order.  The  object  in  the  regular  arrangement  is  to  avoid  the 
handling  of  long  strings  of  cars  in  setting  out  cars  at  sidings  along  the 
road  and  to  reduce  the  number  of  switching  movements  on  the  road  to  a 
minimum.  If  the  cars  for  each  " set-out"  are  together  and  arranged  with 
some  approximation  to  regular  order — that  is,  if  the  cars  for  the  first 
few  stations  are  next  the  engine,  those  for  points  at  the  middle  of  the 
division  somewhere  about  the  middle  of  the  train,  and  so  on — it  is  not 
usually  worth  while  to  rearrange  them  in  the  exact  order  of  the  stations; 
as  under  ordinary .  circumstances  the  few  cars  coupled  in  between  the  en- 
gine and  those  to  be  set  out  at  some  of  the  places  will  not  be  bothersome 
to  handle.  It  is  usually  more  important  to  look  carefully  to  the  order  in 
which  the  cars  must  be  placed  on  the  side-tracks  at  the  stations.  For 
illustration,  the  coal  bins  at  a  certain  side-track  may  be  in  advance  of  a 
lumber  yard.  In  setting  out  cars  loaded  with  coal  and  lumber,  at  the  same 
time,  they  should  obviously  be  arranged  in  proper  order  for  unloading 
simultaneously ;  and  to  save  the  road  crew  the  time  and  trouble  of  shifting 
the  cars  to  get  them  in  this  order  the  necessary  switching  should  be  known 
to  the  yardmaster  and  be  done  in  the  yard,  while  the  train  is  being  made 
up.  Cars  containing  explosives  or  inflammable  substances  are  usually 
coupled  in  at  the  middle  of  the  train,  regardless  of  destination. 

Yard  Movements. — The  sequence  of  movements  in  handling  freight 
cars  in  yards  is  about  as  follows :  After  the  train  arrives  upon  one  of  the 
receiving  tracks  the  engine  is  cut  off  and  goes  to  the  roundhouse  and  the 
train  is  inspected  and  taken  in  charge  of  a  switching  crew.  The  caboose 
is  cut  of!  and  switched  onto  a  track  specially  set  apart  for  cabooses,  and  if 
the  train  is  to  be  broken  up  it  is  run  ahead  to  the  ladder  or  track  entering 
the  distribution  set.  Here  the  cars  are  switched  in  accordance  with  class- 


YARD  TRACKS  457 

ifications  heretofore  explained,  and  as  the  cars  accumulate,  upon  the  ar- 
rival of  following  trains,  they  are  made  up  into  newly  arranged  trains  on 
the  distribution  tracks.  Meantime  the  bad-order  cars  have  been  switched 
to  the  repair  tracks  and  the  "hold-fororder"  cars  (usually  cars  for  which 
the  way-bills  have  not  been  received)  to  the  storage  tracks.  The  cars  may 
then  be  rearranged  in  order  and  sent  to  the  departure  or  "starting"  tracks, 
if  the  yard  is  so  divided;  if  not,  they  remain  upon  the  distribution  tracks. 
The  road  or  transfer  engine  is  next  attached,  the  caboose  is  taken  on  and 
the  train  is  sent  forward. 

Methods  of  Switching. — In  yard  switching  there  are  four~im?thods 
of  handling  cars :  namely,  rear-end  or  tail  switching,  poling,  shifting  over 
a  summit  or  "hump,"  and  gravity  switching.  The  relative  extent  to  which 
these  methods  are  employed  in  this  country  is  about  in  the  order  named, 
with  tail  switching  used  in  the  great  majority  of  cases.  By  this  method 
the  locomotive  is  coupled  on  at  the  rear  end  of  the  train  or  string  of  cars 
to  be  switched,  and  in  the  course  of  successive  movements  forward  and 
back  the  cars  are  pushed  or  "kicked"  to  place  on  the  distribution  and  other 
tracks.  The  track  which  forms  the  extension  of  a  ladder  or  is  connected 
with  the  same,  and  on  which  the  movement  of  cars  takes  place  in  switch- 
ing, is  called  a  "drilling"  track.  As  in  this  method  of  switching,  the 
whole  string  of  unswitched  cars  must  be  handled  at  each  movement,  it  is 
necessarily  slower  than  some  other  methods. 

By  the  poling  or  "staking"  method  the  train  is  usually  run  out  of 
the  receiving  tracks  and  left  standing  on  a  track  which  joins  with  the  lad- 
der of  the  distribution  tracks.     The  switch  engine  working  on  an  adjoin- 
ing parallel  track,  pushes,  by  means  of  a  pole,  the  cars  from  the  head  end 
of  the  train,  one  at  a  time,  or  as  many  at  a  time  as  are  found  together 
belonging  to  the  same  destination  or  lot,  commonly  called  a  "cut."    Some- 
times a  double  cut  is  started  in  one  movement.     When  such  is  done  the 
pole  is  placed  against  a  car  in  the  first  cut  and  the  man  who  works  the 
couplers  rides  between  the  last  car  of  the  first  cut  and  the  foremost  car 
of  the  rear  cut.    As  soon  as  the  whole  string  of  cars  is  got  up  to  good  speed 
the  coupling  between  the  two  cuts  is  slipped  and  steam  is  crowded  on  to 
put  the  first  cut  the  desired  interval  ahead  for  the  two  switching  move- 
ments.   But  if  the  cars  are  to  be  weighed,  they  are  passed  over  the  weigh- 
ing scales  one  at  a  time,  and  on  down  the  ladder  of  the  distribution  set 
until  switched  to  the  proper  track.    As  by  this  method  the  whole  train  or 
string  of  unswitched  cars  does  not  have  to  be  moved  each  time  a  car  is 
shifted,  it  is  widely  in  favor,  and  is  employed  in  a  large  number  of  yards. 
Where  the  ground  is  level  the  engine  must  follow  the  car  some  dis- 
tance and  give  it  a  flying  start.     As  hard-running  cars  are  liable  to  stop 
on  the  ladder,  it  is  well,  where  it  can  be  done,  to  extend  the  poling  track 
alongside  the  ladder.    In  both  tail  switching  and  poling  it  is  an  advantage 
to  have  an  assisting  grade  entering  the  distribution  tracks,  as  then  the 
cars  do  not  have  to  be  shoved  so  hard  to  send  them  to  place.    A  descending 
grade  as  steep  as  0.4  or  0.5  per  cent  is  desirable,  as  then  the  cars  have  only 
to  be  given  a  start  from  the  train,  after  which  they  will  continue  running. 
To  keep  an  engine  busy  at  poling  cars  it  is  necessary  to  have  quite 
a  large  crew  of  brakemen    (seven  to  sixteen  or  more,  according  to  the 
length  of  the  yard)    at  the  ladder  to  catch  the  cars  and  ride  them  to 
the  proper  stopping  points.     The  method  cannot  be  employed  economi- 
cally, therefore,  unless  there  is  a  large  amount  of  traffic,  involving  a  good 
many  classifications,  to  handle.     In  some  long  yards  where  there  are  large 
crews  of  car  riders  working  with  the  poling  engine  there  is  a  third  track 
running  parallel  with  the  poling  track,  ladder  and  distribution  tracks,  on 


458  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

which  a  pick-up  engine  and  flat  car  are  kept  running  to  and  fro  to  bring 
•the  men  back  to  the  poling  engine  after  they  have  ridden  their  cars  to 
the  proper  places.  In  this  way  fewer  brakemeii  are  required  to  keep  the 
poling  engine  busily  at  work  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  Among, 
places  where  this  practice  of  operating  a  pick-up  engine  is  to  be  found 
may  be  mentioned  the  Altoona  yard  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  R.  and  the 
Galewood  yard  (in  Chicago)  of  the  Chicago.,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  complaint  against  the  work  of  poling  during  dark 
nights,  principally  on  account  of  the  damage  caused  by  hard-running  cars 
which  stop  short  of  the  intended  point  and  are  run  into  by  the  next  car 
switched.  As  the  cars  must  be  given  a  good  start  before  they  leave  the 
ladder,  and  as  the  same  brakeman  is  not  likely  to  ride  a  car  down  the  same 
track  twice  in  succession,  a  car  which  stops  short,  being  in  the  way  of  the 
car  following,  is  liable  to  do  a  good  deal  of  damage.  In  defense  of  poling 
it  may  be  said,  however,  that  the  presence  of  a  poling  track  is  no  hindrance 
to  tail  switching,  which  can  be  resorted  to  on  dark  nights. 

The  switching  pole  is  sometimes  attached  to  the  pilot  beam  of  the 
engine  and  sometimes  it  is  attached  to  a  special  poling  car  coupled  with 
the  engine.  The  standard  poling  car  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  is  20  ft. 
long,  with  a  strongly  braced  frame  to  stand  the  racking  stresses.  The  pole 
is  6  ins.  in  diam.,  10  ft.  1  in.  long  and  is  pivoted  to  a.  heavy  casting  bolted 
against  the  side  sill  at  the  middle  of  the  car.  The  pole  can  swing  outward 
to  any  angle  with  the  side  of  the  car  and  is  raised  or  lowered  or  steered 
into  the  poling  socket  on  the  corner  of  the  freight  car  by  a  lever  balanced 
over  a  post  and  attached  to  a  stay  rod  running  out  to  a  connection  near 
the  end  of  the  pole.  There  is  a  longitudinal  foot  board  the  full  length  of 
the  car,  each  side,  and  across  one  end,  and  a  railing  3  ft.  high  around  the 
ends  and  sides  of  the  car.  The  car  is  mounted  on  two  4-wheel  trucks,  is 
ballasted  with  old  car  wheels  to  hold  it  down  to  the  track,  and  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  car  there  is  a  cabin  5  ft.  9  ins.  long  and  3  ft.  9  ins.  wide,  fur- 
nished with  a  stove.  On  some  roads  the  pole  consists  of  an  iron  or  steel 
strut  with  a  claw  or  angular-shaped  casting  on  the  end  to  fit  against  the 
corners  of  the  cars. 

In  the  "hump"  method  of  switching,  the  track  between  the  receiving 
and  distribution  divisions  passes  over  a  mound,  so  as  to  rise  to  a  summit. 
The  train  is  pushed  up  to  the  summit  by  a  switch  engine  and  the  cars, 
being  cut  loose  one  or  more  at  a  time,  run  down  the  other  side  by  gravity 
and  are  switched  onto  the  different  distribution  tracks.  Usually  there  is 
a  level  track  running  around  the  hump  to  connect  the  two  divisions  of  the 
yard,  so  that  trains  not  to  be  switched  need  not  be  sent  over  the  hump. 
The  hump  arrangement  is  in  service  in  yards  on  the  Philadelphia  &  Erie ; 
Pitisburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  .Louis;  Yandalia;  Chicago,  Lake 
Shore  &  Eastern  and  other  roads,  and  is  becoming  quite  popular.  In  the 
yard  of  the  road  last  named  the  cars  pass  from  the  hump  over  weighing 
scales  and  are  switched  upon  the  distribution  tracks  at  the  irate  of  one 
car  every  half  minute  from  the  time  the  first  car  is  put  over  the  summit. 
Hump  switching  is  supposed  to.  have  been  first  applied  at  Speldorf ,  in  Ger- 
many, in  1876,  and  is  now  extensively  ased  in  both  France  and  Germany. 
where  it  is  commonly  known  as  the  "ass-back"  (dos  d'ane)  method  of 
switching.  The  grade  is  usually  steepest  on  the  leaving  »ide  of  the  hump, 
running  from  0.9  to  1.75  per  cent  in  various  yards,  according  to  the  length 
of  the  incline.  In  one  of  the  yards  of  the  Paris,  Lyons  &  Mediterranean 
Ry.  the  grade  of  the  hump  is  1  per  cent,  and  to  balance  the  resistance  due 
to  the  switches,  curves,  frogs  and  guard  rails  the  turnouts  are  on  a  grade 
of  about  ^  per  cent  leaving  the  ladder,  the  remaining  portion  of  the  dis- 


YARD    TRACKS  45 $ 

tribution  tracks  being  level.  Before  the  cars  are  put  over  the  hump  there 
is  marked  on  the  front  end  of  each  car  or  cut  of  cars  the  number  of  the 
switch  it  is  to  enter,  and  on  the  back  end  of  the  last  car  'in  each  lot  is 
marked  the  number  of  the  switch  to  be  opened  for  the  next  car  following, 
thus  giving  the  switchmen  notice  in  advance.  A  man  at  the  summit  un- 
couples the  cars  at  the  points  indicated  by  the  chalk  marks.  When  cars 
are  being  shifted  at  night  the  switch  numbers  are  called  out  by  the  yard- 
master.  In  this  country  it  is  usual  in  switching  movements  for  the  brake- 
man  riding  the  cut  to  indicate  to  the  switch  tender  by  hand  or  lamp  sig- 
nals the  number  of  the  track  onto  which  the  cut  is  to  be  switched. 

A  gravity  yard  is  one  wherein  the  switching  throughout  is  by  gravity 
alone,  the  grades  of  the  different  yard  divisions  or  sets  of  tracks  being 
such  that  the  cars  will  start  upon  releasing  the  brakes.  For  such  opera- 
tion grades  of  0.8  to  1  per  cent  are  required,  the  steeper  grades  being 
necessary  where  the  winters  are  cold,  as  the  freezing  of  the  journal  pack- 
ing makes  the  cars  run  hard.  In  this  country  there  are  but  few  if  any 
yards  worked  entirely  by  gravity,  but  in  numerous  instances  grades  are 
used  to  assist  in  the  yard  movements.  In  some  instances  all  of  the  move- 
ments are  started  by  locomotives,  the  grade  then  being  sufficient  to  enable 
the  cars  to  hold  their  speed  through  the  switches  and  on  the  standing 
tracks.  Grades  of  0.5  per  cent  on  drilling,  poling:  and  ladder  tracks  and 
through  the  turnouts,  and  0.25  to  0.3  per  cent  on  standing  tracks  are 
about  right  for  such  work.  In  other  instances  the  grade  of  the  lead  or 
drilling  track  is  made  steep  enough  to  give  the^  cars  such  a  start  upon  re- 
leasing the  brakes  that  they  will  continue  running  upon  the  lighter  grades 
of  the  standing  tracks,  but  in  this  country  it  is  seldom  that  the  grad<* 
of  standing  tracks  is  made  steep  enough  to  start  cars  by  gravity  alone. 
Thus,  in  one  of  the  terminal  yards  of  the  Pittsburg  &  Lake  Erie  R.  R. 
there  is  a  lead  on  a  grade  of  2  per  cent  for  a  distance  of  200  ft.  ending 
at  the  point  of  the  first  switch,  followed  by  a  grade  of  0.4  per  cent  through 
the  switches  and  that  by  a  grade  of  0.3  per  cent  on  the  standing  tracks. 
As  examples  of  the  arrangement  first  named,  the  Galewood  yard  of  Chi- 
cago, Milwauke  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  is  on  a  grade  of  37  ft.  to  the  mile  (0.7  per 
cent)  throughout,  and  the  Altoona  yard  of  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  is 
laid  to  a  uniform  descending  grade  of  32  ft.  per  mile  (about  0.6  per  cent) 
in  the  direction  of  the  switching  movements.  In  both  of  these  yards  the 
switching  movements  are  started  by  a  poling  engine.  The  Galewood  yard, 
which  is  exceedingly  compact  and  well  designed  for  economy  of  space,  is 
described  and  illustrated  in  the  Railway  Review  of  Oct.  22,  1892. 

In  Europe,  where  gravity-  switching  is  more  generally  employed  than 
in  this  country,  the  cars  are  lighter,  as  a  rule,  and  the  brakes  are  arranged 
at  the  side,  so  that  the  brakemen  assigned  to  catch  the  cars  as  they  enter 
the  distributing  tracks  do  not  have  to  get  upon  the  cars  to  stop  them.  In 
addition  to  the  car  brakes,  "shoes"  or  "skates"  are  quite  commonly  used 
to  assist  in  stopping  the  cars.  These  devices  are  inclined  castings  or  wheel 
chocks  grooved  to  fit  over  the  rail  and  slide  under  the  weight  of  the  wheel 
when  the  same  runs  upon  it.  When  the  car  stops,  the  wheel  rolls  back  off 
the  incline  and  releases  the  shoe.  To  have  them  convenient  for  use  they 
are  distributed  along  on  the  ballast,  between  the  tracks,  at  intervals  of  50 
io  GO  ft.  For  catching  runaway  cars,  on  which  the  brakes  have  failed  or 
which  £et  beyond  control  through  other  cause,  "chain  drags"  are  in  con- 
siderable use.  This  device  consists  of  a  chain  of  large  size  weighing 
four  or  five  tons,  stretched  out  in  the  track  or  coiled  up  in  a  well  under 
the  track.  At  the  end  of  the  chain  is  a  large  hook  which  can  be  raised  by 
a  lever  in  control  of  a  switchman.  If  a  car  gets  away  the  hook  is  thrown 


460 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND   APPLIANCES 


YARD  TRACKS  461 

up  to  catch  an  axle  of  the  car,  and  the  heavy  chain  dragging  over  the  ties 
soon  brings  the  car  to  a  standstill.  Sand  tracks  (Fig.  180)  are  also  in  use 
for  the  .same  purpose. 

Yard  Arrangements. — In  treating  the  subject  of  yard  tracks  it  is 
conventional  to  illustrate  the  application  of  the  principles  of  yard  design 
by  typical  plans.  As  the  requirements  of  each  yard  depend  largely  upon  the 
traffic  situation  and  conditions  peculiar  to  the  locality,  it  is  seldom  if 
ever  that  such  plans  are  closely  followed  in  practice,  but  they  serve  as  a 
basis  for  the  consideration  of  yard  movements,  and  in  this  way  may  be  of 
some  value.  Where  an  abundance  of  space  is  available  there  is~no  diffi- 
culty in  arranging  yard  tracks  to  suit  almost  any  of  the  requirements  for 
switching  cars,  and  the  study  of  yard  design  is  much  simplified.  In 
working  out  typical  plans  economy  of  space  is  therefore  one  of  the  prime 
considerations.  A  fascinating  scheme  is  to  design  a  layout  of  east-bound 
and  west-bound  yards  lying  opposite  each  other  between  separated  double 
tracks,  with  a  roundhouse  between  the  yards.  While  such  a  location  for 
a  roundhouse  is  not  the  one  usually  chosen  in  practice  it  is  nevertheless 
recommended  by  practical  students  of  yard  design,  and  a  consideration 
of  the  advantages  in  such  a  layout  is  interesting.  In  putting  such  a  lay- 
out on  paper  it  is  customary  to  have  the  outlines  of  the  same  symmetrical 
with  respect  to  an  axis  formed  by  extending  the  main  tracks  straight 
through  the  yards.  Such  a  condition  is  not,  however,  an  essential  of 
space  economy  or  to  any  special  convenience,  and  land  is  no  more  likely  to 
be  available  in  that  shape  than  it  is  if  selected  to  lie  entirely  upon  one 
side  of  the  general  alignment  of  the  main  track,  in  which  case  only  one  of 
the  main  tracks  need  be  deviated  from  the  general  course. 

Figure  214  shows  a  layout  of  division  freight  yards  for  traffic  in  two 
directions,  each  yard  containing  four  main  divisions,  namely,  receiving, 
distribution,  departure  and  storage  tracks.  The  two  yards,  east-bound  and 
west-bound,  are  duplicates  as  to  facilities,  but  for  sake  of  showing  a  vari- 
ety of  atrangonentfc-  they  are  not  laid  out  in  exactly  the  same  manner. 
The  receiving  tracks  for  east-bound  movements  are  located  at  A,  the  dis- 
tribution tracks  at  ZJ,  leading  from  a  double  or  Y-shaped  ladder,  with 
sorting  tracks  for  the  local  trains  at  K.  The  tracks  8  may  be  used  for  stor- 
ing cars  detained  for  shipping  orders  and  in  emergency  for  the  overflow 
of  the  distribution  tracks.  The  departure  tracks  are  indicated  by  C.  For 
the  west-bound  movement  the  corresponding  divisions  are  indicated  by 
A',  B',  K' ,  8'  and  C'.  The  figure  is  not  drawn  to  scale  and  the  frog  angles 
have  been  purposely  exaggerated.  ISTo  significance  attaches  to  the  number 
of  the  tracks  in  each  division  of  the  yard,  as  such  could  in  any  case  be- 
arranged  to  suit  requirements.  In  constructing  a  yard  for  a  growing  busi- 
ness, room  for  additional  tracks  should  be  left  between  A  and  B'  and 
between  A'  and  S,  or  by  spreading  the  main  tracks  farther  apart  room 
could  be  had  for  extensions  to  all  the  ladders. 

In  locating  and  laying  out  a  yard  the  future  extension  of  the  system 
without  materially  changing  or  abandoning  the  original  tracks  should  be 
in  view,  and  the  matters  of  grades  and  drainage  are,  of  course,  important. 
To  locate  a  double  yard  such  as  is  here  shown,  on  a  descending  grade 
throughout  its  whole  length,  would  favor  the  yard  for  traffic  in  one  direc- 
tion and  operate  against  that  for  the  other  direction.  In  a  situation  of 
this  kind  the  arrangement  would  usually  be  changed:  the  receiving  tracks 
for  both  yards — that  is,  for  traffic  in  both  directions — would  be  located  at 
the  upper  end,  and  the" switching  in  both  yards  would  all  be  done  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  falling  grade.  In  the  Altoona  yards  of  the  Pennsylvania 
R.  R.»  where  the  grade  descends  toward  the  east  (32  ft.  per  mile)  the  whole 


462  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

distance,  the  switching  movements  in  the  west-bound  yard  proceed  from 
west  to  east  the  same  as  in  the  east-bound  yard.  In  the  west-bound  yard 
the  receiving  tracks  lie  west  of  the  distribution  tracks,,  so  that  trains  ar- 
riving from  the  east  must  pull  on  by  the  distribution  tracks  in  order  to  en- 
ter the  receiving  tracks.  The  best  location  for  a  double  yard  is  one  which 
divides  the  two  yards  across  a  summit,  but  it  is  seldom  that  ground  with 
conditions  so  favorable  can  be  found  where  yards  are  needed.  -  In  order  to 
obtain  the  assistance  of  grades  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  run  the  yard 
tracks  out  at  an  angle  with  the  direction  of  the  main  line  instead  of  paral- 
lel with  it. 

The  poling  track  connecting  divisions  A  and  B  is  arranged  between 
two  standing  tracks,  the  idea  being  that  while  the  poling  engine  is  at  work 
with  cars  on  one  of  these  tracks  a  switch  engine  in  the  rear  may  run  a 
train  to  position  on  the  other  track,  thus  keeping  the  poling  engine  stead- 
ily engaged  at  the  work  of  poling.  In  order  to  give  room  for  the  poling  en- 
gine to  begin  work  on  the  train  the  poling  track  should  be  a  quarter  to  a 
third  longer  than  the  longest  trains  to  be  put  through  the  yard.  For  the 
east-bound  movement  there  are  weighing  scales  on  each  standing  track, 
near  the  advance  end,  the  advantage  of  the  arrangement  being  that  there 
is  a  set  of  scales  in  reserve  in  case  either  set  gets  out  of  order.  Between 
divisions  A'  and  B'  the  scales  are  located  in  the  throat,  just  in  advance  of 
the  distribution  tracks,  where  they  catch  every  car  passing  through  the 
yard,  and  hence  it  is  immaterial  which  track  is  used  for  poling.  A  piece 
of  "dead"  track  is  usually  gantleted  with  the  track  passing  over  the  scales, 
so  that  cars  which  do  not  have  to  be  weighed  may  be  switched  over  the 
same  and  pass  without  bearing  upon  the  scales.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  ladders  branch  from  a  principal  side-track  T,  which  serves  as  a  "run- 
ning" or  "thoroughfare"  track  along  one  side  of  the  yards.  At  the  west 
end  it  connects  with  the  main  track  by  a  crossover  and  extends  past  the 
same,  forming  a  "run-by"  R.  This  arrangement  obviates  any  necessity 
for  foil] jug  main  track  in  switching  movements,  as  the  run-by  permits 
trains  to  back  past  the  crossover  without  using  it.  The  Tun-by  is  here 
shown  merely  for  the  purpose  of  illustration,  and  not  because  it  is  needed 
in  this  particular  yard. 

A  question  of  importance  is  the  location  of  caboose  tracks  Cabooses 
should  be  left  where  they  will  not  be  disturbed  by  the  shifting,  as  often- 
times they  are  used  by  the  crews  for  sleeping  quarters.  A  good  arrange- 
ment is  to  have  two  tracks:  one  for  the  cabooses  of  regular  trains  and 
-another  for  those  of  the  extras.  Those  for  regular  trains  can  then  be 
taken  out  in  consecutive  order,  so  that  no  shifting  is  required ;  while  those 
for  irregular  trains  will  usually  be  taken  out  in  the  same  way,  the  common 
rule  being  "first  in,. first  out."  A  location  for  these  tracks  has  been  selected 
at  D,  being  near  the  point  where  the  caboose  enters  the  yard  and  near  to 
the  set  of  tracks  from  which  the  train  will  depart  that  will  take  the  ca- 
.boose  on  its  return  trip.  In  any  case  caboose  tracks  should  be  double 
ended,  and  when  located  as  at  Df,  it  is  an  advantage  to  have  the  tracks  ele- 
vated sufficiently  to  form  a  short  incline  at  the  outlet  end.  With  such  an 
arrangement  the  service  of  a  switching  engine  to  deliver  the  cabooses  to 
outgoing  trains  is  not  needed,  as  each  train  when  leaving  the  departure 
tracks  C  may  stop  with  the  rear  car  just  past  the  switch  leading  out  of 
the  caboose  track,  and  the  caboose  may  be  pushed  out  by  hand  and  coupled 
on. 

It  is  desirable  that  the  engine  house  or  roundhouse  should  be  so  located 
that  ingress  and  egress  between  it  and  main  track  cannot  be  blocked  by  the 
movement  of  trains  in  the  yard.  Where  it  is  between  two  yards,  as  in  Fig. 


YARD  TRACKS  463 

214,  it  is  necessary  to  cross  drilling  tracks,  and  some  interference  in  this 
respect  cannot  therefore  be  avoided.  As,  however,  the  liability  to  obstruc- 
tion in  every  case  is  by  moving  trains,  serious  delays  are  not  to  be  expected. 
In  connection  with  the  roundhouse  there  must  be  >  facilities  for  supplying 
coal,  water  and  sand,  ash  pits  for  cleaning  the  fire  boxes  and  means  for 
turning  the  engines.  It  saves  time  to  take  water  and  sand  while  the  en- 
gine is  coaling,  and  usually  the  water  cranes  and  sand  bins  can  be  located 
to  permit  this  to  be  done.  The  usual  arrangement  in  connection  with  an 
ash  pit  is  a  depressed  track  alongside  for  spotting  cars  to  haul  away  the 
cinders.  (This  subject  is  treated  fully  in  §  178,  Chap.  XI).  Coaling, 
watering  and  ash-cleaning  facilities  a're  usually  located  on  the  track  lead- 
ing into  the  engine  house,  but  sometimes  on  both  the  outgoing  and  incom- 
ing tracks  on  opposite  sides  of  the  engine  house;  and  sometimes  the  out- 
going and  incoming  tracks  are  on  the  same  side  of  the  engine  house  and 
separated  to  permit  the  location  of  coaling  pockets  between  them.  To 
.prevent  the  obstruction  of  the  passage  to  the  ash  pit  or  engine  house  by 
engines  that  are  taking  on  coal,  water  etc.,  there  should  be  a  run-around 
track,  as  shown  in  Fig.  214.  In  large  yards  it  is  well  to  have  water 
cranes  at  convenient  points  some  distance  from  the  roundhouse,  as  they 
save  time  which  would  otherwise  be  consumed  by  the  switching  engine* 
in  running  back  and  forth  to  take  water.  In  yards  where  trains  pass 
through  unbroken,  without  detaching  the  locomotive,  facilities  should  be 
provided  for  taking  coal  and  water  and  dumping  cinders  on  the  thoroughfare 
track.  A  line  of  water  pipe,  with  hydrants  or  hose  attachments  at  inter- 
vals for  the  use  of  inspectors  and  repair  men,  is  a  great  convenience. 

The  repair  tracks  for  bad-order  cars  should  be  convenient  to  the  drill- 
ing or  poling  track,  so  that  the  separation  of  these  cars  from  the  rest  may 
take  place  while  the  train  is  being  broken  up  and  shifted  into  the  distri- 
bution tracks,  and  without  extra  movements.  It  is  'desirable  that  repair 
tracks  should  be  short — not  to  exceed  15  or  20  car  lengths — and  in  order 
to  secure  the  necessary  room  to  work  upon  the  cars  they  should  be  spaced 
farther  apart  than  the  usual  distance  between  yard  tracks — say  18  or  20 
ft.  c.  to  c.  A.  convenient  arrangement  is  to  lay  these  tracks  in  pairs  about 
16  ft.  c.  to.c.,  with  a  clear  space  of  25  or  30  ft.  between  the  pairs  for  piling 
material  in  case  cars  have  to  be  unloaded.  If  the  room  is  scarce  part  of  the 
tracks  may  be  spaced  16  ft.  centers  and  used  for  light  repairs,  while  for 
-cars  needing  heavy  repairs  other  tracks  may  be  spaced  farther  apart.  It 
saves  a  good  deal  of  switching  and  delay  to  put  the  cars  needing  only  light 
repairs  on  tracks  separate  from  those  occupied  by  ca'rs  requiring  heavy  re- 
pairs. In  estimating  the  capacity  of  repair  tracks  allowance  should  be 
made  for  an  open  space  of  10  or  12  ft.  at  each  end  of  each  car,  for  handling 
material  and  for  convenience  of  the  repair  men  in  other  ways.  This  ar- 
rangement requires  45  or  50  ft.  of  track  for  each  car.  The  space  set  apart 
for  material  supplies  should  be  at  one  end  of  the  repair  tracks,  so  that 
it  can  be  easily  trucked  into  and  along  the  openings  between  the  tracl:?x 
In  Fig.  214  the  repair  tracks  in  both  east-bound  and  west-bound  yard* 
lead  from  the  distribution  ladder. 

The  ladder  for  the  storage  tracks  S  leads  from  a  continuation  of  th*> 
poling  or  drilling  track  through  the  distribution  division  B,  and  therefore 
admits  of  straight-ahead  switching  into  the  storage  division.  The  order 
of  operation  would  usually  be  to  take  the  string  of  cars  accumulated  on 
the  ?ai«l  "continuation"  track  in  the  course  of  breaking  up  one  or  more 
trains,  and  then  tail-switch  them  into  the  storage  division.  The  ladder 
for  the  storage  tracks  S'  also  leads  from  a  continuation  of  the  poling  track 


464  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

past  the  distribution  division  B'.    No  storage  track  should  be  so  long  that 
a  switching  engine  cannot  handle  all  the  cars  it  is  capable  of  holding. 

The  location  of  ice  houses  and  tracks  for  icing  refrigerator  cars  is. 
important,,  and  in  order  that  the  work  of  icing  may  proceed  without  de- 
lay the  arrangement  should  be  such  that  the  cars  will  be  switched  direct- 
ly to  the  icing  tracks  while  the  train  is  being  broken  up.  In  Fig.  214  the 
icing  tracks  are  located  between  the  receiving  and  distribution  divisions, 
lying  next  the  tracks  on  which,  the  cars  stand  for  poling.  With  this  ar- 
rangement the  cars  to  be  iced  would  be  set  out  by  tail  switching  before  the 
poling  of  the  cars  in  the  remainder  of  the  train  would  begin.  The  icing 
of  solid  trains  of  refrigerator  cars  not  to  be  -rearranged  in  the  yard  could 
take  place  on  the  track  south  of  the  ice  house  without  sending  the  train 
through  the  receiving  division.  Another  arrangement  would  be  to  have 
the  ice  house  stand  alongside  one  of  the  outer  tracks  of  the  distribution 
division,  but  as  yards  should  be  laid  out  with  a  view  to  enlargement,  if 
necessary,  ice  houses  and  other  permanent  structures  should  not  be  lo- 
cated where  they  will  obstruct  the  extension  of  the  system. 


Fig.  215. — Division  Freight  Yard  Layouts. 

The  lower  engraving  of  Fig.  215  shows  an  arrangement  for  economiz- 
ing space  by  locating  the  receiving  tracks  of  a  double  yard  side  by  side. 
The  connections  as  drawn  are  for  a  single  track,  but  the  layout  is  equally 
feasible  between  the  separated  lines  of  a  double  track.  The  outer  track 
of  the  receiving  set  may  be  used  as  the  drilling  or  poling  track,  or,  as  is 
frequently  the  case  in  practice,  poling  may  be  done  on  any  of  the  parallel 
tracks  of  the  receiving  division.  The  receiving  and  distribution  tracks  of 
each  yard  might,  however,  be  separated  far  enough  for  a  poling  track  be- 
tween, as  in  Fig.  214,  which  would  leave  considerable  open  space  to  the 
east  of  the  east-bound  rceiving  tracks  and  to  the  west  of  the  west-bound 
receiving  tracks  that  might  be  utilized  for  storage  tracks  or  other  purposes. 
By  the  arrangement  shown  the  bad-order  and  "hold-for-order"  cars  would 
be  held  on  certain  tracks  of  the  distribution  set,  as  is  commonly  done  in 
practice.  In  case  }7a'rds  arranged  in  this  manner  were  designed  to  lie  be- 
tween the  separated  tracks  of  a  double-track  road,  the  outlet  ladder  of  the 
west-bound  "distribution  and  departure"  division  would  run  jdiagonally 
the  other  way,  or  from  southeast  to  northwest.  The  upper  engraving  in 
Fig.  215  shows  another  arrangement  for  making  most  use  of  land  at  dis- 
posal, A  and  B  being  respectively  the  receiving  and  distribution  divisions 
for  the  east-bound  movement  and  A'  and  B'  constituting  the  west-bounl 
yard.  With  this  formation  as  a  basis  a  double  yard  of  larger  functions- 
might  be  developed. 

Yard  Accessories. — In  addition  to  the  facilities  already  named  there- 
are  numerous  arrangements  which  have  an  important  bearing  upon  yard 
operation  and  the  handling  of  freight.  For  the  safety  of  the  main-line 
traffic,  where  full  speed  is  maintained  past  the  yard,  connection  should 
be  made  with  main  track  only  at  each  end  of  the  yard,  and  each  of  these 


YARD  TRACKS  465 

Connections  should  be  operated  under  the  protection  of  interlocked  signals. 
The  usual  practice  where  interlocking  is  not  employed  is  to  put  up  "Yard 
Limits"  sign  boards  far  enough  out  to  protect  trains  using  the  switches 
at  the  ends  of  the  yard,  and  require  that  between  these  limits  all  trains 
shall  proceed  with  caution.  For  the  working  of  a  large  number  of  yard 
switches  some  form  of  machine  operation  from  a  central  tower  is  prefer- 
able to  hand-throwing  stands  on  the  ground.  In  yards  the  interlocking 
of  switches  is  not  usually  necessar}7. 

The  switches  on  the  distribution  ladder  in  the  Altoona  yard  of  the 
Pennsylvania  K.  R.  are  thrown  by  compressed  air  cylinders  controlled  by 
electro-magnets  operated  from  push  buttons  in  a  tower.  The  switch  move- 
ment is  of  the  direct-acting  type,  the  switch  points  being  connected  to  the 
.piston  of  the  air  cylinder  without  the  locking  movement.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  valves  admitting  air  to  the  cylinder  is  the  same  as  on  the  reg- 
ular Westinghouse  electro-pneumatic  switch  movement  (described  in  the 
following  section  and  illustrated  by  Fig.  225),  with  the  exception  that 
the  lock  cylinder  and  magnet  are  dispensed  with.  The  push  buttons 
-are  arranged  in  two  rows  along  the  side  of  a  box,  two  buttons  for 
each  switch,  the  one  in  the  top  row  serving  to  close  the  switcli 
and  the  one  in  the  bottom  row  to  open  it.  All  of  the  24  push  but- 
tcns  or  keys  can  be  conveniently  reached  by  a  person  standing  or  sit- 
ting in  one  position.  The  ladder  and  tracks  leading  from  the  same  are 
•divided  by  insulated  joints  into  blocks  embracing  each  turnout,  and  one 
of  the  point  rails  of  each  switch  is  insulated  from  the  main  rail.  On 
the  operating  board,  above -the  set  of  keys  for  throwing  each  switch,  is 
-an  indicator,  in  circuit  with  the  insulated  rails  of  the  switch  and  turnout. 
Normally,  that  is  when  the  ladder  track  is  clear,  the  indicator  shows  white, 
'but  if  a  car  comes  upon  the  block  on  the  ladder,  or  within  fouling  dis- 
tance of  the  frog,  on  the  turnout,  or  if  the  switch  has  not  completed  it* 
throw  the  aperature  of  the  indicator  will  show  a  red  target.  The  operator 
is  therefore  able  to  follow  the  course  of  each  car  by  the  successive  appear- 
ance and  disappearance  of  the  indicators,  and  the  switching  movements 
<can  take  place  as  fast  as  the  cars  can  be  shunted  at  safe  intervals.  As  a 
matter  of  record,  133  cars  have  been  switched  in  an  hour,  and  an  average 
rate  is  95  cars  switched  per  hour.  The  operator  is  provided  with  a  sched- 
ule of  movements  required  to  distribute  the  train,  and  the  only  observance 
necessary  on  the  part  of  the  switching  crew  is  to  send  the  cars  along  at  the 
proper  intervals.  The  air  pressure  is  60  Ibs.  per  square  inch  and  the  furth- 
est switch  operated  is  1500  ft.  from  the  tower.  The  machine  and  circuits 
#re  more  fully  described  in  the  Railway  and  Engineering  Review  of  Aug. 
28,  1897. 

Team  tracks,  upon  which  cars  are  spotted  to  be  loaded  from  or  un- 
loaded into  wagons,  may  usually  be  arranged  to  best  advantage  as  a  series 
of  short  parallel  spurs  branching  in  pairs  from  a  ladder  track,  as  shown 
at  the  left  in  Fig.  214.  These  tracks  may  hold  10  or  12  cars  each  and 
should  stand  at  as  large  an  angle  to  the  main  lead  as  may  be  practicable 
— say  45  to  60  deg.  The  two  tracks  of  each  pair  may  be  spaced  as  close 
as  11  or  12  ft.  c.  to  c.,  but  the  driveways  between  the  pairs  should  be  40  ft. 
wide,  so  as  to  afford  room  for  teams  to  back  wagons  against  the  cars  and 
still  permit  teams  to  drive  between  the  team  in  this  position  and  a  team 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  roadway.  To  facilitate  the  prompt  removal  of 
freight  during  all  seasons  of  the  year  the  driveways  should  be  well  paved 
or  planked.  A  planked  driveway  across  the  team  tracks,  alongside  the 
main  lead,  affords  the  team  ingress  to  the  driveways,  so  that  all  the  outbound 
learns  may  drive  straight  ahead,  without  turning  around.  By  this  arrange- 


466  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

ment  of  tracks  empty  cars  may  be  removed  OT  loaded  cars  placed  without  dis- 
turbing any  considerable  number  of  persons  engaged  with  teams  at  loading 
or  unloading  other  cars. 

Freight  houses,  for  handling  less  than  car-load  merchandise  freight, 
are  usually  long  buildings  with  parallel  tracks  closely  spaced,  on  one  side, 
and  a  driveway  for  teams  on  the  opposite  side.  By  placing  the  cars  on 
the  several  tracks  so  that  the  doors  stand  opposite  one  another  the  loading 
or  unloading  of  the  freight  may  proceed  by  trucking  from  or  to  the  freight 
house  through  the  car  doors.  There  is,  however,  by  this  plan  of  working 
some  interference  between  empty  and  loaded  trucks  in  passing  one  another, 
and  in  switching  considerable  time  is  consumed  in  spotting  the  cars  with 
their  doors  directly  opposite,  and  again  in  coupling  up  when  the  cars  are 
hauled  away.  It  adds  to  the  convenience  of  trucking  and  switching  to- 
have  a  platform  8  or  10  ft.  wide  between  each  pair  of  tracks,  as  then 
the  trucking  need  not  be  done  in  direct  lines  and  the  cars  need  not 
be  spotted  to  stand  with  the  doors  exactly  opposite.  Where  a  large 
volume  of  business  is  handled  it  is  customary  to  have  separate  houses 
for  inbound  and  outbound  freight.  To  limit  the  trucking  distance  from 
the  point  of  delivery  by  team,  outbound  houses  should  not  be  wider 
than  24  to  30  ft.  Inbound  houses  may  be  50  to  80  ft.  in  width,  asr 
owing  to  the  necessity  of  unloading  freight  into  the  house  and  holding  it 
for  delivery,  more  room  is  required  than  in  outbound  houses.  The  width 
required  for  a  stated  capacity  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  length  of 
the  building.  As  cars  at  inbound  houses  can  be  unloaded  rapidly  there  is- 
usually  no  advantage  in  having  more  than  two 'tracks  at  the  house,  in  which 
case  it  is  only  necessary  to  unload  through  one  car.  At  outbound  house* 
the  situation  is  different,  for  cars  must  ordinarily  remain  at  the  house  a 
considerable  time,  perhaps  all  day,  to  receive  a  full  load,  so  that,  in  large- 
cities,  the  cars  which  must  be  set  to  load  for  shipment  to  many  points 
require  a  number  of  tracks,  making  it  necessary  to  load  through  four  or 
five,  and  sometimes  through  six  or  seven,  cars. 

An  outbound  freight  house  should  be  so  located  with  reference  to 
the  inbound  house  that  the  cars  made  empty  at  the  latter  can  be  moved 
quickly  and  without  interference  to  the  outbound  house  for  loading.  In 
some  cases  it  might  be  feasible  to  build  the  houses  adjoining,  so  that  car* 
made  empty  at  the  inbound  house  could  be  loaded  from  the  outbound 
house  without  being  switched.  Another  advantage  in  having  the  outbound 
and  inbound  houses  close  together  is  that  wagons  may  deliver  a  load  to  the 
one  and  take  a  return  load  from  the  other  without  loss  of  time  in  light 
mileage.  An  arrangement  that  is  sometimes  provided  where  inbound, 
outbound  and  transfer  houses  are  consolidated  at  one  point  is  to  have  paral- 
lel stub  tracks,  with  the  inbound  house  on  one  side,  the  outbound  house 
on  the  opposite  side  and  the  office  between  them,  at  the  stub  end?  of  the 
tracks.  Car-loads  to  be  transferred  are  spotted  on  the  various  intermed- 
iate tracks,  which  are  separated  by  platforms  for  trucking.  An  advantage 
in  a  layout  of  this  kind  is  that  the  'cars  unloaded  at  the  inbound  house 
may  be  quickly  turned  over  to  the  outbound  house,  or,  perhaps  they  may 
be  loaded  for  outbound  shipments  without  being  switched.  Such  a  layout 
of  tracks  suggests  another  type  of  freight  house,  which  abuts  upon  a  street 
w-ith  tracks  -running  up  to  its  rear  side  at  right  angles.  Between  each- 
pair  of  tracks  there  is  a  covered  platform  about  12  ft.  wide  on  which 
freight  may  be  trucked  to  all  the  cars  without  passing  through  any  of 
them. 

Freight  houses  which  stand  parallel  to  a  street  should  set  back  f rem- 
it at  least  20  ft.,  so  that  when  wagons  are  backed  up  against  the  house 


YARD  TRACKS 


467 


the  teams  will  not  obstruct  the  street.  The  roadway  leading  from  an 
inbound  house  and  the  approach  to  an  outbound  house  should  not  be  so 
steep  as  to  burden  the  teams  of  the  locality.  In  this  connection  it 
is  well  to  take  into  consideration  that  in  a  city  where  the  streets  are 
level  or  nearly  so,  teams  are  generally  loaded  heavier  than  in  hilly 
cities  and  towns.  To  obviate  the  necessity  of  spotting  cars  at  freight  house 
doors  it  is  usual  to  have  a  platform  8  or  10  ft.  wide  on  the  track  side 
of  the  house.  On  the  Michigan  Central  and  the  Louisville  &  Nash- 
ville roads  freight  houses  are  built  on  what  is  known  as  fhe_/^continu- 
ous  door"  arrangement.  The  whole  side  of  the  house  is  taken  up  with 
a  series  of  doors  which  slide  past  one  another.  A  door  can  be  opened  at 
any  point,  and  there  are  no  posts  in  the  side  of  the  house.  No  matter 
where  a  car  is  placed,  a  house  door  can  be  opened  opposite  the  door  of  the 
car.  At  such  a  house  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  a  platform  between  the 
first  track  and  the  house  to  avoid  spotting  cars. 


fadrooef Are. 


/Verr     Haven     Cana/ 
Fig.  216. — Freight  Terminal  of   Harlem  Transfer  Co.,   New  York  City. 

At  freight  houses  it  is  desirable  to  have  a  crane  for  transferring  heavy 
loads  from  cars  to  wagons  or  from  wagons  to  cars.  A  revolving  crane  is 
an  ordinary  arrangement,  but  an  overhead  crane  spanning  two  tracks,  a 
platform  and  a  driveway  is  a  more  flexible  arrangement,  as  it  may  be  used 
to  transfer  loads  from  car  to  car,  to  platform  or  to  wagon.  In  the  vicinity  of 
busy  freight  houses  there  should  be  a  small  auxiliary  yard  or  set  of  tracks 
holding  at  least  as  many  cars  as  the  freight  house  tracks  accommodate. 
With  such  an  arrangement  the  cars  at  the  house  can  be  pulled  out  and  new 
loads  or  empties  set  in  with  a  minimum  delay  to  the  work  of  loading 
or  unloading  at  the  house.  At  an  inbound  house,  for  example,  a  cut  of 
loaded  cars  can  be  shoved  in  as  soon  as  a  cut  of  empties  is  pulled  back  to 
one  of  the  auxiliary  yard  tracks.  The  necessity  for  such  auxiliary  tracks 
is  obviously  greater  at  inbound  than  at  outbound  houses. 

An  interesting  freight  terminal  of  the  loop  type,  designed  by  Chief 
Engineer  Walter  &.  Berg,  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.,  and  built  for  the 
Harlem  Transfer  Co.,  on  a  city  block  330  ft.  wide,  at  135th  St.  and  Eail- 
road  Ave.,  New  York,  is  shown  as  Fig.  216.  The  terminal  is  planned  for 
the  business  of  receiving  and  delivering  freight,  either  in  car-loads  or 
in  less  quantities.  The  cars  are  transferred  on  the  usual  car  transfer  boat 
operating  in  connection  with  transfer  bridges,  to  or  from  any  of  the  rail- 


468  SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

road  trunk  line  terminals  on  New  York  harbor.  The  striking  feature  of 
the  design  is  the  complete  loop,  from  which  the  side-tracks  and  connecting 
lines  diverge.  A  short  tangent  inserted  in  the  loop  track  permits  a  cross- 
over to  be  laid  to  an  interior  loop  track  distant  14  ft.  c.  to  c.,  which 
serves  as  a  standing  track  fo'r  an  oval-shaped .  freight  house  240  ft.  long, 
with  an  interior  courtyard  for  teams.  All  the  driveways  have  block  pav- 
ing. The  switches  are  of  the  split  pattern,  10  ft.  long,  with  ground- 
throw  stands.  The  minimum  curve  'radius  is  90  ft.  The  gage  on  these 
curves  is  widened  ^  in.,  and  the  outer  rail  is  elevated  2  ins.  The  switching 
engine  is  a  4- wheel  inclosed  tank  dummy  locomotive,  27  ft.  long  over  all, 
6  ft.  6  in.  wheel  base,  44  in.  wheels,  17  in.  x  24  in.  cylinders,  and  weigh- 
ing about  90,000  Ibs.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  passing  cars  around  these 
curves,  but  special  long  links  are  provided  for  coupling,  as  with  couplers 
of  various  kinds  some  difficulty  is  had  with  links  of  ordinary  length.  With 
locomotives  of  short  wheel  base  and  special  coupling  bars  freight  cars  of 
ordinary  construction  may  be  handled  on  curves  laid  to  a  50-ft.  radius, 
but  the  wheels  of  long  cars  that  are  low  hung  will  cramp  against  the  sills 
on  curves  of  100  ft.  radius  and  perhaps  longer. 

In  reference  to  tracks  at  water-front  terminals  the  following  is  quot- 
ed from  a  committee  report  to  the  Eoadmasters'  Association  of  America 
in  1893 :  "Where  piers  and  warehouses  are  built  with  a  dock  on  each 
side,  from  one  to  three  tracks  down  the  center  of  the  pier,  with  trucking 
space  on  the  outside,  between  the  tracks  and  the  edge  of  pier,  are  needed. 
Where  warehouses  are  parallel  with  the  wharf  front,  space  can  be  econ- 
mized  by  having  tracks  enter  the  building  at  the  side  and  run  at  right 
angles  therewith,  or  nearly  so,  and  about  half  way  across  the  width  of 
the  building.  This  method  of  layout  will  give  more  car  room,  or  rather 
more  loading  room,  than  where  the  track  is  parallel  with  the  building. 
This  is  especially  the  case  where  tracks  are  in  pairs,  say  at  12  ft.  centers, 
•with  trucking  space  of  15  to  20  ft.  between  one  pair  and  the  next,  putting 
in  as  many  sets  of  tracks  as  are  needed.  The  ends  of  the  tracks  should 
be  within  a  reasonable  distance  of  the  wharf  front,  to  save  as  much  as  pos- 
sible in  the  work  of  trucking,  a  very  considerable  item  of  cost  in  handling 
freight.  Tracks  abutting  on  wharves  or  ending  in  warehouses  should  be 
level,  or  there  would  be  danger  of  running  cars  into  the  water,  or  against 
the  building." 

The  transfer  of  freight  by  hand  for  the  consolidation  of  less  than 
car-load  freight  into  car-load  lots  and  for  the  release  of  cars  at  the  end 
of  a  company's  line  is  usually  made  across  or  through  a  long  platform, 
shed,  or  freight  house  16  to  20  or  25  ft.  wide,  between  parallel  tracks.  For 
the  transfer  of  cotton  and  other  commodities  in  bales  a  less  distance  be- 
tween the  cars  is  more  convenient,  and  platforms  not  wider  than  10  or 
12  ft.  are  desirable.  Transfer  platforms  should  be  at  the  proper  hight  for 
trucking  in  and  out  of  car  doors,  and  to  protect  goods  from  wet  weather 
they  are  frequently  covered.  There  should  be  a  bridge  crane  spanning 
two  closely  spaced  tracks,  with  a  trolley  hoist  for  lifting  heavy  masses, 
like  large  stones,  machinery  etc.,  to  be  transferred  from  flat  car  to  flat 
car.  A  common  arrangement  for  the  transfer  of  grain  is  high  and  low 
tracks,  side  by  side,  at  a  difference  of  elevation  of  5  to  6  ft.  and  spaced 
about  10  ft.  6  ins.  c.  to  c.  The  cars  are  spotted  on  these  tracks  with  the 
doors  opposite  and  the  grain  is  shoveled  into  chutes  running  from  the 
higher  to  the  lower  cars.  ']?or  the  transfer  of  coal,  high  and  low  tracks 
side  by  side  may  be  used,  but  coal-handling  machinery  is  the  modern  means, 
where  large  quantites  have  to  be  handled.  The  coal  is  dumped  from  or 
scraped  out  of  the  cars  into  a  pocket  or  pit  under  the  track,  whence  it  is 


YARD  TRACKS  4691 

taken  by  a  conveyor  and  elevated  for  shooting  into  other  cars  (gondola* 
or  box)  standing  on  a  parallel  track.  An  account  of  a  large  plant  of  this 
kind  operated  by  the  Erie  R.  R.  at  Hammond,  Ind.,  is  given  in  the  Railway 
and  Engineering  Review  of  Oct.  12,  1901. 

The  lighting  of  yard  tracks  for  night  work  is  recognized  as  a  desirable 
facility.  The  best  means  for  this  purpose  seems  to  be  a  system  of  electric 
arc  lamps  distributed  about  the  yards  on  high  poles,  but  the  arrangement 
is  not  always  entirely  satisfactory,  owing  to  the  shadows  cast,  which 
bother  the  trainmen  to  some  extent.  By  using  a  sufficient  number  of 
lights,  however,  the  shadows  are  not  so  dark  as  otherwise,  and -are- not  so 
troublesome.  Arc  lights  should  not  be  located  where  they  will  obscure 
main-line  signal  lights.  To  expedite  yard  work  it  is  also  necessary  to 
have  telephone  connection  between  the  various  offices  and  stations  about 
the  yard.  The  yardmaster  is  usually  located  near  the  roundhouse  or  mid- 
dle of  the  yard,  and  in  large  yards  there  are  assistant  yardmasters  near 
the  ends  of  the  yard.  Telephone  connection  between  the  signal  tower 
at  the  entrance  to  the  yard,  the  roundhouse,  weighing  scales  and  the  var- 
ious yard  offices  is  especially  convenient.  Some  yards  are  supplied  with 
air,  so  that  trains  can  be  charged  and  tested  before  the  engine  is  coupled 
on. 

A  common  and  convenient  arrangement  for  a  passenger-car  cleaning 
yard  is  a  series  of  parallel  tracks  20  ft.  apart  centers,  or  in  pairs  about 
36  ft.  centers  with  the  tracks  of  each  pair  16  ft.  apart  centers.  In  some 
cases  the  yard  is  connected  at  both  ends,  but  usually  it  is  composed  of 
stub-end  tracks  with  a  car-cleaners'  supply  building  at  the  dead  end  and 
at  'right  angles  to  the  tracks;  if  the  yard  is  connected  at  both  ends  this 
building  is  located  at  one  side.  With  the  former  arrangement  space  is 
reserved  at  the  ends  of  the  tracks  for  trucking  material  to  the  openings 
between  them.  These  openings  are  paved  or  planked,  and  between  alter- 
nate tracks  water,  steam  and  air  pipes  are  laid,  with  connections  about 
50  ft.  apart.  Plants  for  supplying  gas  or  electricity  are  installed  in. 
the  vicinity.  The  yard  should  be  drained  and  lighted  for  night  work. 
The  yard  is  usually  located  near  the  terminal  station,  and  the  tracks 
should  be  long  enough  to  handle  trains  without  cutting  them.  Where 
sufficient  room  is  available  a  Y-track  is  usually  provided  for  turning 
trains. 

Some  Yard  Layouts  in  Service. — To  further  illustrate  the  application 
of  some  of  the  aforementioned  principles  of  yard  design  reference  may 
be  made  to  two  OT  three  existing  yards.  At  Harahan,  La.,  nine  miles  from 
l^ew  Orleans,  the  Illinois  Central  R.  R.  has  an  extensive  layout  of  yard 
tracks  with  assisting  grades,  that  is  commonly  known  as  a  gravity  yard. 
As  may  be  seen  in  Fig.  217,  the  tracks  entering  the  yard  branch  from  the 
main  line  by  a  "Y"  having  double-track  legs,  converging  into  a  double 
track  running  directly  north  and  south,  and  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the 
main  line,  the  particular  object  in  following  this  direction  being  to  secure 
a  large  area  which  was  free  from  public  road  crossings.  The  site  selected 
covers  a  tract  about  one-half  mile  wide  and  three  miles  long,  compara- 
tively free  from  obstructions  of  the  kind  referred  to.  The  portion  of  the 
yard  as  first  constructed  is  shown  in  full  lines,  the  dotted  lines  indicating 
extensions.  The  double-track  branch  line  leading  from  main  track  passes 
to  a  receiving  division  containing  10  parallel  tracks  each  2,000  ft.  long, 
and  having  a  capacity  of  500  cars,  into  which  all  south-bound  trains  are 
taken.  Each  train  is  then  taken  to  the  gravity  lead,  which  is  2200  ft.  long, 
on  a  -J  per  cent  grade,  with  a  poling  track  alongside.  Here  the  cuts  of  car& 
are  started  by  a  poling  engine  and  pass  to  either  of  two  sets  of  distribut- 


470 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


ing  tracks  arranged  in  the  shape  of  a  fish  tail  along  diverging  ladders,  each 
set  having  17  tracks  and  a  capacity  for  832  cars.  The, tracks  in  one 
of  these  sets  take  even  numbers  and  in  the  other  set  odd  numbers.  In 
switching,  cars  laden  with  coal  and  export  freight  which  is  to  be  held 


YARD  TRACKS  471 

for  orders  are  sent  to  the  odd-numbered  tracks.,  while  the  even-numbered 
tracks  take  care  of  cars  to  be  delivered  to  the  various  docks,  cotton  sheds, 
connections  with  other  roads,  the  various  yards  about  New  Orleans,  etc. 
Near  the  entrance  to  the  ladders,  on  the  double  lead  track,  there  are  cross- 
overs for  diverting  cars  from  one  track  to  the  other.  Cars  loaded  with 
-commodities  to  be  weighed  are  shunted  onto  the  scale  track,  which  runs 
between  the  south  ladder  of  the  receiving  division  and  the  north  ladder  of 
the  west  set  of  distribution  tracks.  On  the  rear  end  of  each  car  or 
cut  of  cars  sent  down  the  gravity  lead  is  chalked  the  number  of  the  track 
for  which  the  following  car  is  destined,  thus  giving  the-  switch  tenders 
time  to  throw  the  switches,  as  heretofore  explained.  At  the  south  end 
the  distribution  tracks  have  an  outlet  into  a  long  side-track  extending  to 
the  Southern  Pacific  car  ferry  on  the  Mississippi  river,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  into  a  belt  line  which  returns  by  a  13-deg.  curve,  at  the  south,  and  an 
8-deg.  2H-min.  curve  at  the  north,  to  the  main  line. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  space  was  left  for  additional  tracks  in  the 
receiving  division  and  that  a  40-stall  roundhouse,  with  cinder  pit,  coaling 
station  and  necessary  auxiliary  facilities  were  planned  to  lie  next  the 
-exterior  throughfare  track.  All  the  necessary  accessories  in  the  way  of 
caboose  tracks,  wheel  tracks,  and  car  repair  tracks  were  provided  for,  as 
shown.  A  gravity  track  for  bad  order  cars  branches  from  the  main  lead 
and  runs  parallel  with  the  north  ladder  of  the  east  distribution  division. 
A  plant  for  icing  cars  and  a  large  transfer  house  were  planned  to  be 
located  north  of  the  east  gravity  distribution  tracks,  and  still  north  of 
these  buildings  there  are  stock  pens  and  a  set  of  outbound  or  north-bound 
departure  tracks  2000  ft.  in  length,  with  a  capacity  of  500  cars.  North- 
bound trains  pass  into  the  receiving  yard  and  through  the  distribution 
tracks  in  the  same  way  as  the  south-bound  traffic  and  are  then  assembled 
into  trains  on  the  departure  tracks  for  the  road  engines.  At  the  outlet 
of  the  departure  tracks  there  is  a  set  of  caboose  tracks,  from  which  the 
caboose  is  picked  up  just  before  the^  train  leaves  the  yard.  West  of  the 
departure  tracks,  there  are  ten  stub  tracks  constituting  a  sorting  set,  for 
arranging  cars  in  "district"  or  station  order.  All  the  tracks  arranged  in 
sets  are  laid  13  ft.  c.  to  c.  The  total  length  of  tracks  as  planned  is  48 
miles  and  the  capacity  3600  cars.  The  two-story  office  building  is  located 
at  the  head  of  the  gravity  lead,  and  opposite  the  same  there  is  a  hotel  built 
and  furnished  by  the  railroad  company. 

A  interesting  example  of  a  "hump"  gravity  yard  on  an  extensive  scale 
is  the  Chicago  Clearing  Yard,  operated  by  the  Chicago  Union  Transfer 
Ky.  The  general  purpose  of  the  yard  is  to  accomplish  for  railroad 
freight  traffic  entering  and  leaving  Chicago  a  service  corresponding  to 
that  which  a  clearing  house  does  for  the  banking  business  of  a  large  city. 
The  interchange  of  freight  cars  between  the  20  and  more  roads  is  carried 
on  over  belt  lines,  and  it  is  evident  that  with  these  cars  collected  at 
one  point  they  can  be  distributed  to  the  various  roads,  already  made  up 
into  trains,  with  fewer  switching  movements  than  would  be  necessary  if 
transferred  direct  by  the  belt-line  crews  making  the  rounds  of  the  numer- 
ous terminal  yards.  In  the  clearing  yard  the  switching  is  done  once  for 
all,  economizing  in  switching  movements  and  expediting  the  delivery  of 
the  cars.  The  cars  set  out  at  the  terminal  yard  of  each  road  for  delivery 
to  other  roads  are  taken  to  this  clearing  yard,  in  any  order  in  which  they 
may  happen  to  be  made  up,  and  there  are  distributed  to  the  various 
roads  and  arranged  in  such  order  as  the  'receiving  road  may  desire,  as,  for 
instance,  loads  and  empties,  division,  or  other  order. 

A  general  plan  of  the  yard  reduced  to  convenient  size,'  but  not  drawn 


472  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

to  scale,  is  shown  as  Fig.  214  A.  The  yard  extends  east  and  west,  connect- 
ing with  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R.  on  the  east  and  with  the 
Chicago  Terminal  Transfer  R.  R.  and  the  Chicago  Junction  Ry.  on  the 
west,  occupying  a  tract  13,000  ft.  long  and  about  070  ft.  wide.  It  contain* 
105  miles  of  track,  with  sufficient  vacant  space  conveniently  located  for 
25  miles  of  additional  tracks,  for  overflow  and  storage  purposes,  and  is 
the  most  extensive  system  of  yard  tracks  ever  constructed  at  one  location. 
The  yard  is  far  removed  from  the  built-up  section  of  the  city  and  is  not 
crossed  by  any  public  thoroughfare.  All  the  connecting  roads  above  named 
are  belt  and  switching  lines  of  Chicago.  Although  the  primary  object  in 
the  establishment  of  the  yard  was  to  provide  facilities  for  receiving  and 
forwarding  cars  with  the  utmost  dispatch,  the  possiblities  in  the  way  of 
future  extensions  fo'r  the  accommodation  of  such  auxiliaries  as  naturally 
attach  to  railway  terminals  has  not  been  overlooked.  In  the  vicinity  of 
the  yard  the  company  owns  3700  acres  of  land,  intended  to  meet  the  space 
requirements  of  manufacturing  establishments,  grain  elevators,  storage 
warehouses  for  general  merchandise,  coal  etc.;  or  for  the  duplication  of 
the  present  clearing  yard  as  a  unit.  The  connection  of  the  yard  with  the- 
two  belt  lines  at  the  west  end  has  been  laid  out  with  a  view  to  joining  with 
a  similar  parallel  yard  lying  immediately  north.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
this  clearing  ya'rd  may  be  found  a  desirable  location  for  the  temporary- 
storage  of  cars  of  grain  and  other  produce  awaiting  reshipment  at  the 
call  of  the  markets,  and  when  the  demand  for  such  storage  facilities  mate- 
rializes, the  necessary  tracks  can  readity  be  added  to  the  yard,  as  now 
laid  out. 

Extending  along  both  north  and  south  boundaries  of  the  yard  for  the 
whole  distance  east  and  west  there  are  three  thoroughfare  tracks  with 
double-track  "Y"  connections  at  each  end  to  the  belt  lines.  At  the  center 
of  the  yard,  from  north  to  south,  and  near  the  east  end,  is  located  the 
engine  house,  and  from  this  engine  house,  running  straight  west  on  the- 
middle  line  of  the  yard,  is  a  through,  track  known  as  Track  No.  25,  which 
is  referred  to  in  connection  with  the  switching  movements.  At  the  west 
end  this  track  and  the  three  outer  tracks  on  each  side  of  the  yard  merge 
into  a  double  track  which  makes  a  "Y"  connection  with  the  Chicago 
Junction  Ry.  and  the  Chicago  Terminal  Transfer  R.  R.  The  general 
arrangement  of  the  layout  consists  in  two  sets  of  distribution  tracks  (71 
and  B')  each  2400  ft.  long,  extending  the  full  width  of  the  yard  and 
leading  from  double  ladders  on  either  side  of  the  artificial  gravity  mound, 
with  receiving  tracks  (C  and  C')  1600  to  3200  ft.  long  symmetrically  ar- 
ranged north  and  south  of  the  gravity  mound.  East  and  west  of  the 
distribution  tracks  there  are  overflow  tracks  (D  and  Dr)  running  parallel 
with  the  distribution  ladders,  intended  for  use  in  case  the  distribution 
tracks  become  filled.  To  the  west  of  the  west  distribution  tracks  (Br)  a 
large  amount  of  space  has  been  reserved  for  storage  tracks,  repair  yards, 
icing  houses  and  like  facilities.  The  number  of  parallel  tracks  in  a  north 
and  south  direction  is  49,  occupying  a  space  660  ft.  wide.  The  spacing 
of  the  distribution  and  receiving  tracks  is  13.3  ft.  center  to  center,  and 
of  the  thoroughfare  tracks  on  the  outside  of  the  yard,  14  ft.  and  15  ft.  c  to- 
c,  respectively,  progressing  outward.  Parallel  with  the  double  ladder  at 
the  mound  end  of  each  distribution  set  there  are  two  tracks,  the  one  next 
the  ladder  being  a  poling  track  and  the  outside  one  a  drilling  track.  The 
double  ladders  of  each  distribution  set  converge  at  a  three-throw  switch 
into  track  No.  25,  so  that  over  the  summit  of  the  gravity  mound  there- 
are  five  parallel  tracks,  with  leader  tracks  and  crossovers  as  shown.  The 
gravity  mound  or  '"hump"  is  5000  ft.  long.  For  a  short  distance  each  side- 


YARD  TRACKS  473 

of  the  summit  there  is  a  grade  of  1^  per  cent,  arranged  to  start  the  cars 
quickly  from  the  summit,  and  then  a  long  grade  of  0.9  of  1  per  cent  for 
a  distance  of  1900  ft.  running  into  a  grade  of  -J  of  1  per  cent  for  a  further 
distance  of  350  ft.  The  foot  of  the  gravity  lead  is  something  like  400  ft. 
beyond  the  ends  of  the  distribution  ladders.  The  summit  of  the  gravity 
mound  is  22  ft.  higher  than  the  elevation  of  the  level  tracks  of  the  yard. 
As  protection  against  wind  and  wash  from  rains,  the  side  slopes  of  this 
mound  are  covered  with  a  layer  of  cinders,  in  some  places,  and  in  other 
places  with  riprap  stone. 

The  arrangement  of  the  yard  permits  of  a  flexibility-  odL  operation 
that  is  remarkable.  Trains  approaching  from  one  of  the  "Y"  connections 
at  either  end  of  the  yard  are  run  into  one  of  the  receiving  tracks,  where 
the  power  is  detached,  taking  a  return  load  from  one  of  the  distribution 
tracks  in  B  or  Bf,  by  way  of  one  of  the  outlet  ladders  of  the  distribution 
tracks.  A  switching  engine  of  the  clearing  yard  then  takes  the  train,  backs 
up,  and  pushes  it  over  one  of  the  drilling  tracks  alongside  the  distribution 
ladder.  In  continuation  of  each  of  these  drilling  tracks  there  is  a  leader 
extending  across  all  five  of  the  parallel  tracks  over  the  gravity  mound. 
This  leader  connects  with  each  track  by  means  of  a  slip  switch.  As  the 
train  is  pushed  up  the  summit  the  couplers  are  disconnected  between  each 
cut  of  cars,  and  as  the  cars  go  over  the  summit  they  separate  from  the 
train  and  run  into  and  down  track  No.  25  to  the  three-throw  switch  at 
the  apex  of  the  distribution  ladders,  where  they  are  switched  to  either  side 
of-  the  double  ladder,  and  finally  into  the  desired  track  of  the  distribution 
set.  By  means  of  the  leader  on  either  side  of  the  summit,  switching  can 
be  carried  on  simultaneously  with  two  engines,  in  both  directions;  that  is, 
into  both  the  east  and  west  distribution  tracks.  Each  train  of  cars  to  be 
split  up  is  pushed  over  the  mound  and  distributed  to  such  roads  and 
sub-classifications  as  would  naturally  be  taken  out  of  the  set  of  distribu- 
tion tracks  into  which  they  are  first  dropped.  The  cars  which  would 
naturally  be  taken  out  of  the  opposite  set  of  distribution  tracks  (east  or 
west  of  the  summit)  are  dropped  to  one  or  more  tracks  specially  desig- 
nated for  that  purpose,  until  a  string  accumulates,  when  they  are  pushed 
back  over  the  hill  and  classified  into  the  other  set  of  distribution  tracks. 
It  is  thus  seen  that  by  two  switching  movements,  at  most,  trains  of  cars  for 
any  number  of  roads  can  be  arranged  in  desired  order.  The  capacity  of 
the  yard  is  5000  to  8000  cars  switched  and  forwarded  daily. 

The  purpose  of  the  poling  track  between  each  distribution  ladder  and 
the  parallel  drilling  track,  is  to  permit  the  assistance  of  an  engine  in 
case  the  cars  should  stop  short,  owing  to  heavy  winds  opposing  the  move- 
ment of  the  car  under  gravity,  extreme  cold  weather  or  snow.  It  is  known 
that  such  causes,  particularly  hard,  opposing  winds,  are  some  of  the  diffi- 
culties attending  the  operation  of  gravity  yards.  As  this  yard  is  arranged, 
however,  adverse  winds  can  never  operate  to  the  disadvantage  of  switch- 
ing in  more  than  one  direction  at  a  time;  for,  when  blowing  against  the 
switching  of  cars  to  the  westward,  for  instance,  the  direction  of  the 
wind  will  then  be  with  the  movement  of  the  cars  that  are  being  switched 
toward  the  east,  thereby  assisting  the  action  of  gravity.  The  arrange- 
ment for  returning  the  brakemen  who  ride  the  cars  down  the  gravity 
tracks  consists  of  a  light  engine  and  car  running  forth  and  back  on  either 
the  center  track  or  on  one  or  both  of  the  poling  tracks.  On  the  tracks 
near  the  middle  the  first  cars  which  are  dropped  down  from  the  sum- 
mit are  stopped  a  short  distance  beyond  the  ladder  connection,  and 
then  dropped  further  down,  from  time  to  time,  as  cars  accumulate  on 
that  track.  By  this-  arrangement  a  few  men  can  easily  attend  to  drop- 


474  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

ping  cars  down,  so  as  to  leave  room  at  the  head  end,  and  thus  fewer  men 
are  required  to  brake  the  cars  down  from  the  summit.  On  the  tracks  at 
the  sides  of  the  distribution  groups,  whereon  there  is  a  considerable 
stretch  of  level,  the  men  catch  the  cars  at  the  lower  end. 

In  this  yard  there  are  approximately  450  switches,  and  of  these  the 
120  switches  along  the  ladders  of  the  distribution  tracks  are  operated 
by  Westinghouse  electro-pneumatic  cylinders.  The  design  of  these  cylin- 
ders is  similar  to  that  of  the  standard  machines  of  that  type  for  inter- 
locking work  (Fig.  225),  with  the  exception  that  the  central  or  lock  mag- 
net is  omitted.  The  control  of  the  switches  is  by  means  of  electric  push- 
button machines  in  an  operating  cabin  arranged  upon  a  bridge  standing 
over  the  summit  of  the  gravity  mound.  The  cabin  is  30  ft.  above  the  track 
and  the  span  of  the  bridge  supporting  it  is  68  ft.  From  this  cabin  there  is 
an  unobstructed  view  of  the  yard  from  end  to  end,  or  for  a  distance  of  two 
miles  in  both  directions.  For  the  120  switches  there  are  10  push-botton 
machines,  each  machine  controlling  the  movement  of  12  switches.  A  sim- 
ilar installation  is  in  service  in  a  yard  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  R.,  at  Al- 
toona,  Pa.,  as  already  described.  For  convenience  of  night  work  the 
gravity  tracks  are  lighted  by  arc  lights  a'rranged  on  poles  at  intervals  of 
about  300  ft.,  at  the  sides  of  the  distribution  ladders.  These  lights  are 
shaded  on  the  side  toward  the  operating  cabin.  This  arrangement  permits 
the  light  to  be  thrown  straight  ahead  into  the  distribution  tracks,  but 
protects  the  eyes  of  the  cabin  men  and  of  the  brakemen  riding  cuts  of 
cars,  from  the  direct  rays.  The  switch  lamps  are  lighted  by  incandescent 
electric  lights  of  8  candle  power,  as  described  in  the  section  on  switch 
lamps  in  this  chapter  (§66). 

Figure  2 14 A  shows  the  location  of  the  engine  house,  near  which  is 
the  coaling  station;  the  power  house,  for  lighting,  air  compressing  and 
pumping;  the  yard  office  and  the  operating  tower.  The  water  supply  for 
the  yard  is  forced  from  artesian  wells  by  compressed  air  into  an  under- 
ground^ concrete  reservoir,  from  which  it  is  pumped  into  a  tank  of  100,000 
gals,  capacity,  built  on  a  tower  624  ft.  high  standing  between  the  office 
building  and  the  power  house.  From  the  tank  there  afre  lateral  pipes 
running  to  each  side  of  the  yard,  where  they  connect  with  mains  running 
the  whole  length  of  the  yard  and  supplying  15  water  cranes.  Altogether 
there  are  12  miles  of  water  mains  throughout  the  yard.  The  connection 
between  the  tank  and  these  mains  is  such  that  in  case  of  fire  the  tank  valve 
can  be  shut  oft'  and  direct  pressure  can  be  put  upon  the  mains  through 
fire  pumps  in  the  power  house. 

The  drainage  of  this  yard  and  the  construction  of  the  roadbed  for  the 
tracks  are  also  interesting  features.  The  surface  of  the  land  on  which  the 
ya'rd  was  located  was  smooth  and  practically  level,  no  part  being  2  ft.  high- 
er than  the  general  contour.  This  fact,  taken  in  connection  with  the  flat 
country  surrounding  the  yard  for  a  long  distance,  made  it  desirable  to 
provide  an  extensive  drainage  system.  Running  westward  along  the  north 
side  of  the  yard  there  is  a  main  sewer,  with  lateral  sewers  every  600  ft, 
The  main  sewer  begins  at  the  extreme  east  end  of  the  yard,  and  for  the 
first  half  mile  it  consists  of  18-in.  vitrified  pipe,  where  it  enlarges  into  a 
27-in.  vitrified  pipe  for  the  next  half  mile,  and  then  into  a  36-in.  concrete 
sewer  for  the  next  mile,  then  a  48-in.  concrete  sewer  for  -J  mile,  and  for 
nearly  all  the  remaining  distance  out  of  the  4J  miles  there  is  a  concrete 
sewer  7£  ft.  in  diameter,  with  a  shell  1  ft.  thick.  The  section  of  the 
concrete  sewer  in  each  case  is  circular  and  the  figures  refer  to  inside  meas- 
urements. The  sewer  falls  30  ft.  from  end  to  end.  or  in  a  distance  of 
4£  miles,  and  its  depth  below  the  surface  is  6  to  25  ft.  At  the  west  end 


MACHINE    OPERATION    OF    SWITCHES 


475 


of  the  property  it  empties  into  an  open  ditch  which  drains  into  the  Illinois 
&  Michigan  canal.  At  this  point  the  sewer  is  arch  shaped,  the  span 
of  the  arch  being  9  ft.  and  the  hight  from  the  bottom  of  the  sewer  to  the 
crown  of  the  arch  about  7  ft.  The  vitrified  pipe  of  the  lateral  system 
of  sewers  is  8  to  15  ins.  diam.  and  the  aggregate  length  of  lateral  sewers 
ie  12  miles. 

The  grading  of  the  'roadbed  or  the  foundation  of  the  yard  tracks  con- 
sisted in  depositing  a  2-ft.  layer  of  sand  over  the  entire  area  enclosed 
by  the  tracks — a  strip  of  land  about  670  ft.  in  width  and  2f  miles 
long.  In  this  shallow  fill  there  was  deposited  1,200,000  cu.  ycTs.~bf  sand, 
and  in  the  gravity  mound  400,000  cu.  yds.  additional.  Over  the  sand 
there  is  a  6  to  8-in.  layer  of  broken  slag  serving  as  a  sub-ballast.  On 
this  the  track  was  laid  and  ballasted  with  gravel  in  some  places  and 
cinders  in  others.  For  leveling  off  gravel  unloaded  from  the  cars  for  ballast- 
ing purposes  a  car  with  winged  scrapers  was  used.  The  tracks  were 
laid  with  new  75-lb.  rails.  In  the  thoroughfare  and  gravity  tracks  the 
ties  are  oak,  while  in  the  receiving  tracks  and  on  the  level  portion  of  the 
distribution  tracks  they  are  of  cedar,  laid  2800  to  the  mile.  A  full 
description  of  the  yard,  with  numerous  illustrations,  was  published  in  the 
Railway  and  Engineering  Review  for  Nov.  16,  1901. 

82.  Machine  Operation  of  Switches. — At  points  where  switching 
movements  are  frequent  or  numerous,  and  especially  if  it  is  desired  that 
the  switching  shall  be  done  without  stopping  the  trains,  as  at  the  end  of 
double  track,  at  junctions  and  in  busy  yards,  it  is  customary  to  employ 
regular  switch  tenders.  If  a  number  of  switches  are  near  together  one 
tender  may  be  able  to  operate  all  of  them,  but  if  they  extend  beyond  the 


; 

&fM 


i  i 


Fig.  218. — Typical  Switch  and  Signal  Tower  of  American  Railroads. 


476  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIAXCTS 


Fig.  219. — Interior  of  Signal  Tower,  Showing  Interlocking  Machine. 

limits  of  convenient  running  distance,  economy  of  time  in  the  movement 
of  the  trains  may  require  either  more  than  one  tender  or  that  the  means- 
for  throwing  the  switches  be  concentrated  at  a  central  point  where  the 
attendance  can  accomplish  more  efficient  service  than  would  be  possible 
by  running  from  stand  to  stand  among  switches  widely  separated.  The 
latter  alternative  calls  for  machines  operated  at  or  from  a  distance.  These 
machines,  or  the  means  for  controlling  the  same,  are  usually  assembled 
in  the  high  second  story  of  a  switch  or  signal  tower  located  in  some  com- 
manding position  where  a  view  of  the  tracks  may  be  had  over  the  tops  of 
cars,  and  unobstructed  by  other  buildings.  Figure  218  fairly  illustrates 
a  typical  switch  and  signal  tower,  the  intention  of  the  closely  placed  win- 
dows extending  entirely  around  the  building  being  obvious.  As'  the 
operation  of  main-line  switches  from  a  tower  is, in  connection  with  inter- 
locked signals,  the  two  are  usually  considered  together.  In  a  comparatively 
few  instances,  however,  as  in  yards,  .switches  are  thus  operated  without 
interlocking,  and  for  the  purpose  of  an  elementary  treatment,  which  is  all 
that  is  here  intended,  it  will  conduce  to  clearness  to  take  up  the  two  subjects 
separately,  referring  first  to  the  several  types  of  mechanism  for  throwing 
switches,  and  their  manner  of  operation,  and  then  following  on  to  the 
fundamental  principles  and  appliances  of  interlocking. 

Devices  for  throwing  switches  at  a  distance  are  of  two  general  type*?, 
namely,  hand  machines  and  power  machines.  •  The  hand  machine  consists 
of  a  lever  or  number  of  levers  with  pipe-line  connection  to  the  switches, 
1-in.  pipe  being  the  size  commonly  used.  These  levers  are  pivoted  to  a  frame 
and  are  spaced  closely  side  by  side,  so  that  a  large  number  can  be  placed 
within  the  distance  of  a  few  steps  of  the  towerman.  The  levers  of  a 
machine,  commonly  known  as  a  "mechanical  interlocking  machine,"  resem- 
ble very  much  the  reverse  lever  of  a  locomotive,  as  'will  appear  from  Fig. 
219,  which  shows  the  interior  of  an  interlocking  tower.  The  line  of 
pipe  connecting  with  each  switch  is  carried  on  roller  bearings  mounted 
upon  supports  7  or  8  ft.  apart,  known  as  "pipe  carriers,"  and  change  of 
direction  is  by  means  of  bell  cranks.  To  automatically  adjust  the  line  of 
pipe  for  expansion  and  contraction  due  to  change  of  temperature,  the  pipe  is 
cut  at  intervals  and  compensating  devices  are  inserted.  A  simple  device  for 
this  purpose  is  a  rocker  or  straight  bar,  pivoted  at  its  center  and  connected  at 
its  two  ends  with  sections  of  the  line.  It  is  readily  seen  that  expansion  or 


MACHINE    OPERATION    OF    SWITCHES 


477 


contraction  in  either  section  of  the  pipe  line  is  compensated  by  that  in  the 
other  without  affecting  the  adjustment  of  the  line.  This  device  reverses 
the  motion  of  adjacent  sections  of  the  pipe  line,  and  takes  up  consider- 
able space,  the  latter  feature  being  objectionable  where  there  are  several 
pipes  running  parallel.  A  compensator  which  continues  the  pipe  in  the 
same  straight  line,  called  by  convention  a  "lazy  jack/'  is  shown  in  Fig. 
"220.  It  consists  of  two  bell  cranks  of  supplemental  angles,  pivoted  to  a 
base  casting  and  united  by  a  short  link.  In  this  way  the  direction  of 
motion  of  the  two  halves  of  the  pipe  line  is  reversed,  as  with  a_rocker,  and 
contraction  and  expansion  are  provided  for.  Bell  cranks,  if  inserted  be- 
tween sections  of  pipe  line  approximately  equal  in  length,  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  pulling  of  one  section  pushes  the  other,  perform  the  func- 
tion of  compensators.  For  distances  less  than  100  ft.  no  compensator  i:> 
needed  and  in  long  lines  of  pipe  one  compensator  is  usually  provided 
every  400  to  700  ft.  Switches  are  operated  by  pipe  line  as  far  as  2000 
ft.  from  the  tower,  and  sometimes  farther,  but  such  distances  are  un- 
aisual. 


Fig.  220. — "Lazy  Jack"  Compensator. 
Where  switches  are  thrown  from  a  tower  there  is  not  opportunity  for 
-the  man  at  the  levers  to  learn  from  observation,  at  every  movement,  whether 
the  point  rails  have  made  a  full  stroke.  As  a  safeguard  in  operating  main- 
line switches  in  this  manner  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  have  some  means  for 
testing  the  action  of  the  switch,  so  as  to  make  known  any  defective  working 
of  this  kind.  This  check  upon  the  reliability  of  the  switch  movement  is  by 
means  of  a  device  for  locking  the  switch  in  each  rest  position,  which  acts  or 
refuses  to  act  according  as  the  switch  works  properly  or  improperly ;  it  also 
serves  the  purpose  of  a  double  connection  to  hold  the  switch  firmly  to  posi- 
tion under  train  movements.  Of  locks  for  this  purpose  there  are  two  ar- 
rangements, the  distinction  depending  upon  the  fact  as  to  whether  the  de- 
vice is  actuated  by  the  same  lever  that  throws  the  switch  or  by  a  separate 
lever.  The  facing-point  lock  is  of  the  latter  class.  It  consists  of  a  flat  lock 
rod  attached  to  the  switch  points  and  working  through  a  slotted  casting, 
-and  a  bolt  or  plunger  operated  from  the  tower  and  working  through  the  same 
•casting  at  right  angles  to  the  lock  rod,  as  shown  in  Fig.  221.  In  the  lock  rod 


Fig.  221. — Facing-Point   Lock,   Outside  Connected. 


-178 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


are  two  holes,  corresponding  to  the  closed  and  open  positions  of  the  switch, 
and  when  the  point  rails  are  in  proper  adjustment  the  plunger  registers  with 
one  of  these  holes  for  each  rest  position  of  the  switch.  Before  the  switch  can 
be  thrown  from  •  either  rest  position  the  plunger  must  first  be  withdrawn, 
and  should  the  point  rails  not  move  entirely  home  the  registration  of  the 
plunger  will  be  obstructed  by  the  solid  metal  of  the  locking  bar,  making  it 
impossible  to  throw  the  lock  lever  in  the  tower,  thus  indicating  that  the 
switch  is  out  of  adjustment  and  in  need  of  immediate  attention.  As  is 
explained  more  in  detail  in  the  following  section,  the  switch  and  lock  levers 
are  interlocked  with  the  signal  lever,  and  the  sequence  of  operation  is  such 
that  if  the  lock  fails  to  work,  the  signal  must  remain  at  danger  until  the 
switch  is  properly  adjusted-  The  lock  shown  in  the  figure  is  known  as  the 
"outside"  pattern,  taking  its  name  from  the  position  of  the  plunger  casting. 
With  an  "inside"  facing-point  lock  the  plunger  casting  is  secured  to  the 
same  tie,  in  the  middle  of  the  track,  and  the  locking  takes  place  at  the  mid- 
dle of  the  tie  bar  instead  of  on  an  outside  extension  of  the  same. 

By  the  "switch  and  lock"  movement  the  lock  and  switch  are  thrown  by 
the  same  lever.  The  arrangement  is  shown  in  Fig.  222.  Instead  of  con- 
necting the  throw  rod  to  the  switch  points  direct  it  is  made  to  actuate  an 
escapement  crank  (A),  otherwise  called  the  "'switch  crank."  By  this  means 
there  is,  at  both  the  beginning  and  ending  of  the  stroke,  about  2  ins.  of 
dead  motion  in  relation  to  the  switch,  which  unlocks  the  switch  before  the 
point  rails  are  acted  upon  and  locks  them  up  after  they  have  moved  to  place. 
Briefly  described,  there  is  a  base  casting  with  guides  for  the  throw  rod  or 
driving  bar  and  for  the  lock  rod.  The  driving  bar  consists  of  two  straps 
bolted  to  end  pieces  so  as  to  straddle  the  escapement  crank.  The  engage- 


Fig.  222. — Switch  and  Lock  Movement 
and  Bolt  Lock. 


Fig.  223. — Semaphore  Signals. 


MACHINE    OPERATION    OF    SWITCHES  479 

ment  with  the  escapement  crank  is  by  means  of  an  operating  roller  carried 
between  the  two  straps  of  the  driving  bar.  The  driving  bar  and  lock  rod 
cross  each  other  at  right  angles,,  there  being  a  locking  stud  or  lug  (B)  on  the 
former  to  fit  a  corresponding  notch  on  the  lock  rod  for  each  position  of  the 
switch.  On  some  patterns  other  than  that  shown  the  locking  is  by  means  of 
locking  pins  on  the  driving  bar  fitting  corresponding  holes  through  the  lock 
rod.  The  full  stroke  of  the  driving  bar  is  8  or  9  iris.,  and  the  manner  of 
operation  is  as  follows :  During  the  first  2  ins.  of  the  stroke  the  locking 
stud  is  withdrawn,  releasing  the  switch,  but  as  the  operating  roller  travels 
parallel  with  the  arm  of  the  escapement  crank  against  which  it  Fears  there 
is  thus  far  no  tendency  to  move  the  switch.  The  operating  roller  next  meets 
the  other  arm  of  the  crank,  swinging  it  some  4  or  5  ins.  and  throwing  the 
switch.  During  the  last  part  of  the  operation  the  roller  again  moves 
parallel  with  the  crank  arm  against  which  it  bears,  a  further  distance  of 
about  2  ins.,  bringing  the  locking  parts  into  engagement  after  the  motion  of 
the  switch  points  has  ceased. 

As  the  switch  and  lock  movement  dispenses  with  one  lever  for  each 
switch,  it  effects  an  important  economy  in  apparatus  and  in  the  number  of 
movements,  and  consequently  time  required,  to  operate  the  switch,  but  in 
mechanical  interlocking  the  use  of  facing-point  locks  on  the  important 
switches  seems  to  be  the  preferable  practice.  In  the  switch  and  lock  move- 
ment the  travel  of  the  parts  is  so  slight  (only  about  1 J  to  2  ins.  in  the  throw 
rod)  during  the  locking  operation  that  by  springing  the  connections  in  the 
case  of  a  long  pipe  line  it  is  sometimes  possible  to  get  the  lever  over  when  the 
lock  refuses  to  work.  As  with  the  facing-point  lock  the  stroke  of  the  plun- 
ger is  5  or  6  ins.,  and  some  44  ins.  past  the  lock  rod,  it  is  impossible  with 
this  device  to  throw  the  lock  lever  when  the  plunger  will  not  enter  the  lock- 
ing hole.  A  safeguard  in  the  case  of  the  switch  and  lock  movement  is  the 
use  of  a  bolt  lock,  described  in  the  following  .section,  in  connection  with- in- 
ter locking.  In  the  switch  and  lock  movements  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  Ry.  the  driving  bar  has  a  stroke  of  12  ins.,  with  3  ins.  of  locking 
travel  at  each  end,  which  is  supposed  to  be  sufficient  to  prevent  the  latch- 
ing of  the  lever  when  the  locking  movement  is  obstructed  by  misad justed 
switch  points.  This  lengthening  of  the  driving  bar  stroke  decreases  the 
leverage.  As  with  derailing  switches  it  is  necessary-  to  lock  the  point  rail 
only  in  the  closed  position  (unless  operated  on  the  same  lever  with  the  lock 
for  a  turnout  switch),  the  3  ins.  of  locking  travel  may  be  obtained  with  a 
total  travel  of  only  8  OT  9  ins.  in  the  driving  bar.  An  interesting  discussion 
of  these  matters  was  presented  before  the  Railway  Signaling  Club  in  Sep- 
tember, 1896,  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Elliott,  signal  engineer  of  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  Ry.  (See  the  Railway  Review  for  Sept.  26  and  N"ov.  21, 
1896,  pages  536  and  650). 

As  the  switch  tower  is  necessarily  somewhat  removed  from  many  or 
all  of  the  switches,  it  is  necessary,  in  order  to  facilitate  rapid  switching 
movements,  to  provide  some  device  which  will  prevent  the  switch  being 
thrown  under  a  car  or  train.  This  device  is  known  as  the  detector  bar, 
shown  in  Fig.  224.  It  consists  of  a  flat  bar  A,  somewhat  longer  than  the 
longest  distance  between  car  wheels  (usually  45  or  50  ft.),  which  is  held 
in  position  against  the  outside  of  the  rail  head  by  links  B,  pivoted  to  clips  C 
attached  to  the  rail  as  shown  in  the  end  elevation.  There  are  lugs  on  the 
clips  which  limit  the  movement  of  the  links  and  prevent  the  bar  from  get- 
ting out  of  adjustment.  The  bar  is  connected  with  the  switch  movement 
(or  lock  movement,  in  the  case  of  a  facing-point  lock,  as  in  Fig.  221),  so 
that  before  the  switch  can  be  moved  the  bar  A  must  be  swung  on  the  arcs 
described  by  the  radial  movement  of  the  links  about  the  pins  of  the  clips 


480 


SWITCHING   ABRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Fig.  223  A. — Styles  of  Semaphore  Castings  and  Glasses. 

as  centers.  As  the  bar  is  held  but  slightly  below  the  top  of  the  rail  it  must 
be  raised  about  one  inch  above  the  rail  in  order  to  pass  through  one  half 
of  its  stroke.  If  a  wheel  be  resting  on  the  rail  at  the  bar  it  is  obvious  that 
the  bar  cannot  be  moved  in  the  manner  described,  and,  being  interlocked 
with  the  switch  or  lock  bar,  no  movement  of  the  switch  can  take  place.  The 
operator  in  the  tower  can  therefore  grasp  the  lever  while  the  train  is  moving 
over  the  switch  and  make  ready  to  throw  it  the  instant  the  wheels  pass  the 
detector  bar,  without  fear  of  throwing  it  too  soon.  The  detector  bar  is 
usually  placed  on  the  facing  side  of  the  switch.  If  placed  on  the  trailing 
side  two  bars  are  necessary — one  on  the  main  track  and  one  on  the  turnout 
— so  as  to  protect  the  switch  against  a  train  on  either  track. 

In  power  machines  for  throwing  switches  either  one  or  both  of  two  agents 
are  employed,  namely  compressed  air  and  electricity ;  and  of  these  machines 
there  are  three  systems,  namely,  the  electro-pneumatic,  in  which  the  switch 
cylinder  is  operated  by  compressd  air  controlled  by  electricity ;  two  patterns 
of  pneumatic  machines  operated  and  controlled  by  compressed  air;  and  an 
electric  machine  which  is  operated  and  controlled  by  electricity.  Some  of 
the  advantages  claimed  for  power  machines  are  that  they  are  more  compact 
than  hand  machines,  affording  a  closer  concentration,  which  permits  of 
smaller  towers  in  large  installations,  and  less  attendance  upon  operation; 
that  track  room  is  not  occupied  by  the  connections  between  tower  and 
switches,  and  as  movable  connections  are  not  employed  there  are  none  of 

f- 


iy 


Fig.  224. — Detector  Bar. 

the  difficulties  incident  to  the  settlemnt  of  filled  ground  ;  that  pipes  for  com- 
pressed air  and  insulated  wires  for  electric  currents  can  be  laid  farther  than 
pipe  lines  can  be  readily  worked;  that  over  long  distances  the  connections 
with  the  power  machines  are  cheaper;  and  where  there  are  complicated 
switches,  crossings,  sharp  curves,  etc.,  the  connections  are  not  only  cheaper 
but  far  less  complicated  and  less  liable  to  derangement,  as  they  can  be 
buried  up  out  of  sight,  where  they  will  be  secure  from  accident  or  molesta- 
tion ;  and  that  fewer  levers  are  required  in  the  tower,  thus  reducing  the  ex- 
pense of  large  installations  and  decreasing  the  time  of  operation.  The  last- 
named  advantage  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  number  of  mechanisms  which 
can  be  operated  simultaneously  from  one  lever  is  limited  only  by  the  re- 
strictions imposed  by  traffic  requirements,  whereas  in  the  mechanical  sys- 
tem— that  is,  by  hand  operation — the  physical  energy  and  endurance  of  the 
operator  measures  the  capacity  of  each  lever. 

The  Westinghouse  electro-pneumatic  operating  mechanism  as  applied 
to  a  simple  switch  is  shown  as  Fig.  225.  The  switch  cylinder  is  5  ins.,  and 
sometimes  6  ins.,  in  internal  diameter  and  the  stroke  of  the  piston  is  8  ins. 


MACHINE    OPERATION    OF    SWITCHES 


481 


The  air  for  operating  the  cylinder  is  piped  to  it  at  a  pressure  varying  in 
different  installations  from  45  to  80  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  but  usually  about  65 
Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  Under  the  cylinder  there  is  a  small  auxiliary  reservior  to 
receive  the  condensation  from  the  moisture  in  the  air.  The  control  of  the 
valve  for  admitting  air  against  the  piston  is  by  means  of  three  electro- 
magnets secured  to  the  side  of  the  cylinder  and  operated  on  electric  circuits 
connecting  with  the  interlocking  machine  in  the  signal  tower.  The  func- 
tions of  these  three  magnets  for  a  single  movement  of  the  switch  are  as 
follows :  The  middle  one  of  the  three  magnets  operates  a  lock  which  con- 
trols the  movement  of  the  valve  admitting  air  to  the  switch  cylinder.  The 
other  two  magnets  operate  pin  valves  controlling  the  admission  of  air  to  and 
exhaust  from  two  small  auxiliary  cylinders  secured  to  the  side  of  the  switch 
cylinder,  the  pistons  of  both  of  which  operate  upon  the  slide  valve  which 
admits  and  discharges  the  larger  volume  of  air  used  by  the  switch  cylinder. 
The  mechanism  of  the  lock  magnet  device  consists  of  a  plunger,  applied 
normally  by  a  coiled  spring  which  forces  it  into  a  recess  in  the  slide  valve, 
and  which  is  withdrawn  by  exhausting  the  air  from  above  the  plunger  piston 
by  means  of  a  magnetic  pin  valve,  thus  permitting  the  full  pressure  in  the 
valve  chamber  to  overcome  the  spring  and  force  out  the  bolt.  By  de-energiz- 
ing this  magnet,  which  takes  place  as  soon  as  the  slide  valve  has  moved, 
the  exhaust  passage  operated  by  the  pin  valve  is  closed  and  the  pressure, 
being  admitted  through  a  small  leak  hole  through  the  piston  of  the  plunger, 
gradually  equalizes  on  both  sides  of  the  piston  and  permits  the  action  of 
the  spring  to  again  lock  the  slide  valve.  In  operation  this  lock  must  be 
withdrawn  before  the  slide  valve  can  be  shifted  to  admit  air  to  actuate  the 
switch  cylinder.  The  electrical  contacts  of  the  switch  lever  on  the  machine 
in  the  tower  are  so  arranged  that  the  three  magnetic  valves  of  the  switch 
mechanism  are  operated  in  proper  sequence  to  withdraw  the  lock  previous 
to  each  attempt  to  shift  the  valve.  In  setting  a  switch  the  operator  in  the 
signal  tower  throws  a  lever  (Fig.  235)  through  a  portion  of  its  stroke,  mak- 
ing electrical  contacts  with  circuits  connecting  with  the  valve  magnets  on 
the  switch  cylinder.  The  first  movement,  as  preViously  stated,  is  the  action 
of  the  pin  valve  of  the  lock  magnet,  which  operates  to  unlock  the  slide 
valve,  arid  this  slide  valve  is  then  acted  upon  by  air  pressure  controlled  by 


Fig.  225. — Electro-Pneumatic  Switch  Cylinder. 


48*3 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


the  movement  of  the  pin  valves  in  the  outside  electro-magnets.  The  move- 
ment of  the  lever  beyond  the  point  where  the  lock  magnet  is  actuated  dis- 
charges one  of  the  valve  magnets,  permitting  the  air  to  exhaust  from  the 
auxiliary  cylinder  controlled  by  that  magnet.,  and  energizes  the  other  valve 
magnet,  admitting  air  to  the  auxiliary  cylinder  on  that  side  and  forcing 
over  the  piston  which  works  the  slide  valve.  The  movement  of  the  slide 
valve  admits  pressure  against  the  piston  of  the  switch  cylinder,  the  piston 
rod  of  which  is  connected  with  the  switch  and  lock  movement  and  the  de- 
tector bar  shown  (Fig.  225). 


Fig.  226.  Fig.   227. — Switch   and    Lock   Movement  for  "Standard' 

Pneumatic  System. 

In  operating  switches  from  a  towrer  it  is  necessary  that  some  indica- 
tion be  received  by  the  operator  to  assure  hxim  at  each  movement  that  the 
switch  has  properly  completed  its  stroke.  With  the  hand  machine  the  in- 
dication of  a  failure  of  the  switch  to  complete  its  throw  is  given  by  the  re- 
fusal of  the  locking  lever  to  make  the  full  stroke.  The  indication  with  the 
electro-pneumatic  mechanism  lies  in  the  ability  to  complete  the  throw  of 
the  operating  lever  in  the  signal  tower.  When  this  lever  is  first  manipu- 
Jated  for  moving  the  switch  it  is  thrown  up  against  a  stop,  making  only  a 
partial  movement,  as  stated.  The  position  of  this  stop  is  controlled  by  an 
electro-magnet  on  a  circuit  operated  in  connection  with  the  locking  device 
of  the  switch  mechanism.  If  the  switch  has  been  thrown  to  proper  place 
and  locked  a  contact  is  made  which  causes  the  electro-magnet  in  the  signal 
tower  to  withdraw  the  stop,  permitting  the  lever  to  be  given  its  full  move- 
ment, thus  indicating  to  the  operator  that  the  mechanism  at  the  switch  has 
properly  performed  all  of  its  functions.  If  the  stop  is  not  withdrawn  the 
stroke  of  the  lever  cannot  be  completed  and  the  signal  lever  is  locked  in  the 
danger  position,  as  explained  farther  along. 

The  "Standard"  apparatus  for  throwing  switches  is  controlled,  oper- 
"ated  and  indicated  by  air  pressure.  The  pressure  for  the  controlling  and 
indicating  movements  is  6  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  and  that  far  operating  the  switches 
is  20  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  the  difference  in  pressure  being  obtained  by  means 
of  reducing  valves.  This  is  known  as  the  "low  pressure  pneumatic"  sys- 
tem. The  operating  bars  or  "levers"  of  the  interlocking  machine  (Fig. 
237)  are  straight  steel  bars  with  upright  handles,  pulling  straight  out  to 
the  front.  The  manipulation  of  a  lever  for  a  switch  "movement  is  as  fol- 
lows :  The  lever  is  first  pulled  out  about  half  its  stroke,  where  it  stops  and 
air  is  admitted  to  the  controlling  pipe  running  to  the  switch  cylinder.  It- 
there  operates  a  valve  which  admits  air  against  the  piston  of  the  cylinder. 
The  movement  of  the  switch  points  operates  apparatus  sending  an  indica- 
tion current  of  air  back  to  the  machine  in  the  tower,  and  this  indication 


MACHINE    OPERATION    OF    SWITCHES  483 

current  completes  the  stroke  of  the  lever.  This  automatic  completion  of 
the  stroke  of  the  lever  is  the  "indication."  The  switch  and  lock  move- 
ment of  the  Standard  system  is  by  means  of  a  "motion  plate/'  as  shown 
in  Pig.  227.  This  device  is  a  sliding  plate  attached  to  the  piston  rod  of  the 
switch  cylinder,  and  the  means  for  imparting  motion  to  the  bar  connect- 
ing with  the  switch  points  is  a  diagonal  slot,  and  an  operating  roller  at- 
tached to  the  switch  connection.  The  two  ends  of  this  slot  are  parallel  to  the 
direction  of  movement  of  the  motion  plate,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  util- 
ize the  beginning  and  ending  of  the  stroke,  severally,  to  unlock  and  lock 
up  the  switch,  as  only  the  diagonal  portion  of  the  slot  can  operate  to  impart 
side  motion  to  the  bar  connecting  with  the  switch.  The  indicating  valve 
is  operated  by  a  slot  in  a  similar  manner,  the  parallel  part  of  this  slot  cor- 
responding to  the  diagonal  part  of  the  slot  operating  the  switch.  The  work- 
ing of  the  locking  mechanism  is  apparent  from  the  illustration,  it  being 
observed  that  the  slot  operating  the  indicating  valve  is  so  arranged  that  it 
cannot  actuate  the  valve  rod  until  the  locking  stud  engages  with  the  notch 
in  the  locking  rod. 


Fig.  228. — Thomas  Pneumatic  Switch  Cylinder,  N.r  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry. 

In  the  Thomas  pneumatic  system  for  handling  switches  and  signals 
the  movements  are  controlled,  operated  and  indicated  by  compressed  air. 
It  was  designed  by  J.  W.  Thomas,  Jr.,  general  manager  of  the  Nashville, 
Ohattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Ry.,  on  which  road  a  number  of  installations  of 
the  system  are  in  service.  The  distinctive  feature  of  this  system  is  the 
working  of  the  valves  admitting  air  to  and  exhausting  it  from  the  switch 
cylinder  by  means  of  pistons  of  the  equalizing  type,  which  are  actuated  by  a 
sudden  increase  or  decrease  of  the  air  pressure  on  opposite  sides  of  the  pis- 
ton. Secured  to  the  switch  cylinder  (Fig.  228)  near  each  end  there  is  an 
air  chest  in  which  is  a  valve  controlling  the  admission-  and  exhaust  of  the 
air  to  and  from  that  end  of  the  cylinder.  Each  of  these  valves  is  in  pipe 
connection  with  a  pressure-controlling  valve  operated  by  a  lever  in  the  sig- 
nal tower  (Fig.  229).  In  these  two  pipes  leading  to  the  switch  mechanism 
there  is  a  difference  of  pressure  of  10  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  the  pressure  in  one 
of  them  being  70  Ibs.  and  that  in  the  other  80  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  In  the  switch 
cylinder,  under  the  normal  condition  of  things,  there  is  a  pressure  of 
80  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  on  one  side  of  the  piston,  with  the  other  side  open  to  the 
atmosphere.  When  it  is  desired  to  throw  the  switch  a  lever  is  pulled  (half 
stroke)  in  the  signal  tower,  which  operates  a  controlling  valve,  increasing 
the  pressure  in  one  of  the  controlling  pipes  from  70  to  80  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  and 
decreasing  it  in  the  other  (by  exhaust  into  an  empty  reservoir)  from  80 
Ibs.  to  70  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  This  change  of  pressure  shifts  the  valves  on  the 
switch  cylinder,  admitting  air  at  80  Ibs,  pressure  to  one  side  of  the  piston 
exhausting  it  from  the  other,  thus  operating  to  throw  the  switch. 


484  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

Through  the  piston  of  each  valve  at  the  switch  cylinder  there  is  a  small 
leak  hole,  which  permits  the  pressure  to  equalize  on  both  sides  of  the  piston 
soon  after  it  has  been  actuated  by  a  sudden  change  of  pressure  in  the  con- 
trolling pipe.  By  this  arrangement  the  conditions  are  always  such  that  the 
valve  piston  is  in  readiness  to  act  at  the  next  change  of  pressure,  be  it  an 
increase  or  a  decrease;  in  fact  action  will  take  place  without  waiting  for 
the  pressure  to  equalize.  To  increase  the  capacity  of  the  air  supply,  so  as 
to  move  the  valves  quickly,  there  is  a  small  'reservoir  under  each  end  of  the 
switch  cylinder,  in  communication  with  the  valve  chest  on  that  end.  In 
connection  with  the  switch  operating  mechanism  there  is  an  "indication 
chest"  in  communication  with  a  valve  on  the  interlocking  machine  in  the 
signal  tower  through  two  pipes  in  which  the  pressure  stands  at  70  and  80 
Ibs.,  respectively,  as  in  the  controlling  pipes.  ^ 

The  operation  of  the  switch  is  by  switch  and  lock  movement,  and  on 
the  driving  bar  of  the  same  there  is  an  arm  which  works  the  indication 
chest.  As  soon  as  the  switch  points  have  been  thrown  fully  up  this  arm 
conies  into  engagement  with  the  stem  of  the  valve  in  the  indication  chest, 


Fig.  229. — Interlocking  Machine  of  the  Thomas  Pneumatic  System. 

the  shifting  of  which  throws  ports  into  connection  which  reduce  the  pres- 
sure in  one  of  the  indicating  pipes  from  80  to  70  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  and  in- 
crease it  in  the  other  from  70  to  80  Ibs.  This  alternation  of  the  pressure 
operates  the  above-mentioned  valve  on  the  interlocking  table,  which  with- 
draws a  stop  pin,  releasing  the  operating  lever  and  permitting  the  com- 
pletion of  its  stroke.  Until  this  indication  is  received,  by  the  response  of 
the  switch,  the  lever  cannot  be  thrown  from  the  midway  position  of  its- 
stroke,  where  it  was  stopped  as  soon  as  the  controlling  valve  had  been  shifted 
to  throw  the  switch.  In  Fig.  229  the  controlling  valves  appear  at  the  front 
of  the  interlocking  machine,  directly  under  the  levers.  The  time  consumed 
in  operating  a  switch  250  ft.  away,  including  the  indication,  is  about  one 
second;  at  a  distance  of  1000  ft.  the  time  is  3  seconds.  To  give  some  idea 
of  the  rapidity  of  the  movements  a  switch  250  ft.  away  has,  by  actual  test, 
been  operated  28  times  per  minute. 

The  Taylor  switch  machine,  shown  in  Figs.  230  and  231  with  the  cover 
removed,  is  operated  by  an  electric  motor,  the  capacity  of  which  for  a  single 
switch  is  about  1  horse  power;  but  the  power  required  is  but  little  more 


MACHINE    OPERATION    OP    SWITCHES 


485 


Fig.  230. — Taylor  Electric  Switch   Machine    (Switch    Open). 

than  half  of  this,  being  usually  7  amperes  at  60  volts.  The  current  for 
operation  is  usually  supplied  by  a  storage  battery  in  the  signal  tower,  charged 
at  intervals  by  a  gasoline  engine  and  small  dynamo,  or  from  some  other 
source  of  electrical  energy-  In  throwing  the  switch  a  bar  or  "lever"  on 
the  interlocking  machine  (Fig.  238)  is  pulled  half  stroke,  closing  a  cir- 
cuit which  causes  the  motor  to  turn  20  revolutions  in.  about  two  seconds, 
driving  the  train  of  gear  wheels  shown.  Through  this  gearing  'the  main 
driving  wheel  is  revolved  one  revolution,  actuating  by  means  of  a  crank  pin 
the  cam  movement  which  throws  the  rod  connecting  with  the  switch  points. 
The  switch  lock  is  operated  by  a  'rod  connected  to  the  crank  pin  of  the 
main  driving  gear,  this  rod  appearing  just  above  the  switch  connecting  rod, 
in  the  picture.  This  rod  acts  upon  the  lock  bolt  through  a  bell  crank  and 
withdraws  the  bolt  from  the  lock  rod  before  the  switch  connecting  rod  be- 
gins its  stroke.  After  the  stroke  of  the  switch  is  completed  the  lock  bolt  is 
reinserted.  The  movement  of  the  lock  rod  compresses  a  spiral  spring  en- 
circling the  rod  of  a  pole  changer.  The  final  movement  of  the  lock  bolt 
releases  this  spring  and  its  energy  operates  to  reverse  the  pole  changer,  open- 
ing the  driving  circuit,  reversing  the  armature  connections  and  closing  the 
indication  circuit.  In  machines  of  later  design  the  pole  changer  is  oper- 
ated by  positive  action,  the  power  to  do  so  being  derived  directly  from  the 
lock  bolt,  but  is  available  only  after  the  bolt  has  passed  through  the  lock 
rod.  This  power  is  transmitted  from  the  bolt  to  the  pole  changer  through 
a  pivoted  lever  having  a  movable  fulcrum,  the  same  being  moved  by  the 
lock  rod  to  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  pivot  as  the  lock  rod  follows  the 
movement  of  the  switch  point  to  one  position  or  the  other. 


Fig.  231. — Taylor   Electric  Switch    Machine    (Switch   Closed), 


486 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


Immediately  the  motor  circuit  is  broken  and  the  armature  connec- 
tions reversed,  the  motor  begins  to  act  as  a  generator,  setting  up  a  counter 
electromotive  force  which  opposes  its  own  momentum  and  energizes  the  in- 
dication circuit.  The  indication  current  actuates  electro-magnets  on  the 
interlocking  machine,  which  release  the  lever  and  permit  the  operator  to 
finish  the  stroke  of  the  same.  Hence  if  the  switch  is  not  moved  fully 
home  the  lock  bolt  is  obstructed,  there  is  no  indication,  and  the  inability  to 
complete  the  stroke  of  the  lever  shows  that  the  switch  is  out  of  adjustment. 
The  throwing  of  the  switch  in  the  reverse  direction  is  accomplished  by 
pushing  the  lever  in  the  interlocking  machine  toward  the  normal  position, 
which  turns  the  motor  and  gearing  in  the  opposite  direction,  the  cam  move- 
ments being  the  reverse  of  the  foregoing.  If  the  motor  should  fail  to  stop 
.at  the  proper  time  it  is  automatically  thrown  out  of  gear.  Where  it  is  de- 
sired to  operate  a  mechanical  detector  bar  (Fig.  224)  in  connection  with 


Fig.  232. — Dwarf  Signals,  Thomas  Pneumatic  Interlocking  System. 

this  machine  a  T-crank  is  substituted  for  the  bell  crank  to  operate  the  lock 
bolt,  and  the  detector  bar  connection  is  attached  to  the  spare  arm  of  the  T- 
crank.  In  some  installations  of  Taylor  apparatus  the  dectector  bar  is  dis- 
pensed with  and  a  track  circuit  is  made  to  serve  the  purpose.  With  this 
arrangement  the  closing  of  the  track  circuit  by  the  presence  of  cars  opens  the 
battery  circuit  leading  to  the  switch  machine.  The  two  figures  are  views 
of  the  machine  from  different  directions,  showing  the  positions  of  the  parts 
corresponding  to  two  positions  of  the  switch.  At  Bridge  Junction,  111.,  on 
the  Illinois  Central  R.  R.,  near  the  long  Cairo  bridge,  a  switch  is  operated 
by  a  Taylor  machine  that  is  5300  ft.  from  the  tower. 

83.  Interlocking  Switches  and  Signals. — The  most  common  form  of 
railway  signal  is  the  semaphore,  which  consists  of  a  blade  or  arm  pivoted 
to  a  post  or  pole  so  as  to  show  on  the  front  side  and  to  the  right  of  the 
same  as  seen  from  approaching  trains  governed  by  it.  Semaphore  signals 
are  of  three  kinds :  home,  distant  and  dwarf  signals.  In  home  and  distant 
signals  the  semaphore  arm  is  a  thin  piece  of  board  about  5  ft.  long,  tapering 
in  width  from  10  ins.  at  the  outer  end  to  about  7  or  8  ins.  near  the  pole. 
Home  and  distant  signals  differ  in  shape  only  at  the  end,  the  home  signal 
having  a  square  end,  as  in  Fig.  223,  and  the  distant  signal  a  notched  or 
fish-tail  end,  as  in  Fig.  245.  In  block  signaling  the  end  of  the  semaphore 


INTERLOCKING  487 

is  sometimes  pointed,  to  distinguish  it  from  interlocking  signals.  These 
signals  are  usually  placed  at  the  top  of  a  pole  standing  about  25  ft.  high 
above  the  track,  and  wherever  it  is  practicable  the  pole  is  located  at  the 
right-hand  side  of  the  track  which  the  signal  governs.  The  semaphore 
blade  is  bolted  to  a  pivot  casting  called  the  arm  plate,  and  the  movement  of 
the  signal  is  by  means  of  a  vertical  rod  connecting  this  casting  with  a  "bal- 
ance lever"  some  distance  down  on  the  pole.  This  balance  lever  (Fig.  223) 
is  usually  worked  by  a  pair  of  wires  connecting  with  chains  passing  around 
pulleys  at  the  foot  of  the  pole  and  running  to  a  lever  in  the  signal  tower. 
On  some  roads,  however,  it  is  the  practice  to  operate  home  signals  ty  pipe 
connection,  in  the  same  manner  .that  switches  are  operated  from  mechan- 
ical plants.  The  balance  lever  is  weighted  on  the  longer  arm  ?o  as  to  over- 
balance the  semaphore  blade  and  hold  it  in  or  pull  it  to  the  horizontal  or 
normal  position  in  case  a  wire  should  break.  The  arm  plate  casting  is  de- 
signed to  overbalance  the  blade  and  bring  it  to  normal  in  case  it  should  be- 
come disconnected  from  the  balance  lever  below.  A  ladder  running  to  the 
top  of  the  pole  gives  access  to  all  the  parts.  The  dwarf  semaphore  signal 
(Fig.  232)  has  a  blade  about  1  ft.  long  with  a  square  end,  and  is  placed  on 
a  low  post  at  a  hight  of  2  or  3  ft.  above  the  rail.  As  this  signal  is  usually 
placed  close  to  the  track  or  between  tracks  that  are  close  together  its  blade 
is  usually  made  of  thick  rubber,  so  as  to  avoid  injury  in  case  it  is  struck 
by  a  passing  object.  Another  arrangement  is  to  hinge  the  blade  to  the 
arm  plate  and  provide  springs  to  return  it  to  the  straight-out  position  in 
case  it  should  be  knocked  around  by  anything  passing.  Dwarf  signals  are 
used  to  govern  movements  from  main  track  to  side-tracks,  movements  from 
one  side-track  to  another,  yard  movements;  and  movements  on  main  line 
against  the  normal  direction  of  the  traffic,  as,  for  instance,  "back-up"  move- 
ments on  double  track. 

Home  and  dwarf  signal  blades  are  usually  painted  red  (and  sometimes 
yellow)  on  the  face  and  white  on  the  back,  and  the  blades  of  distant  signals 
green  or  yellow  on  the  face  and  white  on  the  back.  As,  however,  the  sema- 
phore is  a  position  signal  its  color  is  without  significance,  the  idea  being  to 
select  the  color  which  is  most  conspicuous  at  a  distance,  in  daylight,  and 
then,  to  add  to  the  distinctiveness,  a  bar  is  painted  across  the  face  of  the 
signal  in  some  color  which  bears  a  striking  contrast,  like  white  on  red  or 
green  or  black  on  yellow. 

A  home  or  dwarf  signal  blade  in  the  horizontal  position  (A,  Fig.  223) 
is  an  indication  of  "danger/'  and  the  engineer  is  supposed  to  stop  and  wait 
until  the  signal  is  changed.  The  blade  of  any  signal  (home,  dwarf  or  dis- 
tant) hanging  vertical  or  obliquely  downward  (usually  65  to  75  deg-  from 
the  horizontal),  as  in  Fig.  232,  and  at  B  in  Fig.  223,  is  a  "clear"  indica- 
tion and  gives  the  engineer  permission  to  go  ahead  at  full  speed.  There 
is  some  difference  in  practice  as  to  the  exact  position  of  the  semaphore  for 
clear,  as  on  a  few  roads,  including  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West,  the  blade 
hangs  vertically  downward  for  this  indication,  while  on  the  majority  of 
roads,  as  above  intimated,  it  stands  out  15  to  25  deg.  from  the  pole.  The 
latter  position  is  the  preferable  one,  as  the  blade  is  more  conspicuous  when 
swung  out  clear  from  the  pole  than  when  hanging  in  close  by  its  side. 
With  the  blade  in  the  latter  position  the  appearance  of  things  bears-  too 
close  a  resemblance  to  a  pole  without  a  blade,  and  with  enginemen  habitu- 
ally controlled  by  such  a  signal  a  pole  with  the  blade  broken  off  might  eas- 
ily be  mistaken  for  a  clear  indication.  Engineers  accustomed  to  seeing  the 
blade  stand  out  clear  of  the  pole  for  all  indications  would  quite  likely  de- 
tect something  wrong  in  the  absence  of  the  blade.  On  some  roads  there 
is  a  third  position  (the  blade  standing  at  an  angle  of  45  deg.  with  the  pole, 


488  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND   APPLIANCES 

in  some  instances  above  the  horizontal  and  in  other  instances  below  it)  sig- 
nifying caution,  but  such  practice  is  unusual.  As  the  purpose  of  the  dis- 
tant signal  is  to  indicate  the  probable  position  of  the  home  signal,  the  hori- 
zontal position  of  the  former  is  an  indication  of  "caution,"  and  is  a  warn- 
ing to  the  engineer  to  bring  his  train  under  such  control  that  it  can  be 
stopped  at  the  home  signal  in  case  it  should  be  found  at  danger. 

The  night  indications  are  by  lights  of  different  colors.  The  arm  plate 
holds  in  rear  of  the  pivot  .one  or  more  colored  glasses,  called  "spectacles," 
which  are  moved  to  stand  in  front  of  a  lamp  in  correspondence  with  the 
signal  positions  of  the  semaphore  blade.  This  lamp  is  designed  on  the 
style  of  a  switch  lamp  and  is  placed  upon  a  bracket  so  as  to  come  within 
the  sweep  of  the  spectacle  arm.  In  universal  practice  a  red  light  is  the 
night  indication  for  danger,  and  hence  on  home  and  dwarf  signals  this  is 
the  color  of  the  spectacle  glass  which  covers  the  signal  lamp  when  the  blade 
is  horizontal.  On  the  majority  of  roads  in  this  country  the  clear  indica- 
tion on  home,  dwarf  and  distant  signals  at  night  is  a  white  light,  in  which 
case  the  spectacle  arm  carries  only  one  glass  (for  a  two-position  signal), 
that  being  colored,  of  course.  To  show  a  white  light  in  that  case  it  is  only 
necessary  to  swing  the  blade  so  that  the  spectacle  casting  will  uncover  the 
signal  lamp.  The  corresponding  indication  fo'r  caution  at  the  distant  sig- 
nal is  a  green  light.  Practice  is  gradually  changing,  however,  to  the  use 
of  a  green  light  for  clear  at  home,  dwarf  and  distant  signals,  and  a  yellow 
light  for  caution  at  the  distant  signal,  white  light  not  being  used  for  any 
signal.  On  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.  the  home  signal  at  night 
shows  a  red  light  for  danger  and  a  green  light  for  clear.  The  distant  signal 
shows  a  green  light  for  clear  and  a  combination  red  and  green  light  for 
caution.  This  double  light  is  produced  by  one  lamp  shining  through  two 
lenses — through  one  lens  direct  and  through  the  other  by  reflection.  The 
lamp  carries  green  and  white  lenses,  the  green  lens  being  outside  the  sweep 
of  the  spectacle  arm.  The  upper  ring  on  the  semaphore  casting  carries  a 
red  glass,  and  when  the  blade  is  at  caution  this  glass  stands  in  front  of  the 
white  lens  of  the  lamp.  The  lower  ring  of  the  casting  carries  a  metallic 
shield,  and  when  the  blade  is  at  clear  this  shield  covers  the  white  light  and 
leaves  only  the  green  light  visible.  This  arrangement  of  lights  was  de- 
vised by  Mr.  E.  C.  Carter,  chief  engineer  of  the  road. 

The  objection  to  a  white  light  as  a  signal  indication  is  the  trouble 
likely  to  arise  from  a  wrong  indication  due  to  the  chance  breaking  of  a 
spectacle  glass,  or  to  the  liability  of  mistaking  a  street  or  house  light  for  a 
signal  light,  particularly  if  the  signal  light  in  the  vicinity  has  gone  out. 
In  any  case  engineers  should  make  it  a  practice  to  observe  whether  tho 
position  of  the  blade  corresponds  with  the  lamp  indication.  Where  a  green 
light  is  used  for  clear,  it  is  of  course  necessary  to  have  two  spectacle  glasses 
for  all  two-position  signals.  In  the  back  side  of  the  signal  lamp  there  is 
usually  a  small  lens,  the  light  from  which  shines  through  a  blue  glass  when 
the  blade  is  in  its  normal  position,  so  that  the  operator  can  at  night  see 
one  side  or  the  other  of  all  signal  lights,  and  thus  be  able  to  tell  whether 
they  are  burning.  This  blue  glass  is  held  in  a  back-light  casting  attached 
to  the  semaphore  shaft,  which  runs  through  the  pole  or  through  a  casting 
attached  to  the  side  of  the  pole. 

An  important  question  with  semaphore  sigi/als  is  the  night  indication 
for  positions  intermediate  between  those  for  danger  and  clear.  In  times 
of  snow  or  sleet  or  when  rain  freezes  to  ice,  or  in  case  of  derangemnt  of 
parts,  semaphore  blades  will  sometimes  droop  considerably  from  the  hori- 
zontal position  when  set  for  danger.  With  a  casting  like  that  shown  at  A, 
Fig.  223,  the  blade  might  droop  sufficiently  to  uncover  the  signal  light, 


INTERLOCKING  489 

thus  giving  a  clear  indication.  One  way  of  preventing  the  display  of  a 
white  light  with  the  arm  in  an  intermediate  position  is  to  attach  a  shield 
to  the  bottom  of  the  back  casting,  so  as  to  cover  the  light  until  the  arm 
swings  to  the  clear  position.  This  scheme  of  protection  is  based  upon  the 
principle  that  the  absence  of  a  signal  is  a  danger  indication,  but  it  is  not 
an  indication  that  can  be  relied  upon,  for  unless  the  engineer  knows  pre- 
cisely where  he  is  he  may  not' be  aware  of  the  situation.  The  same  diffi- 
culty would  arise,  of  course,  in  the  case  of  a  casting  holding  two  colored 
glasses  with  a  blank  between.  All  trouble  from  this  source_isjovercome 
by  the  use  of  what  is  known  as  the  "continuous-light"  principle  ~of  design. 
By  this  arrangement  the  back  casting  carries  red  glass  to  cover  the  sweep 
of  the  arm  all  the  way  from  the  danger  to  the  clear  position,  so  that  a  dan- 
ger indication  will  be  given  until  the  signal  is  entirely  clear.  Engravings 
I)  and  E;  Fig.  22 3 A,  show  castings  designed  for  this  purpose,  the  two  top 
glasses  in  each  case  being  red.  Engraving  C  shows  the  same  arrangement 
with  round  glasses.  The  casting  shown  in  Engraving  B  is  not  designed 
on  the  continuous-light  principle. 

Where  diverging  routes  are  to  be  governed  two  blades  are  used  on  the 
same  pole,  generally  6  to  12  ft.  apart,  such  being  known  as  a  "route  signal." 
The  upper  blade  is  the  signal  for  the  superior  or  high-speed  route  and  the 
lower  blade  the  signal  for  the  inferior  or  slower-speed  route,  as,  for  instance, 
where  freight  traffic  diverges  from  the  main  passenger  tracks.  At  junction 
points,  or  wherever  there  might  be  any  doubt  as  to  which  route  is  the  su- 
perior one,  the  upper  and  lower  arms  and  lights  are  assigned  to  the  routes 
they  govern  by  bulletin  notice.  On  some  roads,  one  of  which  is  the  Dela- 
ware, Lackawanna  &  Western,  the  lower  blade  of  a  double-arm  home  sig- 
nal is  full  size  only  where  both  of  the  diverging  routes  are  for  fast-speed 
trains ;  if  one  of  the  routes  is  for  slow  movements  into  sidings,  yards,  etc., 
a  blade  of  dwarf  signal  size  is  used  for  the  lower  signal.  In  using  a  two- 
ann  home  signal  on  this  road  it  is  the  practice  to  obscure  the  light  on  the 
lower  arm  when  it  indicates  danger,  so  that  red  lights  will  not  be  displayed 
against  high-speed  trains  the  movements  of  which  they  do  not  control.  The 
standard  two-arm  signal  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ky.  ha«, 
for  the  diverging  route,  an  arm  of  dwarf  size  about  10  ft.  above  top  of  rail, 
and  17  ft.  below  the  arm  for  the  high-speed  main-line  route.  The  lower 
light  in  its  normal  position  is  then  blinded,  so  that  the  engineman  of  a  high- 
speed main-line  train  will  get  a  high  signal  for  the  high-speed  route  and 
will  not  have  to  run  against  the  red  light  for  the  diverging  route. 

Owing  to  close  spacing  of  tracks  it  frequently  happens  that  the  pole 
for  a  signal  cannot  be  placed  next  the  track  which  it  governs,  in  which  case 
a  pole  of  extra  hight  is  set  to  the  right  of  all  the  tracks,  or  as  far  to  the 
right  as  it  may  be  convenient  to  go  in  order  to  find  necessary  standing  room, 
and  the  signals  for  the  tracks  are  then  arranged  on  posts  set  upon  a  bracket 
or  cross  arm  in  the  order  of  the  relative  position  of  the  tracks.  Thus, 
Sketch  C:  Fig.  223,  shows  the  arrangement  for  signaling  two  tracks  lying 
consecutively  next  the  pole.  In  case  one  or  more  tracks  intervene  between 
the  pole  and  the  track  or  tracks  to  be  governed  by  the  signals  which  it  car- 
ries, stub  or  bladeless  posts  are  placed  upon  the  bracket  to  represent  the 
tracks  which  are  not  signaled,  the  relative  position  of  the  stub  posts  cor- 
responding to  the  relative  position  of  the  tracks  which  intervene  between  tho 
pole  and  the  tracks  to  be  governed  by  the  signals  on  the  bracket.  Sketches 
I)  and  E  (Fig.  223)  illustrate  the  arrangement.  At  night  these  stub  posts 
carry  blue  lights  to  indicate  their  number  and  relative  position.  If  the 
bracket  extends  to  only  one  side  of  the  main  pole  and  carries  only  one  sig- 
nal post  the  indication  is  the  same  as  though  the  signal  was  on  a  straight 


490  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

pole.  Such  an  arrangement  is  sometimes  employed  to  afford  a  better  view 
of  the  signal.  Where  mo're  than  three  tracks  have  to  be  signaled  at  the 
same  point  the  usual  practice  is  to  erect  a  light  truss  bridge  over  the  tracks 
and  place  the  signals  upon  it,  each  signal  directly  over  the  track  which  it 
governs.  Figure  233  is  an  illustration  of  this  arrangement,  the  signal 
bridge  being  located  over  six  parallel  tracks  at  the  entrance  to  a  subway, 
with  double-arm  signals  over  the  first,  second  and  fourth  tracks  from  tne 
right.  Through  terminals  where  the  tracks  are  closely  spaced  and  all  trains 
run  at  slow  speed  the  use  of  dwarf  signals  fo'r  all  the  tracks,  main  and  sid- 
ings, is  a  plan  sometimes  followed.  Two  advantages  with  this  arrange- 
ment are  that  the  signals  are  much  cheaper  than  high  semaphores  and  each 
signal  can  be  placed  just  where  it  belongs,  namely  at  the  side  of  the  track 
which  it  governs. 


T 


Fig.  233. — A  Signal  Bridge. 

Having  briefly  described  the  mechanisms  of  different  types  and  pat- 
terns for  operating  switches  from  towers,  and  the  most  ordinary  arrange- 
ments of  semaphore  signals  for  controlling  train  movements,  it  is  in  order 
to  explain  the  purpose  of  interlocking  the  switches  and  signals  of  a  route  or 
of  two  or  more  convicting  routes,  and  to  describe  a  few  of  the  simple  appli- 
cations of  the  same.  To  start  with,  it  should  be  understood  that  a  thorough- 
going treatment  of  the  subject  is  not  intended.  On  nearly  all  roads  in  this 
country  the  installation  and  maintenance  of  interlocking  plants  and  con- 
nections are  in  charge  of  a  department  separate  and  distinct  from  that  of 
the  track;  and  the  practice  of  railway  signaling,  as  well  as  the  appliances 
thereof,  is  so  diversified  that  a  separate  volume  is  required  to  treat  it  com- 
prehensively. There  is,  however,  between  the  two  departments  some  divis-' 
ion  of  work  and  responsibility,  and  some  of  the  applications  of  signaling  and 
interlocking  require  alterations  of  the  track  construction,  as  well  as  spe- 
cial adjustments  and  attachments.  Interlocking  is  now  so  extensively  em- 
ployed that  men  in  charge  of  track  should  have  at  least  a  general  knowl- 
edge of  such  installations  and  the  operation  of  the  same.  The  aim  in  the 
elementary  treatment  here  presented  is  merely  to  cover  that  much  ground. 

The  interlocking  of  a  switch  with  one  or  more  signals  is  an  arrange- 
ment whereby  the  levers  or  other  means  for  throwing  and  setting  tliB  same 
are  so  controlled  that  the  signals  cannot  be  cleared  until  the  switch  has 
been  properly  set  and  locked ;  and,  conversely,  so  that  the  switch  cannot  be 
moved  while  any  of  the  signals  is  indicating  a  clear  route  over  the  same ; 
in  short,  a  clear  signal  cannot  be  given  contrary  to  the  position  of  the  switch. 
The  scheme  of  operation  in  this  simple  case  applies  likewise  to  all  the 
switches  and  signals  of  a  route  controlled  from  the  same  point  or  tower. 
Two  or  more  tracks  crossing  each  other  at  grade  are  said  to  be  "conflicting1' 
or  "opposing"  routes,,  because  it  is  unsafe  to  permit  trains  on  either  route 


INTERLOCKING 


491 


to  run  past  the  crossing  unmindful  of  the  movements  on  the  other  route 
or  routes.  Eoutes  converging  to  a  junction  are  also  conflicting.,  because 
right  of  way  over  the  junction  cannot  be  given  to  more  than  one  route  at  a 
time. 

At  unprotected  grade  crossings  the  only  safe  practice  is  to  require  all 
trains  to  stop  before  reaching  the  crossing.  A  signal  much  used  for  giving 
the  right  of  way  over  crossings  without  requiring  the  train  signaled  to  stop 
is  a  gate  hinged  to  a  post  standing  in  the  angle  between  the  tracks.  The 
gate  carries  a  danger  target  for  day  indications  and  at  night  a  red_lantern, 
and  is  in  charge  of  a  watchman  who  gives  the  right  of  way  by  swinging  the 
gate  over  the  opposing  track.  In  some  instances  the  gate  post  is  a  high 
pole  and  the  swinging  of  the  gate  is  made  to  operate  a  signal  at  the 
top  of  the  pole  which  indicates  the  position  of  the  gate.  One  form 
of  signal  for  this  purpose  is  a  cross  arm  pivoted  at  the  middle. 
The  normal  position  of  the  arm  is  diagonal,  or  at  an  angle  of  45  deg. 
with  the  horizontal,  which  is  a  danger  indication  for  both  roads.  The 
horizontal  position  is  a  clear  signal  for  one  of  the  roads  and  the  vertical 
position  a  clear  signal  for  the  other.  At  night  a  red  lantern  is  suspended 
from  each  end  of  the  arm  to  indicate  its  position.  Another  arrangement 
is  the  use  of  two  gates— one  for  each  track.  Each  gate  stands  normally 
across  its  track,  and  to  give  the  right  of  way  to  an  approaching  train  the 
gate  in  front  of  it  is  swung  to  clear.  Still  another  arrangement  is  the  use 


Fig.   233  A.— Double   Interlocked   Gates  at  a   Track  Crossing. 

of  two  sets  of  gates — one  set  for  each  track — interlocked  so  that  one  set 
is  always  down  while  the  other  is  up,  thus  making  it  impossible  to  clear 
both  routes  at  the  same  time.  Such  an  installation  is  in  service  at  the 
crossing  of  the  Illinois  Central  and  the  Wabash  roads  at  Decatur,  111.,  ar- 
ranged as  shown  in  Fig.  233 A.  Similar  installations  are  used  to  some 
extent  at  crossings  of  steam  and  street  railways. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  with  signals  of  any  kind  at  the  crossing  only, 
the  trains  must  be  run  under  such  control  that  a  stop  can  be  made  within 
the  limits  of  vision.  The  next  step  in  advance  is  an  arrangement  of  home 
and  distant  signals  to  control  the  movement  of  trains  on  each  track,  all  the 
signals  being  so  interlocked  that  only  one  route  over  the  crossing  can  be 
cleared  at  a  time.  Normally  all  the  signals  on  both  routes  stand  at  dan- 


492 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


ger,  and  after  a  signal  on  either  'route  is  moved  to  clear,  all  the  signals  on 
the  conflicting  route  or  routes  are  locked  at  danger  and  cannot  be  moved 
so  long  as  any  signal  on  the  first  route  stands  at  clear.  The  placing  of 
signals  at  a  distance  in  this  manner  permits  high  speed  over  the  crossing, 
but,  like  the  gate,  does  not  always  give  protection,  as  engineers  sometimes 
fail  to  regard  the  signals  and  a  collision  on  the  crossing  sometimes  occurs. 
The  only  sure  means  of  protection  against  collision  that  is  in  general  ser- 
vice is  to  interlock  the  signals  with  derails  in  each  track,  one  in  each  direc- 
tion from  the  crossing,  the  derails  remaining  open  while  the  signals  on  the 
same  track  stand  to  danger.  If  the  derails  are  located  farther  from  the 
crossing  than  a  derailed  train  can  run  over  the  ties  a  collision  at  the  cross- 
ing is  a  physical  impossibility.  In  the  East  it  is  quite  commonly  the  prac- 
tice to  protect  crossings  with  interlocking  signals  without  derails,  while  in 
the  West  the  use  of  derails  at  interlocked  crossings  is  the  rule.  Where  de- 
rails are  used  at  proper  distance  from  the  crossing  collisions  are  avoided, 
but  from  non-observance  of  signals  derailments  occur  with  more  or  less  fre- 
quency, sometimes  doing  considerable  damage.  As  between  the  two  systems 
that  which  makes  use  of  derails  seems  to  be  the  preferable  one  and  to  be 
increasing  in  favor. 


Sw/fc/?  Oae/? 


©-© » 
@-@ 

Fig.  234. — Interlocking  Signals  and  Derails  for  a  Simple  Crossing. 

The  Eowell-Potter  system  of  interlocking  uses  automatic  brake-setting 
devices  in  lieu  of  derails.  The  arrangement  consists  of  a  track  instru- 
ment, known  as  a  "safety  stop,"  that  is  interlocked  with  the  signal  in  such  a 
manner  that  when  the  signal  is  at  danger  the  track  instrument  is  raised  in 
position  to  trip  a  valve  on  the  engine  and  apply  the  brakes.  At  interlocked 
crossings  this  track  instrument  is  placed  near  each  distant  signal,  and  a 
train  approaching  the  crossing  on  one  of  the  tracks,  while  still  at  a  safe 
distance,  causes  the  distant  signals  on  the  conflicting  route  to  be  set  to  dan- 
ger. Should  an  engineer  disregard  one  of  these  signals  set  to  danger  the 
safety  stop  will  automatically  apply  the  brakes  and  bring  his  train  to  a 
standstill.  The  device  is  used  with  block  signals  as  well  as  at  interlocked 
crossings.  The  energy  for  moving  the  signals  and  other  parts  of  the  appa- 
ratus is  derived  from  a  "power-storing"  machine  that  is  worked  by  the  un- 
dulatory  motion  of  the  rails  under  traffic-  The  operation  and  control  of 
the  system  is  thus  automatic,  no  operator  or  attendant  being  required.  An 
installation  of  this  system  at  a  crossing  of  the  Peoria,  Decatur  &  Evans- 
ville  and  the  St.  Louis,  Peoria  &  Northern  roads,  at  Hawley,  111.,  was 
fully  described  and  illustrated  in  the  Railway  and  Engineering  Review  of 
Jan.  6,  1900.  An  illustrated  article  on  the  system  applied  to  block  signal- 


INTERLOCKING  493 

ing,  on  the  Milwaukee  division  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry., 
was  published  in  the  Railway  and  Engineering  Review  of  March  15,  1902. 

The  interlocking  tower  or  cabin  is  located  where  a  clear  view  may  be 
had  along  both  tracks.  In  selecting  the  location  one  should  seek  to  avoid 
the  possibility  of  having  to  move  the  tower  to  make  room  for  laying  a  second 
track.  Derails  are  usually  located  300  to  500  ft.  from  the  crossing,  the  dis- 
tance in  some  states  being  regulated  by  law.  With  the  increasing  speed  of 
trains  500  ft.  is  not  too  far.  Unless  the  ground  on  that  side  is  unfavorable, 
and  other  conditions  do  not  interfere,  derails  are  placed  on  the  engineer's 
side  of  the  track.  If,  however,  the  tracks  cross  at  a  small -angle- it  is  in 
accordance  with  what  is  considered  best  practice  to  place  the  derails  on  the 
side  of  the  larger  angle,  as  in  Fig.  234,  with  the  pipe  lines  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  track.  To  hold  a  derailed  train  to  the  ties  a  guard  Tail  is 
laid  8  to  12  ins.  inside  the  opposite  rail,  extending  from  the  derailing  point 
to  within  a  distance  of  about  100  ft.  from  the  crossing.  The  home  signal 
is  located  50  ft.  in  advance  of  the  derail,  and  the  distant  signal  1200  to 
4500  ft.  in  advance  of  the  home  signal,  depending  upon  the  grades,  but  usu- 
ally 1200  to  1800  ft,  for  level  track.  The  detector  bar  for  derails  extends 
from  the  derail  toward  the  home  signal,  nearly  or  quite  covering  the  dis- 
tance between  the  two.  Hence,  after  an  engine  passes  the  home  signal  at 
clear  the  derail  cannot  be  opened.  To  prevent  a  derail  from  being  opened 
while  a  short  train  is  on  a  crossing  or  anywhere  between  the  derails  at  either 
side  of  the  crossing,  detector  bars  are  sometimes  placed  on  the  rails  near 
to  and  each  side  of  the  crossing.  Where  electric  locking  is  used,  as  de- 
scribed further  along,  this  precaution  is  unnecessary. 

The  ordinary  arrangement  is  to  have  all  the  signals  and  derails  stand 
normally  at  danger,  and  upon  the  approach  of  a  train  the  derails,  switches 
and  signals  controlling  that  route  are  cleared.  The  mechanism  of  an  in- 
terlocking machine  is  so  arranged  that  the  levers  controlling  a  route  must 
be  thrown  in  a  certain  sequence,  which  provides  that  all  the  switches  and. 
derails  of  the  route  must  be  closed  and  locked  before  the  home  signal  can 
be  moved  to  clear,  and  the  home  signal  must  be  cleared  in  advance  of  the 
distant  signal.  Conversely,  no  switch  or  derail  on  any  route  can  be  opened 
until  first  the  distant  and  then  the  home  signal  has  been  set  to  danger ;  and 
the  closing  of  a  derail  or  switch  on  one  of  the  'routes  locks  up  all  of  the 
derails  and  signals  set  to  danger  on  the  conflicting  route  or  routes.  No 
switch  or  signal  controlling  a  route  can  be  cleared  until  all  the  switches 
and  signals  on  the  opposing  route  or  routes  have  been  restored  to  normal 
— the  locking  will  not  permit  any  lever  to  be  thrown  out  of  its  turn. 
Conventionally,  the  "normal"  position  of  a  lever  on  an  interlocking  machine 
is  that  in  which  it  stands  when  pushed  from  the  operator,  as  in  Fig.  219. 
In  pulling  a  lever  to  move  a  signal  to  clear  or  to  close  a  derail  or  switch 
the  lever  is  said  to  be  "reversed/' 

A  sketch  and  diagram  of  the  simplest  case  of  interlocking  the  signals 
and  derails  for  a  crossing  of  two  tracks  are  shown  in  Fig.  234.  To 
simplify  matters  it  will  be  supposed  that  the  derails  and  detector  bars  are 
operated  by  switch  and  lock  movements.  The  two  derails  on  each  track 
are  thrown  by  one  lever,  and  the  eight  signals  by  one  lever  each,  making 
ten  working  levers  in  the  plant.  As,  however,  mechanical  interlocking 
machines  are  usually  built  up  in  sets  of  eight  levers  each,  with  a  half  set 
to  finish  out  with  in  case  a  full  set  is  not  needed,  a  12-lever  machine  is 
usually  provided,  so  that  in  the  plant  under  consideration  there  would  be 
two  spare  levers.  It  will  be  understood  that  the  levers  of  the  machine 
are  numbered  to  correspond  with  the  derails  and  signals  which  they 
operate.  Referring  now  to  the  figure,  suppose  it  is  desired  to  "set  up"  or 


494  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS    AND   APPLIANCES 

-clear  Koute  "B"  for  the  movement  of  a  train  over  the  crossing  from  west  to 
•east.  The  first  thing  to  do  would  be  to  close  the  derails  by  reversing 
the  lever  5.  The  reversing  of  this  lever  locks  derail  lever  8  in  the  normal 
position  and  releases  home  signal  lever  2.  The  next  movement  in  order  is 
to  reverse  lever  2,  which  locks  up  derail  lever  5  reversed  and  home  signal 
lever  11  in  the  normal  OT  danger  position,,  since  this  signal  is  used  only 
for  west-bound  movements ;  and  it  is  a  principle  of  interlocking  not  to  clear 
the  signals  on  a  track  for  trains  in  more  than  one  direction  at  a  time. 
The  latching  of  lever  2  reversed  releases  distant  signal  lever  1.  The 
reversal  of  distant  signal  lever  1  completely  clears  the  route  for  an  east- 
bound  train. 

The  locking  is  arranged  in  the  most  simple  manner  to  effect  the 
purpose,  the  reversal  of  each  lever  locking  only  such  levers  as  could  be 
thrown  to  conflict  with  the  route  that  is  being  set  up.  The  reversing  of 
•a  lever  does  not  directly  lock  every  other  lever  having  to  do  with  the 
control  of  the  route,  but  only  such  lever  or  levers  as  is  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  chain  of  locking — the  second  lever  pulled  locks  the  first,  the  third 
the  second,  and  so  on.  For  instance,  the  locking  of  derail  lever  8  normal 
by  reversing  lever  5  accomplishes  the  Blocking  of  all  the  signals  on  Eoute 
""A,"  although  lever  5  does  not  directly  lock  the  levers  for  these  signals. 
To  clear  the  signals  on  Eoute  "A"  it  is  necessary  to  first  reverse  derail 
lever  8,  and  hence  by  locking  this  lever  the  signal  levers  become  locked 
in  consequence.  Having  cleared  the  signals  and  closed  the  derails  on 
Koute  "B,"  it  is  impossible  to  clear  any  signal  or  close  any  derail  on 
Eoute  "A,"  and  hence  by  means  of  interlocking  it  is  impossible  for  an 
operator  in  the  tower  to  give  right  of  way  over  two  conflicting  routes  at 
the  same  time.  To  assist  the  operator  to  quickly  pick  out  the  levers  of 
a  set,  each  lever,  besides  being  numbered,  is  painted  in  colors  to  cor- 
respond to  the  kind  of  service  which  it  performs.  The  switch  levers  are 
usually  painted  black,  home  signal  levers  red,  distant  signal  levers  green, 
lock  levers  blue;  and  the  levers  for  switch  and  lock  movements  half  black 
and  half  blue. 

It  might  be  said  here  that  the  distant  signals  of  mechanical  inter- 
locking plants  are  not  always  operated  by  lever  and  mechanical  connec- 
tions. On  the  Eastern  division  of  the  Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago 
By-,  for  example,  the  distant  signals  for  interlocking  plants  are  operated 
automatically.  They  stand  normally  at  caution  (that  is,  45  deg.  from 
the  horizontal,  the  3-position  signal  being  the  standard  block  signal  on 
this  road)  and  are  cleared  through  a  circuit  closer  on  the  home  signal 
when  that  signal  goes  to  the  clear  position.  They  are  located  a  full 
block  (about  f  mile)  from  the  home  signals,  which  is  a  much  greater 
distance  than  is  feasible  for  satisfactory  operation  by  means  of  wire  con- 
nections. 

In  sketching  the  layout  of  an  interlocking  plant  it  is  conventional  to 
illustrate  the  locking  performed  by  each  lever  in  its  reversed  position  by 
means  of  a  diagram  known  as  a  "locking  sheet,"  as  shown  at  the  left  in 
Fig.  234.  In  this  diagram  the  circles  enclosing  the  figures  indicating 
the  numbers  of  the  levers  are  intended  to  mean  that  such  levers  are  reversed  ; 
where  a  circle  is  not  used  the  lever  is  supposed  to  stand  in  the  normal  or 
danger  position.  For  illustration,  beginning  at  the  top  of  the  diagram, 
the  reversal  of  lever  1  locks  lever  2  in  the  reversed  position;  the  reversal 
of  lever  2  locks' lever  5  reversed  and  lever  11  normal;  the  reversal  of  lever 
3  locks  lever  4  reversed,  and  so  on.  The  conventional  sign  on  a  drawing 
for  indicating  the  position  of  a  switch  is  a  triangular  spot,  as  shown  in 
Sk<  tches  G  and  H,  Fig.  234.  When  the  switch  is  closed  or  set  for  mam 


INTERLOCKING  49f) 

track  the  vertex  nearest  the  frog  is  against  the  through  main  rail  (Sketch 
&),  and  when  the  switch  is  open  or  set  for  the  turnout  this  vertex  is  against 
the  inner  turnout  rail,  as  in  Sketch  H. 

Plants  with  10  active  levers  for  the  simplest  case  of  interlocking  a 
crossing  of  two  tracks,  working  hoth  derails  in  each  track  on  one  lever,  with 
switch  and  lock  movements,  are  frequently  used,  but  in  what  is  considered 
best  practice  the  locking  of  the  derails  is  by  means  of  facing-point  locks, 
each  facing-point  lock  and  detector  bar  being  operated  together  and  by  a 
lever  separate  from  that  which  throws  the  switch.. In  this  arrangement  there 
is  one  lever  for  the  two  derails  and  one  for  the  two  facing-point4ocks,  in  each 
track,  besides  eight  levers  for  eight  signals,  making  12  working  levers  in  the 
plant.  Where  detector  bars  ate  used  at  the  crossing  there  is  another  lever, 
making  13  working  levers,  and  requiring  a  16-lever  frame.  Where  facing- 
point  locks  are  used  it  is  necessary  to  reverse  a  lever  locking  up  the  detail  be- 
fore the  home  signal  can  be  cleared.  The  home  signal  lever  reversed  then 
locks  the  lock  lever  reversed.  The  interlocking  of  a  crossing  on  double 
track  can  be  performed  by  the  same  number  of  levers,  numbered  in  the 
same  manner  as  those  shown  in  'Fig.  234,  except  that  the  home  signals 
when  reversed  do  not  lock  the  home  signals  governing  trains  running  in 
the  opposite  direction,  as  is  the  case  on  single  track;  on  double  track  the 
two  home  signals  governing  trains  in  opposite  directions  on  the  same  route 
are  cleared  at  the  same  time.  On  double  track  it  is  usual  to  protect  the 
•crossing  against  reverse  movements  by  means  of  a  "back-up"  derail  located 
on  each  track  as  far  beyond  the  crossing  as  the  derail  for  direct  move- 
ments is  in  advance  of  it.  The  position  of  these  back-up  derails  is  indi- 
cated by  means  of  dwarf  signals,  which  are  locked  in  the  normal  position 
by  reversing  the  home  signal  lever,  as  was  explained  for  movements  on 
single  track. 

Interlocking  Machines. — Of  mechanical  interlocking  machines  in  use 
in  this  country  there  are  two  different  patterns,  known  as  the  Stevens  and 
the  Saxby  &  Farmer.  Both  of  these  designs,  as  now  used,  are  improve- 
ments upon  the  early  machines  invented  and  first  used  in  England.  With 
the  old  form  of  Stevens  machine  the  locking  was  accomplished  by  the 
initiatory  -movement  of  the  lever,  making  it  possible  to  bring  a  heavy  strain 
upon  the  interlocking  parts  in  case  an  attempt  was  made  to  throw  a  lever 
which  had  not  been  released.  With  the  Saxby  &  Farmer  machine  the 
locking  takes  place  preliminary  to  the  movement  of  the  leve'r,  during  the 
operation  of  unlatching  the  same,  and  the  releasing  is  subsequent  to  the 
lever  movement,  while  the  lever  is  being  latched  up  at  the  end  of  the  stroke. 
This  st}rle  of  locking  is  known  as  "latch  locking."  On  the  improved 
Stevens  machine  latch  locking  is  employed.  The  improvement  of  the 
Saxby  &  Farmer  machine  has  been  the  substitution  of  dog  and  tappet  for 
dog  and  "flop"  locking  and  the  use  of  a  single  tier  instead  of  a  double 
tier  of  locking  bars.  The  interlocking  machine  shown  in  Fig.  219  is  of 
the  Saxby  &  Farmer  design,  as  made  by  the  Union  Switch  &  Signal  Co. 
'The  levers  are  spaced  5  ins.  apart,  and,  lacking  those  omitted  in  the  "spare" 
spaces,  there  are  92  of  them  in  view.  The  levers  are  all  pivoted  to  a  long 
frame  running  lengthwise  the  building  underneath  the  floor.  But  little 
more  than  half  the  lever  appears  in  the  view.  The  levers  are  L-shaped, 
being  bent  out  at  a  right  angle  at  the  lower  end  and  pivoted  at  the  bend, 
with  the  vertical  switch,  signal  or  lock  connection  attached  to  the  end  of 
the  arm.  For  the  double  wires  of  signals  an  extra  arm,  called  a  "tail 
piece,"  is  bolted  to  the  lever  on  the  side  opposite  the  bent  arm,  for  attach- 
ing the  back-pull  wire.  The  lever  is  latcheel  into  a  quadrant,  like  the 
reverse  lever  of  a  locomotive. 


496  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

The  locking  of  the  levers  is  effected  by  two  sets  of  bars  at  right  angles 
to  each  other,  working  in  combination,  each  bar  of  one  of  these  sets  being 
attached  to  and  actuated  by  the  lever  latch.  Starting  with  the  lever,  the 
latch  rod  carries  a  sliding  block  which  works  in  the  slot  of  a  rocker  cen- 
trally pivoted  to  the  side  of  the  quadrant  into  which  the  lever  is  latched. 
This  slotted  rocker  or  "rocker  link"  appears  at  the  front  of  each  lever, 
in  Fig.  219,  and  by  means  of  a  link  and  crank  its  back  end  is  connected  to 
a  horizontal  "locking  shaft"  extending  under  and  at  right  angles  to 
the  "locking  board-"  This  locking  board  is  the  horizontally  arranged  sys- 
tem of  parallel  bars  appearing  back  of  the  levers,  and  consists  of  "locking 
bars,"  running  lengthwise  the  machine  or  building,  and  other  bars  known 
as  "cross-locks"  which  are  seen  lying  across  the  locking  bars  at  intervals. 
Each  locking  bar  is  driven  longitudinally  by  a  locking  shaft,  which,  as 
above  explained,  is  in  connection  with  the  latch  of  one  of  the  levers  through 
a  crank,  link  and  slotted  rocker.  The  cross  locks  consist  of  notched  bars 


Fig.  235. — Electro-Pneumatic   Interlocking   (Front  View). 

or  tappets,  each  of  which  is  notched  once  for  each  lever  to  be  locked. 
The  motion  of  the  cross  locks  is  imparted  by  means  of  bevel-ended  lugs,, 
called  "dogs,"  riveted  to  the  locking  bars,  which  engage  with  the  bevel- 
shaped  notches  of  the  cross  locks.  When  the  operator  starts  to  reverse 
a  lever  he  pulls  upon  the  latch  handle,  and,  if  the  lever  is  not  locked, 
the  back  end  of  the  rocker  is  lifted,  throwing  a  locking  bar  and  locking 
such  levers  of  the  conflicting  routes  as  are  not  already  locked  by  some 
other  lever.  This  locking  is  accomplished  by  the  movement  of  the  dog& 
on  the  locking  bar  into  the  notches  of  all  cross  locks  which  could  be  moved 
by  the  levers  thus  locked.  In  reversing  the  lever  the  rocker  remains  station- 
ary, the  radius  of  the  slot  in  the  same  being  equal  to  the  distance  from  the 
sliding  block  on  the  latch  rod  to  the  pivot  of  the  lever,  the  latch  rod  mean- 
while being  stopped  against  dropping  down  by  the  top  of  the  quadrant. 
When  the  lever  is  thrown  to  the  reverse  position  the  latch  spring  forces  the- 
latch  bar  into  its  notch  at  the  end  of  the  quadrant,  which  acts  to  depress 
the  end  of  the  slotted  rocker,  throwing  up  the  opposite  end  and  impart- 
ing further  longitudinal  motion  to  the  locking  bar,  which  releases  the 
lever  to  be  thrown  next  in  sequence. 

On  the  Stevens  machines  made  by  the  National  Switch  £  Signal  Co., 
gome  years  ago  and  extensively  put  into  service,  the  arrangement  of  the 
latch  and  rocker  is  the  same  as  in  the  Saxby  &  Farmer  machine  just 


IXTERLOCKING  497 

•described,  except  that  the  rocker  is  lower  than  the  top  of  the  quadrant,  being 
under  the  floor.  The  locking  board  is  also  under  the  floor,  being  arranged 
vertically  on  the  frame  of  the  machine.  In  the  locking  of  this  machine 
the  rocker  of  each  lever  is  attached  to  a  tappet  bar  working  vertically  on 
the  locking  board,  and  the  locking  is  by  means  of  dogs  attached  to  narrow 
bars  working  horizontally.  Each  dog  is  made  longer  than  the  distance 
between  two  tappet  bars  by  the  depth  of  a  triangular  notch  cat  in  the 
tappet  bar  which  it  locks.  The  end  of  the  dog  is  shaped  to  fit  this  notch, 
and  when  it  slides  into  the  same  it  leaves  the  other  tappet  bar  fxee_to  move. 
In  order  to  release  one  lever  and  lock  up  another — call  them,  for  the  purpose 
•of  illustration,  levers  1  and  2,  respectively — the  notch  in  the  tappet  of  lever 
2  must  be  opposite  the  notch  in  the  tappet  of  lever  1,  which  is  engaged 
by  the  dog.  Then  by  throwing  lever  1  the  beveled  face  of  the  tappet  notch 
will  force  the  dog  over  into  the  notch  of  the  tappet  of  lever  2,  locking  lever 
2  and  releasing  lever  1.  On  general  principles  the  locking  of  the  two 
patterns  of  machines  is  the  same,  the  locking  bars  and  dogs  in  the  one  case 
actuating  the  tappets  (cross  locks)  and  in  the  other  case  (National 
machine)  the  tappets  actuating  the  dogs,  which  are  attached  to  what 
would  correspond  to  the  locking  bars  of  the  Union  machine.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  Johnson  machine  is  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  National,  the 
only  material  difference  being  in  the  location  of  the  rocker,  which  is  pivoted 
to  a  bracket  fastened  to  and  moving  with  the  lever  instead  of  being  attached 
to  the  frame  of  the  machine,  as  is  the  case  with  the  National. 

The  locking  of  the  levers  of  the  different  power  machines  is  by  means 
of  a  mechanical  locking  board  or  "locking  bed"  arranged  on  the  dog  and 
tappet  principle,  as  already  described.  Stated  in  a  general  way,  the  sig- 
nals in  each 'of  the  several  power  systems  are  operated  by  mechanisms  of 
the  same  class  as  those  which  operate  the  switches.  The  interlocking 
machine  of  the  electro-pneumatic  system  (Fig.  235)  differs  from  a  mechan- 
ical machine  in  having  a  crank  and  shaft  in  place  of  the  upright  lever 
and  rocker.  These  cranks  constitute  the  "levers"  of  the  machine,  those 
in  the  upper  row  usually  operating  the  switches  and  those  in  the  lower 
row  tho  signals;  although  in  some  instances  the  two  classes  of  levers  are 
grouped,  and  intermixed  between  the  two  rows.  The  shafts  turned  by  the 
cranks  extend  under  and  engage  with  the  locking  bars,  as  on  a  mechanical 
machine.  The  connection  between  each  shaft  and  its  locking  bar  is  by 
means  of  a  segmental  pinion  on  the  shaft  and  a.  'rack  cut  in  the  bar. 
The  locking  is  by  locking  bars,  dogs  and  cross  locks,  as  with  a  mechanical 
machine.  In  operating  a  "lever"  the  shaft  across  the  machine  is  rotated 
about  60  deg.,  making  electrical  contacts  at  the  rear  end  which  close  the 
circuit  controlling  the  valves  of  the  switch  or  signal  cylinder.  Figure 
235  is  a  front  view  of  part  of  a  machine  of  this  type,  showing  the  operating 
levers  and  a  miniature  model  of  the  tracks  controlled.  This  model  is 
formed  of  light  brass  strips,  and  the  switches  on  the  same,  being  in  mechan- 
ical connection  with  the  levers,  on  the  back  side  of  the  vertical  board, 
move  in  harmony  with  the  switches  on  the  roadbed,  thus  representing  at 
all  times  the  actual  track  connections.  The  working  parts  of  the  ma- 
chine are  enclosed  in  a  wooden  case  with  a  glass  top.  A  rear  view -of 
the  machine  with  the  casing  removed,  showing  the  half -size  Saxby  & 
Farmer  improved  interlocking  and  the  electrical  switches  and  indication 
attachments  at  the  rear  of  the  locking  shafts,  is  presented  as  Fig.  236. 
Each  switch  consists  of  a  section  of  hard  rubber  tube  mounted  upon  a  lock- 
ing shaft,  to  insulate  small  brass  bands  which  extend  partly  around  the 
tubing  and  form  contacts  with  springs  bearing  against  the  tubing.  As 
the  shaft  is  turned  the  brass  strips  connect  the  pairs  of  springs,  closing  the 


498 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


circuits  in  succession,,  and  in  the  order  in  which  the  bands  are  arranged 
on  the  roller.  As  the  electro-pneumatic  system  uses  current  at  all  times, 
whether  movements  are  being  made  or  not,  the  electrical  supply  is  usually 
furnished  by  a  small  dynamo  operated  in  connection  with  the  air  com- 
pressor plant,  with  storage  batteries  to  maintain  operation  while  the  dynamo- 
is  not  'running.  The  electromotive  force  of  the  switch  and  signal  circuits 
is  usually  12  to  16  volts. 


Fig.  236. — Electro-Pneumatic  Interlocking  Machine(Rear  View,  Cover  Removed). 

Each  signal  is  operated  by  a  cylinder  of  3  ins.  diam.  and  4  ins.  stroke, 
the  valves  admitting  air  to  and  exhausting  it  from  the  same  being  con- 
trolled by  an  electro-magnet.  As  the  signal  or  semaphore  arm  is  counter- 
weighted  to  rest  by  gravity  in  the  danger  position  the  cylinder  is  single- 
acting  only.  Air  is  admitted  to  move  the  signal  to  safety,  and  when  it  is 
exhausted  the  counterweight  or  overbalance  of  the  back  casting  brings 
the  blade  back  to  danger.  To  prevent  the  lever  from  being  returned  to- 
normal  in  case  the  signal  should  fail  to  go  to  danger  after  the  air  is 
exhausted  from  the  cylinder  there  is  an  electro-magnetic  lock  which 
engages  the  lever,  upon  making  a  partial  stroke  with  the  same  toward 
normal.  This  lock  is  under  the  control  of  a  circuit  which  makes  contact 
with  the  signal  movement.  The  failure  of  a  signal  to  return  to  danger  thus 
prevents  the  return  of  the  operating  lever  to  normal,  and  until  this  can 
be  done  the  switches  remain  locked  to  safety  and  cannot  be  moved.  The 
signal  cylinder  is  sometimes  placed  high  up  on  the  pole  and  sometimes 
it  is  located  under  cover  at  the  foot  of  a  hollow  iron  pole,  operating  the 
signal  by  means  of  a  rod  passing  up  on  the  interior  of  the  pole. 


INTERLOCKING 


499 


In  the  Standard  or  low-pressure  pneumatic  system  of  interlocking,  the 
signal  cylinders,  which  are  attached  to  the  poles,  high  above  the  ground 
(Fig.  226)  are  worked  by  valves  and  operating  pipes  of  the  same  general 
style  as  those  for  the  switches.  The  locking  of  the  levers  (Fig.  237) 
is  by  dog  and  tappet  arranged  on  a  vertical  board  similar  to  that  in  service 
in  ordinary  mechanical  interlocking.  At  the  switch  there  is  a  valve  which 
controls  the  flow  of  air  to  the  signal  cylinder  in  such  manner  that  the 
signal  cannot  be  cleared  until  the  switch  is  in  its  proper  position.  The 
mechanism  for  operating  the  signals  is  arranged  to  give  an  indication  for 
only  the  normal  or  danger  position  of  the  signal.  This  indication  is 
given  in  the  same  manner  as  the  switch  indication.  It  is  considered  unnec- 
essary to  require  an  indication  for  the  signal  in  its  clear  or  safety  position. 

In  the  Thomas  pneumatic  interlocking  system  the  semaphore  is 
brought  to  the  normal  or  danger  position  by  a  counterweight.  The  con- 
trol of  the  valve  admitting  pressure  to  or  exhausting  it  from  the  working- 
cylinder  of  the  signal  is  by  means  of  a  piston  of  the  equalizing  type  actu- 
ated by  a  sudden  increase  or  decrease  of  pressure,  as  explained  in  connection 
with  the  operation  of  the  switch  cylinder.  With  the  signal  mechanism,1 
however,  there  is  only  one  controlling  pipe.  Normally  the  pressure  in' 
this  pipe  is  70  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  and  to  put  the  signal  to  safety  it  must  be 
increased.  As  in  the  operation  of  the  switch  cylinder,  this  is  done  by 
manipulating  a  valve  on  the  interlocking  machine  (Fig.  229)  and  admit- 
ting air  at  80  Ibs.  pressure.  To  restore  the  signal  to  the  normal  position 
the  valve  is  moved  to  establish  communication  between  the  controlling  pipe 
and  an  empty  reservoir,  reducing  the  pressure  again  to  70  Ibs.,  causing  the 
controlling  valve  at  the  signal  cylinder  to  shift  and  exhaust  the  air  from 
behind  the  working  piston,  thus  permitting  the  counterweight  to  take  the 
signal  to  danger.  When  the  signal  is  in  its  normal  position  the  indication 
pipe  contains  air  at  maximum  pressure,  the  indicating  mechanism  being 


Fig.  237. — "Standard"    Pneumatic    Interlocking    Machine. 


500 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


so  arranged  that  an  increase  of  pressure  must  take  place  in  the  indication 
pipe  before  the  lever  operating  the  signal  can  be  thrown  full  stroke  or 
near  enough  to  its  normal  position  to  release  conflicting  levers.  When 
the  signal  is  moved  to  clear,  it  actuates  the  indication  valve,  reducing  the 
pressure  in  the  indication  pipe  to  70  Ibs.  and  permitting  the  lever  to  be 
thrown  full  stroke.  Should  the  signal  fail  to  respond  properly  to  the 
lever  movemont  this  reduction  of  pressure  would  not  take  place,  the  lever 
-could  not  be  moved  its  full  stroke,  and  hence  all  conflicting  levers  would 
remain  locked.  The  time  required  for  operating  a  signal  300  ft.  away  is 
about  one  second;  at  a  distance  of  1000  ft.  it  is  three  seconds,  and  at  a 
distance  of  2000  ft.  5^  seconds.  It  is  not  necessary  to  wait  fo'r  pressure 
to  equalize.  By  actual  test  a  signal  was  handled  20  times  per  minute  at 
a  distance  of  1000  ft.  The  levers  of  the  Thomas  machine  are  mechanically 
interlocked  on  the  cross-locking  principle. 


Fig.  238. — Taylor  Electric  Interlocking  Machine  (Casing  Removed). 

The  "levers"  of  the  interlocking  machine  of  the  Taylor  electric  sys- 
tem (Fig.  238)  are  straight  steel  bars  with  handles  at  right  angles, 
pushed  from  the  operator  for  the  normal  position  and  pulling  straight  out 
to  the  front  when  reversed.  Each  lever  is  connected  with  a  circuit  closer 
on  the  switch  or  signal  circuit,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  the  levers  are  inter- 
locked in  the  ordinary  mechanical  manner.  The  signal  machine  is  worked 
by  a  motor  of  one-sixth  horse  power  placed  on  a  bracket  fastened  to  the 
side  of  the  pole  some  distance,  from  the  ground.  To  bring  the  signal  from 
the  normal  or  danger -to  the  clear  position  the  motor  turns  a.  sheave  which 
winds  up  a  chain  and  lifts  the  weighted  end  of  the  balance  lever,  pushing 
up  the  signal  rod  and  throwing  the  semaphore  arm  down.  As  soon  as 
the  signal  reaches  the  clear  position  a  pole  changer  is  operated,  as  in  the 
action  of  the  switch  machine,  closing  the  circuit  through  a  brake  magnet 
which  holds  the  signal  in  this  position  and  opens  the  main  circuit  to  the 
motor.  The  pressure  generated  by  the  motor  sends  a  current  for  the 
back  indication  to  the  interlocking  machine  and  checks  the  momentum  of 
the  armature,  the  same  as  with  the  switch  machine.  To  return  the 
signal  to  normal  the  electro-magnetic  brake  is  de-energized  and  the 


INTERLOCKING  501 

counterweight  pulls  the  blade  to  the  horizontal  position.  As  the  blade 
swings  up  to  this  position  it  operates  a  circuit  closer  which  returns  an 
indication  to  the  tower.  The  indication  current  operates  an  electro- 
magnet which  works  a  releasing  latch  on  the  lever,  permitting  the  stroke 
of  the  same  to  be  completed.  As  with  all  other  power  machines,  the  first 
movement  of  the  operating  lever,  either  from  the  normal  or  the  'reverse 
position,  is  only  partial  stroke.  Without  the  indication  the  full  stroke  of 
the  lever  and  the  release  of  conflicting  levers  interlocked  with  the  same 
cannot  take  place. 

Attention  should  be  called  to  the  practice  of  lighting  signal  lamps 
by  electricity  in  connection  with  the  Taylor  system  of  electric  interlocking. 
The  generators  and  storage  batteries  used  with  this  system  afford  special 
facilities  for  lights  of  this  kind.  Incandescent  lamps  of  4  candle  power 
are  generally  used,  and  besides  the  signal  lamps  the  lamps  on  switches  in 
near-by  yards,  thrown  by  hand  stands,  are  sometimes  lighted  from  the  same 
source.  The  dynamo  for  charging  the  storage  batteries  for  a  plant  of  this 
kind  is  usually  located  in  the  first  story  of  the  tower,  or  in  a  small  building 
outside,  and  is  driven  by  a  gasoline  engine  attended  to  by  the  tower  man,  it 
1  being  necessary  to  keep  the  charging  plant  running  only  a  small  portion  of 
the  time.  Batteries  in  sets  of  55  cells  each,  supplying  current  at  110  volts, 
is  a  common  arrangement.  It  is  also  customary  to  arrange  the  connections 
of  the  dynamo  circuit  so  that  the  interlocking  machine  may  take  its  supply 
of  electricity  direct  from  the  generating  plant  instead  of  from  the  storage 
battery.  By  this  arrangement  there  is  provision  for  maintaining  the  plant 
in  operation  in  case  it  should  become  necessary  to  temporarily  cut  the 
battery  out  of  circuit  for  repairs.  In  large  plants  it  is  usually  arranged 
to  have  two  sets  of  generators  and  batteries,  each  of  which  has  a  capacity 
sufficient  for  operating  the  plant. 

The  machine  shown  in  Fig.  238  has  a  136-lever  frame  and  is  22  ft. 
long.  It  has  51  levers  far  operating  switches  and  derails,  55  signal  levers 
and  one  lock  lever,  the  switch  levers  being  disposed  in  the  upper  row  and 
the  signal  levers  in  the  lower  row.  There  are  two  sets  of  storage  batteries 
of  55  cells  each,  having  a  capacity  of  150  ampere-hours  each.  There 
are  duplicate  generating  sets,  each  consisting  of  a  2-k.  w.  dynamo  and  a 
5-h.p.  gasoline  engine.  In  lieu  of  detector  bars  at  the  crossing  of  the 
tracks  controlled  from  this  plant  track  circuits  400  ft.  in  length  are  used; 
that  is,  they  extend  200  ft.  each  side  the  crossing  in  each  track,  or  nearly 
to  the  derail.  This  arrangement  prevents  the  opening  of  a  derail  when 
an  engine  or  short  train  is  anywhere  between  the  derails  on  either  side 
of  the  crossing,  and  gives  better  protection  than  the  ordinary  arrangement 
of  crossing  bars  with  mechanical  plants,  where  a  detector  bar  40  to  50  ft. 
in  length  is  used  on  either  side  of  the  crossing  to  prevent  opening  a  derail 
when  an  engine  or  short  train  is  standing  upon  or  moving  over  the  crossing. 
The  conducting  wires  of  the  switch  and  signal  circuits  are  carried  in 
wooden  trunking,  supported  just  above  the  surface  of  the  ground  on  stakes 
set  about  8  ft.  apart. 

Auxiliaries. — A  safety  device  known  as  "electric  locking"  is  frequently 
applied  to  an  interlocking  system  to  prevent  the  derail  of  a  routo  hems: 
opened  in  front  of  a  train  after  it  has  passed  the  distant  signal  set  to 
clear.  Unless  some  protection  of  this  kind  is  afforded  derailments  may 
sometimes  occur,  for  instances  have  been  numerous  where  the  operator  took 
the  home  signal  from  a  train  and  opened  the  derail  when  the  train  was 
so  near  that  a  stop  could  not  be  made  before  being  derailed.  The  explan- 
ation of  such  performances  is  that  an  operator  will  sometimes  forget, 
momentarily,  that  a  train  has  entered  the  interlocking  'region,  and  out  of 


502  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

confusion  or  while  in  a  sleepy  condition  may  take  the  signals  from  this 
train  and  give  them  to  a  train  on  a  conflicting  route.  Electric  locking  is 
also  a  check  upon  an  engineer  who  goes  off  at  the  derail  and  claims  that 
the  operator  "took  the  rail"  from  him  after  passing  the  distant  signal  at 
clear.  The  mechanism  of  electric  locking  consists  of  electro-magnets 
arranged  on  the  locking  board  in  position  to  engage  with  the  locking  bars  of 
the  derail  or  switch  levers  or  the  lock  levers.  Normally  the  armature  bars  of 
these  magnets  are  held  up,  but  when  a  distant  signal  is  cleared  the  circuit 
through  the  lock  is  broken,  de-energizing  the  magnet  and  dropping  the 
armature,  which  engages  with  a  lug  on  the  locking  bar  and  thus  locks  up 
the  derail  lever.  To  prevent  the  operator  from  getting  at  these  locks  to 
lift  an  armature,  prematurely,  each  of  them  is  enclosed  in  a  heavy  case 
the  cover  of  which  is  secured  by  a  padlock.  In  this  manner  the  control 
of  a  route  is  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  signal  operator  after  the  signals 
have  been  cleared  for  an  approaching  train,  and  cannot  be  recovered  until 
the  train  has  passed  over  the  crossing  or  out  of  the  interlocking. 

The  circuits  controlling  these  magnets  are  arranged  in  various  ways. 
Sometimes  circuit  breakers  are  attached  to  the  signal  levers,  so  as  to  open 
the  circuit  when  the  lever  is  reversed,  and  sometimes  the  circuit  breaker  is 
operated  by  the  blade  of  the  distant  signal.  In  interlocking  practice  the 
distant  signal  is  returned  to  the  normal  or  caution  position  as  soon  as  it  is 
passed  by  the  train  for  which  it  is  cleared,  and  the  usual  arrangement  to 
prevent  the  locking  circuit  from  being  restored  when  this  is  done  is  a  track 
circuit  between  the  distant  and  home  signals.  When  a  train  is  on  this  cir- 
cuit the  armature  of  the  relay  breaks  the  circuit  through  the  locks.  As  soon 
as  the  train  passes  the  crossing  or  the  derail  beyond  the  same  a  track  circuit 
arrangement  restores  the  lock  circuit,  lifting  the  latches  and  releasing  the 
derail  levers.  Others  arrangements  are  described  in  papers  read  before  the 
Railway  Signaling  Club :  one  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Elliott,  Nov.  12,  1895,  and 
another  by  Mr.  Y.  K.  Spicer,  May  12,  1896  (The  first-named  paper  was 
published  in  the  Railway  Review  for  Dec.  7,  1895,  and  the  last-named  in 
the  issue  for  May  16,  1896.  A  discussion  of  Mr.  Spicer's  paper  was  pub- 
lished in  the  issue  for  July  25,  1896.  ) 

To  provide  for  unlocking  the  machine  in  case  a  train  should  stop  with- 
in the  interlocking  limits,  or  the  track  circuit  become  short-circuited,  or 
after  trying  the  levers  during  bad  weather  to  see  if  the  system  is  in  working 
order ;  or,  in  event  of  delay  to  the  train  for  which  the  route  is  set,  to  give 
right  of  way  over  the  crossing  to  a  train  on  another  route,  a  'releasing  cir- 
cuit with  a  switch  in  a  box  under  a  glass  cover  is  sometimes  arranged.  In 
order  to  close  the  circuit  to  release  the  locks  it  is  necessary  to  break  the 
glass,  so  as  to  get  at  the  switch,  thus  leaving  a  record  of  the  instance  of 
irregular  working,  the  occasion  for  which  the  operator  is  supposed  to  explain. 
Numerous  other  devices  have  been  used  for  the  same  purpose,  such  as  a 
slow-motion  hand  releasing  screw  at  an  inconvenient  point,  a  releasing  but- 
ton located  down  stairs  or  at  some  distance  from  the  operating  room,  etc., 
the  idea  being  to  interfere  with  hasty  action  anel  cause  the  towerman  to 
think  of  what  he  is  doing,  in  case  his  intention  is  suddenly  decided  upon, 
as  when  awakening  from  sleep,  etc.  The  tendency  with  all  these  special 
releasing  devices  has  been  a  too  frequent  use  of  the  same,  with  resulting 
carelessness  and  disregard  of  the  purpose  of  electric  locking,  operators  in 
many  instances  going  so  far  as  to  rig  up  secret  circuits,  jump  wires  etc.,  in 
order  to  work  the  release  without  special  effort. 

Time  Locks. — The  difficulties  with  the  working  of  electric  locks  under 
certain  conditions  have  to  some  extent  led  to  the  use  of  time  locks.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  time  lock  is  to  prevent,  for  a  desired  interval  of  time,  the  open- 


INTERLOCKING  503 

ing  of  the  derail  after  the  home  signal  has  been  set  to  danger.  One  style  of 
time  lock  consists  of  a  vertical  rack  bar  placed  in  engagement  with  some 
gear  wheels  under  the  control  of  an  escapement.  This  rack  bar  is  attached 
to  the  home  signal  lever,  and  controls  a  lock  on  the  derail  lever  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  derail  lever  cannot  be  moved  from  its  reversed  position 
except  while  the  rack  ba'r  is  down.  In  reversing  the  home  signal  lever,  or 
when  setting  it  to  clear,  this  rack  bar  is  raised,  and  is  not  released  from  the 
raised  position  until  the  home  signal  lever  is  set  to  danger.  Upon  being 
released  the  bar  drops  by  gravity,  the  gradual  descent  being  timed  by  the 
escapement  mechanism,  which  can  be  set  to  wo'rk  to  any  desired~interval 
of  time.  At  the  end  of  this  interval  the  rack  bar  'reaches  its  normal  position, 
releasing  the  derail  lever.  In  some  instances  this  interval  corresponds  to  the 
time  mmired  for  a  fast  train  to  pass  from  the  distant  signal  to  and  over 
the  crossing,  and  in  other  instances  it  is  made  to  correspond  to  a  similar 
transit  of  a  train  running  at  an  average  speed  or  at  slow  speed.  Another 
styJe  of  time  lock  is  operated  pneumatically.  It  consists  of  a  cylinder  and 
piston  with  a  quick-acting  valve  operating  for  the  motion  of  the  piston  in 
one  direction  and  a  small  leak  hole  which  permits  atmospheric  pressure  to 
gradually  return  the  piston  to  normal  position  after  being  forced  up  by  the 
home  signal  lever,  thereby  forming  a  partial  vacuum  at  one  end  of  the  cyl- 
inder. The  return  of  the  piston  releases  the  lock  lever  or  derail  lever.  Still 
another  time-lock  mechanism  which  is  attached  to  the  levers  and  locking' 
in  the  same  manner,  and  operating  quite  similarly,  is  a  hydraulic  device  in 
which  a  liquid  is  used  instead  of  air  to  oppose  the  quick  return  of  the  plun- 
ger rod  after  being  released  by  throwing  the  home  signal  lever  to  normal. 

One  situation  where  electric  locking  or  time  locks  could  be  particularly 
serviceable,  and  where  one  or  the  other  ought  to  be  applied,  is  at  the  end  of 
double  track.  Bad  collision  wrecks  have  happened  at  the  end  of  double 
track  through  the  confusion  of  switch  tenders,  who,  being  suddenly  seized 
with  an  impression  that  the  switch  was  set  wrong,  have  been  known  to  throw 
the  switch  for  the  second  track  immediately  in  front  of  a  fast  passenger 
train,  resulting  in  collision  with  a  train  standing  on  second  track.  A  safe 
way  to  operate  such  switches  would  be  to  have  a  distant  signal  on  the  sin- 
gle track  interlocked  with  the  switch  stand,  and  then  have  the  stand  con- 
trolled by  a  track  circuit  and  electric  lock  or  by  a  time  lock. 

Bolt  Locks. — Another  safety  device  is  an  arrangement  to  prevent  the 
clearing  of  the  home  signal  in  case  the  switch  or  derail  should  fail  to  close 
properly  or  fail  to  move  at  all,  as  might  happen  if  the  connection  should 
break.  It  is  known  as  a  bolt  lock,  the  usual  form  of  which  consists  of  two 
flat  bars  sliding  edgewise  in  guides  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  one  bar 
being  connected  to  the  switch  and  the  other  to  the  signal  wire  or  pipe  line ; 
each  being  so  notched  that  when  the  switch  is  closed  and  the  signal  at  danger 
either  bar  is  free  to  move,  but  the  movement  of  one  locks  the  other.  The 
arrangement  is  shown  in  Fig.  222  in  connection  with  a  switch  and  lock 
movement,  the  switch  bar  of  the  bolt  lock  being  an  extension  of  the  lock 
rod.  In  the  position  shown  the  signal  is  locked  to  danger.  Should  the 
switch  now  be  thrown  and  the  point  rail  not  move  properly  up  to  its  place 
the  notch  in  the  switch  connection  will  not  come  in  line  with  the  bar  on 
the  signal  connection  and  the  signal  cannot  be  moved.  The  notch  in  the 
signal  connection  is  long  enough  to  allow  some  latitude  of  adjustment  due 
to  expansion  or  contraction  of  the  wire,  stretch,  etc.,  but  will  not  permit 
any  considerable  movement  of  the  signal  wire.  The  connection  to  the 
switch  being  sho'rt  and  rigid,  the  width  of  the  notch  in  that  is  made  to 
corresponel  to  the  thickness  of  the  bar  on  the  signal,  connection.  When  the 
switch  is  properly  closed  and  the  signal  set  to  clear,  the  bolt  lock  then  locks 


504  SWITCHING  AlUiANGEMEXTS   AND   APPLIANCES 

the  switch,  the  latter  then  being  locked  by  two  devices — the  switch  and  lock 
movement  and  the  bolt  lock.  Should  a  facing-point  lock  be  used  and  the 
switch  connection  breakt  the  switch  lever  might  be  reversed  without  moving 
the  switch,  in  which  case  the  lock  plunger  would  enter  the  same  hole  and 
lock  the  switch  in  the  wrong  position,  releasing  the  signal  lever,  so  that  tho 
signal  could  be  cleared  without  closing  the  switch.  With  the  bolt  lock 
such  a  misplacement  cannot  occur,  for,  as  above  explained,  when  the  switch 
is  open  the  bolt  lock  locks  the  signal  to  danger  independently  of  the  inter- 
locking of  the  levers  on  the  machine. 

To  prevent  a  disconnected  switch  from  being  locked  in  the  wrong 
position  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.  uses  coiled  springs  acting  against 
lugs  on  the  head  rod,  to  throw  the  switch  away  from  the  stock  rail  as 
soon  as  the  lock  plunger  is  withdrawn,  thus  preventing  the  plunger  from 
again  entering  the  lock  'rod.  On  this  road  bolt  locks  are  used  on  distant 
as  well  as  home  signals,  where  there  are  facing-point  switches  and  derail* 
without  facing-point  locks.  This  practice  is  to  guard  against  clearing 
the  distant  signal  in  case  the  wire  which  pulls  the  home  signal  should 
break  between  the  bolt  lock  and  the  lever.  A  form  of  bolt  lock  differing 
from  that  above  described  consists  of  a  lock  rod  on  the  switch  connection 
and  a  plunger  on  the  signal  connection. 

Another  piece  of  apparatus  that  has  been  much  used  in  interlocking^ 
and  which  deserves  mention  in  any  general  treatment  of  that  subject,  is 
the  selector.  This  is  a  device  for  operating  two  or  more  signals,  one  at  a. 
time,  by  the  same  lever,  the  mechanism  being  so  arranged  as  to  automati- 
cally connect  the  particular  signal  which  governs  the  route  for  which  a 
switch  has  been  set.  The  collection  of  signals  that  can  be  worked  by  a 
selector  must  be  such  that  but  one  of  them  need  ever  be  cleared  at  the 
eame  time;  as,  for  instance,  the  signals  governing  a  succession  of  branch 
routes  leading  from  a  single  track.  The  purpose  of  the  device  is,  of  course,, 
to  reduce  the  number  of  levers  on  the  interlocking  machine.  Selectors 
are  made  in  several  patterns,  but  the  principle  involved  in  the  design  of 
all  of  them  is  to  terminate  the  connections  from  the  several-  signals  and 
the  connection  from  the  signal  lever  in  one  place,  to  which  connections- 
are  run  from  the  switches.  The  arrangement  is  then  such  that  the  setting 
of  the  switch  for  any  one  of  the  routes  brings  the  connection  from  the 
signal  lever  into  engagement  with  the  connection  to  the  signal  governing 
that  route.  A  common  form  of  mechanism  for  wire-connected  signals  is 
a  "hook  gear,"  each  signal  being  connected  to  a  hook-ended  bar  working 
between  guides  on  the  selector  frame,  the  hook  being  pulled  by  a  shifting 
bar  or  slotted  plate  connected  to  the  signal  lever  in  the  tower,  according 
as  the  setting  of  the  switch  on  that  route  puts  the  two  parts  (the  hook 
bar  and  the  lever  connection)  into  engagement.  One  arrangement  for 
selecting  the  hook  for  the  proper  signal  is  a  driving  bar  operated  by  the- 
pipe  line  to  the  switch,  this  driving  bar  carrying  lugs  set  to  throw  every 
hook  bar  out  of  engagement  except  the  one  to  be  operated.  Another  ar- 
rangement is  a  shaft  with  cam  lugs,  which,  when  turned  by  the  switch 
connection,  throw  all  but  the  proper  hook  out  of  adjustment.  A  common 
form  of  selector  for  pipe-connected  signals  cnsists  of  slide  bars  connected 
to  the  signals  and  working  in  guides  on  the  selector  casting,  with  a  shift- 
ing slide  bar  connected  to  the  signal  lever.  By  means  of  a  cross  bar  in 
connection  with  the  switch  the  shifting  bar  is  moved  into  position  to  abut 
against  the  slide  bar  of  the  signal  governing  that  route,  and  when  tlie 
signal  lever  is  thrown  it  pushes  the  signal  to  clear,  instead  of  pulling  it, 
as  in  the  case  with  the  selector  for  wire  connections.  Such  a  selector  is 
adapted  to  be  used  directly  opposite  the  switch  involved  in  the  combina- 


INTERLOCKING  505 

tion,  and  the  cross  bar  is  usually  connected  directly  to  the  lock  rod  of  the 
switch,  in  which  X3ase  the  selector  is  made  to  act  also  as  a  bolt  lock. 

Selectors  are  known  as  one-way,  two-way,  three-way,  etc.,  according 
to  the  number  of  switches  connected  with  it  and  not  by  the  number  of 
selector  rods  or  signals.  It  is  not  usual  to  make  selectors  larger  than  eight- 
way,  and  in  general  practice  the  size  or  capacity  is  seldom  as  large  as  that, 
the  preference  being  with  selectors  for  not  more  than  two  signals.  The 
general  tendency,  however,  is  to  abolish  the  use  of  selectors,  as  with 
switches  less  than  about  700  ft.  from  the  tower  the  cost  of  the  selector  is 
as  much  as  that  of  an  extra  lever  and  line  of  pipe. 

To  conclude,  it  may  be  stated  that  as  far  as  may  be  feasible,  grade 
crossings  should  not  be  so  located  that  trains  on  either  track,  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  crossing,  will  have  to  approach  it  on  a  considerable  down  grade. 
Wherever  a  difficulty  arises  in  this  respect,  it  is  better,  if  the  expense  be 
not  too  great,  to  avoid  crossing  at  grade  altogether;  but  if  not,  then  an 
interlocking  plant  with  derailing  switches  should  by  all  means  be  installed 
for  the  crossing. 

Subways  for  Interlocking  Pipes  and  Wires. — To  carry  a  large  num- 
ber of  interlocking  pipes  under  a  track  and  maintain  satisfactory  support 
for  the  track  requires  special  construction,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
lead-out  connections  at  the  tower,  where  the  pipes  are  close  together  and 
a  large  number  of  them  cannot  easily  be  spread  apart  to  dodge  the  ties. 
As  such  pipes  are  usually  spaced  2J  or  3  ins.  centers,  any  support  for  the 
track  must  be  arranged  to  occupy  as  little  space  as  may  be  practicable  be- 
tween the  pipes.  It  is  evident  that  if  the  track  support  consists  of  wooden 
tics  the  space  between  each  two  ties  permits  of  room  for  only  a  few  pipes, 
so  that  in  case  a  large  number  of  pipes  are  to  be  laid  they  must  be  ar- 
ranged in  groups  corresponding  to  the  tie  spacings.  In  case  the  general 
course  of  the  pipe  line  runs  diagonal  to  the  track  at  such  an  angle  'that 
the  ties  cannot  be  conveniently  skewed  to  conform  thereto,  the  pipe  line  is 
broken  by  bell  cranks  and  extended  squarely  across  the  track.  To  get 
room  for  interlocking  connections  it  is  quite  customary  to  lay  the  ties 
widely  spaced,  and  to  support  the  rail  over  these  wide  spacings  in  case  of 
breakage  it  is  sometimes  the  practice  to  lay  a  'rail  on  side  on  either  side 
of  each  running  rail,  as  in  Sketch  "K,  Fig.  234. 

There  are  two  ways  of  reducing  the  space  occupied  by  the  immediate 
supports  for  the  rail  without  reducing  the  bearing  area  on  the  ballast. 
One  arrangement,  illustrated  as  Plan  A,  Fig.  239,  is  to  use  large  ties  and 
depress  them  far  enough  to  carry  the  rails  on  small  pieces  which  afford 
more  space  for  the  pipe  lines.  In  order  to  obtain  room  for  tamping,  the 
rail  is  supported  on  4x5-in.  oak  strips  spiked  to  the  tops  of  SxlO-in.  ties 
on  flat,  Servis  tie  plates  being  used  on  the  4x5-in.  strips.  This  arrange- 
ment affords  good  support  for  the  rail  and  the  pipe  lines  are  separated 
widely  enough  in  the  middle  of  the  spacing  to  permit  the  tamping  bar  to 
be  used.  Another  and  more  expensive  arrangement  is  to  use  heavy  or 
closely  spaced  under  supports,  with  I-beams  to  take  the  bearing  of  the 
rail.  As  the  thickness  of  the  I-beam  web  is  less  than  the  clear  spacing  be- 
tween the  pipes,  practically  all  of  the  space  is  available  for  the  cross  con- 
nections. One  arrangement  of  this  kind  is  shown  as  Plan  B,  Fig.  239,  and 
another  as  Fig.  240.  In  the  latter  case  an  8xlO-in.  oak  sleeper  is  placed 
longitudinally  under  each  rail,  clearing  the  rail  base  by  8J  ins.  '  The 
immediate  supports  for  the  rails  consist  of  steel  ties,  three  in  number, 
placed  across  the  sleepers  and  spaced  16  ins.  centers.  Two  8xlO-in.  ties 
serve  as  bulkheads.  The  bed  sleepers  are  held  rigidly  together  by  1-in. 
iron  rods.  The  pipes  are  led  across  the  track  diagonally  through  the  four 


506 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


PLAN  A 


___  PLANE 

Fig.  239. — Cross  Connections  for  Interlocking,  C.,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry. 

openings  between  the  two  bulkheads.  The  rails  are  secured  to  the  steel 
ties  by  clips  and  J-in.  bolts.  The  steel  tie  consists  of  an  I-beam  built  of 
an  8x|-in.  web  plate,  with  two  3x4x-|-in.  angles  for  the  top  flange  and  two 
3x4xf-in.  angles  for  the  bottom  flange.  The  top  flange  is  cut  away  on 
one  side  of  the  tie,  except  underneath  the  rail  base,  where  it  is  needed  as 
a  means  of  securing  the  rail  clip.  Thus  practically  all  of  the  64  inches  of 
space  between  the  bulkheads  is  available  for  pipes,  since  the  web  thick- 
ness of  'the  tie  support  is  less  than  the  distance  between  the  pipes. 

Where  the  pipe  lines  cross  the  track  at  a  small  angle  the  plan  of 
skewing  the  ties  becomes  impracticable,  and  a  subway  under  the  ties,  as 
they  lie  squarely  with  the  rails,  affords  the  most  substantial  construction. 
Figure  241  shows  the  plan  of  such  a  subway  for  25  lines  of  pipe  and  10 
signal  wires.  A  course  of  8xl6-in.  timbers  10  ft.  long,  spaced  8  ins.  in 
the  clear,  was  first  laid  to  form  a  platform,  to  which  were  spiked  four 
8-in.  I-beams,  each  45  ft.  long,  spaced  2  ft.  6  ins.  centers,  forming  three 
passageways  for  the  pipe  lines  and  signal  wires.  The  platform  timbers, 
which  are  laid  on  a  bed  of  gravel,  are  indicated  in  the  engraving  as 
grained  wood.  In  order  to  vary  slightly  the  angle  of  the  subway,  so  as  to 
permit  I-beams  of  the  same  length  (45  ft.)  to  be  used  throughout,  the 


Fig.  240. — Interlocking  Cross  Connection. 


INTERLOCKING 


507 


Fig.  241. — Plan  of  Subway  for  Interlocking  Pipe  Lines,  C.,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry. 

pipe  lines  are  slightly  curved  at  this  point,  and  the  subway  does  not  ex- 
tend exactly  parallel  with  the  main  track,  as  appears  from  the  dimensions 
m  the  figure.  The  track  ties  supporting  the  rails  are  placed  squarely 
across  the  track  and  laid  upon  the  I-beams,  being  supported  by  6x8-in. 
stringers  laid  upon  the  platform  timbers,  where  the  ties  do  not  get  a  full 
bearing  upon  the  I-beams.  The  general  appearance  of  the  subway  is 
shown  in  Fig.  24:2,  the  photograph  being  taken  before  the  pipes  leading 
through  it  were  boxed  over,  according  to  the  usual  custom,  to  prevent 
interference  from  snow. 

The  plan  of  using  bell  cranks  and  crossing  the  track  with  sections  of 
pipe  between  the  ties  usually  requires  a  change  in  the  direction  of  the 
lead,  with  some  lost  motion  in  the  cranks  and  their  connections;  extra 
length  of  pipe  by  reason  of  the  indirect  route,  and  extra  resistance  from 
the  operation  of  the  bell  cranks,  and  also  sometimes  from  the  curve  in  the 
lead  which  is  needed  to  resume  the  general  direction.  The  construction  of 
a  subway  of  I-beams  and  timbers  requires  a  good  deal  of  excavation  and 
is  expensive.  On  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.  use  is  made  of 
pipe  conduits  at  certain  points  where  interlocking  pipes  pass  under  the 
track.  Thev  are  easilv  laid  and  can  be  run  direct.  The  use  of  this  style 


,H 





Fig.  242. — Subway  for  Interlocking  Pipe  Lines,  C.,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry. 


508 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


of  underpass  is  applicable  in  all  situations,  but  the  convenience  is*  especially 
noticeable  where  the  crossing,  of  the  leads  is  diagonal  to  the  track.  Each 
line  of  interlocking  pipe  is  carried  in  a  2-in.  conduit  pipe  filled  with 
crude  kerosene  oil,  with  stuffing  boxes  at  the  ends  to  retain  the  oil.  The 
section  of  interlocking  pipe  which  works  through  the  stuffing  box  is  turned 
in  a  lathe  to  a  smooth  surface  l9/32  ins.  in  diameter.  The  conduit  pipes- 
are  laid  about  12  ins.  beneath  the  ties.,  and  the  couplings  are  of  just  the 
right  diameter  to  permit  the  pipes  to  be  laid  to  the  regular  pipe  carrier 
spacing,  thus  avoiding  any  difficulty  in  transition  from  one  to  the  other. 


Fig.  243.— Conduit  for  Signal  Wires  Under  Streets,  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  Ry. 
Figure  243B  is  a  photographic  view  of  one  of  these  pipe  conduits,  the  pic- 
ture at  the  left  showing  the  stuffing  boxes  and  the  capped  tubes  through 
which  the  pipes  are  filled  with  oil. 

In  carrying  signal  wires  under  a  track  they  are  usually  put  through 
the  spaces  between  the  ties  and  left  uncovered.  As  such  wires  extend 
considerable  distances  from  the  tower  they  must  frequently  be  carried 
under  public  highways  or  city  streets,  and  at  such  places  a  substantial 
pipe  culvert  or  other  subway  is  desirable.  A  conduit  arranged  for  th'v 
purpose  and  designed  to  protect  the  wires  from  corrosion  is  illustrated  as 
Fig.  243.  There  is  a  box  at  either  side  of  the  street  about  12  ins.  square 
and  2  ft.  deep,  into  which  is  led  one  end  of  a  half-inch  pipe  carrying  the 
signal  wire.  This  pipe  sags,  and  is  lowest  in  the  middle  flt  the  street,  at 
which  point  it  is  joined  to  a  drip  well  consisting  of  a  piece  of  £-in.  pipe 
bent  U-shape.  Extending  upward  from  the  bottom  of  the  "~U"  there  is  a 
short  piece  of  half -inch  pipe,  capped  and  made  accessible  from  the  street. 
After  the  signal  wire  has  been  led  through  its  protecting  pipe  al.  the  pipe 
is  filled  with  oil  from  the  connection  in  the  street,  the  oil  being  permitted 
to  flow  to  the  ends  of  the  pipe  in  the  boxes.  During  wet  weather  water 
follows  the  signal  wire  into  the  protecting  pipe  and,  being  heavier  than  oil, 
finally  seeks  the  bottom  of  the  U-tube.  From  time  to  time  the  half -inch 
pipe  in  the  street  is  opened  and  a  pump  is  attached  and  worked  until  oil 


Fig.  243  A.— <Wrigley  Signal  Wire  Conduit,  Erie  R.  R. 
appears,  which  indicates  that  all  the  water  has  been  removed.  The 
ley  conduit  for  signal  wire  protection  (Fig.  243A),  used  on  the  Erie  E.  E., 
consists  of  a  line  of  pipe  with  stuffing  boxes  at  the  ends  and  T-connections 
with  removable  plugs  for  filling  the  pipe  with  crude  oil. 

84.  Switch  Protection. — It  occasionally  happens  that  a  switch  is 
used  and  carelessly  left  open  to  main  track,  and  when  such  is  the  case 
great  danger  awaits  high-speed  trains  or  heavy  freight  trains  approaching 
in. the  facing  direction.  On  the  whole,  railroad  companies  have  been  slow 
to  adopt  means  of  protection  against  such  occurrences  or  the  dangers  in- 
cident thereto.  One  qf  the  first  roads  to  put  into  service  a  contrivance  for 


SWITCH   PROTECTION  509 

preventing  a  switch  from  being  left  open  to  main  line  after  the  departure 
of  the  train  that  used  it,  was  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  R. 
E.  The  arrangement  in  this  instance  is  a  small  round  house  built  over 
the  switch  stand  at  facing-point  switches,  and  so  devised  that  a  person 
opening  the  switch  cannot  emerge  from  the  house  without  first  throwing 
the  switch  to  main  track  and  locking  it  in  that  position.  The  doors  of 
these  "switch  houses"  are  pivoted  to  a  center  post,  to  revolve  like  a  turn- 
stile, and  are  painted  one  side  red  and  the  other  side  white.  As  one  passes 
into  the  house  the  door  is  reversed  and  the  red  side  is  turned  -outward.  A 
flat  rod  in  connection  with  the  switch  points  passes  through  a  slotted  cast- 
ing under  the  door,  and  the  attachments  are  such  that  until  the  doo'r  is 
reversed  the  switch  is  held  by  this  lock  rod  and  cannot  be  thrown.  The 
opening  of  the  switch  then  locks  the  door,  and  the  only  w^ay  to  get  out  is 
by  closing  the  switch  and  locking  it,  as  stated.  The  house  is  not  provided 
with  glass  windows,  but  on  the  track  side  there  is  a  hole  through  which 
the  man  inside  may  put  his  head  and  watch  the  train  movements.  While 
these  switch  houses  have  been  in  satisfactory  service  on  several  divisions 
of  the  western  district  of  the  road  since  about  the  year  1882,  the  scheme 
has  not  been  adopted  to  any  great  extent  elsewhere,  probably  because  the 
use  of  the  same  ties  up  one  of  the  train  crew  for  the  time  being. 


Fig.  243B— Pipe  Conduits  for  Interlocking  Pipe  Lines,  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  Ry. 

The  means  of  protection  most  widely  adopted  is  a  signal  displayed  at 
a  distance  which  indicates  the  position  of  the  switch.  It  has  been  well 
demonstrated  that,  in  the  absence  of  other  means  of  protection,  the  safety 
of  high-speed  trains  at  facing-point  switches  requires  that  advance  warn- 
ing be  given  of  the  position  of  the  switch,  and  particularly  at  outlying 
switches  where  the  switch  stand  or  switch  light  cannot  be  seen  at  a  good 
distance  away.  It  has  heretofore  been  pointed  out  that  the  high  target 
affords  some  protection  on  straight  line  which  is  not  obtained  with  the  tar- 
get on  switch  stands  of  ordinary  hight.  On  curves,  however,  any  signal  at 
the  switch  cannot  usually  give  a  desirable  measure  of  protection.  For  tin* 
reason  it  is  found  necessary  to  place  a  signal  or  signals  at  points  distant 
from  the  switch,  the  same  being  operated  either  by  the  movement  of  the 
switch  or  in  connection  therewith.  The  signal  most  extensively  employed 
at  distant  points  is  the  semaphore  arm.  operated  on  a  high  pole,  and  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  the  best  practice  is  to  operate  switch  and  signal  by 
separate  levers.  As  it  is  obviously  important  that  the  lever  operating  the 
switch  should  not  be  thrown  independently  of  the  leve'r  operating  the  sig- 
nal, it  is  usually  arranged  to  have  these  levers  interlocked  in  such  manner 


510 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


that  the  switch  lever  cannot  be  thrown  until  the  signal  lever  has  placed  the 
signal  to  danger.  This  is  the  essential  feature  in  all  modern  switch  sig- 
naling at  a  distance,  the  main  point  of  difference  in  the  various  devices 
being  in  the  form  and  operation  of  the  levers  and  the  method  of  locking 
the  switch  points. 

Perhaps  the  simplest  device  for  interlocking  the  movement  of  a  switch 
with  a  distant  signal  is  a  double-lever  ground  stand,  with  the  signal  lever 
bent  to  extend  across  the  switch  lever,  as  shown  in  Fig.  244.  In  locking 
the  switch  the  lock  then  secures  both  levers.  It  is  plain,  however,  that  this- 
arrangement  does  not  insure  that  the  points  have  been  thrown  entirely 
home,  before  the  signal  is  cleared,  neither  does  it  necessarily  hold  the 
switch  lever  in  position  for  main  track  until  the  signal  lever  has  been 
thrown  entirely  over  to  the  position  placing  the  signal  at  danger;  that  i& 
to  say,  the  switch  movement  may  begin  as  soon  as  the  signal  lever  is  lifted. 
A  simple  device  used  with  facing-point  switches  on  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Ry.  is  a  horizontal  shaft  carrying  two  lugs  which  are  revolved  into 
position  straddle  the  point  and  stock  rails  for  the  closed  position  of  the 
switch,  as  in  Fig-  141,  and  this  shaft  carries  a  sheave  to  which  wires  are 
attached  for  working  a  distant  signal.  Before  the  switch  can  be  opened 
the  shaft  must  be  turned  down,  thus  placing  the  distant  signal  at  danger^ 
and  the  signal  cannot  be  cleared  until  after  the  switch  has  been  closed. 

Figure  246  shows  a  double  ground,  lever  stand  for  operating  one  or 
two  switches  in  connection  with  one  or  two  signals,  the  levers  being  so  inter- 
locked that  the  signals  cannot  be  cleared  until  the  switch  lever  is  thrown 


7)  To  SWITCH—*. 


Fig.  244.— Switch  and  Signal  Ground  Lever. 


Fig.  245.— Distant  Signal  Device  for  Outlying  Switches,  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry. 


SWITCH   PROTECTIOX 


511 


for  the  main  track  and,  conversely,  so  that  the  switch  lever  cannot  be 
moved  from  the  main  track  position  until  the  signal  lever  has  been  thrown 
entirely  to  the  danger  position.  It  is  in  use  on  a  large  number  of  roads, 
including,  among  others,  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  &  Pacific,  Chicago  & 
Northwestern,  Michigan  Central,  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  Wisconsin 
Central,  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago,  Boston  &  Maine,  Boston  & 
Albany,  New  York  Central  and  the  Central  E.  E.  of  New  Jersey.  The 
arrangement  is  what  is  known  as  butt  locking,  in  which  two  locking  dogs 
or  pins  follow  in  grooved  discs  and  are  actuated  by  springs,  so  that  the 
action  of  one  lever  locks  the  other  lever  fast  in  each  position  of  the  switch. 
It  will  be  observed  that  a  projecting  lug  on  the  signal  lever  extends  over 
the  switch  lever  and  straddles  the  lock  bracket,  so  that  the  interlocking 
cannot  be  strained  by  an  ignorant  OT  malicious  use  of  the  switch  lever.  As 
it  appears  in  the  figure,  the  switch  lever  operates  two  switches  and  the  sig- 
nal lever  two  signals,  as  at  a  crossover.  In  the  case  of  a  misadjustment  of 
the  switch  connection  it  would,  but  for  another  device,  still  be  possible  for 
the  signal  lever  to  be  freely  operated  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  switch 
points  might  not  be  thrown  entirely  home.  This  danger  is  overcome  by 
the  use  of  a  flat  bar  connected  to  the  switch  rails  and  adapted  to  engage 


Fig.  246. — Double  Interlocked  Ground  Lever  Stand. 

the  wheel  of  the  signal  lever  in  a  way  which  insures  that  the  switch  points 
shall  be  tightly  closed  for  main  track  before  the  signal  lever  can  be  moved 
and  the  signal  for  that  track  cleared.  The  device  is  so  strongly  made  that 
it  will  prevent  the  switch  from  shifting  from  its  intended  position  in  event 
the  connection  with  the  switch  lever  should  break. 

In  switch  protection  work  the  largest  practice  is  to  employ  two  sig- 
nals— home  and  distant — with  a  lock  rod  so  engaged  by  the  interlocking 
mechanism  that  the  signal  lever  cannot  be  put  in  the  clear  position  until 
after  the  switch  points  have  been  thrown  entirely  home.  Figure  245  shows  a 
device  used  on  a  number  of  roads  in  connection  with  facing  points,  designed 
to  use  with  existing  switch  stands  of  any  pattern.  As  shown  in  plan  and 
elevation,  the  signal  lever  operates  a  sprocket  wheel  which  actuates  a  chain 
connecting  with  the  wires  operating  a  semaphore  signal  placed  1200  or 
more  feet  distant.  On  the  sprocket  wheel  there  is  a  rim,  called  the  "rim 
lock,"  extending  half  way  around  the  same.  Attached  to  the  near  switch 
point  there  is  a  lock  rod  which  extends  under  the  sprocket  wheel,  and  on 
this  rod  there  is  a  "locking  tappet"  which  abuts  against  the  rim  lock  in 
every  position  of  the  signal  lever  except  that  in  which  the  signal  is  moved 
entirely  to  danger.  It  is  plainly  seen,  therefore,  that  the  switch  stand  can- 
not be  thrown  to  open  the  switch  until  after  the  signal  has  been  placed  to 


512 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 


danger.  Conversely,  the  locking  tappet  will  not  permit  the  rim  lock  to  pass 
and  the  signal  lever  to  be  thrown  to  clear  until  after  the  switch  stand  has 
been  thrown  entirely  home  to  the  main  track  position  of  the  switch.  The 
semaphore  blade  is  operated  through  a  device  on  the  pole  which  allows  for 
two  inches  of  expansion  and  contraction  of  the  signal  wire.  This  is  consid- 
ered an  effective  substitute  for  a  wire  compensator. 

The  arrangement  employed  on  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  and  the 
Pennsylvania  E.  E.  is  a  distant  semaphore  signal  operated  by  double  wire 
from  a  signal  lever  at  the  switch.  For  a  home  signal  the  Michigan  Central 
uses  a  semaphore  also,  but  the  Pennsylvania  uses  in  some  places  the  sema- 
phore and  in  others  only  a  low  combined  target  and  lamp  (Engraving  F, 
Fig.  139)  attached  to  the  switch.  The  distant  signal  lever  is  attached 
to  a  horizontal  shaft  which  works  a  "cam  lock"  on  the  switch  point  rail. 
This  device  consists  of  a  lug  which  is  turned  up  by  the  shaft  against  the 
inside  flange  of  the  point  rail  in  its  normal  or  closed  position.  It  thus 
acts  as  a  stop  which  will  not  permit  the  switch  to  be  thrown  until  the  dis- 
tant signal  has  been  moved  to  danger,  and  after  the  switch  has  been  opened 
the  lug  is  under  the  base  of  the  point  rail  and  the  signal  lever  cannot  be 
moved  to  clear  the  signal  until  the  switch  has  been  properly  closed.  Form- 
erly a  high  revolving  target,  arranged  on  a  braced  stand,  as  in  Fig.  247, 
was  used  a  good  deal  on  this  road.  The  use  of  this  high  target  was  due  to 
the  installment  of  'apparatus  at  points  where  that  device  was  already  in 
service.  The  tendency,  however,  has  been  toward  the  use  of  the  semaphore, 
and  the  high  revolving  targets  are  no  longer  standard.  The  switch  stand 
shown  in  the  figure  is  a  device  gotten  up  by  the  Pennsylvania  company, 
and  consists  of  a  ground  switch  lever  with  a  signal  lever  throwing  over  and 
across  the  same.  The  two  levers  are  controlled  by  a  disc  interlocking  device 
which  prevents  the  switch  lever  being  thrown  until  the  signal  lever  has  been 
thrown  into  its  extreme  position  for  clanger;  and,  vice  versa,  the  signal  lever 
cannot  be  moved  to  clear  the  signal  until  the  switch  has  been  properly 
closed.  The  Michigan  Central  road  employs  the  double  ground  lever  inter- 


Distant    Signal. 

Fig.  247. — High  Switch  Target  and  Distant  Signal  Operated  by  Disc  Interlocking 

Ground   Lever  Stand. 


SWITCH   PROTECTION 


513 


locked  stand  shown  in  Fig.  246,  just  described.  The  Chicago  Terminal 
Transfer  road  uses  apparatus  similar  to  that  of  the  Pennsylvania  company,, 
with  semaphores  for  both  home  and  distant  signals.  The  interlocking  stand 
is  placed  at  the  foot  of  the  semaphore  post  instead  of  a  few  feet  therefrom, 
as  it  appears  in  Fig.  .247. 

In  place  of  the  ground  levers  the  device  operating  the  switch  and  sig- 
nals sometimes  consists  of  a  framed  interlocking  machine  with  upright 
levers,  placed  on  the  ground  near  the  switch.  On  the  Lehigh  Valley  B.  E. 
facing-point  switches  are  operated  in  connection  with  distant  signals  by 
a  machine  of  this  description.  There  are  three  levers :  one  operating  a  sig- 
nal distant  about  one-half  mile  from  the  switch,  another  operating  a  signal 
some  500  or  600  ft.  distant,  and  another  operating  the  switch  and  a  target 
actuated  therewith.  The  location- of  the  two  distant  signals  in  'respect  to 
their  distance  apart,  and  from  the  switch,  depends  upon  the  physical  condi- 
tions respecting  curvature,  adjoining  obstructions,  etc.  In  operating  the 
switch  the  distant  signal  lever  must  be  thrown  first,  placing  that  signal  at 
danger,  or  in  what  corresponds  to  the  "caution"  position  of  a  distant  sig- 
nal in  crossing  interlocking.  This  releases  the  near  signal  lever,  which  is 
thrown  next,  thereby  releasing  the  switch  lever,  which  is  thrown  last  of  all, 
setting  the  switch  and  placing  the  home  signal  at  danger.  In  closing  the 
switch  for  main  track  the  reverse  order  of  operations  must  be  followed; 
namely,  the  switch  lever  is  thrown  first,  then  the  near  signal  and  finally  the 
distant  signal. 


Fig.  I.  Fia  ?  Ft  a.  3  Fiq.  4 

Fig.  248. — Interlocking  Switch  and  Signal  Stand,  N.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry. 

On  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Ey.  ground-frame  stands 
with  interlocking  levers  are  extensively  used  to  work  distant  signals  in  con- 
nection with  facing-point  switches,  and  by  means  of  an  auxiliary  lever  a 
stiff  connection  is  had  while  the  switch  is  being  thrown  and  a  spring  connec- 
tion is  maintained  at  all  times  while  the  switch  is  locked.  -This  stand  was 
designed  by  J.  W.  Thomas,  Jr.,  general  manager  of  the  road,  and  is  shown 
in  Figs.  248  and  249,  various  parts  of  the  apparatus  and  different  positions 
of  the  levers  being  denoted  by  the  sub-figures  1  to  7.  By  making  a  stiff 
connection  while  the  switch  is  being  operated,  it  must  be  thrown  home  be- 
fore the  switch  lever  can  be  latched;  and  the  stiff  connection  being  broken 
when  this  lever  is  latched,  leaves  the  switch  free  to  move  to  the  proper  posi- 
tion, against  the  Lorenz  spring,  should  a  train  trail  through  when  it  is 


514 


SWITCHING   ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


wrongly  set.  The  stand  has  two  levers  for  manipulation,,  lever  1  being  used 
to  operate  the  distant  signal.  Figure  1  is  a  rear  view.  Figure  2  is  a  side 
elevation  showing  lever  2  and  auxiliary  lever  6  in  their  normal  position. 
If  desired,  a  third  lever  can  be  added  to  operate  the  switch  target  30,  Fig.  5. 
Ordinarily,  however,  the  switch  target  is  coupled  direct  to  the  points,  as 
shown  in  the  figure.  Levers  1  and  2  are  latched  in  a  quadrant  at  4  and 
are  pivoted  at  5.  On  pin  5  is  also  pivoted  the  short  auxiliary  lever  6.  The 
lower  end  of  this  lever  is  attached  'to  the  switch  connection  at  7,  this  con- 
nection being  a  rigid  one.  When  latch  9  of  lever  2  is  raised  (Figs.  3  and  7) 
it  engages  with  notch  8  on  lever  6  and  a  rigid  connection  is  established 
between  the  ,switch  lever  and  the  switch.  If  lever  2  is  now  reversed  and 
there  should  be  an  obstruction  between  the  point  and  stock  rails  it  would  bo 
impossible  to  latch  the  lever  in  its  reversed  position.  The  lower  end  of 
lever  2  is  connected  with  the  points  by  spring  rod  14  (Fig.  5).  Should  a 
train  trail  through  the  points  while  they  are  wrongly  set  they  would  be 
moved  over  and  the  Lorenz  spring  15  would  be .  compressed ;  and  as  the 
tipper  end  of  auxiliary  lever  6  would  be  disconnected  from  latch  9  of  lever 


ng.5 


Fig.  249.—  Interlocking  Switch  and  Signal  Stand,  N.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry. 

2,  lever  6  would  be  free  to  move  and  would  assume  the  position  shown  in 
Fig.  4.  After  the  train  has  passed,  spring  15  will  force  the  switch  back  to 
its  place  and  lever  6  will  assume  its  original  position,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2. 
It  is  thus  seen  that  when  lever  2  is  latched  in  either  its  normal  or  'reversed 
position,  there  is  but  one  connection  with  the  switch;  i.  e.,  a  spring  connec- 
tion ;  but  the  moment  lever  2  is  unlatched,  there  are  two  connections  between 
the  stand  and  the  switch  —  one  a  rigid  or  stiff  connection  and  the  other  a 
spring  connection. 

Levers  1  and  2  are  interlocked  by  means  of  pointed  pin  10,  Figs.  1  and 
7.  Each  lever  has  a  countersunk  hole  into  which  pin  10  engages,  it  being  so 
arranged  that  it  is  impossible  to  move  lever  2  from  its  nomal  position  until 
lever  1  is  fully  reversed,  the  reversal  of  lever  1  putting  the  distant  switch 
signal  at  caution,  showing  that  the  switch  is  either  unlocked  ot  set  for  the 
siding.-  The  starting  of  lever  2  from  its  normal  position  crowds  over  pin 
10  and  locks  lever  1  in  its  reversed  position,  the  lever  remaining  so  locked 
until  lever  2  is  latched  in  its  normal  position  again.  To  prevent  the  levers 
from  being  handled  by  unauthorized  persons,  they  are  provided  with  slots, 
18  and  IS',  through  which  passes  a  key  19  (Fig.  1)  having  the  necessary 


SWITCH   PROTECTION 


515 


chain  and  lock.  The  distant  signal  shown  in  Fig.  6  is  used  with  this  stand. 
The  bottom  casting  25  is  bolted  to  the  foundation  and  the  target  shaft  is 
attached  to  top  casting  26.  This  casting  is  provided  with  arms  27  and  28, 
to  which  the  front  and  back  wires  are  attached.  Both  castings  have  in- 
clined surfaces,  the  lower  part  of  26  fitting  into  25,,  so  as  to  act  as  a  guide 
for  the  lower  end  of  the  target  shaft.  Should  the  wire  break,  casting  26, 
target  shaft  and  target  drop  of  their  own  weight,  the  inclined  surfaces  re- 
volving the  target  a  quarter  of  a  turn,  thus  making  the  signal  automatic, 
in  that  is  goes  to  caution  if  the  connections  holding  it  to  safety  are  broken. 


i  i 


.    Fig.  250.— Switch  Stand  with  Lever  for  Distant  Signal,  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  Ry. 

The  protection  of  high-speed  trains  against  the  misplacement  of  fac- 
ing-point switches  on  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.  is  by 
a  distant  semaphore  worked  by  a  lever  attachment  to  the  ordinary  switch 
stand,  arranged  to  be  interlocked  with  the  switch  points.  The  standard 
switch  stand  of  the  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  Ey.  consists  of  a  cast-iron  frame  support- 
ing a  vertical  shaft,  with  a  horizontal  lever  throwing  180  deg.  for  a  single 
movement  of  the  switch  (Fig.  250).  The  banner  or  target  of  this  stand  is 
of  ordinary  pattern,  consisting  of  a  rectangular  blade  painted  red  to  show 
the  position  of  the  switch  when  set  for  the  siding,  and  a  circular  blade 
painted  white  to  show  the  position  of  the  switch  when  set  for  main  track. 
The  rod  for  the  target  is  separate  from  the  main  shaft  of  the  stand  or  that 
which  is  connected  with  the  switch  points,  and  is  made  to  turn  through  the 
necessary  90  deg.  by  being  connected  with  the  switch  stand  lever  by  a  slot- 
ted crank  (E,  Fig.  252).  The  arrangement  for  throwing  the  distant  signal 
consists  of  a  lever  (B,  Fig.  250)  pivoted  to  a  casting  bolted  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  stand,  and  a  locking  bar  or  lever  (A,  Fig.  252)  lying  horizontally 
on  top  of  the  stand  and  centered  on  the  target  rod.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
signal  lever  there  is  a  sector-shaped  arm  of  8J  ins.  radius  which  engages 
with  a  notch  on  a  locking  bar  connected  with  the  switch  points  when  the 
switch  is  closed  for  main  line  and  locked.  The  point  rails  are  thus  locked 
in  position  by  two  devices;  namely,  by  the  switch  stand  itself  and  by  the 
signal  lever;  and  the  signal  lever  is  in  turn  locked  in  position  by  the  hori- 


516 


SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS   AND   APPLIANCES 


zontal  locking  lever,  which  is  secured  by  a  padlock.  The  locking  lever  ar- 
rangement is  shown  in  detail  in  Fig.  252.  The  upper  engraving  shows  the 
position  of  the  parts  when  the  switch  is  set  for  main  track  and  all  levers 
locked.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  first  movement  possible  in  the  order 
of  the  locking  is  that  of  the  locking  lever  A,  but  before  the  switch  stand 
lever  can  be  thrown  the  switch  points  must  first  be  unlocked  by  throwing 
the  signal  lever  B.  The  position  of  the  signal  lever  corresponding  to  the 
danger  or  "caution"  position  of  the  distant  semaphore  is  shown  in  the  lower 
engraving  of  Fig.  252  and  in  Fig.  250.  The  normal  position  of  this  lever 
is  shown  in  Fig.  251.  In  starting  to  close  the  switch  the  signal  cannot  be 
cleared  until  the  switch  points  have  been  thrown  to  the  home  position, 
bringing  the  notch  of  the  locking  bar  of  the  switch  points  opposite  the  sec- 
tor arm  of  the  signal  lever,  and  the  pin  cannot  be  inserted  (Hf  Fig.  252) 
for  locking  the  stand  without  first  moving  the  locking  lever  to  secure  the 
signal  lever  in  the  normal  position.  The  arrangement  is  simple  and  sub- 
stantially designed.  The  parts  are  all  of  malleable  cast  iron,  and  are  bolted 


Fig.  251. 


Fig.  252. 


in  position  without  changing  the  old  stand  as  it  is  found  in  service  and  with- 
out taking  the  old  stand  down.  The  connection  between  the  switch  stand 
and  the  distant  signal  is  made  either  by  means  of  wire  or  by  pipe  limv 
the  latter  arrangement  being  the  one  shown  in  Fig.  250. 

There  are  several  designs  of  interlocking  stands  other  than  those  clo- 
" scribed  hitherto.  The  G-ibbs  stand  resembles  very  much  in  general  appear- 
ance the  ordinary  upright  stand  with  closed  frame.  The  connecting  rod  is 
not  actuated  directly,  as  by  a  crank  of  common  form,  but  by  a  "motion 
plate," which  is  essentially  a  horizontally-operated  cam.  On  one  side  of 
this  cam  there  is  a  segment  of  a  gear  wheel  with  17  teeth,  which  engages 
with  a  grooved  gear  wheel,  around  which  a  chain  is  passed  and  connected 
to  the  signal  wires.  Starting  from  the  closed  position  of  the  switch,  the 
gears  engage  and  move  the  signal  to  danger  during  the  early  part  of  the 
throw,  but  the  cam  does  not  operate  the  connecting  rod  to  move  the  switch. 
During  the  later  part  of  the  throw  the  gears  disengage  and  the  connecting 
rod  is  moved  by  the  cam.  In  closing  the  switch  the  reverse  order  of  movement 
obtains  and  the  switch  is  moved  entirely  home  before  the  gears  engage  10 
clear  the  signal.  In  the  Allentown  Rolling  Mill  Co.  interlocked  switch  stand 


SWITCH   PROTECTION  517 

there  are  two  levers  attached  to  an  upright  frame :  one  to  work  the  distant 
signal  and  the  other  the  switch  and  home  signal,  the  latter  being  carried  by 
the  stand.  Both  signals  are  semaphore  blades  of  the  common  pattern.  One 
01  the  levers  takes  the  form  of  a  T-crank,  with  the  signal  wires  attached  to 
the  two  arms.  The  two  levers  are  interlocked  by  a  vertical  sliding  bar 
which  abuts  against  an  arc  on  the  top  of  the  T-arm  of  the  distant  signal 
lever.  The  switch  lever  is  engaged  with  this  sliding  bar,,  and  as  soon  as  the 
distant  signal  lever  has  been  thrown  to  the  danger  position  the  bar  is  re- 
leased, permitting  the  switch  lever  to  be  thrown  up,  thereby  pulling  down 
the  sliding  bar  and  hoisting  the  home  signal  blade,  to  which  the  sliding  bar 
is  attached.  This  movement  locks  the  distant  signal  lever,  which  cannot  be 
thrown  to  clear  that  signal  until  after  the  switch  has  been  closed,  the  slid- 
ing bar  raised  and  the  home  signal  cleared. 

The  Elliott  electrically-locked  switch  stand,  designed  by  Mr.  W.  H. 
Elliott,  signal  engineer  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.,  is  ar- 
ranged to  put  the  control  of  the  switch  in  charge  of  a  telegraph  or  signal 
operator  at  any  distance  away,  enabling  him  to  prevent  the  use  of  the  switch 
within  a  desired  time  interval  previous  to  the  arrival  of  a  main-line  train 
or  to  prevent  a  train  from  leaving  a  siding  or  branch  line  whenever  it  is 
desirable  to  hold  it.  The  principal  feature  is  an  electro-magnet  which  ]ocks 
a  slide  controlling  a  lock  rod  or  plunger  which  passes  through  a  lock  bar 
attached  to  the  switch  points.  Unless  the  magnet  is  energized  the  rod  can- 
rot  be  withdrawn  and  the  switch  opened.  Upon  opening  the  switch  the 
current  in  the  circuit  is  broken  and  an  indication  is  given  in  the  distant 
telegraph  office  or  signal  cabin.  Upon  closing  the  switch  the  circuit  is 
again  made  and  the  proper  indication  given  at  the  distant  point.  The  switch 
lever  cannot  be  placed  in  its  normal  position  and  locked  tmless  the  lock  rod 
drops  to  its  proper  position  through  the  lock  bar,  thus  insuring  that  the 
points  have  been  thrown  entirely  home  when  the  indication  is  received  that 
the  switch  has  been  closed.  At  the  back  of  the  switch  stand  there  is  a  box 
with  a  glass-covered  opening,  in  which  is  an  indicator  to  show  when  the 
lever  which  lifts  the  lock  rod  has  been  released. 

Switches  thrown  by  ordinary  stands  are  sometimes  controlled  by  a 
lock  operated  from  an  interlocking  tower  in  the  vicinity,  and  this  lock  is 
interlocked  with  a  distant  signal  also  operated  from  the  tower.  With  such 
means  of  protection  the  distant  signal  must  be  put  to  danger  before  the 
main  track  can  be  opened.  Where  automatic  electric  block  signals  are  in 
service  the  connections  are  such  that  the  opening  of  a  switch  sets  the  home 
and  distant  signals  controlling  the  block  to  danger  and  caution,  respec- 
tively. The  arrangement  consists  of  a  circuit  breaker  connected  with  the 
switch  points  by  means  of  a  rod  and  crank  and  enclosed  in  a  cast  iron  casing 
01  box  which  is  lag-screwed  to  the  headblock.  This  device  is  commonly 
known  as  a  "switch  box"  or  "switch  instrument,"  and  is- in  circuit  with  the 
electrically-operated  signal  at  the  entrance  to  the  block,  or  is  cut  into  the 
track  circuit.  To  make  doubly  sure  that  the  signal  will  go  to  danger  when 
the  switch  is  opened,  both  the  track  circuit  and  the  signal  circuit  are  some- 
times run  through  the  switch  box.  The  track  circuit  is  also  carried  through 
the  rails  of  the  side-track  as  far  as  the  fouling  point,  so  that  the  signal 
will  show  danger  until  cars  are  entirely  clear  of  the  main  line,  even  though 
the  switch  is  closed.  The  opening  of  either  switch  of  a  main-track  crossover 
puts  the  signals  at  stop  in  both  directions.  It  is  now  extensively  the  prac- 
tice, with  switches  located  in  the  middle  of  a  block  or  some  distance  from 
a  block  signal,  to  place  a  visible  or  audible  indicator  at  the  switch,  so  that 
trainmen  may  know,  before  opening  the  switch,  whether  a  train  has  passed 


518  SWITCHING  ARRANGEMENTS  AND  APPLIANCES 

the  signal  controlling  the  block,  or  rather  a  point  1000  ft.  or  some  safe- 
distance  in  advance  of  that  signal. 

The  switch  box  is  also  used,  sometimes,,  with  facing-point  switches 
where  block  signals  are  not  in  service.  The  throwing  of  the  switch  opens  a 
line  circuit  and  brings  the  distant  signal  to  the  danger  position.  In  some 
installations,  as  above  explained,  the  connection  between  the  switch  box  and 
the  distant  signal  is  through  a  track  circuit  and  relay,  in  such  manner 
that  the  throwing  of  the  switch,  in  addition  to  opening  the  circuit  of  the  line 
wires  connecting  with  the  signal,  shunts  the  battery  from  the  relay,  thereby 
de-energizing  the  relay  and  opening  the  circuit  there.  By  this  arrange- 
ment the  circuit  is  opened  at  two  points,  namely  at  the  relay  and  at  the 
switch  box,  thus  making  the  operation  of  the  signal  doubly  sure.  On  the 
Fitchburg  E.  E.  it  has  been  arranged  with  installations  of  this  kind  to  have 
the  track  circuit  control  a  lock  on  the  lever  of  the  switch  stand,  so  that 
after  a  train  passes  the  distant  signal  at  clear  and  enters  the  track-circuit 
section,  the  switch  cannot  be  thrown  until  the  train  has  passed  the  switch. 

On  some  divisions  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis- 
Ey.,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  E.  E.,  and  on  some  other  roads,  interlocking 
machines  are  installed  at  block  signal  towers  to  work  the  switches  of  cross- 
overs and  passing  sidings.  These  towers  are  usually  located  at  such  sidings, 
and  by  putting  the  control  of  the  switches  in  charge  of  the  towerman  the 
trainmen  are  relieved  of  the  duty  of  handling  the  switches.  The  arrange- 
ment saves  time,  and,  as  the  switches  are  interlocked  with  distant  signals, 
the  safety  of  the  train  operation  is  unmistakably  promoted.  The  inter- 
locking plant  at  each  tower  is  usually  small,  there  being  but  a  few  switches 
under  control,  so  that  the  extra  duty  imposed  upon  the  tower  operators  is 
not  at  all  burdensome. 

The  practice  of  arranging  distant  switch  signals  varies  with  the  condi- 
tions and  the  requirements  to  be  met.  On  double  track  a  single  facing-point 
switch  needs  protection  in  one  direction  only,  and  usually  there  are  but  the 
home  and  distant  signals,  although,  as  instanced,  an  intervening  signal  is 
sometimes  provided.  On  single  track,  signals  in  both  directions  are  some- 
times provided :  but  if  for  only  one  direction,  that  for  trains  which  approach 
facing  the  switch  is  of  course  the  one  chosen.  If  the  switch  be  at  a  junction, 
signals  would  evidently  be  displayed  on  both  tracks.  Derails  in  side-tracks 
may  be  interlocked  with  the  main  switch  and  signals  and  a  dwarf  signal 
interlocked  with  the  rest  may  be  used  to  indicate  the  position  of  the  derail. 
For  a  facing-point  crossover  on  double  track  signals  would  be  displayed  in 
both  directions  and  the  stand  may  be  placed  midway  the  crossover,  so  as  to 
thrnw  both  switches.  On  single  track  where  there  are  two  switches  near 
together,  but  facing  in  opposite  directions,  signals  must  be  displayed  in  both 
directions;  and  these  may  be  arranged  so  that  the  throwing  of  either  switch 
moves  both  signals.  Two  distant  signals  can  also  be  made  to  serve  a  cross- 
over  on  double  track  and  a  near-by  siding  on  one  of  the  tracks,  the  arrange- 
ment being  to  have  the  movement  of  any  one  or  all  of  the  switches  throw 
the  proper  signal  or  signals.  Where  ground-lever  interlocking  machines 
are  provided  it  is  usual  to  have  a  lever  for  each  switch  and  each  signal,  the 
locking  being  so  arranged  that  each  lever  can  be  thrown  only  in  its  proper 
order.  It  is  feasible,  however,  to  connect  two  switches  or  two  signals  to- 
each  lever. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

t 

TRACK  MAINTENANCE. 

85.  Raising  and  Tamping  Low  Track. — The  expense  of  keeping 
track  in  smooth  surface,  commonly  called  "surfacing,"  is  greater  than  that 
of  any  other  item  of  track  maintenance.  The  exact,  or  even  approximate, 
ratio  of  the  cost  of  surfacing  to  the  average  expense  of  track  maintenance, 
in  general,  is  a  difficult  matter  to  get  at;  and  figures  bearing  on  the  subject- 
obtained  from  a  single  road  or  railway  system  are  not  a  satisfactory  cri- 
terion, because  varying  roadbed  conditions  and  qualities  of  ballast  are  para- 
mount considerations,  and  different  companies  have  different  ideas  as  to  the 
relative  amount  which  should  be  expended  on  appearances,  such  as  policing, 
landscape  gardening,  etc.  Keports  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion show  that  the  expense  of  track  maintenance  averages  15.67  per  cent 
of  the  total  operating  expenses  of  railways.  The  ratio  of  these  two  accounts 
has  remained  very  nearly  constant  from  year  to  year.  The  average  expense 
of  "repairs  of  roadway"  is  10.66  per  cent  of  the  total  operating  expenses,  or 
68  per  cent  of  the  total  expense  of  track  maintenance,  the  ratio  of  the  ac- 
counts also  remaining  very  nearly  constant  (remarkably  so)  from  year  to 
year.  In  the  classification  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  the 
account  "repairs  of  roadway"  covers  all  expense  of  maintaining  the  track 
and  right  of  way  except  cost  of  material  in  renewals  of  rails,  cost  of  material 
in  renewals  of  ties,  repairs  and  renewals  of  fences,  road  crossings,  signs 
and  cattle  guards.  It  should  be  noted  that  repairs  and  renewals  of  culverts 
is  not  included  in  the  above  statement,  that  item  being  classified  with  re- 
pairs and  renewals  of  bridges.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  segregate  the  item 
of  track  surfacing  from  other  matters  included  in  the  account  "repairs  of 
roadway"  in  the  reports  of  the  Commission.  It  is  certain,  however,  that 
the  expense  of  surfacing  constitutes  a  very  large  share  of  the  account 
"repairs  of  roadway,"  and,  being  the  chief  matter  in  maintenance  expense, 
it  must  relatively  receive  a  great  deal  of  attention. 

Estimates  on  the  expense  of  surfacing  track,  and  figures  commonly  re- 
ported from  individual  roads,  run  from  $95  to  about  $210  per  mile  of 
track  annually.  Some  roads  handling  light  traffic  on  track  ballasted  with 
earth,  sand  or  other  poor  material  expend  a  good  deal  of  money  on  track 
surface,  the  account  sometimes  running  as  high  as  150  to  170  days'  labor 
per  mile  of  track  per  year.  On  roads  of  heavy  traffic,  operating  under 
average  conditions  of  'roadbed  and  track,  the  figures  are  not  so  variable, 
and  in  view  of  the  dearth  of  information  on  the  subject  in  publications 
of  general  circulation,  I  have  gone  to  considerable  pains  to  investigate.  The 
accompanying  tabulation  has  been  compiled  from  the  records  of  eleven 
railroads  or  divisions  of  the  same,  the  road  in  every  case  being  ballasted 
with  gravel  and  the  track  surface  maintained  in  first-class  condition.  The 
figures  cover  only  one  item,  namely  the  expense  of  raising  and  tamping 
old  track  to  maintain  it  in  surface.  The  expense  of  lining  track,  reballast- 
ing  or  shimming  is  not  included  in  any  case.  Five  of  the  roads  (A,  B,  D, 
G  and  J)  are  double-track  lines,  but  the  expense  figure  in  each  case  refers 
to  one  mile  of  single  track,  and  the  traffic  data  refer  to  the  train  movements 


520 


TRACK  MAINTENANCE 


over  one  track;  or  in  one  direction  only,  in  the  case  of  the  double-track 
roads.  The  data  in  every  case  covers  only  main  track  and  main  line,  no 
branch-line  track  being  included.  The  roads,  except  Eoad  C,  are  generally 
distributed  over  the  northern  part  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Kocky 
Mountains,  where  the  ground  is  frozen  during  three  or  four  months  of  the 
year.  Eoad  C  is  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  being  part  of  an  "Overland"  route, 
and  the  track  is  tamped  during  every  month  of  the  year.  The  train  move- 
ments in  each  case  include  both  passenger  and  freight  business,  and  ^the 
tonnage  covers  the  weight  of  rolling  stock  and  freight,  including  locomo- 
tives and  cars  of  passenger  trains.  The  .20  movements  of  Eoad  C  include 
12  passenger  trains;  the  24  of  Eoad  E,  8  passenger  trains;  the  36  of  Eoad 
F,  6  passenger  trains  and  the  16  of  Eoad  H,  4  passenger  trains.  In  the 
other  cases  the  number  of  trains  of  each  class  is  not  stated,  but  Eoads  B,  D 
and  Gr  carry  a  good  many  suburban  passenger  trains.  In  most  instances  the 
figures  on  the  various  items  are  average  data  covering  a  series  of  years. 

Yearly  Expense  of  Raising  and  Tamping   Track. 


Weight 

Average 

Average 

Average 

of 

No.  Trains 

Tonnage 

Expense 

Road 

Rail 

24  Hours 

24  Hours 

pe.r  Mile 

Remarks 

A 

80 

38 

41,600 

$142,25 

201  Miles 

B 

90 

75 

58,000 

$160.20 

149  Miles 

0 

61 

20 

13,800 

$144.00 

60  Miles 

D 

75 

41 

32,900 

$126.48 

One    Division 

E 

74 

24 

18,000 

$150.00 

One  Division 

F 

80 

36 

28,400 

$174.41 

171  Miles 

G 

75  &  85 

90 

$125  00 

OTIP  T)ivi^ifvn 

H 

72 

16 

20,600 

$140.73 

147  Miles 

I 

80 

Heavv 

Traffic 

$171.50 

One  Division 

J 

75&80 

Heavy 

Traffic 

$157.14 

578.8  Miles 

K 

70 

Heavy 

Traffic 

$172.50 

One  Division 

Averages 

42 

30,500 

$151.29 

The  wages  entering  into  the  expense  data  average  about  $1.25  per 
day  for  track  laborers  and  $1.90  to  $2.00  per  day  for  foremen.  The  remark- 
able showing  of  Eoad  G,  under  the  heavy  traffic  handled,  is  not  due  to  low 
wages,  for  the  track  laborers  have  been  paid  $1.50  per  day  for  some  years. 
The  data  of  this  tabulation  seem  to  show  roughly,  at  least,  that  the  average 
cost  of  raising  and  tamping  track  to  maintain  surface  on  heavy-traffic 
gravel-ballasted  roads  is  roundly  $150  per  mile  per  year,  the  actual  average 
being  $151.29.  The  traffic  data  averages  42  trains,  with  a  tonnage  of 
30,500  every  24  hours,  or  10  to  11  million  tons  annually. 

In  the  present  connection  it  is  pertinent  to  explain  that  the  term 
"heavy  traffic,"  as  generally  understood,  refers  to  number  of  train  move- 
ments and  not  necessarily  to  car-load  weights  or  weight  of  trains  or  of  loco- 
motives. The  International  Eailway  Congress  in  denning  this  term  has 
drawn  the  line  between  heavy  and  light  traffic  at  10,000  trains  over  each 
track  annually:  that  is,  a  track  carrying  27  or  more  trains  each  24  hours, 
or  a  double- track  road  carrying  that  many  trains  each  way,  is  a  e ' heavy 
traffic"  line.  For  the  use  of  maintenance  of  way  engineers  the  definition 
of  the  term  should  convey  some  idea  of  the  train  tonnage.  In  the  absence 
of  any  established  standard  I  would  suggest  that  6  million  tons  or  more, 
(including  weight  of  rolling  stock)  passing  over  a  track  annually,  or  an 


RAISING  AND  TAMPING   LOW  TRACK  521 

average  of  17,000  tons  or  more  passing  daily,  might  be  considered  "heavy 
traffic/' 

The  forces  which  participate  in  disturbing  track  surface  are  the  nat- 
ural ones  due  to  the  weather,  such  as  the  effects  of  precipitation  and  freez- 
ing, and  mechanical  forces  which  result  from  the  operation  of  rolling  stock. 
In  well  drained  and  well  ballasted  track  the  last  named  are  the  more 
important  for  consideration.  The  tendency  of  track  to  settle  may  perhaps 
be  best  understood  by  comparing  its  foundation  with  that  of  an  ordinary 
building  structure.  In  the  latter  case  the  masonry  wall  is  laid  in  an  exca- 
vation reaching  to  a  firm  sub-stratum.  The  load  per  square  foot  which  earth 
foundations  of  this  kind  are  supposed  to  sustain  without  appreciable  set- 
tlement is  2  to  3  tons,  at  the  most,  but  generally  it  is  not  more  than  one  ton. 
Except  in  cuts,  the  ordinary  bed  for  track  is  either  the  top  surface  of  the 
ground  or  loose  material  or  soil  deposited  thereon,  and  always  subject  to 
the  action  of  atmospheric  conditions,  barring  what  protection  the  ballast 
may  afford.  The  ballast,  however,  is  part  of  the  track  support,  and  the  de- 
gree to  which,  the  various  kinds  and  qualities  of  the  same  are  susceptible  to 
the  effects  of  weather  conditions  has  already  been  pointed  out.  It  is  thus 
seen  that  track  foundation  o'r  roadbed  bears  no  comparison  to  building 
foundations  for  stability,  and  in  years  will  settle  of  its  own  weight.  As  for 
ballast,  it  is  at  best  put  under  the  track  in  loose  condition,  and  it  is  only  by 
settling  that  it  can  become  reasonably  compact.  But  consider  the  load 
which  the  roadbed  must  sustain.  In  the  case  of  a  locomotive  concentrating 
100  tons  on  a  wheel  base  of  25  ft.  the  load  will  be  distributed  over  a  length 
of.  say,  30  ft.  of  track,  or  over  16  ties,  which  afford  a  bearing  surface  of  96 
sq.  ft.  or  less.  The  roadbed  or  ballast  directly  underneath  the  ties  must  then 
bear  up  quite  one  ton  per  square  foot — and  this  with  all  the  tremor  and 
shock  that  comes  from  rapidly  moving  trains.  It  cannot  be  expected,  there- 
fore, that  track  laid  on  the  natural  surface  or  on  fills  will  not  settle,  and  all 
talk  about  perfect  roadbed  is  idle.  As  the  track  must  follow  the  settlement 
of  the  earth,  which  nearly  always  takes  place  more  or  less  unevenly,  the 
occasion  for  raising  and  tamping  stretches  of  track  from  time  to  time  is 
readily  understood  and  requires  no  further  comment. 

It  seems  likely  that  a  very  large  part  of  the  wear  and  tear  to  track  must 
result  from  locomotive  operation  alone,  owing  to  the  magnitude  of  the  wheel 
loads  and  to  the  driving  or  reciprocating  impulse,  and  no  doubt  the  cause 
for  irregular  surface  is  traceable  to  the  same  source  in  similar  degree.  In 
the  matter  of  wheel  pressure  effect  upon  the  track  it  would  seem  that  the 
type  or  class  of  locomotive  is  of  some  consequence,  for  it  is  true  that,  as 
a  rule,  the  locomotives  with  heavest  driving-wheel  loads  are  the  ones  that 
make  the  fastest  speeds.  An  investigation  of  the  weights  of  different  classes 
of  locomotives  built  during  the  years  1900  to  1902,  inclusive,  by  30  represen- 
tative railways  of  the  country,  found  the  average  weight  per  driver  of  4-driv- 
er  engines  to  be  11.1  tons;  the  average  per  driver  for  6-driver  engines  (ex- 
cluding switching  engines)  was  10.7  tons,  and  for  8-driver  engines  it  was 
10.4  tons.  Five  years  previously  the  average  was  9.8,  8.8  and  8.3  tons  for  4~ 
driver,  6-driver  and  8-driver  engines,  respectively.  Heavy  4-driver  passen- 
ger locomotives  are  undoubtedly  the  most  severe  on  track  surface,  and  the 
growing  practice  of  putting  10-wheel  engines  into  passenger  service  is  in 
line  with  improvement  in  this  respect.  Consolidation  and  mastodon  loco- 
motives, which  have  eight  driving  wheels,  are  supposably  the  easiest  on 
track  surface.  While  it  might  be  thought  that  a  given  number  of  driver 
loads  of  stated  weights  should  produce  a  greater  pressure  effect  than  a 
smaller  number  of  somewhat  heavier  loads,  it  ,must  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion that  as  the  number  of  drivers  decrease  the  distance  between  wheel  cen- 


522  TRACK  MAINTENANCE 

ters  increases ;  and  that  the  severity  of  loads  on  the  track  is  augmented  by 
the  distance  between  the  points  of  application,'  since  the  upward  flexure  of 
the  rail  between  the  wheels  permits  of  an  uneven  distribution  of  the  load 
over  its  proportionate  length  of  track.  It  would  seem,  for  example,,  that  10 
Ions  bearing  on  the  rail  at  each  of  two  points  84-  ft.  apart  should  depress 
the  track  farther  than  40  tons  evenly  distributed  at  four  points  along  14 
or  15  ft.  of  rail.  The  work  of  Mr.  P.  H.  Dudley  in  measuring  rail  stresses 
with  his  "stremmatograph."  shows  that  as  the  number  of  driving  wheels 
is  increased  or  the  wheel  spacing  decreased  the  stresses  in  the  rails  are  less 
per  ton  of  driver  load.  It  is  understood,  of  course,,  that  volume  of  traffic, 
as  well  as  weight  of  rolling  stock,  is  a  factor  of  track  disturbance.  As  a 
matter  of  illustration,  the  track  in  general  service  a  decade  ago  might  be  con- 
sidered quite  safe  for  the  heavy  locomotives  and  car-loads  of  to-day,  and 
might  stand  up  satisfactorily  under  traffic  consisting  of  a  few  train  move- 
ments each  day,  but  under  the  numerous  movements  of  a  heavy-traffic 
load  it  would  be  found  too  light  for  economical  maintenance. 

About  the  first  work,  then,  which  must  be  done  after  new  track  has 
been  used,  in  order  to  restore  it  to  its  original  condition,  is  to  raise 
the  low  places  to  an  even  surface  with  the  whole  and  hold  it  there  by  tamp- 
ing. This  work  is  unceasable,  for  stretches  of  track  will  not  usually  remain 
in  good  surface  longer  than  a  few  weeks  or  months  at  a  time.  It  may 
and  should  be  prosecuted  at  all  seasons  when  the  condition  of  the  ballast 
will  permit,  continuing  as  long  as  possible  before  the  ground  freezes,  to 
get  the  track  in  good  condition  for  winter,  when  the  only  way  to  do  surfac- 
ing is  by  shimming.  The  urgency  of  other  work  will  engage  the  attention 
of  the  section  men  at  times,  but  the  foreman  should  be  continually  watch- 
ing for  rough  places  in  the  track  surface.  The  extent  to  which  unevenness 
may  be  permitted  in  track  surface  depends,  for  the  most  part,  on  the  de- 
gree of  comfort  which  the  company  expects  to  afford  its  passengers.  The 
rate  of  wear  and  tear  to  rolling  stock  increases  very  rapidly  with  roughness  in 
track  surface,  and  the  schedules  of  the  fast  trains  and  the  reputation  of  the 
road  will  be  determined  very  largely  from  the  ease  of  riding  in  the  cars.  It 
is  for  this  reason  that  some  railway  managers  with  an  eye  to  business  are 
most  particular  about  the  track  surface  on  those  portions  of  the  line  which 
cover  the  dining  car  runs,  aiming  to  keep  that  much  of  the  track  in  smooth 
condition  whether  or  not  the  whole  road  can  be  maintained  to  the  same 
standard.  Very  rough  track  become  dangerous,  especially  on  curves,  and 
when  track  gets  run  down  the  curves  are  the  places  needing  first  attention. 
When  the  surface  on  curves  becomes  so  uneven  that  the  bell  will  ring  from 
side  swaying  of  the  locomotive,  it  is  high  time  to  get  action  on  repairs,  but 
of  course  track  should  never  be  permitted  to  get  into  any  such  condition. 

It  is  not  expected  to  maintain  old  track  exactly  to  the  rail  grade  stakes 
to  which  it  was  put  wThen  new ;  there  could  be  no  particular  object  in  so 
doing,  except  perhaps  for  short  distances  each  way  from  bridges  or  wher- 
ever there  are  foundations  so  permanent  as  to  show  too  great  contrast 
with  ordinary  earthwork  regarding  settlement.  If  a  piece  of  track,  say  -J 
mile  in  length,  settled  from  the  original  grade  stakes  evenly  1  in.  at  all 
places  it  woujd  be  wasteful  of  time  and  effort  to  raise  it  again  to  the  old 
stakes.  What  is  meant  by  maintaining  track  to  surface  is  to  hold  it  to  a 
smooth  and  even  surface,  but  not  necessarily  to  the  original  surface  or 
grade  line.  Many  foremen  make  a  mistake  in  this.  They  have  an  idea, 
somehow,  that  track  must  continually  be  ' 'tamped  up;"  and  so  they  keep 
it  going  on  upward.  In  case  they  find  a  few  low  joints  or  rails  they  raise 
"out  of  face"  the  whole  stretch  of  track  in  the  vicinity,  instead  of  merely 
raising  the  low  places  even  with  the  general  surface.  As  track  settles  with 


RAISING  AND  TAMPING  LOW  TRACK  523- 

and  into  the  ballast  the  bed  hardens,,  and  as"  far  as  it  settles  evenly  it  should 
be  permitted  to  remain;  for  it  is  in  this  condition  that  it  can  be  held  to* 
good  surface  at  least  expense.  As  a  general  thing  there  is  too  much  rais- 
ing track  out  of  face.  Much  needless  expenditure  and  much  inferior  track 
surface  result  from  continually  disturbing  the  embedment  at  points  where- 
there  is  no  necessity  for  raising  the  track.  There  must,  of  course,,  be  ex- 
cepted  in  these  remarks  all  reference  to  such  track  as  did  not  have  at  the 
first  a  sufficient  quantity  of  ballast,  and  to  sags  in  the  track  due  to  the  settle- 
ment of  new  roadbed.  Where  now  and  then  a  rail  or  two  has  settled  there 
will  be  places  which,  relatively,  look  high.  If  these  high  places  stand 
at  about  the  same  surface  or  grade,  the  low  places  should  be  lifted  up- 
evenly  with  them,  but  the  high  places  should  not  be  raised.  This  is  the  only 
economical  way  to  maintain  track  in  smooth  surface.  Many  times  it  is 
cheaper  and  better  in  every  way  to  cut  down  portions  of  the  track  which 
have  settled  less  than  the  rest  than  it  is  to  raise  the  whole  to  an  even  sur- 
face with  the  highest.  In  the  case  referred  to,  if  the  whole  -J  mile  of  track 
had  settled  evenly  one  inch,  except  at  two  or  three  places  of  only  a  rail  or 
two  in  length,  it  would  seem  like  using  better  judgment  to  cut  down  the  few 
high  places  an  inch  than  to  raise  several  hundred  feet  of  track  an  inch  to 
conform  to  them.  Under  overhead  structures  where  the  headroom  is  near 
the  limit  of  clearance  the  general  surface  of  track  should  not  be  raised  with- 
out permission  from  the  engineer  in  charge.  Matters  of  this  kind  are  usually 
governed  by  the  printed  rules  of  the  road  department.  As  already  inti- 
mated, the  surface  of  track  on  curves  should  be  looked  after  with  particular 
care,  for  the  reason  that  a  low  place  on  the  outer  rail  of  a  curve  or  a  high 
place  on  the  inner  rail  causes  a  lurch  which  acts  with  the  centrifugal  force 
in  swinging  or  throwing  the  car. 

To  bring  to  an  even  surface  track  which  is  low  for  a  rail  length  or  less, 
much  depends  upon  the  point  at  which  the  rail  is  raised.  Generally  the 
jack  or  lever  should  be  placed  under  that  portion  of  the  rail  which  has- 
settleel  the  most ;  or  else  near  the  lowest  place  and  toward  that  side  which 
has  settled  the  farthest  away  from  the  lowest  place.  To  explain  the  latter 
point,  suppose  that  a  joint  has  settled  lower  than  any  other  point  along  the 
rail,  but  on  one  side  of  the  joint  the  rail  suddenly  dips  down  in  a  distance 
of  3  or  4  ft,,  while  the  rail  on  the  other  side  of  the  joint  has  settled  all 
the  way  gradually  over  a  distance  of  about  10  ft.  Then  in  raising  that  joint, 
a  single  lift  at  a  point  2  or  3  ft.  to  one  side  of  the  joint  may  raise  the 
whole  low  portion  evenly,  where  otherwise  the  quarter  would  have  sagged. 
The  same  thing  may  be  observed  in  raising  a  rail  near  the  middle,  or  "cen- 
ter," as  it  is  usually  called.  Sometimes  after  a  rail  has  been  raised  by  lift- 
ing with  the  jack  set  at  this  point,  it  appears  to  hump  up  on  one  side  of 
the  jack,  while  on  the  other  side  it  sags  down.  If  it  were  not  for  the  hump 
the  sagged  portion  could  be  raised  satisfactorily  afterward;  but  by  letting 
go  and  shifting  the  jack  a  few  feet  toward,  the  sagged  portion  the  weight 
of  more  tics  hanging  to  the  humped  portion  will  pull  it  down,  and  the 
whole  stretch  may  be  brought  up  evenly ;  otherwise,  had  a  tie  been  tamped 
to  hold  the  place  first  raised,  the  sagged  portion  would  then  have  to  be 
raised,  and  the  lifting  might  throw  the  humped  portion  down  or  it  might 
not.  The  reason  for  the  failure  of  rails  to  rise  evenly,  sometimes,  when 
lifted  about  midway  of  the  sag,  is  because  some  part,  through  being  low, 
may  have  become  bent  by  weight  of  trains,  or  perhaps  there  might  be  a 
greater  weight  of  ballast  hanging  to  the  ties  on  one  side  of  the  jack  than 
on  the  other  side. 

While  a  rail  is  being  raised  an  experienced  trackman  can  usually  tell 
by  the  way  it  comes  up  the  most  satisfactory  way  of  holding  it.  If  on  one 


524  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

side  of  the  jack  the  rail  seems  to  rise  less  rapidly  than  on  the  other  side, 
then,,  if  instead  of  tamping  or  blocking  the  tie  adjacent  to  the  jack,  the 
second  or  third  tie  in  that  direction  be  taken,  it  may  support  more  evenJy 
the  portion  'raised  than  by  holding  a  tie  near  the  jack.  At  all  events  one 
should  try  to  take  hold  of  the  rail  at  such  points  that  it  will  lift  evenly. 
Much  of  the  success  of  surfacing  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  the 
track  is  lifted  and  held,  and  a  little  experience  will  enable  one  to  see  this 
if  some  attention  be  given  to  the  matter.  For  convenience,  the  man  sight- 
ing the  rail  may  designate  names  for  certain  portions  of  the  rail,  to  be  used 
conventionally.  In  raising  or  lining  track,  "center"  means  the  middle 
point,  or  the  portion  of  the  rail  about  15  ft.  from  a  joint.  The  term  "short 
center"  is  sometimes  understood  to  refer  to  a  portion  about  12^  ft.  from  a 
joint,  and  "long  center,"  17£  ft.  from  the  same  joint.  Likewise  "short" 
and  "long"  quarter  refer  to  portions  about  5  and  10  ft.,  respectively,  from 
the  joint.  Kails  of  60  IBs.  per  yard  and  heavier,  in  loose  ballast,  usually 
need  to  be  raised  only  at  the  joints  and  centers  in  order  to  get  them  to 
smooth  surface. 

For  a  year  or  so  after  track  has  been  built,  tamping,  in  most  all  kinds 
of  ballast  except  broken  stone  or  its  equivalent,  is  better  done  with  the 
shovel  than  with  the  tamping  bar.  Generally  there  are  sags  to  be  raised 
out  soon  after  new  track  is  used,  requiring  it  to  be  lifted  2  ins.  or  more, 
so  that  the  tamping  bar  is  not  well  adapted.  A  tamping  bar  is  efficient 
only  where  the  material  can  be  packed  into  a  confined  space.  It  is  at  its 
best  where  there  is  a  hard  bottom  and  the  lift  not  more  than  an  inch.  For 
a  lift  of  more  than  1-J  ins.,  on  any  kind  of  bottom,  it  is  better  to  allow  for 
settlement  in  raising  the  track  and  to  tamp  with  the  shovel.  For  a  lift 
of  f  in.  or  more,  in  new  track,  the  ties  should  be  tamped  all  the  way  be- 
tween the  rails,  but  as  the  space  under  the  ties  gets  shallower  the  tamp- 
ing inside  the  rail  can  be  narrowed  down  to  the  width  of  the  shovel,  and 
finally  the  tamping  inside  the  rail  can  be  dropped  altogether;  because  the 
ties  which  have  been  raised  the  least  should  settle  the  least  after  bein^ 
tamped,  and  it  is  not  necessary,  therefore,  to  tamp  so  much  of  the  tie  in 
length.  It  is  better  to  tamp  only  a  part  of  the  length  each  of  such  ties 
and  have  the  work  done  well,  than  to  leave  it  to  men  to  tamp  as  much  of 
the  tie  as  they  would  in  a  high  lift,  but  not  quite  so  well.  In  tamping 
with  the  shovel,  where  the  bed  is  not  hard,  men  should  be  careful  not  to 
dig  down  into  and  break  up  the  old  bed. 

In  old  track  where  the  bed  is  hard  and  compacted,  and  where,  with 
an  ordinary  amount  of  work  done  upon  it  the  track  does  not  generally  get 
lower  than  an  inch  before  it  is  raised,  the  tamping  bar  is  the  best  tool  for 
all  kinds  of  ballast  except  dirt  and  broken  stone.  The  ballast  filling  be- 
tween the  ties  must  be  opened  out  in  order  to  get  under  them  with  the  tamp- 
ing bar.  A  pick  is  a  good  tool  for  this  purpose,  using  the  wedge  point  to 
draw  the  ballast  outward  to  clear  the  side  of  the  tie.  Tamping  bars  are 
sometimes  made  with  a  sort  of  flattened  end  for  removing  the  ballast  from 
the  side  of  the  tie,  but  they  can  not  do  the  work  as  well  as  it  can  be  done 
with  the  pick,  nor  as  quickly.  Ties  should  be  well  opened  out  directly  un- 
der the  rail  seat,  as  it  is  important  that  they  should  be  thoroughly  tamped 
there.  If  the  lift  is  not  high,  and  particularly  if  the  ties  are  not  well 
opened  out,  men  are  quite  liable  to  neglect  the  tamping  in  this  place.  It 
requires  more  time  to  tamp  with  the  bar  than  with  the  shovel,  but  where 
the  conditions  are  favorable  to  the  use  of  the  bar  it  gives  much  better  re- 
sults than  the  shovel.  In  bar  tamping,  the  ties  need  not  be  tamped  all 
the  way  between  the  rails;  a  foot  to  18  ins.  inside  each  rail  is  usually  suf- 
ficient. The  track  will  hold  in  line  better  if  the  middle  of  the  tie  is  not 


RAISING  AND  TAMPING  LOW  TRACK  525 

tamped,  and  any  open  space  at  this  point  soon  becomes  filled  with  ballast 
jarred  or  washed  into  it.  To  prevent  rain  water  from  collecting  in  such 
places  the  space  should  be  loosely  shovel-tamped  when  the  track  is  filled  in. 
Where  the  lift  is  not  more  than  J  in.  high  the  ties  need  not  be  tamped  be- 
tween the  rails. 

In  stone  or  broken  rock  ballast  the  tamping  pick  is  the  tool  to  use  for 
tamping.  With  this  tool  it  is  possible  to  wedge  the  track  up  some  with- 
out previously  raising  it,  but  for  a  lift  of  any  consequence  it  is  better  to  first 
raise  the  track  and  not  to  try  to  do  too  much  wedging.  Stone  ballast  can 
be  most  thoroughly  tamped  where  the  lift  is  about  2  ins.,  because  if  the 
space  under  the  tie  is  too  shallow  to  admit  the  tamping  end  of  the  pick, 
or  the  pieces  of  rock  are  too  coarse  for  the  space,  the  old  bottom  must  be 
broken  up.  In  tamping  near  a  joint,  in  stone  ballast,  the  joint  tie  or  ties 
should  be  tamped  last,  as  the  tamping  usually  keeps  raising  the  track 
slightly,  and  hence  the  ties  tamped  last  are  the  ones  most  solidly  tamped. 
The  practice  of  tamping  the  outer  end  of  the  tie  and  next  to  the  rail,  inside, 
more  thoroughly  than  elsewhere,  is  observed,  the  same  as  in  gravel  bal- 
last. The  middle  of  the  tie  should  not  be  tamped  hard. 

"In  dirt  or  natural  soil  ballast  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  tamp  the  ma- 
terial to  compactness  with  any  kind  of  a  tool.  The  shovel  handle  is  rather 
better  than  the  shovel  blade,  as  it  makes  a  better  rammer.  When  :  tamp- 
ing in  dirt  ballast  much  allowance  should  be  made  for  settlement.  A  pret- 
ty good  way  to  handle  low  track  in  this  material  is  to  raise  the  track  3  or  4 
ins.  and  throw  the  dirt  under  loosely  to  fill  the  space,  being  careful  not  to 
get  too  much  under  the  middle  of  the  ties,  for  fear  of  center-binding  them 
when  they  settle.  While  this  method  may  seem  like  a  rather  careless  way 
of  handling  track,  still,  if  done  right,  and  only  in  advance  of  slow-speed 
trains,  there  is  no  danger.  One  way  of  going  about  this  work  systematic- 
ally, so  as  to  get  the  right  quantity  of  material  under  each  tie  to  afford  an 
.even  bearing,  is  to  follow  a  method  in  practice  with  Koadmaster  J.  C.  Rock- 
hold,  of  the  San  Francisco  &  San  Joaquin  Valley  Ey.  (Santa  Fe  system). 
The  track  is  lifted  to  the  desired  hight  and  a  small  heap  of  dirt  is  deposited 
outside  the  end  of  each  tie  and  patted  down  with  the  back  of  the  shovel 
to  a  level  with  the  bottom  of  the  tie  in  its  raised  position.  The  purpose 
of  this  procedure  is  to  indicate  the  hight  to  which  each  tie  is  to  be  tamped* 
Such  references  having  been  established,  the  track  is  then  raisd  up  6  or  8 
ins.  higher  and  the  ballast  is  placed  under  the  ties  with  the  shovel  to  con- 
form with  the  level  of  the  heaps  outside  the  ends  of  the  ties.  The  track  is 
then  suddenly  dropped.  By  this  method  the  track  can  be  surfaced  when 
the  ballast  is  quite  wet  or  under  conditions  which  will  not  permit  tamping 
to  be  performed  by  any  other  method  of  work.  In  track  where  the  tops  of 
the  ties  are  covered  with  filling  material,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  dirt 
ballasted  track,  it  is  necessary  that  more  care  than  elsewhere  should  be  ex^- 
ercised  not  to  tamp  the  ties  too  solidly  between  the  rails  and  make  the  track 
center  bound.  The  reason  for  this  difference  is  that  inside  the  rails  the 
tamped  material  under  the  ties  is  confined  and  held  by  the  filling  which 
reaches  to  or  above  the  top  of  the  tie,  whereas  on  the  outer  ends  of  the  ties 
there  is  not  so  much  filling,  or  perhaps  no  filling  at  all,  to  retain  the  baJ- 
last  under  the  tie  and  prevent  it  from  sliding  out. 

Sand  ballast  is  usually  tamped  with  the  shovel,  but  where  it  is  in  a  dry 
and  loose  condition  the  track  should  not  be  lifted  higher  than  the  surface 
to  which  it  is  desired  it  should  be  tamped.  Burnt  clay  ballast  of  hard  qual- 
ity may  be  bar  or  pick  tamped,  but  if  it  is  soft  and  crumbles  badly  in  work- 
ing, the  usual  practice  is  to  raise  the  track  high  enough  to  allow  for  some 
settlement  and  tamp  it  with  the  shovel  blade.  In  ballasting  new  track  with 


526  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

this  material  the  shovel  blade  is  used  for  tamping  it.  For  tamping  natural 
-soil,  sand  and  burnt  clay  or  gumbo  ballast  thick,  specially  constructed  tamp- 
ing bars,  as  described  in  the  chapter  on  "Track  Tools/'  are  used  to  some 
-extent. 

As  a  novelty  in  tamping  tools  and  in  methods  of  track  surfacing,  men- 
tion may  be  made  of  some  experiments  in  tamping  ties  by  air  blast  on  the 
Sew  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  E.  E.  during  the  year  1898.  A  Koot 
blacksmith's  blower  was  used,  the  ballast  being  first  passed  through  a  hand 
screen  to  remove  particles  too  large  to  pass  through  the  injector  of  the  ma- 
•chine.  It  was  found  that  material  passed  through  a  f-in.  screen  could  be 
utilized,  although  the  finer  particles  were  worked  to  best  advantage.  After 
the  track  was  raised  to  the  desired  hight,  the  filling  was  removed  from  th'e 
•ends  of  the  ties  and  the  material  was  blown  into  the  cavities  underneath 
through  the  opening  at  the  ends.  So  far  as  was  reported  officially,  at  the 
time,  the  results  seemed  encouraging.  These  experiments  were  under  the 
supervision  of  Headmaster  F.  E.  Coates,  later  chief  engineer  of  the  Chica- 
go Great  Western  Ey.  More  recently  the  air  blast  has  been  used  by  tho 
Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie  E.  E.  for  tamping  steel  ties  of  inverted  trough  sec- 
lion. 

The  man  who  sights  the  rail  as  it  is  being  lifted  should  get  far  enough 
•away  to  have  a  good  stretch  of  rail  between  him  and  the  point  where  th<j 
jack  or  raising  bar  is  applied.  Distance  assists  the  eye  to  accuracy  in  pro- 
longing the  line  of  sight  beyond  the  established  points  in  the  general  sur- 
face. In  heavy  surfacing  it  is  necessary  to  observe  the  train  schedule,  and 
'be  careful  not  to  raise  a  longer  stretch  of  track  than  can  be  tamped  to  hold 
io  place  by  the  time  the  next  train  is  due.  As  a  precaution,  alternate  ties 
should  first  be  tamped  outside  the  rails  to  make  safe  for  trains  which  might 
-come  before  they  are  expected.  In  a  light  or  moderate  lift  the  tamping  of 
•every  tie  outside  the  rails  will  usually  hold  the  track  up  under  a  train  move- 
ment without  settling  badly  enough  to  require  raising  again,  and  if  in  addi- 
tion to  this  alternate  ties  are  tamped  inside  the  rails  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion about  it,  for  a  lift  of  any  hight.  Although  it  is  desirable  to  have  all 
the  ties  fully  tamped  before  a  train  arrives,  it  is  not  very  necessary  that  such 
-should  be  the  case  providing  as  much  of  the  work  as  is  above  noted  has  been 
•systematically  completed.  By  bearing  this  fact  in  mind  the  foreman  is  con- 
scious of  having  some  leeway  in  case  he  should  overestimate  the  amount 
•of  work  that  can  be  completed  in  the  time  available. 

Foremen  should  observe  closely  to  see  that  the  ties  are  tamped  to  a  uni- 
form bearing,  being  particularly  watchful  of  new  men  to  get  them  to  tamp 
•wide  ties  thoroughly,  driving  or  crowding  ballast  all  the  way  under  the  ties. 
Each  two  men  tamping  together  on  old  track  should  carry  a  hammer,  and 
where  spikes  are  found  loose  they  should  raise  the  tie  and  drive  them  down 
io  the  rail  tightly  before  starting  to  tamp.  Where  the  gravel  is  mostly 
iine  in  quality  coarse  pieces  of  rock  should  not  be  driven  tightly  under  the 
ties,  as  they  form  an  uneven  bearing.  Allowance  should  be  made  for  tamp- 
ing, according  to  the  manner  of  tamping.  It  is  not  practicable  by  any 
means  to  make  the  newly  tamped  bed  as  hard  as  an  old  bed  of  ballast ;  hence 
low  rails  should  be  raised  slightly  above  the  general  surface.  Just  exactly 
the  allowance  to  make  cannot  be  stated  in  general  terms:  an  intelligent 
foreman  can  better  ascertain  that  after  he  becomes  acquainted  with  the 
•quality  of  the  ballast,  the  way  the  tamping  is  done  and  the  reliance  he  can 
place  in  his  men.  In  high  lifting  it  is  well  to  tamp  two  ties  to  hold  joints 
that  are  being  raised,  as  otherwise  the  settlement  may  be  so  great  when 
the  jack  lets  go  as  to  require  lifting  the  second  time.  In  order  to  give  the 
joint  ties  the  benefit  of  a  little  better  tamping  than  the  other  ties  get,  they 


RAISING  AXD  TAMPING  LOW  TEACK  527 

may  be  tamped  a  trifle  high,  while  being  held  by  the  jack  or  bar,  and  then 
struck  down  with  a  sledge  hammer.  Such  practice  is  quite  frequently  fol- 
lowed and  gives  good  results.  Wherever  tamping  is  done  the  track  should 
be  filled  in  the  same  day,  to  drain  the  water  off  or  hold  it  back  in  case  of 
rain,  but  if  this  work  is  left  some  distance  behind  the  tamping  operations 
there  will  always  be  something  to  set  the  men  at  in  case  the  track  raising  is 
•delayed  out  of  hesitation  to  throw  up  a  rail  in  advance  of  a  train  that  is 
late.  Wet  weather  is  not  favorable  either  to  tamping  operations  or  the  re- 
sults of  the  same,  because  the  material  is  liable  to  be  softened  and  slide  out 
before  it  has  a  chance  to  pack  hard. 

Sometimes  at  joints  which  have  been  quite  low  for  a  long  time  the  ends 
of  the  rails  get  bent,  and  this  condition  gives  rise  to  the  term  "surface- 
bent"  joints  or  rails.  In  raising  a  joint  of  this  kind  the  quarters  each  side 
will  bulge  upward  higher  than  the  joint.  The  proper  method  of  treatment 
in  such  cases  is  to  raise  the  joint  somewhat  higher  than  would  be  done  if  it 
was  not  bent,  and  then  tamp  the  joint  tie  or  ties  well,  but  the  shoulder  ties 
hardly  enough  to  enable  them  to  take  the  bearing  they  would  afford  if  the 
€nds  of  the  rails  were  straight.  In  the  case  of  a  supported  joint  the  joint 
tie  may  be  thoroughly  tamped,  but  at  a  suspended  joint  the  two  joint  ties 
should  be  tamped  hard  on  the  side  next  the  joint,  but  loosely  on  the  side 
next  the  shoulder.  After  maintaining  the  support  in  this  manner  for  some 
time  the  weight  of  trains  may  straighten  the  rails.  Where  the  settlement 
i£  very  low  it  is  best  not  to  raise  the  joint  the  full  hight  all  at  once  and  let 
trains  run  over  it,  as  there  might  be  danger  of  breaking  the  rail.  It  is  a  dif- 
ficult matter  sometimes  to  straighten  a  surface-bent  rail  in  this  way.  It 
helps  matters  a  good  deal  to  put  a  new  and  straight  splice  on  the  joint  after 
it  is  raised  and  tamped,  for  the  old  one  may  be  bent  so  badly  as  not  to  per- 
mit the  rail  ends  to  come  to  their  proper  place.  A  device  for  straightening 
bent  angle  bars  is  shown  and  described  in  §  135,  Chap.  IX. 

In  raising  track  on  straight  line  the  level  board  should  be  used.  When- 
ever a  sag  on  one  side  is  raised  out  it  should  be  put  level  with  the  opposite 
rail.  For  the  steady  riding  of  cars  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  track  level 
transversely.  Quite  frequently  one  may  find  each  rail  in  fair  surface  but 
the  track  out  of  level,  first  one  side  'running  low  and  then  the  other.  This 
state  of  things  causes  the  rolling  stock  to  lean  toward  the  low  side,  bringing 
a  preponderance  of  pressure  on  that  rail,  from  which  arises  a  tendency  for 
that  side  of  the  track  to  settle  faster  than  the  other.  On  roads  running 
«ast  and  west  through  a  cold  country  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  south  rail 
to  get  lower  than  the  other,  owing  to  the  fact  that  that  side  of  the  ballast 
and  roadbed  is  on  the  sunny  side  and  thaws  out  earlier  in  the  spring.  For 
a  time  after  the  frost  has  gone  out  on  that  side  the  ground  in  the  shade  of 
the  nortli  rail  still  remains  frozen.  A  convenient  and  rapid  way  for 
•section  foremen  to  test  their  track  for  level  is  to  find  some  place  where  the 
rails  are  level  transversely  and  then  place  a  level  board  across  a  hand  car 
standing  at  the  point,  and  block  the  board  to  show  level.  By  running  the 
oar  along  slowly  writh  the  level  board  thus  arranged  one  can  form  a  good 
idea  of  the  condition  of  the  track  respecting  transverse  level,  and  also  note 
the  points  where  the  low  rail  alternates  from  side  to  side.  Before  using 
the  level  board  to  raise  the  low  side  the  high  rail  should  be  put  in  good 
surface,  if  not  already  in  such  condition,  and  then  the  low  side  may  be 
brought  up  by  the  board.  By  making  it  a  practice  to  use  the  level  board 
when  raising  track,  foremen  will  eventually  get  the  rails  level  transversely 
over  their  whole  section ;  neglect  to  do  so  will  sooner  or  later  result  in  track 
out  of  level.  On  this  point  Superintendent  W.  L.  Park,  of  the  Union  Pa- 
cific R  ft.,  in  an  address  to  the  section  foremen  of  his  division,  advised 


528  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

them  as  follows :  "In  order  to  obtain  perfection  in  surface  it  is  essential  to 
use  the  level.  We  are  aware  that  you  have  a  good  eye,  but  do  not  strain  it 
too  much.  Give  the  level  a  show  and  it  will  help  you  out  exceedingly." 

As  soon  as  the  ground  settles,  after  the  frost  has  gone  out  in  the  spring, 
the  section  crews  should  get  to  work  at  surfacing  and  pick  up  the  roughest 
track  first.  This  will  generally  be  found  where  shimming  has  been  done 
during  the  winter.  The  shims  should  be  removed,  the  ties  raised  to  the 
rails  and  the  spikes  driven  down,  the  rails  raised  to  surface  and  the  ties 
tamped.  As  soon  as  the  tie  renewals  are  made  the  foreman  should  begin  at 
one  end  of  the  section  and  go  over  it  thoroughly,  raising  and  tamping  to 
surface  all  low  places  as  he  goes  along.  Track  does  not  settle  so  much  in 
summer  as  it  does  in  the  spring,  but  it  settles  in  places  all  the  while ;  and 
with  the  best  track  there  will  be  low  places  enough  by  late  in  the  fall  to 
make  it  necessary  to  go  over  it  again  before  the  ground  freezes.  Very  low 
places  should  always  be  raised  as  soon  as  found,  but  by  working  over  the 
section  thoroughly  from  end  to  end,  as  stated,  many  low  places  will  be  dis- 
covered which  otherwise  would  be  overlooked. 

The  surface  of  track  near  the  ends  of  bridges  should  be  closely  watched. 
A  low  place  under  a  rail  entering  a  bridge  will  give  cars  a  hard  jolt.  Joints 
which  come  on  an  embankment  close  to  the  end  of  a  bridge  nearly  always 
give  trouble.  Where,  in  course  of  laying  the  rails,  a  joint  comes  this  way 
it  is  a  good  plan  to  cut  the  first  rail  on  the  bridge  so  that  the  joint  will  be 
on  the  bridge  a  few  feet  from  the  end.  Then  move  up  a  rail  so  that  tho 
first  joint  oft'  the  bridge  will  be  a  full  rail's  length  from  the  first  joint  on 
the  bridge.  Take  the  piece  cut  off  the  rail  on  the  bridge  and  put  it  in  be- 
hind the  rail  moved  up,  or  if  it  be  too  short,  use  two  longer  pieces.  The 
end  of  the  embankment,  where  it  meets  the  bridge  floor,  should  be  bulk- 
headed  tightly,  so  that  the  ballast  may  be  retained  and  become  compacted 
instead  of  rattling  through  and  rolling  away  continually.  Construction  of 
this  kind  is  described  in  detail  under  the  subject  "Bridge  Floors,"  §  153, 
Chap.  XI.  In  raising  track  at  the  end  of  a  bridge  it  is  well  to  start  the 
spikes  on  a  few  of  the  bridge  ties,  so  that  the  grade  ties  next  the  bridge 
may  be  raised  and  tamped  a  little  higher  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case, 
thus  allowing  something  for  settlement.  The  same  procedure  applies  to 
track  at  cattle  pits,  stone  culverts  and  other  points  where  the  stability  con- 
ditions of  the  track  support  vary  widely  within  a  few  feet. 

86.  Lowering  Track. — As  already  stated,  sections  of  track  for  short 
distances  may  remain  nearly  to  the  original  grade  stakes,  while  long  stretch- 
es each  way  from-  such  portions  may  settle  more  or  less  evenly,  so  that  it 
does  not  pay  to  raise  the  whole  to  an  even  grade  with  the  little.  The  work 
of  letting  down  track  is  an  easy  matter.  First,  estimate  the  amount  of 
drop  or  fall.  Then  remove  the  ballast  from  between  the  ties  and  as  much 
lower,  between  the  ties,  as  the  track  is  to  be  dropped.  This  can  be  done  at 
any  time,  for  it  does  not  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  running  of  trains. 
As  soon  as  opportunity  offers,  raise  the  track  an  inch  or  two,  cut  out  the 
ballast  remaining  under  the  ties  and  let  the  track  drop.  By  carefully  esti- 
mating, it  need  not  be  dropped  any  or  much  below  the  desired  surface;  in 
case  it  should  be  it  can  readily  be  raised  and  tamped  to  place.  If  one  side 
only  is  to  be  cut  down  the  ballast  must  be  removed  to  proper  depth  as  far 
across  as  the  other  rail;  otherwise,  any  of  the  old  bed  remaining  under  th<v 
ties,  between  the  rails,  will  cause  the  side  not  cut  down  to  be  thrown  up  when 
the  other  side  drops.  If  there  is  a  considerable  stretch  to  be  cut  down,  and 
the  force  is  large,  the  track  may  be  raised  and  blocked  while  the  work  of  cut- 
ting under  the  ties  is  going  on.  Of  course,  proper  protection  by  flags  should 
be  looked  after,  when  necessary.  In  case  the  trains  run  at  close  intervals 


L1NIXG  OLD  TRACK  529 

and  the  distance  the  track  is  to  be  dropped  is  greater  than  the  foreman  would 
wish  to  undertake  at  one  operation,,  it  can  be  let  down  by 'stages  of  a  few  in- 
ches at  a  time.  Where  the  track  is  to  be  dropped  several  feet  the  usual  me  th- 
od  is  to  shift  it  off  the  old  bed,  temporarily,  cut  down  the  roadbed  and  then 
throw  the  track  back  to  the  old  alignment. 

Another  method  that  is  sometimes  followed  in  lowering  track  is  to 
first  dig  a  ditch  on  either  side  as  deep  as  the  track  is  to  be  let  down,  allow- 
ing the  proper  depth  for  ballast,  and  also  dig  out  between  the  ties.  Then 
when  time  is  available  between  trains  the  track  is  jacked  up  and  blocked 
and  the  ties  are  bunched,  three  or  four  in  a  place,  throwing  out  unsound 
ties  or  such  as  would  be  discarded  in  the  course  of  tie  renewals,  the  spikes, 
in  which  shoulel  be  pulled  before  the  track  is  'raised.  The  men  are  then 
set  to  work,  some  in  the  ditches  and  others  in  the  spaces  between  the 
bunched  ties,  to  cut  down  the  earth  core  to  a  level  with  the  bottoms  of  the 
ditches.  If  there  is  not  time  to  finish  the  job  in  the  interval  between  trains, 
a  run-off  is  made,  being  laid  out  by  drawing  a  mark  along  the  bank  of  the 
ditch,  which  serves  as  a  gage  for  the  men  to  work  to. 

87.  Lining  Old  Track. — Besides  keeping  track  in  vertical  alignment 
or  "surface,"  it  must  be  maintained  also  in  Horizontal  alignment  or  "line," 
as  trackmen  choose  to  call  it.  Track  is  most  liable  to  get  out  of  line  where 
there  is  a  low  place  on  one  rail  only,  since  the  lurching  of  the  cars  into  the 
sag  throws  the  track  over ;  and  low  places  on  curves  are  more  liable  to  get 
out  of  line  than  are  low  places  on  tangents.  Track  center-bound,  or  sup- 
ported more  solidly  under  the  middle  of  the  ties  than  at  the  ends,  will  rock 
and  slide  out  of  line,  to  one  side  in  one  place  and  to  the  other  side  in  an- 
other. Insecure  or  springy  roadbed,  heaving  by  freezing,  raising  low  places 
with  bar  or  jack  improperly  set  and  renewals  of  ties,  are  also  some  of  the 
causes  for  bad  alignment  in  track.  The  importance  of  keeping  track  in 
good  line,  especially  where  trains  run  fast,  is  great;  it  is  next  in  importance 
to  keeping  it  in  good  surface.  At  the  end  of  every  day's  tamping  the  piece 
of  track  worked  over  that  day  should  be  lined.  It  is  well  to  line  it  before 
filling  in,  as  then  the  ties  can  be  moved  without  side  friction  in  the  ballast. 
Twice. a  year — just  before  the  ground  freezes,  late  in  the  fall,  and  just  after 
the  ground  settles,  after  thawing  in  'the  spring — track  should  have  a  gen- 
eral relining. 

While  in  lining  only  a  few  rails  at  a  time  three  or  four  men  may  be 
able  to  throw  ordinary  track,  in  a  general  alignment  there  is  no  economy 
in  using  less  than  six  men,  and  each  man  should  be  equipped  with  a  bar, 
so  that  there  need  be  no  doubling  up  on  the  tools.  Track  is  thrown  easiest 
after  a  rain,  when  the  ground  has  had  a  thorough  soaking,  and  then  is  a 
good  time  to  do  it.  In  dirt  ballast  it  becomes  quite  difficult  to  throw  track 
when  the  ground  gets  dried  out  and  baked  hard^  but  in  gravel  the  difference 
between  wet  and  dry  weather  is  not  so  much.  When  dirt  ballast  is  wet  it  is 
difficult  to  get  short  holds  with  the  bars  or  sufficient  leverage  to  throw 
the  track.  Thus  more  men  might  be  needed  .in  a  soft  place  than  where 
the  ballast  is  hard,  simply  because  a  man  cannot  get  a  hold  with  his  bar 
that  will  stand  what  he  can  pull;  more  than  this,  ties  in  wet  places,  espe- 
cially in  soft  material,  are  generally  soggy  and  heavy  to  throw.  When  a 
specially  difficult  place  of  this  character  is  found  the  track  may  usually  be 
thrown  by  laying  down  pieces  of  plank  or  strips  oi  wood  under  the  rail, 
lengthwise  between  the  ties,  and  taking  short  holds  with  the  bars  upon  the 
pieces.  Another  way  to  move  hard-throwing  track  is  to  get  hold  with  all 
the  bars  under  the  ends  01  the  ties  and  pry  or  loosen  the  ties  from  the  bal- 
last. Where  this  cannot  be  done  lift  the  rail  with  the  track  jack  set  on 
that  side  toward  which  the  track  is  to  be  moved,  and  throw  at  the  same 


530  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

time  with  the  bars :  or  it  may  be  moved  by  taking  a  carrying  hold  with  the 
jack  alone — that  is,  by  setting  it  a  little  pitching;  although  it  is  not  a  good 
plan  to  do  this  where  the  ballast  is  fine  gravel,,  as  it  may  work  its  way  under 
the  ties  and  prevent  them  from  settling  back  again  to  surface.  Likewise  in 
sand  ballast,  where  the  track  throws  easily,  the  bars  should  not  be  stuck  into 
the  ballast  at  a  low  angle,  as  the  lifting  of  the  track  may  let  ballast  run 
under  the  ties.  Where  ballast  is  filled  in  at  the  tie  ends  it  must  be  removed 
therefrom  before  track  can  be  thrown.  If  it  is  loose  ballast  it  may  be 
jabbed  out  with  the  bars,  but  if  it  is  hard  the  picks  will  be  needed.  In 
places  where  track  is  very  hard  to  throw  and  ordinary  methods  of  bar  lin- 
ing fail,  time  can  be  saved  by  "spike  lining"  it,  which  is  done  by  pulling 
the  spikes,  lining  up  the  'rails  on  the  ties  and  redriving  the  spikes.  When 
the  ground  is  frozen  such  is  the  only  feasible  method. 

Tangents  which  appear  to  be  in  good  alignment  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
scan  are  good  enough.  Although,  for  sake  of  appearance,  it  may  be  desir- 
able to  take  out  all  long  "swings"  from  tangents,  still  it  is  of  no  importance 
at*  affecting  the  running  of  trains.  On  curves  the  eye  alone  cannot  be  de- 
pended upon  so  reliably ;  for  while  there  are  men  expert  enough  to  sight  ;* 
curve  to  almost  perfectly  smooth  alignment,  it  is  impossible  for  the  unaid- 
ed eye  to  run  in  long  stretches  of  track  to  an  even  curvature,  for  the  simple 
reason  that,  standing  in  any  position  possible,  the  lines  of  sight  for  different 
points  on  the  curve  cannot  lie  in  a  plane  with  the  side  of  the  'rail  head,  as 
they  can  on  a  tangent,  and  hence  the  eye  has  not  the  points  for  comparison. 
Only  .a  comparatively  short  piece  of  the  curve  (depending  on  the  degree  of 
curvature)  can  be  taken  in  from  one  point  of  view:  and  as  long  as  the  curve 
is  smooth,  everywhere,  an  easy  grading  off  into  a  curvature  greater  or  les* 
in  degree  cannot  be  detected.  To  use  a  poetic  illustration,  it  may  be  said 
that  a  tangent  in  good  line  looks  like  something  mechanically  correct,  -  while 
a  curve,  if  it  is  smooth,  appears  to  the  eye  like  something  beautiful.  The 
test  applied  to  a  line  to  determine  whether  it  is  straight  is  that  lines  of  sight 
from  all  of  its  points  to  the  eye,  either  unaided  or  aided  by  magnifying 
optical  instruments,  shall  appear  to  lie  in  the  same  plane ;  this  is  an  accur- 
ate test  and  there  is  no  other.  But  a  test  to  determine  whether  or  not  a 
line  is  of  uniform  curvature  or  of  uniformly  varying  curvature  cannot  be 
performed  by  establishing  lines  of  sight  alone;  lines  of  sight  together  with 
linear  measurements,  or  linear  measurements  alone,  must  be  used.  Hence 
much  talk -that  is  heard  among  trackmen  to  the  effect  that  some  men  are 
able  to  sight  a  curve  properly,  for  a  distance,  without  an  aid  of  some  kind, 
is  bosh.  The  best  the  eye  can  do  is  to  get  the  curve  smooth,  but  only  rela- 
tively even,  and  here  is  where  the  deception  comes  in. 

A  curve  is  known  to  be  even  or  circular  when,  for  a  chord  of  any  length 
stretched  against  the  gage  side  of  the  rail  at  different  places  anywhere  along- 
the  curve,  the  middle  ordinate  measures  always  the  same.  This  is  a  very 
simple  test  to  perform;  and  when  the  degree  of  curve  is  known  there  can 
then  be  known  what  the  middle  ordinate  for  a  string  of  any  length  should 
be.  A  62-ft.  string  is  the  most  convenient  to  use,  since  the  length  of  its 
middle  ordinate  expressed  in  inches  is  equal  to  the  curvature  expressed  in 
degrees.  If  it  is  found  that  the  middle  -ordinate  to  a  62-ft.  string  is  an 
inch  longer  at  one  place  than  at  another,  then  that  part  of  the  curve  is  a 
degree  or  more  sharper  than  the  other  part;  and  this  knowledge  may  suggest 
to  the  eye  what  portions  of  the  curve  might  be  thrown  out  or  in  to  make 
the  curvature  even.  Stretch  the  string  (of  whatever  length)  from  point 
to  point  arounel  the  curve  so  that  one  stretching  of  it  overlaps  the  one  pre- 
viously taken  by  half  its  length ;  then  if  the  middle  ordinates  do  not  vary 
appreciably,  line  it  smooth  and  the  curve  will  be  both  smooth  and  even  in 


LINING  OLD  TRACK  531 

curvature,  and  consequently  in  good  alignment.  If  the  degree  of  curva- 
ture is  not  known  and  the  middle  ordinates  vary  considerably,  take  an  aver- 
age of  all  the  ordinates  and  line  the  rail  to  that.  Of  course  this  procedure 
need  not  be  followed  where  the  curve  has  been  re-centered  instrumentally. 
For  spiral  curves  reliable  points  of  reference  must  be  had  at  short  intervals, 
or  the  track  cannot  be  kept  in  good  line. 

Quite  frequently  the  splices  on  curves  get  bent  laterally.  Light-weight 
splices  are  liable  to  behave  in  this  manner  if  the  rails  have  not  been  curved, 
especially  where  there  is  no  filling  at  the  ends  of  the  ties.  Under  such  con- 
ditions the  rails  will  sometimes  straighten  out  somewhat,,  making  the  splice 
bars  angular  or  "elbowed."  It  is  difficult  to  throw  such  track  into  good 
line;  for  if  the  joints  be  thrown  in  there  will  generally  be  sharp  bends  at 
the  quarters  which,  if  thrown  in,  will  make  the  joints  angular  again.  The 
rail  can  be  put  in  fair  line  by  throwing  out  all  the  centers,  but  it  will  not 
stay  there  very  long.  The  best  thing  to  do  in  such  a  case  is  to  change  places 
with  all  the  splice  bars,  putting  the  outside  bar  at  each  joint  on  the  inside 
of  the  rail,  and  the  inside  barton  the  outside.  Then,  after  tightening  the 
bolts  well  the  track  may  be  thrown  to  a  good  curve  and  it  will  remain  so, 
at  least  until  the  splices  bend  the  other  way.  If  the  splice  bars  are  not  in- 
terchangeable an  angle  bar  straightener  can  be  used  to  good  effect.  After 
track  has  been  relined  it  is  a  good  plan  to  tighten  up  the  bolts,  as  the  throw- 
ing of  the  rails  will  now  and  then  loosen  a  splice. 

Before  an  attempt  is  made  to  line  track  it  should  be  put  in  proper  gage, 
especially  on  tangents.  On  curves,  the  outer  rail  being  the  one  that  is 
lined,  the  gage,  unless  it  be  far  out  of  the  way,  cannot  affect  the  line  of  the 
track  in  a  way  to  influence  the  running  of  cars,  as  it  can  on  straight  line. 
When  lining  track  the  foreman  or  man  sighting  the  rail  should  stand  as  far 
away  from  the  place  which  is  being  thrown  as  he  can  see  well.  On  curves 
this  distance  must  depend  largely  on  the  degree  of  the  curve,  for  one  'can- 
not sight  along  a  rail  very  far  distant  on  a  sharp  curve;  but  on  tangents 
a  man  with  ordinary  eyesight  can  best  observe  short  irregularities  in  line 
by  being  at  least  90  ft.  away,  while  for  long  swings  he  should  be  farther. 
Where  the  alignment  is  bad  it  is  well  to  go  over  the  track  with  the  lining 
crew  twice.  At  the  first  lining  the  man  who  does  the  sighting  should  stand 
off  as  far  as  he  can  see  to  take  out  the  long  swings,  and  then  come  up  with- 
in 60  or  90  ft.  and  take  the  crew  over  it  once  more  to  remove  the  short  ir- 
regularities. In  a  general  alignment,  as  well  as  when  raising  track,  the 
man  who  does  the  sighting  should,  as  he  goes  along,  occasionally  cast  a 
glance  behind;  because  the  appearance  of  the  line  or  surface  of  a  rail'often- 
limes  looks  differently  from  different  directions.  The  man  sighting  should 
also  stand  with  his  back  to  the  sun,  for  if  it  shines  too  directly  in  his  face 
he  cannot  see  the  rail  so  well.  In  bright  weather,  track  which  runs  north 
and  south  is  not  so  easily  sighted  for  lining  early  in  the  day  or  late  in  the 
afternoon,  since  at  these  times  the  shadows  of  the  men  throwing  with  the 
bars  fall  across  the  rails  and  bother  the  man  sighting;  the  same  difficulty 
is  found  during  the  middle  of  the  day  on  track  which  runs  east  and  west. 
When  sighting  for  lining  a  long  swing,  as  in  sighting  for  'raising  a  long 
sag,  a  chunk  of  mud  or  small  stone  placed  on  the  rail  at  reference  points 
assists  the  eye  to  establish  the  general  alignment.  In  lining  curves  some 
prefer  to  have  the  men  work  toward  the  man  who  does  the  sighting,  the 
idea  being  that  then  'the  track  most  conspicuously  in  view  is  in  good  line 
and  in  better  position  to  go  by  than  it  is  when  the  work  of  lining  proceeds 
forward.  It  is  thought  that  in  the  latter  case  the  corrected  alignment  lies 
between  the  men  and  the  sighter  and  is  too  close  for  convenient  compari- 
son with  the  point  where  the  wrork  is  under  way. 


532  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

88.  Tie  Renewals. — A  matter  of  first  importance  in  the  renewal  of 
ties  is  to  determine  just  what  ties  need  to  be  removed ;  or  just  what  ties  if 
left  another  year  would,  by  their  further  decay,  weaken  the  track  to  the 
danger  point.  The  appearance  of  ties  in  the  track  is  liable  to  be  deceptive, 
because  thev  never  rot  uniformly  alike.  Some  rot  from  within,  some  from 
without  and  some  rot  all  through  at  the  same  time.  The  serviceability  of 
a  tie  on  curves  is  ended  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  hold  a  spike  well,  button  tan- 
gents not  until  the  tie  has  so  far  decayed  that  it  begins  to  fail  as  a  support 
for  the  rail,  which  does  not  usually  occur  until  after  it  has  failed  in  its 
spike-holding  power.  On  tangents  there  is  but  little  stress  on  spikes  in 
holding  the  rails  to  gage,  as  the  side  pressure  from  the  wheel  flanges  is  small. 
Moreover,  at  the  moment  of  service  the  rails  are  held  to  place  not  alone  by 
their  connection  through  the  tie,  but  also  by  a  very  firm  temporary  connec- 
tion through  the  axles  of  loaded  wheels.  The  strength  of  this  connection  is 
measured  by  the  side  friction  possible  between  wheel  and  rail,  and  on  tan- 
gents it  is  more  than  sufficient  to  hold  the  rails  to  place.  Such  being  the  case, 
the  spikes  on  tangents  are  useful  mainly  to  hold  the  rails  when  not  in  service, 
and  the  tenacity  with  which  they  are  held  by  the  ties  is  therefore  not  so  im- 
portant. It  is  a  great  mistake  to  inspect  with  a  view  to  throwing  out  ties 
on  tangents  as  closely  as  on  curves.  At  the  least  calculation  a  tie  can  be  of 
service  on  a  tangent  a  year  longer  than  on  a  curve. 

The  cost  of  ties  for  'renewals,  exclusive  of  the  cost  of  distributing  and 
laying  them,  averages  19.7  per  cent  of  all  expense  of  track  maintenance, 
and  is  more  than  twice  the  cost  of  rails  used  in  renewals,  excluding,  as  in 
the  other  case,  the  cost  of  distributing  and  laying  them.  The  reports  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  show  that  the  ratio  of  the  costs  of  ties 
and  rails  for  renewals  has  been  increasing  almost  steadily,  even  since  the 
time  the  price  of  rails  reached  its  lowest  figure.  In  1895  the  cost  of  ties 
for  renewals  was  1.97  times  the  cost  of  rails  for  renewals;  in  1898  they 
cost  2.32  times  as  much,  and  in  1900  2.67  times  as  much,  the  average  ratio 
for  the  six  years  being  2.24.  The  cost  of  the  rails  in  all  cases  is  less  the 
value  of  old  rails  taken  up.  The  cost  of  la}dng  ties  in  renewals  is  much 
greater  than  that  of  laying  rails  in  renewing  an  equal  length  of  track,  as  in 
different  kinds  of  ballast  and  with  different  qualities  of  ties  it  may  amount 
to  from  10  to  40  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  the  ties;  and  when  removed  there 
is  added  an  inconvenience  and  further  expense  due  to  disturbing  the  bed  of 
the  tie.  Such  being  the  case,  ties  should  be  allowed  to  remain  to  the  full 
limit  of  their  usefulness,  bearing  in  mind,  of  course,  that  it  is  usual  to  re- 
move ties  but  once  a  year ;  and  not  to  leave  ties  in  the  track  which,  although 
they  might  pass  for  the  time  being,  possibly,  would  fall  to  pieces  before  an- 
other year.  In  respect  to  this  rule  there  is  some  room  for  judgment,  but 
in  many  cases  foremen  of  experience,  having  an  acquaintance  with  the  last- 
ing properties  of  the  timber  in  question  might,  by  carefully  inspecting  and 
retaining  in  the  track  such  ties  as  would  safely  last  another  year,  easily 
save  the  company  one  or  two  month's  wages  yearly  and  still  leave  not  the 
least  question  or  doubt  regarding  the  safety  of  the  track.  Eoadmasters 
should  watch  closely  the  old  ties  thrown  out  by  their  foremen.  On  some 
roads  the  ties  are  inspected  on  each  section  by  the  foreman  and  roadmaster 
together,  a  spot  of  red  paint  being  placed  on  eacli  tie  to  be  removed.  This 
practice  makes  lots  of  work  for  the  roadmaster  and  casts  a  reflection  upon 
the  competency  of  the  foremen. 

As  for  determining  just  the  time  or  stage  when  a  tie  has  decayed  so 
as  to  no  longer  hold  spikes  well  for  a  curve,  there  is,  perhaps  no  general 
statement  which  could  be  taken  for  a  rule.  That  matter  depends  some- 
what on  how  many  sound  tics  there  may  be  near  the  tie  in  question;  for 


TIE  RENEWALS  53 o 

* 

•where  there  are  several  unsound  ties  together  on  a  curve  the  rails  will  spread 
or  crowd  the  spikes.  The  usual  way  of  ascertaining  the  degree  of  soundness 
of  ties  is  the  pick  test,  striking  the  top  of  the  tie,,  outside  the  rail,  a  mod- 
erate blow  with  a  pick.  On  curves  the  test  should  be  made  outside  the  outer 
rail.  If  the  pick  enters  easily  and  a  large  portion  of  the  end  of  the  tie 
breaks  off  without  much  prying,  the  tie,  if  on  a  curve,  ought  to  be  taken 
cut.  To  inspect  ties  on  a  tangent  pry  up  on  the  end  with  a  bar  as  though 
to  raise  the  track.  If  the  tie  is  so  unsound  that  the  end  is  springy  (al- 
though not  necessarily  springy  enough  to  break  off)  it  ought  to  be  taken 
out. 

During  the  first  few  times  ties  are  renewed  after  track  has  been  built, 
there  cannot  be  used  the  same  discretion  in  tie  inspection  that  is  practicable 
in  old  track.  Ties  put  into  new  track  are  generally  more  or  less  uniform  in 
quality  and  their  service  begins  at  the  same  date  for  all.  About  the  time 
elecay  begins,  then,  it  becomes  somewhat  general,  so  that  during  the  first 
year  that  renewals  would  really  have  to  begin  with  individual  ties  a  very 
large  proportion  of  all  the  ties  would  necessarily  have  to  be  taken  out  at  the 
same  time.  Also,  should  there  be  any  question  about  the  advisability  of  re- 
moving any  of  the  ties  as  soon  as  a  considerable  number' might  seem  to  re- 
quire it,  to  leave  them  in  another  year  would  in  all  probability  make  ne- 
cessary the  removal  of  so  many  at  one  time  that  the  disturbance  to  the  tie 
beds  would  seriously  affect  the  surface  of  the  track.  For  this  'reason  it  is 
better  to  begin  renewing  at  least  a  few,  for  the  first  time,  a  year  before  the 
same  ties  would  have  to  be  renewed  were  they  in  old  track.  Ties  removed 
under  such  circumstances  should  be  more  or  jess  evenly  distributed,  the  ob- 
ject being  to  get  new  ties  in  their  places  where  they  can  afford  a  general 
support  the  next  year  when  the  most  of  the  remaining  ties  must  be  taken 
out.  After  two  or  three  years  of  renewals  it  usually  happens  that  about  a 
certain  percentage  need  to  be  taken  out  every  year;  more  sound  ties  are 
kept  in  the  track  continually;  and  ties  need  not  then  be  taken  out  until  f hey 
can  be  of  no  further  use. 

The  best  way  to  change  ties  in  dirt  ballast  is  to  pull  the  spikes  from  the 
ties  to  be  taken  out,  raise  the  track  an  inch  or  so  and  pull  the  old  ties  out 
with  the  pick,  without  digging.  Then,  after  dressing  out  the  sides  of  the 
bed  occupied  by  the  old  tie,  piill  the  new  one  in  on  the  old  bed  without  dis- 
turbing it,  unless  the  new  tie  is  more  than  J  inch  thicker  than  the  old  one. 
This  is  the  most  'rapid  way  to  change  ties,  but  it  cannot  be  done  in  other 
kinds  of  ballast,  owing  to  the  tendency  of  the  ballast  to  work  its  way  under 
the  ties,  thus  preventing  them  from  dropping  back  to  the  old  bed  again. 
Where  there  is  a  sag  to  be  raised,  however,  and  there  are  ties  to  come  out. 
this  is  by  all  means  the  method  to  follow.  First,  pull  the  spikes  from  the 
ties  which  have  to  be  taken  out,  then  raise  the  track  in  the  sag  and  tamp 
joint  and  center  ties,  as  usual,  to  hold  it  to  surface.  It  is  then  but  a  trifle 
to  pull  the  old  ties  out  and  the  new  ones  in,  and  to  spike  them  and  tamp 
them  along  with  the  rest. 

The  usual  method  of  removing  ties  is  to  dig  a  trench  beside  the  tie 
slightly  deeper  than  the  thickness  of  the  tie  and  then  to  drive  or  pull  the 
tie  sidewise  into  the  trench  and  haul  it  out.  Where  the  space  on  one  side 
of  the  tie  is  wider  than  on  the  other  the  trench  should  be  dug  in  the  wider 
space,  so  that  the  new  tie  can  be  properly  spaced  without  extra  digging. 
The  spikes  should  be  pulled  from  the  tie  with  a  view  to  using  them  again 
and  the  spikes  on  an  adjacent  tie  should  be  started,  so  that  if  necessary  the 
rail  may  be  raised  and  blocked  up  on  a  spike  to  give  more  room  for  hauling 
out  the  old  tie.  Dress  out  the  sides  of  the  old  tie  bed,  and  the  bottom, 
too,  a  little,  in  case  the  new  tie  is  more  than  4-  in.  thicker  than 


534  TRACK    MA1XTENAXCE 

the  thickness  of  the  old  tie  at  the  rail  seat.  In  the  case  of  rail-cut 
ties  considerable  dressing  of  the  bottom  of  the  old  bed  is  sometimes  ne- 
cessary. It  is  desirable  to  have  the  new  tie  fit  in  snugly,  and  it  is  all  the 
better  if  it  is  a  little  high  on  its  new  bed;  although  men  must  use 
judgment  in  this  or  they  may  waste  much  time  trying  to  get  ties  out 
and  in  where  the  trench  is  not  deep  enough  to  afford  sufficient  room.  But 
it  is  a  mistake  to  dig  out  a  bed  for  a  new  tie  an  inch  or  more  deeper  than 
the  thickness  of  the  tie,  the  whole  length  of  the  bed.  Where  the  old  bed  is 
dug  out  too  deep  the  new  tie  must  virtually  lie  on  a  new  bed  of  loose  bal- 
last. Under  the  middle  of  the  tie  it  is  well  enough  to  have  the  bed  some- 
what deeper  than  the  thickness  of  the  tie,  since,  owing  to  the  tendency  to 
center  binding,  it  is  undesirable  ta  have  the  bearing  at  this  point  as  firm 
as  it  is  under  and  outside  the  rails.  The  foregoing  remarks  apply  more 
particularly  to  gravel  and  other  ballast  of  similar  constitution.  When  re- 
newing ties  in  rock  ballast  the  old  bed,  if  dressed  out  at  all,  must  usually 
be  cut  considerably  deeper  than  the  under  face  of  ^the  tie.  The  labor  of 
renewing  ties  on  a  middle  or  intermediate  track  of  a  3-track  or  4-track  road, 
or  in  a  yard  or  next  to  a  siding,  is  greater  than  on  the  outside  tracks,  since 
a  trench  must  be  dug  between  the  tracks  in  order  to  get  the  old  tie  out. 
To  get  ties  out  of  or  into  the  track  in  a  narrow  cut,  where  the  bank  is  too 
dose  to  permit  them  to  be  pulled  straight  ahead,  the  trench  may  be  deep- 
ened between  the  rails,  so  that  the  outside  end  of  the  tie  may  be  thrown  up 
and  thus  take  advantage  of  the  bank  slope.  After  the  new  tie  has  been 
hauled  in,  take  the  blocking  from  under  the  rails,  drive  down  the  spikes 
which  have  previously  been  started  on  the  tie  adjacent,  hold  up  the  new 
tie  and  shovel  tamp  it,  where  necessary,  raising  it  high  enough  to  allow 
for  settlement.  It  is  well  to  tamp  the  ties  before  they  are  spiked,  as  then 
if  the  former  work  is  not  well  done  the  ties  will  settle  when  they  are  spiked 
or  under  the  first  train  that  passes,  and  the  fact  will  be  discovered.  If  the 
bed  of  the  track  is  old  and  hard  the  new  ties  should  be  bar  tamped  after  a 
lew  days,  when  the  trains  will  have  settled  them  into  the  shovel  tampin- 
The  consolidation  of  the  ballast  from  the  weight  of  the  traffic  is  necessary  to 
restore  stable  conditions  under  the  new  ties. 

In  common  practice  two  men  usually  work  together.  They  should  car- 
ry a  sharp  pick,  two  shovels  and  a  sharply-pointed  pinch  bar,  and  a  claw  bar 
-should  be  available  for  each  two  parties.  The  work  should  be  so  divided 
between  the  two  men  that  both  are  kept  busy.  In  some  kinds  of  ballast  110 
picking  need  be  done,  in  which  case  both  may  shovel  out;  or  else  one  may 
pull  spikes  while  the  other  is  shoveling.  One  holds  up  the  end  of  the  tie 
while  the  other  shovel-tamps  it,  then  both  together  tamp  the  middle  and 
fill  in.  Where  ties  are  being  renewed  thickly  or  close  together  it  saves  time, 
when  removing  the  ballast' from  between  the  ties,  to  cast  it  back  between 
the  new  ties  just  put  in,  instead  of  throwing  it  into  piles  here  and  there, 
inside  and  outside  the  rails.  In  this  way  the  track  can  be  filled  in  as  the 
work  progresses,  and  the  work  of  once  handling  a  good  deal  of  material  can 
be  saved.  It  is  best  to  have  the  spiking  done  by  one  man  or  party.  The 
ties  should  be  so  stiffly  tamped  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  hold  them 
up  to  the  rail  with  a  bar  during  the  spiking.  By  careful  work  a  new  tie 
can  be  put  in  the  track  so  close  to  the  old  bed  that  bar  tamping  can  be  done 
efficiently,  but  the  common  run  of  track  labor  cannot  be  depended  upon  to 
exercise  the  judgment  that  is  required  in  taking  out  the  old  ties  to  permit 
the  new  ties  to  be  put  in  in  this  manner.  And  then,  of  course,  there  are 
many  places  where  it  becomes  necessary  to  respace  the  ties  to  some  extent, 
and  the  new  tie  does  not  go  in  exactly  in  the  place  of  the  old  one,  and  in 
that  case  it  does  not  find  a  hard  bed  underneath.  The  gage  should  be  used 


TIE  RENEWALS  535 

in  spiking  the  new  ties,  and  where  necessary  the  gage  of  the  rails  on  the  old 
ties  should  be  corrected  as  the  crew  advances.  Ties  may  be  hauled  out 
and  in  with  a  pick.  It  is  the  easiest  way  to  handle  them  and  does  no  harm 
if  the  pick  is  sharp,  notwithstanding  that  objections  are  sometimes  urged 
against  the  practice.  If  roadmasters  who  forbid  this  use  of  the  pick  will 
personally  attempt  to  get  the  ties  out  and  in  some  other  way  for  awhile  (by 
taking  hold  with  the  hands,  for  instance)  I  feel  sure  that  their  rules  to  this 
effect  will  soon  be  repealed.  The  ends  of  the  ties  should  be  put  to  line  on 
one  side,  measuring  from  a  notch  on  a  shovel  or  pick  handle,  and  the  spac- 
ing of  the  ties  should  be  carefully  looked  after.  The  new  ties  should  be 
spaced  to  suit  as  well  as  may  be  the  space  or  spaces  left  vacant  by  the  old 
ones.  For  instance,  two  large  ties  may  answer  whe're  three  small  ties  are 
taken  out.  Sometimes  a  small  tie  may  be  made  to  take  the  place  of  a  large 
one  by  respacing  the  adjacent  ties. 

Wherever  joint  ties  have  become  skewed  by  creeping  rails  they  should 
be  scjuareeT  around  as  the  tie-renewing  crew  goes  along;  and  very  low  joints, 
when  such  are  found,  should  be  picked  up.  While  the  work  of  tie  renewal 
is  under  way  on  sidings  it  is  a  good  plan  to  put  the  track  in  surface,  because 
many  of  the  low  places  usually  need  raising  so  high  that  the  old  ties  may 
be  pulled  out  without  digging.  I  am  not  in  favor,  however,  of  undertaking 
tie  renewals  in  connection  with  general  surfacing  work  unless  the  track  is 
to  be  reba Hasted,  in  which  case  an  excellent  opportunity  for  cheaply  renew- 
ing the  ties  is  presented ;  otherwise,  one  kind  of  work  at  a  time  is  enough. 
Where  there  are  many  changes  of  work  in  a  day  much  time  is  lost.  The 
foreman  who  starts  out  to  "put  the  track  in  surface  and  final  finish"  as  the 
ties  are  renewed  can  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  on  a  short  stretch  of  track, 
all  to  no  great  purpose  if  the  track  has  to  be  overhauled  within  a  short  time 
to  tamp  the  new  ties  to  a  solid  bed ;  and  this  is  the  usual  experience. 

An  adz  should  be  carried  along  to  use  on  new  ties  which  may  be 
found  winding,  and  if  the  bark  has  not  been  removed  from  the  new  ties  it 
should  be  peeled  before  putting  them  into  the  track.  It  will  pay  in  the 
end.  The  old  ties  should  be  piled  up  each  evening  and  the  'right  of  way 
cleared  of  pieces  of  bark  and  rotten  wood.  To  distinguish  the  quality  of 
old  ties,  those  which  are  to  be  made  further  use  of  may  be  piled  near 
the  track,  in  locations  convenient  for  loading  on  cars,  and  the  old  ties  to 
be  burned  on  the  right  of  way.  may  be  piled  further  from  the  track.  To 
distinguish  between  ties  to  be  used  for  different  purposes,  those  suitable 
for  fence  posts,  for  instance,  may  be  piled  parallel  with  the  track  and  those 
to  be  used  for  fuel  or  other  purpose  may  be  piled  at  right  angles  to  the 
track.  Where  it  can  be  done  as  well  as  not  the  old  ties,  for  conveni- 
ence of  piling,  should  all  be  pulled  out  on  the  same  side  of  the  track.  Old 
ties  should  be  trucked  out  of  each  cut  as  soon  as  the  renewing  crew  has 
worked  through  it. 

Many  methods  of  dividing  the  crew  for  tie  renewal  work  are  in  prac- 
tice. Some  find  it  advantageous  to  keep  part  of  the  men  digging  out 
trenches,  while  the  remainder  follow  along  replacing  the  ties  and  tamp- 
ing them.  Others  set  the  whole  gang  at  digging  trenches  until  50  or  100 
are  prepared  and  then  go  back  and  divide  the  men  into  parties  of  two  for 
changing  the  ties  and  tamping  them.  Where  the  traffic  is  heavy  and  trains 
run  at  closer  intervals  during  some  portion  of  the  day  than  at  other  times 
it  is  well  to  use  this  time  for  digging  the  trenches,  if  the  method  just  men- 
tioned be  followed.  Passing  trains  are  some  hindrance  to  the  work  of 
changing  the  ties,  for  while  on  intermediate  parts  of  the  rail  it  may  not  be 
unsafe  to  permit  a  train  to  pass  with  a  tie  out,  such  is  not  the  case  at  the 
joint.  If  the  tie  renewed  be  a  joint  tie  or  one  of  two  going  in  at  the  same 


536  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

place,  the  aim  should  be  to  have  the  new  tie  tamped  by  the  time  the  tram 
arrives.  In  such  cases,  then,  the  trains  have  to  be  watched.  It  is  a  good 
rule  not  to  have  a  tie  out,  in  any,  case,  while  a  train  is  passing.  Whatever 
method  is  followed  the  men  should  be  kept  out  of  one  another's  way  as 
much  as  possible.  If  the  men  are  working  by  twos,  let  each  party  take  a 
rail  by  itself.  If  the  crew  is  large  enough,  let  one  man  do  all  .the  spike 
pulling,  ahead  of  those  taking  out  the  ties.  A  day's  work  at  renewing  ties 
where  there  is  but  little  or  no  ballast  to  dig  awa-y  at  their  ends,  to  get  them 
out  of  the  track,  is  8  to  10  ties  per  man  in  rock  ballast  and  14  to  18  ties 
per  man  in  gravel  ballast.  In  sand  or  dirt  ballast  the  work  is  more  rapid, 
the  number  of  ties  renewed  per  man  depending  upon  the  method  of  getting 
the  old  ties  out  of  the  track ;  by  the  ordinary  method  of  digging  trenches  the- 
number  is  about  20. 

There  are  those  who  recommend  putting  ties  of  the  same  quality,  as 
near  as  may  be,  together,  with  the  idea  that  in  renewals  all  will  be  so  nearly 
decayed  alike  that  they  may  be  taken  out  together.  I  regard  such  practice 
as  both  useless  and  wrong,  for  of  ties  of  the  same  quality,  apparently,  some 
will  outlast  others  two  or  three  years.  Hence  to  take  them  all  out  at  the 
same  time  would  be  wasteful;  moreover,  by  taking  all  out  together  the  old 
bed  is  much  disturbed.  In  my  opinion  the  ideal  way  is  just  the  opposite ; 
that  is,  not  to  have  more  than  one  tie  in  a  place  to  come  out  during  the 
same  season,  although  something  is  saved  in  labor,  certainly,  by  taking  out 
two  adjacent  ties  at  the  same  time,  since  only  one  trench  need  be  excavated 
for  the  two.  A  tie  which  will  last  another  year,  however,  should  not  be  re- 
moved simply  because  a  trench  is  already  prepared  for  pulling  it  out.  Such 
are  my  sentiments  on  the  question  of  renewing  ties  out  of  face,  and  I  regard 
the  matter  of  disturbance  to  roadbed  fully  as  important,  from  an  economi- 
cal standpoint,  as  the  waste  in  timber.  There  is  also  another  important 
consideration.  In  renewing  ties  out  of  face,  or  in  patches  of  many  ties 
in  a  place,  the  track,  just  preceding  the  time  of  renewal,  must  become 
very  much  weakened  unless  the  ties  be  taken  out  sooner  than  they  necessar- 
ily would  be  in  'renewing  promiscuously.  Especially  would  this  be  the 
case  on  curves.  There  can  be  no  mistaking  the  fact  that  after  the  tie  begins 
to  fail  rapidly — as  is  the  case  near  the  close  of  its  life — there  is  in  point 
of  service  a  time  margin  favorable  to  the  promiscuous  method  of  renewing 
ties ;  and  this  must  amount  to  at  least  one  year,  if  anything.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  part  of  the  ties  in  a  given  stretch  be  renewed  yearly  the  strength 
or  firmness  of  the  track  structure  remains  at  all  times  more  nearly  at  an 
average,  or  practically  always  the  same.  In  the  nature  of  things  this  is  the 
condition  most  to  be  desired,  for  it  is  impossible  to  keep  sound  ties  in  the 
track  at  all  times,  except  at  great  and  unnecessary  expense.  Putting  the 
average  life  of  ties  at  6J  years  the  average  number  renewed  in  old  track 
is  only  two  or  three  ties  per  rail  length  each  year,  so  that  only  a  relatively 
small  portion  of  the  roadbed  is  disturbed.  For  this  reason,  if  any  atten- 
tion at  all  be  given  to  the  quality  of  the  new  ties,  it  is  better  to  mix  the 
different  qualities  as  much  as  possible  than  to  group  them  together.  Ay 
heretofore  stated,  where  there  are  wide  differences,  the  hardest  and  best  ties 
should  be  placed  in  the  curves. 

Touching  further  upon  the  question  of  renewing  ties  out  of  face,  it 
is  admitted  by  all  that  in  such  practice  many  ties  must  be  removed  which 
could  see  further  service.  In  1897  a  committee  of  the  Headmasters'  Asso- 
ciation of  America  took  into  consideration  the  scheme  of  making  use  of 
these  partly  worn  ties  in  side-tracks.  The  investigation  led  to  an  adverse 
report,  it  being  found  better  economy  to  use  new  second-class  ties  than 
ties  removed  from  main  track  capable  of  two  years'  further  service.  The 


TIE  RENEWALS  537 

following  extracts  from  the  report  give  the  course  of  reasoning  pursued: 
"We  have  a  tie  which  in  some  instances  will  last  two  years  if  not  dis- 
turbed. It  is  taken  out  of  the  main  line  and  placed  in  side-track,  where, 
owing  to  its  having  been  'rehandled,  its  life  is  somewhat  impaired;  and 
though  there  is  less  running  over  it,  it  will  not  last  much  longer  than  it 
would  have  lasted  in  the  former  place.  Assume  a  first-class  tie  to  cost  40 
cents  and  a  second-class  tie  20  cents.  The  labor  necessary  to  renew  a  tie 
in  stone  ballast  will  amount  to  about  15  cents,  and  in  gravel  about  10  cents; 
this  includes  removing  the  old  tie,  putting  in  the  new  one  and  tamping 
once.  The  life  of  a  tie  is  taken  at  7  years.  In  renewing  out  of  face  we 
will  consider  a  tie  (and  there  are  many  of  them)  which  if  not  disturbed 
would  have  lasted  2  more  years.  The  cost  of  this  tie  per  year  is  5f  cents. 
To  remove  it  will  cost  one-fourth  of  10  (for  gravel)  or  2^  cents.  The 
cost  of  labor  necessary  to  replace  it  in  the  side-track  is  10  cents.  Then, 
not  considering  the  cost  of  handling,  we  have: 

Cost  of  tie  at  5f  cents  per  year  for  two  years 1H  cents 

Cost  of  removal 2f  cents 

Cost  of  renewal.  .-.  .  ,  .10     cents 


Total    24     cents 

A  new  second-class  tie,  which  would  last  7  years,  would  cost 20     cents 

Cost  of  renewal..  ,.10     cents 


Total    30     cents 

"In  the  former  case  the  cost  per  year  for  side-track  is  about  12  cents ; 
in  the  latter  42/7  cents.  Hence,  from  this  standpoint  no  saving  is  effected." 

It  might  be  added  that  on  the  basis  of  using  a  new  first-class  tie  in 
side- track,  lasting  only  7  years,  the  cost  per  year  (71/7  cents)  is  still  decid- 
edly against  the  use  of  the  partly  worn  tie.  The  report  next  deals  with 
the  interest  cost  on  the  investment  for  a  first-class  tie.  At  5  per  cent  this 
item  amounts  to  2  cents  yearly,  which  means  that  if  two  years  of  service  be 
lost  a  new  investment  must  be  made  that  much  sooner,  thus  adding  4  cents 
to  the  ultimate  cost  of  the  tie. 

Now  in  certain  special  cases  where  the  ties  are  not  easily  accessible 
for  removal  it  pays  to  renew  out  of  face — such,  for  instance,  as  under  high- 
way crossings,  opposite  station  platforms  and  in  tunnels.  Obviously  it 
would  not  pay  to  tear  up  crossing  plank  every  year  to  renew  two  or  three 
ties.  In  such  places -a  full  set  of  selected  ties  should  replace  the  old  ones 
each  time  the  support  begins  to  get  poor,  even  if  all  have  not  run  their 
full  life.  In  renewing  ties  under  a  crossing  the  hard  surface  of  the  road 
or  street  should  not  be  torn  up  to  make  'room  for  hauling  ties  out  at  the 
side  of  the  track.  Either  take  up  the  rails  to  let  the  ties  out  and  in  or  else 
throw  out  all  the  ballast  between  the  ties  and  slue  them  around  parallel 
or  diagonally  to  the  rails  so  as  to  get  them  out  and  in.  Extra  tamping  is 
required  at  crossings.  To  'remove  ties  in  a  narrow  cut,  or  long  switch  ties 
where  the  adjoining  track  interferes,  pull  all  the  spikes  on  one  rail  and 
raise  it  off  the  ties  high  enough  to  let  all  the  ties  out  on  that  side.  At  a 
pinch  it  may  sometimes  pay  to  split  off  the  top  of  the  old  tie  (where  badly 
cut  into  by  the  rail,  for  example)  or  to  cut  it  in  two  between  the  rails. 
In  side  and  yard  tracks  also,  where  ties  may  be  allowed  to  decay  to  a  de- 
gree not  permissible  in  main  track,  it  may  pay  to  renew  ties  out  of  face. 
If  the  foreman  can  arrange  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  side-track  for  a 
time  the  best  method  of  renewing  is  to  disconnect  stretches  of  rails,  pull 
all  the  spikes  and  throw  both  strings  of  rails  clear  off  the  ties.  Then  lift 
out  the  old  ties,  clean  out  the  beds,  replace  with  new  ties,  connect  up  and 


538  TRACK  MAINTENANCE 

spike  down  the  rails  and  surface  the  track.  By  watching  carefully  for 
high  ties  before  the  rails  are  thrown  in  not  much  surfacing  need  be  required 
unless  the  track  was  previously  out  of  surface. 

The  renewal  of  ties  should  begin  in  the  spring,  just  as  soon  as  the 
track  has  been  gone  over  and  brought  to  fair  surface.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
prolong  this  work  all  through  the  summer.  The  main  essentials  of  good 
track  are  sound  ties  and  smooth  surface  and  alignment.  Just  after  the 
departure  of  the  frost  the  surface  and  alignment  conditions  of  the  track 
are  at  their  worst;  and  since  the  renewing  of  ties  is  always  more  or  less 
of  a  disturbance  to  the  surface,  it  is  not  advisable  to  do  a  great  amount 
of  smoothing  up  until  after  the  wo'rk  of  renewals  is  over.  The  latter 
should  therefore  be  done  as  rapidly  as  possible,  in  order  that  all  the  new 
ties  may  be  in  before  the  track  is  thoroughly  gone  over  and  tamped,  because 
it  is  a  waste  of  money  to  spend  much  time  tamping  ties  which  must  be 
taken  out  soon;  but  if  the  new  ties  are  put  in  early  this  need  not  be  done, 
It  is  better  to  hire  extra  men  to  push  this  work  and  then  decrease  the 
force  afterward  sufficiently  to  make  up  for  it,  if  need  be,  than  to  have 
the  work  drag  along.  In  the  northern  states  all  ties  to  be  renewed  in  main 
track  should  be  put  in  by  July  1st  each  year,  and  all  the  better  if  a  month 
earlier. 

89.  Renewing  Ballast. — Track  should  be  kept  filled  at  all  points, 
and,  except  in  dirt  ballast,  there  should  be  enough  ballast  on  the  shoulder, 
against  the  ends  of  the  ties,  to  properly  dress  the  middle  of  the  track  and 
the  spaces  between  the  ends  of  the  ties  after  surfacing.  The  shoulders 
should  be  kept  well  filled  out  according  to  the  standard  form.  As  soon 
as  the  tie  ends  begin  to  overhang  the  shoulder  or  the  spaces  between  the 
ties  become  only  partially  filled  in,  tamping  must  be  .done  more  frequently, 
and  the  track  is  not  so  easily  held  in  line.  Ballast  is  continually  being 
used  up  in  maintaining  the  track  to  surface.  Whenever  the  track  in  a  sag 
is  raised,  not  only  is  ballast  required  to  fill  the  space  under  the  ties  raised, 
but  the  ties  to  be  filled  in  afterward  are  higher  than  they  were  before ; 
hence,  unless  there  is  ballast  at  hand  outside  the  tie  ends  (a  surplus  should 
never  be  left  lying  between  the  rails),  there  will  not  usually  be  a  sufficient 
supply  to  fill  in  the  track  properly. 

Broken  stone  ballast  in  time  becomes  foul  with  dirt,  dust,  cinders  and 
weeds  and  when  such  is  the  case  it  should  be  forked  over  before  replenish- 
ing the  deficiencies.  Where  dirt  or  natural  soil  ballast  is  to  be  replaced 
by  gravel,  cinders,  or  other  ballast  of  better  quality,  all-  the  dirt  should  be 
removed  from  between  the  ties  as  far  down  as  their  bottoms  before  the  new 
ballast  is  unloaded.  In  this  way  the  old  ballast  (on  fills)  can  be  used  to 
strengthen  the  shoulder,  outside  the  tie  ends,  and  the  removal  of  such  ma- 
terial will  keep  the  ballast  of  good  quality  from  getting  mixed  with  that 
which  is  inferior.  The  rules  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  for  reb  alias  ting 
dirt  track  direct  that  where  the  grade  stakes  require  a  lift  of  less  than  8 
ins.  the  roadbed  shall  be  dug  out  to  get  ballast  of  that  depth  under  the 
ties,  and  that  where  the  stakes  require  a  lift  of  over  12  ins.  the  banks 
must  be  built  up  to  such  a  hight  that  not  more  than  this  depth  of  ballast 
will  be  required.  Where  the  track  is  to  be  lifted  higher  than  the  allow- 
able depth  of  ballast  and  the  roadbed  is  to  be  built  up  with  ordinary 
filling,  the  track  should  first  be  raised  and  tamped  with  such  material, 
so  as  to  keep  the  middle  of  the  roadbed  higher  than  the  shoulders,  for 
drainage  purposes ;  otherwise  water  which  sinks  through  the  ballast  has  no 
outlet  except  by  the  slow  process  of  seepage  through  the  embankment, 
softening  the  material  and  causing  it  to  settle  continually  or  to  heave  in 
winter.  The  cause  for  many  a  bad  piece  of  track  is  a  trough-shaped  road- 


RENEWING  BALLAST  539 

bed,  the  high  shoulders  obstructing  side  drainage  from  center.  Unless 
an  embankment  is  well  crowned  and  compacted  before  the  track  is  laid 
the  tendency  is  to  assume  such  a  shape  when  settlement  occurs.  The 
practice  of  Roadmaster  Henry  Ware,  of  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pitts- 
burg  Ry.,  when  renewing  ballast  on  embankments  which  have  settled  in 
this  manner,  is  to  cut  the  shoulders  down  even  with  or  a  little  below  the 
sub-grade  line  as  it  stands  underneath  the  ties.  If  the  shoulders  need 
strengthening,  such  work,  called  "bank  edging,"  should  be  done  before 
the  ballast  for  renewal  is  unloaded.  Shoulders  should  be  replenished  with 
dirt  or  natural  soil  and  not  with  ballast  material.  The  latter  is  the  • 
more  costly  and  it  will  not  remain  so  well  in  place  on  a  slope. 

Methods  of  handling  material  for  ballast  renewals  are  described  and 
discussed  in  §  148,  Chap.  X.  Before  dumping  ballast  all  spikes,  bolts, 
splices,  rails,  etc.,  should  be  picked  up.  There  is  in  practice  to  some 
extent  a  very  convenient  way  of  obtaining  cinders  for  renewing  ballast. 
A  section  of  track  which  is  in  need  of  ballast,  about  a  mile  long,  say,  is 
selected  and  sign  boards  marked  "DUMP  HERE"  are  put  up  on  either 
end  of  this  section,  on  the  fireman's  side.  As  trains  pass,  the  firemen 
dump  their  ash  pans  and  the  section  men  throw  out  the  cinders  as  fast  as 
they  accumulate  between  the  rails.  In  a  little  while  enough  cinders 
can  be  collected  in  this  way  to  reballast  the  track  or  'replenish  the  deficiency 
of  filling  material,  after  which  the  sign  boards  are  moved  ahead,  or«  to 
some  other  point  where  ballast  is  needed.  ASign  boards  for  this  purpose 
can  be  placed  at  two  or  more  points  on  a  division  at  the  same  time,  and 
much  expense  in  handling  and  hauling  cinders  can  thereby  be  saved. 

The  work  of  reballasting  main  track  which  carries  a  heavy  traffic  is 
usually  done  by  a  large  crew  or  extra  gang.  Where  the  lift  is  high  in 
gravel  or  similar  ballast,  say  4  ins.  or  more,  one  tamping  will  not  suffice 
to  hold  the  track  in  even  surface,  and  as  some  parts  of  it  will  need  tamping 
the  second  time,  a  good  way  to  plan  the  work  is  about  as  follows :  Raise 
th  •.  rails  up  to  the  grade  stakes  and  shovel  tamp  the  ties  outside  and  under 
the  rails,  but  not  between  the  r&ils.  The  spaces  between  the  ties,  inside 
the  rails,  may  be  filled  in  loosely  and  rather  full  and  the  material  permitted 
to  work  itself  under  the  ties  by  the  jarring  from  the  trains.  In  about  a 
week  the  tamping  crew  should  go  over  the  track  again,  putting  it  in  good 
surface  and  shovel  tamping  the  ties  all  the  way  across.  It  may  then  be 
lined  up  and  filled  in.  The  advantages  of  this  method  are  that  the 
ballast  supporting  the  ties  under  and  outside  the  rails  becomes  compacted 
much  harder  than  it  does  in  the  middle  of  the  track,  forming  the  firmest 
support  where  it  ought  to  be,  and  in  dispensing  with  the  tamping  of  the 
middle  of  the  ties  in  the  first  instance  a  good  deal  of  labor  is  saved.  In 
reballasting  track  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  run-off  or  gradual  slope  at  the 
end  of  the  raised  portion  each  time  a  train  passes,  and  to  economize  time 
while  the  work  of  raising  is  temporarily  suspended  the  gang  may  be  turned 
back  and  set  to  filling  in.  As  already  stated  in  another  connection,  the 
-raising  of  a  piece  of  track  out  of  face  presents  an  opportunity  for  the  cheap- 
est method  of  renewing  ties. 

The  cost  of  reballasting  track  varies,  of  course,  with  the  cost  of 
handling  and  hauling  the  ballast  and  the  price  and  efficiency  of  the  labor  in 
raising  and  tamping.  The  following  figures  are  taken  from  carefully 
kept  records  of  work  in  gravel,  and  in  a  general  way  may  be  of  assistance 
in  estimating  labor  costs.  In  one  instance  where  the  track  was  raised 
an  average  hight  of  10  ins.,  a  crew  of  95  men  unloaded  the  material  and 
averaged  2500  ft.  of  track  put  up  and  finished  per  day,  during  the  season. 
The  men  were  divided  for  the  work  as  follows:  There  was  one  gang  of 


540  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

50  men  which  raised  the  track  and  surfaced  it  roughly,  and  another  gang 
of  45  men  followed  behind  a  day  or  two  later,  placing  the  track  to  smooth 
surface,  lining,  filling  in,  and  dressing  it  up  complete.  These  figures, 
it  will  be  understood,  refer  to  thorough  work.  On  another  railroad  where 
the  track  was  raised  6  to  8  ins.  the  average  work  performed  by  one 
man  during  the  season  was  40  ft.  of  track  lifted,  tamped,  filled  in  and 
dressed  complete,  per  day,  including  the  work  of  a  small  gang  following 
two  or  three  days  behind  the  raising  gang  to  pick  up  the  low  spots  and 
line  out  all  the  small  kinks.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  report  that  one 
man  can  average  60  to  65  ft.  of  track  raised  4  to  6  ins.  and  completely 
ballasted  per  day. 

90.  Cutting  Grass  and  Weeds  in  Track. — An  item  of  quite  heavy 
expense  in  maintenance  work  is  that  of  clearing  track  of  grass  and  weeds. 
There  are  two  principal  reasons  making  this  wo'rk  a  necessity:  first,  loco- 
motives are  seriously  impeded  when  grass  or  weeds  get  high  enough  to 
reach  the  wheels,  for  when  crushed  they  form  a  sort  of  lubricant  on  the 
rail  which  vitiates  the  adhesion  of  the  drivers;  and  more  than  this,  grass- 
or  weeds  just  outside  the  rail  wipe  grease  and  oil  from  the  wheels  and 
afterward  lop  over  and  apply  it  to  the  rails;  secondly,  grass  and  weeds- 
must  be  removed  from  between  the  ties  in  order  to  sight  the  rails  for  raising, 
track;  for  as  few  as  a  dozen  spears  of  grass,  or  two  or  three  weeds  near  a 
rail — not  to  speak  of  a  rank  growth — may  make  its  top  surface  at  the  point 
which  is  being  raised  almost  invisible  to  the  man  sighting  it.  In  clean 
broken  stone  or  cinder  ballast  weeds  do  not  usually  give  trouble,  but  they 
grow  quite  well  in  gravel  ballast  after  it  gets  old,  and  in  dirt  ballast  lux- 
uriantly. The  most  common  varieties  of  vegetation  found  in  track  are 
grasses,  white  clover  and  a  kind  of  wiry  joint  grass  sometimes  called  "gun- 
bright."  These  varieties,  it  seems,  will  grow  in  track  where  they  are  not 
to  be  found  in  the  surrounding  region:  explained  probably  by  the  theory 
that  seeds  are  gathered  up  by  car  trucks  and  dropped  along  in  places, 
and  perhaps,  too,  they  may  be  carried  along  by  currents  of  air  set  up  by 
moving  trains.  The  most  troublesome  are  the  grasses  and  clovers,  because 
of  the  tough  and  wiry  roots.  The  annual  cost  of  cutting  these  by  hand 
may  vary  from  $5  to  $40  per  mile,  depending  on  the  kind  of  ballast  they 
grow  in  and  the  start  they  get.  Figures  commonly  reported  for  track  well 
ballasted  with  gravel  run  from  $13  to  $16  per  mile,  and  in  fertile  ballast 
$25  per  mile  is  not  surprising.  Depth  of  ballast  is  a  condition  of  some 
account  in  the  growth  of  vegetation  in  track,  because  in  shallow  ballast,, 
although  it  may  be  clean,  grasses  and  weeds  may  take  root  in  the  subsoil 
and  grow  through  the  ballast.  Where  such  is  the  case  the  vegetation  is- 
hard  to  kill. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  kill  out  vegetation  in  track  and  render 
the  ballast  sterile  by  sprinkling  salt  water  or  brine  o^/er  it,  but  the  cost 
of  getting  salt  enough  into  the  ballast  to  make  the  treatment  effective 
renders  the  method  rather  impracticable  in  ordinary  situations.  Moreover, 
after  the  strength  of  the  salt  has  departed  the  ground  is  left  more  fertile 
than  before,  notwithstanding  that  the  application  of  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  it  is  sure  death  to  vegetation  for  a  while.  Permanent  effects  are  not 
secured,  therefore,  except  upon  repeated  applications,  perhaps  as  often  as 
once  each  year.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  where  very  salty 
water  can  be  cheaply  obtained,  the  brine  treatment  has  been  found  effective 
and  more  economical  than  the  method  of  cutting  the  weeds  by  hand.  Air 
outfit  that  has  been  used  by  the  Oregon  Short  Line  K.  R.  consists  of  six 
flat  cars  each  carrying  a  wooden  tank  of  3500  gals,  capacity.  The  tanks 
are  connected  by  3-in.  pipe  and  hose,  above  the  couplers,  and  a  sprinkling" 


CUTTING  GRASS  AND  WEEDS  IN  TRACK  541 

-apparatus  is  attached  at  the  rear  of  the  train.  It  is  also  arranged  to 
sprinkle  the  track  from  each  car  direct  by  means  of  splash  boards.  The 
best  success  has  been  with  brine  obtained  from  the  lake  direct.  In  the 
year  1900  experiments  were  made  with  brine  produced  by  placing  unrefined 
salt,  in  the  solid  condition,  in  the  tanks  and  taking  water  from  the  water 
station  most  convenient  to  the  work  of  sprinkling.  This  salt  is  a  product 
which  precipitates  to  the  bottom  at  a  temperature  of  30  F.  or  under,  and 
is  washed  on  shore,  where  it  can  be  easily  obtained  in  large  quantities,  and 
at  a  higher  temperature  than  that  stated  it  can  be  held  in  solution. 
Experiments  with  this  material  were  not  altogether  satisfactory. 

At  one  time  some  experiments  in  the  electrocution  of  vegetation  in 
track  were  carried  out  on  the  Yazoo  &  Mississippi  Valley  E.  E.,  which  may 
be  worth  mentioning.  A  dynamo  of  the  alternating  type  was  set  up  in 
a  box  car,  together  with  a  stationary  engine  to  drive  it,  the  steam  being 
supplied  by  hose  connection  with  the  locomotive.  By  a  step-up  transformer 
the  voltage  was  raised  to  about  10,000.  One  terminal  of  the  secondary 
•circuit  was  attached  to  a  large  brush  made  of  bare  copper  wires.  This 
brush  was  of  sufficient  length  to  extend  beyond  the  ends  of  the  ties  over 
both  shoulders  and  it  was  suspended  at  right  angles  to  the  track  from  a 
flat  car  and  made  adjustable  so  as  to  be  raised  or  lowered.  The  other 
terminal  of  the  secondary  circuit  was  grounded  and  the  brush  was  trailed 
slowly  along  on  the  ground.  Of  course,  the  electric  current  found  its 
•circuit  through  the  easiest  resistance,  or  through  the  vegetation,  on  account 
of  the  large  proportion  of  water  contained,  which,  in  comparison  with  the 
dry  earth  surface,  is  a  fair  conductor.  It  is  said  that  wherever  good  con- 
tact was  had  with  the  vegetation  every  vestige  of  life  was  destroyed  to  the 
very  ends  of  the  roots,  but  the  powerful  influence  did  not  seem  to  be 
uniformly  distributed,  so  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  go  over  the 
ground  a  second  time  in  order  to  make  the  work  thoroughly  effective.  As 
'the  method  seems  to  have  been  dropped  it  may  be  assumed  that  on  the 
whole  the  experiments  were  not  succesful.  Experiments  have  also  been 
-conducted  by  blowing  steam  into  the  ground  from  locomotives  fitted  up  for 
the  purpose.  Such  methods  have  been  tried  on  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western and  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  roads,  but  without  the 
desired  measure  of  success.  The  only  satisfactory  substitute  which  seems 
to  have  been  found  for  the  laborious  process  of  grubbing  grass  and  wreeds 
in  the  track  with  a  shovel  or  other  primitive  instrument  is  the  oil  burner. 
Oars  equipped  with  this  device  have  been  put  into  regular  service  on  a 
number  of  western  roads  where  the  expense  of  keeping  vegetation  down 
on  dirt-ballasted  tracks  by  grubbing  with  a  shovel  is  a  formidable  figure, 
compared  with  the  expense  for  the  same  work  where  tracks  are  ballasted 
with  a  good  quality  of  gravel. 

Weed-Burning  Cars. — One  of  the  earliest  roads,  if  not  the  earliest, 
to  make  use  of  a  weed-burning  machine  was  the  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul 
&  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ey.,  where  one  was  constructed  on  plans  designed  by 
Mr.  E.  A.  Williams,  mechanical  superintendent,  and  first  used  in  the 
spring  of  1894.  In  the  construction  of  this  machine  use  was  made 
of  an  ordinary  flat  car,  on  the  front  end  of  which  (as  it  runs  in  ser- 
vice) is  mounted  an  upright  30-h.  p.  boiler  and  pair  of  7xlO-in.  en- 
gines. By  means  of  a  sprocket  chain  connection  between  the  engine 
shaft  and  a  car  axle  the  car  is  made  self-propelling.  In  order  to  over- 
come slipping  due  to  the  -lopping  of  long  weeds  over  the  rails  the  two 
axles  of  the  truck  are  connected  by  sprocket  chain.  By  this  means 
of  locomotion  a  speed  of  from  10  to  12  miles  per  hour  is  easily  made,  as 
when  running  to  sidings  to  meet  passing  trains.  The  water  supply  for 


54.2 


TRACK   MAINTENANCE 


O  €>' 


k- 


k- 


M 


Fig.  253.— Weed-Burning  Car,  M.,  St.  P.  &  S.  St.  M.  Ry. 

the  boiler  and  for  extinguishing  fires  which  may  be  set  accidentally  is 
carried  in  a  wooden  tank  in  the  center  of  the  car,,  as  seen  in  Fig.  253.  On 
top  of  this  tank  there  are  two  air  reservoirs,  and  inside  of  the  forward  cab 
there  are  two  8-in.  air  pumps  for  creating  the  air  pressure  necessary  to 
spray  the  oil  into  the  burners.  The  burner  rigging  is  suspended  from  a 
rear  platform  built  upon  four  T-rails.  The  shield  and  burners  are  hung 
from  the  end  of  this  platform  upon  bell  cranks,  and  an  old  reverse  lever 
and  quadrant  are  used  to  adjust  the  burners  to  the  desired  hight  from 
the  rail.  The  burners  are  easily  taken  down  when  it  is  desired  to  couple 
the  car  in  with  a  train.  The  tank  for  supplying  oil  to  the  burners  is 
located  inside  the  rear  cab.  The  general  appearance  of  the  machine  i& 
shown  by  the  reproduced  photograph,  while  the  arrangement  of  the  machin- 
ery on  the  car,  and  the  principal  dimensions  are  shown  in  the  line  engrav- 
ing. The  burner  shield,  which  is  made  of  iron  plate,  covers  the  track 
a'round  the  burners,  and  serves  the  three-fold  purpose  of  protecting  the 
car  from  the  heat  of  the  burners,  protecting  the  flame  from  the  wind,  and 
in  confining  the  heat  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  ground  surface. 
The  shield  has  flaps,  front  and  back,  adjustable  by  chains  attached  to- 
counterbalanced  levers.  There  are  six  burners  in  all — four  being  between 
the  Tails  and  one  outside  of  each  rail.  The  burners  stand  15  J  ins.  apart, 
from  centers,  the  burners  outside  of  the  rails  being  7}  ins.  from  the  center 
of  the  rail.  The  details  of  these  burners  are  shown  in  Fig  254,  it  being 
understood,  of  course,  that  the  burner,  as  used  on  the  machine,  stands,  in 
the  vertical  position.  The  oil  and  compressed  air  are  brought  to  the 
burner  in  separate  pipes,  the  ail  flowing  by  gravity.  The  car  is  operated 


CUTTING  GRASS  AND  WEEDS  IX  TRACK 


543 


Thread 
r-3'P/pe  Cap 
Brass Jam  Nuf~ 


Fig.  254.— Details  of  Burner,  M.,  St.  P.  &  S.  St.  M.  Weed-Burning  Car. 

by  two  men:  one  to  fire  the  boiler  and  run  the  engine  and  another  to 
operate  the  burners.  From  10  to  13  miles  of  track  are  burned  over  per 
day,  and.  on  an  average,  about  20 -J  gals,  of  crude  petroleum  are  consumed 
per  mile  pf  track  burned  over.  Ordinarily  the  track -is  burned  over  only 
once  during  the  season,  but  if  the  burning  is  not  started  until  late  in  the 
summer,  or  until  the  weeds  have  got  a  good  start,  or  where  the  growth  is 
particularly  heavy,  it  is  sometimes  found  necessary  to  burn  the  same  ground 
over  twice  during  the  season.  The  following  statement  of  the  performance 
of  the  car  in  burning  over  722  miles  of  track  in  one  season  gives  the  various 
items  in  detail :  The  total  cost,  including  $253.49  in  wages,  14,768  gals,  oil 
at  $.0389,  93,150  Ibs.  coal  at  $2.82.  per  ton,  and  $121.87  repairs,  was 
$1081.17,  or  $1.50  per  mile. 

A  weed  burner  used  on  the  Chicago  Great  Western  Ey.  is  arranged  on 
a  platform  at  the  rear  end  of  a  box  car  (Fig.  255)  which  is  self  propelling, 
being  driven  by  an  8xlO-in.  double  cylinder  mining  engine  connected 
with  an  axle  by  sprocket  chain.  Within  the  car  are  tanks  holding,  the 
oil  and  other  necessary  supplies.  There  are  eight  burners,  spaced  1  ft. 
apart,  projecting  through  a  metallic  plate  10  ft.  square,  for  confining  the 
heat  to  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  burners  are  distributed  two  outside 
each  rail  and  four  between  the  rails.  The  blast  to  the  burners  is  furnished 
by  compressed  air  at  70  Ibs.  pressure,  supplied  by  two  9-J-in.  Westinghouse 
air  pumps.  In  operaton  the  burners  are  started  anel  dropped  to  within 
about  4  ins.  of  the  top  of  the  rail.  The  car  moves,  over  the  track  at  a 


Fig.  255. — Weed   Burner,  Chicago   Great  Western    Ry. 


544  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

speed  of  about  1  mile  per  hour.  The  first  time  over  the  track  the  flame 
wilts  and  kills  the  vegetation,,  which  is  allowed  to  dry  for  several  days, 
when  the  car  is  again  run  over  and  it  is  entirely  consumed.  Three  men 
(an  engineer,  fireman  and  helper)  are  required  to  operate  the  car  and 
burner  and  the  section  men  follow  along  to  keep  fire  from  spreading. 
Crude  oil  is  used  and  about  30  gallons  are  required  per  mile,  each  time 
the  track  is  burned  over. 

On  several  other  'roads  the  .weed-burning  apparatus  is  arranged  upon 
a  flat  car.  which  is  moved  over  the  track  by  means  of  a  locomotive.  In. 
the  equipment  of  the  weed-burning  car  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Ry.  the 
burners  and  shield  are  arranged  at  the  forward, end  of  a  flat  car,,  which  is 
pushed  ahead  of  a  locomotive.  The  number  of  burners  is  eighteen, 
arranged  in  three  TOWS,  with  two  burners  in  the  trade  and  two  outside 
each  rail,  in  each  row.  The  shield  and  burners  are  hinged,  and,  by  means 
of  an  air  clyinder,  piston  and  chain  passed  over  a  pulley  they  can  be  raised 
to  a  vertical  position,  to  get  them  out  of  the  way  when  not  in  use.  The 
flat  car  also  carries  a  reservoir  of  16,000  cu.  ins.  capacity  for  air  storage 
and  a  1600-gal.  tank  for  the  oil  supply.  Air  pressure  is  provided  by  a 
10xl4-in.  "Class  C"  Rand  compressor  mounted  on  the  locomotive  pilot 
and  taking  steam  from  the  locomotive.  On  its  way  to  the  burners  the 

011  is  passed  through  a  strainer,  to  remove  foreign  matter  which  might 
clog  the  apparatus.       The  large  number  of  burners  makes  the  apparatus 
effective  at  faster  speed  than  that  at  which  the  weed  burners  above  described 
are  worked.     This  car  burns  over  about  30  miles  of  track  per  day,  at 
a  cost  of  $2  to  $4  per  mile.       A  weed  burner  used  on  the  James  river 
division  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  consists  of  a  tank  of 

12  bbls.  capacity  placed  on  a  flat  car,  from  which  pipes  are  led  to  burners 
at  the  end  of  the  car.     Of  the?e  burners  there  are  eight — four  between 
the  rails  and  twc  outside  each  rail.       The  fuel  used  is  crude  oil,  about  one 
barrel  being  required  per  mile.       The  blast  is  furnished  by  compressed 
air  supplied  by  air  pumps  on  the  locomotive  which  hauls  the  car;  steam 
has  also  been  used  for  this  purpos'e  with  equal  satisfaction.     From  8  to 
10  miles  of  track  are  burned  over  per  day,  and  it  is  found  that  about  three 
burnings  a  season  are  necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  weeds  down  so  as  not 
to  interfere  with  trains.      This  machine  will  take  care  of  about  200  miles 
of  track.      The  crew  necessary  to  ope'rate  the  machine  consists  of  two  men 
besides  the  engineer  and  fireman — one  with  the  burner  and  one  to  follow 
behind  to  extinguish  fires  which  get  started  on  the  right  of  way  outside; 
the  track. 

The  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  has  two  weed  burners  con- 
structed on  different  ideas  from  those  hitherto.  One  of  the  outfits 
consists  of  an  iron  car  with  an  iron  shield  suspended  between  the  trucks ; 
an  oil-tank  car  with  a  capacity  of  4500  gals.;  and  an  oil  tank  having  a 
capacity  of  800  gals.,  built  sufficiently  strong  to  withstand  a  pressure  of 
70  !bs.  per  sq.  in.  This  tank  is1  filled  from  the  tank  car  and  the  oil  is 
forced  to  the  burners  by  air  pressure.  The  shield  underneath  the  car  is 
32  ft  long  and  is  provided  with  aprons  at  each  side  to  retain  the  heat 
and  prevent  the  flame  from  being  blown  to  one  side  of  the  shield  by  side 
winds.  The  contrivance  is  put  in  operation  by  igniting  the  oil  and  lower- 
ing the  shield  to  within  3  or  4  ins.  of  the  rail,  when  the  aprons  on  the  sides 
of  the  shield  are  dropped  and  slide  on  the  ground.  When  bridges  are 
crossed  the  shield  is  lifted  12  or  15  ins.  clear  of  the  rails  and  the  oil 
supply  is  shut  off.  As  the  oil  is  directed  against  the  under  surface  of  the 
shield  the  latter  retains  sufficient  heat  to  ignite  the  oil  for  a  considerable 
time  after  the  oil  has  been  shut  off.  In  crossing  culverts  anel  cattle 


CUTTING  GRASS  AXD  WEEDS  IX  TRACK  545 

guards  it  is  not  found  necessary  to  close  the  oil  valves,  since  the  lifting  of 
the  shield  carries  the  flame  high  enough  to  prevent  setting  fire  to  the 
timbers.  The  amount  of  oil  required  for  each  of  the  four  burners  is 
about  8  gals,  per  mile.  It  is  found  that  solid  ties  will  not  catch  fire,  but 
a  gang  of  men  is  kept  close  to  the  car  to  put  out  such  fires  as  may  get 
started.  The  speed  which  the  car  can  make  depends  upon  the  kind  of 
vegetation  worked  over.  In  weeds  not  to  exceed  5  or  6  ins.  in  liight  it  is 
practicable  to  -run  at  a  speed  of  about  four  miles  an  hour,  but  if  the  track 
is  covered  thickly  with  heavy,  coarse  grass  effective  work  cannot  be  done 
at  a  speed  exceeding  2J  miles  per  hour.  It  is  found  that  only  the  light 
blades  of  grass  and  weeds  are  consumed,  the  greater  portion  of  the  vegeta- 
tion being  scorched,  so  that  it  soon  droops  and  dies  out.  The  four  burners 
spread  the  flame  over  the  whole  space  under  the  shield,  which  reaches  about 
30  ins.  outside  the  rails.  The  cost  of  operating  the  car  per  day  of  12 
hours  is  $50,  and  the  average  length  of  track  worked  over  is  20  miles  per 
day,  which  makes  the  average  expense  of  destroying  the  weeds  about  $5.50 
per  mile.  The  cost  of  the  oil  is  not  a  large  part  of  the  expense,  the  consid- 
eration of  chief  importance  being  to  keep  the  outfit  moving.  During 
the  first  year  "of  its  operation  it  covered  more  than  1500  miles  of  track. 
The  cost  of  equipping  the  car  with  burners,  building  the  oil  tank,  and  the 
additional  air  pumps  on  the  locomotives  for  supplying  the  blast,  was 
about  $1800.  During  another  season  the  machine  burned  over  900  miles 
of  track  at  an  expense  of  $2.35  per  mile. 

Another  weed  burner  used  on  this  road  was  constructed  by  utilizing 
an  old  plate-girder  turntable  as  the  body  part  for  an  iron  car.  The 
turntable  is  supported  by  two  trucks,  one  near  one  end  of  the  table  and 
the  other  about  half  way  between  the  middle  of  the  turntable  and  the 
other  end^  so  that  one  enel  (the  rear  enel)  of  the  turntable  overhangs  the 
truck  a  considerable  distance.  Beneath  this  overhanging  end  there  is.  sus- 
pended a  shield  9  ft.  wide  and  16  ft.  long,  built  up  of  two  thicknesses 
of  sheet  steel  spaced  6  ins.  apart  and  filled  with  mineral  wool  to  absorb 
the  heat  anel  prevent  its  radiation  against  the  superstructure.  When  not 
in  service  the  shield  is  raised  18  ins.  above  the  'rail.  There  are  wings 
at  the  sides  and  at  the  rear  end,  which  drag  on  the  ground  and  confine 
the  flame  to  the  space  beneath  the  shield.  There  is  a  cabin  built  upon 
the  turntable,  within  which  are  operated  three  9J-in.  pumps  for  the  air 
supply,  taking  steam  from  the  locomotive  hauling  the  outfit.  The  exhaust 
steam  from  these  pumps  is  carried  in  pipes  to  the  rear  end  and  along  the 
sides  of  the  burner  shield  and  discharged  down  into  the  ground,  to  quench 
any  fires  which  may  get  started.  The  outfit  includes  a  car  carrying  a 
GOOO-gal.  oil  tank;  and  an  extra  water  tender.  The  tank  car  carries 
a  large  water  pump  and  a  pump  for  taking  oil  out  of  stationary  tanks  to 
fill  the  portable  one.  In  operation  the  car  makes  a  speed  of  1^  to  3J  miles 
per  hour,  according  to  the  density  and  growth  of  the  vegetation,  and  in 
light  work  about  a  barrel  of  fuel  oil  is  used  per  mile  of  track  burned  over. 

The  advantage  of  economy  seems  to  lie  with  weed-burning  cars  which 
propel  themselves  over  the  track.  The  daily  expense  of  operating  a  loco- 
motive exceeds  that  necessary  to  operate  a  self-propelling  weed-burning 
car,  and  it  would  seem  doubtful  if  the  time  to  be  saved  in  the  use  of  a 
locomotive  to  haul  the  weed  burner  out  of  the  way  of  passing  trains,  over 
that  consumed  by  the  slower  moving  self-propelling  machine,  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  compensate  for  the  extra  cost  of  the  locomotive  operation. 
Especially  would  this  seem  to  be  the  case  on  branch  lines  where  the  infre- 
qiuncy  of  the  traffic  permits  the  car  to  hold  main  track  at  comparatively 
long  intervals.  In  long-distance  movements,  where  the  machine  is  not 


546  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

in  service  during  transit,  the  use  of  the  freight  trains  is  of  course  available. 
The  introduction  of  either  type  of  machine  must  bring  joy  to  the  hearts 
of  trackmen;  for  of  all  back-aching  work  the  cutting  of  grass  and  weeds 
in  irack  by  the  usual  method  is  the  worst;  in  a  physical  sense  it  is  torture. 
The  almost  universal,  and  seemingly  the  most  satisfactory,  method 
of  disposing  of  vegetation  in  track  is  to  cut  it  down  as  fast  as  it  grows 
sufficiently  high  to  become  bothersome.  This  work  is  usually  done  by 
grubbing  with  the  common  track  shovel,  and  on  various  roads  it  is  known 
as  "skerfing"  or  "sculping."  The  shovel  seems  to  be  the  only  implement 
in  the  ordinary  outfit  of  track  tools  which  is  adapted  to  this  work,  but  011 
humane  principles  something  more  agreeable  to  work  with  should  be  sub- 
stituted. A  steel  blade  about  the  width  of  an  ordinary  shovel  blade,  but 
shorter  and  thinner,  fastened  to  a  fork  on  the  end  of  a  long  handle,  on 
about  the  hang  of  a  pitchfork,  is  in  use  to  some  extent  for  grubbing  grass 
and  weeds,  one  of  the  roads  using  it  being  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  & 
Pacific.  As  might  be  expected,  it  is  found  to  be  a  more  efficient  tool  for 


Fig.  256.— Blundell  Weeding  Hoe.  Fig.  256  A.— Weed  Scuffle. 

the  purpose  than  the  shovel,  except  in  coarse  gravel.  A  strong,  wide  hoe 
is  also  a  better  tool  than  the  shovel  for  this  work.  A  weeding  hoe  devised 
by  Eoadmaster  E.  C.  Blundell,  of  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  & 
Omaha  By.,  and  used  on  that  and  several  other  roads,  is  shown  in  Fig.  256. 
It  consists  of  a  rectangular  blade  of  oil-tempered  steel,  9x5  ins.  in  size, 
with  rounded  corners.  The  blade  is  polished  on  both  sides  and  has  four 
cutting  edges,  beveled  from  top  to  bottom.  To  this  blade  is  bolted  a 
weighted  tang,  with  a  socket  for  a  handle,  which  is  5  ft.  long.  This 
arrangement  permits  the  substitution  of  a  new  blade  when  the  old  one  is 
worn  out.  In  using  this  weed  cutter  the  dirt  or  ballast  which  is  liable 
tc  be  thrown  aside  in  weeding  with  other  devices  remains  in  place  in  the 
track,  or  on  the  shoulder,  and  a  man  can  stand  erect  and  do  a  much  larger 
amount  of  work  in  a  day  than  with  the  ordinary  track  shovel,  and  evidently 
with  greater  ease.  On  the  Denver  &  Eio  Grande  E.  E.  use  is  made  of  a 
weed  cutter  consisting  of  a  triangular  steel  blade  with  a  shank  attached 
to  a  pitchfork  handle.  It  works  well  in  sand  and  dirt  ballast,  but  not  in 
coarse  gravel,  for  which  a  shovel  or  heavy  hoe  seems  best  adapted.  On 
the  Evansville  &  Terre  Haute  E,  E.  a  weed  "scuffle"  (Fig.  256 A.)  is  made 


CUTTING  GRASS  AND  WEEDS  IN  TRACK  547 

from-  a  piece  of  old  shovel  blade,,  with  a  long  handle.  The  tool  is  made  in 
large  quantities  at  a  time.  The  blades  of  old  shovels  are  thrown  into  a 
furnace,  straightened  under  the  hammer,,  sheared  to  size,  punched,  sharp- 
ened, tempered  and  riveted  to  the  shank.  The  shovels  most  suitable  for 
grubbing  weeds  are  old  ones  worn  out  for  other  purposes,  because  they  are 
lighter.  When  grubbing  in  dirt  ballast  or  other  soft  material,  it  helps 
matters  along  to  trim  the  blade  off.  squarely  and  then  to  bluntly  grind 
it  to  a  sharp  cutting  edge,  but  good  shovels  should  not  be  ground  or  filed 
in  this  manner. 

Vegetation  in  track  should  be  cut  before  or  during  the  heat  of  the  day, 
-so  that  it  will  wilt  quickly  and  not  need  to  be  thrown  out.  Some  make  it 
a  practice  to  scrape  it  into  piles  and  throw  it  outside,  and  some  give  it 
a  toss  with  the  shovel  as  it  is  cut,  thereby  throwing  away  much  ballast  also. 
After  a  few  cuttings  in  this  manner  the  ballast  on  the  shoulder  and  between 
the  ties  gradually  disappears  down  over  the  bank.  If  the  foreman  is  behind 
in  his  work,  and  there  are  heavy  grades,  he  should  cut  the  grass  and  weeds 
on  the  grades  first.  The  annual  contest  waged  against  growing  vegetation 
to  maintain  track  in  clean  condition  cuts  into  the  time  when  much 
important  work  is  on  hand,  and  it  is  well  to  consider  how  far  actual 
necessities  require  the  work  to  be  carried.  In  gravel  ballast  it  is  well  to 
cut  out  as  far  as  the  gravel  extends  on  the  shoulder,  or  at  least  3  ft.  from 
the  ends  of  the  ties,  but  in  dirt  ballast  it  is*  hardly  worth  while  cutting 
-any  more  than  the  width  of  a  shovel  outside  the  ties,  to  protect  them  from 
catching  fire,  as  this  distance  will  usually  be  found  sufficient  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes.  Or  where  it  is  customary  to  burn  over  the  right  of  way 
as  soon  as  the  grass  gets  dry  enough  in  the  fall,  the  weeds  need  be  cut  no 
farther  than  between  the  ties,  for  while  burning  the  grass  close  to  the  tracK 
the  ties  can  be  watched.  A  railway  company  which  cannot  afford  better 
ballast  than  dirt  can  ill  afford  to  go  to  the  expense  of  keeping  the  shoulders 
clear  of  grass  and  weeds.  Besides,  in  dirt  ballast  the  shoulder  must  slope 
from  the  bottom  of  the  tie  end,  for  drainage,  and  any  cutting  away  neces- 
sarily weakens  the  support  of  the  tie  outside  the  rail. 

On  some  roads,  including  the  Southern  Pacific,  the  regulations  require 
that  during  the  grass-growing  season  only  so  much  grass  and  weeds  shall 
be  removed  from  the  track  as  is  necessary  to  keep  the  rails  clear.  At  the 
ond  of  the  growing  season,  which  is  officially  defined  for  each  roadmaster's 
district,  the  grass  is  cut  off  accurately  to  the  sod  lines  and  after  that  vege- 
tation must  be  kept  down,  between  these  lines,  until  the  commencement  of 
'the  next  growing  season.  For  ornamental  purposes  it  is  quite  customary 
to  preserve  a  nice  grass  line  or  sod  line  at  some  uniform  distance  from  the 
Tail.  Where  much  weed  cutting  is  done  this  grass  line  is  liable  to  lead  to 
some  trouble,  as  the  tendency  is  to  work  down  the  material  between  it  and 
the  ends  of  the  ties  and  leave  a  shoulder  at  the  edge  of  the  grass  to  obstruct 
drainage.  In  some  instances  one  will  find  channels  the  width  of  a  shovel 
"blade  cut  through  this  shoulder  at  intervals  to  drain  off  the  water.  This 
practice  suggests  that  wherever  the  shoulders  are  of  uniform  width  the 
grass  line  should  be  at  the  edge,  or  just  over  the  edge,  of  the  embankment. 

Old  stone  ballast  which  has  accumulated  dust,  cinders  or  dirt  will 
grow  vegetation,  and  when  such  is  the  case  it  takes  an  immense  amount  of 
labor  to  remove  it  and  keep  it  down.  The  best  way  to  do  it  is  to  pick  up 
the  whole  filling  and  work  it  over  so  that  the  material  is  cleaned  of  dirt 
to  a  good  depth.  It  takes  time,  but  it  is  a  sure  method  and  nothing  has  a 
chance  to  grow  in  it  for  a  long  time  afterward.  On  some  roads  the  stone 
ballast  is  so  treated  every  three  or  four  years. 


54.8 


TRACK   MAINTENANCE 


91.  Mowing. — All  grass  and  weeds  on  the  right  of  way  should  be- 
mowed  each  year  before  being  allowed  to  go  to  seed.  In  some  states  the  law 
provides  a  penalty  for  allowing  Canada  thistles  to  go  to  seed.  The  mowing 
should  begin  where  the  weed  cutting  on  the  shoulder  leaves  off,  and  it  should 
usually  extend  to  the  limits  of  the  right  of  way.  Near  wooden  culverts- 
and  bridges  or  any  kind  of  timber-work  the  grass,  after  drying,  should  be 
burned  at  the  first  favorable  opportunity,  and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  burn 
over  all  the  right  of  way.  Vines  or  tall  grass  should  not  be  allowed  to  run 
on  or  grow  around  trestles,  telegraph  poles  or  other  timber-work.  It  is  well, 
also,  to  cut  with  the  shovel,  the  same  as  in  the  track,  the  grass  and  weeds 
near  timber-work  and  telegraph  poles.  Around  the  latter  it  is  a  good  plan 
to  clear  a  space  of  at  least  3  ft.  radius  before  burning  over  the  right  of  way. 
By  taking  a  day  when  the  wind  is  favorable  the  grass,  brush,  etc.  in  the 
vicinity  of  property  liable  'to  be  destroyed  by  fire  can,  by  watching, 
be  burned  with  safety,  and  the  danger  of  other  fires  that  same  year  will  be 
avoided.  One  way  of  protecting  telegraph  poles  when  burning  right  of  way 
is  to  cut  the  grass  around  them  and  then  throw  fresh  dirt  around  the  pole- 
Vegetable  growth  at  the  foot  of  a  telegraph  pole  hastens  decay  at  the  ground 
line.  One  way  to  prevent  vegetation  from  contact  with  the  pole  is  to  make 
a  small  excavation  around  the  pole  and  fill  it  with  concrete.  A  patented 
device  for  the  same  purpose  is  a  piece  of  sewer  pipe  around  the  pole,  set 
into  the  ground  socket  upward,  with  the  space  between  the  pole  and  the  pipe 
filled  with  screened  gravel  and  tar  or  with  cement.  In  setting  new  poles  ordi- 
nary lengths  of  sewer  pipe  are  used,  but  for  poles  already  set  the  section 
of  pipe  is  divided  longitudinally  into  two  pieces. 


Fig.  257.— Weed-Cutting  Hand  Car. 

In  heavy  grass  or  weeds  or  on  rough  ground  the  cost  of  mowing  right 
of  way  is  a  considerable  item — $10  to  $20  per  mile,  $12  to  $17  per  mile 
being  ordinary  figures  for  right  of  way  100  ft.  wide.  On  smooth  land  it 
sometimes  pays  to  hire  farmers  to  cut  over  as  much  of  the  right  of  way  as- 
possible  with  their  mowing  machines,  and  where  there  is  good  grass  the 
farmers  are  usually  willing  to  take  the  hay  for  compensation.  In  prairie 
country  there  is  opportunity  to  make  such  arrangements.  Some  section 
foremen  with  an  eye  to  business  have  prepared  the  right  of  way  for  machine 
mowing  by  plowing  the  ground,  harrowing  down  the  rough  spots  and  seed- 
ing it  with  a  good  quality  of  grass,  paying  the  farmers  for  the  work  with  old 
ties.  Each  following  season  the  farmers  are  then  eager  to  mow  the  right  of 
way  for  the  hay. 

On  some  western  roads  where  it  has  been  found  desirable  to  mow  onlv 


CUTTING   BRUSH  549 

far  enough  from  the  track  to  clear  for  trains,  a  slow-speed  hand  car  rigged 
with  a  side  cutter  bar,  like  a  mowing  machine,  the  sickle  bar  being  geared 
to  the  axle  of  the  car,  is  used  to  cut  a  swath  each  side  of  the  track.  The 
machine  is  run  by  a  crew  of  four  to  six  men,  according  to  the  density  of 
the  growth,  and,  when  cutting.,  a  speed  of  4  or  5  miles  per  hour  is  made. 
Figure  257  shows  a  Sheffield  car  of  this  kind.  The  cutter  bar  is  6  ft.  in 
length  and  is  so  arranged  that  it  can  be  folded  to  a  vertical  position  so  as  to 
pass  bridges  or  other  obstructions.  The  sickle  bar  can  be  thrown  in  or  out 
of  gear  at  will.  The  cutter  bar  can  be  adjusted  to  cut  as  low  as  the  ends 
of  the  ties  will  permit  and  to  a  point  8  ft.  from  the  rail.  By  a  peculiar 
construction  of  the  cutting  arrangement  it  can  be  operated  equally  as  well 
down  the  slope  of  a  hill  or  up  the  face  of  a  cut  as  on  level  ground.  The 
weight  of  the  car  entire  is  750  Ibs.  The  car  is  placed  in  charge  of  one  man, 
who  looks  after  the  mowing  for  a  division,  the  crew  necessary  to  run  the 
machine  being  furnished  by  each  section  as  the  car  comes  along.  Before 
the  arrival  of  the  car  the  section  foremen  see  that  old  ties,  stones,  etc., 
are  removed  from  the  vicinity  of  the  track.  After  the  mowing  season  is  over 
the  cutting  apparatus  is  taken  off  and  the  hand  car  is  put  to  general  use. 

92.  Cutting  Brush. — Some  railroad  companies  hold  miles  of  right 
of  way,  of  a  width  which  clearly  exceeds  their  present  or  future  needs,  for 
no  other  apparent  reason  than  the  privilege  of  paying  taxes  and  cutting  a 
crop  of  brush  or  weeds  on  it  yearly.  Around  curves  a  wide  right  of  way 
is  needed,  in  order  that  the  company  may  keep  a  clear  space  wide  enough 
to  enable  trainmen  to  see  a  good  distance  ahead,  and  the  usual  width  of  100 
ft.  is  none  too  much.  At  public  road  crossings,  also,  and  especially  if  the 
Toad  emerges  from  a  forest  or  is  enclosed  by  trees  or  other  objects  which 
obstruct  the  view  each  way  along  the  track,  a  wide  right  of  way  should  be 
kept  cleared.  At  cuts  a  wide  right  of  way  is  necessary  to  provide  room  for 
snow  fences,  and  in  many  cases  a  width  of  100  ft.  is  insufficient.  At  other 
points,  however,  there  is  usually  no  need  of  more  than  50  ft.  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  unless  there  is  a  considerable  fill  or  cut,  or  a  prospect  of  some 
future  need  of  more  room  can  be  seen,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  company 
should  burden  itself  by  holding  a  uniform  width  of  100  ft.  everywhere,  to 
be  cut  over.  There  is,  in  an  extra  width  of  50  ft.,  about  6  acres  of  addi- 
tional right  of  way  per  mile.  At  a  cost  of  $2.50  to  $3  per  acre  for  brush 
cutting  and,  say,  $1  per  acre  for  mowing  grass  and  weeds,  this  extra  land 
calls  for  something  between  $6  and  $18  of  extra  expenditure  per  mile, 
yearly.  It  seems  almost  a  pity  that  along  thousands  of  miles  of  railroad  so 
much  unused  right  of  way  should  go  to  waste.  It  ought  to  be  arranged  to 
set  the  fences  in  closer  to  the  track  and  let  the  farmers  have  the  use  of  the 
land  temporarily  vacated  . 

Where  the  surrounding  country  is  cleared  brush  must  be  cut  the  full 
width  of  the  right  of  way  in  order  to  give  an  unobstructed  side  view  from 
trains.  Brush,  when  high  enough,  will  interfere  with  the  working  of  tele- 
graph wires  during  damp  weather,  and  for  this  reason  wherever,  in  a  wooded 
country,  for  instance,  it  would  not  be  desirable  to  cut  brush  the  full  width 
of  the  right  of  way,  it  would  be  well  to  set  the  telegraph  poles  nearer  the 
track  than  their  usual  location  near  the  limit  of  the  right  of  way.  If  set 
deep  enough  there  is  no  danger  of  their  falling  upon  the  track  during  storms. 
Brush  standing  near  the  track  will  shade  it,  and  oftentimes  in  this  way  it 
injures  track  by  shutting  out  sunshine  from  damp  places  during  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  day.  Again,  where  fences  are  not  maintained,  brush  close  to 
the  track  forms  a  hiding  place  for  cattle,  horses,  and  other  stock,  from 
which,  when  frightened,  they  jump  out  and  reach  the  track  before  the  engi- 
neer has  time  to  stop.  It  is  far  more  sightly  to  cut  brush  the  full  width  of 


550  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

the  right  of  way,  and  roads  on  a  well  paying  basis  can  do  it ;  but  on  long  lines- 
through  wooded  and  sparsely  settled  districts,,  where  little  business  is  done, 
the  expense  of  cutting  over  the  full  width  of  the  right  of  way  every  year 
bears  heavily,  and  brush  cutting  with  such  roads  ought,  therefore,  to  be  con- 
fined to  immediate  necessities  only.  For  light  brush,  sprouts,  etc.,  the  brush, 
scythe  is  the  best  tool  to  use,  but  for  the  heavier  brush  the  brush  hook  or 
brush  ax  is  best.  July  or  August  are  the  usual  months  for  cutting  brush. 
Brush  cut  well  along  in  the  season,  or  after  attaining  some  growth,  are  less- 
liable  to  sprout  again. 

93.  Ditching. — The  proper  time  to  clean  out  ditches  is  in  the  f all,, 
during  the  dry  weather  before  the  ground  freezes  or  the  winter  rains  set 
in,  as  the  case  may  be.  Wherever  there  is  much  material  to  be  moved,  ditches- 
should  be  cleaned  by  the  work  train,  especially  in  long  through  cuts.  It  is 
much  cheaper  to  load  material  onto  flat  cars  than  to  truck  it  out  of  cuts; 
besides,  with  the  work  train  the  material  taken  out  can  be  unloaded  wher- 
ever it  is  needed  to  strengthen  fills,  thus  accomplishing  two  purposes  with 
a  saving  of  labor.  If  the  amount  of  material  to  be  moved  is  small  the  sec- 
tion men  can  do  it  quite  well,  or  to  expedite  matters  they  can  at  least  clean 
the  ditch  and  scrape  together  the  refuse  in  heaps  before  the  work  train 
arrives.  All  grass,  -  weeds,  sticks,  stones,  etc.  should  be  cleared  away  so  as- 
to  leave  the  ditch  unobstructed.  There  are,  of  course,  many  ditches  which 
fill  frequently  by  washings  from  heavy  rains  in  summer  or  by  thawing  in 
spring,  so  that  it  is  not  always  practicable  to  use  the  work  train  for  them, 
and  the  cleaning  must  therefore  be  done  by  the  section  men. 

In  side-hill  cuts  material  taken  from  ditches  can  usually  be  cast  across 
the  track,  but  in  through  cuts  it  may  be  taken  out  on  the  push  car,  or  by 
wheelbarrows,  if  the  cut  is  not  too  long.  There  are  wheelbarrows  made  with 
double  flanged  wheels  to  run  on  the  rail,  for  use  in  cleaning  out  cuts.  The 
axle  of  the  wheel  is  set  at  a  slight  skew  to  the  frame  of  the  barrow,  so  that 
the  person  pushing  it  may  walk  on  one  side  of  the  rail  instead  of  astride. 
Aside  from  its  special  use  the  barrow  may  be  run  on  the  ground  OT  on  a 
plank,  like  any  other  wheelbarrow,  thus  enabling  the  man  wheeling  the 
load  to  dump  it  at  desired  points  away  from  the  track.  For  small  jobs  in 
short  cuts  the  device  is  quite  convenient,  as  it  saves  the  time  required  to- 
move  a  string  of  planks  from  point  to  point  to  use  for  a  runway,  such  as- 
is  needed  for  ordinary  wheelbarrows.  For  general  ditching  work,  where  a 
number  of  wheelbarrows  are  needed,  it  is  better  to  use  the  ordinary  barrow 
on  running  planks  strung  along  on  the  ties  outside  the  rail.  Where  it  is- 
necessary  to  cross  the  track  a  pfank  should  be  cut  the  right  length  to  fit 
between  the  rails.  Proper  flangeways  can  be  made  by  chamfering  the  ends 
of  the  plank  to  get  them  to  fit  under  the  heads  of  the  rails.  This  plank 
may  be  held  in  place  temporarily  by  one  or  two  track  spikes,  but  should  be 
taken  up  in  advance  of  fast  trains  and  when  quitting  work  at  night.  Where 
the  view  from  the  work  is  obstructed  by  curves  or  otherwise,  it  is  dangerous- 
to  place  a  running  plank  across  the  rails,  and  even  where  there  is  a  good 
view  along  straight  line  continual  watchfulness  is  required.  Light  ditch- 
ing in  long  cuts  not  deeper  than  10  or  12  ft.  is  sometimes  done  by  throwing 
the  material  up  the  bank,  at  one  or  two  casts,  and  then  moving  it  back  out 
of  the  way;  but  dirt  from  ditches  should  never  be  thrown  upon  the  slope 
of  the  cut  or  left  on  top  of  the  bank,  near  the  slope. 

In  cleaning  out  ditches  the  ditch  should  be  given  its  proper  alignment 
parallel  with  the  track,  or  such  ditches  as  have  not  previously  been  made 
straight  should  be  trimmed  up.  In  such  work  a  ditch  line  is  commonly  used. 
The  depth  may  be  kept  uniform  by  the  use  of  a  straightedge  and  level  or 
level  board,  taking  the  rail  for  reference;  or  if  the  track  be  level  the.  re- 


simmiXG  551 

quired  fall  may  be  had  by  allowing  a  certain  amount  of  drop  per  rail  length. 
To  keep  the  ditch  everywhere  the  same  depth  and  shape  some  make  use 
of  a  ditch  gage,  which  may  consist  of  a  framework  constructed  of  strips  of 
board  and  shaped  to  correspond  to  the  outline  of  the  ditch.  In  use  the  top 
strip  (made  long  enough  to  rest  across  both  track  rails)  is  held  on  the  rail 
and  set  by  the  level,  and  the  ditch  is  shaped  to  conform  to  the  depending 
templet.  In  cleaning  out  a  wet  ditch  the  work  should  begin  at  the  lower 
end,  so  that  the  water  will  run  off  as  fast  as  the  work  progresses.  It  is  im- 
portant to  avoid  digging  ditches  beyond  the  necessary  depth  in  places.  An 
error  of  this  kind  is  not  easily  remedied,  for  if  the  depression  be  filled  up 
to  the  ditch  grade  line,  the  first  hard  rain  will  wash  out  the  loose  material 
and  water  will  then  stand  in  the  ditch.  Particular  attention  should  be  paid 
to  cleaning  out  the  surface  or  slope  ditches  around  cuts,  and  to  keep  the 
track  ditches  from  being  obstructed  by  ice  formed  by  the  freezing  of  spring 
water  oozing  from  the  slopes.  During  heavy  rain  storms  and  when  frost 
is  coming  out  of  the  ground  ditches  are  liable  to  become  filled  with  material 
loosened  on  the  slopes. 

94.  Shimming. — Shimming  at  its  best  is  only  temporary  work. 
There  are  two  ways  of  doing  it,  viz.,  shimming  under  the  tie  and  shimming 
between  the  rail  and  the  tie.  The  former  method  must  be  resorted  to  some- 
times where  the  ground  is  too  wet  to  be  tamped  or  where  no  fit  material  is 
at  hand  with  which  to  do  the  tamping,  but  if  possible  it  should  be  avoided, 
as  it  is  only  a  makeshift.  It  is  cheaper  in  the  end  to  throw  out  the  wet 
filling  and  truck  in  dry  material,  if  it  can  be  had,  and  not  to  shim  at  all. 
Where  this  cannot  be  done  the  best  way  is  to  remove  the  material  from  be- 
tween the  ties,  under  and  outside  the  rails,  and  shim  for  the  most  part  with 
planks  and  boards,  placing  them  parallel  with  the  rails  and  crosswise  to  the 
ties.  This  manner  of  shimming  holds  much  better  than  the  method  of  driv- 
ing short  pieces  under  the  ties  lengthwise.  Some  will  shim  under  the  ties 
when  the  ballast  is  dry  enough  for  tamping,  for  no  better  reason  than  that 
driving  pieces  of  boards  under  the  ties  when  the  track  is  raised  is  more 
quickly  done  than  tamping ;  but  it  is  a  poor  plan  to  follow. 

When  the  ground  is  frozen  and  the  track  heaved  up  in  places  there  is 
only  one  convenient  way  of  getting  the  rails  to  smooth  surface,  and  that  is 
by  blocking  or  shimming  between  rail  and  tie.  This  is  done  by  starting  the 
spikes,  raising  the  rail  to  proper  hight  and  blocking  it  to  place.  The  tools 
needed  are  a  claw  bar,  hammer,  pinch  bar,  adz,  crosscut  saw,  handax  and 
beetle.  Blocks  about  8  ins.  long  are  cut  off  sound  straight-grained  ties,  pile 
butts  or  old  car  timber,  and  out  of  these  blocks  shims  of  proper  thickness 
are  split  to  match  the  spaces  between  the  rail  and  tie.  Short  blocks  like 
these  up  to  1-J  ins.  in  thickness  will  answer  for  shimming  on  curves,  and  on 
straight  line  such  may  be  used  up  to  2  ins.  in  thickness.  These  shims  should 
be  split  the  same  width  as  the  rail  base  and  be  put  under  the  rail  base  par- 
allel to  the  rail,  that  is  crosswise  the  tie.  Some  object  to  this  method  on 
the  claim  that  the  shims  when  so  placed  will  work  loose.  If  they  are  nicely 
fitted  in  and  the  spikes  driven  down  again  tightly  to  the  rail  flange  they 
will  not  work  loose ;  but  to  make  sure,  a  6d.  or  8  d.  wire  nail  should  be  driven 
slantwise  through  the  shim  into  the  tie.  The  shim,  if  thin,  might  for  this 
purpose  be  placed  the  least  mite  skewing  to  the  rail,  so  as  to  give  the  nail 
a  hold ;  but  if  the  shim  is  thick  enough  it  can  be  toe-nailed,  without  project- 
ing beyond  the  rail  base.  The  nail  should  not  be  driven  all  the  way  down, 
but  should  be  left  so  that  the  head  may  be  caught  by  a  claw  hammer.  The 
track  spikes  prevent  the  shim  from  swinging  around  sidewise  and  the  nail 
prevents  it  from  working  endwise.  In  very  extensive  practice  shims  are 
placed  obliquely  or  skewing  to  tie  and  rail,  fitting  between  the  two  staggered 


553  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

track  spikes,  at  Tight  angles  to  the  line  joining  them.  The  spikes  are  merely 
pulled  and  redriven  in  the  same  holes  plugged,  and  with  shims  not  thicker 
than  J  in.  no  nail  is  used  to  hold  the  shim  against  working  out;  but  wherever 
the  tie  is  deeply  rail-cut  the  seat  for  the  shim,  should  be  adzed  down  to  an 
even  bearing.  The  spikes  should  not  be  started  higher  than  is  necessary 
to  permit  the  rail  to  be  raised  to  surface.  After  placing  the  shim  on  the 
tie  where  the  rail  is  raised  the  spikes  should  be  driven  home  on  this  tie, 
and  if  the  rail  is  surface  bent  and  inclined  to  bulge  up  at  some  other  point, 
as  in  the  short  quarter  of  a  joint,  it  may  be  brought  down  even  by  tapping 
down  on  the  spikes  that  have  been  started.  No  shims  except  the  one  at 
the  raising  point  should  be  placed  until  the  rail  has  been  put  to  even  surface, 
and  then  they  should  be  driven  under  snugly,  but  without  forcing  to  the 
point  of  lifting  the  rail.  To  fit  shims  to  place  accurately  and  rapidly  is 
cne  of  the  tests  of  that  sense  of  adjustments  which  is  essential  to  expert 
trackmanship. 

Some  prefer  to  place  the  shim  crosswise  under  the  rail,  that  is  length- 
wise to  the  tie,  and  to  secure  it  by  pulling  the  track  spikes  and  redriving 
them  through  it.  To  do  this,  holes  for  the  spikes  must  be  bored  through  the 
shims.  The  hole  should  be  bored  by  an  auger  -J  inch  larger  in  diameter 
than  the  thickness  of  the  spike,  so  that  the  latter  will  not  split  the  shim, 
and  the  holes  should  be  so  spaced  that  the  spikes  will  crowd  the  holes 
slightly  lengthwise  of  the  grain  and  be  held  tightly  against  the  flange  of 
the  rail.  This  boring  must  be  done  in  the  block  before  the  shims  are  split 
off,  for  a  thin  shim  cannot  be  bored  without  splitting.  The  holes  cannot 
therefore  be  bored  to  suit  the  spikes  as  already  driven,  and  so  this  method 
oi  shimming  requires  that  the  spikes  be  pulled  entirely  out,  the  holes  plug- 
ged and 'the  spikes  redriven  through  the  holes  in  the  shims,  thus  spike- 
killing  the  tie.  Usually  there  is  something  of  a  channel  or  rut  cut  into  the 
tie  by  the  rail  flange,  so  that  before  a  shim  can  be  placed  under  the  rail 
crosswise,  the  tie  must  be  adzed.  The  extra  work  of  adzing,  boring,  pulling, 
plugging,  and  redriving  spikes  increases  the  work  to  many  times  that  re- 
quired to  do  it  the  Other  way — that  is,  by  putting  the  shim  crosswise  the  tie. 
By  this  method  shims  can  be  placed  in  half  the  time  it  takes  to  put  them 
crosswise  the  rail ;  the  tie  is  not  injured  and  the  work  is  secure.  I  am  well 
aware  that  there  are  those  who  disapprove  of  this  method  of  placing  shims, 
but  experience  with  both  methods  has  taught  me  that  if  properly  done  it 
is  by  far  the  better  way  to  do  it.  Shims  placed  crosswise  the  tie  are  more 
secure  against  splitting  and  displacement  by  derailed  wheels  and  dragging 
parts  than  are  shims  placed  lengthwise  the  tie.  At  suspended  points  raised 
1  in.  or  higher  it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  use  a  long  shim  reach- 
ing across  both  joint  ties. 

It  is  quite  extensively  the  practice  to  furnish  the  trackmen  with  ma- 
chine-made shims,  produced  from  waste  lumber  in  the  car  repair  shops  or 
bought  from  manufacturers.  Concerning  the  economy  of  this  plan  there  is 
difference  of  opinion,  many  foremen  claiming  that  they  can  do  better  and 
faster  work  when  making  their  own  shims.  When  factory  or  shop-made 
shims  are  used  a  much  larger  supply  than  is  needed  must  usually  be  furn- 
ished, in  order  to  obtain  the  desirable  assortment  of  sizes.  For  this  reason 
some  prefer  to  furnish  only  the  thin  sizes  from  the  factory — say  shirns  from 
J  to  f  in.  thick — and  let  the  trackmen  make  the  thicker  sizes  themselves. 
Among  factory  shims  those  made  of  elm  give  best  satisfaction,  because  they 
are  tough  and  withstand  pressure  without  splitting;  and  when  properlv 
fitted  under  the  rail  and  the  spikes  driven  home  the  rails  pinch  into  them 
and  hold  them  securely  in  place.  Shims  made  by  hand  from  almost  any 
straight-splitting  wood  give  satisfactory  service,  but  red  oak  is  considered 


SHIMMING  553 

about  the  best,  on  account  'of  the  ease  with  which  it  is  worked.  When 
shims  are  made  by  hand  one  man  does  the  splitting  from  the  blocks,  wait- 
ing until  the  rail  is  raised  to  the  desired  hight  before  beginning  on  the 
shims  for  that  place.  After  a  little  practice  at  the  work  men  become  ex- 
pert, and  able  to  estimate  the  required  thickness  so  closely  that  accurately 
fitting  shims  can  be  split  off  rapidly.  Shims  should  be  the  same  thickness 
on  both  edges,  and  not  wedge  shaped,  but  if  only  a  slight  difference  exists 
in  this  respect  the  thicker  edge  should  be  under  the  outside  of  the  rail. 

Wherever  the  outside  rail  of  a  curve  is  shimmed  it  should  be  braced. 
Broken  splice  bars  answer  well  for  this  purpose,  and  whole  bars  may  also 
be  used,  as  they  are  not  injured  and  the  use  is  only  temporary;  but  almost 
any  piece  of  iron  which  has  a  hole  through  it,  and  which  can  be  placed  to 
lean  against  the  rail,  may  be  pressed  into  service;  or  blocks  of  wood  may 
be  made  to  do.  The  usual  way  of  bracing  with  wood  is  to  place  a  piece  of 
board  or  plank  at  the  back  of  the  outside  spike  and  nail  it  to  the  tie,  set- 
ting two  track  spikes  to  hook  over  the  back  edge  or  end  of  the  piece.  By 
notching  the  piece  to  fit  around  the  spike  a  bearing  may  be  taken  against 
the  rail  flange.  It  is  apparent  that  this  method  of  bracing  is  applicable 
only  where  the  shims  are  placed  lengthwise  the  rail;  otherwise  the  wooden 
brace  would  have  to  be  leaned  against  the  web  of  the  rail.  When  shim- 
ming the  outside  rail  of  curves  it  is  well,  in  any  case,  to  double-spike  it  on 
the  outside,  if  not  already  secured  in  this  manner,  because  the  curve  is  all 
the  better  for  being  double-spiked  on  the  outside  after  the  shims  are  re- 
moved. For  this  purpose,  spikes  6  ins.  long,  exclusive  of  head,  commonly 
known  as  "f  rost"  or  "shim"  spikes,  can  be  used  to  advantage.  In  lieu  of  brac- 
es against  the  rail,  where  shimming  is  done  on  sharp  curves,  some  form  of 
bridle  bar,  designed  for  application  without  taking  up  the  rails,  might  be 
used.  Rails  shimmed  on  straight  line  do  not  require  bracing,  since  the 
weight  of  the  wheels  holds  the  rails  to  gage.  Unless  the  rail  is  lifted  more 
than  an  inch  the  spikes  need  not  be  pulled  entirely  out,  but  simply  started 
up  and  driven  elown  again  after  the  shim  is  in  place,  without  plugging  the 
hole. 

Where  the  rail  is  raised  more  than  1|-  ins.  on  curves  or  2  ins.  on 
straight  line,  but  not  more  than  3  ins.,  the  shims  should  be  made  about  2 
ft.  long,  preferably  of  plank,  and  placed  crosswise  the  rail.  They  should  be 
spiked  to  the  tie  with  boat  spikes  and  holes  should  be  bored  through  them 
for  the  track  spikes.  The  rail  surface  can  then  be  evened  up  with  ordinary 
shims.  Ordinary  rail  braces  can  be  spiked  to  these  shims  in  the  usual  way, 
for  curves.  Shims  3  ins.  thick  and  thicker  should  reach  the  whole  length 
of  the  tie,  under  both  rails,  in  case  both  rails  are  to  be  raised  that  high. 
When  it  comes  to  the  use  of  such  heavy  shims  it  is  perhaps  more  convenient 
to  start  the  ties  up  from  their  beds  with  wedges  and  shim  underneath  them 
with  pieces  of  plank.  On  some  roads  this  method  is  followed  in  lifts  of  3 
ins.  and  higher.  In  adjusting  the  blocking  to  the  spaces  in  such  cases  some 
foremen  use  wedges  alone  for  some  of  the  ties,  the  wedges  being  made  from 
oak  pieces  2  or  2-J  ft.  long,  hacking  the  wedge  on  the  top  side  to  prevent  the 
tie  from  slipping  and  throwing  the  track  out  of  line.  The  appearance  of 
wedges  projecting  beyond  the  ends  of  the  ties  is  unsightly,  and  the  arrange- 
ment is  insecure,  as  the  ties  take  bearing  only  at  the  end  and  the  wedges 
are  liable  to  work  out.  In  such  cases  it  is  better  to  block  with  pieces  of 
plank  and  boards  of  various  thicknesses,  shoved  under  the  ties  far  enough 
to  afford  support  directly  under  the  rail.  In  order  to  avoid  using  very 
thick  shims  the  rail  is  sometimes  put  to  surface  partly  by  shimming  and 
partly  by  adzing  down  the  high  places.  This  practice  should  be  discouraged 


554  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

as  much  as  possible,  for  such  injures  the  ties  and  leaves  an  unsightly  ap- 
pearance in  the  track  as  long  as  the  ties  remain. 

A  question  which  frequently  arises  is  the  proper  method  of  shimming 
where  tie  plates  are  in  use.  With  flat-top  plates  seated  flush  with  the  face 
of  the  tie  there  is  no  difficulty,  and  the  shim  can  be  placed  either  lengthwise 
or  crosswise  the  rail,  preferably  crosswise,  in  which  case  it  must  be  bored 
for  the  spikes  to  correspond  with  the  punching  of  the  tie  plates.  If  the  top- 
of  the  plate  is  not  flush  with  the  tie  face  it  does  not  seem  like  good  practice 
to  place  the  shim  lengthwise  the  rail  or  at  a  skew  with  it,  although  some 
claim  that  thin  elm  shims  will  crush  down  over  the  edges  of  the  plate  and 
not  work  out  of  place.  On  shouldered  plates  it  is  not  practicable  to  place 
the  shims  crosswise  the  rail,  and  if  the  rail  seat  is  not  flush  with  the  tie 
face  such  plates  should  be  removed  and  carefully  piled  where  they  may  be 
had  conveniently  in  the  spring,  when  the  shims  are  taken  out.  There  is  no 
advantage  in  placing  tie  plates  on  top  of  shims,  however  thick  the  latter:, 
in  fact  it  is  a  waste  of  time.  As  shims  are  intended  for  only  temporary  use 
the  question  of  rail  cutting  is  unimportant.  The  necessity  for  pulling  spikes 
from  tie  plates  and  redriving  them  in  the  same  holes,  or  in  the  same 
holes  plugged,  as  is  required  in  shimming,  is  a  source  of  some  trouble, 
for  if  a  spike  head  breaks  off  the  new  spike  must  either  drive  the  old  stub 
before  it  or  dodge  and  go  to  one  side.  The  latter  course  is  the  one  which 
the  spike  is  the  more  liable  to  take.  To  get  a  good  fit  for  the  new  spike  in 
such  cases  it  is  necessary  to  drive  the  old  stub  entirely  out  of  the  way  and 
plug  the  hole.  For  such  work  on  the  Michigan  Central  E.  R.  each  section 
gang  is  supplied  with  a  slender  spike  punch  for  driving  the  old  stub  down 
through  the  bottom  of  the  tie.  The  punch  part  of  this  tool  is  9/16  in.  square, 
in  cross  section,  and  6  ins.  long.  The  tool  is  also  convenient  for  removing 
spike  stubs  from  under  the  slots  in  splice  bars  and  in  the  bases  of  switch 
stands,  and  at  frogs,  etc., 

All  shimmed  track,  however  the  work  is  done,  should  be  closely  in- 
spected by  the  foreman  or  a  trustworthy  track-walker  at  least  once  each  day. 
Jn  this  connection  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  parts  of  the  track 
which  are  shimmed  are  not  heaved,  but  lie  adjacent  to  and  partly  on  the 
slopes  of,  the  heaved  portions;  hence  the  settling  of  the  heaved  portion 
when  the  frost  leaves  the  ground  leaves  the  shimmed  portion  high.  At 
such  times  it  is  necessary  to  watch  shimmed  track  very  closely  and  remove 
the  shims  as  soon  as  the  heaved  portions  have  settled  back  to  place.  Where 
very  thick  shims  are  used  they  should  be  replaced  by  ones  of  less  thickness 
during  the  progress  of  the  settlement.  It  is  usually  the  case  that  the  heaved 
rail  will,  after  the  thawing,  settle  lower  than  it  was  before  heaving.  It 
is  readily  seen,  therefore,  that  after  the  frost  has  gone  out,  the  track  in 
euch  cases  will  remain  in  very  uneven  surface  unless  the  shims  be  removed. 
All  sound  shims  and  extra  long  spikes  removed  in  the  spring  should  be 
stored  for  future  use  in  or  about  the  tool  house  To  avoid  checking,  the 
shims  should  be  piled  where  the  sun  will  not  strike  them.  After  remov- 
ing the  shims  the  spikes  of  ordinary  length  should,  unless  'regaging  is  ne- 
cessary, be  driven  into  the  tie  without  plugging  the  holes.  In  surfacing  or 
ballasting  track,  ties  on  which  shims  may  be  still  remaining  should  not  be 
tamped  until  after  the  shims  have  been  removed. 

Wherever  track  heaves  badly  the  web  of  the  tail  should  be  painted  as 
.1  mark  to  identify  the  place,  and  during  the  following  summer  the  road- 
bed should  be  dug  out  and  drained  or  the  track  reballasted.  The  only  sure 
cure  for  heaving  track  is  to  drain  the  roadbed  and  put  on  the  proper  amount 
of  good  ballast.  Pockets  of  clay  or  other  soggy  earth  under  the  track  are 
a  source  of  heaving  action,  and  when  such  places  are  dug  out  and  filled  with 


KEXEWLNG   AND   BELAYING   HAILS  555- 

better  material  the  cavity  should  be  drained,  so  that  it  will  not  hold  watev. 
In  some  cases  of  this  kind  the  use  of  tile  or  a  blind  cobblestone  ditch  may 
be  necessary.  Two  instances,  happening  on  different  roads,  have  come  to 
my  knowledge  where  the  conditions  did  not  permit  disemboweling  the  road- 
bed in  this  manner,  and  the  following  remedy  was  applied:  During  the 
summer  the  ties  over  the  bad  spot  were  let  down  and  heavy  shims  were 
placed  on  top  of  them.  In  the  winter,  when  the  track  heaved  up,  the  shims 
were  taken  out,  thereby  dropping  the  rails  to  surface. 

95.  Renewing  and  Relaying  Rails. — Since  the  day  of  iron  rails  has 
passed  away,  occasion  for  frequently  removing  battered  and  broken  rails 
from  the  track  has  also  passed.  Steel  rails  of  good  quality  do  not  batter,, 
they  seldom  break,  and  they  should  wear  quite  evenly  until  the  head  is  worn 
out.  Eails  on  the  outside  of  curves  wear  away  more  rapidly  than  else- 
where, owing  to  the  grinding  action  of  wheel  flanges  against  the  side  of  the 
head;  but  to  avoid  replacing  them  with  new  'rails  before  the  rails  on  the 
tangents  are  worn  out,  it  is  customary  to  exchange  places  with  the  insido 
and  outside  rails.  In  many  instances  this  work  of  transposition  is  delayed 
too  long,  or  until  the  top  bearing  surface  of  the  outer  rail  has  been  too- 
'much  reduced  for  satisfactory  service  on  the  inner  side  of  the  curve;  and 
on  some  roads  it  is  neglected  altogether. 

The  work  of  transposing  rails  on  curves  is  usually  done  by  cutting 
Joose  several  hundred  feet  of  rail  in  a  stretch  and  moving  the  two  strings 
of  rails  across  the  track  with  bars,  throwing  one  string  over  the  other.  The 
rails  in  each  string  remain  spliced  as  they  lie  in  the  track  and  the  bolts 
need  not  be  loosened  or  changed  unless  the  rail  head  is  so  shallow  as  to 
allow  the  wheel  flanges  to  reach  the  bolts;  for  in  transposing  the  rails  the 
position  of  the  bolts  with  relation  to  the  gage  side  of  the  rail  is  also  trans- 
posed. By  way  of  preparation  forr  the  work,  it  is  well  to  pull  two  spikes 
and  skip  one,  all  along  the  inside  of  each  rail,  over  a  stretch  as  long  as  the 
crew  can  handle  between  trains — the  whole  curve  if  possible.  This  work  can 
be  done  whi'e  the  trains  are  running.  The  outside  spikes  need  not  be  touched 
except  where  they  interfere  with  the  splice  bars,  but  such  may  be  pulled 
to  best  advantage  after  the  rails  are  thrown  over.  Ties  cut  into  by  the 
rails  will  also  interfere  with  the  splice  bars  and  at  the  joints  they  must  be 
adzed  down  even  with  the  rail  seat  before  the  rail  at  those  places  can  be 
thrown  to  position.  As  soon  as  opportunity  offers  the  two  strings  of  rails 
are  cut  loose,  the  remaining  inside  spikes  are  pulled  and  the  strings  of 
rails  are  changed  over.  The  stretch  of  rail  thrown  from  the  outside  of 
the  curve  will  be  found  too  long  for  the  inside,  and  that  from  the  inside,  too 
short  for  the  outside;  but  calculations  for  this  difference  can  be  made  be- 
forehand and  pieces  of  suitable  length  be  cut  and  made  ready  to  put  in. 
If  it  is  desired  to  keep  the  relation  of  the  joints  on  the  two  sides  close  to 
one  of  the  standard  methods  of  laying — that  is,  joint  opposite  joint  (square 
joints)  or  joint  opposite  center  (broken  joints) — it  will  obviously  be  neces- 
sary to  place  one  or  more  short  rails  in  the  lower  side  of  the  curve ;  and  if 
there  were  short  rails  on  the  lower  side  before  the  change,  the  short  rails  laid 
after  the  change  should  be  placed  opposite  the  old  short  rails,  now  on  the 
upper  side  of  the  curve,  so  as  to  vary  the  desired  relative  position  of  the 
joints  as  little  as  possible.  As  fast  as  one  stretch  of  rail  is  thrown  into  the 
place  of  the  other  a  man  or  two  should  follow  and  tack  down  spikes  at  the 
joints,  quarters  and  centers,  to  hold  the  rail  approximately  to  place,  after 
which  all  the  spikes  may  be  driven  in  the  old  froles  without  plugging,  ex- 
cept where  the  gage  may  need  correcting.  When  renewing  or  transposing 
rails  it  is  to  some  extent  the  custom  to  redrive  the  spikes  in  a  new  place, 
usually  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  tie  face  from  the  old  position,  but  such 


556  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

is  wrong  practice,  because  it  cuts  up  the  fiber  of  the  tie  without  any  ad- 
vantage in  the  way  that  spikes  are  required  to  hold  the  rail.  Likewise,  it- 
is  a  waste  of  time  and  material  to  plug  the  holes  when  no  readjustment  of 
the  gage  is  necessary.  As  is  explained  more  at  length  elsewhere,  the  duty 
of  a  spike  is  to  resist  side  pressure  from  the  rail,  and  this  it  can  fulfill  just 
as  well  when  driven  in  the  old  hole  without  plugging  as  it  can  if  the  hole 
is  plugged. 

While  changing  or  renewing  rails  a  good  opportunity  is  presented  for 
making  corrections  in  the  gage  or  in  the  expansion  spacings  at  the  joints, 
and  for  righting  tilted  rails  on  the  lower  side  of  curves.  Where  such  work 
is  needed  it  should  always  be  attended  to  on  occasions  of  this  kind.  The 
necessity  for  looking  after  proper  allowance  for  expansion  when  renewing 
rails  is  just  as  important  as  when  laying  new  track.  After  the  transposi- 
tion of  the  rails  the  gage  sides  of  the  rail  heads,  being  unworn,  will  be  prac- 
tically as  good  as  those  of  new  rails  and  the  gage  will  be  more  nearly  whau 
it  was  when  the  rails  were  first  laid,  because  on  curves  the  gage  is  continu- 
ally being  widened  by  side  wear  to  the  head  of  the  outside  rail.  Where 
the  top  corner  on  the  outside  of  the  inner  rail  is  roughened  or  protuberant 
from  flow  of  metal  the  precaution  should  be  taken  to  have  the  first  few 
trains  after  the  transposition  is  made  run  around  the  curve  at  slow  speed, 
for  this  roughened  corner  is  then  on  the  gage  side  of  the  outer  rail,  and 
one  or  two  train  movements  are  necessary  to  smooth  it  down.  Unless  the 
nuts  of  the  track  bolts  interfere  with  the  wheel  flanges  (which  they  will  not 
do  except  on  rails  of  small  section)  trains  may  be  allowed  to  pass  as  soon 
as  the  sections  moved  over  have  been  coupled  and  partly  spiked,  for  such 
work  as  regaging  and  relining  can  be  done  at  any  time,  without  hindrance 
to  the  running  of  trains.  If  it  is  found  to  be  necessary  OT  desirable  to 
change  the  splice  bolts  end  for  end,  all  but  two  bolts  in  each  splice  may  be 
removed  before  the  transposition  is  made  and  these  two  may  be  reversed 
one  at  a  time,  so  as  not  to  loosen  the  splice  bars,  as  soon  as  the  rails  have 
been  changed  over. 

In  transposing  stretches  of  rail  on  curves  it  will  almost  always  be  found 
necessary  to  move  the  rails  longitudinally,  to  make  a  proper  joint  at  start- 
ing, and  if  the  track  is  broken- jointed  the  distance  moved  is  considerable — 
about  half  a  rail  length.  One  way  to  do  this  is  to  arrange  men  along  the 
rail  at  the  joints,  with  bars,  after  the  rail  has  been  thrown  across  the  track, 
but  before  it  is  moved  into  its  seat  at  any  place.  In  throwing  with  the  bars 
the  men  take  hold  against  the  projecting  corners  of  the  angle  plates  and 
heave  together,  by  the  word.  If,  however,  a  work  train  is  at  hand,  the  loco- 
motive may  be  utilized  to  pull  the  stretch  of  rails  by  attaching  to  one  end 
with  a  switch  rope  and  clevis.  Apparently  one  string  of  'rails  will  need  to 
be  pulled  one  way  and  the  string  on  the  other  side  of  the  track  the  other 
way;  that  is,  one  string  will  need  to  be  pushed,  seemingly.  The  pushing 
may  be  done  by  the  locomotive,  with  a  bumping  pole;  OT  the  whole  stretch 
of  rails  may  be  pulled  a  rail's  length  past  the  meeting  point  and  the  extra 
rail  disconnected  and  transferred  to  the  other  end  of  the  string.  If  there 
is  intelligent  supervision  of  the  work,  calculations  are  made  beforehand,  and 
each  man  understands  what  part  he  is  to  perform,  the  change  can  be 
made  very  rapidly  and  without  hitch  in  any  of  the  movements. 

On  a  good  many  roads  rails  for  curves  up  to  3  or  4  deg.  are  laid  with- 
out curving,  straight  rails  being  sprung  to  the  curve.  After  the  outside 
rail  on  the  curve  becomes  .much  flange  worn  it  is  sometimes  taken  up  and 
reversed  in  place,  to  bring  the  good  side  of  the  rail  head  on  the  gage  side. 
Ordinarily  the  inner  and  outer  rails  are  transposed  when  the  outer  one  be- 
comes badly  flange  worn,  as  already  explained,  but  in  some  cases  the  "fins"  on 


RENEWING   AND    RELAYING    RAILS  557 

the  outer  side  of  the  inside  rail  (which  would  become  the  gage  side  of  the 
outer  rail  if  transposed)  make  the  top  corner  of  the  rail  head  so  rough  that 
it  would  be  undesirable  to  place  the  rail  on  the  outer  side  of  the  curve.  In 
such  cases  the  spikes  are  pulled  from  the  gage  side  of  the  outer  rail  and  it 
is  simply  reversed  in  place.  Eails  which  have  been  in  a  4-deg.  curve  under 
traffic  for  several  years  will,  as  soon  as  released  from  the  spikes,  spring 
back  as  straight  as  the  day  they  were  first  laid.  To  take  up  rails  and  swing 
them  end  for  end,  by  carrying,  requires  a  gang  of  at  least  eight  men,  but  by 
means  of  a  turning  block  that  is  used  on  the  Chicago  end  of  the  Wabash  E. 
R,  by  Section  Foreman  C.  Semberg,  the  rail  is  easily  turned  by  one  man, 
taking  hold  of  it  with  one  hand.  This  device  (Fig.  257 A)  is  a  4x6-in.  oak 
block  about  15  ins.  long,  on  top  of  which  is  placed  a  cast-iron  plate  with  n 
hole  in  the  center,  and  on  top  of  this  there  is  a  flanged  cast-iron  plate  with 
a  hub  fitting  the  hole  in  the  bottom  plate.  Both  pieces  are  parts  taken  from 
scrap  car  iron.  When  a  rail  is  to  be  turned,  the  block  is  placed  in  the  center 
of  the  track  opposite  the  middle  of  the  rail,  and  two  men  with  tongs  lift 
one  end  of  the  rail  and  set  it  upon  the  turning  block.  One  man  then  takes 
hold  of  the  rail  and  walks  around  with  it,  swinging  the  opposite  end  into  the 
rail  seat  on  the  ties,  and  then  two  men  with  tongs  lift  the  other  end  and  set 
it  against  the  spikes.  With  this  device  a  crew  of  only  two  men  can  work 
to  advantage. 


Fig.  257  A. — Rail  Turning   Block,   Wabash   R.   R. 

Renewing  Rails. — The  detail  work  of  renewing  old  rails  with  new  ones, 
sometimes  called  "changing  out"  'rails,  is  much  the  same  as  when  transpos- 
ing rails  on  curves.  The  new  rails  may  be  laid  on  the  ties  alongside  and 
outside  the  old  rails  and  the  splices  be  put  on  and  partly  or  wholly  bolted 
before  the  old  rails  are  disturbed.  Care  should  be  taken  to  start  the  joints 
right  with  the  first  new  rail.  Along  straight  line  new  rails  may  be  spliced 
together  in  this  way  to  fit  closely  enough  the  space  occupied  by  the  oli 
rails  coming  out,  for  almost  any  distance;  but  it  is  well  not  to  attempt  to 
lay  around  more  than  one  curve  at  a  time,  owing  to  the  variation  in  length 
between  the  old  rails  and  the  new  rails  as  they  lie  parallel  to  each  other  be- 
fore the  change.  Allowance  for  the  difference  in  length  may  be  made  in 
the  joint  openings.  For  instance,  if  the  new  rails  are  spliced  together  in  a 
string  placed  1  ft.  c.  to  c.  of  heads  from  the  rails  in  the  track,  the  differ- 
ence in  length  over  the  same  arc  of  the  curve  will  be  about  0.21  inch  per 
degree  of  curve  per  100  ft.  of  curve,  or  say  J  inch.  It  would  be  well,  there- 
fore, to  distribute  this  allowance  among  the  joint  openings  of  the  new  rails, 
increasing  the  space  with  the  string  lying  outside  the  outer  rail  of  the 
curve  and  decreasing  it  with  the  string  lying  outside  the  inner  rail  of  the 
curve.  The  bolts  should  then  be  left  loose  enough  to  permit  the  'rails  to 


558  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

shove  through  the  splices  and  adjust  themselves  to  the  proper  opening, 
upon  being  thrown  to  place.  If,  however,  no  allowance  is  made  at  the 
joints,  the  bolts  should  be  turned  on  tightly,  so  as  to  hold  the  proper  spac- 
ing against  the  binding  or  hauling  of  the  string  of  rails  while  it  is  being 
thrown  to  place.  This  arrangement  of  course  makes  the  rails  hard  to  move 
-and  on  long  curves  the  plan  will  not  work;  it  is  better  to  make  allowance 
in  the  spacing  and  leave  the  splices  somewhat  loose  until  the  rails  are  moved 
to  place,,  after  which  the  rails  should  be  adjusted  to  an  even  spacing.  If 
the  rails  are  to  be  curved,  but  are  not  so  prepared  when  unloaded,  the  most 
expeditious  method  is  to  curve  them  with  lever  and  sledge,  in  place,  as  they 
lie  strung  out  along  the  track,  carrying  two  ties  along  for  use,  as  described 
in  §  24,  Chap.  III.  In  considerable  practice,  however,  the  plan  of  unload- 
ing the  rails  in  piles,  at  points  along  the  curve  where  there  is  clear  space  for 
convenience  of  curving,  is  followed.  After  being  curved  the  'rails  are  dis- 
tributed with  a  push  car. 

As  already  pointed  out,  part  of  the  spikes  should  be  pulled  and  every- 
thing possible  should  be  got  ready  before  the  time  arrives  for  the  change 
to  begin.  The  spikes  pulled  beforehand  should  include  such  as  are  driven 
slantwise,  OT  in  any  other  manner  to  cause  them  to  pull  hard,  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  spikes  in  the  slots  of  splice  bars.  All  such  spikes,  if  in  the  rows  of 
spikes  that  are  being  pulled,  should  be  removed,  and  if  necessary  to  hold  the 
rail,  redriven  at  one  side  of  the  slots,  where  they  can  be  readily  drawn  the 
day  of  the  change.  In  the  winter  season,  when  the  ties  are  frozen,  spikes 
start  hard.  In  preparing  to  renew  rails  when  such  a  condition  prevails 
some  remove  part  of  the  spikes  and  at  the  same  time  start  the  remaining 
ones  and  drive  them  down  again,  so  that  they  will  start  easy  when  the  time 
comes  for  quick  work.  If  the  base  of  the  new  rail  is  wider  than  that  of  the 
old  one,  all  rail-cut  ties  must  be  adzed,  and  this  can  be  done  beforehand — 
several  days,  if  desired— as  can  also  such  work  as  driving  down  spike  stubs, 
etc.  For  the  work  last  named  a  punch  is  a  convenient  tool.  A  machine 
used  on  the  Pere  Marquette  E.  R.  to  groove  rail-cut  ties  in  preparation  for 
adzing  out  the  rail  seat  when  renewing  with  a  rail  of  wider  base,  is  described 
and  illustrated  in  connection  with  the  subject  "Laying  Tie  Plates" — §  106 
of  this  chapter.  Ballast,  cinder  droppings  and  other  material  lying  on  the 
ties  near  the  rails  or  between  the  ties  and  higher  than  the  rail  base  and 
near  it,  should  be  cleared  away  before  the  work  of  renewal,  proper,  is  begun 
and,  in  the  same  connection,  there  should  be  a  man  with  a  broom  to  sweep 
away  any  dirt  that  may  be  kicked  into  places  where  it  will  interfere  with 
the  proper  bearing  of  the  new  rails. 

As  soon  as  everything  is  ready  and  opportunity  offers  the  spikes  are 
pulled  and  the  string  of  old  rails  is  cut  loose  and  shoved  into  the  middle  of 
the  track,  where  it  may  iie  indefinitely,  if  the  ballast  does  not  cover  the 
ties ;  if,  however,  it  must  be  thrown  outside  the  track  before  trains  may  be 
permitted  to  pass,  it  may  as  well  be  thrown  there  in  the  first  place,  throw- 
ing the  old  rail  over  the  new.  It  is  best  to  renew  only  one  side  at  a  time, 
and  if  the  base  of  the  new  rail  fits  the  seat  of  the  old  one  and  there  is  not 
such  difference  in  width  of  heads  as  to  tighten  the  gage  appreciably,  trains 
may  be  allowed  to  pass  after  one  side  is  renewed  and  made  safe.  At  any 
rate,  it  is  best  not  to  remove  the  old  rail  from  both  sides  until  the  new 
rail  on  one  side  has  been  moved  into  its  place  and  part  of  the  spikes  are 
driven  to  hold  it  there,  because  with  both  rails  removed  from  the  ties  at 
the  same  time  the  ties  are  easily  jarred  out  of  place  in  their  beds,  particu- 
larly where  the  ballast  is  not  filled  in  at  their  ends.  In  renewing  rails  on 
side-track,  however,  where  there  is  usually  more  time  for  the  work  and  where 
the  general  excellence  of  the  work  is  not  so  important,  it  is  well  to  combine 


RENEWING   AND   RELAYING   RAILS  559 

the  work  of  tie  renewing  with  that  of  renewing  rails,  in  which  case  both 
•of  the  old  rails  are  first  thrown  from  the  ties,  so  as  to  permit  the  unsound 
ties  to  be  upended  and  thrown  out.  The  new  ties  may  be  placed  either  be- 
fore or  after  the  new  rails  are  placed — preferably  before,  if  digging  must  be 
done  outside  the  track  in  order  to  get  the  ties  in.  In  renewing  rails  in  side- 
track the  best  plan  is  to  throw  the  old  rails  out  in  a  string  and  to  splice  the 
new  rai]s  after  they  are  set  into  place,  one  at  a  time.  Nothing  can  be  gained 
by  splicing  the  rails  together  in  a  string  on  the  ends  of  the  ties,  as  is  done 
in  preparation  for  renewing  rails  on  main  track.  In  driving  the  spikes  for 
the  new  rails,  all  ties  down  from  the  rail  should  be  held  up  with  the  bar,  so 
that  the  spike  heads  may  be  driven  snugly  against  the  rail  flange.  The  occa- 
sion for  nipping  the  ties  when  spiking  is  greatest  where  the  track  is  badly 
out  of  surface,  and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  for  the  good  of  the  new  steel, 
rough  places  in  the  track  surface  should  be  attended  to  before  the  work  of 
laying  new  steel  begins. 

It  is  better  to  pull  the  inside,  'rather  than  the  outside,  spikes  when 
changing  or  renewing  rails,  for  whenever  track  gets  out  of  gage  it  is  always 
-a  widening,  and  not  a  narrowing  of  the  gage  that  takes  place ;  for  this  rea- 
son the  outside  spikes  should  be  disturbed  as  little  as  possible.  But  if 
the  'base  of  the  rail  going  in  differs  in  width  from  that  coming  out,  the  new 
rails  cannot  be  laid  to  the  same  gage  as  the  old  ones  by  pulling  the  inside 
TOW  of  spikes  from  both  rails.  In  order  to  lay  the  new  rails  to  the  same 
gage,  the  outside  spikes  must  be  pulled  from  one  rail  and  the  inside  spikes 
from  the  other  (in  curves  it  should  be  the  outside  spikes  from  the  inner  rail 
of  the  curve  and  the  inside  spikes  from  the  outer  rail  of  the  curve).  This 
rule  does  not  apply,  however,  to  new  'rails  and  old  rails  differing  much  in 
width  of  head,  in  which  case  three  lines  of  spikes  must  be  pulled — that  is, 
both  outside  and  inside  spikes  must  necessarily  be  pulled  from  one  of  the 
rails  (in  a  curve,  the  inner  rail,  of  course)  ;  but  one  of  the  four  rows  of 
spikes  may,  and  should,  remain  undisturbed,  and  obviously  it  is  against 
this  row  that  the  new  rail  laid  first  should  be  spiked.  Wherever,  as  in  such 
oases,  the  spikes  must  be  pulled  from  both  sides  of  one  of  the  'rails,  not 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  spikes  should  be  pulled  from  either  side  while 
the  trains,  are  running  over  the  track,  and  the  spikes  that  remain  tempor- 
arily should  be  left  in  sets  of  three  on  the  same  tie;  that  is  to  say,  two  thirds 
of  the  ties  will  have  only  one  spike  'remaining  (the  spike  which  comes  in 
the  row  that  is  not  pulled),  while  at  least  every  third  tie  should  have  all 
four  spikes  remaining.  In  exchanging  rails  of  different  base  width  where 
tie  plates  are  used,  the  old  plates  will  not  answer  unless  the  use  of  the  same 
Tvith  the  rail  of  wider  section  was  anticipated  and  the  plates  punched  for 
spike  holes  accordingly;  if  such  has  not  been  done  all  four  rows  of  spikes 
must  be  pulled.  In  a  case  of  this  kind  the  aim  should  be,  in  setting  the 
new  plates,  to  drive  at  least  one  row  of  spikes  in  the  old  holes  without  plug- 
ging, before  placing  the  rail  on  the  plates.  In  this  connection  it  should  be 
pointed  out  that  tie  plates  double  punched  in  anticipation  of  a  change  of 
rail  section  should  be  so  punched  and  laid  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
•change  the  position  of  the  plates  when  laying  the  new  rails  to  gage. 

Wherever,  for  any  reason,  the  spikes  cannot  be  redriven  in  the  old 
holes,  the  holes  should  Be  plugged.  Plugs  made  to  fit  the  holes  snugly 
-should  be  distributed  along  the  track  before  the  work  of  renewing  begi  is. 
and  being  required  in  such  large  quantities  it  is  cheapest  and  most  con- 
venient to  get  machine-made  plugs.  If  the  base  of  the  new  rail  be  not 
much  wider  or  narrower  than  that  of  the  old  one,  the  spike  may  be  driven 
in  the  same  plugged  hole,  on  that  side  of  the  plug  which  will  operate  to 
crowd  the  spike  up  to  the  rail,  if  the  base  be  narrower,  and  away  from 


560  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

the  rail,  if  the  base  be  wider,  than  the  old  one.  Where  both  TOWS  of  spikes 
must  be  pulled  from  one  of  the  rails  in  order  to  lay  the  new  rails  to  proper 
gage,  it  is  necessary,  of  course,  while  spiking  the  new  rail  laid  last,  to  use 
the  gage,  as  in  spiking  new  track;  but  in  any  event  the  gage  should  be 
run  along  on  the  new  rails  as  the  final  spikes  are  being  driven  and  all 
points  out  of  gage  should  be  corrected  there  and  then,  as  previously  stated 
in  another  connection.  Adverting  to  the  work  of  preparation,  it  should  bo 
stated  that  the  old  rails,  if  in  bad  alignment,  should  be  lined  before  the 
change  is  made,  and  it  will  usually  be  found  necessary  to  reline  the  track 
after  the  new  rails  are  in,  especially  if  the  gage  has  been  corrected  in  places. 
After  the  new  rails  are  laid  it  is  usually  necessary  to  respace  the  joint 
ties. 

The  old  rails  thrown  to  the  middle  of  the  track  may  lie  there  until  it 
is  convenient  to  remove  the  splices,  when,  if  there  is  any  assortment  to  be 
made,  the  better  class  oij  rails  should,  for  convenience  of  Loading,  be  placed 
on  one  side  of  the  track  and  the  poorer  class  on  the  other  side.  If,  however, 
the  strings  of  old  rails  are  thrown  upon  the  shoulders  it  will  cost  less  to 
make  the  assortment  when  loading  the  rails  on  the  cars.  It  is  well,  how- 
ever, to  inspect  and  mark  the  rails  in  advance  of  the  loading  time  if  an 
assortment  is  desired.  It  is  quite  frequently  the  case  that  the  best  of  thj 
rail  'removed  from  main  track  on  the  trunk  lines  is  relaid  on  branch  lines,, 
where  the  traffic  is  lighter;  and  rail  that  is  even  much  worn  in  main 
track  is  usually  good  for  still  further  use  in  side-tracks  and  yards.  When 
old  steel  is  sorted  for  further  service  one  should  be  careful  to  keep  rails  of 
the  same  condition  of  wear  together.  Rails  removed  from  curves  should 
not  be  mixed  with  those  taken  from  tangents,  and  rails  taken  from  the  outer 
side  of  curves  should  be  kept  separate  from  those  taken  from  the  inner 
side.  It  sometimes  occurs  that  old  rail  taken  from  main  track  is  to  be 
relaid  in  a  parallel  side-track.  In  such  cases  a  good  deal  of  labor  can  be 
saved  by  throwing  the  rails  over  bodily,  in  long  sections,  with  lining  bars, 
without  removing  the  splices.  In  'relaying  old  steel  the  unworn  side  of 
the  rail  should  be  used  for  the  gage  side;  and  in  laying  old  curved  rails 
on  straight  line  the  curve  should  be  "shaken"  out  or  else  the  rails  on 
the  two  sides  should  lie  oppositely  bowed,  so  as  to  neutralize  the  tendency 
of  the  track  to  assume  a  scolloped  or  serpentine  alignment. 

The  object  in  splicing  together  long  stretches  of  rails  preparatory 
to  laying  them  is  to  do  as  much  work  as  possible  while  trains  are  running, 
and  then  to  be  able  to  get  as  much  rail  as  possible  into  the  track  during  the 
interval  between  trains.  Where,  however,  the  intervals  between  trains  are 
very  short,  or  where  the  track  may  be  abandoned  for  a  large  part  of  a  day, 
a&  is  somtimes  done  with  one  of  the  tracks  of  a  double-track  road,  between 
stations  or  designated  crossovers,  this  practice  is  not  always  followed.  On 
roads  where  the  intervals  between  trains  are  short,  a  crew  of  moderate  size, 
say  12  men,  exclusive  of  flagmen,  can  make  fair  headway  at  rail  renewing. 
Stretches  of  old  rail  of  such  length  as  can  be  properly  handled  during- 
the  time  available  are  cut  loose  and  thrown  out  and  the  new  rails  are  set 
in  one  at  a  time  anel  spliced  afterward ;  or  if  the  rails  are  placed  along  on 
the  ends  of  the  ties  and  properly  spaced  they  may,  with  equal  facility,  be 
spliced  two  and  two  and  moved  into  place  with  bars.  Another  plan  which 
is  followed  to  advantage  is  to  put  a  splice  on  the  end  of  each  rail  as  it 
lies  on  the  shoulder,  placing  the  bolts  for  half  the  splice  but  not  screwing 
the  nuts  on  tightly.  As  the  rails  are  set  into  the  track  one  by  one  they 
are  heeled  into  the  splice  behind,  and  it  is  then  necessary  to  tighten  only 
one  bolt  to  make  the  splice  secure.  By  this  method  there  need  be  no  delay 
in  fumbling  splices  during  the  interval  when  time  is  most  valuable.  When 


RENEWING    AND    RELAYING    RAILS  561 

the  plan  of  placing  the  rails  one  at  a  time  is  followed  it  pays  to  renew  the 
ties  while  changing  the  rails,  but  in  such  event  the  force  should  consist  of 
at  least  '20  men,,  if  the  trains  run  close.  If  the  old  ties  are  cut  into  deeply 
by  the  rails,  so  that  their  beds  must  be  deepened  in  order  to  get  the  new  ties 
in,  the  new  ties  had  better  be  hauled  in  after  the  new  rails  are  laid,  but  other- 
wise, or  if  the  ties  are  in  a  narrow  cut  or  obstructed  at  their  ends  in  any 
manner,  it  will  pay  to  dress  out  the  old  beds  and  lay  the  new  ties  in  place 
before  laying  the  rails.,  thus  saving  much  digging.  If  ties  are  renewed  just 
previous  to  the  time  contemplated  for  renewing  the  rails.,  the  new  ties  put 
in  on  straight  track,  if  not  too  close  together,  should  not  be  spiked  until 
the  new  rails  are  laid,  thus  saving  some  labor  in  pulling  spikes  when  the 
time  comes  to  renew  the  rails. 

Connections. — For  closing  up  temporarily  to  let  a  train  pass,  a  switch 
point  (preferably  reinforced)  is  a  convenient  thing  to  have  on  hand;  and  in 
order  to  have  it  handy  when  needed  it  should  be  carried  on  a  push  car  just 
in  advance  of  the  old  rail  that  is  being  thrown  out.  To  make  the  closure 
the  switch  point  is  heeled  against,  and  spliced  to,  either  the  last  new  rail  laid 
or  the  last  old  one,  so  that  the  train  will  trail  it,  and  the  split  end  is  spiked 
down  and  braced  against  the  mating  rail  spread  outward  like  the  stock  rail 
of  a  switch.  As  the  latter  is  not  bent  sharply  it  is  necessary  that  the  switch 
point  should  lie  a  trifle  loose  for  gage.  If  both  sides  of  the  track  are  con- 
nected in  this  manner  the  closure  rails  should  not  stand  opposite.  To  lift 
the  outer  flange  of  guttered  tires  over  the  spread  rail  the  switch  point 
should  stand,  a  little  higher  than  its  mate.  If  the  new  rail  is  of  larger  sec- 
tion than  the  old  one  the  point  rail  should  preferably  be  of  the  new  section, 
so  that  it  may  be  made  to  match  up  against  the  old  rail  a  little  high, 
without  slide  plates  or  shims.  To  provide,  for  quickly  coupling  a  switch 
]  oint  to  an  old  rail  of  smaller  section,  a  piece  of  the  old  rail  may  be  spliced 
to  an  extra  switch  point  carried  on  the  push  car;  or  if  an  old  switch  point 
is  to  be  used  for  making  temporary  connection  a  piece  of  the  new  rail 
may  be  spliced  to  a  point  piece  for  heeling  against  the  new  rail  when  such 
becomes  necessary.  For  quickly  securing  the  point  piece  to  the  stock  rail 
a  special  clamp  is  sometimes  used.  It  is  considered  that  in  quitting  work 
for  the  day  it  is  safer  practice  to  close  with  a  cut  'rail  than  with  a  switch 
point  to  be  left  in  the  track  over  night,  and  on  single  track  such  is  undoubt- 
edly true;  and  perhaps  so  in  any  case,  for  if  a  derailed  wheel  should  trail 
through  such  a  temporary  connection  it  would  very  likely  tear  something 
out.  Nevertheless  in  closing  up  for  the  night  on  a  tangent  or  on  the  inside 
of  a  curve  there  are  some  who  will  make  the  connection  with  a  switch  point. 
On  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  E.  E.  the  use  of  switch  points  for  making 
closures  is  forbidden  under  any  circumstances.  In  work  of  this  kind  the 
matter  of  cutting  a  rail  to  make  closure  is  not  as  objectionable  as  is  the 
practice  of  cutting  rails  in  general,  because  the  required  piece  can  be  cut 
from  one  of  the  old  rails. 

When  switches  are  encountered  during  the  progress  of  laying  steel,  a 
large  crew  should  not  be  halted  at  the  switch,  but  measurements  should  be 
taken  with  a  steel  tape  to  start  the  joints  right  beyond  the  turnout  and  the 
work  continued,  leaving  a  small  crew  to  change  the  points,  frog  and  lead 
Tails,  if  such  is  immediately  required,  or  else  to  connect  the  joints  one  rail 
length  from  frog  and  switch  with  suitable  splices  to  answer  until. a  more 
convenient  time.  As  stated  in  another  connection,  turnouts  should  be  laid 
with  rails  of  the  same  section  as  those  in  main  track,  and  such  'rails  should 
-extend  at  least  one  length  beyond  the  frog,  so  as  to  avoid  the  use  of  com- 
promise splices  on  the  switch  ties. 

In  making  a  permanent  connection  between  rails  of  different  hights 


562 


TRACK    MAINTENANCE 


and  shapes  the  joint  should  be  a  supported  one  and  both  a  step  plate  and  a 
step  splice  should  be  used — the  former  to  insure  an  even  bearing  and  the 
latter  to  properly  join  the  rails  of  different  section.  As  step  or  compromise 
splices  do  not,  as  a  rule,  fit  as  closely  as  ordinary  straight  splices,  it  is- 
considered  that  a  supported  joint  under  such  conditions  will  generally  give 
better  satisfaction  than  a  suspended  one.  In  Fig.  258  there  arc-  shown 
three  methods  of  joining  'rails  of  different  section,  described  by  Mr.  C.  P. 
Sandberg,  an  eminent  European  rail  expert.  Figure  1  of  the  views  shows 
a  cast  steel  step  splice  of  angular  section  joining  a  68-lb.  with  a  new  80-lb. 
rail,  as  used  on  the  Swedish  State  line.  The  weight  is  about  56  Ibs.  per 
pair,  and  the  cost  is  about  $3  per  joint.  This  arrangement  has  been  in  use- 
on  the  Swedish  State  railwa}^  for  many  years,  and  is  the  one  used  in  most 
approved  practice  in  this  country.  Figure  2  shows  a  cast  stee]  "tapered" 
rail  junction  designed  by  Mr.  C.  W.  Kinder,  engineer-in-chief  of  the  Im- 
perial Chinese  railways,  for  joining  an- old  60-lb.  with  a  new  85-lb.  rail,  the 


FIC.  3,        FORCED    STEE 


Fig.  258. — Compromise  Splicing  Arrangements. 

ordinary  splices  for  each  section  being  used  to  make  the  connection.  It 
is  about  27  ins.  long,  weighs  56  Ibs.  and  costs  about  the  same  as  the  splice 
shown  in  Fig.  1.  Figure  3  of  the  views  shows  an  86-lb.  bullhead  rail  joined 
with  a  100-lb.  T-rail  by  plain  rolled  step  fish  plates  weighing  only  34  Ibs. 
per  pair.  These  are  made  from  a  bar  rolled  to  the  larger  section  and  planed,, 
or  sometimes  by  forging  in  a  die,  under  a  steam  hammer  or  press.  On  gen- 
eral principles  the  steel  rail  junction  shown  in  Fig.  2  is  not  a  good  style 
of  connection,  being  a  piece  of  rail  too  short  for  use  in  main  track.  A 
rolled  steel  rail  of  standard  length  tapered  down  to  the  smaller  section 
at  one  end  would  undoubtedly  give  better  satisfaction.  On  the  South- 
ern Pacific  road  tapered  junction  rails  made  from  ordinary  rolled  steel 
rails  are  in  standard  service.  The  piece  of  rail  is  7^  ft,  long  and 
the  reduction  in  section  is  made  gradually.,  in  a  length  of-  15  ins.,  near 
oiie  end  of  the  piece,  by  heating  and  forging.  In  reducing  the  width 
of  the  'rail  head  the  gage  side  is  kept  straight  and  the  taper  is  made  on  the 
outside.  On  each  side  of  the  web  of  the  rail,  covering  the  tapered  portion, 
there  is  riveted  a  reinforcing  strap  2  ft.  10  ins.  long.  An  "offset"  splice 
is  one  having  a  lateral  jog  in  the  bars,  for  connecting  rails  having  different 
widths  of  head,  it  being  necessary,  of  course,  to  hold  the  gage  sides  of  the 
heads  in  line,  as  well  as  to  hold  the  tops  of  the  same  even.  In  making  con- 
nection with  an  offset  splice  care  should  be  taken  to  have  no  lip  on  the 
gage  side  of  the  head.  If  the  heads  do  not  match  right  -for  this  they  may 
be  brought  into  line  by  applying  a  thin  strip  of  oak  wood  of  proper  thick- 


RENEWING    AND    RELAYING    RAILS  563 

ness  to  the  outside  of  the  web  of  the  rail  of  smaller  section  and  to  the  inside 
of  the  web  of  the  rail  of  larger  section  and  then  bolting  on  the  splice  bars 
over  the  wood  strips. 

Rail  Renewing  Crews. — An  important  question  which  arises  in  con- 
nection with  rail  renewing  is  whether  the  work  should  be  done  by  the  sec- 
tion crews  or  by  an  extra  gang.  To  do  the  work  to  advantage  a  crew  of  at 
least  12  or  15  men,  besides  the  foreman,  is  required,  and  if  undertaken  by 
the  section  crews  this  means  either  the  hiring  of  extra  men  temporarily 
or  the  combining  of  the  forces  of  adjoining  sections.  The  former  plan  is 
not  always  practicable  just  at  the  time  the  men  are  wanted,  and  the  latter 
plan  cannot  very  well  be  carried  out  during  the  summer  season  without 
delaying  or  disarranging  the  regular  work.  The  most  available  time  to  do 
the  work  with  the  section  crews  is  during  the  late  fall  or  winter,  when  other 
work  is  not  pressing,  but  if  the  ground  is  frozen  there  is  no  opportunity  to 
take  up  simultaneously,  or  to  follow  with,  certain  other  work  of  track  im- 
provement, such  as  tie  renewing,  respacing  joint  ties  or  lining.  And  finally, 
when  the  work  is  done  by  the  section  crews  it  is  likely  to  progress  in  patches, 
at  several  points  on  a  division  at  the  same  time,  and  consequently,  with 
greater  tendency  to  disturb  the  train  service,  for  a  train  may  be  flagged 
several  times  in  getting  over  the  division.  Undoubtedly  the  best  arrange- 
ment is  to  work  an  extra  gang  of  good  size,  beginning  at  one  end  of  the 
division  or  of  the  section  of  track  on  which  the  rails  are  to  be  renewed,  and 
working  continuously.  By  this  plan,  the  train  service  is  interrupted  at  only 
one  point,  and  in  striving  to  apply  uniform  methods  to  all  the  work  the 
loadmaster  has  only  one  foreman  to  deal  with.  Where  the  work  proceeds 
continuously  there  is  a  better  opportunity  to  keep  the  old  material  picked 
up  behind  the  work  and  do  what  is  considered  a  "clean  job ''  than  is  the 
case  where  the  work  moves  at  slower  pace  here  and  there  and  the  whole  divi- 
sion is  strewn  with  old  material  at  intervals. 

.By  whatever  plan  the 'new  'rails  are  laid  they  should  be  distributed 
continuously.  Where  the  work  has  been  done  by  the  section  crews  it  has 
frequently  happened  that  the  new  steel  would  be  distributed  first  to  those 
sections  where  the  foremen  were  ready  to  take  Up  the  work,  and  then  some- 
thing would  happen  to  cut  short  the  supply  of  new  material  until  another 
year.  In  this  way  stretches  of  poor  rail  would  become  isolated  between  sec- 
tions laid  with  new  rails  and  have  to  be  retained  in  service  another  year  or 
perhaps  longer.  When  finally  these  sections  of  poor  rail  came  to  be  renewed 
there  existed  a  difference  of  a  year's  service  on  adjoining  sections  and  it  may 
siso  have  chanced  that  the  'rails  supplied  later  were  of  better  quality  than 
the  first,  so  that  in  course  of  years  the  condition  of  rail  wear  on  compara- 
iively  short  subdivisions  of  the  road,  taken  at  random,  was  somewhat  vari- 
able and  of  an  alternating  character.  The  result  is  that  when  it  comes  ta 
renewing  rails  the  second  time  in  such  cases,  it  is  necessary  to  remove  some 
of  the  old  rail  prematurely  in  order  to  lay  the  new  rail  continuously. 
If  the  new  rail  is  of  heavier  section  than  the  old  one  or  of  different  pattern 
there  are  certain  advantages  to  be  had  in  laying  it  continuously,  such  as 
a  uniform  stiffness  in  the  track  structure,  which  is  readily  observed  in  the 
riding  of  the  cars;  and  the  opportunity  to  reduce  the  patterns  for  switch 
points,  frogs,  tie  plates  etc.  to  a  single  standard  in  each  case. 

On  roads  where  Sunday  work  is  the  rule,  laying  new  steel  is  usually 
done  on  that  day,  when  there  are  fewer  trains  to  bother.  The  preliminary 
work  is  carried  out  on  the  day,  or  during  the  few  days,  previous  by  'the 
section  crews,  aided  by  the  work-train  crew  and  floating  gangs,  perhaps,  and 
on  the  day  the  change  is  made  a  large  force  is  employed.  It  is  seldom 
imperative  to  use  this  day  for  the  work,  however,  for  a  large  force  may  be 


,564  TRACE:  MAINTENANCE 

employed  on  any  day  or  with  any  of  the  various  methods  in  practice.  On 
the  Boston  &  Albany  R.  11.  it  has  been  the  practice  for  the  train  department 
to  give  up  a  section  of  one  of  the  two  tracks  and  operate  the  trains  on  single 
track  past  the  stretch  where  rail  renewing  is  under  way.  Rail-cut  ties  are 
adzed  and  some  other  work  is  done  before  the  actual  operation  of  laying 
begins.  Out  of  a  crew  of  200  men  about  40  are  put  at  pulling  spikes,  this 
gang  being  divided  into  three  lines — one  for  each  row  of  spikes  pulled. 
One  set  of  men  in  each  line  use  straight  claw  bars  with  a  heel  of  small 
radius,  starting  the  spike  up  an  inch  or  more  above  the  rail  flange,  while 
another  set  are  provided  with  goose-neck  bars  or  with  bars  having  a  heel 
of  long  radius,  for  pulling  the  spike  the  'remainder  of  the  way  out.  Six  or 
tight  men  with  pinch  bars  throw  out  the  old  rails  in  a  string  and  25  to  30 
men  complete  the  work  of  adzing  the  ties,  sweeping  and  otherwise  pre- 
paring the  seat  for  the  rail.  The  "setting  in"  gangs  are  two  in  number,  of 
16  men  each,  who  handle  the  rails  with  tongs.  In  case  the  rails  are  spliced 
in  pairs  beforeha-nd  the  number  of  men  in  these  gangs  is  doubled.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  crew  work  as  strappers,  spikers  and  nippers. 


Fig.  258  A. — Crossings  and  Double  Slip  Switches  Assembled  in  Preparation  for 
Renewal,  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R. 

With  a  view  to  present  data  to  be  used  as  a  basis  of  estimation,  the  fol- 
lowing records  of  carefully  planned  work  at  rail  renewing  may  be  of  service. 
On  a  road  of  crooked  alignment,  curves  of  1  to  5  deg.  being  almost  contin- 
uous, over  which  was  moved  a  traffic  of  83  trains  daily,  crowded  pretty  close 
together  in  the  morning  and  late  afternoon,  a  gang  of  47  men  renewed 
the  rails  on  an  average  of  1  mile  of  track  per  day.  The  new  rail  was  of 
heavier  pattern  than  the  old,  requiring  a  readjustment  of  -J  in.  in  the  gage. 
The  men  were  distributed  for  the  work  in  the  following  manner:  2  flag- 
men, 6  pulling  spikes.  3  throwing  out  old  rail,  5  adzing  ties,  8  carrying 
rails  with  tongs,  1  applying  expansion  shims,  1  holding  rail  up  to  spikes 
with  bar,  6  spikers,  1  pulling  spikes  for  new  splices,  1  adzing  ties 
for  new  splices,  12  strappers  (6-bolt  angle  bars),  1  spiking  new  joint  ties. 
This  record  was  submitted  to  the  Road  masters'  Association  of  America  by 
Mr.  J.  B.  Dickson. 

In  another  instance,  on  a  single-track  road  carrying  rather  light  traffic, 
a  record  of  3.2  miles  of  track  relaid  with  75-lb.  rails  replacing  61-lb.  rails, 
was  made  in  9  hours  with  a  crew  of  98  men.  The  rails  were  full  bolted  with 
38-in.  6-hole  angle  bars  and  full  spiked  on  curves,  of  which  there  were  four. 
On  straight  line  only  alternate  ties  were  spiked,  except  that  spikes  were  driv- 
en in  all  slotted  angle  bars  which  came  right  to  catch  a  tie,  which  was  the 
case  with  about  two  thirds  of  the  joints.  This  is  a  record  of  rush  work,  and 
is  net  supposed  to  be  repeated  as  an  average  result. 


RENEWING    AND    RELAYING    RAILS  565 

In  another  instance  where  the  work  was  carefully  planned,  but  not 
rushed,  12,000  ft.  of  rail  (one  side  of  the  track)  was  relaid  with  85-lb.  60-i't. 
rails  in  6J  hours  including  an  intermission  of  £  hour  for  dinner,  12  trains 
passing  while  the  work  was  in  progress.  As  a  matter  of  preparation,  the 
adzing  of  the  rail-cut  ties  had  been  done  2  months  previously,  and,  on  the 
day  before,  alternate  spikes  were  pulled  from  one  side  of  the  rail,  it  being 
necessary  to  pull  only  one  line  of  spikes  to  make  the  renewal.  In  making 
the  change  the  old  rail  was  thrown  out  without  unbolting  the  splices  and 
the  new  rails  were  set  in  one  at  a  time.  Every  other  tie  was  spiked  exclu- 
sive of  as  many  joint  ties  as  came  right  for  the  splices,  which"  were  6-bolt 
angle  bars.  Two  to  four  bolts  were  placed  in  each  splice.  The  rails  were 
spiked  ahead  of  the  strappers,  and  in  this  way  their  ends  were  brought  evert 
for  splicing.  The  crew  consisted  of  41  men  distributed  along  the  track  in 
the  following  order:  1  man  pushing  a  hand  car  carrying  a  switch  point, 
bolts  and  nut  locks,  who  distributed  bolts  and  nut  locks — 7  men  pulling 
spikes — 4  men  moving  out  old  rail — 14  men  setting  in  new  rails  with  tongs 
— 1  man  placing  expansion  shims — 2  men  holding  new  rail  up  to  the 
spikes — 5  men  spiking  alternate  ties — 1  man  taking  out  shims  and  putting 
on  splice  bars — 5  men  tightening  bolts— 1  flagman,  who,  by  the  way,  had 
tools  to  keep  himself  busy  correcting  errors  and  supplying  deficiencies.  By 
dividing  the  work  in  the  foregoing  manner  each  man  was  assigned  particu- 
lar duty  and  did  nothing  else. 

Reneiving  Crossings  and  Switches. — In  renewing  the  rails  and  frogs 
at  crossings,  crossovers  or  in  a  network  of  switches  on  pa'rallel  tracks,  it  is 
to  some  extent  the  practice  to  couple  up  the  various  pieces  of  lead  rails,. 
irogs,  switches,  movable-point  frogs  etc.  in  the  order  in  which  they  will  lie 
in  the  track,  laying  them  on  skids  of  old  rails  or  old  switch  ties  placed  on 
the  right  of  way  opposite  the  point  where  they  will  go  into  the  track  when 
the  change  is  made.  In  making  the  change  the  old  devices  are  taken  up 
and  the  new  parts  are  shoved  laterally  into  position,  bodily,  with  bars, 
then  coupled  up  at  the  ends  and  spiked  to  place.  In  this  way  changes  can 
be  quickly  made,  and  at  points  where  busy  traffic  must  be  taken  care  of 
the  plan  is  a  means  of  saving  considerable  time.  In  renewing  crossings 
it  is  also  the  practice  on  a  number  of  roads  to  handle  the  frogs,  already 
connected,  with  a  derrick  car.  On  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R. 
the  crossing  frogs  on  two  tracks  and  one  rail  of  a  third  parallel  track,  at 
a  long-angle  crossing,  solidly  bolted  together  in  one  piece,  have  been  lifted 
out  with  a  derrick  car,  and  as  many  frogs  for  the  new  crossings,  all 
bolted  up  for  service,  set  into  place  by  the  same  means.  An  account  of 
some  of  the  work  of  renewing  crossings  and  switches  on  this  road  will  serve 
to  bring  out  the  details. 

The  particular  piece  of  work  selected  for  description  was  the  renewal 
of  crossings  and  slip  switches  where  a  double-track  line  makes  junction  with 
four  tracks  of  the  main  line  of  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R. 
This  junction  consists  of  a  double  leader  .crossing  three  of  the  four 
Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  tracks,  making  a  double  slip  switch  con- 
nection with  two  of  them.  The  work  of  renewal  consisted  in  replacing  the 
crossings  and  slip  switches  on  the  two  westerly  tracks  of  the  C.  &  W.  I. 
R.  R.  The  four  tracks  of  the  road  at  this  point  are  used  by  a  number  of 
tenant  companies,  and  a  heavy  freight  traffic  is  handled  by  the  C.  &  W. 
I.  R.  R.  itself,  so  that  to  do  the  work  satisfactorily,  it  was  found  to  be 
necessary  to  abandon  the  two  tracks  mentioned  while  the  work  of  renewal 
was  under  way.  For  doing  this  work  two  Sundays  were  selected,  one 
crossing  and  d'ouble  slip  switch  being  renewed  on  each  day.  Preparatory 
to  the  work  of  renewal,  the  crossing  frogs,  movable  point  frogs  and  slip- 


566  TRACK    MAINTENANCE    ' 

switches  were  laid  out  and  assembled  on  switch  ties,  each  opposite  its  final 
place  in  the  track,  as  shown  in  Fig.  258A.  On  each  day  of  renewal  the 
tracks  were  abandoned  early  in  the  day,  the  interlocking  connections  were 
broken,  the  old  rails,  frogs,  switch  points,  interlocking  parts,  etc.,  and  the 
unserviceable  ties  were  taken  up  and  carried  out  of  the  way,  and  the  new 
crossing  and  double  slip  switch  was  thrown  in  bodily  with  lining  bars.  To 
hold  the  parts  to  proper  gage  while  being  thrown  the  rails  were  spiked  to 
two  long  planks  near  each  end,  and  at  the  middle  of  the  crossing  the  rails 
were  solidly  blocked  apart,  making  the  whole  piece,  weighing  something 
like  7-J  tons,  rigid  enough  to  be  thrown  bodily. 

The  work  of  renewal  on  the  first  day  included  the  replacing  of  a 
crossing  and  double  slip  besides  a  single  plain  crossing.  After  the  old 
material  had  been  taken  up  and  carried  away^the  decayed  ties  were  replaced 
with  new  ones  and  three  skid  rails  were  put  into  position  and  oiled  for 
launching  the  new  work  into  place.  Figure  258B  is  a  view  showing  the 
launching  operation  in  progress.  In  order  to  move  the  slip  endwise  and 
get  it  into  exact  position  it  was  jacked  up  and  skid  rails  were  laid  longi- 
tudinally underneath  four  points  of  the  crossing  .diamond,  namely,  under 


Fig.  258  B. — Moving  a  Crossing  and  Double  Slip  Switch  Bodily  into  Place,  Chi- 
cago &  Western  Indiana  R.  R. 

'the  end  frogs  and  under  the  point-rail  heel  castings.  After  moving  the 
new  work  into  place  it  was  spliced  to  the  old  track  rails  and  spiked  down, 
and  then  surfaced  up  on  new  rock  ballast.  In  the  meantime  an  inter- 
locking crew  was  busy  at  making  the  necessary  connections  for  restoring 
operation  from  the  tower.  All  connections  of  this  kind  necessary  to  put 
the  tracks  into  regular  service  were  completed  by  evening  of  the  day  of 
change.  The  facing-point  locks  were  not  put  on  until  the  following  day, 
and  to  insure  safety  of  operation  during  the  night  a  watchman  was  sta- 
tioned at  the  crossing  and  the  switches,  when  thrown  for  the  high-speed 
movements,  were  spiked.  The  working  fo'rce  numbered  about  65  men, 
including  three  extra  gangs  of  trackmen  and  an  interlocking  crew  of  ten 
men. 

Changing  Gage. — Leaving  roads  of  4  ft.  9  ins.  gage  out  of  consideration 
the  mileage  of  roads  of  other  than  standard  gage  is  comparatively  very 
small,  in  this  country;  but  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  narrow- 
gage  roads  and  branch  lines  of  short  length,  3  ft.  being  the  gage  of  nearly 
all.  The  building  of  narrow-gage  roads  in  this  country  has  practically 
ceased  and  those  that  remain  are  fast  becoming  standardized,  either  as  & 
means  of  increasing  the  capacity  or  to  discontinue  the  inconvenience  and 


RENEWING    AND    RELAYING    RAILS  567 

costly  work  of  transferring  freight  at  junction  points  with  standard-gage 
roads.  The  work  of  changing  track  from  narrow  to  standard  gage  is  in 
many  respects  similar  to  that  just  considered  and  may  properly  receive 
attention  here. 

Preparatory  to  changing  the  gage  of  track  it  is  usually  necessary  to 
widen  fills  and  cuts,  modify  and  strengthen  bridges  and  trestles  for  the 
heavier  rolling  stock,  and  renew  at  least  a  portion  of  the  ties  with  longer 
ones  for  the  increased  gage,  6  ft.  being  the  common  length  of  tie  for  track 
of  3-ft.  gage.  Such  preparation  is  accomplished  most  economically  if 
carried  out  gradually,  during  several  years,  beginning  as  soon  as  there  is 
any  certainty  that  the  change  will  be  made,  and  working  with  the  contem- 
plated end  in  view,  as  opportunity  is  seen.  In  following  such  a  plan  much 
can  be  done  in  the  course  of  ordinary  repairs,  thus  avoiding  expense  which 
might  accrue  from  waste  of  materials  discarded  should  the  substitution 
of  the  same  be  attempted  within  a  short  time  before  the  final  change.  In 
renewing  the  ties  of  the  narrow-gage  track  with  longer  ones  either  of  two 
methods  may  be  f ollowed : .  the  tie  may  be  laid  to  project  equally  beyond 
both  rails,  in  which  case  both  rails  must  be  moved  when  widening  the  gage; 
or  the  tie  may  be  laid  with  reference  to  one  of  the  rails  only,  projecting 
beyond  it  the  proper  distance  for  standard-gage  track,  in  which  case  only 
one  of  the  rails  need  be  moved  when  the  gage  is  changed.  The  latter 
method  obviously  shifts  the  center  line  of  the  track,  and  on  bridges  could 
not  be  permitted  without  moving  the  bridge,  as  it  would  produce  an 
unequal  distribution  of  the  load' upon  the  trusses  of  the  bridge  or  upon 
the  posts  of  a  trestle  bent;  and  if  the  track  center  was  to  remain  the  same 
on  the  bridge  but  not  elsewhere,  a  new  alignment  would  have  to  be  made 
each  way  from  the  bridge  for  some  distance.  The  method  also  requires 
that  the  widening  of  the  roadbed  for  the  longer  ties  be  made  on  one  side  of 
the  track,  which  might  not  always  be  feasible  without  moving  the  track; 
as  along  a  side-hill  cutting  in  rock,  for  instance,  where  it  might  be  cheaper 
to  move  the  track  than  to  widen  the  cut.  As  a  general  proposition  there 
is  probably  nothing  to  be  gained  by  this  method  and  the  usual  practice  is 
to  widen  the  gage  by  moving  both  rails.  Otherwise  the  bearing  for  the 
changed  rail  is  partly  upon  a  strip  of  newly  formed  roadbed  or  newly 
tamped  ballast,  which  might  make  it  difficult  to  maintain  the  track  in  level 
and  surface  for  awhile,  besides  giving  trouble  from  center  binding.  If 
both  rails  are  to  be  changed  it  is  not  necessary  that  all  of  the  ties  of  the 
narrowr-gage  track  should  be  replaced  by  those  for  standard  gage,  except 
perhaps  on  sharp  curves.  On  straight  line,  two  thirds  of  the  short  ties, 
and  on  ordinary  curves  half  of  the  short  ties,  if  sound  enough  for  further 
service,  may  remain.  The  supporting  power  of  the  short  tie  is,  of  course, 
inferior  to  that  of  the  longer  one,  and  projecting  a  shorter  distance  outside 
of  the  rail,  its  spike-holding  efficiency  is  less,. but  if  the  long  ties  are  some- 
what uniformly  distributed  no  serious  trouble  will  arise  from  matters  of 
this  kind. 

The  preparation  made  immediately  before  the  final  change  is  begun 
usually  consists  in  pulling  part  of  the  spikes,  preparing  new  seats  for  the 
rails  and  in  driving  part  wray  down  a  row  or  line  of  spikes  for  one  or  both 
the  rails  in  the  new  position.  On  straight  line  two  thirds  of  the  spikes 
may  be  pulled  from  each  side  of  both  rails  before  traffic  is  discontinued; 
on  light  curves  half  the  spikes  might  be  pulled  from  both  sides  of  tho 
inner  rail  and  from  the  inside  of  the  outer  rail;  on  heavy  curves,  say  half 
the  spikes  from  the  inside  of  the  inner  rail.  Ties  with  warped  upper  face, 
ties  cut  into  deeply  by  the  rail  and  "bellied"  ties  with  the  ends  curving 
upward  outside  the  rails  should  be  adzed  down,  to  give  the  rail  an  even 


568  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

bearing  when  it  is  moved  over.  A  gage  for  testing  the  uniformity  of  this- 
work  may  consist  of  a-  piece  of  board  or  narrow  wooden  strip  notched  (say 
I  inch)  to  fit  over  the  narrow-gage  rails,  with  depending  blocks  or  lugs  of 
proper  depth  to  mark  the  position  of  the  rail  base.  In  standardizing  the 
gage  of  110  miles  of  3-ft.  track  on  the  Flint  &  Pere  Marquette  Ry.,  in 
1898-99,  the  seats  for  the  rails  in  their  new  position  were  cut  by  a  travel- 
ing tie  spotting  machine  described  under  the  section  (§  106)  on  "Laying 
Tie  Plates/'  further  along  in  this  chapter.  A  record  of  the  work  which 
there  appears  presents  an  interesting  comparison  with  figures  given  in 
connection  with  the  present  subject.  When  widening  the  gage  of  the  Bur- 
lington &  Western  and  the  Burlington  &  Northwestern  roads,  from  Burling- 
ton to  Oskaloosa  and  Washington,  la.  (123.1  miles),  on  June  29,  1902, 
the  Tail  seats  had  been  prepared  during  the  two  weeks  previous  by  a  porta- 
ble sawing  machine  similar  to  the  one  above  referred  to,  working  over  12 
to  15  miles  of  track  per  day. 

The  best  gage  for  driving  a  row  of  spikes  for  the  new  rail  is  a  short 
piece  of  hard-wood  board  of  proper  width,  the  board  being  used  edgewise 
against  the  web  of  the  rail  and  the  spike  driven  against  its  outer  edge. 
To  secure  neat  gage  it  is  perhaps  best  to  drive  only  one  row  of  spikes  for 
a  guide  line,  the  second  rail  being  spiked  to  the  gage  after  the  first  rail  has 
been  secured,  as  in  spiking  new  track.  The  spikes  in  the  TOW  or  rows 
driven  as  a  guide  line  should  be  taken  from  those  pulled  from  the  ties, 
so  as  to  minimize  the  demand  for  new  spikes. 

All  the  work  of  preparation  being  completed,  traffic  is  abandoned 
for  a  time  and  a  large  force  is  set  to  work  pulling  spikes,  moving  over 
the  'rails  and  spiking  them  to  the  new  gage  and  changing  the  switches  and 
turnout  leads.  On  tangent  the  track  can  be  made  safe  enough  tempo- 
rarily for  the  passage  of  trains  by  driving  every  third  spike,  but  each  tie 
that  is  spiked  should  receive  all  the  spikes  (four)  for  both  rails.  At 
first  only  such  wo'rk  as  may  be  necessary  to  allow  rne  trains  to  pass  need 
be  done,  but  as  soon  as  possible  thereafter  the  rails  should  be  fully  spiked 
and  lined,  the  old  spike  holes  plugged,  all  old  material  picked  up,  rubbish 
cleared  away,  etc.  If  the  steel  is  to  be  renewed  at  the  time  of  changing 
the  gage  the  final  work  can  be  much  simplified,  for  the  new  rails  may  be 
spiked  to  the  proper  gage  outside  the  old  rails,  using  spikes  pulled  from 
the  old  rails,  without  interfering  with  the  traffic.  The  traffic  need  then 
be  delayed  only  while  the  breaks  are  being  closed  at  the  switches.  If, 
therefore,  a  change  of  gage  is  in  contemplation  at  a  time  when  the  rails 
are  poor  or  beginning  to  show  the  worse  for  wear,  it  may  pay  to  either  delay 
the  rail  renewing  or  to  hasten  it,  as  the  case  may  be,  so  that  both  jobs 
may  be  done  at  the  same  time. 

It  may  help  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  conditions  involved  to 
state  briefly  the  facts  concerning  some  actual  cases  of  changing  gage.  One 
instance  of  this  kind  was  the  widening  of  57  miles  of  track  on  the  Columbia 
&  Puget  Sound  R.  R.  and  branches  (Pacific  Coast  Company),  from  a 
3-ft.  gage  to  standard  gage,  on  Nov.  14  and  15,  1897.  The  idea  of  making 
the  road  standard  gage  had  been  in  the  minds  of  the  management  for  some 
years,  and  timely  preparation  was  made.  The  preliminary  work  of  stand- 
ardizing began  in  June,  1897.  Several  Howe  truss  spans  were  rebuilt  and 
the  bridges  strengthened,  wherever  necessary,  for  the  increased  loads. 
Twenty  thousand  8-ft.  ties  were  put  into  the  track  which,  with  those  already 
ir,  practically  replaced  all  the  narrow-gage  ties  on  the  line;  and  11  miles 
of  56-lb.  ra.il  was  laid  in  place  of  30-lb.  rail  remaining.  On  account 
of  a  demand  at  the  company's  mines  for  the  30-lb.  rail  at  this  time,  the 
56-lb.  rail  had  to  be  laid  to  3-ft.  gage,  so  that  the  light  rail  could  be- 


RENEWING    AND    RELAYING    RAILS  569 

released.  This  stage  of  the  preliminary  work  was  practically  complete 
on  Nov.  1.  A  gang  of  75  men  was  then  put  to  work  on  the  track  pulling 
all  the  spikes  which  could  be  spared  with  safety,  and  in  preparing  lead 
rails  for  use  with  standard-gage  switches.  The  new  ties  had  been  laid 
symmetrically  in  the  3-ft.  track,  so  that  it  was  necessary  to  move  both 
rails.  To  facilitate  this  work  some  of  the  spikes  pulled  were  driven  in 
line  by  gage,  so  that  they  would  be  in  the  right  place  on  the  outside  of  one 
of  the  rails  when  put  to  standard  gage.  The  gage  used  consisted  of  a 
board  8x124  ins.,  shod  on  each  end  with  sheet  iron.  One  end  was  placed 
against  the  web  of  the  rail  and  the  spike  driven  half  way  into  4he-tie  at  the 
other  end  of  the  gage,  thus  forming  a  line  against  which  one  rail  could  bo 
moved  out  when  the  track -was  spread.  This  work  was  finished  on  Nov. 
13,  and  on  the  same  day  the  necessary  switch  rods  and  a  supply  of  new 
spikes,  to  take  the  place  of  broken  or  bent  spikes,  were  distributed.  By 
midnight  all  the  narrow-gage  cars  and  engines  were  unloaded  and  stored, 
all  traffic  having  been  run  to  the  full  capacity  during  the  day. 

It  was  estimated  that  an  average  of  five  men  to  each  mile  could  spread 
the  track  and  lay  the  necessary  switches  in  two  days,  one  day  being  Sunday, 
when  little  traffic  would  ordinarily  be  handled.  This  number,  therefore, 
was  sent  out  on  Saturday  and  divided  into  four  gangs,  and  each  gang  given 
a  certain  district  and  certain  switches  to  complete.  Each  gang  of  men 
was  divided  into  three  parts :  The  first  pulled  spikes,  the  next  threw  the 
rails  out  with  lining  bars  and  the  third  gaged  and  spiked,  the  number  of 
men  in  each  squad  being  so  regulated  that  they  kept  well  together.  After 
the  rails  were  spread  each  gang  went  back  over  its  own  district  and  full- 
spiked  the  rails,  put  on  curve  braces  and  changed  what  switches  had  been 
omitted  during  the  first  two  days.  In  the  matter  of  tools  the  men  had 
150  claw  bars,  100  lining  bars,  150  spike  mauls  and  50  track  gages.  The 
change  was  begun  at  7  a.  m.  Sunday,  and  the  track  was  spread,  quarter- 
spiked  and  the  switches  put  in  by  Monday  night,  when  the  first  through 
train  passed  over  the  road.  By  forcing  matters  a  little  in  train  service, 
before  and  after  the  change,  there  was  very  little  loss  in  the  volume  of 
traffic,  and  outside  of  delays  for  a  few  days  in  running  trains  at  reduced 
speed  over  .a  quarter-spiked  track,  the  change  was  not  materially  felt. 

The  best  record  made  was  by  a  gang  of  36  men,  who  spread  both  rails 
on  12  miles  of  track,  about  one  third  of  which  was  on  curves,  and  put  in 
three  switches,  in  24  hours.  'The  track  around  the  curves  was  all  changed 
by  this  gang  without  cutting  a  rail.  The  rail  was  freed  for  a  mile  at  a 
time,  the  splices  loosened  and  a  curve  to  the  left  worked  into  a  curve  to 
the  right,  thus  compensating  the  expansion  and  contraction  necessary  to 
move  the  rail  in  and  out  with  'respect  to  the  curves.  That  is  to  say,  the 
stretches  of  rail  moved  were  so  chosen  that  what  was  gained  in  length 
on  one  curve  was  compensated  by  the  necessary  decrease  in  length  on 
another  curve  turning  in  an  opposite  direction.  On  sinuous  location 
with  short  distances  between  the  curves,  the  practicability  of  the  scheme 
is  apparent,  and  by  loosening  the  splices  no  difficulty  should,  be  experienced 
in  carrying  from  one  curve  to  the  other  whatever  length  the  rail  might  run 
over  or  fall  short  by  being  moved  over  to  a  curve  of  slightly  shorter  or  longer 
radius.  It  might  here  be  suggested  that  the  same  method  of  procedure 
could  be  employed  to  advantage  in  the  work  of  transposing  rails  from  the 
outer  to  the  inner  side  of  a  series  of  curves,  if  the  curves  are  not  too  far 
apart.  Where  the  curves  are  some  distance  apart  the  most  rapid  method 
would  probably  be  to  take  care  of  the  lengthening  of  the  outside  rail  tem- 
porarily by  opening  the  joints,  and  provide  in  advance  for  the  shortening 
of  the  inside  rail  by  cutting  a  piece  of  proper  length  to  connect  in  when  the 
change  is  made. 


570  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

Another  instance  of  widening  gage,  of  particular  interest  because  of 
the  unusual  conditions  existing  and  of  the  novel  method  of  doing  the  work, 
was  the  standardizing  of  the  Columbia  &  Western  Ey.,  from  Trail  to 
Eossland,  British  Columbia,  in  1899  (This  road  has  since  become  a  part 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ey.  system).  The  peculiar  features  of  the  line  are 
its  steep  grades  and  sharp  curves,  the  road  rising  2300  ft.  in  its  length  of 
13.6  miles.  The  grade  on  all  tangents  was  4  per  cent  and  the  curves  were 
compensated  .04  per  cent  per  degree.  The  maximum  curves  were  25-deg., 
of  which  there  were  38,  the  aggregate  length  of  which  was  approximately 
3  miles;  and  there  were  two  switch-backs.  The  track,  of  3-ft  gage,  was 
laid  with  6-ft.  ties  and  28-lb.  steel  rails.  The  cuts  were  10  ft.  wide  and 
embankments  9  ft.  in  width.  In  addition  to  .widening  the  gage  the  road 
was  to  a  large  extent  reconstructed,  the  maximum  curvature  being  reduced 
to  20  deg.,  cuts  widened  to  16  ft.  and  embankments  to  14  ft.  Four  out  of 
eleven  trestles  were  filled  and  the  others  were  strengthened.  The  grading 
was  done  during  the  fall  of  1898.  The  work  was  done  under  the  imme- 
diate direction  of  Mr.  F.  P.  Gutelius,  superintendent  of  the  Eossland 
branch  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ey.  The  plan  of  the  work  was  different 
from  usual  practice,  in  that  not  only  were  new  60-lb.  rails  laid  in  connection 
with  the  widening  of  the  gage,  but  new  8-ft.  ties  were  also  laid  at  the  same 
time,  thus  entirely  rebuilding  the  track  upon  a  widened  roadbed.  The 
change  was  carried  out  gradually  by  tearing  up  the  old  track  and  laying 
an  entirely  new  track,  at  the  rate  of  about  •£  mile  per  day,  meanwhile 
carrying  the  narrow-gage  rolling  stock  upon  one  pf  the  rails  of  the  new 
standard-gage  line  and  a  third  rail  laid  temporarily  to  serve  as  the  other  side 
of  the  narrow-gage  track.  The  narrow-gage  switches,  were  temporarily  re- 
tained in  service,  so  that  all  that  remained  to  be  done,  as  soon  as  the  new 
track  was  laid,  was  to  go  back  and  lay  the  switches  of  the  standard-gage 
track.  The  conditions  being  such  that  traffic  could  be  accommodated  by 
a  night  schedule  for  a  few  weeks,  the  usual  custom  of  abandoning  traffic 
for  one  or  more  days  during  the  period  of  transition  from  one  gage  to 
the  other  was  avoided. 

Some  of  the  details  of  this  work  may  be  useful  information.  As 
the  old  track  had  been  laid  but  three  years  there  had  been  no  tie  renewals 
and  consequently  no  opportunity  to  gradually  replace  the  short  ties  with 
ones  of  standard  length  in  the  course  of  ordinary  repairs.  The  material 
for  the  new  track  was  delivered  by  narrow-gage  work  trains,  just  ahead  of 
the  workmen,  in  the  day  time.  The  system  of  renewing  out  of  face  was 
adopted,  thus  allowing  joint  ties  to  be  properly  placed  and  rails  to  be  full 
spiked  as  the  new  track  was  being  laid.  By  this  method  a  gang  of  40  men 
would  remove  2500  ft.  of  old  track  and  replace  it  with  standard  track  each 
day,  the  best  record  made  for  any  one  day  being  3800  ft.  The  third  rail 
put  down  for  narrow-gage  operation  was  only  half  spiked.  Each  evening 
the  new  track  laid  that  day  was  connected  to  the  undisturbed  narrow- 
gage  track,  over  which  the  narrow-gage  trains  were  run  during  the  night. 
The  operation  of  narrow-gage  trains  on  one  28-lb.  rail  and  one  60-lb  rail 
was  not  attended  with  any  difficulty  or  accident.  Eails  were  cut  for 
standard-gage  switches  for  all  spurs,  passing  sidings  and  switch-backs, 
although  temporary  narrow-gage  switches  were  laid  as  the  work  progressed, 
except  in  case  of  the  Smelter  Junction  yard,  where  the  tracks  were  arranged 
for  use  of  both  gages.  Here  a  combination  switch  was  used,  and  a  movable- 
point  frog  operated  by  bell  cranks  attached  to  the  regular  switch  stand 
was  used  (where  the  lead  rail  of  the  standard-gage  turnout  crossed  the 
narrow-gage  rail)  instead  of  a  double-point  rigid  frog.  By  June  14  the 
entire  standard-gage  track  had  been  laid  except  for  the  substitution  of 


RENEWING    AND    RELAYING    RAILS  571 

standard  for  narrow-gage  switches,  of  which  there  were  fourteen.  These 
switches  were  changed  on  June  15  by  100  men,,  in  six  gangs.  The  work 
of  changing  the  switches  was  started  at  7  o'clock,  after  all  the  narrow-gage 
equipment  had  been  unloaded  and  taken  to  Smelter  Junction,  where  it  was 
stored.  At  13  o'clock  the  first  standard-gage  passenger  train  started  and 
by  15  o'clock  it  had  passed  over  the  road. 

Referring  to  examples  of  more  extensive  changes,  but  not  so  much  in 
detail,  in  the  period  between  May  22  and  June  2,  1886,  the  gage  of  more 
than  12,000  miles  of  track  on  various  roads  in  the  South  was  changed 
without  interrupting  the  trains  for  more  than  a  single  day  in  any  case. 
This  change 'was  from  broad  (5-ft.)  to  standard  and  4-ft.  9-in.  gage,  and 
included  1806  miles  of  Louisville  &  Nashville  main  line  and  side-tracks, 
which  was  accomplished  in  a  single  day,  May  30.  The  force  employed 
on  this  occasion  averaged  4  men  to  each  mile  of  main  line  and  siding  and 
£  men  to  each'  mile  in  the  terminal  yards,  the  total  number  of  men 
employed  being  8763.  Preparation  for  the  change  at  the  crossings  was 
made  by  cutting  out  at  the  middle  of  each  side  the  requisite  length  of  rail 
and  then  holding  this  piece  in  place  by  splice  bars  until  the  day  of  the 
change,,  when  the  cut  pieces  were  removed  and  the  sides  of  the  crossings 
moved  in  to  the  newly  adopted  gage. 

On  July  9,  1885,  the  Mobile  &  Ohio  R.  R.  changed  the  gage  of  its  entire 
track  of  more  than  500  miles  in  less  than  12  hours,  interfering  with  the 
movement  of  only  one  passenger  train  and  a  few  freight  trains.  In  this 
instance  the  cost  was  $27.99  per  mile.  The  time  required  to  do  the  pre- 
paratory work,  such  as  adzing  ties  even  with  the  rail  seat  and  setting  gage 
spikes,  averaged  53  days'  labor  per  section  of  8  miles,  and  for  pulling  spikes 
just  previous  to  the  change,  20  days  more.  Only  one  rail  was  changed — 
the  west  rail — the  east  rail  remaining  undisturbed.  Gage  spikes  for  the  new 
position  of  the  west  rail  were  driven  to  within  1  j  ins.  of  the  top  of  the  tie. 
On  the  day  before  the  change  every  other  spike  was  drawn  from  the  west  rail 
and  straightened  and  three  new  spikes  were  distributed  to  each  rail.  On 
the  day  of  the  change  every  other  spike  was  driven  on  the  outside  of  the 
changed  rail  and  the  gage  spikes  previously  set  on  the  inside  were  driven 
down.  Switch  rods  adjustable  at  the  center,  by  cutting  in  halves  and  over- 
lapping (Engraving  H.  Fig.  145),  had  been  gradually  put  on  the  switches 
before  the  change  of  gage  commenced,  and  preparation  had  also  been  made 
for  moving  all  switch  stands  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  track.  Precau- 
tion had  been  taken  to  provide  each  section  with  standard  gage  hand  and 
push  cars,  The  organization  of  each  section  crew  on  the  day  of  the  change 
was  as  follows:  4  men  pulling  inside  spikes,  1  man  driving  down  stubs  of 
spikes  from  which  the  heads  were  broken  in  pulling,  3  men  throwing  out 
rail,  12  spikers  working  in  pairs,  2  extra  spikers,  1  nipper,  3  men  shoving 
cars  and  doing  miscellaneous  work;  or  26  men  in  all,  besides  the  foreman. 
One  day's  supply  of  cooked  provisions  for  the  entire  force  on  each  section, 
water,  spikes  and  extra  tools  were  carried  on  the  push  cars,  of  which  there 
were  two — one  car  of  5  ft.  gage  pushed  ahead  of  the  work  and  a  standard- 
gage  hand  car  following  after.  At  alternate  meeting  points-  between  the 
sections  two  gangs  began  together  and  worked  away  from  each  other  until 
meeting  the  next  gang.  The  work  commenced  at  4  a.  m.  and  was  finished 
at  about  4  p.  m.  or  earlier.  The  pay  of  each  laborer  on  this  day  was  $1.50 
and  rations.  Enough  side-track  was  changed  at  each  station  to  accommo- 
date at  least  one  freight  train.  The  best  record  made  was  5  miles  of  track 
changed  in  5-J  hours.  To  put  the  track  into  final  shape,  after  the  change, 
required  about  50  days'  labor  per  section  of  8  miles,  exclusive  of  superin- 
tendence. 


572 


TRACK    MAINTENANCE 


96.  Broken  and  Bent  Rails. — Eails  are  most  liable  to  break 
during  very  cold  weather.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  the  ground  may  heave 
irregularly  in  places  and  make  the  support  for  the  rail  inelastic  and  un- 
even; another  reason  is  that  loss  of  heat  has  a  tendency  to  make  the 
metal  brittle.  There  are  those  who  dispute  the  latter  statement  on  the 
ground  that  steel  shows  the  same  tensile  strength  at  low  temperatures  that 
it  does  at  ordinary  atmospheric  temperatures,  but  most  trackmen  know 
how  difficult  it  is  sometimes  to  break  a  rail  during  a  hot  day  by  notching- 
and  dropping  it,  and  how  much  easier  a  rail  can  be  broken  in  the  same  way: 
during  cold  weather.  Again,  at  even  a  moderate  heat,  far  below  red  heat, 
steel  rails  may  be  bent  quite  sharply  without  breaking.  A  variation  be- 
tween 150°  F.  above  zero  and  40°  F.  below  zero,  must  show  some  difference 
in  the  brittleness  of  the  rail,  if  not  in  its  tensile  strength.  Some  experi- 
ments on  steel  rails  by  Mr.  C.  P.  Sandburg,  made  in  Sweden  in  1888,  showed 
that  out  of  21  specimens  put  to  the  drop  test  under  a  1-ton  ball,  ten  broke 
at  • — 22°  F.  and  only  one  at  -j-90°  F.  The  specimens  were  taken  in  pairs 
from  the  same  piece  of  rail,  one  of  each  pair  being  tested  at  the  lower  tem- 
perature and  the  other  at  the  higher  temperature  stated.  In  another  in- 
stance reported  by  the  same  authority,  specimens  of  rails  requiring  a  drop 
of  39  ft.  to  break  them  at  84°  were  broken  with  the  same  weight  falling 
only  11  ft.  when  the  thermometer  stood  at  10°.  Mr.  P.  H.  Dudley  has 
pointed  out  that  cold  weather  has  the  effect  of  decreasing  the  ductility  of  the 


Fig.  259.— Rail  Rest. 

metal  of  the  rails,  but  slightly  increasing  its  tensile  strength,  elastic  limit 
and  modulus  of  elasticity.  He  also  directs  attention  to  heavy  tensile  stresses 
which  may  exist  in  the  rails  at  low  atmospheric  temperatures,  due  to  the 
tendency  of  the  metal  to  contraction  when  the  ends  of  the  rails  refuse  to 
render  in  the  splice  bars.  Such  stresses  might  be  sufficient,  when  combined 
with  stresses  from  the  moving  loads,  to  start  fracture  at  some  flaw  or  gag 
mark.  Straight  pulling  tests  in  the  testing  machine  on  two  pieces  of  95-lb. 
rail  spliced  with  20-in.  angle  bars  showed  that  the  metal  could  be  stressed 
more  than  12,000  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  before  the  rail  would  slip  in  the  splice  bars_ 
The  danger  from  broken  rails  depends  upon  circumstances  and  the 
character  of  the  break.  If  the  break  occurs  over  a  tie  support  on  straight 
line,  or  on  the  inside  rail  of  a  curve,  and  is  a  square  break,  derailment  is- 
not  liable  to  occur;  nevertheless  there  is  danger;  but  if  the  break  is  be- 
tween tie  supports,  or  occurs  on  the  outside  rail  of  a  curve,  there  is  much 
danger  of  derailment.  If  the  break  occurs  between  tie  supports  when  the 
ground  is  frozen  deeply  there  is  danger  that  a  piece  of  rail  may  be  broken 
out,  which,  if  it  occurs,  will  result  almost  surely  in  derailment.  It  is  likely 
that  in  many  cases  of  derailment  from  broken  rails,  the  rail  is  broken  by 
the  very  train  to  which  the  derailment  happens.  Eails  break  perhaps  most 
frequently  within  the  splice  bars;  but  if  the  broken-off  piece  is  not  longer 
than  6  ins.  or  so  and  the  break  is  square,  so  that  the  splice  holds  it,  there 
is  no  danger.  The  tendency  for  rails  to  break  most  frequently  near  the  end 
is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  heavier  stresses  there  arising  from  the  greater- 


BROKEN  AND  BENT  RAILS  573 

deflection  at  the  joint  and  to  the  pounding  effect  of  the  loads  on  low  joints. 
It  is  also  suggested  by  students  of  the  metallurgical  side  of  the  matter  that 
the  greater  tendency  to  break  near  the  end  than  at  intermediate  points  may 
in  some  measure  be  due  to  the  metal  in  that  portion  of  the  'rail  having 
come  from  material  too  near  the  end  of  the  ingot,  in  rolling,  in  which 
case  seamy  or  brittle  metal  would  be  expected. 

Whenever  a  dangerous  broken  rail  is  found,  trains  should  be  stopped 
and  passed  over  it  slowly  until  after  it  is  temporarily  repaired  or  another 
rail  has  been  put  in  its  place.  The  quickest  way  to  make  safe  at  a  broken 
rail  is  to  drill  two  holes  and  bolt  on  a  splice.  If  the  break  is  found  in  the 
night  or  the  section  crew,  for  any  reason,  is  hard  to  find,  or  no  spare  rail  is 
near,  this  is  by  all  means  the  best  thing  to  do ;  because  all  the  tools  and  mate- 
rials can  be  carried  by  one  man,  the  work  can  be  done  by  one  man  in  a  few 
minutes,  and  the  rail  is  thereby  made  practically  as  safe  as  before  the  break. 
If  the  fracture  is  a  "clean  break" — that  is,  squarely  across  the  rail  or  nearly 
so — and  not  too  near  a  joint,  the  spliced  pieces,  fully  bolted,  may  remain 
permanently,  in  lieu  of  laying  another  'rail  in  their  place.  If  a  rail  should 
•be  broken  in  more  than  one  place,  however,  another  rail  should  be  laid  in 
its  stead  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is  well  to  always  measure,  in  some  way,  the 
length  of  the  rail  broken  before  going  for  a  new  one ;  if  it  is  on  a  curve  ft 
may  be  one  of  the  short  rails.  When  a  broken  rail  is  taken  out  of  the  track 
the  rail  laid  in  its  place  should  be  one  of  the  same  pattern  or  section,  and 
as  nearly  as  may  be  in  the  same  condition  of  wear.  A  broken  joint  splice 
leaves  the  track  in  a  condition  equivalent  to  that  of  a  broken  rail,  although 
it  does  not  usually  create  the  same  degree  of  excitement  among  the  track 
men.  In  case  a  frog  is  broken  beyond  repair  in  place,  and  there  is  no  spare 
frog  on  hand,  a  piece  of  rail  may  be  laid  in  place  of  the  frog.  When  such 
is  done  the  switch  should  be  spiked  a"nd  the  roadmaster  and  the  train  dis- 
patcher promptly  notified  to  that  effect. 

Rail  Rests — Spare  rails,  sometimes  called  "emergency"  rails,  should 
be  kept  on  hand  at  convenient  points  about  a  mile  apart — say  at  every 
mile  post.  They  are  needed  to  replace  broken  rails  occasionally  and  are 
handy  to  draw  from  when  rails  are  needed  at  a  wreck.  These  rails,  if  left 
lying  on  the  shoulder  half  sunken  into  or  half  covered  by  the  ballast,  will, 
when  wanted,  in  a  hurry  some  cold  night,  be  found  "tied  fast"  or  perhaps 
covered  with  snow.  Spare  rails  should  be  placed  at  least  18  ins.  from  the 
ground,  on  some  kind  of  support  located  convenient  to  the  track  and  in  a 
clear  space.  Eail  rests  are  made  in  a  variety  of  forms,  almost  any  of  which 
are  good  enough  for  the  purpose.  A  very  common  arrangement  is  to  set 
two  OT  three  posts  on  a  line  parallel  with  the  track  and  notch  the  tops  to 
hold  a  rail  in  the  inverted  position  (head  down) .  In  some  instances  spare 
rail  posts  set  in  this  way  are  notched  deep  enough  to  hold  a  second  rail 
laid  on  top  of  the  other,  base  to  base,  or  drift  bolts  are  set  into  the  sides 
of  the  posts  to  serve  as  pegs  for  supporting  a  second  or  third  rail.  Very  fre- 
quently the  middle  post  is  set  slightly  out  of  line  with  the  two  end  ones 
and  the  notching  is  done  as  in  Fig.  259,  to  permit  the  rail  to  rest  on  its 
base.  Eail  rests  for  60-ft.  rails  on  the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  & 
St.  Louis  Ry.  consist  of  four  posts  10  ins.  square  set  16  ft.  apart  and  notched 
according  to  the  arrangement  in  Fig.  259,  half  the  width  of  the  post  and 
two  rails  deep.  Another  arrangement,  where  it  is  desired  to  keep  more  than 
one  rail  at  a  place,  is  to  set  old  bridge  ties  in  a  leaning  position  and  notch 
out  a  series  of  seats  or  steps  to  hold  the  rails,  on  the  inclined  upper  sides  of 
the  ties.  Similarly,  heavy  planks  are  sometimes  set  in  a  vertical  position  and 
-stepped  out  on  the  edge,  to  hold  two  or  three  rails. 

The  style  of  rail  rest  shown  in  Fig.  260  is  used  on  the  Southern  Cali- 


574  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

fornia  By.  It  consists  simply  of  posts  and  caps  made  from  old  switch  or 
bridge  ties  set  up  on  a  piece  of  leveled  ground  and  neatly  embellished  with 
a  paving  of  whitewashed  stones  around  each  post.  The  capacity  for  spare 
rails  is  larger  than  is  usually  the  case  with  a  rest  consisting  of  vertical  or 
leaning  posts  and  the  rails  are  just  as  conveniently  got  at  when  wanted. 
The  standard  "rail  rack"  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  is  a  two-bent  arrange- 
ment of  this  kind,  the  posts  or  bents  being  16  ft.  apart.  When  level  ground 
is  available  it  stands  2  ft.  3  ins.  high,  above  the  ground,  and  20  ft.  clear 
of  the  track  rail.  When  set  on  the  side  of  an  embankment  it  is  placed  lower 
than  the  bottoms  of  the  ties  and  6  ft.  from  the  track  rail.  To  prevent 
mischievous  boys  from  shoving  spare  rails  over  embankments,  without  going 
to  some  exertion,  the  rails  may  be  put  through  holes  in  the  posts,  as  in  Fig. 
261.  As  examples  of  more  permanent  construction,  the  Lake  Shore  & 
Michigan  Southern  Ry.  uses  6-ft.  pieces  of  old  rails  for  posts,  set  with  the- 
web  facing  the  track,  with  old  fish  plates  bolted  to  each  side  of  the  web 
and  bent  outward  and  upward  to  serve  as  brackets  to  hold  the  rails.  The 
standard  Tail  rest  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R.  (Fig. 
262)  consists  of  two  posts  of  old  60  or  65-lb.  rails  7-J  ft.  long,  set  4J  ft.  in 
the  ground  and  18  ft.  apart,  with  iron  cross  arms  bolted  to  the  bases  of 


Fig.  260.— Rail   Rests— Fig.  261. 

the  rails  to  serve  as  rests  for  the  spare  rails.  The  posts  are  painted  black 
and  around  the  foot  of  each  there  is  a  cobble  paving.  These  rests  are 
located  at  mile  posts,  two  miles  apart.  For  single-track,  lines  one  cross  arm 
and  two  spare  rails  are  standard;  for  double-track  lines.,  two  cross  arms 
and  four  spare  rails :  and  for  four-track  lines  and  large  yards,  three  cross 
arms  and  six  spare  rails.  Where  curves  are  numerous  it  is  well  to  have 
at  the  mile  post  at  the  middle  of  the  section  or  at  the  mile  post  most  con- 
venient to  the  curves,  a  spare  short  rail  of  the  length  habitually  used  on 
the  inside  of  the  curves.  Each  spare  rail  should  have  a  pair  of  splices  bolted 
to  it,  and  a  few  spare  spikes  should  be  cached  somewhere  near  the  rail  rest. 

The  rules  of  the  maintenance  of  way  department  of  the  Southern  Pa- 
cific Co.  require  that  in  addition  to  the  spare  rails  kept  on  hand  for  use  on 
each  section  (six  'rails  for  each  main-line  section  and  three  rails  for  each 
branch-line  section),  known  as  "section  stock,"  each  roadmasters  district 
shall  be  supplied  with  at  least  1000  ft.  of  rail  of  fair  quality,  suitable  for 
construction  of  temporary  tracks  around  wrecks,  washouts  or  elides,  piled 
where  it  may  be  readily  loaded  on  cars.  All  other  rail  which  may  be  on  hand 
is  reported  as  "repair  stock,"  and  no  section  is  allowed  to  have  such  mate- 
rial piled  in  more  than  three  different  places. 

Bent  Ba4lft.  Rails  sometimes  get  bent  and  have  to  be  straightened  or 
else  taken  out  of  the  track.  A  side  kink  in  a  rail  may  be  taken  out  by  pry- 


BROKEN  AND  BENT  RAILS 


575 


ing  with  three  bars  against  the  rail — one  bar  being  placed  at  or  near  the 
kink,  as  though  to  straighten  it  and  the  other  two  placed  against  the  rail 
a  few  feet  on  either  side,  so  as  to  pry  in  a  direction  opposed  to  the  single  bar. 
Pry  hard  with  the  bars  and  at  the  same  time  strike  the  rail  at  the  kink  a 
few  blows,  against  the  side  of  the  head  and  the  edge  of  the  flange,  with  a 
sledge-hammer ;  if  it  is  not  bent  too  much  it  xcan  in  this  way  usually  be 
straightened.  If  this  method  fails,  use  the  jim-crow  at  the  bend  and  pry 
against  the  rail  with  a  bar  or  two  while  the  jim-crow  is  being  screwed  up. 
A  roller  rail  bender  can  also  be  used  to  staighten  side-kinked  rails  in  the 
track.  In  one  instance  reported  to  the  l^ew  England  Roadmasters^Associa- 
tion,  where  the  rails  on  ^  mile  of  track  had  been  kinked  inward  through 
some  defect  in  the  running  of  a  locomotive,  the  kinks  were  removed  by 
working  a  roller  rail  bender  along  on  the  rail.  Where  moving  rails  at  stub 
switches  are  bent  by  being  thrown  before  the  car  has  passed  entirely  over 
them,  take  one  rail  out,  and  turn  it  end  for  end,  so  that  its  spring  coun- 
teracts the  spring  of  the  rail  opposite.  Where  there  is  not  sufficient  bal- 
last to  hold  it,  the  first  spiked  tie  under  the  switch  'rails,  nearest  the  head- 
block,  will  be  moved  over  with  the  rails,  especially  if  the  switch  rails  are 
short,  and  the  rail  at  this  point  will  not  move  all  the  way  back  when  the 
switch  is  thrown  back  to  main  line,  thus  leaving  a  kink  in  the  rail  at  that 
point.  To  remedy  a  matter  of  this  kind,  throw  the  rails  to  line  when  the 
switch  is  set  for  main  track  and  drive  a  stake  firmly  into  the  ground  hard 
against  the  end  of  the  first  spiked  tie,  so  that  it  cannot  be  moved  when  the 
switch  is  thrown  . 


Fig.  262.— Standard  Rail  Rest.  N.  Y.  C.  &  H.  R.  R.  R. 

On  roads  running  through  timber,  rails  are  bent  occasionally  by  fall- 
ing trees.  A  rail  badly  surface  bent  cannot  be  straightened  in  the 'track, 
but  should  be  taken  out  and  another  'rail  put  in  its  place.  One  way  to 
straighten  such  bent  rails  is  to  take  them  to  a  turnout,  build  a  fire  and  heat 
them  to  a  cherry  red,  not  getting  them  too  hot,  because  it  is  difficult  with  a 
wood  fire  to  heat  the  rail  very  hot  without  heating  it  for  several  feet  each 
side  of  the  kink.  In  the  angle  back  of  the  frog  place  two  short  pieces  of  rail 
across  the  two  near  rails  of  main  track  and  side-track,  one  underneath 
and  the  other  on  top.  The  former  piece  will  serve  as  a  hold,  and  the  latter 
as  a  rest,  for  the  rail  to  be  straightened,  and  the-  latter  piece  should  be  ad- 
justed to  come  under  the  bend  in  the  rail.  When  the  rail  is  sufficiently  heat- 
ed pry  downward  with  it  between  these  two  short  pieces  until  the  rail  is 
straightened.  About  six  men  will  be  required  to  handle  the  rail,  and 
tongs  may  be  used  to  handle  the  hot  part  of  the  rail,  if  necessary.  If  the  men 
know  how  to  act  together  and  fully  understand  what  moves  are  to  be  made, 
the  rail  can  be  straightened  very  nicely.  This  method  is  best  for  straighten- 
ing a  kink  at  or  near  the  quarter  in  a  whole  rail  or  long  piece  of  rail.  If  the 


576  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

kink  is  near  the  end  of  the  rail  it  can  be  straightened  by  heating  the  rail, 
laying  it  across  a  track  rail  for  a  support,  placing  the  kink  directly  over  the 
support,  and  striking  down  on  the  end  of  the  rail  with  a  heavy  sledge.  J  £ 
the  kink  is  at  or  near  the  middle  of  the  rail,  place  the  rail  over  the  fire,  sup- 
porting it  at  the  kink  by  a  piece  of  rail  crosswise,  the  long  end  of  the  rail 
hanging  over  unsupported  and  the  other  end  secured  under  a  track  rail  or 
in  some  other  way.  When  the  rail  becomes  sufficiently  heated  it  will  bend 
down  from  the  weight  of  the  overhanging  end,  or  at  any  rate  by  pushing 
down  on  it  a  little.  Ordinary  men  who  will  take  a  little  pains  and  use  good 
judgment  may  satisfactorily  straighten  some  pretty  badly  bent  rails  by  such 
methods.  Some  will  do  to  go  back  into  main  line  and  the  others  can  bo 
used  in  side-tracks.  The  following  information  regarding  some  work  of 
straightening  rails  in  a  different  way  was  furnished  me  by  Mr.  C.  C.  Dunn, 
oi'  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line : 

"Several  years  ago  I  had  considerable  experience  with  straightening 
bent  rails  on  another  road.  In  this  instance  there  were  a  great  many  sur- 
face-kinked rails  in  the  track  and  we  found  that  the  best  and  cheapest  way 
to  do  the  work  was  to  handle  the  rails  with  a  floating  gang.  This  gang  was 
provided  with  a  portable  forge  and  a  rail  bender  of  the  same  pattern  that  is 
used  for  straightening  alignment  kinks.  Of  course  a  rail  bender  could  be 
made  for  surface  kinks  that  would  work  better.  It  does  not  require  a  very 
heavy  forge  for  this  work.  If  I  remember  rightly,  we  used  a  Buffalo  No.  3 
forge  which  we  procured  from  a  bridge  gang.  With  this  forge  we  could 
concentrate  the  heat  on  the  exact  point  desired.  We  started  with  about  12 
good  rails  to  substitute  for  the  bent  rails  taken  from  the  track,  and  in  a  short 
time  we  very  much  improved  the  rails  in  30  miles  of  track/' 

97.  Regaging. — If  rails  are  spiked  to  gage  when  the  track  is  laid, 
the  gage  on  tangents  will  seldom  vary,  if  proper  attention  is  given  to  it  in 
tie  renewals.  The  gage  of  curves,  however,  will  spread  when  the  ties  get 
old,  and  it  needs  readjusting  now  and  then.  The  wear  of  the  outer  'rail 
of  curves  widens  the  gage  by  the  amount  of  wear  to  the  side  of  the  rail 
head,  of  course,  but  it  is  not  customary  to  adjust  the  rails  for  this  widen- 
ing, since  it  is  everywhere  the  same;  and  then  when  it  comes  to  transposing 
the  outer  and  inner  Tails  the  original  gage  is  restored,  unless  the  rails  have 
spread.  In  regaging  track  which  has  been  improperly  gaged  when  built, 
pull  both  outside  and  inside  spikes  and  plug  the  holes  with  wooden  plugs 
which  ^fit  snugly,  driving  them  to  the  bottom  of  the  hole  left  by  the  spike. 
Holes  should  not  be  plugged  with  sand.  If  the  change  in  gage  is  only 
plight  the  spikes  may  be  driven  in  the  plugged  holes  at  one  side  of  the  plug; 
but  if  it  is  much,  each  spike  should  be  driven  near  the  other  edge  of  the  tie 
face  from  its  old  hole.  It  is  always  proper  to  drive  a  spike  in  an  old  hole 
where  it  can  be  done  by  plugging,  because  every  additional  spike  hole 
weakens  a  tie  at  the  p]ace  where  the  greatest  pressure  and  bending  moment 
come.  But  when  a  spike  cannot  be  driven  in  the  old  hole  beside  a  plug  and 
reach  the  rail  flange  when  the  rail  is  in  the  right  position,  it  should  then 
be  driven  as  far  from  the  old  hole  as  possible,  in  order  to  be  in  sound 
fiber.  Back-spiking — that  is,  driving  a  spike  at  the  back  of  a  spike  already 
driven,  in  order  to  crowd  it  against  the  rail  flange — should  not.be  practiced ; 
a  plug  will  do  the  work  just  as  well  as  if  the  sinke  is  pulled  and  the  plug  is 
driven  tightly  enough.  If  the  rail  has  spread,  having  been  in  good  gage 
before,  simpiy  pull  the  outside  spikes  and  then  plug  and  redrive.  If  the 
spikes  are  badly  cut  in  the  neck,  pull  them  out  and  throw  them  into  the 
scrap  pile;  and  it  may  sometimes  occur  that  by  driving  new  spikes  in  the 
old  holes,  without  plugging,  the  rail  can  be  brought  back  to  gage.  If  this 
can  be  done  it  is  better  than  the  practice  of  bending  the  head  of  the  cut 


REGAGIXG  577 

spike  against  the  flange,  or  breaking  off  the  head  of  the  spike  and  driving 
another  spike  in  a  new  place,  to  weaken  the  tie.  In  using  new  spikes  the 
outside  of  the  rail  should  be  given  the  preference;  that  is,  the  new  spikes 
should  be  driven  on  the  outside  of  the  rail,,  as  far  as  they  go,  and  the  same 
rule  applies  to  the  best  of  the  old  spikes  when  such  are  redriven.  The  best 
time  to  do  regaging  on  improperly  gaged  track  is  in  the  winter,  when  sec- 
tion work  is  slack. 

It  may  here  be  explained  that  "spreading  rails,"  as  popularly  under- 
stood, is  a  good  deal  of  a  bugbear.  On  fairly  sound  ties  rails,  if  kept 
spiked,  will  not  suddenly  spread  to  dangerous  extent.  The  spreading  of 
rails  and  lateral  displacement  of  spikes  is  seldom  if  ever  caused  by  over- 
whelming pressure  from  the  wheel  flanges  acting  at  one  time.  Such  dis- 
placement is  a  gradual  process,  caused  by  lateral  flexure  of  the  rails,  which 
increases  in  amplitude  and  intensity,  of  course,  after  the  spreading  of  the 
spikes  has  once  started,  such  action  being  most  liable  to  begin  where  the 
track  is  out  of  line.  On  sharp  curves  without  rail  braces  OT  tie  plates  the 
outer  rail  is  quite  liable  to  spread,  but  proper  inspection  and  attention  are 
sufficient  safeguards.  Many  accidents  charged  to  "spreading  rails"  may  be 
traced  to  derailment  from  some  other  cause.  Of  course  rails  are  likely  to 
be  spread  after  cars  have  been  derailed. 

Tie  Plugs. — As  already  intimated,  wooden  spikes  or  tie  plugs  are  much 
needed  on  old  track,  and  it  pays  to  have  them  made  by  machinery.  Each 
section  should  have  a  supply  on  hand  ;  and  if  they  are  not  furnished  from 
headquarters  the  crew,  OT  part  of  it,  should  spend  time  enough  at  the  tool 
house  during  wet  weather  to  keep  a  good  quantity  ahead  all  the  while. 
Straight-grained,  sound  oak  ties,  old  brake  beams,  etc.,  may  be  cut  up  into 
blocks  and  the  plugs  split  out  with  beetle  and  hand-ax.  They  should  be 
kept  in  a  barrel  so  that  they  will  not  be  kicked  around  and  wasted,  and  a 
few  should  always  be  carreid  on  the  hand  car  with  the  iron  spikes;  other- 
wise it  will  often  be  found  necessary  for  one  of  the  crew  to  putter  around 
splitting  slivers  off  fence  boards  or  the  ends  of  the  ties,  to  make  tie  plugs. 
Unless  the  holes  left  in  ties  by  pulling  spikes  are  plugged,  rain  water  will 
enter  them  and  penetrate  the  surrounding  fiber,  the  result  of  which  is  to 
hasten  the  decay  of  the  tie  under  the  rail  seat.  Tie  plugs  should  be  made 
of  tough  wood,  which  will  stand  hard  driving,  so  that  they  may  be  made  to 
entirely  fill  the  hole  without  breaking.  Pine  and  cedar  are  not  suitable 
for  this  purpose,  being  too  soft  or  brittle  and  inclined  to  break  off  before 
reaching  the  bottom  of  the  hole,  with  the  result  that  the  plug*  will  go  partly 
down  with  the  spike  when  it  is  driven,  leaving  the  spike  without  backing 
at  the  neck.  White  oak  and  ash  give  satisfactory  results,  but  second  growth 
elm  is  recognized  as  the  best  material,  being  tough  and  presenting  a  rough- 
ened surface  to  the  spike  when  the  latter  is  driven  through  it.  The  Goldie 
tie  plug,  which  is  designed  to  fill  all  the  hole  left  by  pulling  a  spike,  has  a 
wedge  point  somewhat  more  blunt  than  that  of  a  spike,  with  a  body  of  the 
same  size  as  the  main  part  of  the  spike  but  with  an  enlarged  top  end  to  fill 
the  oblong  hole  in  the  face  of  the  tie  made  by  the  backward  bending  of 
the  spike  as  the  claw  bar  rolls  back  on  its  heel. 

An  interesting  application  of  tie  plugs  is  made  on  the  Paris,  Lyons  & 
Mediterranean,  the  Northern,  the  Eastern  and  other  roads  in  France,  to 
increase  the  holding  power  of  screw  spikes  and  dog  spikes  in  soft  wood 
ties  and  in  old  ties  in  which  decay  has  started  around  the  spikes.  A  wooden 
screw  of  hornbeam  or  other  hard  wood,  2.08  ins.  in  diam.  at  the  top  and 
1.38  ins.  at  the  bottom,  having  a  thread  with  a  pitch  of  0.59  in.  and  a  depth 
of  0.197  in.,  is  screwed  into  the  tie  in  position  for  each  spike  and  then 
sawed  off  flush  with  the  tie  face.  There  is  an  iron  band  around  the  screw 


578 


TRACK    MAINTENANCE 


plug  to  prevent  splitting,,  and  a  hole,  in  the  center  for  the  spike.  The  pro- 
cedure with  old  ties  is  to  bore  out  the  old  spike  holes  and  tap  them  for  the 
screw  plugs.  With  new  ties  all  of  the  holes  for  each  tie  are  bored  at  one 
operation,  by  machinery,  before  creosoting.  A  series  of  experiments  with 
a  dynamometer  showed  that  the  increase  in  the  holding  power  with  these 
wooden  plugs  was  29  per  cent  for  Baltic  pine  and  39  per  cent  fo'r  Landes 
pine  ties,  while .  with  old  ties  8  years  in  the  track,  the  percentage  was 
greater,  being  80  for  pine,  33  for  beech,  and  62  for  oak.  It  is  also  found 
.that  the  ties  resist  decay  longer,  as  moisture  does  not  penetrate  the  wood 
and  the  hard  screw  plugs  prevent  the  tie  plates  from  working  into  the  tim- 
ber. The  device  was  invented  by  Mr.  Albert  Collet. 

98.  Righting  Canted  Rails  on  Curves. — The  canting  or  tilting  out- 
ward of  the  inside  rail  of  curves  is  caused  either  by  the  elevation  of  the 
outside  rail,  being  too  much  for  the  slow  trains;  or  by  unsound  ties. 
The  former  cause  is  explained  at  length  in  §  44,  Chap.  V.  Where  the 
elevation  is  found  to  be  too  much  it  should  be  reduced  by  raising  the  in- 
side rail;  but  neither  this  nor  replacing  part  of  the  old  ties  with  sound 


Fig.  263. — Work  of  Tie  Spotting  Machine,  Pere  Marquette  R.  R. 

ones  will  bring  the  rail  back  to  its  proper  position.  This  can  be  accom- 
plished only  by  adzing  the  rail  seat  to  a  proper  bearing.  The  way  to  go 
about  it  is  to  pull  all  the  spikes  from  the  rail,  both  outside  and  inside,  and 
drive  all  stubs  of  spikes  i  or  f  in.  into  the  tie.  Also  clean  away  all  ballast 
which  may  be  on  the  tie  face  near  the  rail  base,  or  near  the  rail  base  be- 
tween the  ties.  Eaise  the  rail  about  an  inch  and  block  it  there  and  adz 
each  tie  to  a  bearing  for  the  'rail,  parallel  with  the  plane  of  the  tie  face, 
although  if  the  ties  are  old  it  might  be  made  to  cant  the  least  bit  inward. 
Then  let  the  rail  back  to  its  place  and  drive  the  spikes  in  the  old  holes. 
By  taking  not  more  than  a  rail  or  two  at  a  time  the  worlv  can  be  done 
without  much  hindrance  from  trains,  and,  being  the  inside  rail  of  the 
curve  the  track  can  be  made  temporarily  safe  to  let  trains  pass  by  tacking 
down  hastily  a  few  of  the  spikes.  As  the  work  progresses  the  rail  will  tip 
back  to  place  and  to  proper  gage. 

In  the  work  of  righting  tilted  rails  on  the  Pere  Marquette  R.  R.  a 
traveling  tie  spotting  machine  has  been  used  to  prepare  the  ties  in  a  way 
to  facilitate  adzing  out  tiie  rail  seat.  This  work  of  preparation  consist* 
in  cutting  a  groove  into  the  tie  face,  each  side  of  the  rail  and  even  with  the 


CUTTING   RAILS  579 

'base  of  the  same,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  263.  In  the  upper  view  there  is  a 
sketch  of  a  tilted  rail.  The  grooves  cut  by  the  machine  are  lettered  "A" 
•and  two  shoulders  (B)  remain  between  the  rail  and  the  grooves.  To  pre- 
pare the  seat  fo'r  the  rail  in  its  righted  position  it  is  only  necessary  to  chip 
away  the  shoulders  B,  which  readily  split  off  to  the  bottom  line  of  the 
grooves.  The  construction  of  this  machine  and  its  method  of  operation  are 
described  and  illustrated  (Figs.  279-281)  in  connection  with  "Laying  Tie 
Plates,"  the  subject  of  §  106,  of  this  chapter. 

A  sure  cure  for  canting  rails  is  the  use  of  tie  plates.  This  device 
cannot  be  too  highly  recommended  for  service  under  rails  that  show  a 
marked  tendency  in  this  direction,  especially  after  they  have  given  trouble 
and  been  straightened  up.  Where  tie  plates  are  applied  in  a  case  of  this 
kind  they  serve  to  fill  up  to  some  extent  the  depressions  or  notches  in 
the  tie  face  caused  by  adzing  down  the  rail  seats;  and  prevention  of  recur- 
Tence  of  the  trouble  is  more'  especially  desirable  at  this  stage  in  the  life  of 
the  tie,  because  repetition  of  the  process  of  cutting  into  the  tie  by  rail  and 
adz  will  ruin  many  a  tie  that  should  see  longer  service. 

99.  Cutting  Rails. — Bails  are  usually  cut  by  first  notching  around 
ivith  a  track  chisel  and  then  breaking  at  the  notch.  The  piece  of  rail  to 
IDC  taken  off  and  used  should  be  measured  accurately,  allowance  being  made 
for  expansion,  and  it  is  usually  notched  squarely  all  the  way  around.  As 
measurements  are  usually  made  along  the  rail  head,  the  first  cutting  is 
•made  across  this  portion;  and  pains  should  be  taken  to  have  it  started 
-squarely  across,  for  upon  the  manner  in  which  this  first  cut  is  started 
depends  largely  the  success  of  carrying  the  cut  squarely  the  rest  of  the 
way  around  the  rail.  It  is  well  to  mark  a  line  for  this  first  cut,  with  a  rule 
and  pencil,  because  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  sight  squarely  across  a  rail 
'to  the  blunt  edge  of  a  track  chisel.  After  the  notch  or  groove  has  been 
cut  across  the  head,  stand  over  the  rail  and  sight  squarely  past  the  ends 
•of  this  groove  to  the  edges  of  the  rail  flange,  and  mark  these  edges  with  the 
•chisel.  By  these  marks  the  notch  can  then  be  extended  all  the  way  around. 
In  notching,  one  should  cut  into  the  corner  or  fillet  between  head  and  web 
^as  much  as  possible.  In  cutting  across  the  base  the  notches  on  the  two  sides 
•of  the  flange,  near  the  edge  of  the  flange,  should  so  nearly  meet  that  the 
Tail  shows  signs  of  cracking  or  fracture  there.  In  short,  notch  all  the  way 
around  the  section  as  deeply  as  the  chisel  will  cut  conveniently;  and 
•chisels  which  have  become  much  blunted  should  not  be  used.  By  continually 
pounding  on  a  blunt  chisel  the  steel  is  toughened  at  the  cut  and  is  liable 
to  break  on  one  side  of  the  cut  instead  of  in  it.  The  rail  while  being 
notched  should  rest  squarely  across  a  track  rail,  or  squarely  across  a  short 
ipiece  of  rail  placed  on  a  sound  tie  which  is  solidly  bedded.  It  is  much 
easier  to  notch  squarely  around  a  rail  if  the  support  is  perpendicular  to, 
-or  square  with,  the  rail,  than  otherwise.  The  cutting  should  be  done 
•directly  over  the  support.  This  done,  the  rail  is  ready  for  breaking.  A 
:rail  notched  squarely  all  the  way  around  is  pretty  sure  to  break  off  right; 
;thait  is,  if  it  is  broken  in  the  right  manner. 

£  About  the  easiest  way  to  break  a  notched  rail  is  to  do  it  with  the 
jim-crow,  providing  this  devise  can  be  used.  If  the  rail  to  be  broken 
in  two  is  a  short  piece  the  jim-crow  is  by  all  odds  the  best  means  to  emr 
ploy,  for,  unless  the  piece  of  rail  has  considerable  weight  it  cannot  be  easily 
jbroken  by  striking  it  or  by  throwing  it.  If  the  jim-crow  is  not  used,  and  the 
piece  to  be  taken  off  is  less  than  3  ft.  long,  lay  the  rail  on  its  side,  with 
the  notch  directly  over  another  rail  for  a  support,  and  break  the  piece  off  by 
striking  the  end  of  the  rail  with  a  heavy  hammer  or  sledge,  or  by  dropping 
vipon  it  a  piece  of  rail  as  heavy  as  a  man  can  lift  over  his  head.  To  break 


580  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

off  pieces  3  to  8  ft.  long  from  a  long  piece  or  whole  rail,  'raise  the  rail  and 
let  it  drop  across  another  rail  or  piece  of  rail,  falling  on  its  side  with  the 
notch  directly  over  the  support.  In  breaking  off  a  considerable  piece  the- 
rail  need  be  raised  only  hip  high,  but  to  break  off  a  short  piece  the  rail  should 
be  lifted  as  high  as  one's  head.  If  all  the  men  fully  understand  what  is 
to  be  done  and  step  aside  at  the  word,  no  one  need  ever  get  hurt;  and  if 
the  notch  is  dropped  directly  over  the  support  the  rail  will  not  be  kinked. 
In  taking  off  pieces  longer  than  8  ft.  there  is  too  much  spring  to  break  the 
rail  by  throwing.  In  such  cases  the  rail  to  be  broken  should  be  laid  on  its 
side,  parallel  to  a  track  rail,  6  to  10  ins.  therefrom,  having  the  head  turned 
toward  the  track  rail  and  supported  on  pieces  of  rail  or  blocks  3  or  4  ins. 
high  placed  near  the  ends,  or  at  least  far  enough  away  from  the  notch  each 
way  to  allow  considerable  spring  in  the  rail.  Then  pry  down  over  the  rail, 
near  the  notch,  with  a  bar,  taking  hold  under  the  head  of  the  track  rail, 
at  the  same  time  holding  a  track  chisel  in  the  notch  on  the  side  of  the 
head  and  striking  it  a  heavy  blow.  A  piece  as  short  as  2J  or  3  ins.  may  be 
broken  from  the  end  of  a  rail  by  notching  it  and  striking  with  a  sledge; 
but  it  may  be  done  in  half  an  hour,  or  it  may  take  half  a  day.  For  cutting 
off  such  short  pieces  the  hack  saw  or  other  rail  saw  should  be  used.  When- 
it  is  found  especially  difficult  to  break  a  rail  in  hot  weather,  turn  it  on  its 
side,  make  a  little  mud  dam  on  the  web,  on  each  side  of  the  notch,  and  cool 
the  rail  by  pouring  in  cold  water  and  allowing  it  to  stand  a  few  moments. 

One  way  to  break  off  a  short  end  (pieces  10  ins.  to  3  ft.  long)  from  a 
rail  is  to  notch  it  on  the  sides  and  around  the  base,  rest  it  workwise  on  art 
end  bearing,  have  the  men  stand  upon  it,  hold  the  chisel  in  the  notch  on 
top  of  the  rail  flange  and  strike  it  with  the  hammer.  In  breaking  rails  it  is 
not  necessary  to  notch  them  across  the  top  of  the  head,  and  some  do  not 
notch  the  sides  of  the  head.  Where  rails  are  broken  by  dropping  them  on 
side  across  an  anvil  some  make  it  a  practice  to  notch  only  one  side  and 
across  the  bottom  of  the  base.  The  rail  is  then  lifted  and  dropped  with  the 
cut  side  up. 

A  rail  may  be  cut  or  broken  in  two  without  removing  it  from  the  trackr 
by  notching  it  conveniently  deep  on  the  sides  and  top  with  a  chisel  and 
breaking  it  with  the  jim-crow.  A  good  break  is  best  assured  in  a  case  of 
this  kind  by  first  cutting  the  head  clear  through  with  a  hack  saw.  Before 
applying  the  jim-crow  pull  all  the  spikes  on  one  side  of  the  cut,  so  that 
that  end  may  be  free  to  swing  when  the  rail  is  bent.  After  a  rail  has  been 
notched  and  broken  there  will  be  found  a  burr  on  the  broken  end,  which 
should  be  trimmed  off  with  a  hand  cold-chisel,  so  as  to  give  a  smooth  bear- 
ing for  the  splice  bars.  Tools  for  cutting  rails,  such  as  chisels  and  saws,,, 
are  considered  in  §  125,  Chap.  IX. 

100.  Expansion  in  Rails. — Failure  to  allow  the  proper  amount  of 
joint  space  when  laying  rails  is  generally  the  cause  of  considerable  repair 
work  afterward.  Where  too  much  space  is  allowed  rails  will,  in  extremely 
cold  weather,  pull  apart  at  the  joints,  breaking  either  the  bolts  or  the 
splices,  and  leave  a  dangerous  opening,  particularly  if  such  pulling  apart 
occurs  on  the  outer  rail  of  a  curve.  But  it  is  more  frequently  the  case 
that  too  little  space  is  allowed,  so  that  the  evil  effects  thereof  are  felt  mainly 
in  hot  weather.  While  the  coefficient  of  expansion  for  steel  undoubtedly 
holds  good  in  all  cases,  yet  it  almost  seems  that  no  reliance  can  be  placed 
upon  it  in  summer  time  with  rails  in  the  vicinity  of  a  stub  switch.  Here 
is  where  the  bad  effects  of  too  little  space  for  expansion  are  first  seen.  The 
rails  will  expand  so  tightly  that  the  switch  cannot  be  thrown  during  the 
middle  of  the  day  without  the  aid  of  a  hammer  to  drive  the  rails  over.  Of 
course,  the  only  remedy  is  to  take  out  a  piece  of  rail,  and  this  is  done  by 


STRETCHING  STEEL  581 

cutting  about  3  ins.  from  the  end  of  some  rail  back  of  the  moving  rail. 
Leave  an  opening  of  about  J  in.  at  the  headshoe  and  take  up  the  rest  of 
'the  3  ins.  by  opening  out  joints  farther  back.  If  the  joints  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  frog  also  are  tight,  the  same  thing  must  be  done  with  the  rails 
on  that  side  of  the  headblock,  or  else  the  headblock  will  continually  be 
shoved  toward  the  moving  rails.  In  doing  this  the  piece  of  rail  should  be 
taken  out  somewhere  beyond  the  frog  or  guard  rail  and  the  full  number  of 
holes  should  be  drilled  for  the  bolts  of  the  splice.  The  short  pieces  of  rail 
taken  off  should  be  buried  in  the  ballast  under  the  joint,  so  that  they  may 
be  had  to  put  back  when  cold  weather  comes,  if  needed.  If  the  steel  is 
pretty  tight  in- the  joints  the  rails  will  have  to  be  shortened  more  than  once 
during  the  summer.  In  driving  'rails  apart  a  track  chisel  should  be  used 
which  is  rather  sharp  and  thinly  drawn  out,  as  a  blunt  chisel  is  not  good 
for  starting  the  rails  to  move  and  it  will  also  raise  a  burr  at  the  ends  of 
the  rails. 

The  tightening  of  the  rails  on  the  headblock  at  stub  switches  is  not, 
however,  the  only  inconvenience  and  trouble  caused  by  the  expanding  of 
close-jointed  steel.  During  hot  days  the  rails  will  kink  into  a  snaky  align- 
ment, and  they  cannot  be  thrown  in  line  until  after  cooling  down ;  and  then, 
not  to  stay  there.  On  curves,  frequently,  and  sometimes  on  straight  line, 
tight  rails  will  expand  and  shoot  sidewise  out  of  line  several  inches 
within  a  rail's  length  or  so.  This  phenomenon  is  commonly  known  among 
trackmen  as  a  "sun  kink,"  and  has  often  been  the  cause  of  a  wreck.  It  is 
almost  sure  to  occur  with  close- jointed  rails  where  the  ties  are  not  well 
filled  in  between.  It  usually  takes  some  time  to  get  such  kinked  rails 
baek  into  line,  as  the  only  remedy  is  to  take  out  a  piece  of  rail.  But  rather 
than  hold  a  train  very  long  at  such  a  point  it  is  well  to  throw  the  track  out 
with  the  kink,  temporarily,  for  a  rail  or  two  each  side,  making  a  longer 
curve,  or,  on  tangent,  a  double  reverse  curve,  over  which  the  train  may  be 
allowed  to  pass  slowly.  When  laying  a  shorter  rail  in  such  a  place  allow- 
ance should  be  made  for  proper  expansion  at  the  joints  for  some  distance 
in  each  direction.  A  sun  kink  is  sometimes  started  while  the  track  is  being 
raised  for  tamping  or  while  throwing  the  track  in  line.  When  the  rails 
are  expanded  and  crowded  together  tightly  a  slight  disturbance  will  some- 
times cause  the  track  to  buckle  in  the  manner  above  indicated,  particularly 
on  curves,  or  where  there  is  only  a  small  amount  of  filling  between  the 
ties.  Filling  against  the  ends  of  the  ties  makes  track  secure  against  expand- 
ing steel,  and  hence  track  should  always  be  filled  in  that  way  if  the  quality 
of  the  ballast  is  such  that  proper  drainage  will  not  be  interfered  with. 

101.  Stretching  Steel  — Sometimes  the  proper  amount  of  space  for 
expansion  is  allowed  but  not  evenly  distributed,  there  being  tight  joints 
between  successive  rails  for  a  distance,  so  that  the  rails  will  kink  when  the 
weather  gets  hot;  and  then  a  number  of  joints  at  which  the  openings  are 
wider  than  necessary.  If  this  state  of  things  exists  only  in  short  stretches 
of  track  in  a  place,  it  may  be  remedied  by  manipulating  the  splice  bolts  to 
take  advantage  of  the  expansion  or  contraction  in  the  rails.  The  most  fav- 
orable opportunity  to  do  this  is  when  there  is  a  considerable  change  in 
temperature  between  night  and  day,  or  between  the  middle  of  the  day  and 
evening  or  morning.  The  way  to  go  about  the  work  in  summer  is  to  start 
during  the  cool  of  the  day  and  loosen  the  bolts  at  the  open  joints.  When 
it  gets  hot  the  expansion  of  the'  rails  will  run  into  and  toward  the  loosened 
splices,  the  bolts  of  which  should  then  be  tightened,  at  the  same  time 
loosening  the  bolts  at  the  tight  joints,  so  as  to  allow  the  latter  to  pull  apart 
when  it  gets  cooler.  The  operation  should  be  repeated  two  or  three  times, 
or  until  the  space  for  expansion  becomes  evenly  distributed  among  all  the 


582 


TKACK   MAINTENANCE 


joints.  After  slackening  the  bolts  on  a  splice  the  bars  should  be  struck  a 
side  blow  with  a  hammer,  to  loosen  them,,  and  to  give  the  rails  free  move- 
ment, the  slot  spikes  should  be  drawn  from  the  splices.  If  the  work  is  un- 
dertaken in  winter  the  bolts  should  be  tightened  on  the  open  joints  and  loos- 
ened on  the  tight  joints.  During  the  night  the  tight  joints  will  be  pulled 
open.  The  next  morning  the  bolts  should  be  tightened  at  the  joints  which 
have  pulled  apart  and  loosened  at  the  others.  By  keeping  up  this  practice 
for  a  few  times  the  joint  openings  may  be  readjusted  to  even  spaces. 

Where  the  necessary  amount  of  space  for  expansion  has  not  been  al- 
lowed a  piece  of  rail  must  be  taken  out  and  the  space  thus  obtained  evenly 
distributed  among  all  the  joints.  To  start  with,  a  piece  as  long  as  the  dis- 
tance between  the  first  two  bolt  holes  may  be  cut  from  the  end  of  a  rail,, 
the  rail  thus  shortened  to  be  laid  in  place  of  a  whole  one  when  the  time  conies 
to  begin  the  work  of  pulling  open  the  joints.  This  arrangement  will  per- 
mit the  use  of  at  least  one  of  the  original  bolt  holes  in  the  shortened  rail. 
After  ascertaining  how  many  joints  must  be  opened  out  in  order  to  take  up 
the  space  to  be  gained  by  laying  the  shortened  rail,  the  bolts  should  be  re- 
moved from  one  side  of  the  joint  in  each  of  the  splices,  so  that  the  rails 
may  be  pulled  apart.  Thus  all  the  splices  remain  on  the  rails,  with  half 
the  bolts  at  each  joint  undisturbed,  so  that  the  running  of  trains  is  not 
endangered.  Only  such  spikes  are  pulled  as  are  found  driven  in  the  slots 
of  the  splice  bars  or  such  as  will  be  in  the  way  of  the  splice  when  the  rail 


Fig.  264.— Rail-Driver  Truck,  Yazoo  &  Mississippi  Valley  R.  R. 
is  moved.  The  shortened  rail  is  then  laid  in  the  place  of  a  whole  one  tak- 
en out,  and  the  close- jointed  rails  are  driven  toward  the  opening,  one  at  a 
time,  and  properly  spaced  at  the  joints.  The  work  can  be  done  rapidly,  and 
a  space  longer  than  6  or  7  ins.  never  exists  between  any  of  the  rails  while 
they  are  being  moved.  Should  a  train  approach  while  there  is  a  wide  gap 
still  undistributed,  a  rail  or  two  may  be  quickly  driven  to  divide  the  space 
among  two  or  three  joints.  Where  too  much  space  has  been  allowed  at  the 
joints  the  latter  may  be  closed  to  the  proper  interval  by  driving  the  'rails 
along  in  the  manner  just  described,  putting  in  a  short  piece  of  rail  or 
"dutchman"  as  often  as  the  gap  opened  up  behind  amounts  to  a  few  inches, 
but  not  exceeding  6  ins.  in  length.  The  joints  at  each  end  of  such  a  short 
piece  of  rail  should  be  closed  up  tight  and  should  be  supported  by  a  tie 
directly  underneath,  respacing  a  few  ties  in  the  vicinity,  if  necessary,  to 
bring  one  under  the  dutchman.  The  splice  should  then  be  full  bolted. 
The  length  of  the  dutchman  is  usually  determined  with  a  view  to  have  some 
bolt  hole  in  the  shifted  rail  come  right  for  service. 

Another  occasion  for  stretching  steel  arises  from  the  creeping  of  rails 
on  hilly  roads,  where  the  rails  pull  apart  on  the  summits,  opening  up  the 
joints,  and  drive  together,  closing  the  joints,  in  the  hollows.  Particularly 
is  this  true  of  single-track  roads,  where  the  running  of  trains  both  ways  on 
the  same  track  drives  the  rails  into  each  hollow  from  both  directions.  In 


STRETCHING  STEEL  583 

such  cases  it  is  necessary  to  drive  the  rails  back  from  the  hollows  toward 
the  summits,  making  a  redistribution  of  the  expansion  allowance,  which,  if 
properly  calculated  when  the  track  was  laid,  can  be  done  without  cutting 
rails  or  laying  dutchmen.  In  such  places,  however,  the  work  proceeds  from 
the  summits  toward  the  hollows,  and  on  a  long  hill  the  gap  opened 
up  in  setting  back  the  rails  may  become  so  long  before  reaching  the 
"bunched"  rails  in  the  hollow  that  temporary  use  of  a  short  piece  of  rail 
must  sometimes  be  made  in  order  to  close  up  and  let  a  train  pass.  Care- 
ful attention  should  be  given  to  the  proper  spacing  of  rails  in  side-tracks, 
as  well  as  in  main  track.  It  has  frequently  happened  that  dose-jointed 
rails  in  side-tracks  have  expanded,  pushing  the  frog  out  of  its  proper  align- 
ment for  main  track  or  shoving  the  headshoes  against  the  moving  rails  at 
stub  switches.  Where  such  trouble  occurs  it  is  necessary  to  stretch  the  rails 
in  the  siding. 

The  method  of  driving  rails  when  stretching  steel,  known  as  the  Cut- 
ting back"  process,  is  to  strike  the  end  of  the  rail  or  the  end  of  the  attached 
splice  bar  with  a  piece  of  rail  8  or  10  ft.  long.  The  piece  of  rail  is  handled  in 
various  ways.  Where  it  is  butted  against  the  end  of  the  rail  that  is  being 
driven,  the  joint  is  first  opened  up  about  an  inch  wide  with  a  track  chisel 
and  hammer.  The  striking  end  of  the  butting  piece  is  slid  along  on  top 
of  the  rail  behind  and  the  other  end  is  held  about  hip  high,  so  as  to  cause 
the  striking  end  to  drop  into  the  opened  joint  and  strike  against  the  end  of 
the  'rail  to  be  driven.  If  the  rail  is  to  be  moved  by  striking  against  the  end 
of  the  splice  bar  the  butting  piece  -is  either  swung  as  a  battering  ram  or  slid 
forward  on  the  ties. 

The  work  of  handling  the  driving  rail,  either  when  held  in  the  hands 
of  the  men  or  swung  with  tongs,  is  severe  physical  exertion,  not  only  in  the 
act  of  striking,  but  also  in  carrying  it  from  joint  to  joint  as  the  work  pro- 
ceeds. On  the  Yazoo  &  Mississippi  Valley  R.  R,.  a  push  car  has  been  rigged 
up  to  carry  the  striking  rail  in  such  work.  The  division  of  this  road  ex- 
tending from  Yicksburg,  Miss.,  to  Wilson,  La.,  113  miles  in  length,  is  quite 
hilly  and  creeping  rails  are  bothersome,  the  trackmen  finding  it  necessary 
in  years  past  to  drive  the  rails  on  about  half  the  length  of  the  division  an- 
nually. Formerly  this  work  was  done  in  the  ordinary  way,  with  a  squad 
of  eight  or  ten  men  handling  the  rail  serving  as  the  driver,  and  so  fatiguing 
was  the  labor  of  carrying  it  from  place  to  place  that  a  new  crew  had  to  be 
put  on  about  every  six  hours.  The  arrangement  of  the  push  car  above  re- 
ferred to  is  shown  in  Fig.  264.  In  the  middle  of  the  car,  at  one  side,  there 
is  a  vertical  post  secured  to  the  car  decking  and  by  side  brace  rods,  while 
extending  across  the  car  there  is  a  beam  inclined  upwards  and  framed  over 
the  top  of  the  post,  the  overhanging  end  being  provided  with  a  hook  bolt, 
from  which  hangs  a  chain  and  grapple  a  few  inches  clear  of  the  side  of 
ihe  car.  In  closing  up  an  interval  between  two  rails  the  truck,  with  the 
drive  rail  hanging  at  the  side,  is  run  to  a  proper  position  behind  the  joint 
splice  to  be  driven,  and  the  driver  is  then  swung  and  guided  to  strike  the 
splice.  The  number  of  men  required  to  handle  the  driver  in  this  way  is 
only  three,  but  two  men  can  do  it  quite  handily.  Aside  from  the  saving  of 
labor  in  lifting  and  carrying  the  rail  the  truck  is  also  utilized  for  carrying 
the  tools  needed  in  the  work,  and  short  pieces  of  rail  or  switch  points  used 
in  closing  up  openings  when  it  is  desired  to  let  a  train  pass.  As  the  frame- 
work is  light  the  truck  is  easily  set  off  the  track  after  the  driver  rail  has 
been  released  from  the  grapple. 

102.  Adjusting  Bolts. — The  importance  of  keeping  track  bolts  prop- 
erly tightened  is  not  always  recognized.  It  seems  to  never  occur  to  some 
foremen  that  loose  bolts  may  be  largely  responsible  for  most  of  the  low 


584:  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

joints  on  their  sections.  No  matter  how  much  tamping  is  done,  track  can- 
not be  maintained  in  good  surface  easily  if  the  bolts  are  allowed  to  get  loose 
and  stay  in  that  condition  very  long  at  a  time.  The  strength  of  splice  bars 
is  effective  -  only  when  the  bolts  hold  them  tightly  in  position ;  in  fact,  so 
far  as  efficiency  of  the  splice  is  considered,  leaving  safety  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, the  nuts  might  as  well  be  entirely  off  the  bolts  as  to  be  at  all  loose. 
And  then,  if  track  bolts  are  allowed  to  'remain  loose  for  any  considerable 
length  of  time  the  threads  of  the  bolts  become  so  much  worn  or  battered 
that  they  are  no  longer  fit  for  service.  Where  day  track-walkers  are  em- 
ployed they  should  be  kept  busy  at  tightening  or  adjusting  bolts  when  not 
actually  engaged  in  patrolling  the  track.  If  this  wo'rk  is  not  done  by  track- 
walkers, one  day  each  month  should  be  devoted  to  it  by  the  section  crew. 
In  winter  time,  when  work  is  not  pressing,  much  attention  might  be  given  to 
tightening  bolts,  and  in  wet  weather,  in  other  seasons,  the  time  can  be  put 
in  at  such  work  to  good  advantage.  The  splices  should  all  be  kept  fully 
bolted  with  good  bolts  and  the  bolts  should  be  tightened  evenly.  The  effect 
of  one  bolt  much  tighter  than  the  rest  is  to  loosen  the  two  adjacent  ones. 

Although  it  may  not  generally  be  thought  so,  bolts  in  splices  may  be 
got  too  tight,  so  that  evil  effects  may  result  from  overtightening  as  well  a? 
from  loose  bolts.  Bolts  may  be  turned  on  so  tightly  that  the  rails  will  kink 
or  the  track  buckle  before  expansion  can  take  place  at  the  joints.  In  view 
o:'  this  fact  some  trackmen  take  the  precaution,  when  raising  track  on  curves 
during  very  hot  days,  to  slacken  the  bolts  on  a  few  splices  before  lifting 
the  rail,  in  case  the  appearance  of  things  seems  to  require  it.  Experiments 
conducted  by  Mr.  P.  Ii.  Dudley  on  testing  machines  showed  that  a  force 
of  46  tons  was  required  to  start  the  ends  of  80-lb.  rails  spliced  with  40-in. 
six-bolt  angle  bars,  and  a  force  of  23  tons  to  slip  one  end  of  the  same  rails 
spliced  with  22-in.  four-bolt  angle  bars.  To  slip  95-lb.  rails  in  20-in.  four- 
bolt  angle  bars  required  a  force  of  30  tons,  and  after  the  angle  bars  had 
been  "sledged  in"  and  tightened  again  the  force  required  to  slip  the  rail  in 
the  splice  was  58  tons.  These  records  prove  that  track  bolts  turned  on  hard 
resist  rail  expansion  and  contraction  with  great  force.  To  cite  one  instance 
where  due  recognition  is  taken  of  this  fact,  it  is  the  practice  on  the  French 
Eastern  Ey.  to  lubricate  the  splice  bars,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  shifting 
of  the  rail  ends  under  temperature  changes.  It  should  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration that  splice  bars,  when  tightly  adjusted,  are  wedged  in  between 
the  head  and  flange  of  the  rail  very  securely,  and  that  all  there  is  required 
is  to  keep  them  to  a  snug  fit.  In  order  to  do  this  it  is  not  necessary  to  screw 
on  the  bolts  until  they  are  at  the  point  of  snapping  in  two.  A  splice  may 
be  adjusted  very  tightly  and  still  allow  the  rails  to  expand  through  it.  Each 
rail  should  be  so  held  by  the  splices  at  its  ends  that  it  may  expand  and  con- 
tract in  its  place;  but  where  the  bolts  on  some  splices  are  too  tight  several 
rails  may  expand  as  one  rail,  and  either  kink  themselves  into  a  snaky  align- 
ment or  shove  rails  less  tightly  spliced ;  hence  the  importance  of  adjusting 
bolts  to  a  uniform  tightness  on  all  the  splices.  The  reason  why  some  joints 
pull  farther  apart  than  others  is  because  the  bolts  on  the  splices  are  not  so 
tightly  adjusted  as  on  the  others.  To  remedy  a  situation  of  this  kind  the 
bolts  may  be  slackened  on  the  open  joints  in  the  morning,  and  then  during 
the  heat  of  the  day,  when  the  rails  have  closed  in,  all  should  be  adjusted  to 
an  even  tension.  Where  good  spring  nut  locks  are  used  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  adjust  the  bolts  as  tightly  as  otherwise.  When  tightening  a  looso 
bolt  on  a  splice  one  should  inspect  carefully  to  see  whether  any  of  the  others 
have  been  slackened,  and  if  such  is  the  case  each  should  be  readjusted  to 
take  its  proper  share  of  the  work. 

Foremen  should  make  a  thorough  study  of  this  matter  and  learn  for 


CREEPING  RAILS  585 

themselves,  from  observation  and  experiment,  the  proper  adjustment  for 
track  bolts,  and  then  see  to  it  that  all  the  men  do  the  work  right  and  uni- 
formly alike.  A  man  can  pull  on  an  ordinary  18-in.  wrench  with  enough 
force  to  break  a  J-in.  track  bolt.  The  practice  of  lengthening  out  wrench 
handles  with  a  piece  of  pipe,  2  ft.  or  so  long,  is  an  indication  of  either  ig- 
norance or  laziness,  or  both.  A  wrench  with  so  long  a  handle  cannot  be 
manipulated  as  dextrously  as  one  with  a  handle  of  ordinary  length.  That 
part  of  the  operation  of  tightening  a  nut  which  requires  the  most  time  is 
in  screwing  it  to  take  up  slack  and  to  bring  the  bolt  to  a  snug  bearing ;  the 
number  of  pulls  at  the  wrench  requiring  the  laying  out  of  strength  are  com- 
paratively few.  A  section  crew  trained  to  know  when  track  bolts  are  prop- 
erly tightened,  have  learned  an  important  matter  in  track  maintenance. 

When  bolts  are  adjusted,  all  cracked  splice  bars  should  be  replaced 
with  sound  ones.  While  a  cracked  splice  may  answer  for  holding  the  ends 
of  the  rails  in  line  it  is  of  no  more  account  in  supporting  the  joint  than  a 
broken  one.  The  broken  or  cracked  splices  should  not  be  thrown  into  the 
scrap  pile.  The  pieces  make  good  temporary  rail  braces,  which  come  han- 
dy in  shimming,  or  they  serve  quite  well  for  two-bolt  splices  for  joints  in 
unimportant  spur  tracks  or  sidings — that  is,  if  the  bolt  holes  come  right  for 
the  holes  in  the  ends  of  the  rails. 

103.  Creeping  Rails. — There  are  two  longitudinal  movements,  or 
tendencies  to  movement,  in  rails :  one,  a  molecular  movement  of  expansion 
or  contraction  in  the  metal,  the  other  a  progressive  shifting  of  the  rails 
bodily,  commonly  known  as  "creeping"  or  "running."  The  former  is  caused 
by  change  of  temperature  and  its  effects,  however  severe,  are  local — that  is, 
the  damage  resulting  from  expansion  or  contraction  of  rails  will  always 
be  found  in  the  near  vicinity  of  improperly  spaced  joints,  and  movement 
takes  place  in  the  direction  of  least  resistance.  With  steam  roads  this  move- 
ment is  practically  irresistible.  The  tendency  to  movement  by  creeping  is 
caused  by  the  running  of  trains,  and  is  always  in  one  direction  for  the  same 
direction  of  the  moving  train.  Wrhere  this  movement  takes  place  it  usually 
extends  over  comparatively  long  stretches  of  track.  The  tendency  is  some- 
times held  in  check  and  usually  may,  to  some  extent,  at  least,  be  prevented. 
There  are  some  peculiar  things  related  of  creeping  steel,  some  of  which  would 
apparently  defy  satisfactory  explanation  on  existing  theories  for  the  cause. 
It  is  now  pretty  generally  conceded,  however,  that  the  principal  cause  is 
the  wave  motion  in  the  rail  set  up  by  moving  trains.  There  is  usually  a 
slight  upward  and  then  downward  movement  of  the  rail  and  ties  just  preced- 
ing a  moving  locomotive  or  train,  owing  to  the  flexibility  of  the  rail,  but 
the  whole  ground  also  springs  for  quite  a  depth  underneath  the  track  and 
for  some  distance  each  side,  so  that  there  results  a  wave  motion  in  the 
rail  of  much  greater  amplitude  than  at  first  appears.  Those  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  subject  of  track  depression  may  find  some  account  of  exten- 
sive experiments  in  this  direction  in  §  181,  Chap.  XI. 

Starting  with  the  fact  that  there  is  a  wave  motion  in  the  rail,  it  may 
be  explained  that  if  the  rail  was  continuous  this  wave  would  be  propagated 
along  it  simply  as  an  undulating  motion  and  there  would  be  no  onward 
movement  in  the  rail  any  more  than  there  could  be  in  the  ground.  But  by 
laying  the  'rail  in  sections  of  30  ft.,  or  other  length,  the  propagation  of  the 
undulating  motion  is  more  or  less  arrested  at  every  joint  (completely,  where 
the  splice  is  loose)  and  each  section  of  the  rail  is  permitted  to  sprawl  ahead. 
Hence  the  running  or  creeping  of  rails  takes  place  successively  by  sections, 
one  section  at  a  time ;  or,  at  most,  by  a  few  sections  acting  together  as  one ; 
and  this  is  why  steel  may  creep  and  not  close  the  joints,  as  many  have  un- 
doubtedly observed.  So,  while  the  ground  and  the  ties  undulate  continu- 


586  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

ously,  and  return  again  to  the  position  in  space  occupied  before  the  train 
arrived,  the  rail  undulates  intermittently  by  sections  and  does  not  return 
unless  provision  be  made  to  compel  it  to  do  so;  that  is,  unless  each  rail  is 
made  to  hold  fast  to  the  ties  and  ground  it  will  remain  shoved  ahead  by 
a  very  small  amount  at  each  passage  of  a  train. 

The  reason  the  rail  is  shoved  ahead  when  it  loses  the  undulating  mo- 
tion is  this:  When  a  heavy  load  rolls  along  the  track  the  ground  and  the 
rails  with  it  give  downward.  This  giving  downward  with  the  ground  is  a 
displacement,  and  earth  is  moved  outward  in  all  directions  and  compressed; 
but  after  the  load  passes,  the  earth,  by  virtue  of  the  elastic  force  due  to  its 
compression,  moves  back  to  its  former  position,  the  old  level  of  the  roadbed 
is  restored,  and  its  motion  has  been  simply  undulating  or  oscillating.  Now, 
if  the  rail  was  continuous,  as  the  load  rolled  forward  it  would  stretch  out 
the  rail  behind  and  crowd  it  together  in  front,  compressing  the  particles 
slightly,  thus  setting  up  behind  an  elastic  force  of  tension,  and  in  front;  an 
elastic  force  of  compression,  in  the  rail,  both  of  which  would  act  to  restore 
the  disturbed  portion  to  its  former  place  after  the  load  had  passed;  then  the 
rail  would  undulate  with  the  ground.  But  with  a  rail  made  up  of  spliced 
sections  the  undulations  cannot  be  fully  propagated  unless  the  splices  hold 
the  joints  securely  enough  to  resist  the  stresses  from  the  undulations  as 
firmly  as  the  solid  part  of  the  rail ;  otherwise  the  rail  will  shove  through  the 
splice  ahead,  into  the  open  joint,  and  pull  through  the  splice  behind,  and 
there  will  be  no  elastic  force  to  return  it  to  its  former  position  relatively  to- 
the  ground.  Hence  the  ground  and  the  ties,  which  are  embedded  in  the 
ground,  undulate  backward  after  the  load  has  passed,  but  the  rail  remains- 
shoved  ahead  relatively  to  them,  unless  provision  be  made  to  carry  it  back. 
Although  such  forward  movement  can  take  place  only  by  almost  impercept- 
ible stages,  it  takes  place,  nevertheless,,  wherever  the  rail  is  not  so  held  to- 
the  ties  as  to  be  carried  back  with  the  undulations  in  the  ground  and  ties ; 
and  the  space  at  the  joint  is  just  what  permits  this  creeping,  for  it  could 
not  take  place  except  by  sections.  If  it  was  possible  to  tighten  splices  so  as 
to  hold  against  creeping  they  would  be  too  tight  to  allow  the  rails  to  ex- 
pand easily,  and  much  evil  would  result.  The  two  movements  do  not  take 
place  in  the  same  way;  for  creeping  occurs  only  under  the  trains,  while 
with  rise  in  temperature  every  section  of  rail  along  the  whole  line  expands 
at  the  same  time. 

Three  important  facts  should  be  noted  in  connection  with  creeping 
rails :  the  creeping  is  most  rapid  during  hot  weather,  it  is  greater  on  double 
than  on  single  track,  and  it  runs  with  the  trains.  In  hot  weather  the  rail? 
must  expand;  and  some  splices  may  be  bolted  tightly  enough  to  cause  the 
expanding  rail  to  flex  or  bend.  If  there  is  but  little  filling  between  the 
ties  or  the  spikes  be  not  driven  snugly  up  to  the  rail  flange  the  rail  may 
kink  laterally  and  throw  itself  out  of  line.  But  if  there  is  filling  at  the  tie 
ends,  or  the  spikes  have  not  been  kept  driven  down  to  the  flange  of  the  rail, 
or  if  the  ties  are  sawed  four-square,  so  as  to  be  easily  lifted  through  the 
ballast,  or  if  there  are  low  joints,  the  rail  may  spring  upwards  or  camber 
more  readily  than  it  can  be  forced  through  the  splices  at  either  end.  Many 
have  doubtless  noticed  this ;  and  how  in  some  hot  days  the  cambering  of  the 
rails  at  the  centers  gave  the  appearance  of  low  joints,  for  the  time  being. 
Now  a  locomotive  running  over  these  cambered  rails  will  depress  them  and 
such  depression  must  drive  the  two  ends  of  the  rail  further  apart,  of  course, 
the  friction  of  the  splices  not  being  sufficient  to  hold  the  rails  back.  But 
the  load  rolling  on  from  one  end  will  cause  the  rail  to  slip  through  the 
splice  in  the  forward  direction,  as  carpet  is  ruffled  when  the  foot  is  shoved 
over  it;  because  no  matter  how  loose  the  splice  behind,  the  weight  of  the 


CREEPING  RAILS  58? 

rolling  load  tends  to  hold  that  end  of  the  rail  firmly  and  to  drive  ahead  the 
other  end. 

But  there  is  another  reason  why  rails  should  be  expected  to  creep  faster 
in  hot  than  in  cool  weather.  When  the  rails  are  heated  up  the  tendency  to- 
expand  sets  up  considerable  compressive  stress  in  the  metal  before  properly 
bolted  splices  will  permit  the  rail  to  give  at  the  joints.  When  there  is  no- 
train  running  this  compressive  stress  or  force  might  be  considered  as  pro- 
ducing an  equal  effect  toward  expansion  in  both  directions  and  all  the  rails 
might  be  considered  as  being  frequently  stressed  up  to  the  point  of  forcing 
the  splices.  As  the  train  advances,  however,  the  wave  in  the  rail  preceding 
it  should  increase  the  stress  in  the  rail  just  ahead  of  the  trainj  and  the  jar- 
ring effect  of  the  advancing  load  on  the  molecular  structure  of  the  metal 
would  be  expected  to  cause  the  rail  to  suddenly  expand  and  slip  through  the 
splice.  As  has  just  been  shown,  this  expansion  will  be  in  the  forward  direc- 
tion, or  away  from  the  point  where  the  rail  is  held  down  firmly  under  the 
train.  Now  when  the  rail  is  in  tensile  stress,  as  in  cool  weather,  any  dis- 
turbing cause,  such  as  the  jar  of  a  train  running  over  the  track,  will  affect 
the  creep  of  the  rail  in  the  same  manner;  that  is,  the  rail  will  be  forced 
to  suddenly  contract  and  pull  away  from  the  point  where  it  is  held  firmly; 
under  the  train;  but  the  tendency  will  be  to  creep  less,  because  the  wave  in- 
the  rail  running  ahead  of  the  train  will  operate  to  relieve  the  rail,  just 
ahead  of  the  train,  of  some  of  its  stress.  It  seems  likely  that  the  jarring  of 
the  'rail  by  moving  trains,  while  the  rail  is  in  a  state  of  stress,  may  have 
no  small  influence  in  the  creeping  of  the  rail  at  all  times,  for  the  rail  is  in 
stress,  either  of  compression  or  tension,  at  any  time  when  the  temperature 
is  rising  or  falling — that  is,  if  the  splice  bolts  are  kept  properly  tightened. 
Most  trackmen  have  probably  seen  a  'rail  on  a  very  warm  day  suddenly  ex- 
pand to  fill  the  joint  opening  upon  loosening  the  bolts  at  a  tightly  spliced 
joint,  the  sudden  increase  in  length  being  accompanied  usually  by  a-  loud 
report,  showing  that  the  rail  had  been  subjected  to  heavy  stress.  In  very 
cold  weather  rails  will  contract  with  equal  suddenness  upon  being  freed 
from  the  gripe  of  a  tightly  bolted  splice.  However  much,  change  of  tem- 
perature, as  a  p-rimal  cause,  may  have  to  do  with  rail  creeping,  it  is  certain 
that  except  for  the  running  of  trains  the  rails  would  expand  and  contract 
in  place ;  and  as  every  effect  due  to  the  running  of  trains  is  to  cause  the  rails 
to  move  forward,  the  tendency  of  rails  to  creep  is  always  forward,  or  in  the 
direction  of  the  movement  of  the  train  which  causes  it,  and  never  back- 
ward. Another  reason  why  rails  should  creep  more  rapidly  in  summer 
than  in  winter  is  that  when  the  ground  is  frozen  it  is  less  yielding  and  there 
can  be  less  wave  motion  in  the  track. 

On  double-track  roads  the  tendency  for  each  track  to  creep  is  in  one 
direction  only.  On  single  track,  if  there  be  no  predominating  influences 
favoring  one  "direction,  the  tendency  to  creep  in  one  direction  is  balanced  by 
that  from  the  other,  and  movement,  if  at  all,  is  slight  and  not  nearly  so 
much  as  on  double  track.  It  has  been  observed,  however,  that  on  single 
track,  with  traffic  one  way  much  heavier  than  the  other,  the  rails  creep  with 
the  heavier  traffic ;  also  that  on  single  track  the  rails  creep  habitually  down 
grade,  owing  no  doubt  to  the  faster  speeds  in  that  direction  and,  on  heavy 
grades,  in  some  degree  perhaps  to  the  continuous  application  of  brakes  and 
the  back  action  of  double-header  engines.  The  same  explanation  would  also 
account  for  the  greater  creeping  down,  than  up,  the  grade  on  double  track. 
On  single  track  where  the  trains  habitually  take  a  running  start  for  a 
grade,  the  rails  for  some  distance  above  the  foot  of  the  grade  have  been 
observed  to  creep  up  grade,  due,  of  course,  to  the  excessive  speed  of  trains 
going  in  that  direction. 


588  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

Rails  usually  creep  most  on  embankments,  especially  newly-made  ones, 
and  little  or  least  on  solid,  hard  ground  not  raised  above  the  surrounding 
level.  Track  laid  over  swampy  or  boggy  land  creeps  worst  of  all,  and  on 
some  trestles  it  is  not  far  behind,  especially  where  there  is  a  drawbridge 
to  break  the  continuity  of  the  rails.  The  outer  rails  of  double  track,  on 
a  fill,  creep  more  than  the  inner  rails,  because  the  support  for  the  former 
is  less  firm.  The  records  of  track  inspection  apparatus  which  measures  rail 
deflection,  show  that  almost  invariably  the  rails  on  the  outside  of  double 
track  are  subject  to  greater  average  deflection  per  mile  than  the  inner 
rails.  In  tunnels  rails  creep  none  or  scarcely  at  all,  unless  pushed  by  the 
rails  outside,  thus  showing  that  the  creeping  is  least  where  the  foundation 
is  firmest  and  wave  motion  least ;  the  nearly  constant  temperature  may  also 
have  its  effect.  M.  Couard,  a  French  authority  on  maintenance  of  way 
questions,  states  that  in  the  Credo  tunnel,  between  Lyons  and  Geneva,  no 
creeping  whatever  was  discoverable,  and  on  a  2J  per  cent  grade  in  the  Sau- 
vages  tunnel  the  maximum  amount  of  creeping  was  only  4  ins.  during  9 
years  of  service.  On  curves  where  the  inside  rail  'receives  the  heavier 
load,  on  account  of  a  too  great  elevation  of  the  outside  rail,  the  inside  rail 
creeps  faster  than  the  outside  rail.  On  straight  double  track  which  is  out 
of  level  the  lower  rail  will  creep  the  faster.  The  relative  amount  of  creep- 
ing of  the  two  rails  may  also  be  affected  'by  side  pressure  against  the  cars 
from  prevailing  winds,  which  operate  to  throw  a  disproportion  of  the  weight 
to  the  lee  side. 

It  is  of  frequent  report  that  the  outer  rail  of  curves  creeps  faster  than 
the  inner  rail  or  that  one  rail  (on  either  curve  or  straight  line)  creeps 
while  the  rail  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  track  creeps  little  or  not  at  all; 
and  some  claim  to  have  seen  the  two  rails  creep  in  opposite  directions — in 
fact  there  seems  to  be  a  great  variety  of  ways  in  which  rails  will  creep.  I 
believe,  however,  that  there  are  five  essential  conditions  which  govern  all 
cases  of  creeping  rails  and  that  a  knowledge  of  the  conditions  prevailing 
in  any  case  will  enable  one  to  explain  all  the  attending  phenomena.  I 
would  say  that  the  manner  in  which  rails  will  creep,  and  the  amount,  de- 
pend upon:  (1)  the  character  of  the  ground  or  foundation  for  the  track; 
(2)  the  direction  in  which  the  train  loads  are  the  heavier,  if  any;  (3)  the 
proportion  of  weight  distributed  on  the  two  rails;  (4)  the  speed  of  the 
trains;  and  (5)  the  manner  in  which  the  ties  are  spiked.  On  a  curve  the 
3rd  condition  may  depend  upon  the  4th,  as,  for  instance,  high  speed,  where 
the  elevation  is  too  little,  will  throw  the  greater  portion  of  the  weight  on 
the  outer  rail,  whereas  if  the  elevation  of  the  outer  rail  be  too  great  for  the 
slow-speed  trains  the  preponderance  of  weight  will  fall  upon  the  inner  rail ; 
and  the  rail  which  receives  the  more  weight,  other  conditions  being  equal, 
will  creep  the  faster.  Where  there  is  no  relative  advance  of  either  rail  it  is 
quite  likely  that  the  effects  produced  by  heavy,  slow-speed  freight  trains 
and  fast  passenger  trains  are  compensating.  I  have  never  seen  a  case  where 
the  two  rails  of  a  piece  of  track  have  crept  in  opposite  directions,  but  have 
found  explanation  for  cases  of  the  kind  reported.  In  every  instance  of  the 
kind  which  has  been  brought  to  my  notice  there  has  been  a  curve  at,  or  in 
proximity  to,  the  place  where  the  creeping  in  both  directions  took  place, 
and  there  was  a  marked  difference  of  either  speed  or  tonnage  in  the  trains 
passing  in  the  two  directions.  The  creeping  of  rails  due  to  the  setting  of 
brakes  may  have  some  influence  on  grades,  where  no  doubt  the  retarded 
wheel  has  a  tendency  to  skid  the  rail  under  itself ;  but  here,  as  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  stations,  its  effect,  at  most,  can  be  only  local.  The  slipping  effect  of 
wheels  on  curves  may  also  exert  some  influence  on  the  relative  amount  of 
creeping  of  the  two  rails,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  matters  of  speed  and 


CREEPING  RAILS  58D 

superelevation,  which  determine  the  distribution  of  the  weight  between  the 
rails,  are  of  more  consequence. 

Some  of  the  German  engineers  who  have  theorized  a  great  deal  on  the 
subject  of  rail  creeping  claim  that  the  unequal  movement  of  the  two  rails 
is  due  to  the  unsymmetrical  working  of  the  locomotives.  Such  action  is 
supposed  to  result  from  the  phase  difference  of  rotation  of  the  two  sides  of 
the  locomotive  consequent  upon  the  condition  that  the  crank  on  one  side  leads 
that  on  the  other  side  by  a  quarter  turn,  causing  side  oscillation  and  greater 
intensity  of  pressure  on  the  rail  which  is  on  the  side  opposite  from  that  on 
which  the  crank  has  the  lead.  Thus,  if  the  leading  crank  be  on  the  right 
side  the  deviating  tendency  of  the  locomotive  will  be  toward  the  left,  and 
the  excess  pressure  resulting  from  such  one-sided  action  will  be  on  the  left 
rail.  These  people  tell  us  that  on  electrically  operated  roads,  where  the 
driving  force  is  not  reciprocating,  there  is  no  difference  in  the  rate  of  creep- 
ing of  the  two  rails. 

Anti-Creeping  Contrivances. — It  now  remains  to  discuss  how  the  creep- 
ing of  rails  can  be  prevented  or  retarded.  In  the  first  place,  the  laying 
of  the  rail  in  sections  with  open  space  between  the  sections  being  the  prim- 
ary cause  of  the  creeping  of  rails,  the  keeping  of  the  splices  to  a  snug  fit  may- 
lessen  the  creeping,  although  it  is  clear  that  they  cannot  be  bolted  tightly 
enough  to  entirely  prevent  creeping.  Again,  the  creeping  may  be  greatly 
augmented  by  having  the  splices  too  tightly  bolted  to  allow  the  rails  to 
expand  and  contract  freely.  The  bolts  should,  therefore,  be  kept  turned 
on  to  a  snug  bearing  at  all  times,  but  not  too  tight,  especially  in  hot  weather. 
The  principal  method  employed  to  prevent  rails  from  creeping,  or  to  re- 
tard the  creeping,  is  to  slot-spike  the  splice  bars;  and  to  get  additional 
anchorage  a  "dummy"  splice  is  sometimes  bolted  to  the  middle  of  each  rail 
and  slot-spiked.  Where  the  tendency  to  creep  is  not  great,  slot-spiking 
at  the  joints  will  hold  the  rail  in  check,  but  where  this  tendency  is  strong 
there  may  be  seen  examples  numerous  enough  where,  for  mile  after  mile, 
every  joint  tie  has  been  shoved  bodily  by  the  creeping  rails,  crowding  out 
the  ballast  or  splitting  open  the  ties,  the  latter  effect  occuring  principally 
on  bridges.  It  would  seem  that  in  such  cases  it  had  indeed  been  better  if 
no  splices  had  been  slot-spiked,  and  the  rails  allowed  to  run  unopposed ;  for 
then  it  would  only  have  been  necessary  to  redrive  the  spikes  which  the 
splices  had  pulled  away  from,  or  the  spikes  which  the  splices  had  run 
against.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  advantage  to  be  had  from  spiking  in 
slots  at  the  joints  can  offset  the  damage  which  arises  when  joint  ties  aro 
shoved  off  their  tamped  and  pressure-compacted  beds  onto  the  less  firm 
filling  material  between  the  ties.  Such  displacement  of  the  ties  weakens 
the  support  for  the  joint  and  leads  to  settlement,  and  much  labor  is  re- 
quired to  shift  the  ties  or  square  them  with  the  track  and  tamp  them.  One 
roadmaster  who  for  a  number  of  years  has  kept  careful  account  of  track 
repairs  on  a  double-track  road  maintained  in  first-class  condition,  on  gravel 
ballast,  puts  the  average  expense  of  this  item  at  $14.88  per  mile  of  single 
track  per  year.  This  amount  does  not,  however,  cover  the  cost  of  raising 
and  tamping  low  joints,  with  the  shoulder  and  quarter  ties  that  become 
low  in  consequence  of  the  shoving  of  the  slot-spiked  joint  ties  by  the  creep- 
ing rails.  The  slot-spiking  of  splice  bars  is  therefore  not  always  a  satis- 
factory means  of  resisting  rail  creeping,  for  in  very  extensive  practice  it 
seems  clear  that  any  advantage  gained  in  resistance  to  rail  creeping  is  com- 
pensated by  a  considerable  expense  entailed  in  the  work  of  tamping  low 
joints  and  in  respacing  joint  and  shoulder  ties;  while  in  some  instances 
recourse  is  taken  to  the  laborious  process  of  driving  back  the  rails.  Never- 
theless, the  majority  of  maintenance-of-way  officials  seem  to  regard  the- 


"590  THACK    MAINTENANCE 

method  of  slot  spiking  at  the  joints  as  of  at  least  some  value  in  resisting 
rail  creeping,,  even  if  it  does  not  entirely  prevent  it. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  where  the  creeping  force  is  irresistible  the  joint 
.ties  should  not  be  slot-spiked.  The  principle  of  so  anchoring  each  indi- 
vidual rail  to  the  ties  that  it  will  be  self  sustaining  is  the  right  one,  but  if 
the  method  of  anchoring  is  not  effective  the  fact  of  having  the  correct 
principle  in  view  does  not  help  matters  any.  No  method  should  be  followed 
which  results  in  disturbance  to  the  spacing  and  bearing  of  the  joint  ties 
Where  the  creeping  is  so  bad  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  respace  the  ties 
at  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  joints  every  year  I  would  recommend  some 
•other  method  of  anchoring  than  that  of  slot-spiking  the  splice  bars.  As  the 
weakest  part  of  the  rail  is  at  the  joint,  it  seems  like  putting  too  many  duties 
•on  the  joint  ties  to  slot-spike  them  when  they  cannot  be  maintained  in 
position.  Anchorage  at  intermediate  portions  of  the  rail  is  usually  effected 
•by  dummy  splices  or  "'check  plates"  at  the  centers,  and  sometimes  also  at 
the  quarters.  The  first  cost  of  these  devices  and  the  cost  of  the  labor  of 
putting  them  on  is  something  of  an  item,  to  be  sure,  but  if  the  rail  creeps 
the  damage  from  the  dislodgment  of  center  or  quarter  ties  is  not  nearly 
•so  much  as  that  which  results  from  a  similar  dislodgment  of  the  joint  ties; 
•and  then,  owing  to  the  greater  tendency  to  deflection  at  the  joint  than  at 
intermediate  parts  of  the  rail,  the  filling  material  about  the  joint  ties  is 
more  or  less  shaken  up  and  loosened,  so  that,  as  a  rule,  the  ties  at  the 
center,  quarter  or  other  intermediate  points  are  more  firmly  embedded  in 
the  ballast  filling,  and  therefore  better  able  to  resist  creeping  of  the  rails. 
Dummy  splices  may  be  had  cheaply  by  cutting  up  old  angle  bars,  retaining 
a  bolt  hole  in  each  piece  and  slotting  the  horizontal  leg  of  the  piece.  Where 
-such  practice  of  anchoring  the  rails  becomes  standard  all  new  rails  should 
be  ordered  drilled  at  the  proper  points  by  the  manufacturer.  The  flange  of 
the  rail  should  never  be  notched  or  slotted  for  the  purpose  of  setting  spikes 
to  resist  creeping,  or  for  any  other  purpose.  The  practice  of  setting  spikes 
against  the  ends  of  splice  bars,  as  is  sometimes  done  in  lieu  of  slot-spiking, 
should  not  be  followed,  as  in  this  position  the  spikes  are  extremely  difficult 
to  draw. 

Resistance  to  creeping  may  be  much  increased  by  placing  blocks  be- 
tween the  ties  ahead  of  the  anchor  plates.  For  this  purpose  the  sound  parts 
of  old  ties  may  be  out  into  proper  lengths  (10  to  13  ins.)  and  split  into 
quarters.  By  using  blocks,  one  anchor  plate  at  the  center  of  each  rail  may 
be  sufficient  to  prevent  creeping.  The  use  of  long  ties  is  also  recommended 
in  cases,  particularly  on  soft  or  swampy  roadbed.  To  resist  creeping  under 
-such  conditions,  a  committee  reporting  to  the  Canadian  Headmasters'  Asso- 
ciation recommended  ties  10  to  12  ft.  long,  7  to  8  ins.  thick,  spaced  8  ins. 
apart  in  the  clear,  on  cinder  ballast  18  ins.  deep,  blocking  four  ties  each  side 
of  each  joint  with  pieces  of  4x4-in.  scantling  and  using  long  angle  bars  at 
the  joints  slot-spiked  to  the  ties.  One  member  representing  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Ry.  reported  good  results  under  such  conditions  from  having  used 
ties  12  ft.  long  and  8  ins.  thick,  on  cinder  Ballast,  spiking  through  the  slots 
of  long  angle  bars  at  the  joints. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  experience  with  rail  creeping  on  record 
has  occurred  on  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ry.,  where  it  crosses  the  Barclay 
muskeg,  about  217  miles  east  of  Winnipeg.  Some  of  the  facts  regarding 
the  creeping  at  this  point  and  the  method  of  prevention  employed  there  and 
elsewhere  were  given  to  the  Railway  and  Shipping  World,  in  May,  1900,  by 
Mr.  W.  Whyte,  assistant  to  the  president,  Canadian  Pacific  Ry.,  as  follows : 
"When  the  track  at  this  point  was  laid  with  56-lb.  steel  it  used  to  move 
under  every  train,  rendering  it  necessary  to  keep  a  watchman  on  duty  there 


CREEPING  RAILS  591 

•day  and  night  with  short  pieces  of  rails  to  meet  the  expansion  and  con- 
traction. I  myself,  in  1887,  saw  the  track  creep  while  a  train  was  passing 
over  it,  2  ft.  4  ins.  In  addition  to  my  own  personal  observations,  measure- 
ments have  been  taken  of  the  distance  the  track  -crept  under  a  moving  train, 
and  these  show  that  a  movement  occurred  in  the  track  of  from  2  to  37  ins/, 
depending  on  the  temperature,  weight  of  engine  and  train,  and  softness 
of  bottom.  To  stop  this  creeping,  the  length  of  the  ties  was  increased  from 
8  ft.  to  12  ft.,  and  a  slot  was  cut  in  the  base  of  the  rail  over  each  tie,  the 
slots  being  staggered,  that  is  the  slot  over  one  tie  would  be  on  the  inside 
of  the  rail  and  over  the  next  tie  on  the  outside  of  the  rail.  When  the  track 
was  laid  with  72-lb.  steel,  44-in.  angle  bars  were  used  and  the  steel  was 
laid  square  joints,  so  that  the  ties  would  not  slew  with  the  creeping.  The 
rails  were  not  notched  as  above  set  forth,  but  angle  bars  were  used  on  the 
center  of  every  second  rail  and  spiked  to  the  ties.  This  is  the  practice 
we  have  been  following  on  muskegs  where  track  creeps.  This  has. had  to  be 
•done  at  Oxdrift  and  Tellord  with  our  73-lb.  steel  and  26-in.  angle  bars, 
Avhich  have  spike  holes  punched  through  them,  and  which  give  far  better 
service  than  the  44-in.  angle  bar  with  the  slotted  holes,  as  the  shoulder  was 
continually  wearing  off  on  the  latter,  rendering  the  bar  useless  for  holding 
ihe  rails,  and  by  slipping  past  the  spikes,  destroyed  the  gage  of  the  track. 
By  this  means  we  have  been  able  to  stop  creeping  track,  but  the  joint  ties 
still  churn  on  the  muskeg." 

A  method  planned  on  a  principle  similar  to  that  of  blocking  the  ties 
ahead  of  the  slot  spiking  is  to  tie  the  ties  together.  Such  a  method  has 
"been  adopted  on  the  Hungarian  State  By.,  the  arrangement  consisting  of 
two  long  flat  plates  corresponding  to  a  rail  length,  crossed  and  screw- 
spiked  to  the  ties,  inside  the  rails.  In  this  manner  all  the  ties  for  a  rail 
length  are  interconnected  or  framed  together  to  act  as  one  against  rail 
creeping,  the  splice  bars  being  slot-spiked  to  the  ties.  Where  the  tendency 
to  creeping  is  strong  this  arrangement  is  repeated  for  four  to  ten  rail 
lengths  in  a  place,  according  to  the  force  to  be  resisted. 

It  is  important  that  the  means  of  anchorage  on  both  rails  should 
engage  the  same  tie  at  each  point  of  application.  On  square-jointed  track 
this  practice  follows  as  a  matter  of  course,  because  the  joints  and  corres- 
ponding points  of  the  rails  for  both  sides  stand  opposite.  The  plan  of 
anchoring  both  rails  to  the  same  ties  is  much  more  effective  than  that  of 
anchoring  to  separate  ties,  because  the  resistance  of  a  tie  to  being  pushed 
bodily  through  the  ballast  filling  (that  is,  both  ends  together)  is  several 
times  the  resistance  of  one  end  to  being  slewed.  To  follow  this  plan  on 
broken- jointed  track  slot-spiked  at  the  splice  bars,  it  is  necessary  to  anchor 
the  center  of  each  Tail  to  the  joint  ties  of  the  rail  opposite;  but  if  it  is 
desired  not  to  slot-spike  the  splice  bars  on  track  so  laid,  then  the  anti- 
creeping  devices  must  be  applied  at  the  quarters,  the  first  quarter  of  each 
rail  on  one  side  standing  opposite  the  third  quarter  of  the  rail  opposite. 
The  slot-spiking  of  joint  ties"  on  broken-jointed  track  without  placing  an 
anti-creeping  device  in  the  center  of  the  rail  on  tjie  opposite  side  of  the 
track  is  usually  the  cause  of  a  large  amount  of  work  necessary  to  maintain 
the  joint  ties  in  position  squarely  across  the  track,  and  to  rectify  the  gage 
which  is  tightened  by  the  slewing  of  the  ties.  The  recurrence  of  this  distor- 
tion of  the  track  and  ties  is  so  general  and  frequent  on  some  roads  that 
ihe  work  of  replacement  cannot  be  kept  up  by  the  ordinary  section  forces, 
and  this  accounts  for  the  fact  that  it  is  so  frequently  neglected  for  many 
months  at  a  time. 

Of  the  several  forms  of  anchor  plates  the  most  common  is  a  metal  clip 
of  some  kind  bolted  to  the  web  of  the  rail  and  projecting  far  enough  be- 


592 


TRACK   MAINTENANCE 


yond  the  rail  flange  to  be  notched  or  punched  fo'r  a  spike.  A  contrivance 
which  has  been  used  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  R.  R.  for  a  long  time,  called 
a  "check  plate/'  consists  essentially  in  a  tie  plate  having  one  end  doubled 
.over  the  rail  flange  and  curved  to  fit  up  against  the  "web,  to  which  it  is- 
bolted,  on  the  outside  of  the  rail.  The  doubled  edge  of  the  plate  is  slotted 
for  a  spike  and  at  the  inside  edge  of  the  rail  flange  the  plate  is  punched  for 
two  spikes.  The  track  is  broken- jointed  and  this  device  is  applied  to  the 
rail  center,  opposite  each  joint.  Use  has  also  been  made  of  a  special  plate 
to  lie  under  the  rail  and  extend  over  the  next  tie  beyond  the  joint  tie  or 
ahead  of  the  check  plate.  As  applied  at  the  joint,  it  is  punched  on  one  end 
to  receive  the  spikes  driven  through  the  slots  in  the  splice  bars  and  at  the 
other  end  for  spiking  to  the  tie  over  which  it  extends.  As  applied  at  the 
check  plate,  one  end  edge  simply  abuts  against  the  check  plate  and  the  other 
end  is  punched  for  spiking  to  the  tie  beyond  the  check  plate.  Wooden 
blocks  between  the  ties  for  two  or  three  spaces  ahead  of  the  anchor  plate 
have  also  been  used  on  this  road  with  good  results.  The  Bonzano  anti- 
creeper  consists  of  a  twisted  strap,  about  f  x2;J  ins.  in  section,  of  sufficient 
length  to  be  spiked  to  two  ties  with  one  tie  intervening.  The  middle  of 
the  strap  is  bolted  to  the  rail  web  and  the  tail  ends  are  spiked  to  the- 
tops  of  the  ties  through  punched  holes. 


Fig.  265.— Laas  Anti-Creeper,  C.,   M.  &  St.   P.   Ry. 

The  application  of  the  foregoing  devices  to  the  rail  is  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable expense,  as  the  rail  must  be  drilled  for  bolting;  and  then  the 
drilling  of  the  rail  fixes  the  point  for  the  application  of  the  anti-creeper, 
affording  but  little  or  no  leeway  for  respacing  the  ties  in  the  vicinity  of 
this  hole  when  tie  renewals  are  being  made.  Mr.  E.  Laas,  while  roadmaster 
with  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.,  designed  and  put  into  service 
an  anti-creeper  which  can  be  applied  to  the  rail  at  any  point,  except  at 
the  joint  splice,  without  drilling  the  rail.  It  is  a  malleable  iron  skew 
clamp  with  a  depending  lug,  or  tail  piece,  bolted  to  the  flange  of  the  rail, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  265.  There  is  a  plate  hooked  over  the  rail  flange  and 
formed  into  the  depending  lug,  about  2J  ins.  deep,  on  the  outside  of  the 
Tail,  which  engages  the  side  of  a  tie.  This  plate  is  bolted  to  a  dog  clamped 
to  the  top  side  of  the  rail  flange  and  extending  to  the  web.  The  oblique 
position  of  the  clamp  gives  it  a  gripe  on  the  rail  which  is  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent the  slipping  of  the  rail  through  the  clamp.  As  the  device  can  be 
applied  to  any  part  of  the  rail,  except  at  the  joint,  it  may  always  be  placed 
to  engage  a  sound  and  well  bedded  tie,  and  as  it  is  not  spiked  to  the  tie,, 
no  injury  is  done  to  the  same,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  where  the  crowd- 
ing of  the  creeping  rail  against  the  spike  will  split  open  the  tie.  Since  it 
is  not  advisable  to  slot  a  splice  bar  at  or  near  the  middle,  no  measure  i* 
usually  taken  in  general  practice  to  anchor  the  rail  to  supported  joint 
ties.  In  the  case  of  long  splices  slot-spiked  to  the  two  shoulder  ties,  the 


CREEPING  RAJLS 


593 


-creeping  of  the  rail  will  ''bunch"  the  ties  together,  shoving  the  shoulder  tie 
-against  the  center  tie  and  carrying  the  joint  off  the  latter.  To  prevent 
such  derangement  of  the  tie  spacing  under  long  splices,  Mr.  Laas  designed 
and  put  to  service  another  anti-creeping  device  which  is  bolted  to  the  splice 
under  the  head  of  one  of  the  middle  bolts  in  position  to  engage  the  side 
of  the  center  tie,  as  shown  in  Fig.  266.  It  consists  of  a  malleable  iron  clip 
or  lug  hanging  some  2J  or  3  ins.  below  the  base  of  the  rail,  with  a  shoulder 
under  the  rail  to  prevent  the  device  from  swinging  upward  when  the  move- 
ment of  the  rail  forces  it  against  the  side  of  the  tie. 

The  application  of  measures  to  prevent  or  resist  rail  creeping  on 
bridges  or  trestles  having  open  floors  is  usually  restricted  to  the  track  on 
the  grade,  no  stop  devices  being  permitted  on  the  structure.  The  rail,  if 
not  held  back  on  the  grade,  is  then  free  to  creep  over  the  bridge  unopposed. 
Nevertheless,  slot-spiking  of  rail  splices  on  bridge  ties  in  connection  with 
anti-creeping  measures  on  the  grade,  is  sometimes  practiced  with  'reported 
satisfaction.  In  such  cases  blocks  are  placed  between  the  ties  to  catch  the 
slot  spikes  wherever  the  timber  guard  spacing,  does  not  permit  the  tie  to 
come  under  the  slots  in  the  splices.  One  of  the  roads  on  which  slot-spiking 
•of  splice  bars  on  bridge  ties  is  required  is  the  Southern  Pacific  lines  west  of 
El  Paso.  The  instructions  regarding  anti-creeping  measures  to  be  taken 


Fig.  266. — Laas  Anti-Creeper  for  Supported  Joint  Ties. 

on  the  bridge  approaches  are  as  follows :  "Where  rail  shows  so  strong  a  ten- 
dency to  run  as  to  shift  the  ties  along  the  roadbed,  on  each  side  of  the 
structure,  this  tendency  will  be  prevented  by  bolting  the  joint  ties  together 
for  as  many  joints  as  may  be  necessary  to  stop  this  movement."  The 
standard  distance  between  joint  ties  is  SJ  ins.,  and  to  preserve  this  interval 
old  cast  iron  spool  stringer  separators,  adding  a  few  old  cast  washers  to 
make  up  the  8J  ins.,  are  used  between  the  joint  ties,  directly  under  each 
Tail,  and  the  ties  are  bolted  together  with  old  f-in.  bridge  bolts  27  ins. 
long.  Whe're  the  tendency  to  creep  is  unusually  strong  a  pair  of  angle  bars 
is  bolted  to  the  center  of  each  rail,  opposite  the  joint  on  the  other  side 
(broken-jointed  track),  and  slot  spiked,  thus  securing  an  anchorage  every 
15  ft.  As  a  general  proposition  the  practice  of  slot-spiking  on  bridge  ties 
is  not  safe  unless  the  creeping  of  the  rails  can  be  entirely  prevented.  In 
one  .case  where  bridge  ties  were  securely  fastened  to  the  stringers  and  the 
splices  slot-spiked,  the  creeping  of  the  rails  pushed  the  bents  of  a  pile 
trestle  a  foot  out  of  plumb,  and  in  another  instance  a  154-ft.  bridge  span 
was  shoved  endwise  3  ins.  in  one  season. 

On  long  bridges  or  near  the  ends  of  the  same  expansion  or  slip  joints 
are  sometimes  used  to  permit  the  rails  on  the  bridge  to  expand  or  creep 
without  hindrance,  or  to  prevent  the  rails  on  the  grade  from  shoving  those 
on  the  bridge.  In  some  instances  these  expansion  joints  consist  of  rails 
halved  together  for  a  distance  of  12  to  24  ins.  at  the  ends,  and  firmly 


594  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

secured  to  a  base  plate,  and  in  other  instances  they  consist  of  switch  points 
and  stock  rails,  as  in  Fig.  211,  already  described  in  connection  with  draw- 
bridge joints  (§  80,  Chap.  VI).  A  most  remarkable  example  of  the  appli- 
cation of  the  latter  type  of  expansion  joint,  when  taken  in  connection  with 
the  attending  conditions,  is  at  the  Eads  steel  arch  bridge  over  the  Missis- 
sippi river  at  St.  Louis.  The  east  approach  to  the  bridge  is  a  steel  viaduct 
2500  ft.  long,  on  a  grade  of  80  ft.  per  mile,  and  on  the  bridge  proper, 
which  is  1600  ft.  long,  there  is  a  rise  of  5  ft.  at  the  center.  The  line  across 
the  bridge  is  a  double  track,  and  the  rails  creep  in  the  direction  of  the 
traffic,  up  the  approach  grade  and  across  the  bridge  on  the  west-bound 
track,  and  in  the  reverse  direction  on  the  other  track,  with  a  force  sufficient 
to  fracture  splice  bars  and  shear  f-in.  bolts.  The  rate  of  creeping  on  the 
bridge  Is  about  16  ft.  per  month  for  each  track,  and  on  the  viaduct  about 
37  ft.  per  month  for  the  west-bound  track  and  44  ft.  per  month  for  the 
east-bound  track,  although  the  actual  amount  of  creeping  varies  with  the 
traffic.  In  former  years  a  gang  of  five  trackmen  were  employed  by  day  and 
a  gang  of  three  at  night  to  remove  and  replace  pieces  of  rail  to  adjust  for 
the  creeping,  but  eventually  expansion  joints,  locally  known  as  "creeping 
plates,"  were  put  in.  Of  these  there  are  eight — one  in  each  track  at  each 
end  of  the  bridge  and  at  the  east  end  of  the  viaduct,  and  one  in  each  track 
to  protect  a  crossover  on  the  viaduct  near  the  point  where  it  joins  the 
bridge  proper.  Figure  267  is  a  picture  of  the  so-called  "creeping  plate'* 
on  the  west-bound  track  at  the  west  end  of  the  bridge,  the  direction  of  the 
traffic  and  of  the  creeping  being  toward  the  observer.  The  set  of  disconnected 
switch  points  (A)  is  rigidly  bolted  to  the  guard  'rails  (B),  to  a  2-in.  flange- 
way,  and  both  are  anchored  to  steel  plates  (1  in.  thick  and  6  ins.  wide) 
on  the  ties.  The  main  rails  (0),  called  the  "sliding  rails,"  are  secured  to 
these  heavy  tie  plates  by  clips  which  engage  the  top  of  the  flange  but  leave 
the  rail  free  to  creep,  and  do  not  interfere  with  the  fish  plates  on  the 
joints  as  they  creep  over  the  plates.  As  the  creeping  proceeds,  say  on  the 
west-bound  track  over  the  bridge,  rails  are  coupled  on  and  gradually  drawn 
through  the  creeping  adjuster  at  the  east  end  while  rails  are  being  pushed' 
out  of  the  adustment  device  at  the  west  end.  As  often  as  rails  are  released 
at  the  west  end  they  are  carried  and  started  in  at  the  tail  of  the  procession 
on  the  other  track.  In  this  manner  the  rails  are  continually  traveling  in  a 
circuit  without  disturbing  the  traffic. 

Many  practical  students  of  rail  creeping  regard  loose  or  improperly 
arranged  spikes  as  the  conditions  most  largely  conducive  to  such  move- 
ments, and  claim  that  timely  attention  to  these  details  will  avert  the  trou- 
ble. Thus,  it  is  frequently  reported  that  the  practice  of  holding  up  the 
ties  and  driving  down  the  spikes  to  a  snug  bearing  on  the  rail  flange,  once 
or  twice  each  year,  has  stopped  rail  creeping,  without  the  use  of  special 
anti-creepers,  and  that  in  cases  where  slot-spiking  of  the  splice  bars  had 
failed.  In  order  to  increase  the  anchoring  effect  of  the  spikes  in  their  hold 
upon  the  rails,  there  is  a  method  of  spiking  known  as  "cross  binding,"  or 
so  staggering  the  spikes  that  they  clutch  the  rail  whenever  there  is  a  ten- 
dency to  creep.  This  arrangement  is  to  have  the  outside  spikes  on  each  rail 
lead  the  inside  spikes  in  the  direction  in  which  the  rails  tend  to  creep.  Be- 
ferring  to  Fig.  268,  the  spikes  A  and  E  on  tie  X  lead  the  inside  spikes  D 
and  Ff  the  arrow  points  denoting  the  direction  of  the  creeping  tendency.  It 
will  be  apparent  that  if  the  rails  tend  to  creep,  the  spikes  A  and  D  will 
clutch  the  rail  and  the  tie  will  resist  the  creeping  movement.  The  least 
movement  of  the  end  of  the  tie  X  with  the  rail  E  causes  the  spikes  A  and  Z> 
to  make  tighter  contact  with  the  rail  and  thje  spikes  E  and  F  to  lose  con- 
tact. On  the  other  hand,  and  to  show  contrast,  any  movement  of  the  end 


CREEPING  RAILS 


595 


of  the  tie  Z  with  the  rail  R,  swings  spike  B  outward  from  the  rail  and  spike 
C  inward  from  it,  causing  them  to  lose  contact,  and,  consequently,  the  tie 
does  not  resist  the  rail.  So,  then,  if  the  rails  R  and  R'  creep  or  tend  to 
creep  in  the  direction  of  the  arrows,  either  R  will  be  clutched  by  the  spikes 
A  and  D,  OT  R'  by  E  and  F,  depending  upon  which  end  of  the  tie  is  the 
easier  started;  while  any  tendency  in  the  rails  to  move  in  the  opposite 
direction  will  be  opposed  either  by  spikes  B  and  C  clutching  R,  or  H  and  G 
clutching  R'.  Here  is  no  doubt  an  explanation  for  the  fact  that  one  rail 
sometimes  creeps  while  the  rail  opposite  creeps  little  or  none-— the  spikes 
in  the  vicinity  happen  to  be  so  driven  that  they  clutch  the  rail  011  one  side 
of  the  track  only.  On  double  track,  OT  on  down  grade  on  single  track,  or 
where  for  any  reason  the  tendency  is  for  the  rails  to  creep  in  only  one 
direction,  the  spikes  in  all  the  ties  should  be  driven  alike,  and  so  as  to- 
cross  bind  the  rails  for  that  direction  only;  as,  for  instance,  the  spikes  in 
tie  X9  for  the  direction  indicated  by  the  arrows ;  in  which  case,  presumably, 
half  the  ties  will  clutch  or  cross  bind  each  rail.  At  any  rate,  as  some  of 
the  ties  under  each  rail  will  clutch  and  resist  it  when  the  spikes  are  driven 


Fig.  267.— Creeping  Adjuster  at  Eads  Bridge.  Fig.  268. 

cross  binding,  while  others  will  clutch  and  resist  the  other  rail,  be  they 
divided  half  and  half  or  not,  they  certainly  strongly  oppose  creeping,  and 
if  the  rail  does  move  they  tend  to  carry  it  back  to  its  place  after  the  impell- 
ing force  ceases  to  act.  This  system  of  spiking,  in  connection  with  slot- 
spiking,  has  been  known  to  stop  rails  from  creeping  where  slot-spiking 
every  angle  bar  has  failed.  Where  the  system  is  pursued  on  broken-jointed 
track  an  exception  should  be  made  with  the  position  of  spikes  011  the  end 
of  a  tie  which  is  opposite  to  a  slot-spiked  splice  bar.  In  that  case  the  end 
of  the  tie  which  is  slot-spiked  must  necessarily  move  with  the  creeping  of 
the  rail,  and  if  at  the  other  end  of  the  tie  the  outside  spike  is  leading  the 
inside  one,  the  least  swinging  movement  or  slewing  of  the  tie  will  cause 
these  spikes  to  lose  contact  with  the  rail.  If,  however,  their  regular  posi- 
tion be  transposed,  they  will  lock  to  the  rail  and  resist  the  creeping  ten- 
dency. By  way  of  illustration,  suppose  the  spikes  D  and  A  are  driven  in 
the  slots  of  splice  bars  in  that  position,  then  the  spikes  E  and  F  on  the  op- 
posite end  of  the  tie  should  be  transposed,  or  set  with  spike  F  leading,  so 
that  any  movement  of  the  rail  R  causing  the  tie  to  slew  in  the  direction  of 
the  arrow,  will  lock  these  spikes  to  the  other  rail — in  the  position  shown 
they  would  lose  contact  under  such  a  movement. 

If  the  cross  binding  of  the  spikes  is  not  done  when  the  track  is  laid,  it 
should  be  attended  to  in  tie  renewals,  and  every  spring  the  section  men 


.596  TRACK:  MAINTENANCE 

should  go  over  the  track  and  drive  down  the  spikes,  so  that  the  heads  have 
a  snug  bearing  on  the  flange  of  the  'rail,  holding  the  ties  up  to  the  rail  with 
a  bar,  wherever  necessary.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  entirely  stop  the  creep-' 
ing  of  rails  in  every  case,  but  if  proper  attention  is  paid  to  the  matter  it 
can,  in  most  instances,  be  so  resisted  that  it  will  cause  but  little  trouble. 
Heavy  rails,  being  stiffer  than  those  of  lighter  section,  are  subject  to  less 
undulatory  movement  and  consequently  creep,  or  tend  to  creep,  less.  The 
laying  of  100-lb.  rails  in  track  over  swampy  ground,  where  creeping  was 
troublesome,  has  been  known  to  stop  the  creeping  entirely.  As  already 
explained,  low  joints,  or  rough  track,  in  hot  weather  especially,  facilitate 
creeping,  and  if  the  track  has  insufficient  ballast  filling  between  the  ties 
the  efficiency  of  anchor  plates,  slot-spiked  splice  bars  or  other  anti-creeping 
arrangement  is  impaired. 

104.  Shoveling  Snow. — As  soon  as  snow  begins  falling  the  foreman 
should  equip  men  with  brooms  and  shovels  and  start  them  going  to  and  fro 
over  the  switches,  to  keep  the  points  clear  of  snow.  If  the  switches  a're 
widely  separated  or  are  located  in  groups  some  distance  apart,  it  may  be  ne- 
cessary to  give  some  attention  to  the  detailing  of  the  men,  so  as  to  cover  the 
work  most  effectively  and  avoid  loss  of  time  which  might  occur  from  walking 
over  long  distances.  A  pretty  good  practice  is  to  scatter  a  few  handfuls 
of  rock  salt  around  the  switch  points,  guard  rails,  frogs,  and  switch  rods  to 
keep  the  snow  melted  as  fast  aa  it  falls.  It  is  not  so  well  to  place  salt 
around  road  crossings  or  wherever  it  will  be  retained,  because  several  years' 
use  of  it  under  such  conditions  will  corrode  the  rails  badly.  The  bad  ef- 
fects of  salt  on  joints,  bearings  or  moving  parts  may  be  neutralized  or  pre- 
vented by  the  application  of  oil  as  soon  as  the  snow  is  melted.  Some  make 
it  a  practice  to  take  a  brush  and  smear  the  rails  with  a  coating  of  black 
oil  and  kerosene  mixed,  as  it  prevents  the  snow  from  adhering  to  the  rails 
and  causes  metal  parts  to  shed  water  quickly  when  the  snow  melts.  All 
guard  rails,  frogs,  highway  crossings,  point  switches,  signal  and  interlock- 
ing connections,  and  the  angular  spaces  about  frogs,  and  switches  should  be 
kept  clear  of  packed  snow  and  ice. 

Soon  after  snow  stops  falling  the  men  should  turn  their  attention  to 
the  flangeways  at  the  road  and  street  crossings,  and  the  gage  side  of  the  rails, 
all  along  the  track,  should  be  flanged  out,  not  as  a  matter  of  safety  but 
to  make  room  for  the  wheel  flanges,  so  that  freshly  fallen  or  drifted  snow 
may  be  crowded  out  of  the  way  and  not  become  a  hindrance  to  the  adhesion 
of  the  drivers.  Such  work  should  not  be  delayed  with  the  expectation  that 
thawing  weather  will  remove  the  snow  before  another  storm  occurs,  for 
fresh  snow  on  top  of  old  snow  that  is  packed  down  forms  a  serious  obstruc- 
tion to  traction  almost  as  soon  as  it  begins  falling.  Where  a  train  flanger 
is  not  to  be  used  or  where  the  snow  has  thawed  and  frozen  into  ice,  this 
work  must  be  done  by  hand,  picking  being  necessary  in  the  latter  case.  If 
there  are  grades  on  the  section  it  is  well  to  flange  out  the  track  on  the  grades 
•first,  giving  early  attention  also  to  stretches  of  track  within  starting  distance 
of  the  stations.  Figure  269  shows  a  snow  flanger  made  to  be  pushed  by 
hand  on  one  rail  at  a  time.  The  mold  board  is  of  sheet  steel  -J-in.  thick  and 
3  ft.  long,  set  at  an  angle  of  45  deg.  with  the  rail.  The  frame  is  carried  on 
two  4|-in.  double-flanged  wheels  set  12  ins.  centers,  and  the  hight  of  the 
pushing  handle  is  adjustable  by  means  of  the  link  shown.  At  one  time  the 
Pennsylvania  K.  E.  and  Lines  West  of  Pittsburg  had  200  of  these  machines 
•distributed  among  the  section  men,  but  since  flangers  attached  to  locomo- 
tives have  been  adopted  these  machines  have  gone  largely  out  of  service. 
The  use  of  this  flanger  is  said  to  have  been  quite  satisfactory,  as  a  hand  de- 
vice, being  much  more  efficient  than  hand  shoveling.  Three  men  with  one 


SHOVELING    SNOW 


597 


of  these  machines  would  ordinarily  flange  six  miles  of  single  track,  in  good 
shape,  in  a  day,  working  in  snow  up  to  8  or  10  ins.  depth  if  it  happened  to 
be  that  deep.  For  heavy  work,  as  in  hard-packed  snow,  assistance  should 
be  rendered  by  extra  help,  pulling  on  a  rope  attachment. 

Snow  should  be  removed  from  side-tracks  as  soon  as  it  stops  falling. 
Trains  may  keep  the  main  track  clear,  but  a  freight  train  attempting  to 
enter  a  side-track  where  the  snow  lies  at  full  depth  is  liable  to  be  stalled. 
When  deep  snow  falls  it  is  also  necessary  to  shovel  out  the  turntable  pits. 
Scoop  shovels  are  best  for  handling  light  snow.  Switch  stands  also  must  be 
looked  after  attentively,  as  a  freezing  sleet  will  sometimes  freeze  switch 
stands  so  solidly  that  they  must  be  thawed  out  before  they  can  be  thrown. 
This  can  be  done  by  burning  a  piece  of  oily  waste  on  a  stick  or  shovel  and 
holding  it  under  the  frozen  bearing.  The  Elliot  double  latch  "Snow  Cap" 
switch  stand  (Fig.  123)  is  designed  to  protect  the  bearing  of  the  main  shaft 
in  the  top  table  from  sleet  and  snow  and  thus  prevent  the  occurrence  of 
trouble  of  this  kind.  To  keep  ground  switch  stands,  especially  those  with 
gear  movement,  from  clogging  up  or  being  covered  up  with  snow  it  is  ta 


Fig.  269. — Hand  Snow  Flanger,  Pennsylvania  R.  R. 

some  extent  the  practice  to  cover  the  stand  with  a  gunny  sack  or  piece  of 
old  carpet,  while  snow  is  falling.  In  order  to  have  tools  conveniently  at 
hand  for  clearing  switches  of  snow,  use  is  made  on  a  number  of  roads  of 
a  "shovel  post"  or  "broom  post"  set  a  few  feet  beyond  the  end  of  the  head- 
block.  It  has  a  peg  on  which  is  hung  an  old  shovel  or  a  broom,  for  use 
when  the  switch  points  are  snowed  under  or  packed  about  with  snow.  Such 
an  arrangement  is  especially  convenient  at  outlaying  switches,  where  close  at- 
tendance is  not  liable  to  be  had.  In  this  way  the  tools  are  available  at  all 
times  to  the  track- walker  or  the  trainmen,  and  at  times  when  snow  is  falling 
fast  they  are  much  needed.  On  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  this  post  consists  of 
a  piece  of  old  boiler  tube  stuck  into  the  ground.  Fear  the  top  of  the  tube, 
which  stands  about  3  ft.  out  of  the  ground,  there  are  hooks  for  hanging  the 
switch  lamp  during  daytime,  or  a  shovel,  and  a  splint  broom,  with  its  handle 
stuck  down  the  tube,  is  kept  on  hand  for  sweeping  snow. 

During  winter,  at  such  private  crossings  as  will  not  be  used,  the  planks 
each  side  each  rail  should  be  taken  up,  so  as  to  reduce  the  work  of  clean- 
ing flangeways,  and  also  to  avoid  trouble  liable  to  arise  at  such  crossings^ 
.through  the  planks  being  loosened  or  crowded  out  by  snow  packed  in  by; 


598 


TRACK    MAINTENANCE 


the  wheel  flanges.  Taking  up  the  plank  at  such  times  also  'removes  obstruc- 
tions to  snow  fl angers.  When  snow  is  to  be  "bucked"  and  there  are  cuts 
filled  with  snow,  it  is  sometimes  the  practice  to  have  the  trackmen  shovel  out 
sections  of  about  a  rail's  length  in  a  place,  10  ft.  wide,  skipping  a  rail's 
length  between  sections.  When  such  work  is  under  way  a  lookout  should  be 
posted  at  some  point  above  the  cut  where  he  can  see  both  ways  along  the 
track,  so  as  to  give  warning  to  the  men  shoveling  in  the  cut  in  case  a  train 
approaches.  Foremen  should  take  no  risk  in  sending  men  into  a  cut;  it  is 
dangerous  unless  there  is  a  way  for  the  men  to  get  out  easily  and  quickly. 
At  each  end  of  the  cut  it  is  usual  to  shovel  the  snow  away  until  a  depth  of 
at  least  3  ft.  of  snow  is  reached,  so  as  to  hold  down  the  nose  of  the  plow 
at  the  entrance,  in  case  the  snow  should  pack  hard  and  freeze.  When  a 
bnow  plow  is  run  over  the  track  the  section  men  should  follow  after  it  and 
'remove,  heaps  of  snow  from  the  highway  crossings,  from  turnouts  and  other 
places.  Cuts  are  sometimes  widened  out  by  shoveling  the  snow  onto  flat 
cars  and  hauling  it  away. 

105.  Oil-Coated  Ballast. — Discomfort  to  passengers  from  dust  stirred 
up  by  fast  trains  is  an  important  consideration  from  a  traffic  point  of  view, 
and  particularly  with  railway  companies  which  depend  largely  upon  sum- 
mer resort  or  pleasure  travel.  On  not  a  few  roads  which  handle  a  large 
passenger  traffic  a  means  of  preventing  this  annoyance  is  in  practice.  The 
remedy  consists  in  the  application  to  the  surface  of  the  roadbed  and  track 
of  a  heavy  oil  of  low  cost,  the  oil,  penetrating  for  some  inches  below  the 
surface,  having  the  effect  of  laying  the  dust  present  and  of  collecting  what 
may  afterwards  settle  or  be  blown  upon  it.  The  principle  upon  which  the 
effectiveness  is  claimed  is  that  the  oil  sinks  into  the  ballast  and  prevents 
dust  from  flying  by  holding  it  down.  Its  action  differs  from  that  of  water, 
in  that  water  prevents  dust  by  making  mud,  and  after  it  evaporates  the 
dust  is  as  bad  as  before;  while  the  oil  evaporates  but  very  slowly,  so  that 
spraying  is  required  but 'once  a  season.  This  method  of  laying  dust  is  the 
invention  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Nichol,  assistant  engineer  with  the  West  Jersey  & 
Seashore  division  of  the  Pennsylvania  B.  R.,  where  the  treatment  was  first 
inaugurated  by  him  in  the  spring  of  1897.  The  earliest  roads  to  make  ex- 


Fig.  270.— Oil  Sprinkling  Car,  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R. 


OIL-COATED  BALLAST  599 

tensive  use  of  the  treatment,  in  addition  to  the  above  named,  were  the  Phil- 
adelphia, Wilmington  &  Baltimore  and  seacoast  lines  of  the  Pennsylvania 
R,  R.,  the  Long  Island  R.  R.,  the  Boston  &  Maine,  the  Boston  &  Albany, 
the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  and  the  Delaware  &  Hudson. 

The  oil  used  is  a  by-product  of  petroleum  distillation,  the  grade  giving 
best  satisfaction  having  a  specific  gravity  of  about  0.887.  It  is  known 
by  the  trade  name  of  "roadbed  oil"  and  the  cost,  in  different  years 
end  in  different  localities,  has  been  2  to  3J  cents  per  gallon.  It- 
is  high  test,  and  under  the  conditions  in  which  it  is  used  it  is  practically 
noncombustible.  On  this  point  it  is  said  that  fewer  ties  are  burned  on  oiled 
track  than  on  track  or  roadbed  not  so  treated.  The  sprinkling  apparatus  is 
arranged  on  and  under  an  ordinary  flat  car.  One  of  the  cars  used  on  the 
Boston  &  Maine  R.  R.  is  illustrated  by  Fig.  270  and  the  details  of  the  equip- 
ment are  briefly  as  follows :  A  28-ft.  flat  car  is  used  and  a  4-in.  supply 
pipe  is  hung  12  ins.  below  the  side  sill,  on  one  side  of  the  car,  and  provided 
with  couplings  at  either  end  for  connecting  with  an  oil-tank  car.  Connec- 
tion with  the  oil-tank  car  is  had  by  4-in.  hose,  24  ft.  long.,  At  the  middle 
of  the  car  a  branch  pipe  of  the  same  size  leads  crosswise  the  car  to  a  "T,v 
where  connections  are  made  with  a  2-in.  stationary  distribution  pipe  8  ft. 
long,  resting  upon  hangers,  crosswise  the  track,  6J  ins.  above  top  of  rail, 
for  sprinkling  oil  in  the  track ;  and  to  flexible  rubber  hose  connections  with 
2-in.  pipe  6J  ft.  long  swung  from  either  side  of  the  car,  for  sprinkling  the 
roadbed  beyond  the  ends  of  the  ties.  Special  hose  connections  may  also  be 
provided  with  hand  sprayers,  for  sprinkling  parts  of  the  roadbed  be3^ond  the 
reach  of  the  fixed  pipes.  The  flow  of  oil  escapes  from  the  distribution  pipes 
through  slit  openings  3  ins.  long  and  1/16  in.  wide,  in  the  bottom  of  the  pipe, 
the  openings  being  spaced  f  in.  apart.  The  ends  of  the  pipes  are  capped, 
as  shown.  The  adjustment  of  the  swing  sections  is  effected  by  chain  and 
hand  wheel,  so  that  the  pipe  may  be  held  to  conform  to  the  slope  of  the 
earthwork,  be  it  in  a  cut  or  on  a  fill.  These  side  sections  are  yielding,  so 
as  not  to  be  broken  or  torn  loose  by  meeting  with  an  obstruction.  Along- 
side the  distributing  pipe  which  hangs  underneath  the  car  there  is  a  wooden 
platform  suspended  from  hanger  irons,  access  to  which  is  had  by  a  trap 
door  through,  the;  floor  of  the  car.  On  this  platform,  while  the  car  is  in 
service,  a  man  is  stationed  with  an  implement  to  open  oil  passages  that  be- 
come clogged.  Hanging  from  the  under  platform,  each  side  each  rail,  there 
are  leather  flaps  serving  as  guards  to  keep  the  rail  clear  of  oil.  The  flow 
of  oil  into  the  distributing  pipes  is  controlled  by  three  2-in.  quick-acting 
valves  operated  by  levers  above  the  decking  of  the  car.  Running  the  length 
of  the  car  there  is  a  box  13  J  ins.  high  by  10  ins.  wide  except  for  5  ft.  of  its 
length  at  one  end,  where  it  is  3  ft.  wide.  This  box  is  used  for  stowing  the 
24-ft.  hose,  together  with  other  parts  of  the  equipment  when  not  in  use.  In 
operation  the  car  is  pushed  ahead  of  the  locomotive. 

The  oil  is  applied  to  the  surface  of  the  track,  to  the  shoulders  at  the 
ends  of  the  ties,  and  for  a  distance  over  the  slope  in  cuts  and  on  fills.  In 
warm  weather  the  oil  is  so  thin  that  it  flows  sufficiently  well  by  gravity,  but 
steam  or  air  pressure  for  the  blast  can  be  taken  from  the  locomotive,  if  need 
be.  The  sprinkling  train  is  operated  by  four  men,  including  engineer- and 
fireman,  and  covers  3|  to  4  miles  per  hour,  while  working.  Tank  cars  are  pre- 
viously distributed  at  sidings  along  the  line,  to  be  picked  up  as  oil  is  requir- 
ed. On  first  application  2000  to  2500  gals,  of  oil  per  mile  of  single  track 
are  required,  and  the  penetration  into  the  ballast  is  from  1  to  4  ins.  During 
succeeding  seasons  less  oil  is  required.  The  penetration  deepens  with  each 
application,  being  found  8  ins.  deep,  or  reaching  below  the  bottoms  of  the 
ties,  in  some  cases.  At  this  depth  no  dry  ballast  is  thrown  up  in  process  of 


600  TRACK   MAINTENANCE 

tamping  or  in  tie  renewals,,  and  therefore  no  special  application  is  required' 
after  such  disturbance  of  the  ballast.  The  general  practice  is  to  delay  the 
oiling  treatment  until  after  the  tie  renewals  have  been  completed  for  the  sea- 
son, which  makes  it  an  inducement  to  push  this  work  along  promptly,  in 
order  to  get  the  ballast  filling  into  settled  condition  early.  It  is  also  de- 
sirable to  have  the  track  in  fair  surface  before  the  oil  is  applied ;  the  filling 
should  be  carefully  dressed,  the  track  and  shoulders  cleared  of  vegetation 
and  the  ditches  cleaned.  Where  the  ballast  is  worked  over  to  a  considerable 
extent  later  on,  as  in  surfacing,  local  applications  are  sometimes  made  with 
a  hand  sprinkler.  On  fine  sand  ballast  the  oil  does  not  penetrate  deeply — 
usually  only  1  or  1J  ins. — and  has  a  caking  effect;  that  is,  it  forms  a  thin 
crust  over  the  surface. 

As  a  means  of  preventing  the  raising  of  dust  the  oil  treatment  of  road- 
bed is  conceded  to  be  very  efficient.  Where  clouds  of  dust  had  formerly  fol- 
lowed in  the  wake  of  trains  no  dust  is  lifted  after  the  application  of  the  oil. 
It  is  most  needed  on  gravel  and  cinder  ballast  and  on  seashore  lines  built 
on  sandy  roadbed  or  on  track  ballasted  with  sand.  Aside  from  its  value 
as  a  preventive  of  dust  there  are  other  claims.  A  direct  benefit  derived 
from  the  laying  of  dust  is  a  reduction  of  wear  to  journals,  locomotive  parts 
and  all  exposed  moving  machinery  on  the  trains,  and  particularly  a  decrease 
in  the  number  of  hot  boxes.  It  is  thought  that  drainage  is  assisted  materi- 
ally, since  Tain  water  falling  on  treater  track  is  collected  in  small  puddles 
and  runs  off  over  the  slopes  or  into  the  ditches  alongside,  where  otherwise 
the  ballast  would  absorb  the  water.  It  is  said  that  the  soaking  of  rain  into 
treated  ballast  which  has  been  disturbed  in  repair  work  will  float  the  oil  ta 
the  surface,  thus  renewing  the  coating.  This  water-proofing  quality  of  the 
treatment  should  afford  valuable  protection  during  thawing  and  freezing 
weather,  when  the  heaving  of  track  depends  upon  the  amount  of  moisture 
retained  in  the  ballast  and  roadbed.  The  growth  of  vegetation  in  the  bal- 
last is  retarded  and  the  oil,  which  is  very  penetrating,  is  thought  to  be  of 
some  value  as  a  preservative  of  the  ties,  being  water-repelling  at  all  events. 
It  is  the  testimony  of  experience  that  considerable  oil  follows  the  spikes  and 
soaks  into  the  surrounding  wood  fiber  for  a  distance  of  about  an  inch,  caus- 
ing the  spikes  to  work  up  more  readily  than  is  the  case  on  untreated  road- 
bed ;  but  no  trouble  of  a  serious  character  is  reported  to  have  been  observed 
from  this  cause. 

Aside  from  its  use  on  roadbed  continuously,  the  process  is  applied  quite 
extensively  at  dusty  highway  crossings,  through  dusty  yards  and  through 
towns,  on  rock-ballasted  roads  where  the  use  of  a  dust  layer  is  not  needed  ex- 
cept at  such  places  as  the  ballast  is  liable  to  be  excessively  dirty  from  out- 
side conditions.  Occasional  sprinklings  at  road  crossings  are  made  by 
hand.  Of  further  interest  on  this  subject  it  may  be  stated  that  in  Califor- 
nia considerable  use  is  made  of  the  oiling  process  to  lay  the  dust  on  the 
public- highways,  including  county  roads.  On  the  French  State  Railways 
creosote  residue  has  been  used  experimentally  to  lay  dust  on  track. 

106.  Laying  Tie  Plates. — The  increasing  use  of  tie  plates,  conse- 
quent upon  increased  weight  of  rolling  stock  and  the  use  of  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  soft  wood  ties,  has  prominently  shown  the  importance  of  careful 
work  in  setting  the  plates.  Failure  to  prepare  an  even  bearing  for  tie  plates 
results  in  buckled  plates,  and  careless  work  in  embedding  the  plates  gives 
uneven  gage.  Experience  has  demonstrated  that  the  full  benefit  of  tie 
plates  cannot  be  realized  unless  attention  is  paid  to  the  proper  setting  of 
the  plates.  The  expense  for  the  labor  of  setting  tie  plates  is  also  a  mat- 
ter not  to  be  overlooked.  The  cost  of  applying  a  single  tie  plate  is  no 
doubt  regarded  as  a  trifling  matter,  yet  when  multiplied  several  hundred 


LAYING   TIE    PLATES  601 

thousand  times,  or  several  million  times,  which  measures  the  scale  on  which 
some  of  the  larger  railway  systems  have  invested  in  tie  plates,  it  becomes  a 
subject  of  no  inconsiderable  importance.  To  the  various  questions  pertain- 
ing to  the  subject  a  good  deal  of  study  has  been  given,  in  consequence  of 
which  several  methods  of  doing  the  work  and  numerous  special  tools  have 
been  devised  and  put  into  service. 

The  work  of  tie-plating  track  is  necessarily  divided  on  two  general 
lines,  namely,  that  of  plating  ties  before  they  are  laid  in  the  track,  which 
applies  to  track  construction  and  to  tie  renewals;  and  the  plating  of  ties 
already  in  the  track.  In  the  former  case  the  work  is  comparatively  simple, 
as  access  to  the  'rail  seats  on  the  tie  is  unobstructed,  and  the  force  necessary 
to  embed  the  flanges  or  claws  of  the  plate  into  the  tie  can  be  conveniently 
applied.  The  usual  method  of  procedure  is  to  take  the  ties  from  the  piles, 
before  they  are  distributed,  and  drive  the  plates  to  a  proper  seat  with  some 
striking  instrument,  which  may  be  a  heavy  sledge  hammer,  a  beetle  or  wood- 
en maul,  a  paver's  rammer,  an  oak  tie  bored  and  fitted  with  two  hammer 
handles  at  right  angles,  or  a  piece  of  rail  with  cross-bar  handles.  To  pro- 
tect the  tie  plate  from  bending  or  other  injury  by  hammer  blows,  and  to  dis- 
tribute the  force  of  the  blow,  it  should  be  covered  with  a  thick  metal  plate 
or  driving  block.  The  tie  plate  should  be  set  to  center  over  the  bottom  face 
of  the  tie,  and  should  be  driven  far  enough  to  cause  its  under  side  to 
take  a  firm  bearing  on  the  tie.  If  the  plate  is  not  centered  on  the  tie  the 
latter  is  liable  to  cant,  and  unequal  bearing  will  result.  If  the  top  face  of 
the  tie  is  winding  one  of  the  seats  should  be  adzed  to  the  plane  of  the 
other.  At  the  Las  Vegas  (N.  Mex.)  tie  preserving  plant  of  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  the  ties  are  run  through  a  spotting  machine,  which 
levels  off  seats  for  tie  plates  or  for  the  bases  of  the  rails,  wherever  any  un- 
evenness  exists.  Tie  plates  should  be  set  squarely  on  the  ties.  If  there  is 
any  difference  in  the  margin  outside  the  spike  holes  on  the  two  ends  of  .the 
plate,  the  latter  should  be  set  to  bring  the  wider  margin  outside  the  rail. 
Before  setting  tie  plates  which  are  punched  for  rails  of  different  widths  of 
base,  a  clear  understanding  should  be  had  concerning  the  end  of  the  plate 
which  corresponds  to  the  gage  side  of  the  rail ;  otherwise,  mistakes  are  liable 
to  happen  which  may  make  it  necessary  to  move  the  plates  when  relaying 
with  rails  of  the  changed  section.  Drawings  'are  usually  supplied  by  the 
engineering  department  explaining  the  manner  in  which  such  plates  should 
be  laid,  and  for  convenience  of  the  trackmen  the  shape  of  one  of  the  holes 
punched  for  the  gage  end  of  the  plate  is  made  to  indicate  the  section  or 
weight  of  the  rail  for  which  it  is  intended.  In  cases  where  unusual  diffi- 
culty is  experienced  in  maintaining  rails  to  gage  on  curves,  it  is  sometimes 
the  practice  to  dap  the  ties  for  tie  plates,  to  give  the  outer  rail  an  inward 
cant.  On  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Northern  Ry.  such  practice  is 
general  for  both  rails,  and  on  tangents  as  well,  the  ties  being  adzed  so  as  to 
set  the  plate  to  cant  the  rail  slightly  inward,  causing  a  bracing  effect  which 
counteracts  any  tendency  of  the  rail  to  tilt  outward.  Such  practice  is,  how- 
ever, unusual  in  this  country.  Regarding  the  time  of  application,  it  is  the 
custom  with  some  roads  to  embed  the  plates  in  the  ties  during  winter,  so  as 
to  get  the  work  out  of  the  way  before  the  tie  renewing  season  opens. 

In  setting  tie  plates  it  is  desirable  to  have  some  form  of  tool  for  quickly 
locating  the  position  of  the  plates  on  the  ties,  so  as  to  facilitate  speed  in  lay- 
ing the  plates  and  insure  that  the  plates  will  be  laid  in  the  exact  position 
for  the  rails  properly  gaged.  For  such  work  there  are  various  styles  of  gag- 
ing tools  in  service.  A  common  way  of  proceeding  is  to  set  the  first  plate 
to  a  mark  on  the  line  side,  and  then  gage  the  second  plate  from  the  first  as 
already  driven,  using  a  gage  rod  having  lugs  to  fit  the  spike  holes.  On  the 


602 


TRACK    MAINTENANCE 


Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids  &  Northern  By.  a  gage  is  used  in  setting  the  line 
plate,  instead  of  drawing  a  mark  across  the  tie  face  some  fixed  distance  from 
the  end.  This  gage  consists  of  a  strip  of  boiler  iron  with  a  'rectangular 
opening  cut  in  it  to  hold  the  plate  while  it  is  being  driven,  the  end  of  the 
piece  of  boiler  plate  being  bent  down  to  hook  over  the  end  of  the  tie.  On 
the  Boston  &  Maine  B.  B.  use  is  made  of  a  double-ended  gage  working  some- 
what on  this  principle,  for  holding  both  tie  plates  simultaneously  the  exact 
distance  apart  to  seat  the  rails  at  gage.  The  gage,  which  was  designed  by 
lioadmaster  Louville  Curtis,  is  made  of  wought  iron  and  has  a  rectangu- 
lar opening  at  either  end  just  large  enough  to  receive  the  tie  plate  and  hold 
it  in  position  while  it  is  being  driven  into  the  tie.  Figure  271  shows  the 
dimensions.  The  center  piece  is  24  ins.  wide,  and  f  in.  thick,  and  the  gaging 


Fig.  271. — Curtis  Gage  for  Setting  Tie  Plates,  B.  &  M.  R.  R. 

ends  are  If  ins.  thick,  being  made  heavy,  so  they  will  not  break  in  case  they 
are  struck  by  a  spike  hammer.  In  advance  of  the  work  of  setting  the  plates 
the  ties  are  carefully  inspected,  and  if  necessary  are  prepared  for  receiving 
the  plates  in  proper  position.  If  the  tie  is  more  than  one  inch  longer  than 
the  standard  length  it  is  sawed  off  to  the  right  length.  The  center  of  the 
tie  is  marked,  and  if  there  is  any  wind  in  the  face  the  seats  for  the  tie  plates 
are  adzed  to  a  plane  surface.  The  tool  for  testing  ties  for  warped  face  is  a 
"leveler,"  consisting  of  a  stick  of  suitable  length  with  small  rectangular 
frames  set  in  the  same  plane  and  nailed  fast  at  the  two  ends.  The  tie  plates 
are  driven  to  a  seat  by  means  of  a  driving  block  and  sledge.  The  driving 
block,  shown  also  in  the  figure,  is  a  soft  steel  plate  7f  ins  long,  4f  ins.  wide 
and  If  ins.  thick,  grooved  to  fit  over  the  shoulder  of  Goldie  tie  plates.  The 
manipulation  of  the  tool  is  simple,  all  that  is  necessary  being  to  place  the 
center  of  the  gage  over  the  center  mark  on  the  tie  and  set  the  plates  into  the 
gage  openings.  It  can  be  made  for  setting  tie  plates  of  any  pattern  and  is 


Fig.  271  A.— Tie  Plate  Setting  on   Boston   Elevated   Ry— Fig.  271  B. 


LAYIXG    TIE    PLATES  603 


Fig.  271  C — Gaging  Tie  Plates  on  a   Curve,  Boston  Elevated  Ry. 

'  not  patented.     The  tie  plates  used  on  the  Boston  Elevated  Ry.  were  set  with 
gages  of  this  design. 

The  work  of  laying  tie  plates  on  an  elevated  structure  or  on  a  bridge 
floor  must  be  more  carefully  attended  to  than  when  applying  them  to  ties 
on  a  graded  roadbed.  On  the  earth  roadbed  the  track  can  be  thrown  into 
alignment  after  the  rails  are  laid,,  but  on  a  bridge  floor  it  is,  of  course,  ne- 
cesssary  to  bring  the  rails  to  correct  alignment  before  the  spikes  are  driven, 
and  this  requires  very  careful  work  in  bedding  the  plates.  The  ties  used 
on  the  Boston  Elevated  Ry.  were  of  hard  pine,  and  the  plates  were  all  set 
and  embeded  before  the  rails  were  laid.  The  tie  plate  used  was  of  the  Goldie 
claw  pattern  Avith  a  shoulder,  making  it  necessary  to  embed  the  plate  ex- 
actly to  position,  so  as  to  bring  the  shoulders  of  all  the  plates  in  line.  Figure 
271A  shows  two  TOWS  of  these  plates  on  tangent,  seated  in  advance  of  laying 
the  rails.  For  laying  plates  on  the  curves  use  was  made  of  a  tool  having 
an  opening  for  a  tie  plate  on  one  end  and  an  upward  bend  and  hook  on  tiib 
other,  as  shown  in  Fig.  271C.  After  the  running  rail  and  guard  rail  were 
laid  on  the  inside  of"  the  curve  the  hook  end  was  held  in  engagement  with 
the  service  side  of  the  guard  rail  by  means  of  a  stick,  so  that  the  rectangular 
opening  at  the  other  end  of  the  gage  would  bring  the  tie  plate  exactly  to 
position  for  the  rail.  Figure  271B  shows  tie  plates  set  in  position  for  a 
switch  lead,  both  on  the  curve  and  on  the  straight  lead,  between  the  frog 
arid  the  heels  of  the  point  rails. 

The  Kiley  tie  plate  gage,  devised  by  Mr.  John  Kiley,  foreman  of  the 
Salamanca  (N.  Y.)  yard  of  the  Erie  R.  R.,  and  used  satisfactorily  in  lay- 
ing a  great  many  tie  plates  on  that  road,  has  a  hook  arm  which  gages  the  po- 
sition of  the  plates  from  the  end  of  the  tie.  This  gage  is  shown  by  sketch 
in  Fig.  272.  The  essential  parts  are  a  fixed  head  (A),  a  connecting  bar  or 
pipe  and  an  adjustable  head  (B)  secured  to  the  cross  bar  by  means  of  a 
thumb-screw.  Attached  to  the  head  A  there  is  the  hook  arm  D.  Each  head 
piece  of  the  gage  is  stamped  out  of  a  single  piece  of  sheet  steel.  The  head 
A  has  a  rectangular  space  in  which  to  place  the  tie  plate,  and  out  of  the 
vertical  portion  there  are  cut  two  lugs  (C),  which  are  bent  over  so  as  to 


604 


TEACK    MAINTENANCE 


leave  two  upright  projections  (E),  the  purpose  of  which  is  explained  in 
connection  with  the  use  of  the  gage  in  applying  plates  to  ties  already  in  the 
track.  The  portion  of  the  plate  between  the  lugs  C  is  bent  over  backward 
and  shaped  in  tubular  form  to  receive  one  end  of  the  connecting  rod,  which 
is  firmly  riveted  thereto.  The  adjustable  head  B  is  formed  by  bending  a 
plate  at  right  angles  and  bending  over  the  edges  to  form  a  lapped  tube  to 
receive  the  thumb-screw  and  engage  with  the  connecting  rod,  which  is  grad- 
uated to  indicate  the  gage  of  the  heads.  This  head  also  has  a  rectangular 
space  for  setting  the  tie  plate.  In  using  the  gage  on  new  ties  the  head  B 
is  adjustd  to  the  proper  gage  distance  and  the  surface  plates  of  the  two 
heads  are  brought  into  the  same  plane.  The  tool  is  then  laid  on  with  the 
hook  caught  over  the  end  of  the  tie,  and  if  the  face  of  the  tie  is  warped  or 
twisted  the  rail  seats  are  adzed  to  conform  to  the  surface  plates.  One  of  the 
tie  plates  is  then  placed  in  the  rectangular  space  in  the  gage  head,  when  the 


Fig.  272.— Kiley  Tie  Plate  Gage,  Erie  R.   R. 

gage  is  removed  and  the  plate  is  embedded  with  a  wooden  beetle,  or  other 
driving  tool.  The  gage  is  then  placed  back  on  the  tie  to  give  the  position  for 
the  second  plate  with  relation  to  the  plate  previously  set,  when  the  second 
plate  is  embedded.  If  desired,  however,  the  person  manipulating  the  gage 
may  pass  rapidly  from  tie  to  tie,  marking  the  position  of  each  tie  plate  with 
a  pencil  or  scratch-awl,  so  that  a  number  of  men  may  be  engaged  at  embed- 
ding the  tie  plates  at  the  same  time.  The  tool  may  be  used  across  the  lead 
rails  of  a  turnout  without  interference  from  rails  which  come  between  the 
heads  of  the  gage,  as  the  connecting  rod  is  high  enough  to  clear  them. 

The  tool  that  is  perhaps  most  widely  used  for  gaging  tie  plates  is  the 
Ware  "surfacer"  and  gage,  designed  by  Mr.  Henry  Ware,  roadmaster  with 
the  Buffalo,  "Rochester  &  Pittsburg  By.  As  illustrated  in  Fig.  273,  it  con- 
sists essentially  of  a  rod  or  piece  of  pipe  joining  the  heads  of  two  flat  metal 
plates  called  "surfacers,"  the  rod  being  fixed  to  one  of  the  heads  and  adjust- 


Fig.  273.— Ware  Tie  Plate  Gage   (Testing  Rail  Seat  Level), 


Fig.  274.— Ware  Gage  (Locating  the  Tie  Plates), 


LAYING  TIE   PLATES  605 

able  with  the  other  by  means  of  a  thumb-screw.  To  apply  the  tool  to  new 
ties  used  either  in  track-laying  or  in  tie  renewals,  the  heads  are  adjusted 
by  the  graduation  of  the  rod  to  the  proper  distance  apart  to  correspond  with 
the  gage  of  the  track  and  the  dimensions  of  the  tie  plates  to  be  used.  The 
surfacers  are  brought  accurately  into  the  same  plane  and  set  tightly  therein 
•by  the  thumb  screw.  Where  hewn  ties  are  used  it  is  necessary  to  inspect 
the  upper  face  to  see  that  the  seats  for  the  rails  are  in  the  same  plane. 
This  inspection  is  made  with  the  tool,  and  if  the  seats  are  out  of  true  they 
.are  adzed  to  the  proper  level  to  meet  the  surfacers,  as  appliecHn  Fig.  273. 
The  tool  is  then  turned  partly  over,  as  in  Fig.  274,  and  the  plates  are  placed 
•on  the  tie  to  proper  gage  and  settled  to  place  with  a  beetle  or  other  tool.  In 
practice  it  is  customary  to  first  embed  one  of  the  plates  and  then  put  the  tool 
back  on  the  tie  and  place  the  second  plate  accurately  to  conform  to  its  requir- 
ed position  with  relation  to  the  plate  first  embedded.  After  the  plates  are  set 
the  tool  can  be  applied,  as  in  Fig.  273,  to  test  the  surface  level  of  the  tie 
plates. 


Fig.  275. — Machine  for  Plating  Ties,  S.  F.  &  S.  J.  V.  Ry. 

The  foregoing  methods  and  tools  for  setting  tie  plates  by  hand  are 
quite  generally  applied,  but  in  plating  ties  for  new  track  construction  on 
a  large  scale  power  machinery  has  been  used  for  the  purpose,  notably  in 
the  building  of  the  San  Francisco  &  San  Joaquin  Valley  Ry.,  when  more 
than  one  million  ties  we're  plated.  The  ties  used  were  redwood,  with  5x8- 
in.  Servis  tie  plates,  and  the  work  was  so  extensive  and  so  rapidly  pushed 
that  some  means  for  cheaply  and  quickly  applying  the  plates  before  the 
ties  were  distributed  on  the  roadbed  was  desirable.  The  machine  used  con- 
sisted of  two  presses,  as  shown  in  Fig.  275,  with  rollers  to  assist  in  the 
movement  of  the  ties  into  and  out  of  the  presses;  and  of  a  15-h.  p.  boiler  to 
furnish  steam  to  operate  the  presses.  The  general  scheme  of  the  operation 
of  the  machine  is  obvious  from  the  illustration.  The  tie  is  shoved  over  a 
series  of  rollers,  on  horses,  until  it  enters  the  presses,  where  it  is  held  in 
proper  position  by  a  stopping  device  which  appears  at  the  right  hand.  The 
plate  for  each  end  of  the  tie  is  inverted  and  placed  upon  the  plunger  of 
the  steam  cylinder,  which  works  from  underneath.  The  plate  comes  be- 
tAveeii  two  rollers  and  is  low  enough  to  be  out  of  the  way  as  the  tie  is  shoved 
to  place.  Between  the  presses  there  are  two  pairs  of  clamps  which  are  opened 
up  (they  appear  in  'the  closed  position  in  the  illustration)  before  the  tie 


606  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

is  shoved  in,  and  attached  to  these  clamps  there  a're  side  levers  for  moving 
the  tie  into  line  and  centering  it  over  the  plates  before  the  pressure  is  ap- 
plied. The  position  of  the  two  presses  is  adjusted  for  properly  gaging  the 
plates  and  the  pressure  is  applied  to  the  two  plungers  simultaneously,  lift- 
ing the  tie  vertically  against  the  tops  of  the  presses  and  forcing  the  plates 
into  the  tie.  After  the  plates  have  been  pressed  home  the  tie  is  dropped 
down  into  its  original  position  and  pulled  out  at  the  end  opposite  from  that 
at  which  it  entered  the  presses,  the  stopping  device  being  dropped  by  the 
lever  and  link  arrangement  shown.  The  presses  are  adjustable  to  the  extent 
that  they  will  allow  ties  of  varying  th  ickness  and  width  to  be  used. 

The  operation  of  the  machine  required  at  least  seven  men — two  to  shove 
the  ties  into  position,  two  to  place  the  plates,  one  to  apply  the  power  and 
two  to  remove  the  tie  after  the  plates  had  been  forced  into  place.  When  first 
received  the  machine  was  used  on  a  car.  This  car  being  started  at  one  end 
of  a  long  pile  of  ties  worked  slowly  through  the  same,  the  ties  then 
passing  either  to  a  pile  on  the  other  siele  of  the  car  or  directly  to 
cars  for  shipment  to  the  front.  While  handling  ties  in  this  way  the  capac- 
ity of  the  machine  was  about  3000  ties  plated  in  ten  hours.  Continu- 
ous working,  night  and  day,  was  sometimes  necessary  when  track-lay- 
ing was  progressing  rapidly.  The  cost  'of  handling  the  plant  was  slight- 
ly over  one  cent  per  tie,  and  as  nearly  all  the  ties  went  to]  the  front 
as  fast  as  they  were  plated,  this  figure  included  the  cost  of  loading.  The 
actual  cost  for  plating  and  loading  149,836  ties  during  the  months  of 
March,  April  and  May  was  $1717.67,  or  1.146  cents  per  tie.  This  was  made- 
up  of  labor  1.056  cents,  fuel  .075  cent  and  the  balance,  or  .015  cent,  was 
chargeable  to  repairs,  oil,  etc.  The  fuel  was  coal  at  $6  per  ton  of  2000 
Ibs.  The  number  of  men  employed  during  this  part  of  the  work  was  one 
pressman,  one  foreman  and  1 5  laborers.  After  plating  ties  in  this  way 
for  a  number  of  months  the  machine  was  removed  from  the  car  and  placed  011 
a  platform  in  the  material  yard.  All  ties  received  here  came  from  bargu* 
and  were  delivered  directly  to  the  machine,  in  slings,  by  a  derrick.  They 
were  passed  through  the  press  and  then  placed  on  cars  for  piling  in  the  yard 
or  sending  to  the  front,  as  wras  necessary.  A  30-h.  p.  boiler  was  used,  furn- 
ishing steam  for  the  derrick  as  well  as  the  press.  When  ties  were  shipped 
directly  to  the  front,  the  cost  per  tie  from  barge  to  car  came  as  low  as  0.6 
cent. 

It  wras  found  that  the  plates  remained  in  place  during  shipment  to  the 
front,  and  that  during  the  distribution  of  the  ties  for  track-laying  but  very 
few  fell  out.  When  this  occurred  a  man,  whose  business  it  was  to  look 
after  the  tie  plates,  replaced  them  in  the  grooves  which  had  been  originally 
made.  When  the  rails  were  strung  out,  the  plates  which  came  on  joint 
ties  were  changed  and  the  joint  plates,  which  had  a  different  punching, 
were  substituted  by  the  same  man.  The  plates  as  they  left  the  machine 
were  spaced  so  that  they  were  exactly  in  place  for  gage  and  line  and,  except 
for  the  joint  plates,  required  no  changing  of  position  when  placed  in  the 
track.  The  redwood  ties  used  on  the  Pacific  coast  are  what  are  known 
as  "split  ties,"  and  there  is  a  slight  tendency  for  the  grain  to  be  in  wind. 
It  was  thought  at  first  that  on  this  account  it  would  be  necessary  to  spot 
them,  and  such  was  elone  for  awhile,  but  later  on  when  it  became  necessary 
to  Tush  the  machine  this  practice  was  abandoned,  and  the  results  afterwards 
were  so  satisfactory  that  the  spotting  was  not  again  resumed.  It  was  found 
that  the  plates  were  pressed  so  closely  home  that  any  slight  elevation  above 
the  surface  at  one  corner  gave  but  little  or  no  trouble,  as  the  powerful  work 
of  the  presses  left  the  top  surfaces  of  the  plates  practically  in  the  same 
plane.  The  foregoing  data  regarding  this  interesting  machine  and  its 


LAYING   TIE    PLATES 

work  were  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Storey,  Jr.,  chief  engineer  of  the 
road  during  construction.  The  machine  was  designed  and  built  by  the 
Q.  &  C.  Company.,  and  later  became  the  property  of  the  Eailroad  Supply 
Co.,,  of  Chicago.  Subsequently  the  same  machine  was  used  in  plating  ties 
for  the  construction  of  the  San  Pedro,  Los  Angeles  &  Salt  Lake  E.  B. 

On  the  Southern  Pacific  road  tie  plates  on  bridge  ties  have  in  some 
instances  been  driven  to  seat  with  a  pile  driver,  before  the  ties  were  laid. 
The  ties  were  placed  under  the  3000-lb.  hammer,  the  plates  set  and  the 
hammer  dropped  2  to  3  ft.  Use  has  also  been  made  of  a  hand  machine  with 
a  lever  and  cam  arrangement  for  pressing  the  plates  into  the  ficsr  Figure 
275 A  shows  a  machine  of  this  kind  used  on  the  Pacific  Electric  By.,  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.  It  consists  of  two  cams  or  eccentrics  worked  by  levers,  mount- 
ed on  a  large  stick  of  timber.  At  the  end  of  each  lever  there  is  a  cast  iron 
eccentric  working  loose  on  a  shaft  held  by  straps  fastened  to  the  sides  of 
the  timber  foundation.  Extending  under  both  eccentrics  there  is  a  gage 
bar,  on  the  under  side  of  which  there  are  two  cast  plates,  each  of  which 
has  two  square  lugs.  These  lugs  fit  into  the  spike  holes  in  the  tie  plates,  and 
the  cast  plates  are  at  such  a  distance  apart,  that  tie  plates  fitted  on  the  lugs 
stand  to  the  proper  gage  for  the  rails.  In  order  to  lift  the  gage  bar  from 
the  tie  when  the  eccentric  is  thrown  up  it  is  attached  to  the  latter  by  moans 


Fig.  275A — Lever  Tie-Plating  Machine,  Pacific  Electric  Ry. 
of  a»  light  chain.  On  either  side  of  the  two  levers  there  are  pipe  rollers  for 
entering  and  removing  the  ties,  the  roller,  nearest  each  eccentric  being 
placed  to  act  as  a  gage  for  the  tie.  In  operating  Jhe  machine,  the  ties  are 
first  adzed,  to  properly  seat  the  plates,  in  case  such  is  necessary,  and  then 
the  ties  are  pushed  over  the  rollers  and  under;  the  eccentrics, ,  one  by  one. 
The  tie  is  pushed  to  butt  against  the  gage  roller,  .and  a  man  at  either  end 
places  a  tie  plate  to  fit  the  lugs  on  the  gage  bar, -holding  it  in  place  with  a 
small  flat  bar  of  iron.  As  the  tie  plate  enters  the  tie,  when  the  lever  men 
throw  over  the  levers,  this  bar  is  withdrawn.  The  levers  are  thrown  entirely 
over  toward  the  other  end  of  the  machine — that  is,  nearly  180  deg. — and  the 
plates  are  pressed  home.  As  fast  as  the  plates  are  seated  the  ties  are  pulled 
out  from  the  end  of  the  machine  opposite  from  that  in  which  they  entered 
and  are  carried  to  the  plated  tie  pile.  One  machine  with  a  crew  of  16  men 
will  plate  1000  ties  in  from  eight  to  ten  hours,  according  to  the  uniformity 
of  the  ties  in  respect  to  dimensions,  wind  in  the  faces,  etc.,  at  ar  cost -of  about 
3  cents  per  tie. 

Tie-Plating  Old  Track. — In  applying  tie  plates  to  ties  already  in  the 
tnick  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  adz  an  even  bearing  for  the  plates  on  the 
rail-cut  ties.  Disregard  of  this  important  requirement  usually  results  in 
buckling  of  the  plates.  At  one  time  a  special  tie  plate  of  Goldie  claw  pat- 


608 


TliACK    MAINTENANCE 


Fig.  276. — Laying  Tie  Plates  by  Method  of  Throwing  Out  Rail, 
tern  was  made  for  use  on  tangents,  to  be  applied  without  adzing  rail-cut 
ties.  The  length  of  this  plate  was  approximately  the  width  of  the  rail  base, 
and  there  were  no  spike  holes.  Other  advantages  in  contemplation  were 
that  it  could  be  used  with  rails  of  any  width  of  base  sufficient  to  cover  the 
plate ;  that  it  could  not  buckle  or  get  out  of  shape  under  any  conditions  of 
service ;  that  it  would  be  cheaper  than  longer  plates  and  that  it  would  fully 
protect  the  tie  from  wear  under  the  rail,  which  is  the  only  place  where  wear 
takes  place.  Notwithstanding  these  expectations,  the  plate  did  not  come 
into  extensive  service.  Other  matters  requiring  attention  in  setting  plates 
on  ties  in  the  track  are  to  plug  the  holes  from  which  spikes  have  been  drawn, 
and  to  drive  the  spikes  perpendicularly  through  the  plate,  so  as  not  to  bind 
against  the  plate  and  prevent  it  from  settling  down  to  a  firm  and  even  bear- 
ing. In  order  to  drive  all  of  the  spikes  to  take  a  firm  bearing  on  the  rail 
it  is  necessary  to  hold  up  some  of  the  ties  with  a  bar. 

Methods  of  embedding  tie  plates  on  ties  already  in  the  track  are  quite 
numerous.  Apparently  the  easiest,  but  in  the  end  the  most  unsatisfactory, 
method  is  to  draw  the  spikes,  apply  the  plates  loosely  to  the  ties,  'redrive  the 
spikes  as  far  as  they  will  go  and  then  wait  for  the  traffic  to  settle  the  plates 
into  the  timber  before  completing  the  job  by  driving  the  spikes  to  final  depth. 
In  some  cases  it  takes  considerable  time  for  the  plates  to  become  seated, 
and  meanwhile  gravel,  cinders  or  other  dirt  will  get  under  the  plate  and 
cause  it  to  take  an  uneven  bearing.  In  view  of  this  delayed  action  of  the 
plates  a  plan  that  has  been  put  into  practice  is  to  lay  the  plates  only  on 
every  other  tie  or  every  thivd  tie  at  one  time  and  permit  the  trains  to  press 
them  into  the  timber.  In  this  way  the  weight  of  the  traffic  is  concentrated 
on  fewer  plates  and  they  are  forced  into  the  timber  sooner  than  is  the  case 


LAYING   TIE   PLATES  609 

where  it  is  attempted  to  embed  all  the  plates  at  the  same  time.  The  prac- 
tice of  embedding  tie  plates  by  train  pressure  has  been  styled  the  "automatic" 
method  or  the  "lazy  man's  way/7  but  it  is  the  quickest  way  to  get  the  plates 
into  the  track  and  has  been  very  extensively  employed.  Until  the  plates 
become  seated  the  aspect  of  things  is  displeasing,  to  say  the  least :  the  rail 
fastenings  are  in  a  slovenly,  if  not  uncertain,  condition,  and  the  rails  are 
liable  to  settle  out  of  gage,  particularly  on  curves  and  wherever  the  track 
is  out  of  surface.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  method  is  not  highly  recom- 
mended. 

The  next  general  method  which  might  be  considered  is  that  of  setting 
the  plates  under  the  rail  in  place  and  pounding  them  down  in  some  manner 
with  a  sledge  hammer.  By  this  method  the  track  is  not  obstructed  and 
the  work  can  proceed  without  much  regard  to  the  trains.  The  spikes  are 
pulled  on  a  few  ties  at  a  time,  and  started  on  a  few  ties  still  further  ahead, 
the  rail  is  lifted  high  enough  to  slip  the  plates  under,  and  the  latter  are 
driven  down  to  place  one  at  a  time.  The  best  plan  is  to  place  only  one  plate 
at  a  time,  as  then  the  full  weight  of  the  rail  can  bear  upon  it  and  be  of 
material  assistance  to  the  driving  force.  The  driving  is  frequently  done 
with  a  sledge  hammer  and  set,  or  with  hammer  and  a  thick  plate  or  follower 
placed  on  the  tie  plate  to  protect  it  from  being  injured  by  the  blow..  In  some 
instances  two  hammers  are  used,  striking  over  diagonally  opposite  corners 
of  the  plate  simultaneously.  Sledges  weighing  12  to  16  Ibs.  are  best  for 
this  work,  the  preference  being  with  the  heavier  weight.  A  heavy  sledge 
is  also  convenient  for  knocking  around  ties  that  are  out  of  square  with  the 
track.  On  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Ey.  it  has  been  the  practice  to  embed 
one  end  of  the  plate  at  a  time  in  the  following  manner :  The  rail  is  lifted 
and  the  ties  properly  adzed  and  the  tie  plates  slipped  under  the  rail.  One 
end  of  the  tie  plate  is  then  put  down  by  means  of  a  sledge  or  other  driving 
tool,  and  then  a  wedge  is  slipped  between  that  end  of  the  tie  plate  and  the 
rail  "base  to  hold  it  down  while  the  other  end  is  being  driven.  With  the 
tie  plate  thus  secured  the  other  end  is  driven  to  a  proper  bearing.  The 
"hammer-blow"  action  on  the  ends  of  the  plate  is  not,  however,  always  sat- 
isfactory, as  tie  plates  have  frequently  been  cracked  or  broken  up  by  improp- 
er driving  with  sledge  hammers  and  plates.  The  introduction  of  the  "strad- 
dler"  for  driving  tie  plates  with  hammers  has  not  been  successful,  as  a 
tool  of  sufficient  strength  to  endure  the  service  was  usually  found  to  be  so 
heavy  as  to  absorb  too  much  of  the  blow. 

Another  method  of  embedding  tie  plates,  which  is  in  considerable  use 
in  applying  longitudinal  flange  plates  to  soft  wood  ties,  is  that  of  "plowing" 
them  in.  This  is  elone  by  lifting  the  rail  high  enough  to  admit  the  end  of 
the  tie  plate  underneath  it,  arid  then  to  let  the  weight  come  upon  the  plate 
and  drive  it  through  with  a  spike  hammer,  the  flanges  plowing  their  way 
through  the  grain  of  the  wood.  The  plate  is  driven  from  the. gage  side  of 
the  rail.  With  some  trackmen  it  is  the  practice  to  start  the  plate  by  driv- 
ing it  under  the  rail  without  lifting  the  latter.  This  is  done  by  placing  a 
spike  under  the  outer  end  of  the  plate  and  pounding  down  the  end  next  the 
rail  flange  until  it  will  make  entrance  under  the  rail  when  struck  endwise. 
The  objection  to  "plowing  in"  tie  plates  is  that  furrows  are  made  in  the 
tie  face  outside  the  tie  plate,  into  which  rain  water  will  collect  to  start  early 
decay,  in  the  bruised  fiber,  and  from  which  the  water  finds  an  easy  entrance 
under  the  plate.  In  the  early  days  of  tie  plates  mention  was  sometimes 
made  of  the  method  of  burning  the  plates  into  the  ties.  A  fire  would  be 
built  and  the  plates  heated  just  hot  enough  to  burn  their  way  to  a  snug 
fit  on  the  tie  when  pressed  by  the  weight  of  the  rail.  Some  professed  to 
think  that  the  charring  of  the  wood  under  the  plate  had  a  preserving  effect 
on  the  fiber,  but  for  some  reason  or  other  the  method  has  not  survived. 


610 


TRACK    MAINTENANCE 


It  is  easy  to  see  that  'when  tie  plates  are  embedded  with  the  rail  in 
position,  the  latter  is  a  serious  obstruction  to  the  work.  It  would  seem, 
therefore,  that  matters  should  be  much  facilitated  by  having  the  rail  entirely 
out  of  the  way  while  the  plates  are  being  settled  into  the  ties,  and  such  is 
a  method  extensively  followed.  It  obstructs  the  track,  of  course,  and  neces- 
sitate^ sending  out  flagmen,  but  in  working  a  gang  of  considerable  size  it 
affords  opportunity  for  the  best  speed.  The  spikes  are  pulled  from  a  stretch 
of  rail  on  one  side  of  the  track  and  the  rail  is  thrown  out  of  position  far 
enough  to  leave  the  upper  surface  of  the  ties  entirely  clear  for  whatever 
adzing  may  be  necessary  and  for  the  embedment  of  the  plates,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  276.  The  plates  are  set  by  gage  and  driven  into  the  ties  with  a  beetle 
or  other  striking  tool.  The  use  of  the  Ware  gage  is  shown  in  this  figure. 
After  the  ties  have  been  adzed  the  surfacers  are  set  to  proper  gage  for 
placing  the  plates.  In-  this  application  of  the  tool  the  fixed  surfacer  is 
made  to  abut  against  the  web  of  the  opposite  rail,  as  shown.  Each  plate  is 
located  by  placing  it  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  end  of  the  adjustable  sur- 
facer and  a  projecting  arm  which  shows  clearly  in  Figs.  273  and  274.  After 
all  the  plates  have  been  embedded  the  rail  is  thrown  inward  and  spiked  to 
place.  When  using  the  Kiley  tie-plate  gage  (Fig,  272)  in  work  of  this 
kind  the  hook  is  removed  from  the  gage  and  the  adjustable  head  B  is  loos- 
ened and  turned  half  way  around  on  the  bar,  or  so  that  it  stand?  upside 
down.  With  the  rail  on  one  side  of  the  track  moved  out  of  its  seat  and 
the  ties  adzed  off  to  give  proper  bearing  for  the  plates,  the  gage  head  A 
is  placed  upon  the  top  of  the  opposite  rail,  resting  upon  the  lugs  C  and  held 
in  position  by  the  clips  E,  which  bear  against  the  gage  side  of  the  rail.  The 
other  head  of  the  gage  is  then  brought  down  upon  the  tie  right  side  up  and 
the  tie  plate  is  placed  in  the  rectangular  space  in  the  proper  position  for 
embedment.  The  gage  used  by  Headmaster  J.  W.  McManama,  of  the 


Fig.  277.— Tie  Plate  Driver,  M.  C.  R.  R.       Fig.  278.— Tie  Plate  Driver,  S.  P.  Co. 


LAYING   TIE    PLATES  611 

.Boston  &  Maine  K.  ~R.,  for  locating  the  exact  position  of  tie  plates  with 
•one  of  the  rails  moved  out,  consists  of  a  piece  of  rail  about  2J  ft.  long 
riveted  to  the  single  end  of  a  Huntington  track  gage,  the  forked  end  being 
retained  fo'r  use  against  the  rail  opposite  the  one  moved  out  of  its  seat. 

For  the  most  economical  and  most  expeditious  work  of  applying  plates 
in  this  way,  it  has  been  found  advisable  to  get  as  many  spikes  drawn  as  safety 
will  allow,  plug  all  spike  holes  and  do  all  adzing  possible  before  disturb- 
ing the  rails.  Then,  when  there  is  sufficient  time  between  trains  to  permit 
such  a  move  to  be  undertaken,  all  of  the  men  are  put  to  work  with  claw  bars 
to  draw  the  remaining  spikes  and  move  the  rails  out  on  the  ends  of  the  ties, 
as  before  described.  The  men  are  then  organized  three  in  a  gang,  one 
man  to  carry  the  gage  and  place  the  plates  in  the  square;  the  other  two 
men  with  wooden  beetles  to  settle  the  plates  into  the  ties.  The  first  blow, 
-as  least,  is  given  by  a  man  standing  at  right  angles  with  the  longitudinal 
ribs  of  the  tie  plate,  if  such  plates  are  being  used ;  this  in  order  to  cause  the 
plate  to  settle  more  accurately  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  When  a 
sufficient  number  of  plates  have  been  embedded  to  allow  the  rails  to  be  moved 
back  into  position,  one  of  the  embedding  gangs  is  turned  back  to  move  the 
rails  in  onto  the  plates  and  spike  them ;  thus  keeping  the  different  parts  of 
the  work  going  at  the  same  time,  so  that  should  an  unexpected  train  arrive 
there  would  be  but  little  delay  in  making  the  track  passable. 

In  placing  tie  plates  upon  new  switch  ties  the  two  plates  for  the  main- 
track  rails  are  applied  before  the  ties  are  placed  in  the  track,  and  the  plates 
for  the  turnout  rails  are  temporarily  withheld  until  the  main-track  rails 
have  been  fully  spiked  and  thrown  into  proper  alignment,  the  turnout  rails 
meanwhile  being  temporarily  held  by  a  sufficient  number  of  spikes  to  per- 
mit the  safe  passage  of  trains.  The  plates  are  then  applied  to  the  turnout 
Tails  in  the  same  manner  as  already  described  for  applying  plates  to  ties 
in  track.  Considerable  use  is  made  of  long  tie  plates,  which  extend  -under 
both  main  and  turnout  lead  rails,  where  they  lie  close  together,  plates  as 
long  as  24  ins.  being  sometimes  used  in  such  places  and  under  frogs.  In 
such  plates  it  is  usual  to  punch  only  two  holes  at  the  mill,  these  being  near 
one  end  of  the  plate.  When  laying  the  plates  they  are  first  put  under  the 
lead  rails,  as  aligned  far  their  final  position,  to  mark  the  position  of  the 
spikes,  and  then  they  are  removed  and  punched  by  hand  tools. 

Machines  for  Tie-Plating  Track. — With  sufficient  force  to  drive  it,  a 
follower  made  to  straddle  the  rail  and  rest  upon  the  projecting  ends  of  the 
tie  plate  is  a  pretty  satisfactory  tool  for  embedding  plates  in  the  track.  Such 
a  tool  .is-  known  as  a  "straddler/"'  and  on  some  roads  machines  built  on  the 
principle  of  a  pile  driver,  on  a  small  scale,  are  used  to  administer  the  driving 
force.  One  of  these  has  been  in  service  on  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.,  hav- 
ing been  devised  by  Roadmaster  M.  Sullivan.  This  machine  consists  of  a 
light  pair  of  leads  hinged  to  sills  placed  upon  an  ordinary  push  car  and 
pivoted  to  swing  to  working  position  over  either  rail.  The  machine  is 
shown  in  Fig.  277,  and  although  the  photograph  was  taken  when  the  weather 
•conditions  were  not  especially  favorable  for  laying  tie  plates,  vet  all  the 
essential  equipment  is  seen  in  position  to  do  execution.  The  straddler  is  a 
piece  of  forked  steel  weighiiig  24  Ibs.  The  hammer  consists  of  a  cast  iron 
weight  with  a  wkle  and  thick  wrought  iron  strap  shrunk  around  it  to  lit 
the  grooves  in  the  leads  and  provide  a  striking  face  on  the  bottom.  The 
weight  of  the  hammer  is  100  Ibs.  It  is  lifted  by  a  small  rope  running  over 
a  pulley  at  the  top  of  the  leads  and  thence  to  another  pulley  at  the  foot  of 
the  leaels,  between  the  sills.  In  lifting  the  hammer  the  rope  is  pulled  by 
a  man  standing  directly  in  the  rear,  or  in  the  position  occupied  by  the  man 
who  appears  in  the  picture.  The  plates  are  applied  by  pulling  the  spikes 
from  a  short  stretch  of  'rail  both  sides  the  track,  lifting  the  rail  and  placing 


612 


TRACK    MAINTENANCE 


the  plates  in  position  and  then  following  with  the  driver,  which  is  swung 
alternately  from  side  to  side,  into  position  over  each  plate,  as  the  car  ad- 
vances. The  machine  is  handled  and  worked  by  two  men.  When  it  is  de- 
sired to  remove  it  from  the  track,  the  leads  are  made  to  fall  backwards  on 
the  hinges  by  disconnecting  the  braces  which  secure  them  in  the  upright 
position.  The  driver  and  push  car  are  then  lifted  off  the  track  separately. 
A  machine  tie  plate  driver  used  on  the  Southern  Pacific  road  is  of  heav- 
ier construction,  consisting  of  a  strongly  built  push  car  with  driver  leads 
erected  permanently  at  both  sides,  as  shown  in  Fig.  278.  These  leads  are 
braced  together,  and  upon  a  strut  uniting  the  two  there  are  two  winches,  one 
for  each  hammer.  The  hammer  in  this  case  is  much  heavier  than  that  of 
the  Michigan  Central  driver,  and  must  weigh  several  hundred  pounds.  The 
straddler  is  also  much  heavier,  as  would  be  surmised  from  the  view,  one 
being  seen  over  each  rail  and  another  appearing  on  the  front  end  of  the  car; 
it  weighs  probably  about  100  Ibs.  The  method  of  driving  is  obvious  from 


Fig.  279.— Wabble  Saws  of  Brown  Tie  Spotting  Machine— Fig.  280. 
the  picture.  The  plates  are  placed  in  position  under  the  rail  and  the  car 
advances,  driving  both  plates  on  the  same  tie  simultaneously.  The  hammer 
is  raised  by  the  winch  and  tripped  by  a  foot  lever  operating  a  clutch  which, 
throws  the  winch  out  of  gear.  Each  straddler  used  with  this  machine,  when 
out  of  service,  is  lifted  clear  of  the  rail  by  a  steel  strap  hanging  from  the 
side  of  the  car,  at. points  just  over  the  wheels,  and  running  under  the  bend 
of  the  straddler.  As  the  car  of  which  the  photograph  was  taken  was  not  in 
service  at  the  time,  being  out  of  repair,  this  strap  does  not  show  on  the  side 
toward  the  observer,  but  it  may  be  seen  hanging  down  from  the  opposite  side 
of  the  car,  just  ahead  of  the  wheel.  When  it  is  desired  to  move  the  car  ahead 
this  strap  is  pulled  up  far  enough  to  lift  the  straddler  clear  of  the  rail,  and 
i.-;  then  hitched  to  a  peg.  After  the  straddler  is  lowered  to  the  service  posi- 
tion, and  while  it  is  being  used,  the  strap  hangs  loosely  under  the  bend  of 
the  straddler.  This  machine  was  designed  by  the  late  J.  T.  Mahl,  engineer 
of  maintenance  of  way  of  the  Atlantic  division  of  'the  road,  where  several  of 
the  machines  have  been  in  service. 


LAYING   TIE   PLATES 


613 


Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  p'ractice  of  running  ties 
through  a  "spotting"  machine  before  they  are  laid  in  the  track,,  to  cut  the 
rail  seats  parallel  with  the  axis  of  the  tie,  and  in  the  same  plane,  so  as  to 
afford  an  even,  bearing  on  the  tie  for  the  rails  or  for  tie  plates.  An  idea 
along  this  line  has  been  worked  out  and  put  to  practice  to  facilitate  the  cut- 
ting and  evening  of  rail  seats  on  ties  as  they  lie  in  the  track.  The  machine 
was  conceived  of  and  designed  by  Mr.  George  M.  Brown,  when  chief  engi- 
neer of  the  Flint  &  Pere  Marquette  E.  R.,  which  has  since  become  part  of 
the  Pere  Marquette  R.  R.  system.  The  need  of  such  a  machine  was  sug- 
gested by  a  consideration  of  the  following  well-known  f acts~:  When  rails 
become  tilted  or  canted  on  curves  the  only  remedy  is  to  draw  the  spikes, 
adz  the  rail  seats  to  a  proper  bearing  and  return  the  rail  to  a  righted  posi- 
tion. In  placing  tie  plates  on  ties  already  in  the  track,  a  seat  should  be 
adzed  for  the  plate  wherever  the  tie  has  been  cut  into  by  the  rail ;  otherwise, 
or  if  the  plate  is  seated  so  that  the  ends  are  higher  than  the  center,  it  will 
buckle.  Again,  when  relaying  rails  with  a  new  rail  having  a  wider  base 


Fig.  281. — Brown  Tie  Spotting  Machine,  Pere  Marquette  R.  R. 
than  the  old  one,  a  widened  seat  must  be  adzed  for  the  new  rail  on  every  rail- 
cut  tie.  In  such  work  the  ties  are  usually  covered  with  more  or  less  sand 
and  grit,  so  that  the  tools  soon  become  dulled ;  and  in  any  case,  unless  the 
men  are  expert  with  the  use  of  the  adz  or  are  closely  watched,  the  work 
will  result  in  a  saucer-shaped  seat  for  the  rail  or  tie  plate,  as  the  case  may  be. 
The  working  portion  of  the  machine  consists  in  a  number  of  circular 
saws,  running  in  groups  upon  a  common  shaft,  which  is  journaled  in  an 
arbor  suspended  crosswise  the  track  and  held  in  position  to  cut  grooves  each 
side  each  rail.  The  purpose  is  to  cut  a  groove  near  to,  and  level  with,  the 
base  of  the  rail,  so  that  the  trackmen  will  have  a  gage  to  work  to  when 
adzing  the  tie  to  an  even  seat  for  the  rail  or  tie  plate.  Figures  279  and  280 
show  the  lower  end  of  the  arbor  and  the  saws,  and  Fig.  263  shows  the  work 
done  by  the  same.  To  explain  the  source  and  transmission  of  the  power, 
Fig.  281  shows  a  locomotive  and  train  of  two  flat  cars,  the  car  next  the 
engine  mounting  a  stationary  engine  having  a  12x20-in.  cylinder  and'  a 


614  TRACK    MAINTENANCE 

CO-in.  fly  wheel,  steam  being  taken  from  the  locomotive  through  a  hose  con- 
nection. This  engine  drives  *a  jack  shaft  on  the  head  end  of  the  car.,  front 
which  a  belt  is  run  to  the  shaft  bearing  the  saws,  which  is  journaled  at  int- 
end of  an  arbor  swinging  about  the  jack  shaft.  This  arbor, is  supported  at 
the  track  end  by  a  pair  of  26-in.  wheels  journaled  about  30  ins.  in  rear  of 
the  shaft  carrying  the  saws.  Supported  in  this  manner  the  arbor  fram.fi 
holds  the  saws  in  a  fixed  position  relatively  to  the  level  of  the  rail  and 
assures  a  uniform  depth  of  cutting  by  the  saws.  When  not  at  work  or  when 
passing  switches,  frogs,  crossings,  etc.,  the  frame  is  swung  upward  from  the 
track  by  block  and  tackle  suspended  from  a  bent  supported  upon  beams 
extending  between  the  two  flat  cars,  which  beams  also  maintain  the  proper 
interval  between  the  cars.  The  tackle  is  operated  by  a  winch  on  the  head 
flat  car.  The  saws  are  run  at  a  speed  of  about  1500  revolutions  per  minute. 
Figur'6  280  is  a  near  view  -showing  the  saws  lowered  into  position  for  work. 
In  preparation  for  the  work  the  ballast  is  removed  for  a  depth  of  2  or  3  ins. 
below  the  tops  of  the  ties,  in  line  with  the  grooves  to  be  cut,  and  when  in 
operation  the  train  is  moved  forward  (in  the  direction  in  which  the  loco- 
motive is  headed)  at  a  speed  of  4  or  5  miles  per  hour.  The  wheels  support- 
ing the  arbor  are  gaged  to  fit  the  track  closely,  thus  securing  a  steady  forward 
movement  for  the  saws.  When  working  in  oak  ties  the  width  of  groove  cut 
is  If  ins.  and  three  saws  are  used  in  each  group.  It  will  be  noticed  (Fig. 
279)  that  the  outside  saws  in  each  group  are  hung  perpendicularly  on  the 
shaft,  but  the  intermediate  saws,  known  as  the  "wabble  saws,"  take  a  diag- 
onal position,  so  that  in  each  revolution  each  intermediate  saw  sweeps 
over  a  wide  portion  of  the  space  between  the  two  outside  saws.  In  this  man- 
ner the  group  of  saws  cuts  a  groove  corresponding  to  the  extreme  width 
over  the  two  outside  saws.  For  cedar  ties  the  groove  cut  is  2f  ins.  wide. 
The  saws  are  adjustable  to  cut  a  groove  of  any  desired  width  and  at  any 
desired  distance  from  the  rail.  The  vertical  adjustment  of  the  shaft  bear- 
ing the  saws  is  effected  by  means  of  a  screw,  in  iron  brackets  carrying  the 
journajs  in  guides,  on  either  side,  the  two  screws  being  operated  together 
by  means  of  sprocket  wheels  and  chain.  The  saws  when  new  are  24  ins.  in 
diameter,  but  from  wear  and  filing  they  gradually  become  smaller,  the 
vertical  adjustment  of  the  shaft  taking  care  of  the  diminishing  diameter. 
The  saws  are  also  adjustable  endwise  on  the  shaft,  so  that  the  ties  may  be 
grooved  in  position  convenient  for  the  class  of  work  on  hand,  whether  it 
be  'renewing  rails,  changing  gage,  righting  tilted  rails  or  laying  tie  plates. 
In  case  part  of  the  ties  are  already  laid  with  tie  plates,  as  is  frequently  the 
case  in  old  track,  where  tie  plates  are  placed  gradually  when  renewing  ties, 
the  saws,  which  are  held  in  a  fixed  position  relatively  to  the  level  of  the 
base  of  the  rail,  are  set  far  enough  apart  to  pass  over  without  touching  the 
tie  plate  or  cutting  into  the  ties  beyond  its  reach.  A  case  of  this  kind  is 
illustrated  in  the  lower  engraving  in  Fig.  263. 

On  the  road  where  it  was  invented  this  machine  has  been  very  useful, 
as  has  been  proven  by  the  variety  of  work  to  which  it  has  been  put  besides 
that  of  spotting  ties  for  seating  tie  plates.  In  1898  the  Flint  &  Pere'Mar- 
quette  E.  K.  changed  the  gage  of  92  miles  of  narrow-gage  (3  ft.)  track, 
and  this  machine  was  put  to  work  cutting  the  seats  for  the  rails,  which 
were  moved  outward  to  the  standard  gage  of  4  ft.  8£  ins.  For  this  work- 
six  saws  were  arranged  in  a  group  on  either  end  of  the  shaft  and  set  to  cut 
a  seat  8  ins.  wide.  The  inner  edges  of  the  grooves  cut  were  4  ft.  2}  ins. 
apart,  or  in  proper  position  for  the  rails  to  be  moved  to  standard  gage. 
With  this  preparation  the  stretch  of  92  miles  of  narrow-gage  track  was 
changed  to  standard  gage  in  one  day,  with  a  force  averaging  three  men  per 
mile.  On  some  sections  the  work  was  completed  in  12  hours  and  on  others 


LAYING   TIE   PLATES  615 

in  15  hours,  on  the  day  referred  to.  The  actual  length  of  track  worked 
over  that  year  was  110  miles,  the  remaining  18  miks  of  narrow-gage  track 
being  changed  the  following  year.  In  one  of  the  subsequent  years  the 
machine  was  used  in  cutting  over  100  miles  of  standard-gage  track  in  prep- 
aration for  renewing  rails. 

Cost  of  Laying  Tie  Plates. — The  cost  of  laying  tie  plates  by  hand  on 
ties  out  of  track  averages  about  -J  cent  each,  and  on  ties  in  the  track  it  rang- 
es from  4  cent  to  2  cents  each,  according  to  the  kind  of  timber,  the  amount 
of  adzing  to  be  done,  the  extent  of  interference  from  trains,  and,  perhaps 
most  of  all,  to  the  thoroughness  with  which  the  work  is  done-;  under  ordi- 
nary conditions  1J  to  1J  cents  per  plate  is  a  fair  estimate  for  good  work.  A 
maintenance  of  way  officer  who  has  paid  much  attention  to  tie  plate  laying 
for  a  number  of  .years,  requiring  thorough  work  in!  all  details,  and  who  has 
kept  careful  records,  gives  1.55  cents  per  plate  as  the  average  cost  of  the 
work  of  six  different  foremen,  working  8  to  12  men  in  a  gang,  including 
flagmen.  This  figure  includes  time  lost  in  going  to  and  returning  from 
work  on  hand  car,  the  price  for  labor  being  $1.25  per  day.  The  tie  plates 
were  of  the  Servis  pattern,  laid  on  oak  ties,  by  the  method  of  pulling  the 
spikes  and  moving  the  rail  out  of  its  seat,  using  a  Ware  gage  to  set  the 
plates,  and  beetles  to  drive  them.  The  train  movements"  were  such  that 
the  track  was  opened  each  day  for  putting  in  plates  an  average  of  4.43 
times,  and  the  average  length  of  time  the  track  was  open  in  each  instance 
was  39^  minutes.  The  actual  cost  of  embedding  the  plates,  not  including 
any  work  incident  thereto,  was  0.14  cent  per  plate,  which  illustrates  how 
largely  the  incidental  items  in  thorough  work  of  this  kind  figure  in  the 
total  cost. 

In  order  to  carefully.,  supervise  the  wo'rk  of  laying  tie  plates  and  -be 
able  to  form  correct  estimates  of  the  cost,  or  to  draw  comparisons  of  results 
under  stated  conditions,  it  is  necessary  to  have  itemized  reports  from  the 
foremen  in  charge  of  the  work.  An.  example  of  such  accounting,'  as  made 
to  the  office  of  Mr.  Henry  Ware,  roadmaster  with  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  & 
Fittsburg  lly.,  appears  below,  together  with  certain  explanations  from  that 
gentleman  regarding  his  methods  of  work  and  records,  which  I  think  .are 
fnteresting  to  publish.  Mr.  Ware  states : 

"My  practice  in  putting  tie  plates  on  ties  in  the  track  is  to  'double  up' 
section  gangs  to  assist  the  foreman  on  whose  section  the  plates  are  to  be  put 
in,  and  the  foreman  in  charge  makes  a  daily  report  to  me  of  work  done, 
on  a  form  for  that  purpose,  a  sample  of  which  I  submit  herewith  : 

Daily  Report  of  Tie  Plates. 

Put  in  on  Sec 

Date..  ..190.. 


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John 

Doe,  Foreman. 

616 


TJKACK    MAINTENANCE 


"As  a  rule  I  do  not  make  a  record  of  such  reports,  for  it  would  require 
more  clerical  work  than  my  office  could  devote  to  it.  The  distribution  of 
labor  at  the  end  of  each  month  covers  it  sufficiently  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses. My  object  in  requiring  such  report  is  that  I  may  know  each  day 
what  the  men  are  doing  when  I.  am  not  over  the  road  to  see  them^  and 
thereby  keep  in  touch  with  what  is  going  on.  The  knowledge  that  I  am 
Interested  in  each  day's  work  acts,  I  believe,  as  an  incentive  to  industry. 
As  will  be  noticed  on  the  form,  I  require  foremen  to  report  whenever  they 
have  been  obliged  to  flag  a  train,  giving  the  reason,  and  the  length  of  time 
the  train  is  held.  A  record  is  made  of  this  report  in  my  office.  The  object 
of  this  report  is  two-fold :  first,  that  I  may  know  if  any  unnecessary  flagging 
is  done;  and  second,  to  check-up  any  exaggerated  statement  that  may  be 
made  by  the  transportation  department." 

107.  Bank  Edging. — Deficiencies  of  construction,  the  washing  effect 
of  rains  and  the  wasting  effect  of  grubbing  vegetation  frequently  leave  the 
shoulders  of  roadbed  on  embankments  too  narrow  or  too  much  worn  down  to 
properly  retain  the  ballast.  In  order  to  economically  maintain  the  track 
surface  it  then  becomes  necessary  to  widen  out  the  top  of  the  embankment 
to  full  roadbed  width  or  bring  it  up  to  sub-grade  by  replenishing  the  sunken 


Fig.  282. — Track  Shouldering  Car,   Boston  &   Maine   R.   R. 

shoulders,  especially  if  the  ballast  is  to  be  renewed  or  the  track  raised  to  a 
higher  grade  line.  Such  work  is  known  among  trackmen  as  ffbank  edging/' 
The  filling  material  necessary  for  this  purpose  may  be  obtained  and  depos- 
ited in  various  ways,  one  good  plan  being  to  so  dispose  of  the  earth  that  is 
removed  from  time  to  time  in  ditching  cuts.  On  some  roads,  even  on  high 
embankments,  such  work  is  done  with  teams  and  scrapers,  and  in  cases  it 
is  moved  from  the  side  of  the  'right  of  way  in  wheelbarrows,  but  in  perhaps 
the  majority  of  cases  the  material  is  loaded  with  a  steam  shovel  and 
hauled  out  by  work  trains.  The  work  of  leveling  down  the  material  that  is 
dumped  or  plowed  from  cars  and  left  in  heaps  along  the  track  is  an  item 
of  considerable  expense,  if  done  by  hand,  and  in  many  cases  where  extensive 
operations  of  this  kind  have  been  undertaken  machines  have  been  designed 


BANK-EDGING  617 

for  the  purpose.  Bank-leveling  OT  earth-spreading  machinery  operated  as 
.an  attachment  to  the  side  of  a  car  is  now  commonly  in  service,  both,  for 
shouldering  embankments  and  plowing  out  filling  material  in  grading  for 
a  second  track.  The  principal  difference  in  the  construction  of  the  machines 
for  these  two  classes  of  work  is  in.  the  sweeping  distance  or  reach  of  the 
side  wings  OT  plows,  although  in  some  instances  the  adjustment  of  these 
parts  is  made  sufficiently  flexible  to  answer  both  purposes.  The  machines 
described  in  the  present  connection  were  designed  primarily  as  shouldering 
cars.  Other  machines  sometimes  used  for  shouldering  service  receive  men- 
tion in  connection  with  "Constructing  Double  Track"  (§  112,  €ha~p.  VIII). 

A  track  shouldering  car  that  has  been  used  satisfactorily  on  the  Boston 
&  Maine  E.  E.  is  shown  in  Fig.  2S25  as  it  appears  in  operation.  It  con- 
sists of  a  specially  constructed  70,000  Ibs.  capacity  flat  car  34  ft.  long, 
fitted  with  side  wings  carrying  interchangeable  knives.  The  width  of  the 
car  over  side  sills  is  6  ft.  4  ins.  The  wings,  which  are  constructed  of  heavy 
timbe'rs  strongly  framed  together,  are  hinged  to  upright  posts  fixed  to  the 
side  sills,  at  either  side  of  the  car,  and  securely  braced  both  crosswise  the 
car  and  longitudinally.  The  position  of  the  wings,  which  can  be  extended 
or  contracted,  is  controlled  by  sliding  struts  guided  within  a  boxed  way 
suspended  from  the  middle  portion  of  the  car,  and.  forced  in  or  out  by  the 
large  hand  wheels  and  chains  appearing  in  the  center  of  the  picture.  The 
cutter  knives,  carried  at  the  bottoms  of  the  wings,  each  consisting  of  a  J-in. 
xl6-in.  steel  plate  reinforced  by  a  4x4-in.  angle  and  3x6-in.  channel,  may 
be  raised  or  lowered  by  racks  and  pinions  operated  by  the  hand  wheels  shown. 
Two  inen  are  required  to  adjust  the  cutter  on  each  wing.  At  either  end  of 
the  car  are  ballast  boxes,  in  which  scrap  iron  is  placed  to  hold  the  car  down 
to  its  work.  Minor  improvements  made  since  the  photograph  was  taken 
include  a  derrick,  similar  to  the  davits  on  a  vessel,  for  handling  the  cut- 
ters from  the  wings  to  the  deck  of  the  car  and  vice  versa,  and  an  additional 
strut  placed  against  the  end  of  each  wing  when  it  is  spread  out  to  maximum 
distance. 

This  machine  has  been  used  both  for  shouldering  down  widened  em- 
bankments and  for  leveling  material  to  sub-grade  for  a  parallel  track. 
By  extending  the  wings  to  their  full  sweep  and  attaching  a  special  cutter 
for  leveling  purposes,  material  can  be  plowed  out  to  a  width  of  12  ft.  from 
the  rail  and  to  any  desired  depth  not  exceeding  18  ins.  In  shouldering  work 
all  surplus  material  can  be  removed  from  one  or  both  sides  of  the  track 
and  cut  to  lines  parallel  with  the  Tail,  whether  on  straight  or  curved  track, 
thus  working  the  roadbed  down  to  a  uniform  section  of  any  desired  shape. 
The  machine  can  also  be  used  for  ditching.  The  force  required  to  operate 
it  properly  consists  of  a  train  crew,  a  foreman  and  four  men.  As  an  exam- 
ple of  what  the  machine  can  accomplish  in  comparison  with  hand  labor, 
it  is  stated  that  the  car  in  four  days  trimmed  up  a  30-mile  section  of  track, 
the  work  on  which  if  done  by  hand  would  have  cost,  as  determined  by 
actual  trial,  $75  per  mile.  The  expense  of  the  shouldering  car  outfit  for 
the  four  days  was  $114.20,  to  which  should  be  added  $378,  the  wages  of  70 
men  employed  in  leveling  back  material  which  the  car  could  not  Teach,  and 
clearing  up  material  in  cuts  that  the  car  could  not  dispose  of.  In  one 
instance  the  car  moved  500  cu.  yds.  of  filling  material,  leveling  it  6  ins 
below  top  of  ties  and  10  ft.  from  rail,  over  a  distance  of  1000  ft.,  in  25 
minutes. 

The  Gulf,  Colorado  &  Santa  Fe  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
roads  have  spreader  and  shouldering  cars  of  a  pattern  shown  in  Fig.  283, 
built  for  spreading  material  plowed  from  flat  cars  to' raise  embankments  in 
grade  reduction.,  and  to  prepare  the  shoulders  of  embankments  to  receive 


618 


TRACK   MAINTENANCE 


the  ballast.  The  design  was  worked  out  by  Mr.  E.  McCann,  supervisor  of 
bridges  and  buildings  lor  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  The  ma- 
chine consists  of  spreader  wings  fitted  to  an  ordinary  flat  car  and  provided 
with  overhead  hoisting  apparatus.  The  wings  are  of  ordinary  heavy  (44- 
in.)  plank  construction,  faced  with  boiler  plate  and  hinged  to  the  car  at 
the  floor  line  by  means  of  heavy  struts  ironed  off  and  well  braced  longitud- 
inally with  angle  irons.  Each  wing  is  divided  into  two  sections,  the  rear 
section  extending  from  the  end?  of  the  ties  outward,  and  the  forward  sec- 
tion from  the  rail  to  the  ends  of  the  ties  and  overlapping  the  rear  section. 
The  intention  of  the  forward  section  is,  of  course,  to  clear  away  material 
from  the  rail  and  uncover  the  ties,  while  the  rear  section  cuts  to  a  depth 
even  with  the  bottom  of  the  tie?.  01  below  if  desired.  The  spread  of  the 


Fig.  283. — Track  Shouldering  and  Spreader  Car,  G.,  C.  &  S.  F.  Ry. 

wings  is  13  ft.  8  ins.  on  each  side  of  the  center  of  the  track.  The  front  sec- 
tion is  hinged  to  a  heavy  bar  extending  diagonally  across  the  corner  of  the 
car,  and  a  piece  of  stout  chain  is  attached  to  the  rear  section  to  prevent 
dislodgment  of  the  same  in  case  a  hinge  should  break.  The  side  pressure 
against  the  front  section  is  recdv<xl  by  a  hinged  strut,  which  abuts  against 
a  stop  block  bolted  to  the  under  side  of  the  end  sill  of  the  car.  The  side- 
thrust  against  the  rear  section  of  the  wing  is  received  by  struts  abutting 
against  heavy  timbers  extending  across  the  car,  underneath  the  sills.  In 
constructing  these  cars  a  heavy  timber  box  was  placed  at  either  end,  with 
the  idea  that  ballast  might  be  needed  to  hold  the  car  to  the  track  while  in 
service.  In  practice,  however,  it  has  been  found  that  ballast  loading  is 
not  needed,  and  the  boxes  are  used  as  a  place  for  storing  chains,  templet 
plates,  tools,  etc.  The  construction  of  the  wings,  leaning  as  they  do  from  a 
vertical  position,  and  sprung  at  the  lower  edge,  and  backed  by  struts 
hinged  from  above,  is  such  as  to  give  them  a  downward  draft  when  plowing 
through  material,  the  action  being  similar  to  that  of  a  plow  point.  This 
draft  assists  in  holding  the  car  down  to  its  work.  The  apparatus  for  hoist- 
ing the  wings  consists  of  four  8-in.  air  cylinders  mounted  upon  a  longitud- 


BANK-EDGING 


619 


inal  beam  that  is  supported  upon  an  A-frame  at  each  end  of  the  car,  at  a., 
hight  sufficient  to  clear  the  wings  in  their  raised  position.  These  cylinders 
operate  pistons  which  have  a  travel  of  about  5  ft.,  and  the  piston  rods  are 
fitted  to  a  cross  head  to  which  are  attached  two  pulleys,  around  each  of 
which  is  doubled  a  wire  cable  for  hoisting  the  wing  on  one  side  of  the  car. 
The  pistons  thus  pull  the  end  of  the  cable  a  distance  equal  to  twice  the 
travel  of  the  piston.  The  weight  of  all  the  apparatus  which  is  attached  to 
the  naked  flat  car  is  22,600  Ibs.,  of  which  10,400  Ibs.  are  carried  by  the 
forward  truck,  and  12..200  Ibs.  on  the  rear  truck. 

The  wings  are  operated  by  one  man,  who  stands  at  the  end  of  the  car, 
next  to  the  air  storage  reservoir,  where  he  handles  the  air  cocks  of  the  hoist- 
ing cylinders  and  where  he  can  push  the  leveler  arms  over  the  dead  center 
when  lowering  them  to  position..  The  air  for  operating  the  hoisting  cyl- 
inders is  taken  from  the  brake  system  of  the  train.  The  cable  for  lifting 
the  wing  on  each  side  is  attached  to  the  rear  section,  which  lifts  the  forward 


Fig.  284. — G.,  C.  &  S.  F.  Shouldering  and  Spreader  Car — Fig.  285. 

section,  which  comes  to  rest  in  a  notch  in  the  corner  of  one  of  the  posts  of 
the  A-frame.  In  lifting  the  wings  they  are  revolved  past  the  center  and 
thus  rest  in  stable  equilibrium.  Tn  lowering  the  wings  to  position  they 
are  sho\ed  over  the  center  by  means  of  a  lever  shown,  and  dropped  to  work- 
ing position  by  gravity,  being  controlled  in  their  fall  by  admitting  air  to  the 
cylinders,  to  act  as  a  cushion.  The  wings  can  be  raised  to  clear  bridge 
floors,  cattle  guards,  etc.,  in  a  very  few  seconds,  and  let  down  again  into 
working  position  without  requiring  the  train  to  stop.  As  a  precaution 
against  any  failure  of  the  air  supply  a  rope  tackle  is  carried  on  the  frame- 
work for  hoisting  the  wings  in  case  of  necessity.  The  air  contained  in  the 
storage  reservoir  (capacity  57-J-  cu.  ft.)  is  sufficient  for  four  applications. 
The  pipes  which  feed  the  top  cylinders  are  only  -J  in.  in  diameter,  so  that  the 
flow  of  air  is  not  sufficiently  rapid  to  do  damage  to  the  machinery  in  case 
an  inexperienced  operator  should  open  the  cocks  too  suddenly.  The  wings 
when  free  from  dirt  are  lifted  without  admitting  full  reservoir  pressure, 
the  cylinders  being  designed  with  a  capacity  sufficient  to  lift  the  wings 
when  plowing  through  dirt  the  full  depth,  and  when  the  train  is  in  motion. 
There  is  an  automatic  valve  to  prevent  the  reservoir  from  being  emptied  in 


620 


TRACK   MAINTENANCE 


case  the  train  should  pull  apart  and  break  the  hose  connection.  An  end 
view  of  the  machine  with  wings  raised  to  clear  is  shown  in  Fig.  285,  and 
Fig.  284  is  an  end  view  of  the  machine  at  work.  For  trimming  the  edge 
of  the  bank  to  form  a  shoulder  a  boiler-plate  templet  is  attached  at  the 
outer  part  of  the  wing.  This  attachment  is  adjustable  and  can  be  set  to 
trim  the  edges  of  banks  16  to  20  ft.  in  width. 

Some  minor  improvements  have  been  introduced  on  machines  of  later 
design  which  do  not  appear  in  these  views.  To  prevent  the  end  of  the  front 
section  of  the  wing  from  scraping  against  the  rail,  and  to  carry  it  safely 
over  rail  braces  and  joint  splices,  a  wheel  has  been  placed  at  the  front  end 
to  run  on  the  'rail  and  hold  the  wing  to  a  proper  clearance.  On  the  cars  of 
later  design  there  are  two  hoisting  cylinders  (instead  of  four)  each  14  ins. 
in  diam.  and  6J  ft.  long,  with  a  piston  travel  of  6  ft.,  and  in  putting  the 
wings  into  service  they  are  pushed  outward  past  the  vertical  position  by 
two  7-in.  air  cylinders — one  for  each  wing. 


Fig.  285  A. — Side  Elevation  of  Scott  Ballasting  Car,  G.,  C.  &  S.   F.  Ry. 


Fig.  285  B. — Plan  of  Scott  Ballasting  Car,  G.,  C.  &  S.  F.  Ry. 

In  actual  service  this  car  has  spread  earth  at  the  rate  of  17,000  cu.  yds. 
per  hour,  all  the  operations  of  the  car  being  handled  by  one 'man.  In  one 
instance  the  car,  starting  from  a  standstill,  dropped  the  wings  and  spread 
176  car-loads  of  earth,  carrying  from  20  to  30  yds.  to  the  car,  in  13  min- 
utes. Either  one  or  both  sides  of  the  car  may  be  used  as  desired.  The 
stability  of  the  car  when  spreading  from  one  side  only  is  sufficient  for  heavy 
work.  In  numerouis  instances  two  engines  have  been  used  to  pull  the  car 
when  it  was  spreading  on  only  one  side.  So  long  as  there  is  sufficient  trac- 
tive force  the  car  will  plow  its  way  through  heavy  gumbo  or  rock  without 
difficulty.  In  leveling,  down  rock  large  stones  weighing  from  one  to  two 
tons  have  been  handled  without  trouble. 

A  machine  designed  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Scott,  while  superintendent  of  the 
Northern  division  of  the  G.,  C.  &  S.  F.  By.,  is  used  to  pull  material  in- 


BANK-EDGING  . 

ward  to  fill  the  center  of  the  track.  In  one  instance  it  was  used  in  spread- 
ing the  top  material  where  a  long  trestle  was  filled  in,  taking  dirt  that  was 
plowed  from  cars  to  the  side  of  the  track  and  filling  in  between  the  string- 
ers, as  high  as  the  tops  of  the  ties,  thus  dispensing  with  all  hand  shoveling. 
Besides  filling  in  between  the  stringers  it  left  the  shoulder  in  proper  shape. 
Another  purpose  of  the  machine  is  to  handle  ballast  from  the  shoulder  to  the 
center  of  track  that  is  to  be  raised  for  ballasting,  thus  dispensing  with  hand 
labor  to  this  extent  and  with  center-dump  cars.  The  machine  consists  es- 
sentially of  two  winged  plows  hinged  at  the  side  sills  of  an  ordinary  flat 
car,  with  a  crane  for  hoisting  the  plows  to  clear  road  crossings,  wing  fences 
at  cattle  guards,  etc.  Figure  285 A  is  a  general  elevation  view  showing  the 
position  of  the  wing  plows  as  set  for  service,  and  Fig.  285B  is  a  plan  view 
showing  the  position  of  the  wings  relatively  to  the  track.  The  spread  of  the 
wings  is  controlled  by  chains  winding  upon  a  vertical  shaft,  with  a  brake 
wheel,  and  also  by  adjustable  stay  rods.  The  wings  converge  without  meet- 
ing, and  in  rear  of  them  there  is  a  center  plow  for  clearing  the  rails.  The 
plows  are  made  adjustable  to  varying  widths  and  depths,  so  that  if  a  large 
quantity  of  ballast  has  been  unloaded  they  can  be  spread  far  enough  to  take 
in  the  extreme  width.  If  it  is  desirable  to  make  two  lifts  of  the  track  in 
ballasting,  the  plows  can  be  dropped  low  enough  to  bring  the  ballast  up  after 
one  raise  has  been  made.  The  ballast  is  left  in  exactly  the  same  shape  as 
though  dumped  from  a  regular  center-dumping  car  and  then  plowed  level 
with  the  rail  and  spread  out  over  the  ends  of  the  ties.  There  is  no  danger 
of  the  machine  clogging,  as  all  surplus  material  is  carried  to  the  shoulder  at 
the  ends  of  the  ties.  It  can  be  handled  in  this  way  at  a  speed  of  five  or  six 
miles  per  hour,  and  it  has  been  used  with  equal  satisfaction  in  gravel, 
crushed  stone  and  slag  ballast. 

A  side  leveler  and  shouldering  machine  that  has  been  used  on  the  Kan- 
sas City  Southern  Ey.  is  built  on  a  flat  car,  with  wings  of  heavy  plank  hinged 
to  upright  posts  framed  over  the  side  sills.  The  wings,  which  have  a  spread 
of  16  ft.  on  either  side  of  the  center  of  the  track,  are  raised  or  lowered  by 
compressed  air  supplied  by  the  air-brake  system,  and  when  opened  for  duty 
each  is  backed  by  two  brace  struts.  The  swinging  ends  of  the  wings  are  sup- 
ported by  chains  run  to  the  tops  of  the  posts  to  which  they  are  hinged.  The 
car  is  ballasted  with  three  round  wooden  tanks,  each  holding  1800  gals,  of 
water,  which  may  be  utilized  to  feed  the  locomotive  in  case  the  supply  in 
the  tender  runs  short,  thus  saving  time  which  might  be  lost  in  making  spe- 
cial trips  to  water  stations.  The  total  wreight  of  the  car  with  the  tanks  full 
of  water  is  48  tons.  The  wings  proper  extend  from  the  ends  of  the  ties 
outward.  The  tops  of  the  ties  are  cleared  by  a  flanger  attachment  held  to 
its  work  by  springs  which  permit  it  to  yield  when  meeting  the  high  end  of  a 
tie  or  other  obstruction.  The  rounding  of  the  shoulder  over  the  top  of  the 
slope  is  accomplished  by  an  adjustable  plate  attachment  which  drops  below 
the  bottom  edge  of  the  wing  proper.  On  the  Intercolonial  Ey.  the  wings  of 
a  snow  plow  have  been  fitted  with  adjustable  steel  blades,  to  adapt  it  to  the 
purpose  of  a  shouldering  car. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


DOUBLE-TRACKING. 

108.  General  Considerations. — The  report  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  for  the  year  ending  June  30,,  1901,  puts  the  aggregate 
length  of  railway  line  in  the  United  States  at  197,237  miles.     This  total 
mileage  was  made  up  of  184,392  miles  of  single-track  road,  11,691  miles  of 
double-track  road,  278  miles  of  three-track  road  and  876  miles  of  four-track 
road  (there  being  12,845  miles  of  second  track,  1154  miles  of  third  track 
and  876  miles  of  fourth  track),  so  that  93.5  per  cent  of  all  railway  line  was 
single  track.    In  1890  this  percentage  was  94.8,  the  average  decrease  being 
about  one  tenth  of  one  per  cent  each  year.     Any  general  treatment  of  track- 
therefore  applies  principally  to  single  track.     So  much  of  the  wo'rk  of  con- 
struction and  maintenance  considered  in  the  foregoing  chapters  has  the  same 
application  to  double  that  it  has  to  single,  track,  and  so  many  variations  of 
methods  specially  applicable  to  double  track  have  been  pointed  out,  that  but 
little  additional  need  be  said  with  special  reference  to  double  track.     There 
liave  not  been  opportunities,  however,  to  go  into  certain  details  of  double- 
track  construction  and  operation,  and  these  may  perhaps  be  best  treated  in 
a  separate  chapter. 

109.  Advantages,  Etc. — The  advantages  to  be  had  with  double  track, 
over  single  track,  are  many,  not  a  few  of  which  must  be  apparent  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  trackman,  as  well  as  from  that  of  men  engaged  in  the 
transportation  department.     Of  course  the  advantage  most  likely  to  be 
considered  is  that  of  profit,  and  usually  the  question  which  must  determine 
the  advisability  of  double-tracking  a  road,  or  any  part  of  it,  is  whether  the 
additional  traffic  which  can  be  had  by  increasing  the  capacity  and  facilities 
of  the  road,  will  increase  the  receipts  sufficiently  to  warrant  the  expense  of 
additional  construction  and  maintenance;  or,  perhaps,  indeed,  whether  the 
traffic  already  at  hand  could  not  actually  be  handled  on  double  track  with 
an  incresed  economy  sufficient  to  compenste  for  such  additional  outlay.     It 
is  no  doubt  true  that  as  the  traffic  on  a  road  increases,  the  point  where  the 
same  traffic  can  be  handled  mo're  economically  on  double,  than  on  single, 
track  will  be  reached  before  the  single  track  becomes  crowded  to  the  full  ex- 
tent of  its  physical  possibilities.    The  chief  consideration  which  settles  this 
principle  is  the  obvious  fact  that  the  trains  can  be  moved  with  greater  con- 
venience, dispatch  and  safety,  and  hence  with  increased  economy,  on  the 
double  track.     The  element  of  increased  safety  obtains,  for  the  most  part, 
from  the  fact  that  on  double  track  less  dependence  is  necessarily  placed  on 
human  reliability  and  foresight.    Nevertheless,  with  double  track  it  is  pos- 
sible to  eliminate  from  the  track  itself  many  features  properly  considered 
elements  of  danger  in  train  operation.     A  discussion  of  the  question  "Limit 
of  Capacity  of  Single  Track"  is  published  as  §  12,  Supplementary  Notes. 

On  double  track  tlie*e  is  but  little  passing  of  trains  which  use  the  same 
track,  and  hence  sidings  or  passing  tracks  can  to  a  large  extent  be  dispensed 
with,  so  that  danger  inhering  with  frogs  and  switches  is  far  less.  This  is 
true,  not  necessarily  because  the  dispensing  with  so  many  sidings  makes 
frogs  and  switches  less  numerous,  because  for  every  siding  taken  out  there 


COMPARATIVE  COST  OF  CONSTRUCTION  AND  MAINTENANCE  623 

will  usually  be  put  in  a  crossover,  which  double  track  operation  requires  at 
most  stations ;  but  such  crossovers  can  be  laid  with  frogs  and  split  switches 
trailing  to  the  prevailing  movement  of  the  trains,  so  that  the  danger  arising 
from,  such  appliances  when  used  on  single  track  is  removed.  Likewise, 
double  track  naturally  favors  making  the  switches  for  all,  or  nearly  all,  spur 
tracks,  trailing  switches ;  whereas,  in  making  a  round  trip  with  a  train  over 
a  single-track  road  or  division,  every  switch  on  the  line  becomes  a  facing 
switch  to  that  train  once  during  the  trip.  Also,  on  double  track  the  total 
number  of  switches  is  divided  between  two  tracks,  so  that  a  train  in  going 
over  the  road  in  one  direction  does  not  pass  over  all  the  switches-and  frogs 
on  main  track,  as  it  necessarily  must  on  single  track. 

110.  Comparative  Cost  of  Construction  and  Maintenance. — The 
first  cost  for  rails,  ties,  fastenings  and  ballast  for  double  track  is  twice  that 
for  single  track,  but  the  same  ratio  does  not  hold  true  in  other  particulars 
• — it  favors  always  the  double  track.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  earthwork  with 
•slopes  1J  to  1,  a  roadway  18  ft.  wide,  in  cuts  or  fills  of  10  ft.  depth,  may  be 
widened  out  to  31  ft.  (the  corresponding  width  of  roadbed  for  double  tracks 
at  13  ft.  centers)  by  the  handling  of  only  about  40  per  cent  more  material, 
the  proportion  of  additional  material  growing  less  as  the  depth  of  cut  or 
fill  increases.  The  same  ratio  will  hold  true  for  the  increased  cost  of  ma- 
sonry for  bridge  abutments  for  double-track,  as  compared  with  single-track, 
structures.  In  most  regions  cuts  and  fills  of  the  above  dimensions  are  only 
ordinary  with  roads  handling  a  traffic  so  large  that  they  can  afford  to  double 
their  tracks.  And  besides,  the  cost  for  filling  or  excavating  per  yard  of  ma- 
terial for  an  additional  track  should  be  less  than  that  for  a  single  track, 
after  the  single  track  is  once  in  operation,  owing  to  the  increased  facilities 
for  hauling,  handling  by  machinery,  etc.  Taken  all  around,  therefore,  the 
cost  for  earthwork  for  a  second  track  should  usually  not  exceed  50  per  cent 
of  that  for  a  single  track  on  the  same  location.  As  regards  cost  of  con- 
struction of  a  second  track,  it  ought  to  be  considerably  less  than  the  cost  of 
the  first  one,  since  the  materials  can  be  distributed  much  more  cheaply; 
moreover,  better  opportunities  are  offered  for  the  company  to  build  its  own 
track,  and  not  only  save  the  profit  which  ordinarily  goes  to  contractors,,  but 
to  build -it  as  it  should  be  built — which  contractors  not  always  do. 

In  the  matter  of  repairs  or  maintenance  expense,  approximately  twice  as 
much  will  be  required  for  tie  renewals  for  the  two  tracks  as  for  one.  Where 
trains  run  frequently  rails  lose  but  very  little  from  rust,  so  that  the  cost  of 
renewing  rails  for  double  track  will  not  much  exceed  the  cost  of  renewing 
the  rails  for  the  same  length  of  single  track  carrying  the  same  traffic.  There 
is  also  much  work,  such  as  ditching,  mowing  grass  and  weeds,  cutting  brush, 
policing,  repairing  and  renewing  fence,  track-walking,  bank-edging,  main- 
taining snow  fence,  protecting  banks,  and  other  work  which  requires  the 
same  time  for  single  as  for  double,  track ;  in  fact,  the  cost  of  mowing  and 
cutting  brush  on  double  track  is  sometimes  less  than  it  would  be  on  single 
track  for  the  same  width  of  right  of  way,  owing  to  the  narrower  width  out- 
side the  slopes  at  cuts  and  fills.  Eegarding  lining  and  surfacing,  the  cost 
'for  two  tracks  will  not  be  twice  that  for  one,  because  each  track  undergoes 
only  half  the  service  which  one  track  would  in  carrying  all  the  traffic.  Un- 
like the  matter  of  rail  wear,  however,  the  work  of  maintaining  two  tracks  in 
line  and  surface  is  more  than  that  of  maintaining  one  track  to  carry  all  the 
traffic,  because  the  disturbing  action  of  the  weather  conditions,  such  as  rain 
and  frost,  may  reasonably  be  supposed  greater  on  double  track  than  on  the 
same  length  of  single  track,  not  only  because  of  the  greater  extent  of  track 
structure  and  roadbed,  but  also  because  double  track  is  not  usually  as  well 
drained  at  sub-grade  as  is  single  track.  Data  bearing  on  this  point  would 


624  DOUBLE-TRACKING 

seem  to  indicate  that  the  cost  of  raising  and  tamping  double  track  to  hold 
it  in  surface  is  40  to  70  per  cent  greater  than  the  cost  of  performing  like 
labor  on  the  same  length  of  single  track  to  carry  the  same  traffic  tonnage. 
In  another  respect,  however,  double  track  is  favorable  to  lower  cost  of  sur- 
facing than  it  might  otherwise  be,  as  there  ia  less  interruption  to  the  work, 
for  the  same  number  of  train  movements,  and  the  trains  are  more  likely  to 
run  on  the  regular  schedule,  so  that  track  work  can  be  laid  out  to  better  sat- 
isfaction. Consider,  as  an  instance,  the  case  of  two  freight  trains,  each  con- 
sisting of  three  or  four  sections,  scheduled  to  pass  at  a  certain  point  on  single 
track.  If  one  or  two  of  them  should  be  just  enough  behind  time  to  cause 
the  meeting  point  to  be  changed  from  the  regular  one,  trains  might  become 
so  strung  out  as  to  seriously  hamper  the  work  of  several  section  crews  for 
the  large  part  of  a  half  day — not  to  speak  of  the  worry  over  the  work  which 
such  an  interruption  sometimes  brings  upon  the  ambitious  fo'reman,  often 
resulting  in  irritation  and  eruption  between  him  and  his  crew — etc.,  etc.  As 
experienced  trackmen  know,  this  matter  of  delayed  trains  cuts  considerable 
of  a  figure  in  the  progress  of  track  work.  It  is  not  at  all  a  question  of  time 
lost  while  workmen  stand  aside  for  trains  to  pass,  but  the  uncertainty  regard- 
ing the  time  the  trains  will  be  along,  which  often  catch  the  work  when  it 
is  partly  done,  requiring  it  to  be  performed  the  second  time  or,  in  many  in- 
stances, causing  delay  as  a  matter  of  precaution,  in  starting  out  with  the 
work.  Taking  all  matters  into  consideration,  it  is  a  reasonable  estimate 
that  the  cost  of  keeping  up  two  tracks  on  the  same  roadbed  to  carry  a  stated 
amount  of  traffic  does  not  exceed  that  necessary  to  maintain  one  track  to 
carry  the  same  traffic,  by  more  than  45  to  55  per  cent.  As  the  result  of  a 
careful  study  of  this  question,  using  average  cost  data  covering  the  various 
items  of  the  labor  and  material  accounts  of  track  maintenance,  I  find  the 
ratio  of  the  expense  of  maintaining  single  track  to  that  of  maintaining 
double  track  carrying  an  equivalent  tonnage,  to  be  1  to  1.52.  In  this  cal- 
culation interest  charges  were  not  taken  into  account. 

111.  Preparation  for  Double  Track. — In  this  country,  where  so 
much  of  industrial  development  has  depended  upon  the  railroads,  the  his- 
tory of  roads  which  operate  two  or  more  tracks  has  been  in  nearly  every  case 
the  building  at  first  of  one  track,  with  such  limits  on  grades  and  curvature 
as  the  outlay — which  the  apparent  traffic  of  the  more  immediate  future 
•  seemed  to  justify — -would  permit.  As  commerce  and  travel  to  and  from  the 
districts  tapped  by  the  roads  have  increased,  the  roads  have  usually  reduced 
the  grades  (where  the  same  have  been  of  an  undulating  nature),  eased  or 
taken  out  curvature  in  places,  and  gradually  brought  the  line  into  better 
condition;  after  which  double-tracking  has  been  accomplished  as  increased 
traffic,  competition  and  other  matters  have  demanded.  Good  examples  of 
such  development  are  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  and  the  Penn- 
sylvania roads.  The  New  York  Central  has  on  its  main  line  four  tracks — 
two  for  passenger  and  two  far  freight  trains.  The  Pennsylvania  road  also 
has  four  tracks  on  its  main  line. 

Wherever  there  is  the  least  likelihood  that  double  track  will  ever  be 
needed,  the  plans  for  it  should  be  constantly  in  the  view  of  the  management 
from  the  time  the  road  starts,  even  though  nothing  toward  it  can  be  done  at 
first.  Such  matters  as  looking  out  for  plenty  of  'room  while  obtaining  right 
of  way  in  the  vicinity  of  locations  where  expansion  seems  probable,  or  such 
locations  as  seem  liable  to  be  changed  eventually,  are  well  worth  considera- 
tion, and  it  can  usually  be  had  without  additional  expenditure  if  negotiated 
for  before  the  road  is  built.  Sidings  built  from  time  to  time  should,  as  far 
as  practicable,  be  laid  out  to  conform  to  the  main  line  'roadway  in  grades, 
and  at  standard  distance  from  it,  where  the  location  is  good ;  otherwise  they 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  DOUBLE  TRACK  625 

should  be  located  with  a  view  to  bettering  the  location  of- main  line  should 
it  seem  likely  that  at  any  time  in  the  future  it  will  form  part  of  a  second 
main  track.  Jn  this  connection,  too,  even  without  having  double  track  in 
view  at  all,  it  is  good  engineering,  when  laying  out  a  siding  or  spur,  if  it  can 
be  accomplished  without  too  much  inconvenience  in  other  ways,  or  without 
too  much  costj  to  locate  it  at  some  point  where  the  curvature  of  the  main 
line  needs  improvement.  By  building  a  piece  of  track  on  the  new  location 
-and  throwing  the  main  line  to  connect  with  it  at  both  ends,  the  old  piece  may 
be  used  'for  the  side-track,  simply  by  putting  in  a  switch — and  changing  the 
rails,  if  it  is  desired  to  make  use  of  an  inferior  quality  of  rails  for  side- 
tracks. The  matter  of  lap  sidings  as  favorable  to  the  subsequent  building 
of  double  track,  is  touched  upon  in  a  previous  chapter.  By  giving  the  prop- 
er amount  of  attention  to  such  things  during  the  progress  of  constructing 
and  developing  the  road,  double-tracking  becomes  an  easy  matter,  compara- 
tively, when  it  has  finally  to  be  done,  and  at  the  same  time  improvements  on 
the  general  alignment  of  the  old  line  can  gradually  be  brought  about.  It  is 
frequently  the  practice  when  putting  in  permanent  bridge  piers  and  abut- 
ments to  make  them  of  such  dimensions  that  they  may  answer  later  for 
double-track  structures.  The  cost  for  additional  masonry  required  is  com- 
paratively slight  in  work  of  any  considerable  hight.  In  the  matter  of  super- 
structure, however,  Wellington  points  out  that  a  double-track  bridge  weighs 
90  per  cent  more  than  a  single-track  bridge  designed  for  a  corresponding 
loading,  and  he  concludes,  therefore,  that  it  is  not  good  policy  to  arrange  for 
a  third  truss  unless  double  track  is  certain  to  be  built  within  a  year  or  two. 

Double-tracking  is  u'sually  begun  on  that  part  or  parts  of  the  road 
where  the  local  traffic  is  most  congested,  other  considerations  not  interfer- 
ing, and  extended  by  sections  at  a  time  until  finally  it  reaches  the  whole 
length.  Thus  parts  of  a  'road  may  for  years  be  double  and  other  parts 
single,  track.  The  meeting  of  the  second  track  with  the  first  is  designated 
"end  of  double  track/'  at  which  point  proper  signals  are  maintained  and  a 
switchman  is  stationed  to  look  after  switching  the  trains.  The  switch  at 
end  of  double  track  should  be  a  point  switch,  placed  preferably  on  straight 
line,  where  approaching  trainmen  can  see  the  signals  clea'rly  for  a  good  dis- 
tance from  either  direction.  The  frog  should  be  of  large  number,  thus  giv- 
ing a  lead  of  easy  curvature,  and  making  it  possible  to  run  trains  through 
it  at  fair  speed.  No.  12  frogs,  corresponding  to  a  lead  curve  of  4  deg.,  are 
-sometimes  used  at  such  places,  and  No.  14  to  No.  18  frogs  quite  commonly, 
while  in  a  few  instances  frogs  as  high  as  No.  24  have  been  used.  To  cite  an 
example  of  the  use  of  a  frog  of  the  number  last  named,  there  was  for  some 
years  at  the  end  of  double  track  on  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  division  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Lines  West,  at  Bedford,  0.,  a  No.  24  rigid  frog  30  ft.  long. 
19  ft.  from  point  to  heel,  constructed  in  the  ordinary  manner.  It  was  used 
with  a  30-ft.  split  switch,  having  a  spread  of  7  ins.  at  the  heel,  and  with  30- 
ft.  guard  rails,  in  a  turnout  of  practically  1  deg.  curvature  (theoretical  rad- 
ius being  5472  ft.).  The  frog  had  to  be  renewed  about  once  each  year,  and  is 
said  to  have  given  excellent  satisfaction. 

112.  Constructing  Double  Track. — The  work  of  excavating  and  fill- 
ing for  a  second  track  can  usually  be  done  most  economically  with  steam 
shovel  and  work  train.  The  shovel  or  excavator  is  used  to  widen  the  cuts 
and  the  material  is  hauled  to  widen  the  fills.  Unless  the  cut,  in  any  case, 
is  long  or  deep  it  is  not  worth  while  to  lay  a  turnout  to  get  the  shovel  off  the 
main  line.  The  way  this  is  usually  done  is  to  remove  the  ballast  from  be- 
tween the  ties  and  then  cut  the  track  and  throw  it  over  to  connect  with  an 
isolated  track  running  into  the  face  of  the  cut;  run  in  the  shovel  and  its 
tender,  throw  the  track  back  to  place  and  couple  up.  With  a  work-train 


626 


DOUBLE-TRACKIXG 


crew  the  change  £an  be  made  in  a  short  time.  The  piece  of  isolated  track 
should  be  started  right  to  make  joints  with  the  piece  of  main  track  thrown 
over.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  throw  the  main  track  ties  at  all,  but 
to  simply  pull  the  spikes  from  a  rail  each  side  of  the  track,  cut  the  rails  loose 
at  one  end  and  throw  the  free  ends  over,  slightly  on  the  ties  so  as  to  lead 
from  the  main  line.  Beginning  with  these  'rails,  a  temporary  turnout  may 
be  laid  to  be  continued  as  the  isolated  track,  blocking  under  the  off  rail  as 
far  as  the  near  rail  remains  on  the  old  ties,  running  a  tie  under  the  oft'  rail 
and  main-track  rail  occasionally  to  hold  the  former  to  gage  with  its  mate., 
which  is  spiked  on  the  old  ties.  Instead  of  using  a  frog,  the  main-track  'rail 
may  be  taken  up  where  the  turnout  rail  crosses  that  side  of  the  track.  The 
tender  car  or  tank  for  the  shovel  may  be  supplied  with  water  by  hose  from 
the  locomotive  tender  or  from  a  water  car  standing  on  main  track.  The 
work  train  must,  in  any  case,  stand  on  main  track  while  loading ;  and,  as  far 
as  possible,  it  should  be  arranged  to  unload  while  on  the  way  to  a  passing 
track  to  clear  for  regular  trains  or  upon  the  'return  therefrom.  If,  however, 
the  work  in  the  cut  will  require  the  use  of  the  shovel  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  as  in  a  deep  bank,  it  will  pay  to  lay  a  turnout  for  switching 
water  and  fuel  cars  to  the  shovel.  In  the  case  of  a  long  cut  the  track  behind 
the  shovel  may,  after  some  progress  has  been  made,  be  used  by  the  work  train 


Fig.  286. — Jordan  Spreader  Car,   Michigan  Central    R.   R. 

to  let  the  regular  trains  pass.  The  shovel  should  work  its  own  way  through 
.the  cut.  It  should  have  a  derrick  of  such  length  that  it  can  stand  clear  "of 
main  track,  reach  far  enough  into  the  bank  to  cut  the  required  width  of  road- 
way, and  still  reach  the  cars  on  main  track.  After  the  work  at  the  cut  has 
been  completed  the  shovel  may  be  taken  onto  main  track  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  it  was  taken  off,  and  then  proceed  to  the  n'ext  cut. 

In  transporting  'material  from  long  cuts  to  adjacent  fills,  surface-haul^ 
ing  tram  roads  with  dump-cars  are  sometimes  employed,  the  system  being 
applicable  to  either  grade  'reduction  or  to  double-tracking.  In  the  work  of 
reducing  grades  on  the  main  line  of  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  &  South- 
ern Ky.,  it  was  found  necessary  in  some  cases  to  transport  material  from  a 
summit  where  the  cut  was  made,  for'  a  distance  of  a  mile  or  more,  to  the 
point  where  the  material  was  deposited  in  the  fill.  Instead  of  using  a  steam 
shovel  and  wo'rk  train  a  surface  tram  road  was  laid  on  each  side  of  the  main 
line,  using  a  mine  hoisting  engine  driving  an  endless  cable,  which  hauled 
the  train  of  dump  cars  from  the  cut  to  the  fill,  and  vice  versa. 

In  filling  for  a  second  track  close  by  the  main  track  the  material  is 
most  cheaply  unloaded  by  side-dump  cars  or  by  plowing  it  off  the  cars  with 
an  unloader.  The  usual  arrangement  is  then  to  work  the  material  over  with 
teams,  using  side-hill  or  railroad  plows,  with  reversible  mold-board  for  fur- 
rowing either  way.  A  small  force  of  men  is  required  to  keep  main  track 
cleared  and  to  trim  the  slope.  On  roads  where  considerable  double-tracking 
is  to  be  done,  a  spreader  or  grading  car  is  frequently  used  for  plowing  the 


CONSTRUCTION  OP  DOUBLE  TRACK 

material  off  the  shoulder.  One  of  the  earliest  cars  of  this  kind  was  used  on 
the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.,  where  four  of  these  machines  were  built  011 
plans  devised  by  Roadmaster  0.  F.  Jordan.  The  car  is  narrower  than  com- 
mon, being  only  6  ft.  11  ins.  wide  over  the  side  sills.  On  each  side  of  the 
car,,  and  braced  together  across  the  car,  are  erected  two  8x9-in.  posts  with  an 
8xlO-J-in.  post  sliding  between  them,  the  latter  being  raised  or  lowered  by 
racks  and  gears  (Fig.  286).  The  sliding  post  carries  a  wing  or  side  leveler 
which  is  22 J  ft.  long,  made  of  heavy  plank  and  faced  with  boiler  plate.  The 
botjxmi  or  scraping  edge  of  the  wing  is  reinforced  with  an  iron  strip  J  in. 
thick.  At  a  point  just  beyond  the  ends  of  the  ties  the  wing  has  ardwvnward 
offset  of  22  ins.  The  vertical  limits  within  reach  of  the  scraping  edge  of  the 
wing  are  22  ins.  below  top  of  rail  and  10  ins.  above  the  same.  The  wing  is 
braced  to  the  side  of  the  car  by  three  struts,  of  which  there  are  two  sets  of 
different  lengths  for  holding  the  wings  at  different  angles.  With  the  wing 
set  at  the  extreme  angle  it  sweeps  15  ft.  4  ins.  from  the  side  of  the  car,  al- 
though one  car  of  this  pattern  built  for  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.  is  40  ft. 
long  and  has  wings  that  sweep  20  ft.  from  the  side  of  the  car.  The  ma- 
chine is  operated  by  two  men,  who  can  raise  or  lower  the  wings  at  will.  The 
manipulation  of  the  car  in  spreading  earth  is  about  as  follows:  The  spread- 
er car  is  coupled  in  just  ahead  of  the  way  car,  and  while  the  earth  is  being 
unloaded  two  of  the  train  men  extend  one  or  both  of  the  wings,  as  the  case 
may  require,  and  lower  them  to  the  desired  level.  As  soon  as  the  earth  has 
been  unloaded  from  the  cars  the  engineer  is  signaled  ahead  and  the  material 
,is  spread  uniformity  as  far  out  as 'the  wing  is  set.  The  car  is  held  down  to 
jits  work  by  weighting  it  heavily  with  rock,  in  ballast  boxes  at  either  end. 

Aside  from  the  work  of  spreading  earth  dumped  as  filling  material  in 
!  double- tracking,  building  side-tracks,  or  widening  embankments,  the  car  can 
be  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes.  One  use  to  which  it  readily  adapts  itself 
is  the  spreading  of  ballast  on  new  grade.  After  the  roadbed  has  been  pre- 
pared the  required  amount  of  ballast  is  unloaded  on  the  grade,  before  the 
track  is  laid,  and  then  it  is  spread  with  the  car  in  the  same  manner  as  when 
spreading  earth.  After  the  track  is  laid  ballast  is  again  unloaded  by  the 
!  side  of  the  new  track  anel  spread  over  the  same  with  the  wing  resting  on 
I  top  of  the  rails  of  the  new  track.  The  car  can  also  be  used  for  removing 
snow  piled  up  at  the  side  of  a  track  or  between  tracks,  as  in  yards.  This  is 
done  by  extending  the  wing  to  reach  over  the- outer  rail  of  the  parallel  track, 
and  then  the  wing  is  lowered  to  slide  upon  the  rails.  The  train  may  then 
be  moved  at  good  speed,  the  car  at  the  same  time  throwing  the  snow  from 
between  the  tracks  to  a  distance  corresponding  to:the  sweep  of  the  wing.  In 
removing  snow  from  yard  tracks  the  material  is  thrown  from  track  to  track 
successively  until  entirely  outside  of  the  yard.  For' sloping  the  shoulder^ 
at  the  side  of  the  track  a  special  sloping  blade  is  substituted  .for  the  wing 
and  attached  to  the  upright  post,  and  handled  in  the  same  manner  as  when 
spreading  earth  or  removing  snow.  For  ditching,  one  of  the  wings  is  re- 
moved and  a  scraper  and  earth  carrier  is  attached  to  the  upright  post  and 
handled  in  the  same  manner  as  when  spreading  earth.  In  ditching,  the 
car  will  work  both  ways,  delivering  the  earth  at  either  end  of  the  cut.  When 
the  car  is  not  in  use  the  wings  are  raised  and  folded  against  the  sides,  when 
the  car  can  be  coupled  into  any  regular  freight  train  and  transported  to  de- 
sired points.  Cars  of  the  same  design  have  been  used  also  on  the  South- 
ern Pacific,  Illinois  Central,  Grand  Trunk  Western  and  other  roads. 

The  Duluth  £  Iron  Range  R»  R.  has  a  spreader  car  designed  on  the 
same  general  lines  as  the  Jordan  but  different  in  some  details.  The  wings 
or  side  levelers  are  hinged  to  9x9-J-in.  oak  posts  sliding  between  upright 
guide  posts  attached  to  the  side  of  the  car,  and  are  raised  and  lowered  by 


<628  DOUBLE-TRACKING 

means  of  gearing  operated  by  hand  cranks,  as  with  the  Jordan,  design,  but  to 
avoid  building  a  narrow  car,  so  that  when  the  wings  are  folded  against  the 
side  of  the  car  they  com?  within  the  clearing  limits,  this  requirement  is 
provided  for  by  cutting  away  the  side  sill  and  setting  the  hinge  post  and 
guide  posts  in  flush  with  the  side  of  the  car.  Then,  in  order  to  strength- 
en the  floor,  which  is  necessarily  weakened  by  cutting  the  side  sill,  a  6x8-in. 
beam  is  laid  longitudinally  on  the  deck  on  each  side  of  the  car,  just  in  rear 
of  the  hinged  post,  and  bolted  down  through  a  sill  with  long  bolts.  Another 
feature  of  the  mechanism  which  is  a  little  different  from  cars  of  this 
class  as  designed  on  other  roads  is  an  inward  extension  of  the  wing  past  the 
hinge  post.  As  the  leveling  wing  is  usually  designed,  the  inner  end  is 
hinged  to  the  car,  but  in  this  case  the  wing  is  hinged  at  an  intermediate 
point  and  the  inner  end  extends  to  the  rail,  being  jogged  off  at  the  ends  of 
the  ties.  The  brace  arm  which  supports  the  wing  against  the  side  of  the 
car  when  earth  pressure  is  encountered  consists  of  a  steel  crane  attached  to 
the  car  at  one  end  and  to  the  wing  at  the  other  end,  by  means  of  coupling 
pins.  The  coupling  head  at  the  side  of  the  car  permits  of  vertical  adjust- 
ment. 


Fig.  286  A. — Jordan  Spreader  Car  Adjustable  by  Compressed  Air,  G.  T.  W.  Ry. 

For  spreading  earth  in  double-tracking  the  Grand  Trunk  Western  Ey. 
several  cars  were  built  on  the  Jordan  style  with  wings  adjusted  by  com- 
pressed air.  As  shown  in  Fig.  286 A,  these  cars  have  a  spreader  wing  on 
each  side  hinged  to  a  vertical  post  sliding  between  two  guide  posts,  as  in 
the  hand  machines.  The  wing  is  held  to  its.  work  by  means  of  struts  hinged 
to  the  side  of  the  car  and  abutted  against  the  wing.  To  adjust  the  wing  for 
spreading  to  different  widths  there  are  sets  of  struts  of  different  lengths 
When  the  wings  are  not  in  service  the  struts  are  folded  up  to  a  vertical  posi- 
tion as  shown  in  the  picture.  To  hold  the  end  of  the  wing  down  to  its 
work  there  is  a  strut  running  from  its  outer  end  to  the  top  of  the  hinge  post. 
as  shown.  This  strut  consists  of  two  plates,  6  ins.  wide,  with  a  piece  of 
timber  sandwiched  between.  To  adjust  the  wing  for  depth  of  spreading, 
the  hinge  post  is  raised  by  means  of  a  wire  rope  passed  over  pulleys  at  the 
top  o-f  a  frame  transverse  to  the  car,  and  then  attached  to  the  piston  rod  of 
an  air  cylinder  16  ins.  in  diam.  and  3  ft.  2f  ins.  long,  standing  vertically  at 
the  middle  of  the  car.  The  wing  is  lifted  by  means  of  the  air  cylinder  and 
cable  and  is  lowered  by  its  own  weight.  As  in  this  work  it  is  necessary  to 
spread  material  on  only  one  side  of  the  track  at  a  time,  the  air-lifting 
mechanism  is  fitted  up  to  operate  only  one  wing  at  a  time.  When  it  is  de- 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  DOUBLE  TRACK 


62$ 


sired  to  change  operations  to  the  other  side  of  the  track,  the  piston  'rod  is  de- 
tached from  one  cable  and  attached  to  the  other.  For  clearing  material 
from  the  ends  of  the  ties  there  is  a  small  auxiliary  wing  on  each  side,  the 
highl  of  which  is  adjustable  by  means  of  a  cable  attached  to  the  piston  rod 
of  an  ordinary  freight  car  brake  cylinder  anchored  to  the  floor  of  the  car 
in  a  horizontal  position.  The  air  for  operating  these  wings  is  compressed  on 
the  car  by  means  of  an  ordinary  locomotive  pump  taking  steam  from  the 
locomotive  by  hose  connection.  Air  pressure  is  stored  in  a  reservoir  24  ins. 
in  diam.  and  7  ft.  long,  placed  crosswise  the  car. 

In  cutting  down  grades  and  straightening  curved  track  on- the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Southwestern  E.  E.  extensive  use  has  been  made  of  a  spreader 
car  built  on  plans  covered  by  the  Boutet  patent,  as  many  as  seven  of  these 
cars  having  been  in  service  at  one  time,  spreading  out  material  unloaded 
at  the  side  of  the  track.  This  car  (Fig.  287)  measures  37  ft.  over  end  sills 
and  9  ft.  over  side  sills.  The  wings  are  hinged  at  three  places  on  heavy  un~ 
derframing  hung  beneath  the  sills.  These  wings  are  each  21  ft.  2  ins.  long 
and  the  spread  of  each  extends  to  a  point  13  ft.  from  the  center  of  the  track. 
The  wing  is  formed  of  heavy  planking  faced  with  old  boiler  plate,  and  ihv 
planking  is  backed  by  heavy  braced  struts  extending  out  at  right  angles  to 
the  side  of  the  car.  The  side  sills  are  cut  away  at  a  point  4  ft.  8  ins.  back 
of  each  bolster,  forming  recesses  into  which  the  wings  can  be  folded  up  in 
a  vertical  position  when  not  in  use,  as  shown  in  Fig.  288.  When  folded 
in  this  manner  the  wings  stand  against  the  intermediate  sills,  and  the  width 
over  the  folded  parts  becomes  less  than  over  the  side  sills,  thus  affording  ade- 
quate protection  to  the  wings  in  transit.  The  wings  are  folded  by  means 
of  ropo  tackle  attached  to  the  top  of  a  heavy  post  or  mast  stayed  to  the  car 


Fig.  287 — Boutet  Spreader  Car,  B.  &  O.  S.  W.  R.  R.    (Ready  for  Service), 


Fig.  288— Boutet  Spreader  Car,  B.  &  O.  S.  W.  R.  R.  (Wings  Folded  for  Transit)., 


1530 


DOUBLE-TRACKING 


r 

Fig.  289. — Donovan  Spreader  Car,  Yazoo  &  Mississippi  Valley  R.  R. 
by.  brace  rods.  The  hauling  of  the  tackle  is  accomplished  by  means  of  a 
winch,  back  of  the  post,  and  to  prevent  the  wings  from  dropping  too  low 
where  the  shoulder  falls  away  at  the  side  of  the  track,  a  stay  chain  of  suit- 
able length  is  run  from  the  top  of  the  mast  to  the  outer  end  of  each  wing. 
The  forward  end  of  the  car  is  provided  with  a  pilot,  which  is  used  to  spread 
any  dirt  that  may  chance  to  lie  between  the  rails.  The  lower  part  of  this 
pilot  is  made  of  a  12-in.  plank,  hung  on  hinges  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
reaches  within  1  in.  of  the  rail  when  the  car  is  in  use,  but  can  be  folded  up 
out  of  the  way  while  the  car  is  being  transported,  as  shown  in  Fig.  288.  • 

An  earth-leveling  contrivance  that  lias  been  successfully  used  on  the 
Yazoo  &  Mississippi  Valley  R.  R.  takes  the  form  of  an  attachment  placed 
upon  an  ordinary  coal  car  or  gondola  car  at  slight  expense,  without 'alter- 
ing the  construction  of  the  car  in  any  respect,  the  car  being  in  special  ser- 
vice only  for  the  time  being.  The  arrangement  of  the  parts  was  designed 
by  Mr.  M.  J.  Donovan,  of  Yicksburg,  Miss.  There  is  a  trussed  wing  swung 
from  a  point  underneath  the  car  and  held  in  place  by  braces  attached  to 
the  side  sill  (Fig.  289).  This  side  wing  or  scraper  is  28  ft.  long  and  24  ins. 
high.  The  depth  to  which  the  side  scraper  will  level  the  material  is  regu- 
lated by  block  and  tackle  attached  to  the  end  of  a  10xl2-in.  xl8-ft.  timber 
placed  crosswise  the  car  and  held  by  long  1-in.  bolts  reaching  through  the 
sills  of  the  car  floor.  On  this  beam  there  is  a  windlass  for  hauling  on  the 
tackle,  so  as  to  raise  or  lower  the  outer  end  of  the  scraper.  The  front  end 
of  the  scraper  is  attached  to  a  chain  fastened  over  the  car  body  bolster  and 
it  is  adjusted  in  hight  by  a  screw  worked  by  a  hand  wheel,  as  shown.  In 
operation  the  car  is  drawn  over  the  track  by  a  locomotive  or  coupled  on  be- 
hind the  ballast  cars  and  pulled  along  with  them,  thus  spreading  the  ma- 
terial just  unloaded.  The  reach  of  the  scraper  is  18  or  20  ft,  from  the  cen- 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  DOUBLE  TRACK 


631 


Fig.  290. — Ballast  Spreader  Car,  Chicago  Clearing  Yard. 

ler  of  the  track,  according  to  the  hight  at  which  it  wo'rks.  This  car  has  lev- 
eled to  a  distance  of  16  ft.  from  the  center  of  the  track,  20  car-loads  of  earth, 
extending  along  the  track  a  distance  of  800  ft.,  in  15  minutes.  The  wing- 
is  notched  to  fit  over  the  rail,  so  as  to  flange  the  track  and  clear  the  material 
from  the  ends  of  the  ties.  For  leveling  down  gravel  unloaded  between  the 
tracks  of  the  Chicago  Clearing  Yard  for  ballasting  purposes,  a  car  with 
winged  scrapers  arranged  as  in  Fig.  290  was  used.  This  machine  consisted 
of  a  flat  car  loaded  down  with  boxes  of  ballast  at  either  end,  with  wings  of 
heavy  planking  hinged  to  a  beam  adjustable  vertically.  The  wings  were  sup- 
ported at  the  back  by  struts,  when  in  service,  and  at  the  middle  of  the  car 
there  was  a  timber  framing,  with  a  derrick  at  each  side  to  adjust  the  level- 
ing wing  to  its  work. 

In  the  foregoing  descriptions  of  spreader  and  bank  shouldering  cars  in 
service  one  recognizes  two  general  types ;  namely,  those  with  which  the  wings 
fold  against  the  side  o^f  the  car  on  vertical  hinges,  and  those  with  which  the 
wings  fold  upward  on  horizontal  hinges.  With  the  former  type  the  wings 
may  be  adjusted  for  hight,  but  a  little  time  is  required  to  place  the  brace 
struts  when  putting  the  car  into  service  and  to  take  them  down  when  folding 
the  wings.  With  the  latter  type  the  wings  are  quickly  handled,  but  they 
cannot  be  adjusted  for  hight. 

.As  explained  hitherto,  spreader  cars,  as  usually  built,  have  been  em- 
•  ployed  to  level  off  material  even  with  the  sub-grade  of  the  old  track.     The 


I 


Fig.  290  A. — Torrey   High-Bank     Spreader  Car,   Mich.  Cent.   R.   R. 


632 


DOUBLE-TRACKING 


Michigan  Central  E.  E.,  however,  has  built  and  used  cars  which  pile  the  ma- 
terial up  into  a  bank  at  the  side  of  the  track  and  then  strike  it  off  at  a  level 
considerably  higher  than  top  of  the  rail.  This  type  of  car,,  known  as  a 
"high-bank  spreader  and  leveler,"  was  designed  by  the  late  A.  Torrey,  chief 
engineer.  The  purpose  of  the  machine  is  to  take  material  which  is  plowed  off 
the  cars  to  make  roadbed  for  a  second  track,  where  the  grade  is  to  be  raised, 
and  heap  it  up  into  a  bank,  and  then  level  it  oft'  on  the  elevated  grade  line. 
The  machine  was  constructed  by  modifying  the  design  of  the  wing  on  one 
side  of  a  Jordan  spreader  car.  The  wing  for  the  high-bank  spreader  is  at- 
tached to  the  same  lifting  post  at  a  higher  point  and  arranged  for  such  flex- 
ibility of  adjustment  that  the  earth  can  be  spread  on  any  level  from  a  point 
12  ins.  below  the  bottom  of  the  ties  to  a  point  4  ft.  9  ins.  above  top  of  rail. 
The  construction  of  the  high  wing  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  290 A,  where  it  is- 
shown  in  position  for  spreading  earth  horizontally  at  a  level  about  3  ft. 
above  top  of  rail.  The  wing  is  formed  of  plank,  faced  on  both  sides  with 


_ 


Fig.  290  B. — Torrey  High-Bank  Spreader  Car  Elevating  Material. 


Fig.  290  C.— Torrey  High-Bank  Spreader  Car  Leveling  Material. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  DOUBLE  TRACK  633 

boiler  plate,  and  is  attached  at  the  inner  end  to  a  heavy  plate  hinged  to  the 
lifting  post.  To  facilitate  the  adjustment  of  this  high-bank  wing  to  varying 
inclinations  the  wing  is  pivoted  to  the  end  of  a  diagonal  brace  arm,  which 
may  be  attached  by  means  of  a  pin  at  any  of  the  numerous  holes  which  ap- 
pear in  the  illustration.  When  it  is  desired  to  tilt  the  end  of  the  wing  up- 
ward for  plowing  dirt  to  a  level  higher  than  the  track,  the  inner  end  is  de- 
pressed and  made  fast  to.  the  hinged  plate  by  a  pin  connection. 

A  view  of  the  machine  in  operation,  plowing  dirt  up  to  a  level  about  4^ 
ft.  higher  than  the  track,  is  shown  in  Fig.  290B.  The  material  was  first 
plowed  from  flat  cars  by  a  Lidgerwood  unloader  and  train  plow,  and  then 
the  high-bank  leveler  was  pulled  along  with  the  wing  set  to  plow  the  material 
to  the  top  of  the  bank  already  in  process  of  formation,,  as  shown.  The  next 
step  consists  in  setting  the  wing  horizontally  to  spread  the  elevated  material 
across  the  bank.  This  operation  is  shown  in  Fig.  290C.  Figure  290D  is 
a  side  view  of  the  same  embankment.  The  men  seen  standing  in  the  picture 
give  the  reader  an  idea  of  relative  elevations. 


Fig.  290  D. — Completed  Work  Done  with  Torrey  High-Bank  Spreader  Car. 

The  advantages  derived  in  the  use  of  this  machine  are  quite  important. 
Eeferring  to  Fig.  290D,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  new  second  track  can,  if 
desired,  be  laid  6  or  7  ft.  higher  than  the  sub-grade  of  the  old  track.  Other- 
wise, to  get  the  new  track  up  to  this  level  it  would  be  necessary  to  first  con- 
struct it  and  then  raise  it  by  stages  and  place  the  material  underneath 
with  shovels.  Where  this  machine  is  used  the  new  bank  is  first  graded  to 
the  higher  level,  the  new  track  is  laid  thereon  and  surfaced  and  put  in  shape 
for  the  traffic.  The  old  track  is  then  lifted  and  blocked  up  on  old  ties  and 
the  material  is  dumped  and  plowed  over  with  a  spreader  car  to  fill  the  space 
underneath.  The  machines  have  worked  successfully  in  both  sand  and  heavy 
clay  material,  and  there  has  been  no  trouble  in  keeping  them  on  the  track. 
When  the  machine  is  in  service  it  is  operated  to  plow  up  each  train-load 
of  material  immediately  after  it  is  unloaded. 

In  filling  for  second  track  against  an  old  slope  it  is  a  good  plan  to  bench 
or  step  the  slope  by  plowing  furrows,  to  prevent  the  new  fill  from  sliding. 
Time  should  be  allowed  fills  made  for  second  track  to  settle  well  before 
laying  the  track,  because  where  such  is  not  done  it  is  difficult  to  keep  the 
track  in  good  surface  for  some  time  after  the  regular  trains  begin  to  use 
it. 

Tracks  lying  close  together  should  be  at  the  same  level,  and  th^y 
should  also  be  everywhere  a  standard  distance  apart.  The  most  convenient, 
and  certainly  the  clearest,  basis  for  measurement  between  the  two  tracks 
is  between  centers,  and  such  affords  the  most  logical  data  for  engineering 
calculations.  The  employment  of  a  certain  distance  between  rails  to  ex- 


G34  DOUBLE-TRACKING 

press  the  distance  between  the  two  tracks  is  rather  indefinite  and  unsatis- 
factory, for  the  width  of  head  in  rails  of  different  sections  varies.  A  stand- 
ard distance  between  centers  does  not,  however,  preclude  the  use  of  a  gage 
between  rails  in  lining  the  new  track  with  'reference  to  the  old.  Where 
the  two  tracks  are  parallel,  and  on  the  same  roadbed,  side  by  side,  and  the 
old  track  is  in  good  surface  and  alignment,  there  is  no  need  for  setting 
either  center  or  rail  grade  stakes  for  the  new  track.  Twelve  feet  between 
track  centers  gives  sufficient  clearance  between  trains,  and  on  some  roads, 
including,  among  others,  the  Boston  &  Maine,  the  New  York  Central  & 
Hudson  Kiver,  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  this  is  the  standard  distance; 
13  ft.  is,  however,  a  more  common  standard  distance;  and  on  a  few  roads 
(mostly  in  the  prairie  states)  14,  and  even  15,  ft.  is  standard.  Fourteen 
feet  gives  room  for  a  ditch  between  the  tracks,  and  some  'roads  ballasted 
with  dirt  are  provided  with  such  a  ditch.  The  distance  between  centers 
of  double  track  is  generally  and  preferably  made  a  convenient  measure- 
ment, like  an  even  foot  or  half  foot.  It  adds  to  the  appearance  of  things 


M 


-Y- 


Fig.  291. — Double-Track  Passing  Sidings. 

to  fill  in  full  between  tracks  with  ballast,  and  where  gravel  is  used  for  bal- 
last this  can  be  done.  It  also  makes  good  footing  for  flagmen  to  alight  upon 
when  dropping  from  moving  trains,  and  affords  a  supply  of  ballast  for  use, 
as  it  may  be  needed,  when  track  is  raised  and  surfaced. 

113.  Danger  to  Workmen. — There  is  one  aspect  of  double-track 
operation  which  is  not  so  pleasant  to  contemplate,  knowing,  as  all  do,  the 
freedom  with  which  pedestrians  habitually  use  the  track  almost  everywhere 
in  this  country.  It  is  very  seldom  that  any  one  is  struck  by  a  train  while 
walking  along  a  single-track  road,  because  when  a  train  approaches  one 
will  get  off  the  track  and  stay  off  until  after  the  train  has  passed.  On 
double  track,  however,  nine  people  out  of  ten,  if  walking  along  one  of  the 
tracks,  will,  at  the  approach  and  passing  of  a  train,  step  over  and  walk  along 
the  other  track.  The  result  of  such  negligence  is  a  frightful  loss  of  life. 
During  the  interval  between  some  little  time  before  an  approaching  train 
arrives  and  for  some  little  time  after  it  has  passed,  the  noise  from  it  will 
generally  drown  the  sound  of  any  other  train  which  may  be  approaching, 
or  even  whistling ;  so  people  who  "a're  occupying  one  track  while  a  train 
is  passing  on  the  other,  if  not  watching,  are  in  much  danger  of  being  struck 
by  another  train  if  it  should  come  at  this  time,  especially  where  the  latter 
is  on  the  outer  track  of  a  curve.  Many  track  hands  have  been  killed  in  this 
way.  It  should  be  a  rule  strictly  enforced  that,  under  no  circumstances 
will  any  employee  ~be  allowed  to  work,  walk  or  remain  on  one  of  the  main 


SIDINGS    FOR   DOUBLE   TRACK 

tracks  while  a  train  is  passing  on  an  adjacent  track.  Disregard  of  this  rule, 
so  obviously  essential  to  safety,  was  the  responsible  cause  of  the  wrecking 
of  a  passenger  train  with  a  track  jack,  on  the  Old  Colony  K.  B.,  at  Quincy, 
Mass.,  on  Aug.  19,  1890.  In  this  wreck  23  people  were  killed,  and  since,  in 
the  popular  misunderstanding,  the  fault  has  always  been  charged  to  the 
failure  of  the  track  jack  to  trip,  it  is  well  enough  that  the  facts  should  be 
stated.  The  jack  was  being  used  on  a  curve  while  a  train  was  passing  on 
an  adjacent  track.  In  this  situation  the  passenger  train,  running  fast,  got 
so  close  to  the  men  before  they  knew  of  its  approach  that  they  were  com- 
pelled to  jump  for  their  lives.  The  man  in  charge  of  the  jack  (who,  by  the 
wpy,  had  worked  on  the  track  only  a  few  days),  was  so  frightened  that  he 
jumped  without  even  attempting  to  'remove  the  jack.  The  locomotive  was 
derailed  to  the  outside  of  the  curve  and  thG  cars  crashed  into  it.  The  wreck 
was  therefore  due  to  no  ordinary  combination  of  circumstances. 

On  double  track  the  trackmen  should  also  be  on  guard  against  the 
movement  of  trains  in  the  reverse  direction,  which  is  sometimes  necessary 
when  one  of  the  tracks  is  blocked  by  a  wreck  or  other  obstruction.  The 
fact  that  such  movements  are  usually  of  seldom  occurrence  is  one  of  the  ele- 
ments of  danger.  On  double  track  the  danger  at  grade  highway  crossings 
also  is  imminent,  for  so  many  people  will  attempt  to  cross,  or  drive  a 
team  across,  just  as  soon  as  a  train  has  passed,  without  taking  due  care  to 
look  for  another  train  moving  on  the  other  track.  Wherever  the  public  is  in 
the  habit  of  walking  on  the  'track  a  good  way  to  stop  it  is  to  scatter  good- 
sized  lumps  of  broken  furnace  slag  over  the  track  and  on  the  shoulders 
and  between  the  tracks,  for  some  distance  in  each  direction  from  highway 
crossings.  Such  material  at  least  spoils  the  roadbed  for  a  bicycle  path. 

114.  Sidings  for  Double  Track. — Sidings  for  double  track  can  best 
accommodate  both  tracks  if  arranged  between  the  two,  as  then  a  single  siding 
may  serve  the  traffic  in  both  directions.  When  changing  from  single  to 
double  track  wrhere  lap  sidings  have  been  in  use,  such  sidings  can  be  made 
the  main  tracks  of  the  double  line  and  the  old  main  line  between  them  be 
used  for  a  siding  or  passing  track.  Figure  291  shows  two  ways  (R  and  M ) 
of  arranging  a  middle  passing  track  for  simultaneously  side-tracking  trains 
headed  in  opposite  directions.  In  arrangement  R  the  trains  pull  in  at  B 
and  D  and  out  at  E  and  F,  at  the  same  time,  without  interference;  and 
while  standing,  the  locomotives  of  the  two  trains  are  together  and  at  the 
telegraph  office  or  signal  tower — a  desirable  method  of  handling  trains ;  and 
the  switches  opposite  the  tower  axe  trailing  switches.  By  arrangement  M 
trains  pull  in  at  E  and  F  and  out  at  A  and  C  at  the  same  time,  without  in- 
terference, and,  while  standing,  the  cabooses  are  together  and  at  the  tower  or 
telegraph  office.  By  arrangement  R  the  switches  at  E  and  F,  being  under 
the  observation  of  the  telegraph  operator  or  leve'rman,  give  him  opportunity 
to  know  that  the  switches  have  been  closed  after  the  trains  have  left  the  sid- 
ing ;  whereas  by  arrangement  M  he  would  not  necessarily  know  this  unless 
the  distant  switches  at  A  and  C  were  operated  from  his  tower  or  under  con- 
trol from  that  point.  In  M,  the  switches  opposite  the  tower  are  facing 
switches.  In  case  more  than  one  train  moving  in  each  direction  is  to  be  ac- 
commodated the  siding  is  simply  made  of  length  to  correspond.  The  great 
convenience  in  locating  the  siding  between  the  tracks  is  that  in  case  of  a  rush 
of  freight  business  the  whole  -siding  capacity  for  both  tracks  may  be  used  by 
trains  running  in  either  direction  without  having  to  use  or  move  across  the 
other  main  track ;  but  in  order  to  effect  this  arrangement  in  M  the  facing 
switches  B  and  77  are  required,  which  is  an  objectionable  feature,  and  for 
which  reason  they  are  sometimes  omitted.  Arrangement  R  is  therefore  the 
preferable  one,  because  the  capacity  of  the  whole  siding  is  available  to  trains 
from  either  direction  without  introducing  an  extra  facing  switch. 


636  DOUBLE-TRACKING 

In  order  to  have  a  middle  siding  on  straight  line  one  or  both  main 
tracks  must  be  curved  reversely  at  each  end  of  the  siding,  for  which  and 
for  other  reasons  passing  tracks  are  often  located  outside  the  main  tracks,, 
as  shown  by  arrangements  Y  and  P.  The  difference  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  two  determines  simply  whether  trains  shall  pull  in  a.t  the  tower  or 
pull  out  at  the  tower,  the  relative  advantages  being  the  same  as  were  just 
explained  for  middle  sidings.  The  arrangement  with  a  middle  siding  occu- 
pies less  room  in  width  of  right  of  way  than  that  of  outside  sidings,  but  it 
does  not  permit  of  connection  with  branch  side-tracks  independent  of 
main  line,  as  do  outside  sidings.  Outside  sidings  also  afford  a  basis  for 
the  construction  of  third  and  fourth  tracks,  in  case  the  development  of  the 
road  proceeds  that  far.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  when  the  switches  opposite 
the  tower  are  operated  from  the  tower,  arrangements  R  and  P  permit  trains- 
to  pull  out  of  the  siding  without  stopping  to  close  the  switch,  and  arrange- 
ments M  and  Y  permit  trains  to  pull  into  the  siding  without  first  stopping 
to  open  the  switch,  either  arrangement  operating  to  facilitate  train  move- 
ments. 


Fig.  292. — Double-Track   Passing  Sidings. 

The  safest  but  least  expeditious  arrangement  of  double-track  passing 
sidings  is  to  lay  spur  tracks  leading  from  trailing  switches,  by  which  ar- 
rangement, of  course,  the  trains  must  back  into  the  siding,  as  when  using 
a  crossover,  which  is  habitually  laid  trailing  to  the  train  movements.  An 
arrangement  for  laying  a  double  middle  siding  with  all  switches  trailing 
is  shown  as  Sketch  1,  Fig.  292,  AC  being  a  crossover  and  BD  the  passing 
siding,  which  may  be  long  enough  to  hold  trains  backed  in  from  both  main 
tracks. 

In  both  of  the  sketches  P  and  Y,  Fig.  291,  the  crossover  is  located  with- 
in the  lap  of  the  outside  sidings.  If  it  is  intended  to  have  the  trains  pull 
in  at  the  tower,  as  in  Sketch  Y,  it  is  convenient  to  arrange  the  switches 
entering  the  sidings  to  face  each  other  and  stand  far  enough  apart  to  lay 
the  crossover  in  between,  as  in  Sketch  2,  Fig.  292.  In  emergency  this  ar- 
rangement permits  backing  a  train  over  from  either  track  into  the  siding  for 
the  other  track,  by  a  direct  movement,  and  when  pulling  back  again  the  train 
moves  straight  ahead  through  the  crossover.  Such  is  the  arrangement  of 
passing  sidings,  on  the  Philadelphia  division  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  E.  E. 
The  sidings  are  6000  ft.  long,  extending  each  way  from  a  crossover  which 
stands  opposite  an  interlocking  cabin,  from  which  the  crossover  and  the 
switches  entering  the  sidings  are  operated.  The  switches  at  the  outgoing 
ends  of  the  sidings  are  controlled  from  the  cabin  by  electric  locks.  In  con- 
nection with  this  lock  there  is  a  visual  signal  which  gives  the  indication  of 
the  right  of  a  train  to  leave  the  siding  for  the  main  track.  For  protec- 
tion against  fouling  main  line  at  the  .ends  of  these  sidings  there  are  the 
usual  derailing  switches,  and  as  the  main  line  is  protected  by  automatic 
semaphore  block  signals,  the  switches  are  electrically  connected  with  the 
block  system  to  show  "danger"  at  the  first  block  signal  in  the  rear  whenever 
a  switch  is  opened. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


TRACK  TOOLS. 


115. — Reports  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  show  that,  on 
the  average,  about  62  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  track  maintenance  is  repre- 
sented in  the  pay  rolls  of  the  section  men  and  foremen.  The  cost  for  labor 
in  track  maintenance  is  therefore  a  high  figure.  Now  nearly  all  of  the  time 
of  trackmen  is  necessarily  employed  in  work  which  involves  the  use  of  tools ; 
.and  hence  the  selection  of  proper  tools,  and  a  knowledge  of  how  they  should 
be  used  are  matters  of  great  importance  in  trie  expense  of  keeping  track  in 
repair.  By  looking  properly  to  these  things  a  newly  appointed  roadmaster 
may  sometimes  be  able  to  largely  reduce  the  expenses  of  his  department 
without  curtailing  its  effectiveness.  By  such  supervision  it  is  often  possible 
to  increase  the  output  of  labor  in  such  a  way  that  the  laborer  is  unconscious 
of  it.  A  poor  tool  will  discourage  even  a  good  man,  while  a  good  tool  gives 
a  lazy  man  no  excuse,  mental  or  otherwise,  why  he  should  not  do  fair  work. 
As  track  labor  is  usually  paid  about  the  lowest  rates  paid  for  any  labor,  it  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  all  men  will  take  an  enthusiastic  interest  in  the  work. 
Many  men,  after  they  get  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  work,  acquire  a  sort 
of  indifference  to  i't  and  naturally  fall  into  such  an  attitude,  between  the 
work  on  the  one  hand  and  the  vigilance  of  the  foreman  on  .the  other,  as 
affords  them,  on  the  whole,  the  greatest  ease  of  mind  and  body.  Such  being 
the  case,  it  is  highly  important  that  any  policy  or  measure  which  can  increase 
the  efficiency  of  the  work  in  spite  of  any  little  faults  common  to  human  na- 
ture, shall  be  taken  advantage  of.  Now  there  is  nothing  which  will  so 
induce  a  man  to  turn  out  good  work,  in  both  quantity  and  quality,  as  will 
-a  good  tool.  Out  of  curiosity  he  will  wish  to  "see  the  thing  work"  and  before 
this  curiosity  has  entirely  worn  away  he  will  have  established  a 'gait  which 
he  cannot  consistently  slacken. 

It  should  be  a  rule  with  roadmasters  to  provide  only  the  best  tools; 
keep  them  in  good  working  condition ;  teach  men  how  to  use  them ;  and  if 
they  are  ordinary  men  there  is  but  little  else  concerning  the  work  which  will 
need  special  attention.  The  first  cost  of  good  track  tools,  as  a  rule,  is  but 
little,  if  any.  more  than  that  of  poor  ones,  and  the  ultimate  cost  is  far  less. 
The  points  which  should  be  looked  after  in  selecting  tools  are  two :  first  of 
all,  tools  should  be  of  such  form  and  weight  as  will  best  adapt  them  to  the 
work  and  enable  them  to  be  handled  with  such  facility  that  there  can  be 
turned  out  a  maximum  of  work  for  the  time  they  are  in  use ;  and  secondly, 
tools  should  be  durable.  A  set  of  tools  which  would  work  well  on  one 
section  might  need  some  modification  in  apparently  minor  but  important 
particulars  to  adapt  them  to  the  work  of  another  section  where  the  condi- 
tions are  different.  Tools  should  be  as  light  as  is  consistent  with  the 
strength  of  the  material.  Reduction  in  the  weight  decreases  the  load  to 
be  carried  around  by  the  men  and,  as  many  tools  are  paid  for  by  the  pound, 
such  reduction  effects  a  direct  saving  of  expense  to  the  company.  On  the 
selection  of  tools  one  might  enlarge  to  a  great  extent.  Of  all  track  ques- 
tions that  laymen  are  sometimes  called  upon  to  settle,  they  never  get  farth- 
er at  sea  in  any  than  when  selecting  track  tools. 


638 


TRACK  TOOLS 


116.  Tools  Required. — Each  section  crew  should  be  supplied  with 
enough  tools  to  keep  each  man  busy  while  engaged  at  the  different  kinds 
of  ordinary  track  work,  and  there  should  be  some  to  spare  of  such  kinds  as 
usually  have  to  be  sent  away  at  times  for  repairs.  There  may  arise  special 
occasions  when  all  the  men  in  a  crew  will  need  certain  tools  of  the  same 
kind,  but  if  such  occasions  are  only  of  seldom  occurrence  it  is  not  worth 
while  to  provide  for  them.  Take,  for  instance,  the  matter  of  wrenches.  It 
is  seldom  that  more  than  three  wrenches  will  be  in  use  at  the  same  time  in 
a  crew  of  six  men,  for  the  reason  that  in  most  kinds  of  section  work  requir- 
ing the  use  of  the  wrench  there  will  be  other  parts  of  the  work  requiring 
the  use  of  hammers,  claw  ba'rs,  etc.  The  same  applies  also  to  the  gage. 
A  second  gage  may  lie  in  the  tool  house  for  years  unused;  and  besides,  a 
gage  is  very  easily  duplicated,  if  emergency  require.  A  narrow  strip  of 
board  notched  at  the  ends  to  fit  over  the  rail  heads  answers  very  well  for 
temporary  use. 

The  item  of  tools  for  a  whole  division  is  such  a  large  one  that  it  is  not 
advisable  to  place  on  each  section  all  the  tools  that  may  possibly  be  needed 
there  on  some  special  occasion.  Just  enough  to  answer  such  needs  as  have 
been  found  in  general  experience  should  be  furnished  and  no  more.  An 
over-abundance  of  tools  has  a  tendency  to  make  foremen  careless  of  them 
and  less  watchful  that  all  taken  out  of  the  tool  house  in  the  morning  get 
back  in  the  evening.  Tools  lost  will  be  most  diligently  looked  for  when 
such  deficiency  creates  a  shortage  in  the  number  necessary  to  supply  immed- 
iate needs.  At  headquarters,  however,  there  should  be  kept  a  sufficient 
supply  to  be  drawn  upon  as  tools  of  the  different  sections  become  broken 
beyond  repair,  worn  out  or  lost,  and  such  will  generally  answer  any  unusual 
demand  which  may  come  suddenly  in  case  of  washouts;  wrecks,  slides,  etc. 
Below  is  given  a  list  of  tools  supposed  to  be  a  sufficient  supply  for  a  section 
crew  consisting  of  a  foreman  and  6  men : 


Adzes 2 

Ax    (chopping)     1 

Hand  Ax 1 

Auger,  2-in 1 

Claw   Bars    2 

Crow  Bars 0 

Pinch  Bars    6 

Raising  Bar    1 

{Tamping  Bars    8 

Brace  and  Bits 1 

Brooms  (coarse)   2 

Brush   Hooks    2 

Hand   Car    1 

Push  Car  1 

Car  Chains   2 

Track  Chisels    12 

Cold  Chisels  . , 2 

Wood  Chise]      1 

Curving  Hooks    2 

Chalk  Line 100ft. 

Ditch  Line   150  ft. 

Drawshave    1 

Cups  or  Dippers   (tin)  2 

Files    2 

Flags,  red    4 

Flags,  green   2 

Ballast   Forks*    4 

Gage    1 


Grindstone    1 

Spike  Hammers 4 

Sledge  Hammer(16  Ibs)  1 

Striking  Ham'r  (10  Ibs)  1 

Nail    Hammer  (claw) .  1 

Ballast  Hammers*    ...  6 

Hatchet    1 

Hoe    (garden)    1 

Jack    (track)    1 

Switch  Key  1 

White    Lanterns     2 

Red   Lanterns    2 

Green  Lanterns   2 

Level  Board   1 

Spirit  Level   (pocket) .  3 

Switch  Locks  (extra) .  2 

Mattocks    2 

Oil  Can,  1  gal 1 

Oil    Can,    2   gals 1 

Squirt  Oiler 1 

Padlocks 2 

Picks    8 

Tamping  Picks*    8 

Hand  Punch  1 

Rake  (garden)   1 

Rail   Drill    1 

Drill  Bits  6 

Rule,    2   ft. 1 


Grass  Scythes 4 

Brush    Scythes    4 

Snaths  4 

Track    Shovels    8 

Scoop  Shovels   4 

Long-handle  Shovel. .  v   1 
Hack   Saw   Frame    ...  1 

Hack  Saw  Blades 12 

Hand  Saw 1 

Crosscut  Saw   1 

Screw    Driver    1 

Spade  1 

Steel  Square 1 

Tape  Line  (50  ft.  grad- 
uated to  tenths)    ...   1 

Rail  Tongs 4 

Tool  Box    1 

Tool  Checks   6 

Torpedoes  (with  box)   24 
Verona    Spike    Puller    1 

Vise  1 

Water  Pail   or  Jug. . .  1 

Weed  Scuffles 6 

Wheelbarrows   3 

Whetstones   4 

Wire  Stretcher    1 

Track  Wrenches   3 

Monkey  Wrench  (8-in.)  1 


*Needed  only  in  stone  ballast. 


SHOVELS  639 

A  few  extra  handles  for  spike  hammers,  picks,  axes  and  adzes,  and  an 
extra  white  and  extra  red  globe  for  the  lanterns  should  be  kept  on  hand 
at  all  times.  It  is  well  to  oil  wooden  handles  for  track  tools,  including  shove] 
handles,  before  they  are  used,  as  it  will  prevent  season  checking  and  render 
them  less  absorptive  of  water  when  exposed  to  rain.  In  a  wooded  country 
3  peavies  (K,  Fig.  309)  or  3  cant  hooks  (G,  Fig.  309),  and  5  or  6  iron 
wedges  for  wood  should  be  furnished  each  section.  Where  heavy  rocks  are 
liable  to  slide  or  roll  upon  the  track,  drills  or  jumpers,  powder,  fuse  and 
wedges  for  stone  should  be  kept  on  the  section.  Two  or  three  jim-crows 
should  also  be  kept  at  headquarters,  and  each  foreman  advised  to  send 
for  one,  if  needed,  and  to  return  it  when  he  is  through  with  it.  Sec- 
tions which  include  large  yards  or  numerous  switches  should  be  supplied 
with  a  rail  bender  or  jim-crow  each;  or  on  roads  where  the  switches  a're 
numerous  and  more  or  less  evenly  distributed,  a  jim-crow  might  be  fur- 
nished alternate  sections,  so  as  to  be  conveniently  accessible  to  each  crew 
when  wanted.  If  a  day  track-walker  is  employed  he  should  be  furnished 
with  a  spike  hammer  and  wrench,  each  of  lighter  weight  than  ordinary. 
Night  track-walkers  should  furnish  their  own  lanterns.  On  sections  where 
tie  plates  are  used  a  tie  plate  gage,  sets  or  followers  and  beetles  should  be 
furnished.  In  mellow  soil  at  least  one  post-hole  digger  should  be  supplied 
each  section.  On  sections  where  culverts  or  bridge  openings  are  liable  to 
be  obstructed  by  floods  a  half  dozen  pike  poles  and  150  ft.  of  1-in.  rope,  with 
single  and  double  blocks,  are  useful  appliances  at  times..  A  description 
of  the  most  commonly  used  tools,  with  remarks  upon  their  use,  now  follows. 

117.  Shovels. — First  in  importance  among  track  tools — traditionally 
so,  at  any  rate — is  the  shovel.  The  one  best  adapted. to  track  work  has 
a  short  handle  and  a  square-pointed  blade :  in  the  parlance  of  trackmen  it 
is  known  as  the  "Regulation  No.  2."  Its  appearance  is  so  generally  familiar 
that  it  need  not  be  illustrated  here,  but  a  reference  to  certain  features  of 
construction  and  the  dimensions  may  prove  of  value.  The  proper  size  of 
blade  is  about  12  ins.  long,  and-  .9^  or  10  ins.  wide  at  the  working  edge 
or  "point."  The  handle  should  be  about  27  ins.  long  (direct  measurement), 
from  the  top  of  the  blade,  and  so  crooked  that  when  the  blade  is  in  position  for 
filling,  on  a  level  surface,  the  end  of  the  handle  is  18  ins.  above  the  ground. 
This  is  the  hight  of  the  knee  of  a  man  of  ordinary  size  when  the  leg  is  bent 
as  in  the  act  of  shoving  the  blade  forward  to  fill  it.  When  a  handle  is 
crooked  or  hung  to  the  blade  in  this  manner  the  straight  part  of  the  handle 
makes  an  angle  of  about  33  cleg,  with  the  straight  or  flat  part  of  the  blade, 
which  refers  to  the  bottom  of  the  blade  for  a  length  of  about  6  ins.  from 
the  point.  Owing  to  this  angularity  of  the  handle  the  over-all  length  of  a 
shovel  with  parts  of  the  above  dimensions  is  about  38  ins.  The  diameter 
of  the  handle  is  about  1^  ins.  at  the  straps,  tapering  to  1J  ins.  at  the  tip. 
The  weight  of  such  a  shovel,  with  an  ash  handle  and  a  blade  3/32  in.  thick, 
is  5|  Ibs.  The  weight  should  not  exceed  6J  Ibs.  As  the  shovel  is  much 
used  for  tamping,- the  blade  should  be  stiff.  The  best  shovels  are  now  made 
from  a  single  piece  of  crucible  cast  steel,  the  blade,  socket  and  straps  all 
forming  one  piece,  without  weld  or  rivets.  The  thickness  of  the  blade 
for  light  work  is  1/16  in.,  but  for  railroad  service  it  should  be  at  least  3/32 
in.  or  about  No.  11  Brown  &  Sharp  gage.  The  blade  can  also  be  made  to 
increase  slightly  in  thickness  from  point  to  socket,  so  as  to  give  added 
strength  or  stiffness  where  the  strain  is  most  severe.  A  committee  of  the 
Roadmasters'  Association  of  America,  in  1894,  recommended  a  shovel  made 
from  one  piece  of  crucible  cast  steel,  with  "straps  strengthened  by  a  socket 
for  the  handle  extending  at  least  1  j  ins.  above  the  blade." 

Where  dirt  ballast  is  not  used  an  all-wood  handle  is  preferable  to  a 


640  TRACK  TOOLS 

wood  handle  with  a  malleable  tip.  For  adapting  shovel  handles  to  the 
work  of  tamping  dirt  ballast  several  forms  of  cast  or  malleable  iron  "D" 
tips  are  on  the  market.  One  form  (Jackson's  patent)  is  shown  in  Fig. 
293.  The  grip  is  hollow  and  is  formed  in  suitable  shape  for  tamping,  but  is 
rounded  at  the  corners  so  as  to  be  easy  on  the  hand.  These  metal  tamping 
tips  are  also  useful  in  repairing  broken  shovel  handles.  If  shovels  are 
properly  cared  for  they  will  not  be  left  out  in  the  rain  or  exposed  to  a  hot 
sun.  In  the  former  case  the  handle  will  swell  and  sliver  itself,  turn  out 
the  edges  of  the  straps  or  burst  the  rivets  and  loosen  the  straps.  In  hot 
sun  the  grip  is  liable  to  check,  get  loose  and  revolve  on  the  end  rivet 
to  the  annoyance  of  the  shoveler. 

Although  the  work  of  shoveling  with  a  short  handle  is  somewhat  severe 
on  the  back,  at  first,  men  can,  after  they  get  accustomed  to  it,  handle  a 
given  quantity  of  material  with  a  short-handle  shovel  more  easily  than  with 
one  having  a  long  handle.  The  blade  of  a  long-handle  shovel  is  not  as  large 
as  that  of  a  short-handle  shovel,  for  the  reason  that  a  man  cannot  lift  as 
much  material  with  a  long  handle  as  he  can  by  taking  hold  up  close  to  the 
load,  as  he  necessarily  does  when  using  a  short-handle  shovel.  A  long  han- 
dle has  to  be  griped  more  firmly  in  the  hands,  although  it  is  not  so  easy 
to  gripe  and  hold  as  is  the  short  handle ;  it  is  therefore  more  tiresome  to  the 
hands  and  arms  than  is  a  short  handle.  It  takes  up  room  and  does  not  per- 
mit as  many  men  to  work  in  a  given  space  as  the  short  handle  does.  Even 
laying  aside  track  work,  the  long  handle  is  inferior  to  the  short  handle 
anywhere  one  takes  it  except  in  digging  post  holes  and  deep,  narrow  ditches. 
Notwithstanding  such  considerations,  however,  some  roads  use  it  in  all  kinds 
of  track  work. 


Fig.  293.  Fig.  294.— The   Hamm  Claw  Bar. 


One  would  naturally  suppose  that  any  man  could  learn  to  shovel  dirt 
without  instruction;  but  such  is  not  the  case.  Some  men  tire  themselves 
out  at  it  and  still  do  but  very  little.  In  casting  material  with  a  shovel  there 
are  two  things  to  observe  in  order  to  make  the  work  easy:  the  shoveler 
should  continually  make  or  seek  a  horizontal  bed  upon  which  his  shovel 
may  be  easily  pushed  under  the  material,  the  end  of  the  handle  then  coming 
at  such  a  hight  that  the  back  of  the  hand  grasping  it  may  rest  against 
the  inside  of  the  leg  at  the  knee;  and  when  casting  an  ordinary  distance 
one  heel  should  be  kept  in  place.  If  one  is  casting  toward  the  'right  he 
should  keep  the  left  heel  in  place,  and  simply  turn  toward  the  right  by 
moving  the  right  foot  when  in  the  act  of  making  the  cast;  when  casting 
toward  the  left  he  should  keep  the  right  heel  in  place,  moving  only  the  left 
foot.  It  is  tiresome  to  keep  up  a  fair  gait  with  a  shovel  and  at  the  same 
time  to  be  needlessly  stepping  around.  Some  men  while  shoveling  will,  in 
addition  thereto,  in  the  course  of  a  day,  take  enough  unnecessary  steps  to 
walk  several  miles. 


PICKS  641 

A  shovel  worn  down  to  less  than  9  ins.  in  length  is  practically  worn 
out  fox  the  purpose  of  handling  material  or  tamping,  and  its  further  use 
becomes  unprofitable.  Every  day's  work  with  such  a  shovel  will,  compared 
with  the  use  of  a  new  tool,,  lose  to  the  company  at  least  one  third  of  the 
price  of  a  new  shovel.  After  laying  aside  enough  old  shovels  at  the  tool 
house  to  use  for  cutting  grass  in  the  track  the  rest  should  be  turned  in  to 
headquarters,  as  the  handles  might  be  of  further  service.  If  the  edge  of 
a  shovel  blade  turns  up  one  should  not  flatten  it  out  again  with  a  hammer, 
but  hold  the  blade  on  the  rail  and  take  a  square  cutting  across  it  with  a 
track  chisel,  cutting  off  also  the  sharp  corners  where  the  blade  turns  up 
at  the  side.  Each  man  should  be  allowed  to  have  his  own  shovel,  if  he  so 
desires,  as  he  will  then  be  more  interested  to  take  care  of  it.  The  cost 
of  shovels  in  track  repairs  is  a  large  item. 

The  long-handle  shovel  included  in  the  list  of  tools  is  for  digging  holes 
and  narrow  ditches,  and  should  be  round  pointed.  Scoop  shovels  are 
useful  for  handling  snow  and  cinders.  They  will  handle  snow  which  is 
quite  solidly  compacted  and,  under  such  conditions,  the  scoop  is  a  much 
better  tool  for  the  purpose  than  the  snow  shovel.  Snow  shovels  with  wooden 
blades  are  of  but  little  account  around  the  track.  A  snow  shovel  with 
wooden  handle  and  sheet  steel  blade  about  13  or  14  ins.  wide  and  13J  to  15J- 
ins.  long  is  a  good  tool  for  clearing  snow  from  depot  platforms  and  from 
side-tracks  and  other  places  where  the  snow  has  not  been  compacted,  but  for 
all  purposes  the  scoop  shovel  is  better.  Mention  has  heretofore  been  made 
of  the  ballast  fork,  for  handling  stone  ballast.  This  tool  is  similar  TO  a 
dungfork,  but  somewhat  larger  and  stronger,  and  with  closer  tines.  It  has 
a  track-shovel  handle  (Engraving  D,  Fig.  309).  The  standard  fork  adopted 
by  the  New  England  Headmasters'  Association  has  10  tines  13i  ins.  long, 
spaced  1  in.  apart,  the  width  of  the  fork  being  10£  ins.  The  Pennsylvania 
R.  R.  has  two  standard  ballast  forks,  one  being  12 J  ins.  wide,  with  14  .tines 
£  in.  wide  and  13^  ins.  long,  and  another,  for  coarser  material,  12  ins.  wide, 
with  eight  tines  5/16  in.  wide  and  13 -J  ins.  long. 

118.  Picks. — In  'railroading,  the  proverbial  mate  for  the  shovel  is 
the  pick.  The  kind  used  on  railroads  (A,  Fig.  295)  is  commonly  known 
as  the  "clay  pick."  One  end  should  be  wedge-shaped,  having  an  edge  about 
•f  in.  wide,  and  the  other  end  should  be  pyramidal ;  the  two*  ends  are  generally 
known  as  "wedge-pointed"  and  "pick-pointed,"  respectively.  The  wedge 
point  is  useful  for  pulling  ballast  from  the  sides  of  ties  in  preparation  for 
tamping  with  the  bars,  and  also  for  picking  material  which  is  not  very  hard 
OT  compact.  The  pick  point  is  made  for  picking  hard  material,  or  to 
enable  the  pick  to  hold  fast  when  struck  into  timber  or  ties,  without  breaking 
off  the  point — as  would  happen  to  the  wedge  point.  Picks  having  solid  cast 
steel  eyes  are  best,  as  they  do  not  split.  If  properly  made  of  wrought  iron, 
however,  they  answer  quite  well.  A  pick  made  of  iron  is  usually  formed 
by  welding  together,  over  a  properly  shaped  mandrel  to  form  the  eye,  two 
pieces  of  iron,  Jx2xl2  ins.,  and  drawing  out.  The  ends  or  points  are  made 
by  splitting  the  iron  and  welding  pieces  of  cast  steel  into  them.  The  eye 
should  be  oval,  2x3  ins.,  and  2^  or  3  ins.  deep.  The  length  of  a  new,  pick 
from  point  to  point  should  be  about  22  ins.,  and  when  worked  down  to 
about  18  ins.  it  should  be  pieced  or  drawn  out  again.  A  pick  longer  than 
22  ins.  is  rather  unwieldy,  and  one  less  than  18  ins.  in  length  is  too  short. 
A  weight  of  6^  or  6f  Ibs.  exclusive  of  the  handle  is  heavy  enough  for  a 
pick. 

A  pick,  to  work  well,  should  be  anchored  to  a  radius  of  about  32  ins., 
and  should  have  a  handle  3  ft.  long — which  is  the  usual  length.  The  anchor- 
ing of  the  pick  is  an  important  feature,  for  if  the  pick  is  straight  or  nearly 


642 


TRACK   TOOLS 


so  it  will  jar  the  user's  hands  in  working  it,  and  if  it  is  curved  too  much  the 
picker  cannot  strike  a  straight  blow.  When  the  pick  is  properly  anchored, 
the  secret  of  loosening  material  with  it,  if  the  material  is  not  too  hard  and 
compacted,  is  to  strike  and  draw  a  little  at  the  same  time.  Unless  the  ma- 
terial is  very  hard  there  is  no  necessity  for  swinging  the  pick  over  the 
shoulder  in  striking:  simply  raise  it  up  in  front  of  the  body  and  draw 
toward  yourself  as  the  point  enters  the  ground.  When  using  a  pick  for  a 
lever,  as  when  striking  it  into  a  tie  to  spring  a  rail,  one  should  pull  on  the 
free  end  of  the  pick,  so  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  bear  too  hard  on  the 
handle.  In  opening  out  a  tie  to  be  bar-tamped,  after  the  tie  has  been 
raised,  the  proper  way  is  to  strike  into  the  ballast  a  few  blows,  first  toward 
the  rail,  each  side  of  the  tie,  to  loosen  the  material,  and  then  turn  and 
draw  it  out  with  the  wedge-pointed  end  of  the  pick.  Picks  to  do  good  work 
must  be  kept  sharply  pointed.  When  it  is  inconvenient  to  send  them  to 
the  shop  they  may  be  easily  and  quickly  sharpened  for  a  few  times  by 
heating  in  a  fire  beside  the  track  and  drawing  out  the  point  with  a  spike 
hammer,  using  the  rail  for  an  anvil.  An  ingenious  foreman  or  section 
hand  ought,  after  practicing  once  or  twice,  to  be  able  to  give  the  metal  the 
right  temper. 

A  tamping  pick  differs  from  an  ordinary  pick  only  in  having  in  place 
of  the  wedge  point  a  tamping  head  or  rectangular  piece  of  steel  welded  on. 
A  head  2J  ins.  long  by  4  ins.  wide  by  about  f  or  f  in.  thick  at  the  edge  is 
a  common  size  for  this  tamping  end,  and  this  form  is  called  the  "T"  tamp- 
ing pick,  shown  by  Engraving  B,  Fig.  295.  The  standard  tamping  pick 
adopted  by  the  Headmasters'  Association  of  America  is  of  this  form.  It  is 
24J  ins.  long  from  tip  to  tip,  the  center  of  the  eye  being  12J  ins.  from 
the  pick  end  and  12  ins.  from  the  tamping  end.  The  tamping  head  is  2^ 
ins.  long,  4  ins  wide,  and  -J  in.  thick  on  the  striking  edge.  The  weight  of  the 
tool  without  the  handle  is  8J  Ibs.  Another  form,  known  as  the  (CV"  tamping 
pick  (C,  Fig.  295),  differs  from  it  slightly  in  having  the  tamping  end  of 


Fig.  295.— Various  Track  Tools. 


HAMMERS.  643 

the  pick  about  2J  to  3  ins.  wide  and  the  same  thickness,  but  drawn  out  grad- 
ually back  toward  the  eye,  instead  of  having  a  rectangular  piece  welded  to 
the  end  of  the  pick  proper.  It  gives  more  metal  to  draw  from  when  the 
pick  needs  repairing,  but  is  heavier,  weighing  about  9  Ibs.- 

Eyeless  picks  are  extensively  used.  This  pick-  is  constructed  of  one  solid 
bar  of  hard  steel,  to  the  middle  of  which  two  malleable  iron  lugs  are  riveted 
to  form  the  socket.  The  handle  is  held  in  the  socket  by  a  bolt  passing 
through  one  of  the  lugs  and  the  handle,  and  screwing  into  the  other  lug,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  301.  These  lugs  protect  the  handle  from  being  cut  when  strik- 
ing under  the  rail  with  the  pick,  and  if  the  handle  shrinks  and  gets  loose  it 
may  be  tightened  by  screwing  up  on  the  bolt.  The  mattock  (D,  Fig.  295)  is 
useful  in  cutting  roots  and  sod,  in  ditching,  and  in  other  rough  work  at 
.grubbing,  for  which  an  ax  is  not  suitable.  It  has  two  long  steel  blades,  one 
like  an  ax,  the  other  like  an  adz.  The  two  edges  thus  cut  in  planes  at  right 
angles  to  each  other,  the  "cutter"  being  4J  to  6  ins,  long,  with  a  3  or  3-J-in. 
•edge,  and  the  "hoe"  end  8  to  8J  ins.  long,  with  a  3J  to  4^-in  edge.  The  tool 
is  16  to  17  J  ins.  long  over  all  and  weighs  5  to  6  Ibs.  without  the  handle. 
The  eye  should  be  made  to  fit  the  common  pick  handle.  The  grub  hoe, 
which  is  a  mattock  minus  the  cutter, -is  not  as  useful  as  the  mattock  for 
railroad  work. 

119.  Hammers. — The  spike  hammer  or  maul  should  be  made  of 
*olid  steel.  The  blow  from  a  hammer  made  wholly  of  steel  is  more  effec- 
tive than  that  from  an  iron  hammer  of  equal  weight  faced  with  steel,  swung 
with  equal  force:  the  softer  material  in  the  body  of  the  hammer  has  the 
effect  of  cushioning  the  blow ;  that  is,  it  undergoes  more  compression  from 
the  reaction  of  the  blow  than  is  the  case  with  a  hammer  made  of  solid  steel. 
This  effect  is  most  noticeable  when  spiking  hardwood  ties  or  striking  chisels. 
The  best  weight  for  general  section  work  is  8  Ibs.,  without  the  handle. 
The  proper  length  for  section  work  is  about  lOf  ins.,  and  the  hammer  should 
be  double  faced,  the  two  ends  or  faces  being  circular  and  about  17/16  ins. 
and  |  in.  diameter,  respectively.  These  faces  should  be  almost  flat — that 
is,  but  very  slightly  convex — and  their  edges  or  circumferences  should  be 
rounded  off  but  very  little.  At  the  eye  the  cross  section  should  be  rectangu- 
lar, with  slightly  beveled  corners,  and  between  this  and  the  faces  the  metal 
should  be  nicely  drawn  out  so  as  to  meet  the  faces  without  beveling.  The 
shape  of  the  eye  is  oval,  and  the  usual  size  JxlJ  ins.  The  center  point  of 
the  eye  should  be  about  5  ins.  from  the  larger  face,  so  as  to  leave  the  other 
end  a  little  longer  for  reaching  spikes  behind  guard  rails.  Of  the  ham- 
mers shown  in  Fig.  295,  Engraving  H  illustrates  these  requirements  better 
than  Engraving  G.  For  track-laying,  where  heavy  blows  count,  a  hammer 
1  or  2  Ibs.  heavier,  or  one  weighing  9  or  10  Ibs.  (according  to  the  quality 
of  the  timber — soft  or  hard),  is  better;  and  there  is  some  advantage  to  be 
had  if  it  is  about  2  ins.  longer — say  12-|  or  13  ins,  long — because  then  the" 
•spiker  does  not  have'  to  stoop  so  low  in  delivering  the  blow.  For  general 
section  work,  however,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  spiking  which  does  not  require 
heavy  blows  continuously,  and  the  spiker  does  not  swing  the  hammer  over  his 
shoulder  so  frequently  as  in  continuous  driving  in  new  timber.  For  such 
purposes  the  9-lb.  hammer  is  too  heavy  and  a  hammer  12J  ins.  long  is 
somewhat  unwieldy  for  quick  work.  Men  who  do  a  good  deal  of  work  around 
switches  will  understand  what  I  mean.  In  a  general  way  it  may  be  said 
that  the  contractor,  whose  work  is  mainly  to  lay  track,  needs  a  heavier  and 
longer  hammer  than  the  one  most  serviceable  for  the  purposes  of  general 
section  work. 

Spiking  hammers  are  usually  made  from  2x2-in.  bars  of  cast  steel.  The 
eye  is  formed  by  first  punching  the  blank  with  a  taper  punch,  allowing  the 


644  TRACK  TOOLS 

stock  to  swell  out,  and  then  a  round  mandrel  is  inserted  in  the  hole  and 
the  blank  squared  up,  leaving  an  oval  hole.  The  ends  are  drawn  out  on  taper 
dies,  under  the  hammer.  Track  chisels  are  made  in  much  the  same  way. 
In  order  to  hang  the  handle  properly  it  is  important  that  the  eye  should 
be  straight  through,  or  perpendicular  to,  the  hammer  head.  If  the  hole  is 
not  just  true  it  may  be  corrected  by  putting  the  hammer  in  a  vise  and 
filing  the  hole  straight  with  a  round  file.  Another  hammer  of  quite 
different  shape  from  the  foregoing  is  used  to  some  extent.  The  center 
portion  for  a  length  of  about  5  ins.,  containing  the  eye,  is  of  square  section 
with  beveled  corners,  tapering  to  ends  of  circular  section,  as  shown  by 
Engraving  K,  Fig.  295.  The  faces  at  the  large  and  small  ends  are  about 
1|  and  1-J  ins.  diam.,  respectively,  the  usual  length  is  15  ins.,  with  the 
center  of  the  eye  8  ins.  from  the  larger  face,  and  the  weight  about  10  Ibs. 
These  hammers,  commonly  known  as  the  "Pittsburg"  pattern,  do  fairly  well 
in  track-laying,  but  are  ill  proportioned  for  general  section  work,  being  too 
long. 

Experienced  trackmen  differ  somewhat  in  their  views  regarding  the 
proper  shape  and  proportioning  of  hammers,  and  as  much  as  2  or  3  Ibs. 
in  weight.  Those  whose  ties  are  principally  or  wholly  of  hard  wood  will 
naturally  enough  select  the  heavier  hammers.  The  standard  handle  is  3  ft. 
long.  If  the  edges  of  the  face  get  battered  off,  the  face  should  be  repaired 
by  heating  and  dressing  .down.  A  face  too  convex,  but  otherwise  in  good 
condition,  may  be  flattened  down  by  holding  it  in  a  fixed  position  against 
a  grindstone.  Like  chopping  with  an  ax,  the  knack  of  driving  spikes  re- 
quires some  practice  before  good  work  can  be. done.  To  do  it  easily  a  man 
must  acquire  an  easy  swing,  using  the  full  length  of  the  handle,  and  be  able 
to  strike  accurately  without  walking  around  too  much.  Muscle-bound 
men  never  make  good  spikers,  because  they  always  measure  themselves  before 
striking ;  they  first  try  to  get  the  feet  into  some  certain  fixed  position,, 
and  thus  time  is  lost. 

Ballast  or  "napping"  hammers  are  for  breaking  stone.  They  should 
be  solid  steel,  about  5-J  ins.  long,  and  weigh  3  to  3J  Ibs.  Each  of  the  twa 
faces  should  be  about  1  or  1J  ins.  in  diameter,  or  octagonal,  and  the  faces 
should  be  quite  convex,  rather  than  flat  like  the  face  of  a  spike  hammer. 
The  handle  of  a  napping  hammer  is  made  small,  or  considerably  reduced 
in  section  near  the  head,  so  as  to  give  it  spring  and  save  it  from  splitting 
from  the  shock  of  the  blows,  and  to  prevent  stinging  the  striker's  hands. 
For  breaking  up  large  stones  a  12-lb.  stone  sledge  with  one  convex  face 
and  a  pein  end  (P,  Fig.  295),  somewhat  similar  to  a  mason's  hammer,  is- 
used. 

A  railroad  sledge  hammer  should  be  double-faced  (Engraving  S,  Fig. 
295)  and  weigh  about  16  Ibs.  For  striking  chisels  a  10  or  11-lb.  sledge 
makes  the  best  striking  hammer.  The  faces  being  large,  enables  one  to 
strike  a  fair  blow  which  does  not  hack  or  batter  the  head  of  the  chisel  as 
badly  as  does  the  ordinary  spike  maul,  which,  except  in  emergency, 
should  not  be  used  for  a  striking  hammer.  Sledges  and  napping  hammers, 
like  spike  hammers,  should  be  made  of  solid  steel.  An  ordinary  carpenter's 
nail  hammer  or  claw  hammer  is  a  tool  always  much  needed  in  section  work, 
but,  strangely  enough,  is  seldom  furnished.  A  track-walker's  hammer  should 
weigh  about  4  Ibs.  It  should  have  a  spiking  face  on  one  end  and  a  narrow 
adz  edge  on  the  other  end  for  digging  the  dirt  from  the  flangeway  in  cross- 
ings and  for  "bleeding"  the  ends  of  ties  that  are  "churning"  water. 

120.  Wrenches. — Track  wrenches  are  sometimes  made  of  1-in.  round 
iron,  with  head  and  jaws  of  steel,  about  f  in.  thick,  welded  on.  It  is  con- 
sidered better  practice,  however,  to  die-forge  the  tool  out  of  solid  steel,  and 


WRENCHES  645 

it  is  to  some  extent  the  practice  to  punch  the  material  out  of  old  steel  boiler 
plate.  Short  pieces  cut  from  the  ends  of  soft  steel  bars  in  the  car  shops 
are  also  worked  up  into  wrenches  and  tamping  bars  to  some  extent.  High 
carbon  steel  is  not  considered  good  material  for  track  wrenches,  as  the  ten- 
dency with  this  material  is  to  break  in  the  jaws.  In  order  to  catch  a  nut 
readily  the  jaws  should  be  no  longer  than  is  necessary  to  engage  the  corners 
of  the  nut.  Where  hexagonal  nuts  are  used  the  space  between  the  jaws 
should  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  nut;  or  at  any  rate  the  space  should 
be  so  curved  into  the  shank  that  an  apex  or  corner  of  the  nut  cannot  reach 
the  shank  and  interfere  with  the  proper  function  of  the  jaws.  A  track 
wrench  should  have  two  heads — one  on  each  end — for  several  reasons.  Al- 
most all  track  nuts  will  vary  in  size  slightly,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  gage 
one  pair  of  jaws  to  fit  them  all;  besides,  a  wrench  works  better  where  it 
fits  the  nuts  rather  loosely.  For  this  reason  the  jaws  on  one  end  should  be 
made  to  fit  the  standard  nut  snugly,  and  those  on  the  other  end  should  make 
a  loose  fit.  Such  a  wrench  will  answer  for  all  ordinary  variations,  and  it 
i?  a  much  better  arrangement  than  to  have  single-headed  wrenches  of  two 
different  gages;  or,  as  happens  in  some  cases,  to  have  no  wrench  at  all 
Avhich  will  fit  nuts  which  are  a  little  larger  or  smaller  than  the  standard, 
or  nuts  with  the  corners  sowewhat  worn.  Another  advantage  is  that  a 
double-headed  wrench  can  be  handled  with  greater  facility.  There  is  an 
easier  bearing  for  the  hands  and  the  wrench  is  balanced  better ;  for  the  rea- 
son that,  while  turning  on  a  nut,  many  turns  must  usually  be  given  before 
the  nut  turns  hard  enough  to  require  much  force  at  the  wrench  handle, 
and  hence  the  double-ended  wrench  has  weight  on  the  swinging  end  to  re- 
ceive momentum  from  the  applied  force  and  steady  the  motion  of  the  hands. 
Any  man  who  has  used  a  double-headed  wrench  will  readily  notice  how 
awkward  it  comes  to  afterward  use  a  single-headed  one.  It  is  quite  common 
practice  to  make  wrenches  single-headed  and  to  taper  down  the  last  3  or '4 
ins.  at  the  end  of  the  handle  to  a  smaller  size,  so  as  to  enable  it  to  be*thrust 
through  the  holes  in  splice  bars  to  bring  them  opposite  the  bolt  holes  in  the 
rail,  in  splicing.  This  form  is  not  a  good  one,  as  it  makes  the  wrench  too 
small  just  where  the  pressure  from  the  hands  comes  when  the  most  force 
has  to  be  exerted;  besides,  by  thrusting  the  wrench  through  bolt  holes  it 
usually  becomes  bent  and  cut  about  the  end,  thus  rendering  it  disagreeable  to 
handle.  A.  chisel  or  pinch  point  on  the  end  of  a  wrench  is  likewise  a 
nuisance. 

A  track  wrench  should  be  straight,  A  crooked  or  S-shaped  wrench 
handle  is  intended  for  use  around  machinery,  or  for  catching  a  nut  in  close 
quarters  which  cannot,  be  reached  by  a  straight  wrench,  for  lack  of  room. 
On  track  bolts,  where  there  is  clear  space,  it  is  not  as  serviceable  as  a 
straight  wrench,  for  it  cannot  be  so  conveniently  manipulated.  Track 
wrenches  are  often  made  too  long,  rendering  them  unwieldy  and  making  it 
possible  to  twist  off  or  break  bolts  without  the  application  of  much  strength. 
A  wrench  for  the  largest  bolts  should  not  be  longer  than  19  ins.  over  all. 
Wrenches  wholly  of  steel  can  be  made  considerably  lighter  than  those  com- 
posed partly  of  iron,  and  are  better.  The  usual  weight  is  about  5  Ibs.  A 
track-walker's  wrench  is  usually  made  flat  the  whole  length,  and  if  made  of 
the  best  cast  steel  it  need  not  weigh  more  than  3  Ibs.  If  a  wrench  is  but 
slightly  too  loose  for  the  nuts,  the  jaws  may  be  tightened  sufficiently  by  ham- 
mering the  shank,  cold.  Hold  the  shank  of  the  wrench  on  the  rail/edgewise, 
and  strike  it  a  few  smart  blows  just  far  enough  back  on  the  shank  not  to 
bend  the  jaws.  In  this  way  the  shank  is  squeezed  and  the  gage  of  the  jaws 
tightened  without  fracturing  them.  Wrenches  should  not  be  permitted  to 
become  worn  so  much  that  the  jaws  slip  appreciably  on  the  corners  of  the 


646  TRACK  TOOLS 

nuts.  Such  action  is  liable  to  break  the  wrench  and  it  spoils  the  nuts,  ren- 
dering them  unfit  for  further  service.  When  sending  a  wrench  to  the  shops 
for  regaging,  a  nut  of  the  proper  size  should  be  tied  fast  to  the  wrench. 

To  use  a  wrench  properly  one  should  stand  with  the  toe  of  the  shoe 
against  the  bolt  head,  to  hold  it,  and  work  with  the  wrench  across  the  rail, 
thus  affording  a  rest  for  the  wrench  head  while  catching  the  nut.  If  there 
is  anything  that  is  irritating  when  one  is  in  a  hurry  it  is  to  have  to  wait  on 
the  awkwardness  of  a  man  who  will  habitually  stand  on  the  same  side  of  the 
rail  with  the  nut  in  turning  it  on  or  off  with  a  wrench,  while  the  bolt  is 
wiggling  in  its  place,  there  being  no  rest  for  the  wrench  head,  so  that  at 
each  stroke  it  must  be  placed  on  the  nut  by  a  special  effort  with  both  hands. 

Ordinary  track  wrenches  will  not  fit  the  nuts  of  frog  bolts,  and  track- 
men often  resort  to  turning  them  on  or  off  by  striking  them  around  with 
hammer  and  chisel.  Where  a  considerable  number  of  bolted  frogs  are  in 
use,  wrenches  should  be  had  which  fit  both  the  nuts  and  heads  of  the  frog 
bolts;  and  where  thick  beveled  washers  are  not  placed  under  the  nut  and 
head,  so  that  they  stand  out  clear  from  under  the  head  of  the  rail,  the 
wrenches  ought  to  be  of  the  box  pattern. 

121.  Claw  Bars. — A  poor  claw  bar  is  a  provoking  thing,  because  it 
is  wasteful  of  both  time  and  effort.  In  order  to  pull  a  spike  with  reasonable 
rapidity  the  principal  thing  to  accomplish  is  to  readily  get  firm  hold  of  it, 
and  the  thing  of  next  importance  is  to  be  able  in  the  quickest  manner  to  get 
the  spike  started;  all  other  objects  which  might  be  desired  in  connection 
with  the  pulling  of  spikes,  if  combined,  are  not  so  essential  or  important  as 
these  two.  It  is  a  wrong  idea  to  sacrific  any  advantages  in  these  respects, 
no  matter  what  accomplishments  can  be  had  in  other  ways.  After  a  spike 
has  been  started,  even  as  little  as  -|  in.,  it  can  then  be  easily  pulled  by 
almost  any  kind  of  a  claw  bar,  because  a  better  hold  can  be  had,  and  also 
because  the  holding  power  of  the  spike  has  been  largely  reduced.  Xow  in 
order  to  get  firm  hold  of  a  spike  readily  the  claws  must  be  of  such  shape 
that  they  can  be  shoved  straddle  the  spike  and  under  its  head,  in  a  manner 
not  to  slip  back  and  let  go  when  force  is  applied  to  the  bar.  Owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  fibers  of  the  tie  are  often  broomed  about  the  head  of  the  spike, 
where  the  flange  of  the  rail  has  cut  into  them,  the  ends  of  the  claws  should 
be  cutting  edges  about  f  in,,  wide ;  not  necessarily  sharp,  but  such  an  edge 
as  can  be  thrust  through  or  into  the  wood,  so  as  to  get  the  claws  under  the 
head  of  the  spike.  Back  of  the  edges  the  claws  should  be  dished  out  be- 
tween and  on  top,  so  as  to  make  a  sort  of  notch  to  hold  the  head  of  the 
spike. 

Having  thus  provided  for  a  firm  hold  on  the  spike,  the  next  essential,, 
in  order  to  start  it  most  easily,  is  all  the  leverage  possible  for  a  proper 
length  of  bar.  This  means  a  short,  thick  heel,  turning  up  more  or  less 
abruptly,  so  that,  as  the  bar  is  revolved  on  the  heel,  the  leverage  will  not 
be  decreased  by  the  point  of  contact  moving  farther  away  from  the  ends 
of  the  claws.  Now  it  is  clear  that  the  leverage  of  a  claw  bar  which  turns 
up  at  the  end  by  a  long  curve  will  vary  widely  with  the  slant  of  the  bar, 
depending  on  how  far  the  spike  has  been  driven  into  the  tie,  and  the  shape 
of  the  surface  of  the  tie  just  back  of  the  spike;  and  depending  somewhat, 
also,  on  whether  the  tie  is  soft  enough  to  let  the  bar  crush  into  it.  Spikes 
in  soft  and  springy  ties  are  sometimes  as  hard  to  start  as  in  oak,  for  the 
reason  that  the  force  exerted  on  the  bar  crushes  or  compresses  the  fulcrum 
over  which  it  is  acting,  thus  cushioning  the  blow  or  force  applied,  which 
has  the  effect  of  prolonging  its  time  of  application,  thereby  diminishing 
the  intensity  of  the  instantaneous  applied  force;  at  the  same  time  it 
locates  the  heel  farther  back  on  the  bar  and  consequently  reduces  its  lever- 


CLAW   BARS  647 

age.  Ot  course,  ties  must  be  taken  as  they  are  found;  and,  consequently  in 
pulling  spikes,  any  drawbacks  which  arise  from  the  condition  of  the  tie  sur- 
face can  best  be  overcome  by  having  a  bar  which  as  nearly  as  possible  meets 
the  conditions  laid  down.  One  other  thing  besides  the  firm  hold  and  the 
leverage  aids  a  .great  deal  in  starting  a  hard-pulling  spike,  and  that  is  a 
stiff  bar.  A  bar  which  will  spring  considerably  when  force  is  applied  to  it 
in  pulling  a  spike  has  its  efficiency  for  pulling  reduced  in  the  same  manner 
as  when  pulling  on  springy  wood;  all  the  force  exerted  reaches  the  spike 
eventually,  but  the  springing  of  the  bar  lengthens  the  time  during  which 
the  force  is  applied,  and  makes  of  it  a  less  force  applied  more_  or  less  uni- 
formly during  several  instants  or  small  portions  of  time,  rather  than  a 
heavy  force,  applied  instantly  (or  nearly  so) ;  which  latter  force,  of  course, 
has  the  greater  starting  effect  on  the  spike. 

From  experience  with  many  types  of  claw  bars  I  have  concluded  that 
.the  one  which  most  nearly  fulfills  the  requirements  above  noted  is  the  old- 
fashioned  straight  claw  bar,  often  called  the  "bull's  foot"  bar;  which  term 
quite  nearly  expresses  the  snape  of  the  bar.  This  bar  answers  more  re- 
quirements which  determine  for  speed  in  pulling  spikes  than  any  other 
with  which  I  am  acquainted.  No  bar  as  yet  devised  has  been  able  to  an- 
swer all  the  purposes  which  might  be  desired  for  it.  The  question  of  a 
proper  form  of  claw  bar  is  one  of  great  importance,  and  it  has  been  discussed 
for  a  great  many  years  in  conventions  of  track  officials.  Thousands  of 
men  have  exercised  their  ingenuity  in  trying  to  design  an  all-around  claw 
bar,  but  no  change  in  the  "bull's  foot"  has  been  made  without  impairing 
one  or  more  of  its  three  important  features;  viz.,  the  readily-griping  and 
firmly-holding  claws,  the  short  heel,  and  the  possibility  of  making  the  bar 
stiff.  The  importance  of  combining  these  three  features  in  one  bar  has  in 
cases  been  so  far  overlooked  that  many  worthless  products  have  been  turned 
out.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  properly  shape  a  claw  bar,  but  it  is  a  tool  well 
worthy  of  considerable  attention. 

Two  objects,  especially,  men  have  sought  to  accomplish  in  designing 
claw  bars :  to  pull  the  spike,  either  at  a  single  stroke,  or,  at  any  rate,  without 
having  to  place  a  fulcrum  or  "bait"  under  the  heel  of  the  bar  after  the 
spike  has  been  partly  drawn,  in  order  to  pull  it  the  remainder  of  the  way 
out ;  and  to  pull  the  spike  all  the  way  out  at  one  stroke  without  bending  it. 
Neither  of  these  objects  has  been  accomplished  by  a  bar  which  is  equal 
in  efficiency  to  the  plain  straight  bar.  An  idea  having  the  first  object  in 
view  is  to  place  a  U-bend  in  the  bar  back  of  the  claws,  to  serve  as  a  fulcrum 
after  the  spike  has  been  started.  Such  a  bend  introduces  the  principle  of 
the  tuning  fork  and  makes  the  bar  quite  springy,  unless  an  amount  of 
metal  be  placed  in  the  bend  such  as  would  make  the  bar  enormously  heavy. 
In  one  form  of  claw  bar  of  the  "goose-neck"  type  the  U-bend  extends  back- 
ward from  the  claws,  so  that  in  getting  hold  of  the  spike  the  bar  must  be 
held  in  a  vertical  position,  or  nearly  so,  thereby  affording  the  operator  no  op- 
portunity to  throw  his  weight  upon  it.  Another  form  of  this  type  quite  wide- 
ly known  is  the  Hamm  bar,  invented  about  1883  by  an  employee  of  that 
name  in  the  service  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.,  where  it  was  first  introduced. 
The  method  of  using  the  bar  is  m'ade  quite  plain  in  Fig.  294.  In  the  posi- 
tion of  the  bar  at  starting  the  spike  the  bend  is  upward.  After  the  spike 
has  been  started  and  pulled  part  way  out  the  bar  is  reversed  and  the  pulling 
is  completed  by  using  the  bend  for  a  fulcrum. 

A  long  curve  at  the  end  of  a  claw  bar  has  the  objection  of  locating 
the  heel  too  far  away,  as  heretofore  explained,  and  requires  also  that  the  bar 
at  starting  the  spike  must  stand  nearly  perpendicular  to  the  tie,  so  that  the 
operator  must  necessarily  pull  on  the  bar  instead  of  being  able  to  throw  his 


TRACK  TOOLS 

weight  down  upon  it.  A  bar  having  a  pointed  heel — that  is,  a  heel  formed 
into'  an  edge  or  corner — will  bend  a  spike  while  drawing  it  only  part  way, 
because  the  corner  of  the  heel  bites  into  the  tie  and  holds  it  (the  heel)  in  one 
position,  so  that  the  head  of  the  spike  as  it  comes  out  must  revolve  about 
the  heel  as  a  center,  whereas  it  should  move  upward  in  a  straight  line.  A 
short  heel  curved  properly  will  turn  around  just  enough  in  pulling  a  spike 
to  lift  it  straight  out,  as  far  as  the  spike  «an  be  lifted  at  each  stroke.  Figure 
296  is  about  my  idea  of  a  properly  designed  claw  bar.  The  claws,  to  be 
strong,  must  be  short  without  being  so  blunt  that  they  cannot  be  readily 
thrust  under  the  head  of  the  spike;  and  to  hold  the  head  firmly  they  should 
be  close  together;  say  f  in.  for  ordinary  9/1Gx9/16-in.  spikes.  At  their  ex- 
tremities, however,  the  claws  should  be  about  11/ie  or  f  in-  apart,  depending 
a  good  deal  on  whether  the  kind  of  spike  in  use  is  enlarged  in  the  neck. 
Considerable  material  must  be  distributed  about  the  claws  and  for  a  foot 
or  so  above  them,  to  give  strength.  The  width  of  the  bar,  taken  just  above 
the  claws,  should  be  about  2J  ins.,  and  the  depth  through  it  at  the  heel, 
ins.  The  angle  which  the  main  part  of  the  bar  makes  with  the  under 


Fig.  296.— Bull's  Foot  Claw  Bar.  Fig.  297.— Verona  Spike  Puller. 

sides  of  the  claw  should  be  about  50  degrees.  From  the  heel  the  bar  should 
curve  away  in  cross  section  to  about  1J  ins.  square  (corners  beveled  or 
rounded  off)  at  8  or  9  ins.  from  the  claws,  and  then  gradually  down  to  1J 
ins.  round  at  the  end  of  the  bar.  The  bar  need  not  be  longer  than  4  ft.  10 
ins.  over  all — just  long  enough  to  reach  over  the  opposite  rail  when  pulling 
spikes  inside  the  track.  A  long  bar  lacks  stiffness.  The  weight  of  such  'i 
bar  as  is  here  described  is  about  30  Ibs.,  which  is  heavy  enough.  A  short 
bar  of  given  weight  is  stronger  than  a  longer  one  of  same  weight,  and  is 
more  easily  handled. 

It  is  sometimes  the  practice  to  weld  cast  steel  or  crucible  tool  steel 
claws  into  an  iron  or  soft  steel  bar,  but  it  is  better  to  have  the  claws,  heel, 
and  several  inches  of  the  bar  one  piece  of  steel,  if  welding  of  different  mate- 
rials is  done  at  all.  In  considerable  practice  the  entire  bar,  including  the 
claws,  is  made  out  of  soft  steel. 

Pulling  spikes  is  the  hardest  kind  of  work,  and  the  easier  one  tries  to 
make  it  the  harder  does  it  become.  If  the  spike  head  is  down  pretty  close 
to,  or  against,  the  face  of  the  tie,  or  into  the  broomed  edge  of  the  rut  cut 
by  the  rail  flange,  turn  the  bar  over  and  chip  away  the  wood,  by  jabbing 
into  it  with  the  ends  of  the  claws;  or,  if  the  spike  head  and  tie  face  are 
covered  with  grease,  throw  some  sand  around  the  spike  or  crush  a  pebble 
or  chunk  of  cinder  thereon  with  the  bar.  The  bar  should  be  grasped  with 
the  right  hand  at  about  15  ins.  from  the  claws  (right-handed  man)  and  with 
the  left  hand  near  the  other  end,  'raised  high,  so  that  the  bar  stands  50  or 


CLAW  BARS  649 

60  degrees  with  the  tie  face.  Then,  standing  close  up  to  the  spike  and 
nearly  over  it,  by  a  well  aimed  thrust,  drive  the  claws  forcibly  straddle  the 
spike  and  under  the  head.  If  the  claws  are  of  good  steel  there  need  be  no 
fear  of  breaking  them.  When  a  firm  hold  is  had,  raise  slightly  the  end  of 
the  bar  with  the  left  hand,  bring  the  right  hand  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
bar,  and,  by  a  quick  move,  shove  the  bar  down,  at  the  same  time  throwing 
considerable  weight  of  the  body  with  the  arms.  A  hard-pulling  spike  must 
be  started  by  a  heavy,  sudden  jerk  of  the  bar;  it  cannot  be  started  easily 
by  a  steady  push  or  pull.  The  operator  should  always  stand  over  his  bar. 
One  cannot  exert  much  force,  nor  do  it  so  easily,  by  pulling  down  on  the  end 
of  the  bar ;  besides,  if  the  bar  slips  or  the  spike  head  breaks  off  the  operator 
is  liable  to  take  a  tumble,  with  the  bar  on  top  of  him.  After  the  spike  is 
started,  give  the  bar  a  push  or  two  and,  when  within  a  foot  or  so  of  the 
ground,  push  it  farther  down  by  stepping  on  it  with  the  foot  at  about  the 
middle  of  the  bar,  throwing  the  weight  of  the  body  thereon.  A  straight 
bar  will  not  pull  a  spike  more  than  half  way  out  at  one  stroke,  and  if  the 
tie  is  quite  solid  another  stroke  must  be  taken,  using  a  fulcrum  or  "bait." 
In  old  ties,  however,  the  spike  may  usually  be  pulled  at  one  stroke.  After 
the  spike  has  been  pulled  as  far  as  it  can  be  at  a  single  stroke,  hold  the 
bar  at  an  angle  of  about  30  degrees  with  the  tie,  suddenly  jerk  the  claws  up 
against  the  head,  and  in  three  cases  out  of  four  the  spike  will  come  out; 
or,  if  pulling  outside  the  rail  at  a  place  where  the  ballast  is  not  filled  in 
against  the  ends  of  the  ties  level  with  the  tops,  after  the  spike  is  started 
shove  the  bar  down  forcibly,  catch  it  with  the  foot  and  keep  it  going  right 
on  down  over  the  end  of  the  tie,  and  generally  the  spike  will  fly  into  the  air. 
One  need  not  be  a  bit  timid  as  to  how  he  uses  a  well-made  claw  bar  so  long 
as  he  uses  it  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  pulling  spikes. 

Now  in  pulling  spikes  with  such  a  bar — that  is,  a  straight  bar — there 
is  no  need  of  bending  the  spikes.  If  the  spikes  pull  hard  all  the  way  out, 
a  stone  or  block  of  wood  about  2  ins.  thick  should  be  used  for  a  fulcrum ; 
and,  by  catching  the  spike  head,  after  it  has  been  started,  with  the  ends  of 
the  claws  in  line  with  the  body  of  the  spike  instead  of  shoving  the  claws 
under  the  head  so  far  that  they  take  hold  at  the  point  of  the  head,  the  spike 
can  be  pulled  straight  out  in  two  strokes.  There  is  no  need  of  having  an 
extra  man  along  to  hold  a  spike  hammer  or  pick  for  a  fulcrum.  A  lively 
man  can  raise  the  bar  with  one  hand  while  he  places  the  fulcrum  under  with 
the  other;  but,  as  stated,  in  three  cases  out  of  four,  while  pulling  spikes 
from  ordinary  ties,  he  will  need  no  fulcrum.  An  aid  in  starting  spikes  in 
sound,  oak  ties,  or  in  freezing  weather,  is  to  give  the  spike  a  slight  tap  down 
with  a  hammer,  before  attempting  to  pull.  It  is  almost  painful  to  witness 
the  contortions  of  some  men  in  pulling  spikes.  Men  green  at  the  business 
usually  waste  much  strength,  unless  well  instructed,  and  lazy  men  are  liable 
to  get  their  necks  un jointed.  The  latter  invariably  go  about  the  work  as 
through  the  claw  bar  was  the  thing  at  fault  instead  of  themselves.  Wher- 
ever one  sees  two  men  pulling  on  one  claw  bar,  or  a  man  holding  the  bar 
while  another  is  pounding  the  heel  with  a  hammer  to  drive  the  claws  under 
the  head  of  the  spike,  it  is  a  pretty  sure  indication  that  either  a  different 
kind  of  bar  is  needed  or  a  different  kind  of  man. 

Where  there  is  not  'room  to  use  a  claw  bar,  as,  for  instance,  behind 
guard  rails,  spikes  may  be  pulled  by  a  sharp  pinch  bar,  the  spike  being 
started  by  thrusting  the  point  of  the  bar  under  the  head  of  the  spike.  Such, 
however,  is  a  slow  and  tedious  operation.  A  special  tool  for  griping  the 
heads  of  spikes  behind  guard  rails,  or  in  other  places  where  there  is  not 
sufficient  room  to  use  a  claw  bar,  is  made  by  the  Verona  Tool  Company.  It 
is  used  in  connection  with  an  ordinary  claw  bar,  and  is  a  labor-saving  device. 


650  TBACK  TOOLS 

It  consists  of  a  single  straight  piece  of  steel  about  9J  ins.  long,  formed  into 
solid  jaws  on  one  end  for  griping  the  spike  head,  and  into  two  knots  or 
bulges  at  and  near  the  other  end  for  engaging  with  the  claw  bar.  When 
pulling  the  spike  the  claw  bar  rests  on  the  top  of  the  rail,  as  in  Fig.  297. 
The  stem  is  1  in.xj  in.  in  section,  the  jaws  f  in.  thick  and  the  opening  of  the 
jaws  j  in.  It  is  simple  and  light,  not  being  much  larger  than  a  track 
spike,  and  no  section  crew  should  be  without  one.  For  elevated  roads, 
where  guard  rails  or  guard  timbers  are  usually  close  to  the  rail,  a  special 
form  of  bar  for  pulling  spikes  is  generally  used.  The  Manhattan  Elevated 
Ey.,  of  New  York,  uses  a  bar  with  a  curved  foot,  to  the  end  of  which  there 
is  hinged  a  shackle  with  solid  jaws  to  catch  the  head  of  the  spike.  The 
curved  foot  rests  on  the  rail,  while  the  spikes  are  being  pulled.  The  arrange- 
ment works  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  use  of  the  Verona  device  with  a 
claw  bar,  except  that  the  stem  of  the  jaws  is  hinged  to  the  bar  instead  of 
fitting  in  between  the  claws. 


Fig.  298.  Fig.  299. 

A  form  of  shackle  bar  in  common  use  for  pulling  drift  bolts  in  bridge- 
work  is  an  ordinary  pinch  bar  with  a  hinged  shackle  near  the  point,  as  in 
Engraving  H,  Fig.  309,  the  bar  taking  hold  by  slipping  the  shackle  over  the 
end  of  the  bolt  and  placing  a  fulcrum  under  the  heel  of  the  bar.  A  shackle 
bar  known  as  the  Lewis  "drift  bolt  and  spike  puller"  is  shown  in  Figs. 

298  and  299.    It  takes  the  form  of  a  heavy  pinch  bar,  with  a  hinged  foot 
or  shackle,  and  a  sleeve  which  slides  along  the  bar  and  regulates  the  opera- 
tion of  the  shackle  in  connection  with  the  bar  proper.    In  Fig.  298  the  device 
is  displayed  as  a  spike  puller  or  claw  bar.    The  length  of  the  shackle  is  such 
that  it  may  be  thrust  between  the  rail  and  guard  timber  or  guard  rail  and 
engage  the  spike  without  such  interference  as  is  experienced  with  the  ordi- 
nary claw  bar.     By  setting  the  sleeve  thumb  screw  the  shackle  is  held 
rigidly  immovable  with  the  bar  proper.    By  loosening  the  sleeve  and  tilting 
the  bar  forward,  with  the  shackle  in  the  position  shown  in  Fig.  299,  the 
sleeve  may  be  slipped  farther  down  on  the  bar,  so  as  to  hold  the  bar  at  a 
new  inclination  with  the  shackle — that  is,  the  inclination  is  changed  from 
an  obtuse  to  an  acute  angle.     By  this  arrangement  the  bar  is  permitted  a 
wider  range  of  movement  in  front  of  the  guard  timber  or  guard  rail.    Figure 

299  displays  the  arrangement  of  the  parts  for  pulling  drift  bolts.     The 
sleeve  is  moved  upward  on  the  bar  and  clamped  in  a  position  which  holds 
it  clear  of  the  shackle.    The  drift  bolt  or  other  rod  is  then  engaged  between 
the  point  of  the  bar  proper  and  an  inner  edge  of  the  shackle,  in  a  clutch- 
like  manner.    The  device  will  pull  a  nail  of  any  size,  track  spike,  ship  spike, 
bridge  or  drift  bolt,  with  or  without  head.    The  length  of  the  bar  is  4  ft.  6 
ins.  and  the  weight  28  to  30  Ibs.     The  Mogul  spike  and  drift  bolt  puller, 
shown  as  Engraving  M,  Fig.  295,  consists  of  a  pair  of  jaws  hinged  to  a  head 


PINCH   BARS 


651 


to  which  is  pivoted  a  bar  with  a  heavy  lug  which  wedges  between  the  j 
at  the  back  and  forces  them  tightly  together  at  the  pulling  side  when  force 
is  exerted  on  the  bar.  The  jaws  are  the  fulcrum  of  the  bar.  It  is  intended 
for  use  in  pulling  track  spikes,  drift  bolts,  boat  spikes  from  crossing  plank 
or  track  spikes  without  heads.  By  letting  go  of  a  spike  that  has  been 
pulled  part  way  out  and  raising  the  bar  a  new  hold  can  be  taken  on  the 
spike  lower  down,  so  that  by  repeating  the  process  the  spike  can  be  pulled 
straight  up.  It  is  drop-forged  from  steel  and  is  5  ft.  long. 

122.  Pinch  Bars. — The  working  end  of  a  bar,  whether  it  be  drawn  to 
an  apex  or  to  an  edge,  is  known  as  the  "point."  Plain,  straight  bars  are 
pointed  in  several  ways,  each  kind  of  bar  taking  its  name  from  the  way  it 
is  pointed.  A  wedge-pointed  bar  is  generally  known  as  a  "crow  bar;"  and 
a  bar  with  a  common  chisel  point,  a  track  "pinch  bar" — as  distinguished 
from  another  form  of  pinch  bar  which  has  both  a  round  end  and  a  sharp 
edge  or  heel,  used  exclusively  for  "pinching"  or  starting  cars.  A  diamond- 
pointed  bar — that  is,  one  the  end  of  which  is  drawn  to  an  apex,  like  a 
right  pyramid,  so  that  the  apex  is  on  the  axis  of  the  bar — is  called  a 
"bridge"  or  "timber"  bar;  if  the  end  of  the  bar  is  formed  as  an  oblique 
pyramid,  so  that  the  apex  or  point  lies  in  the  plane  of  one  of  the  sides  of  the 
bar,  it  is  called  (but  for  no  special  reason)  a  "lining"  bar.  To  make  these 
descriptions  entirely  clear,  perspective  and  end  views  of  each  kind  of  bar 
are  shown  in  Fig.  300. 


W  B      MJ    n 

ABOD 

Fig.  300. — Various  Ways  of  Pointing   Bars. 


Fig.  301. — Eyeless  Pidg- 


in track  work  a  lever  or  plain  bar  of  proper  form  answers  a  great 
variety  of  purposes.  There  is  scarcely  any  piece  of  work  undertaken  where 
such  a  tool  is  not  needed.  The  form  of  bar  which  gives  best  satisfaction  is 
the  pinch  bar.  The  question  o?  a  proper  form  of  point  for  bars  used  in 
track  work  is  of  the  highest  importance,  and  expensive  track  work  is  often 
chargeable  to  ignorance  of  this  fact.  As  proof  that  such  ignorance  pre- 
vails to  some  extent,  one  may  sometimes  see  trackmen  working  with  crow 
bars.  Now  a  crow  bar,  as  such,  is  of  no  special  use  in  track  work,  and  the 
only  use  for  it  anywhere  is  for  jabbing  holes  into  the  ground  for  driving 
fence  posts.  A  crow  bar  can  be  used  in  lining,  but  for  any  other  purpose  on 
track  it  is  indeed  an  irritating  thing.  It  has  been  so  customary  with  many 
to  use  the  term  "lining"  bar  for  any  kind  of  bar  used  as  a  lever  in  throwing 


652  TKACK   TOOLS 

or  lining  track,  whether  it  be  a  crow  bar,  pinch  bar,  or  other,  that  it  is  not 
generally  understood  by  the  term  just  what  kind  of  bar  is  really  meant. 
The  term,,  however,  is  unfortunate,  when  applied  to  any  special  form  of 
bar,  because  the  pinch  bar  is  the  best  for  lining  track,  on  account  of  the 
bearing  surface  it  presents  at  its  extreme  end  when  prying  against  the 
ground  or  the  ballast — which  is  important  in  throwing  track.  A  crow  bar 
used  flatwise  the  point  gives  the  same  bearing,  but  its  tendency  is  to  slip 
back,  whereas  a  pinch  bar  tends  to  catch  and  hold  when  the  prying  force 
is  exerted.  Some  prefer  a  bar  like  that  shown  as  Engraving  E,  Fig.  300, 
because  it  can  be  poked  through  the  ballast  easily.  Such  advantage,  how- 
ever, is  unimportant,  for  there  is  no  difficulty  in  this  respect  with  a  pinch 
bar  kept  reasonably  sharp.  If  there  was  any  material  advantage  to  be 
gained  in  this  respect,  a  point  like  that  shown  at  D  would  be  superior  to 
any;  but  either  are  poor  points  for  holding  against  any  ballast  except 
broken  stone.  A  bar  for  nipping  or  pinching  rail,  ties,  etc.,  is  in  continual 
demand,  is  indispensable,  and  none  but  the  pinch  bar  so  well  answers  such 
purposes.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  keep  its  point  in  working  condition,  be- 
cause it  is  broad  and  strong,  whereas  a  point  like  that  shown  at  E  would 
soon  break  off  while  nipping  or  prying  under  rails,  and  thus  render  the  bar 
worthless  for  this  purpose  until  repaired.  As,  in  any  case,  it  would  be  im- 
practicable to  have  differently  pointed  bars  for  all  the  different  uses,  it  is 
fortunate  that  the  pinch  bar  answers  best  for  each  and  every  one  of  them; 
and  none  other  should  therefore  be  used. 

The  pinch  bar  should  be  as  light  as  is  consistent  with  strength.  As  it 
is  a  tool  which  must  be  picked  up  frequently  and  swung  around  and  handled 
quickly,  any  excess  in  length  makes  it  cumbersome,  and  besides,  the  longer 
the  bar  the  larger  must  it  be  made  in  cross  section  in  order  to  withstand 
bending  in  service.  Four  feet  9  ins.  is  about  the  length  at  which  a  bar  can 
be  made  stiff  enough  to  withstand  all  one  man  can  exert  in  throwing  track, 
and  at  the  same  time  be  not  too  heavy  to  handle  for  other  purposes.  A  bar 
of  this  length  should  weigh  about  20  Ibs.  Beginning  at  the  point  it  should 
be  1J  ins.  square  for  about  16  ins.,  1J  ins.  octagon  for  16  ins.  more,  and 
taper  off  to  11/16  ins.  round  in  the  remaining  25  ins.  One  can  accomplish 
more  with  a  bar  of  this  length  and.  weight  than  with  a  longer  one  weighing 
25  to  30  Ibs.  The  difference  becomes  very  appreciable  where  a  man  has  to 
carry  a  bar  for  several  hours,  and  swing  and  thrust  with  it,  as  in  lining 
track,  or  even  to  pick  it  up  quickly  for  a  moment's  use  every  little  while, 
as  when  laying  a  turnout,  or  while  using  it  in  tie  renewals,  etc.  It  is  a  mis- 
take to  make  a  bar  heavy  at  one  end  and  taper  it  off  to  J  in.  or  smaller  at 
the  other.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this.  In  the  first  place,  anything 
less  than  1  in.  in  diameter  is  too  small  to  grasp  in  the  hand  and  agreeably 
exert  strength  against.  A  man  will  unconsciously  lift  most  on  the  bar 
which  gives  his  fingers  the  most  comfortable  hold.  If  the  end  of  the  bar 
is  small  enough,  it  will  be  used  in  the  bolt  holes  in  rails  and  become  badly 
cut,  in  time,  and  thus  rendered  disagreeable  to  handle.  Too  much  weight 
at  one  end  makes  a  bar  unhandy  to  pick  up  and  swing  around  at  light  work. 
Moreover,  in  lining  track  where  the  ballast  is  soft  and  the  bar  is  thrust  far 
in,  it  will  be  bent  near  the  middle,  if  light  at  this  point.  While  the  distri- 
bution of  metal  in  one  end  of  the  bar  should  be  something  more  than  at 
the  other  end,  it  should  not,  for  the  reasons  stated,  greatly  preponderate 
over  the  weight  at  the  middle.  The  bar  which  can  be  handled  with  greatest 
facility  is  the  one  which  most  nearly  balances  in  the  hand  when  picked  up  at 
or  near  the  middle.  Another  mistake  sometimes  made  is  to  point  both 
ends  of  the  bar ;  and  the  same  applies  also  to  pointing  the  ends  of  claw  bars 
(sometimes  done  for  chipping  wood  from  around  the  heads  of  spikes)  and 


TAMPING   BARS  653 

tamping  bars.  For  handling  timber,  both  ends  of  a  bar  should  be  pointed, 
one  end  having  a  long  or  sharp  diamond  point,  but  in  track  work  there  is 
but  little  or  no  use  for  such,  and  it  is  actually  detrimental  to  the  servicea- 
bleness  of  the  bar.  Men  will  handle  somewhat  timorously  any  tool  which  has 
a  sharp  point  or  edge  continually  pointing  toward  them.  The  end  of  a 
pinch  bar,  tamping  bar  or  claw  bar  which  is  uppermost,  in  ordinary  usage, 
should  be  nicely  rounded  off,  so  as  not  to  be  unpleasant  to  grasp.  Men 
who  have  not  handled  these  tools  much  might  think  such  matters  of  little 
account. 

Solid  steel  pinch  bars  are  best,  but  if  the  bar  is  made  ofiron  it  should 
have  a  hard  steel  point  or  tip  welded  on.  The  point  should  be  very  slightly 
turned  up,  and  its  length  should  be  about  If  times  the  thickness  of  the  bar. 
Iron  bars  are  easiest  'repaired,  when  broken.  A  very  good  pinch  bar  is 
made  by  cutting  off  to  right  length,  and  pointing,  a  piece  of  octagon  steel 
bar  of  1-J  inches  short  diameter.  While  not  quite  as  stiff  as  a  bar  having 
the  same  amount  of  metal  distributed  as  above  described,  so  that  one  end 
of  the  bar  is  heavier  than  the  other,  and  of  square  cross  section,  it  is  quite 
stiff  enough,  and  is  more  agreeable  to  handle  than  any  other  bar ;  besides, 
it  is  not  far  from  the  right  weight  (16  Ibs.),  and  it  is  cheap.  Many  pre- 
fer this  kind  of  bar  to  any  other. 

One  of  the  best  tests  of  the  worth  of  a  trackman  is  to  observe  how  he- 
handles  himself  when  using  a  pinch  bar.  It  is  a  tool  with  which  much  can 
be  made  to  move  if  one  uses  it  easily  and  with  intelligence.  Some  men,  if 
about  to  lift  a  rail  slightly,  will  persistently  attempt  to  pry  it  loose  from 
the  tie  to  which  it  is  spiked,  instead  of  nipping  it  upon  a  tie  which  is  not 
spiked;  and  such  men  as  are  in  the  habit  of  lifting  ties  by  prying  over  a 
fulcrum  which,  is  12  to  1.8  ins.  or  farther  from  .the  end  of  the  bar,  or  who 
will  attempt  to  raise  track  by  taking  a  "lubber  lift"  under  the  rail,  should 
be  taught  (if  possible)  the  simple  principles  of  the  lever. 

123.  Tamping  Bars. — The  tamping  bar  is  frequently  made  too 
heavy.  It  should  not  weigh  more  than  10  Ibs.,  and  it  should  not  be  longer 
than  5  ft.  3  ins.  over  all.  The  handle  should  not  be  more  than  f  in.  in 
diameter ;  if  of  steel  it  need  not  be  more  than  11/16  in.  diameter.  Soft  steel 
is  the  best  material.  A  bar  of  the  latter  size  is  more  severe  on  the  hands 
than  one  of  larger  diameter,  but  this  is  easily  remedied  by  holding  a  piece 
of  leather  in  the  hand  which  grasps  the  end  of  the  bar.  As  tamping  is  very 
severe  on  the  hands,  anyhow,  until  after  one's  hands  become  very  callous, 
many  use  a  glove  or  piece  of  leather  on  one  hand  at  all  times,  with  any  size 
of  handle.  A  very  good  arrangement  for  making  the  bar  easier  on  the  hands 
is  an  enlargement  of  the  handle  at  the  end,  the  end  being  formed  by  weld- 
ing on  a  6-in.  piece  of  1-in.  pipe,  plugged  at  the  end,  thus  making  the  bar 
of  agreeable  size  where  it  is  grasped,  without  adding  appreciably  to  the 
weight  of  the  bar.  The  pan  or  tamping  head  of  the  bar  should  be  steel, 
about  3£  ins.  long,  3J  ins.  wide  and  -J  in.  thick.  Where  the  track  is  old  and 
the  bed  hard,  having  been  well  kept  up,  so  that  the  lift  when  tamping  is 
small,  the  pan  should  be  drawn  down  to  f  in.  on  the  striking  edge;  for  new 
track  the  thickness  should  be  J  or  f  in.  The  handle  should  be  straight, 
except  near  the  pan,  where  it  should  be  reversely  crooked,  so  that  a  man 
may  stand  nearly  erect,  with  his  feet  between  the  ties,  and,  by  swinging 
the  bar  at  arm's  length,  the  arms  hanging  downward,  be  able  to  drive  the 
pan  of  the  bar  under  the  tie  horizontally.  The  pan  ought  to  make  an  angle 
of  about  35  degrees  with  the  direction  of  the  handle.  The  flattening  of  the 
end  of  the  tamping  bar  handle  into  a  spade  for  removing  ballast  from  the 
side  of  the  tie  is  not  approvable.  In  compacted  gravel  or  other  ballast  such 
an  arragnement  amounts  to  but  little  or  nothing,  and  in  any  kind  of  bal- 


654  TRACK  TOOLS 

last  the  pick  is  a  superior  tool  for  this  purpose,  as  heretofore  stated.     A 
handle  of  such  form  is  a^o  worked  with  less  facility  and  comfort, 

The  knack  of  working  a  tamping  bar  with  ease  and  effect  is  to  let  it 
swing  at  arm's  length,  as  stated  above,,  and  not  to  strike  with  it  as  one 
would  handle  a  spear  in  spearing  fish ;  at  the  same  time  it  should  be  given 
force  by  raising  it  vertically,  as  it  is  withdrawn,  and  allowing  it  to  fall  as 
it  swings  toward  the  tie.  The  practice  of  holding  a  tamping  bar  in  front 
of  the  chest  and  striking  with  it  from  the  shoulder  is  very  tiresome.  Rap- 
idity  in  tamping  depends  on  the  gait  rather  than  upon  the  force  of  the 
blow,  altogether,  and  for  this  reason  the  bar  should  not  be  as  heavy  as 
some  make  it.  Any  man  who  will  order  a  tamping  bar  made  with  a  handle 
$-  in.  in  diameter  and  a  head  4  ins.  wide,  the  tool  weighing  12  or  13  lbsv  if 
obliged  to  use  it,  would  certainly  change  his  mind.  In  order  that  the  work 
may  be  effectively  done,  the  ballast  between  the  ties,  when  tamping,  should 
be  kept  at  least  as  high  as  the  lower  edge  of  the  tie,  in  order  to  form  a  back- 
ing to  hold  in  the  material  which  has  been  hardened.  Tamping  bar  han- 
dles should  be  kept  clean  and  free  from  abrasions.  Rust  can  be  .quickly  re- 
moved from  the  handle  by  drawing  it  a  few  times  back  and  forth  through 
a  heap  of  gravel  or  cinders.  To  keep  the  handle  from  heating  to  an  un- 
comfortable temperature  while  not  in  use,  as  during  the  noon  hour  on  hot 
•days,  it  may  be  run  into  the  ground  or  into  a  heap  of  ballast. 


Fig.  302. — Jackson  Tamping  Bar  for  Dirt  Ballast. 

Tamping  bars  with  wooden  handles  are  used  to  some  extent.  The 
Hoxie  patent  tamping  bar  has  a  wooden  handle  about  the  size  of  a  pitch- 
fork handle,  and  the  tamping  part  is  made  of  cast  steel  with  a  socket,  into 
which  the  wooden  handle  is  fitted.  It  is  so  heavy  and  clumsy,  however, 
that  it  is  not  as  desirable  to  use  as  a  bar  with  a  smaller  iron  handle  made 
all  in  one  piece  in  the  usual  way.  The  Jackson  tamping  bar  (Fig.  302) 
has  a  gas  pipe  handle  combined  with  a  malleable  tamper,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  securing  strength  and  rigidity  without  excessive  weight.  'The 
tamping  head  is  an  adaptation  of  the  special  shape  in  the  Jackson  tamping 
handle  tip  for  shovels  (Fig.  293).  In  dirt  or  sand  ballast  a  bar  of  this 
kind  ought  to  do  goo'd  service.  A  tool  called  a  "puddle"  is  sometimes  used 
for  tamping  gravel,  cinders,  dirt  ballast,  or  sand.  It  is  essentially  a  tamp- 
ing pick  with  the  pick  end  of  the  tool  cut  off  near  the  eye.  There  is  real- 
ly but  little  or  no  demand  for  a  tool  of  this  kind,  because  the  tamping  bar 
or  shovel  is  better  adapted  for  tamping  in  all  kinds  of  ballast  except  brok- 
en stone  or  slag,  in  which  materials  the  tamping  pick  is  used  to  best  effect. 

124.  Chisels. — A  track  chisel,  or  track  cold  chisel,  when  new,  should 
be  about  8  ins.  long,  so  that  there  may  be  plenty  of  material  to  work  upon 
a.s  the  tool  becomes  blunted  and  wears  away.  The  center  of  the  eye  should 
be  about  3  ins.  from  the  striking  face,  and  the  eye  should  be  punched 
squarely  through  the  chisel.  The  head  or  upper  portion  should  be  about 
1|  ins.  square,  in  cross  section,  with  corners  beveled  and  tapered  toward 
the  top,  and  the  cutting  edge  about  1£  ins.  long.  The  chisel  is  made  wholly 
of  tool  steel  and  its  weight  is  3f  to  4J  Ibs :  a  bar  l^-xl^xG  ins.  will  make 
one.  Much  care  is  needed  in  tempering,  so  as  to  get  the  metal  hard  enough, 
and  still  not  so  hard  as  to  be  brittle.  The  edge  or  cutting  end  should  be 
sharp,  but  rather  bluntly  drawn  out;  a  chisel  drawn  out  thinly  near  the 


RAIL  SAWS  655 

edge  will  easily  fracture.  In  using  a  chisel  for  the  first  time  after  sharpen- 
ing, it  is  well  to  play  lightly  upon  it  for  a  few  blows.  In  frosty  weather  the 
chisel  should  be  warmed  over  a  fire  before  using.  Chisels  cut  faster  and 
last  longer  if  a  little  oil  is  applied  while  the  rail  is  being  cut.  Chisels  which 
become  dulled  without  fracturing  or  breaking  away  at  the  edge  may  be 
sharpened  on  the  grindstone  for  a  few  times,,  or  until  the  end  becomes  so 
blunt  as  to  require  drawing  out.  In  repairing  chisels  both  ends  should  re- 
ceive attention,  fo'r  frequently  the  striking  face  will  need  truing.  Many 
a  man  has  lost  an  eye  in  being  struck  by  a  flying  piece  of  steel  from  a  track 
chisel,  and  danger  of  this  kind  is  always  greatest -where  the  striking  face  of 
the  chisel  is  in  a  battered  or  ragged  condition.  Steel  is  not  so  liable  to 
fly  from  a  chisel  that  is  being  struck  by  a  sledge  hammer  as  from  one  struck 
by  a  spike  hammer,  because  the  face  of  the  sledge  is  large  enough  to  more 
than  cover  the  face  of  the  chisel ;  and,  being  large,  is  not  so  liable  to  miss 
or  make  a  glancing  blow.  Old  hammer  handles  cut  into  pieces  12  or  15 
ins.  long  make  good  handles  for  chisels.  It  is  important  that  the  eyes  of 
track  chisels  should  be  uniform,  so  that  the  same  handle  will  fit  them  all. 
The  handle  should  fit  the  chisel  just  snugly  enough  to  hold  it  steady  while 
being  struck,  but  not  tightly.  A  handle  that  is  driven  in  tightly  will 
sting  the  holder's  hands  every  time  the  chisel  head  is  struck  an  unfair  blow. 

125.  Rail  Saws. — On  certain  occasions  there  is  no  more  convenient 
or  cheaper  method  of  cutting  rails  than  with  a  hack  saw.  In  order  to  cut 
a  rail  with  the  chisel  it  is  necessary  to  first  take  the  rail  out,  if  it  be  in  the 
track,  while  with  the  hack  saw  this  need  not  be  done.  And  then,  about 
the  shortest  piece  that  can  be  cut  from  the  end  of  a  'rail  successfully  with 
hammer  and  chisel  is  3  ins.,  whereas  with  the  hack  saw  a  piece  of  any  length 
from  J-  in.  up  may- be  taken  off.  It  frequently  occurs,  therefore,  that  the 
use  of  the  hack  saw  can  save  the  expense,  waste  and  inconvenience  of  hav- 
ing to  cut  two  rails  in  order  to  fill  a  gap  a  little  shorter  than  the  standard 
rail  length.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  case  a  piece  of  rail  29  ft.  10  ins.  long 
was  required,  most  trackmen,  if  provided  with  no  other  cutting  tool  than 
the  chisel,  would  use  two  nieces  of  about  a  half  rail's  length  each,  making 
a  cut  for  each  or  perhaps  utilizing  a  piece  already  on  hand  and  making  a 
cut  for  the  other.  For  want  of  a  convenient  means  of  cutting  off  very 
short  pieces  of  rail  (1  to  3  ins.)  foremen  will  sometimes  back  the  adja- 
cent rails  into  the  joint  openings  to  gain  space,  so  as  to  use  a  whole  rail 
and  avoid  the  cut;  but  since  such  practice  interferes  with  the  allowance 
for  expansion  it  is  not  approvable. 

The  hack  saw  (C,  Fig  309)  consists  of  a  small  toothed  blade  of  hard 
•steel  fitted  into  an  adjustable  frame  resembling  the  frame  of  a  meat  saw. 
Ten  inches  is  a  common  length  of  blade,  but  for  cutting  rails  heavier  than 
f>0  Ibs.  per  yd,  the  length  should  be  12  ins.  The  blades  cost  but  a  few  cents 
?ach,  and  if  carefully  used  a  single  blade  will  make  an  entire  cut.  Wa- 
ter is  the  best  lubricant  to  use  on  the  saw  while  cutting.  For  use  at  stub 
-switches,  when  moving  rails  run  tight,  it  is  exceedingly  serviceable.  A 
small  piece  may  be  cut  off  the  end  of  a  rail,  in  place  in  the  track,  in  a  few 
minutes,  without  obstructing  the  track,  and  one  man  can  do  the  work.  No 
section  having  stub  switches  should  be  without  hack  saws. 

Portable  rail-sawing  machines  operated  by  hand  are  being  extensively 
used.  The  Bryant  rail  saw  is  shown  in  Fig.  303.  The  circular  saw  is  hol- 
low ground  and  is  turned  by  gearing  which  drives  a  sprocket  wheel  engag- 
ing with  the  back  sides  of  the  teeth.  Two  men  are  required  to  turn  the 
-cranks.  The  frame  of  the  machine  is  clamped  to  the  rail  by  adjustable 
jaws  and  the  saw  is  fed  into  the  rail  automatically.  The  machine  is  made 
in  different  sizes,  the  diameter  of  the  saw  ranging  from  16  to  20J  ins.  and 


656 


TRACK  TOOLS 


the  weight  of  the  machine  from  250  to  285  Ibs.  The  frame  is  revolvable 
on  its  vertical  axis,  so  that  both  square  and  miter  cuttings  can  be  made. 
The  lubricant  .for  the  saw  is  a  thin  oil,  which  drips  from  a  pot  provided 
with  a  faucet,  as  shown.  A  fair  estimate  of  the  time  required  to  cut  a 
rail  with  this  machine  is  stated  to  be  (in  minutes)  the  weight  of  the  rail  in 
pounds  per  yard  divided  by  five,  or  15  minutes  for  a  75-lb.  rail.  Each  ma- 
chine is  provided  with  a  small  grinding  attachment  for  sharpening  the 
teeth.  In  the  Smith  portable  rail  saw  (Fig.  304)  the  blade  has  a  pendu- 
lum movement  and  is  operated  by  two  levers,  like  a  hand  car.  The  frame 
of  the  machine  is  clamped  to  the  rail  by  the  revolving  wedge  A,  the  bolt  R 
and  a  sliding  hook.  The  saw  can  be  quickly  raised  or  lowered  by  the  hand- 
wheel,  but,  when  cutting,  it  is  fed  automatically.  The  saw  is  kept  taut  or 
rigid  in  the  swinging  frame  by  the  straining  nut  E.  Soap-suds  is  the  lubri- 
cant used.  The  weight  of  the  machine  is  120  Ibs. 


Fig.  303.— Bryant  Rail  Saw.  Fig.  304.— Smith  Rail  Saw, 

For  cutting  rails  at  a  skew,  as  at  miter  joints,  some  kind  of  rail  saw 
is  needed;  otherwise  the  joint  at  the  cut  end  of  each  piece  of  rail  used  in 
the  track  must  be  squarely  cut,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  cut  off  the  skew 
end  of  the  whole  rail  meeting  at  such  a  joint — or  two  cuts  for  one,  in  many 
cases.  On  some  roads  where  skew  joints  are  used  it  is  the  practice  to  make 
square  cuts  when  laying  pieces  of  rail,  while  on  others  a  rail  saw  is  used 
to  cut  the  rail  at  the  proper  angle  to  match  with  the  skew  or  miter  end  of 
the  rail  that  is  not  cut.  Rail-cutting  machines  are  rather  too  costly  to  be 
furnished  each  section,  and,  besides,  they  require  more  careful  handling 
than  track  tools  usually  get.  It  is  advisable,  however,  to  have  one  or  mo're- 
of  these  machines  on  hand  at  the  headquarters  of  each  division,  to  be  sent 
to  points  where  a  good  deal  of  turnout  laying  or  other  work  involving  rail 
cutting  is  to  be  done,  and  to  furnish  one  to  each  yard  section  crew,  float- 
ing gang  and  wrecking  car. 

126.  The  Gage. — For  general  purposes  the  ordinary  plain  wooden, 
gage  with  metal  lugs  is  the  best.  A  piece  of  Ijx2-in.  seasoned  ash  shod 
with  cast  iron  or  brass  end  lugs,  set  into  the  wood  their  thickness  and  well 
screwed  fast,  is  about  the  proper  thing.  It  should  be  handled  with  more 
care  than  iron  tools  usually  get,  and  should  be  frequently  tested.  For 


TRACK  GAGES 


657 


Fig.  305.— McHenry  Adjustable  Track  Gage. 


Fig.  306. 


this  purpose  two  metallic  lugs  or  blocks  of  wood  may  be  screwed  fast  to 
a  board  on  the  sdde  of  the  tool  house,  inside,  at  proper  distance  apart, 
where  they  are  not  liable  to  be  disturbed,  to  serve  as  a  gage  tester.  A 
gage  tester  used  on  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  is  a  piece  of  rail  about 
-6  ft.  long  with  the  head  taken  out  between  two  saw  cuts  4  ft.  SJins.  apart. 
A  piece  of  IJ-in.  iron  pipe  with  two  lugs  welded  on  makes  a  durable 
.gage.  In  one  form  of  iron  or  steel  pipe  gage  each  end  of  the  pipe  is  shrunk 
upon  an  iron  plug  which  projects  beyond  the  pipe  and  carries  the  gaging 
lug.  The  change  in  length  of  such  a  gage  between  40°  F.  below  zero  and 
150°  F.  above,  is  only  about  .07  in.  At  either  of  these  extremes  the  vari- 
ation in  length  from  that  at  average  temperature  would  then  be  only  about 
.035  in.  It  is  somewhat  heavier  than  a  wooden  gage,  but  not  so  liable  to 
be  broken  or  get  out  of  adjustment.  In  another  form  the  piece  of  pipe 
or  cross  bar  is  screwed  into  malleable  end  pieces  forming  the  lugs.  No 
form  of  all-metal  gage  can  be  used  on  track  divided  into  insulated  sections 
ior  block  signal  service,  since  it  completes  .the  electrical  circuit  between 
opposite  rails,  the  same  as  a  car  axle.  To  interrupt  the  metallic  connec- 
tion between  the  rails  the  continuity  of  the  metal  is  broken  by  a  piece  of 
wood  spliced  to  the  two  parts  forming  the  cross  bar  of  the  gage.  One 
tool  of  this  kind  is  the  Sheffield  pressed  steel  insulated  gage  of  inverted 
TJ-section,  illustrated  by  Fig.  323.  The  tool  is  pressed  from  a  single  sheet 
of  steel  and  is  light  and  strong.  The  central  open  part  or  cross  bar  of 
the  gage  is  filled  with  wood,  thus  materially  strengthening  it  without  adding 
more  than  a  trifle  to  its  weight. 


Fig.  307. — Huntington  Track  Gage. 

For  convenience  and  accuracy  in  gaging  curves  of  widened  gage,  a 
tool  is  sometimes  provided  with  an  adjustable  end,  which  can  be  set  to 
measure  any  desired  gage  within  the  limits  of  widening.  A  tool  of  this 
kind  should  be  used  only  on  curves,  if  used  at  all,  since  the  adjustable 
feature  involves  the  work  in  risk  of  mistake.  It  would  therefore  seem 
preferable  to  use  a  gage  the  lugs  of  which  are  rigidly  set  to  the  standard 
measure  for  straight  line,  and  for  widened  gage  on  curves  to  use  a  shim 
of  proper  thickness  in  connection  with  the  standard  gage.  On  the 
Atehison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  gages  with  adjustable  ends  for  use  on 
curves  are  painted  red,  as  a  distinguishing  mark  to  remind  the  foreman 
of  the  necessity  of  looking  carefully  to  the  proper  adjustment  of  the  tool 
for  the  curve  on  which  it  is  being  used.  An  adjustable  gage  designed  by 
Mr.  E.  H.  McHenry,  when  chief  engineer  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Ey.,  is 
provided  at  one  end  with  steel  shims,  each  J  in.  thick,  which  are  revolvable 
about  the  axis  of  the  gage,  but  in  standard-gage  work  are  turned  up  out  of 
the  way  and  clamped  to  place  in  a  fixed  position,  by  a  thumb-screw,  a? 
shown  in  Fig.  305.  When  it  is  desired  to  widen  the  gage,  the  proper  num- 
ber of  shims  to  adjust  for  the  required  amount  of  widening  are  turned 
down  in  front  of  the  gaging  lug  and  clamped  to  place.  In  the  practice 
of  one  road  where  this  gage  is  used  on  curves,  one  shim  is  turned  down  for 


658  TRACK  TOOLS 

each  increase  in  curvature  of  3  deg.,  and  the  five  shims  provided  allow 
gaging  for  all  curves  up  to  15  deg.  On  easement  curves  an  additional 
shim  is  turned  down  for  each  3  deg.  of  curvature  progressively,  until  the 
full  maximum  is  reached.  An  enlarged  view  of  the  adjustable  end  is  shown 
as  Fig.  306.  The  late  Mr.  Eichard  Caffrey,  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E., 
was  the  designer  of  a  gage  on  which  one  of  the  lugs  is  of  proper  thickness 
(If  ins.)  to  fit  the  flangeway  of  guard  rails.  In  other  words,  the  outer 
side  of  the  lug  is  for  gaging  the  running  rail  and  the  inner  side  for  gaging 
the  guard  rail. 

Some  trackmen  believe  that  much  error  creeps  into  the  work  of  gaging, 
through  carelessness  in  not  'placing  the  gage  squarely  across  the  rails. 
With  this  idea  in  mind  MT.  William  S.  Huntington  many  years  ago  devi*  ! 
a  gage  with  a  T-end,  shown  in  Fig.  307.  This  is  sometimes  called  the 
"horned"  gage,  and  the  device  is  in  very  general  use.  The  two  lugs  on  the 
forked  end  are  about  6  or  8  ins.  apart,  and  it  is  generally  supposed  that 
in  using  it  men  will  readily  place  the  gage  so  that  both  lugs  touch  the  rail, 
thus  insuring  that  the  cross  bar  of  the  gage  is  set  squarely  across  the  track. 
In  my  experience  I  have  found  such  not  to  be  the  case,  and  I  'regard  a 
gage  of  this  form  as  a  good  deal  of  a  nuisance.  In  the  first  place,  a  man 
who  tries  to  be  especially  careful  in  placing  the  gage  on  the  rails,  will 
waste  several  seconds  swinging  the  gaging  end  of  the  tool  slightlv  to  and 
fro  to  see  if  both  lugs  on  the  other  end  of  the  gage  are  touching  the  rail ; 
and  then,  three  times  out  of  four  the  gage  will  be  brought  to  rest  with  only 
one  lug  touching.  Men  who  do  not  resort  to  such  "fussing"  will  seldom 


Fig.  308. — Warren   Circular-End   Track  Gage. 

get  both  lugs  on  the  forked  end  of  the  gage  in  touch  with  the  rail.  The 
trouble  arises  from  the  circumstance  that  the  T-end  of  the  gage  is  entirely 
too  short  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  cross  bar.  In  the  second 
place,  it  should  be  noted  that  a  careless  use  of  a  gage  of  this  form  involves 
the  wo'rk  in  greater  error  than  is  liable  to  ensue  from  the  careless  use 
of  a  straight  gage.  In  swinging  a  straight  gage  out  of  the  square  or  per- 
pendicular position  the  tool  revolves  about  one  end  of  the  cross  bar  and  the 
error  in  measurement  is  a  decrease  in  gage  amounting  to  the  versed  sine 
of  the  arc  moved  through.  In  a  like  movement  through  a  small  arc  with 
one  end  of  a  Huntington  gage,  however,  the  error  in  measurement  is  always 
an  increase  in  gage,  because  the  tool  does  not  swing  about  one  end  of  the 
cross  bar,  but  at  one  extremity  of  the  T-end — that  is,  at  one  or  the  other 
of  the  two  lugs,  thus  virtually  changing  the  form  of  the  gage  from  a  "T" 
to  an  "L."  It  will  be  readily  seen  how  a  slight  niovement  of  this  gage 
out  of  the  perpendicular  position  will  throw  the  gaging  end  out  of  gage 
much  faster  than  will  a  like  movement  with  a  straight  gage.  In  other 
words,  if  both  lugs  of  the  forked  end  do  not  coincide  with  the  gage  line 
of  the  rail,  the  true  length  of  the  gage  is  not  interposed  between  the  railsr 
but  a  greater  length.  Notwithstanding  that  the  Huntington  gage  is  in 
much  favor,  the  truth  of  the  above  statement  is,  I  think,  easily  demon- 
strable to  the  satisfaction  of  any  person  who  will  observe  carefully  the 
manner  in  which  the  tool  is  usually  handled  in  actual  practice.  A  com- 


TRACK  GAGES 


659 


mittee  of  the  Boadm asters'  Association  of  America,  in  1895,  reported 
unfa\orably  on  a  gage  with  a  forked  end. 

It  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  place  a  straight  gage  on  the  rails  closely 
enough  to  the  perpendicular  position  for  all  practical  purposes;  and  men 
exercising  only  ordinary  care  will  do  it  without  loss  of  time.  Men  who 
are  inclined  to  be  careless  will  not  do  as  good  work  with  the  Huntington 
gage  as  they  will  with  a  straight  gage.  Coming  down  to  fine  points, 
the  only  gage  which  eliminates  the  errors  of  handling  is  the  Warren  tool, 
shown  in  Fig.  308.  The  ends  or  gaging  lugs  of  this  tool  are  formed  as 
arcs  of  a  t  circle,  of  which  the  diameter  is  the  required  gage~f>f-the  track. 
By  this  form  of  construction  the  proper  gage  distance  is  always  had  when- 
ever the  circular  lugs  are  in  contact  with  both  rails,  whether  the  gage  is 
applied  to  the  rails  squarely  or  obliquely.  If  a  circular  lug  is  used  on  only 
one  end  of  the  gage  the  curvature  of  the  same  should  conform  to  an  arc 
of  radius  equal  to  the  gage  of  the  track.  The  same  degree  of  accuracy 
may  be  had  with  the  straight  gage  by  swinging  one  end  so  as  to  get  the 
maximum  measurement  between  the  rails,  which  is,  of  course,  the  perpen- 
dicular distance.  Many  trackmen  make  a  practice  of  doing  this,  and  for 
sake  of  the  moral  effect  it  is  to  be  recommended.  For  practical  use  the 
straight  gage  is  reliable  enough,  and  it  lends  itself  to  rapidity  of  move- 
ment better  than  any  other.  Gages  with  segmental  or  forked  ends  are 
somewhat  cumbersome  and  require  too  much  manipulation.  The  practice 
of  combining  a  level  bubble  with  a  track  gage  is  carrying  refinements 
rather  too  far,  as  the  usage  of  a  gage  is  too  rough  for  a  level. 

For  T-rails  the  lugs  on  a  gage  should  be  deep  enough  to  reach  below 
the  rounded  corner  of  the  rail  head.  The  question  of  gage  measurement 


THE    BURXHAM    TRACK    DRILL. 


Fig.  309.  —  Various  Track  Tools. 


660  TRACK  TOOLS 

between  rails  having  heads  with  sloping  sides  is  discussed  in  connection 
with  the  subject  of  rail  resign  (§  6,  Chap.  II).  Gages  used  in  street 
railway  work,  on  girder  rails,  should  have  short  lugs  which  will  not  quite 
reach  the  tram.  If  the  lugs  are  too  long  they  interfere  with  placing  the 
gage  on  the  top  of  the  rail  head,  and  as  a  consequence  the  lug  will  touch 
at  a  point  somewhere  on  the  fillet  between  head  and  tram.  The  middle 
point  of  a  gage  should  be  marked  by  a  tack  OT  notch,  for  use  in  throwing 
track  to  center.  In  using  a  gage  of  any  form  trackmen  should  be  careful 
not  to  let  the  rail  spring  in  against  the  lugs,  as  in  this  way  the  lugs  are 
liable  to  be  loosened  or  bent. 

127.  Level  Boards. — A  level  board  should  be  made  of  a  strip  of 
well  seasoned  white  pine,  or  other  soft,  light  wood,  1J  or  1J  ins.  thick. 
Soft  wood  is  better  than  hard  wood  for  the  purpose,  because  it  forms  a 
better  cushion  to  protect  ths  spirit  tube  from  hard  jarring  when  the  board 
is  set  down  or  falls  over  on  its  side.  As  a  means  of  setting  the  board  for 
curve  elevation  the  best  arrangement  is  to  notch  one  end  of  the  board 
into  steps.  These  steps  usually  'rise  by  increments  of  -J  in.,  but  sometimes 
the  increment  is  made  i  in.  In  the  former  case  the  length  of  the  step  is  usu- 
ally made  3  ins.  and  in  the  latter  case  1-|  ins.  For  roads  or  sections  where 


Fig.  310. — McHenry  Involute  Track  Level. 

the  curves  are  easy  the  board  need  not  be  notched  higher  than  4  ins. ;  but  if 
the  curves  are  sharp  the  notching  should  provide  for  an  elevation  of  5  ins., 
or  as  much  higher  as  is  practiced  on  the  particular  road.  After  the 
board  is  notched  a  hand-hole  should  be  cut  in  such  position  that  the  board 
will  balance  when  carried.  An  iron  handle  adds  weight  to  the  board,  makes 
it  top-heavy,  and  is  always  in  the  way,  either  to  be  caught  by  something 
and  wrenched  off  or  loosened  or  to  be  held  down  by  other  tools  when  carried 
on  the  hand  car;  if  placed  over  the  spirit  tube  it  obstructs  the  view  to 
the  same.  It  is  a  bothersome  appendage  and  not  necessarily  of  any  use. 
The  spirit  level  should  be  fairly  sensitive,  responding  quickly  and  consid- 
erably at  a  J  in.  lift  in  the  rail,  but  of  course  it  need  not,  and  should  not, 
be  of  the  finest  grade — that  is,  one  which  responds  with  great  freedom  and 
quickness.  On  the  other  hand,  a  sluggish  bubble  is  liable  to  cause  consid- 
erable variation  in  the  elevation,  and  bad  work  generally.  It  may  be  set 
at  any  point  along  the  top  of  the  board,  but  preferably  between  the  hand- 
hole  and  the  notched  end,  so  as  to  come  under  the  eye  of  the  observer  as  the 
board  is  set  down ;  for  when  placing  the  board  on  the  rails  the  person  hold- 
ing the  board  will  necessarily  be  looking  toward  the  notched  end.  A  guard 
plate  set  into  the  board  its  thickness  should  be  placed  over  the  tube. 

It  is,  of  course,  an  easy  matter  to  set  a  spirit  tube  if  two  supports 
known  to  be  level  are  at  hand.  The  tube  is  simply  pressed  into  the  plastic 
plaster  of  Paris  until  the  bubble  stands  at  the  center.  Care  should  be 
taken  to  get  the  tube  parallel  with  the  board,  else  any  leaning  of  the  board 
out  of  the  vertical  will  affect  the  showing  of  the  bubble.  If  the  two  sup- 
ports are  not  level  (but  they  should  be  nearly  so),  adjust  the  tube  so 
that  the  bubble  remains  on  one  side — that  is,  toward  the  same  support — 
and  the  same  distance  from  the  center  mark,  upon  reversing  the  board. 


LEVEL  BOARDS  66 1 

Then  by  changing  one  of  the  supports,  so  as  to  bring  the  bubble  to  center,, 
it  (the  bubble)  should  remain  there  upon  reversing  the  board.  This  done, 
a  coat  of  oil  or  varnish  should  be  given  the  board  and,  to  facilitate  finding 
the  right  notch,  as  well  as  a  means  of  guarding  against  the  use  of  the- 
wrong  notch,  in  any  case,  the  notches  should  be  numbered  on  both  sides 
of  the  board,  by  integers,  as  in  Fig.  339 (A),  or  every  notch,  if  desired. 
For  the  purpose  of  lightening  the  board  it  is  the  practice  with  some  roads 
to  take  out  portions  of  the  interior,  making  two  or  three  openings  th'roug'i 
the  board  a  foot  or  so  in  length  and  3  or  4  ins.  wide.  On  some  roads  very 
careful  preparation  is  made  to  facilitate  precision  of  work  insetting  level 
tubes.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey.  has  pro- 
vided for  the  purpose,  in  its  shops  at  West  Burlington,  la.,  two  masonry 
piers  with  stone  caps,  set  at  the  proper  distance  apart,  and  steel  plates  arc 
set  in  the  caps  and  precisely  leveled  by  scientific  methods.  All  level  boards- 
repaired  or  sent  out  from  the  shop  are  adjusted  to  perfect  level,  but  as 
a  means  of  preventing  errors  which  might  arise  from  the  absorption  of 
moisture,  the  board  is  first  boiled  in  oil  before  the  abjustment  is  made. 
The  rules  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  require  that  dur- 
ing the  month  of  December  each  year  track  levels  shall  be  sent  to  the  super- 
visor for  adjustment.  They  are  then  painted  a  color  (the  same  color  as; 
tested  track  gages)  to  indicate  that  they  have  been  tested  at  headquarters. 

Instead  of  a  notched  level  board  some  u'se  a  plain  rectangular  board 
about  5  ft,  long  and  3  or  4  ins.  wide,  in  connection  with  a  "curve  block/' 
The  latter  is  simply  a  piece  of  board  of  same  thickness  as  the  level  board, 
about  2  ft.  long  and  of  proper  width,  notched  or  stepped  for  various  amounts 
of  elevation.  In  using  this  block,  it  is,  obviously,  placed  under  the  level 
board,  and  on  the  inner  'rail  of  the  curve.  If  the  level  board  or  curve- 
block  is  notched  only  to  the  half  inch  and  it  is  desired  to  work  to  the 
quarter  inch,  a  shim  of  J  in.  thickness  is  carried  in  the  pocket  to  give  the 
half  step,  in  case  of  need.  Some  disapprove  of  a  notched  arrangement  of 
any  kind,  from  fear  that  error  in  the  wo'rk  might  arise  from  the  iise  of 
a  wrong  notch.  A  very  common  substitute  for  the  notched  level  board 
is  one  having  an  elevation  bar  sliding  vertically  in  guides  in  one  end  of 
the  board  and  adjustable  by  means  of  a  thumb-screw.  The  elevation  bar 
is  usually  a  strip  of  brass,  graduated  and  provided  at  the  foot  with  a  base- 
plate  about  6  ins.  long,  set  at  right  angles  to  the  board  to  support  it  laterally 
and  prevent  it  from  falling  over  sidewise.  In  some  cases  this  base  plate 
is  flanged,  so  that  it  will  not  slip  off  the  rail.  In  the  use  of  this  form  of 
level  board  there  is,  of  course,  the  advantage  that  the  manipulation  for  the 
proper  elevation  is  done  once  for  all,  in  any  piece  of  work,  but  there  is 
also  the  disadvantage  that  when  wanted  for  use  the  elevation  bar  will 
sometimes  be  found  bent  or  the  thumb-screw  lost ;  whereas,  in  the  use  of" 
the  notched  board  there  is  nothing,  aside  from  the  spirit  level,  to  get  out 
of  order. 

Figure  310  shows  the  "Involute"  level,  desiged  by  Mr.  E.  H.  McHenry 
when  chief  engineer  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Ey.  The  desired  amount  of 
elevation  is  secured  by  means  of  a  plate  of  hardened  tool  steel  ground  to 
an  involute  curve  and  fitted  into  a  slot  at  one  end  of  the  level,  as  shown 
by  the  enlarged  end  view.  The  plate  is  curved  in  such  a  way  as  to  touch 
the  rail  always  at  the  lowest  point  as  it  is  drawn  out,  while  the  contact  with 
the  rail  at  the  other  end  of  the  level  is  maintained  stationary  by  a  gage 
lug.  In  connection  with  the  gage  lug  there  is  also  a  base  plate  somewhat 
wider  than  the  thickness  of  the  level  board,  to  prevent  the  board  from 
falling  over  sidewise.  The  curved  plate  is  graduated  both  sides  for  var- 
ious amounts  of  elevation  up  to  6  ins.,  and  is  held  to  the  position  in  which, 


662  TRACK  TOOLS 

it  is  set,  by  a  thumb-screw.  The  "Duplex"  level  board  (Fig.  311)  has 
two  spirit  tubes — one  fixed  in  the  board,  and  a  supplementary  level  attached 
to  a  steel  plate  "level  bar"  or  movable  indicator  arm  pivoted  to  the  middle 
of  the  board  at  the  side  and  swinging  against  a  graduated  arc.  The 
length  of  the  indicator  arm  is  equal  to  half  the  distance  between  the  rail 
centers,  carries  a  pointer  at  the  end  and  can  be  clamped  to  place  by  a  thumb- 
nut.  For  use  on  curves  the  arm  is  set  at  the  proper  elevation  for  the  out- 
side rail,  which  is  then  raised  until  the  bubble  indicates  the  level  position. 
By  placing  the  board  across  the  rails  and  moving  the  indicator  arm  until 
the  bubble  in  the  attached  tube  comes  to  center,  the  amount  by  which  the 
track  is  out  of  level  is  measured  or  shown  on  the  scale. 

Many  trackmen  and  others  have  turned  their  attention  to  a  com- 
bination level  board  and  gage,  quite  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  these  two 
tools  are  seldom  or  never  used  simultaneously  or  on  the  same  piece  of 
work.  The  jarring  to  which  a  gage  is  subjected  would  soon  "paralyze" 
the  spirit  tube  of  a  level  board  and  throw  it  out  of  adjustment;  and  more- 
over, the  combination  tool  is  necessarily  heavier  than  either  ought  to  be, 
which  means,  of  course,  less  speed  in  the  work.  There  are  many  con- 
trivances of  this  kind,  some  finished  off  in  grand  style,  at  handsome  cost, 
but  all  to  no  worthy  purpose.  Trackmen  should  not  attempt  to  work  with 
pocket  level  and  straightedge,  because  the  level,  being  applied  to  only  a 
very  short  length  of  straightedge,  will  be  thrown  badly  off  by  any  uneven- 
ness  in  the  upper  surface  or  edge  of  the  same,  or  if  placed  oblique  to  the 
straightedge  in  the  least.  A  carpenter's  level  does  better  and  may  be 


Fig.  311. — Duplex  Track  Level. 

used  if  a  track  level  is  not  at  hand.  Level  boards  should  not  be  ironed 
off  or  shod  with  metal  wear  plates.  Such  construction  increases  the 
weight  and  also  the  severity  of  whatever  jarring  to  which  the  tool  is  subject. 
The  metal  protection  ( ?)  and  the  work  of  putting  it  on  also  cost  more 
than  the  board,  which  will  wear  many  years  without  it,  and  when  worn 
out  it  is,  after  all,  nothing  but  a  piece  of  board  to  be  thrown  away.  Slight 
wear  of  the  edge  amounts  to  nothing,  or  at  any  rate  nothing  more  than  the 
amount  of  the  wear.  As  the  proper  elevation  of  a  curve  cannot  be  deter- 
mined with  mathematical  precision,  and  since  in  ballasting  or  tamping 
track  some  allowance  must  always  be  made  for  the  track  to  settle,  it  is  folly 
to  split  hairs  on  so  many  points  respecting  a  track  level.  Too  great  care 
or  attention  cannot  be  given  the  spirit  tube,  however,  since  a  slight  error 
in  setting  it  is  multiplied  many  times  at  the  end  of  the  level  board. 

Level  boards  should  be  frequently  tested,  before  using,  the  performance 
consisting  simply  in  reversing  the  board  on  the  same  supports  and  noting 
the  position  of  the  bubble,  as  above  explained.  It  should  then  be  required 
that  when  the  bubble  fails  to  center  on  level  supports  by  a  certain  amount 
the  board  should  be  sent  to  the  shop  for  repairs.  A  writer  in  the  "Eoad- 
master  and  Foreman"  at  one  time  described  a  level  board  with  an  adjust- 
able guard  plate  used  in  the  following  manner:  The  guard  plate  is  held 
to  the^  board  by  bead-head  screws  through  slots  near  the  ends  of  the  plate. 
In  adjusting  the  plate  to  the  proper  position  the  board  is  either  placed  on 
two  supports  known  to  be  level,  in  which  case  the  center  mark  on  the  plate 
is  moved  to  position  over  the  middle  of  the  bubble,  or  the  board  is  referred 
on  supports  nearly  level  and  the  center  mark  brought  to  a  position  midway 
between  the  two  positions  of  the  bubble  for  the  reversal. 


TRACK  JACKS 


663 


128.  Track  Jacks. — Xot  a  few  are  opposed  to  the  use  of  the  track 
jack,  but  it  is  nevertheless  a  money-saving  device  on  any  section,  especialty 
if  the  crew  or  force  is  small.  With  the  aid  of  a  jack  a  crew  as  small  as 
two  men  can  raise  and  tamp  track  to  advantage,  because  the  jack  can  be 
set  to  hold  the  rail  while  both  tamp,  whereas,  did  they  use  a  bar  or  lever 
for  raising  the  rail  one  man  must  necessarily  hold  it  down  ("roost  on  the 
bar,"  as  one  roadmaster  has  expressed  it)  while  the  other  blocks  or  tamps 
the  tie,  unaided.  And  more  than  this,  the  jack  has  to  be  set  only  once, 
but  in  a  considerable  lift  with  a  raising  bar  the  fulcrum  may  have  to  be 
adjusted  two  or  three  times  before  the  track  is  lifted  to  the  desired  night. 
A  man  can  also  raise  a  heavier  load  with  a  jack,  because  the  leverage  is 
greater  than  it  can  readily  be  made  with  a  bar  and  fulcrum. 


Fig.  312. — Jenne  Track  Jack.  Fig.  313. — Q   &  C    Compound-Lever  Jack. 

There  are  track  jacks  of  many  patterns.  In  the  most  general  form 
there  is  an  upright  frame  carrying  a  lifting  bar  provided  with  a  projecting 
foot  or  claw  to  engage  with  the  rail,  the  lifting  bar  being  operated  by  a 
lever.  In  an  old  form  the  rail  is  raised  by  the  direct  action  of  a  screw 
turned  in  an  upright  frame  by  a  double-handed  crank.  The  screw  operates 
a  malleable  lifting  nut  which  slides  up  and  down  in  the  frame  and  engages 
the  rail.  In  jacks  of  the  common  form  the  lifting  bar  is  operated  either 
on  the  principle  of  the  ratchet  or  the  friction  clutch.  One  of  the  best 
known  jacks  is  the  Jenne,  shown  in  Fig.  313.  The  lifting  bar  is  encircled 
by  two  stout  rings  bored  at  an  angle"  and  1/32  to  1/16  in.  larger  than  the 
diameter  of  the  bar,  so  that  when  held  in  a  horizontal  position  they  clutch 
the  bar.  The  upper  ring  engages  with  a  hanger  or  link  attached  to  the 
lever,  and  is  known  as  the  lifting  ring.  The  lower  ring  is  known  as  the 
retaining  ring,  and  rests  by  a  tail  piece  which  projects  through  a  hole  in 
the  frame.  The  support  of  both  rings  is  by  a  tail  piece  or  spur,  so  that  a 
leverage  is  had  on  the  bar  to  facilitate  the  clutching  action  of  the  ring. 
The  load  is  dropped  instantly  by  placing  the  cross  pin  under  the  tail  piece 
of  the  lifting  ring,  bearing  down  on  the  lever  to  release  the  lifting  bar 
from  the  grip  of  the  retaining  ring,  and  then  pressing  the  tail  piece  of 
'the  retaining  ring  with  the  foot;  bearing  down  still  farther  on  the  lever, 
the  tail  piece  of  the  lifting  ring  meets  with  the  cross  pin  and  trips  the  lift- 
ing bar.  Some  trackmen  do  not  use  the  cross  pin  at  all,  but  trip  the  jack 
simply  by  removing  the  lever  from  its  socket  and  with  it  jabbing  the  tail 
piece  of  the  retaining  'ring.  If  the  track  has  not  far  to  drop  this  can  be 
done,  but  otherwise  the  lifting  bar  will  be  caught  and  held  by  the  upper 
ring.  The  load  can  be  lowered  slowly  or  by  a  small  amount  by  bearing 
down  on  the  lever  until  the  lifting  ring  holds  the  load^  and  then  holding 


664 


TRACK   TOOLS 


the  retaining  ring  with  the  foot  until  the  load  has  been  lowered  the  desired 
distance.  If  the  load  is  to  be  lowered  some  considerable  distance,  the 
lifting  'ring  must  be  held  by  the  tail  piece  while  the  lever  is  pressed  down, 
ro  as  to  get  a  new  grip  higher  up  on  the  lifting  bar.  The  frame  and  lever 
socket  of  this  jack  are  made  of  malleable  iron  and  the  lifting  bar  and 
rings  of  wrought  iron.  It  seldom  or  never  gets  out  of  order  and,  being 
readily  taken  apart,  is  easily  repaired  when  broken  or  worn.  The  jack 
is  made  in  sizes,  ranging  from  a  jack  standing  35  ins.  high  (bar  down)r 
with  a  15-in.  lift,  capacity  10  tons  and  weight  90  Ibs.,  for  heavy  lifting 
in  ballasting  new  track,  down  to  a  jack  27  ins.  high  with  10-in.  lift  and 
weighing  40  Ibs.,  for  light  section  work,  such  as  raising  low  joints,  etc. 
;N~o  oil  or  other  lubricant  should  be  used  on  this  jack,  for  the  rustier  it 
gets  the  better  it  works.  Oil  and  grease  may  be  removed  from  the  bar  and 
rings  by  scouring  them  with  sand  or  cinders  or  better  by  burning.  The 
bar  will  not  hold  when  it  is  frosty,  but  the  frost  may  be  quickly  melted 
with  lighted  paper.  When  the  lifting  bar  wears  smooth  and  bright  some 
hack  it  with  a  cold  chisel  to  make  it  hold,  but  it  is  better  to  take  it  out 
and  burn  it. 


Fig.  314.— Boyer  &  Radford  Jack.  Fig.  315.— Barrett  "Trip"  Jacks. 

The  Hawkins  jack  operates  also  on  the  clutch  or  grip  principle,  the 
lifting  bar  being  of  circular  section,  as  in  the  Jenne  jack.  In  principle 
the  operation  is  very  similar  to  that  of  (he  Jenne  jack,  and  about  the  only 
essential  difference  in  construction  is  in  the  clutching  mechanism.  In 
place  of  rings  for  the  lifting  and  retaining  clutches  there  is,  in  each 
instance,  a  pair  of  knuckles  engaging  opposite  sides  of  the  lifting  bar.  The 
Q.  &  C.  friction  jack  (Fig.  322)  is  quite  similar  in  principle  of  construc- 
tion to  the  Jenne  jack,  but  the  arrangement  for  tripping  is  simpler.  The- 
smallest  size  has  a  capacity  of  10  tons,  lifts  6  ins.,  stands  17  ins.  high  with 
bar  down  and  weighs  55  Ibs.  Friction  clutch  jacks  possess  the  advantage 
that  the  load  can  be  raised  and  held  at  any  desired  hight,  whereas  in  ratchet 
jacks  the  hight  lifted  cannot  be  adjusted  closer  than  the  length  between 
teeth  on  the  lifting  bar,  for  single-stroke  jacks,  and  half  this  length  for 
double-acting  jacks. 

In  ratchet  jacks  there  is  usually  a  notched  or  toothed  lifting  bar  oper- 
ated by  a  lifting  pawl  hinged  to  the  end  of  a  lever,  and  secured  in  position 
by  a  holding  pawl  hinged  to  the  frame.  In  double-acting  jacks  there 
are  two  pawls  hinged  to  the  lever,  at  either  side  of  its  fulcrum,  alternating 
as  lifting  and  holding  pawls  according  as  the  lever  is  moved  on  the  up  or 


TRACK  JACKS 


665 


down  stroke;  hence  by  this  arrangement  the  lifting  bar  is  moved  on  both 
strokes  of  the  lever.  In  some  jacks  the  lever  is  compounded,  so  as>  to 
effect  a  gain  in  leverage.  The  Norton  "sure  drop"  jack  (Fig.  320)  of  10 
tons7  capacity  is  24  ins.  high,  lifts  15  ins.  and  weighs  60  Ibs.  The  jack 
can  be  tripped  without  lifting  the  load.  The  Yerona  jack  (Fig.  318),  of 
10  tons'  capacity,  weighs  only  51  Ibs.  The  hight  of  the  jack  is  21  ins. 
and  the  lift  14  ins.  The  holding  pawl  D  is  pivoted  to  the  frame  astraddle 
the  rack  or  lifting  bar  B,  and  the  lifting  pawl  E  is  hinged  with  the  lever 
shank  C.  The  lever  consists  of  a  piece  of  pipe  fitting  loosely  over  the 
stem  of  the  shank,  as  shown  by  the  dotted  lines.  The  lifting  bar  j^s  tripped 
by  pulling  back  the  lower  or  lifting  pawl  and  bearing  down  on  the  lever. 
By  this  action  the  lower  pawl  is  shoved  up  against  the  holding  pawl, 
thereby  disengaging  it.  The  load  can  also  be  let  down  one  tooth  at  a  time. 
The  jack  is  carried  about  by  taking  hold  of  the  stub  lever. 


Fig.  316.— Rail  Tongs. 


Fig.  317. — Barrett  Automatic  Lowering  Jack.         Fig.  318. — Verona  Track  Jack. 

Among  ratchet  jacks  the  Barrett  pattern  is  very  well  known  and  is 
made  in  a  large  variety  of  sizes  and  designs,  ranging  from  a  capacity  of 
10  tons,  hight  (bar  down)  17f  ins.,  lift  8  ins.  and  weight  50  Ibs.,  to 
capacity  15  tons,  hight  31  ins.,  lift  19  ins.  and  weight  110  Ibs.  Figure 
315 (A)  is  a  view  of  "trip"  jack  No.  1.  This  jack  stands  24  ins.  high 
(with  bar  down),  lifts  13 J  ins.,  has  a  capacity  of  10  tons  and  weighs  62 
Ibs.  It  is  double  acting,  lifting  the  load  on  both  upward  and  downward 
strokes  of  the  lever,  a  half  notch  pe'r  full  stroke.  The  load  is  tripped,  from 
any  elevation  of  the  lifting  bar,  by  a  hook-shaped  piece  pivoted  to  the  lever 
socket,  which,  when  thrown  forward,  catches  a  pin  projecting  from  the 
lower  pawl  and  disengages  both  pawls,  upon  lowering  the  lever.  View  Bf 
Fig.  315,  shows  a  larger  size  of  this  jack,  with  a  slightly  different  tripping 
arrangement,  for  heavy  work  in  ballasting.  The  capacity  is  15  tons,  hight 
31  ins.,  weight  105  Ibs.  and  the  lift  19  ins.  To  trip  the  lifting  bar  a  small 
dog,  pivoted  to  the  lower  pawl,  is  nipped  forward,  catching  in  a  notch  in 
the  frame  of  the  jack  and  disengaging  both  pawls,  when  the  lever  is  actu- 
ated. This  jack,  and  another  of  similar  but  lighter  design,  is  also  made 
single  acting,  elevating  the  load  only  on  the  downward  stroke  of  the  lever. 
The  Barrett  double-acting  automatic  lowering  jack  (Fig.  317)  is  designed 
!o  eithe'r  raise  or  lower  the  load  at  both  upward  and  downward  strokes  of 


666 


TRACK  TOOLS 


the  lever.  The  pawls  are  held  to  their  work  by  coiled  springs,  and  there 
is  a  thumb-screw  at  the  side  of  the  frame  for  reversing  the  order  of  engage- 
ment of  the  pawls,  when  it  is  desired  to  reverse  the  motion  of  the  lifting 
bar.  The  jack  shown  is  the  smallest  of  four  sizes,  having  a  capacity  of 
10  tons,  lift  10  ins.,  weight  63  Ibs.  and  hight  21  ins.  In  a  modified  form 
of  this  automatic-lowering  jack  the  lever  is  single  acting,  and  in  another 
form  the  double  acting,  automatic  lowering  and  tripping  features  are  all 
combined. 

The  Q.  &  C.  compound-lever  jack  (Fig.  313),  an  improvement  of  the 
Moore  jack,  embraces  still  other  features.  The  lever,  instead  of  operating 
the  lifting  pawl  direct,  actuates  two  links  forming  a  toggle  joint  or  com- 
pound lever,  and  the  lifting  pawl  is  pivoted  to  this  toggle  joint,  or  at  A, 
shown  in  the  interior  view.  By  this  arrangement  a  powerful  leverage  :'s 
secured.  The  lever  socket  is  jointed  (at  B)  and  is  adjustable,  as  shown 
by  the  different  angles  at  which  it  is  set,  thereby  enabling  the  jack  to 
be  used  in  places  where  there  is  not  room  for  a  straight  lever.  The 
lifting  bar  travels  one  notch  per  half  stroke  or  two  notches  per'  full 


Fig.  319.— Union  Track  Jack. 

stroke  of  the  lever,  which  is  single  acting,  and  is  tripped  by  a  small  lever 
or  handle  on  the  left  side  of  the  jack,  as  shown.  There  are  three  designs 
of  this  jack,  one  being  provided  with  the  tripping  attachment,  another 
with  an  automatic  lowering  arrangement,  while  the  third  design  combines 
both  these  features — namely,  tripping  and  automatic  lowering  devices. 
Each  design  is  made  in  six  sizes,  ranging  as  follows :  Hight,  18  to  32  ins., 
lift,  8  to  21  ins. ;  weight,  45  to  115  Ibs. ;  capacity,  10  to  15  tons. 

In  the  Boyer  &  Eadford  jack  (Fig.  314)  the  lifting  bar  is  reinforced 
the  full  length  by  a  f-in.  wrought  iron  bolt,  to  which  the  head  is  screwed. 
In  other  respects,  also,  this  jack  has  some  special  features.  The  lever 
socket  is  pivoted  to  a  pair  of  links  hanging  from  the  frame  of  the  jack  and 
the  lifting  pawl  has  seven  teeth  which  fit  into  the  ratchet  of  the  lifting- 
bar,  thereby  affording  a  very  secure  hold.  The  holding  pawl  also  engages 
the  lifting  bar  by  teeth.  The  lifting  bar  has  7/16-in.  teeth,  and  it  is  raised 
or  lowered  two  notches  per  full  stroke  of  the  lever.  The  jack  is  tripped  by 
means  of  a  floating  hook  attached  to  the  upper  pawl,  which  can  be  pushed 
down  and  in  and  fastened  so  as  to  hold  the  pawl  out  of  position :  upon  rais- 
ing the  lever  slightly  the  lower  pawl  is  released  and  the  bar  drops.  The 


TRACK  JACKS  667 

lifting  pawl  is  provided  with  projecting  pins  at  top  and  bottom,  which 
work  loosely  in  slots  in  the  sides  of  the  frame,  thereby  limiting  the  move- 
ment of  the  pawl.  The  jack  shown  in  the  figure  weighs  50  Ibs.,  lifts  1H 
ins.  and  has  a  capacity  of  10  tons. 

The  Union  track  jack  (Fig.  319)  is  designed  with  plenty  of  open  space 
around  the  lifting  bar,  so  that  sand  and  dirt  will  not  collect  inside  to  clog 
the  movement  of  the  parts.  The  teeth  in  the  lifting  bar  are  spaced  -J  in. 
•apart  and  a  full  stroke  of  the  lever  moves  the  lifting  bar  through  a  vertical 
hight  of  1-J  ins.,  or  a  distance  corresponding  to  the  length  of -three  teeth. 
The  lifting  bar  and  pawls  are  of  hardened  steel,  the  latter  engaging  with 
the  lifting  bar  by  double  teeth.  The  lever  is  supported  on  a  pair  of  links, 
and  the  manner  of  support  is  such  that  a  movable  fulcrum  is  obtained, 
thereby  admitting  of  a  variable  leverage  on  the  toggle-joint  principle.  By 
this  arrangement  it  is  possible,  with  the  lever  well  down,  by  means  of  a 
short  stroke,  lifting  through  a  distance  corresponding  to  the  length  of  one 
tooth,  to  obtain  very  powerful  leverage,  since,  as  the  lever  reaches  the  lower 
position  of  the  stroke,  the  three  joints  or  points  of  support  come  very  nearly 
in  a  straight  line.  The  movable  fulcrum  also  permits  the  pin  carrying  the 
lifting  pawrl  to  travel  in  a  vertical  line,  so  that  there  is  neither  rocking 
motion  of  the  pawl  in  the  teeth  of  the  bar,  to  cause  wear  and  friction,  and 


Fig.  320. — Norton  Jack.  Fig.  321. — Anderson  Track  Jack. 

consume  part  of  the  force  exerted,  in  overcoming  friction,  nor  is  there  a  hor- 
izontal thrust  tending  to  push  the  bar  against  the  frame  of  the  jack  which, 
did  it  occur,  would  consume  a  considerable  part  of  the  force  applied,  in 
overcoming  friction.  The  jack  is  tripped  by  the  engagement  of  the  lower 
or  lifting  pawl  with  the  upper  or  holding  pawl,  and  a  depression  of  the  lever, 
so  that  the  lower  pawl  pushes  the  upper  pawl  out  of  its  engagement  with  the 
lifting  bar.  Diagram  1  shows  the  position  of  the  pawls  when  the  bar  has 
been  raised  to  the  full  extent  of  a  single  stroke  of  the  leyer,  and  is  at  the 
point  where  both  pawls  are  in  engagement  with  the  teeth  of  the  lifting  bar. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  there  are  two  hooks  or  lugs,  A  and  B,  on  the  lift- 
ing and  holding  pawls,  respectively.  When  it  is  desired  to  set  the  pawls 
to  trip,  the  wooden  handle  is  removed  from  .the  lever  socket,  the  lever 
socket  is  raised  so  as  to  depress  the  lower  pawl,  and  the  lower  pawl  is  swung 
outward,  so  that  A  passes  B.  The  socket  is  then  depressed  until  A  passes 
upward  into  position  back  of  B,  as  in  Diagram  2.  In  this  position  the  lower 
pawl  is  securely  held  out  of  engagement  with  the  teeth  of  the  lifting  bar 
by  the  lug  B,  the  upper  pawl  still  sustaining  the  load.  By  pressing  the 
lever  socket  farther  down  the  lower  pawl  moves  upward,  throwing  the  upper 
pawl  out  of  engagement,  and  the  lifting  bar  is  released  and  drops  the 
load.  In  this  position  (Diagram  3)  both  pawls  are  held  securely  away  from 
the  teeth  of  the  lifting  bar,  so  that  it  descends  without  obstruction  or  hind- 
rance. The  first  upward  stroke  of  the  lever  releases  both  pawls  and  they  en- 
gage the  bar  without  further  attention.  With  this  jack  it  is  possible  to  set  the 
pawls  for  tripping  as  soon  as  the  track  has  been  raised  to  the  proper  hight, 


668 


TRACK  TOOLS 


and  it  will  remain  in  such  position  without  dropping  its  load,  while  tamp- 
ing or  other  work  is  being  done.  In  case  of  emergency,  therefore,  the  jack 
can  be  tripped  instantly  and  removed  without  stopping  to  adjust  any  of  the 
parts  which  have  to  do  with  the  tripping  action. 

As  a  jack,  at  best,  is  quite  heavy,  it  should  be  made  as  light  as  is  corn- 


Fig.  323. — Sheffield   Pressed  Steel   Insulated  Gage. 


Fig.  322.— Q    &    C    Friction  Jack. 


Fig.  324.— Rail   Bonding  Drill. 


mensurable  with  the  strength  required  for  the  work.  For  general  track 
repairs  the  weight  should  not  exceed  55  Ibs.  For  use  in  ballasting  new 
track,  jacks  weighing  80  to  100  Ibs.  are  commonly  employed.  A  very  im- 
portant point  in  the  design  of  a  track  jack  is  that  is  shall  drop  its  load 
easily  and  without  fail  upon  every  attempt  to  trip  the  lifting  bar.  A  jack 
of  ordinary  hight  set  between  the  rails  forms  an  ugly  and  dangerous  ob- 
struction for  a  train  to  run  against,  as  the  cowcatcher  is  almost  sure  to 
fling  it  across  the  rail.  A  disastrous  wreck  caused  by  a  track  jack  on  the 
Old  Colony  R.  R.  in  1890  (the  particulars  of  which  are  related  in  §  113t 
Chap.  VIII)  had  for  some  years  the  effect  of  bringing  this  tool  into  dis- 
repute with  railway  officials,  and  on  practically  all  roads  the  rules  forbid 
the  use  of  a  jack  between  the  rails.  When  used  outside  the  rail  and  be- 
tween the  ties  it  interferes  with  the  tamping  of  one  side  of  the  tie,  to  hold 
the  rail  to  place  at  the  point  raised,  and  in  most  cases  the  plan  of  lifting 
against  the  bottom  of  a  tie  involves  so  much  digging  that  it  is  impracticable. 
It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  on  curves  and  at  points  where  the  view 
is  obstructed  the  use  of  a  jack  between  the  rails  is  attended  with  consider- 
able danger  to  trains,  for  no  matter  how  "sure  drop"  the  jack  may  be,  the 
unexpected  arrival  of  a  train  will  throw  some  men  into  confusion;  or  at 
any  rate  queer  movements  have  been  known  to  take  place  on  occasions  of 
this  kind.  Such  considerations  make  it  desirable  that  for  old  track  a  jack 
may  be  had  which  can  be  used  between  the  rails  and  still  stand  so  low  as 
to  be  clear  of  trains  which  might  pass  over  it  unexpectedly  while  set  in 
the  track.  Some  short-lift  jacks  of  this  description  have  been  devised  and 
put  to  use.  One  of  these  is  the  Anderson  friction  jack,  which  has  been  used 
on  the  Chicago  Great  Western,  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  and 
some  other  roads.  This  jack  stands  only  8  ins.  high  and,  as  appears  in 
Fig.  321,  does  not  project  above  the  top  of  rail.  It  therefore  presents  na 
danger  of  derailment  if  a  train  passes  over  the  jack  in  service.  The  lift- 
ing bar  of  the  jack  is  raised  by  a  ratchet  arrangement  and  held  by  a  friction 
clutch,  thereby  enabling  the  device  to  raise  and  hold  the  rail,  or  lower  it, 
to  any  fraction  of  an  inch.  The  range  of  movement  of  the  lifting  bar  is 
5  ins.  As  shown  in  the  figure,  the  back  of  the  lifting  bar  is  notched  and 
is  operated  by  an  ordinary  pinch  bar.  At  each  side  of  the  lifting  bar  there- 


RAISING  BAKS  669 

is  a  wedge-shaped  pocket  in  which  are  placed  three  roller  gravity  pawls, 
the  upper  two  being  separated  by  a  bolt  passing  entirely  through  the  jack, 
the  lifting  bar  being  slotted.  The  jack  is  'released  by  a  foot  trip,  which  ap- 
pears directly  under  the  handle.  This  trip  consists  of  a  lever  which  throws 
up  a  stem  against  the  under  side  of  the  pawls,  thereby  disengaging  them 
and  allowing  the  lifting  bar  to  drop.  The  body  or  frame  of  the  jack  is  cast 
in  one  piece  and  the  entire  weight  of  the  tool  is  but  33  Ibs.  The  pawls 
can  be  taken  from  each  pocket  by  removing  two  screws  and  lifting  the  top 
plate.  The  Fisher  jack  is  made  to  work  under  the  rail  base,  requiring  that 
considerable  digging  must  be  done,  in  order  to  set  it,  thereby  seriously  de- 
laying the  work;  it  also  forms  as  much  of  a  hindrance  to  tamping  the  tie 
next  it  as  does  a  jack  of  ordinary  hight  set  outside  the  rail.  It  consists 
essentially  of  a  toggle  joint  carrying  a  bearing  plate  at  the  apex  to  engage 
the  rail.  The  two  legs  of  the  toggle  are  worked  by  a  ratchet  lever  and  screw, 
the  latter  passing  horizontally  through  nuts  at  the  feet  of  the  toggle  legs, 
the  thread  on  the  two  ends  of  the  screw  being  right  and  left-handed. 

It  is  important  that  a  track  jack  should  have  a  base  of  good  size,  so 
that  it  will  not  settle  deeply  into  the  ballast  when  lifting  the  track,  or  tilt 
over  and  throw  the  track  out  of  line.  The  size  of  base  recommended  by  the 
Koadmasters'  Association  of  America  is  7x12  ins.  To  prevent  the  jack 
from  tipping,  the  base  projects  farther  in  front  of  the  upright  frame  than 
behind  it.  In  using  the  jack  trackmen  should  get  in  the  habit  of  planting 
it  squarely  or  setting  it  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  track,  so  as  to 
•disturb  the  alignment  of  the  track  as  little  as  possible.  Tools  with  parts 
subject  to  wear,  like  jacks,  rail  drills,  rail-sawing  machines,  hand  car*., 
•etc.,  should  be  bought  under  a  guarantee  that  interchangeable  parts  will  be 
supplied  if  desired. 

129.  Raising  Bars. — Although  a  jack  is  the  best  raising  tool  for  gen- 
eral purposes,  every  section  ought  to  be  provided  with  a  long,  stout  bar. 
It  comes  into  use  occasionally  and  is  a  good  tool  to  fall  back  upon  in  case 
the  jack  gets  broken  or  is  sent  for  repairs.    A  wooden  lever  shod  with  iron 
at  the  tip  (Fig.  25)  is  out  of  date  in  section  work.    Being  heavy  and  un- 
wieldy, too  many  men  are  required  to  carry  it  around  and  operate  it,  and 
•in  a  lift  of  any  consequence  it  is  bound  to  throw  the  track  out  of  line,  more 
•or  less.    When  such  tools  were  commonly  used  a  rope  was  sometimes  tied 
to  the  end  of  the  lever  to  pull  it  down  when  setting  it  for  a  high  lift.     On 
old  track  which  has  been  well  kept  up,  and  where  the  bed  is  hardened,  so 
that  most  low  places  do  not  require  raising  more  than  an  inch,  good  work 
can  be  done  with  a  raising  bar,  providing  the  operator  knows  how  to  use  it. 
If,  however,  the  track  is  on  a  new  bed,  and  places  settle  H  ins.  or  more 
before  they  are  raised,  the  jack  is  the  better  tool.  The  bar  should,  of  course, 
be  a  pinch  bar,  with  the  point  turned  up  slightly  more  than  on  ordinary 
pinch  bars,  so  as  to  give  more  of  a  heel.     It  should  be  about  6  ft.  3  ins. 
long  and  weigh  about  40  Ibs.    The  large  end  of  it  should  be  about  If  ins. 
square  for  about  2  ft.  and  then  taper  off  gradually,  first  to  octagonal  sec- 
tion and  finally  to  1-|  ins.  round,  at  the  end.    The  man  operating  a  raising 
bar  carries  with  it  a  block  of  hard  wood,  about  2x6x15  ins.  in  size,  with  one 
end  beveled.    This  block  is  shoved  under  the  rail  base,  so  that  the  bar  rests 
upon  it  at  about  the  middle.    By  raising*  once  on  the  block,  if  it  be  not  set 
too  far  below  the  rail  base,  and  then  using  a  nut  or  hard  stone  about  an 
inch  thick,  for  a  fulcrum,  track  can  be  thrown  up  1  or  H  ins.  pretty  lively 
and  satisfactorily. 

130.  Rail  Tongs. — Rail  tongs  should  be  about  12  ins.  long,  from  the 
jaw  to  the  bend  in  the  reins  or  handle  (Fig.  316).     All  the  tongs  on  the 
game  division  should  be  of  the- same  length,  so  that  in  case  they  get  mixed 


670 


TRACK   TOOLS 


Fig.  325.— Doyle  &  Williamson  Drill. 


Fig.  327. — Drill  Taken  Down  for  Train. 


Fig.  326.— Q   &  C   Track  Drills. 


up  one  crew  will  not  get  hold  of  different  lengths.  The  reins  should  each 
be  about  16  ins.  long,  or  32  ins.  long  over  all.  The  tool  is  made  from  two 
pieces  of  1-in.  round  iron,  each  26  ins.  long,  to  which  the  jaws  are  welded. 
The  jaws  should  be  about  IJxJ  in.  at  the  pivot,  which  is  held  by  a  J-in. 
rivet.  The  weight  of  such  a  pair  of  tongs  is  about  11 J  Ibs.  Tongs  of 
heavier  construction,  as  shown  in  Engraving  Ff  Fig.  295,  weigh  about  15 
Ibs.  Soft  steel  is  good  material  for  tongs.  Tongs  are  very  useful  when 
laying  turnouts,  where  many  rails  have  to  be  handled,  but  especially  if  the 
weather  is  very  hot  and  bright,  making  the  rails  exceedingly  uncomfortable 
to  handle  with  the  bare  hands.  Four  men  with  two  pairs  of  tongs  can 
handle  rails  more  easily  than  six  -men  bare-handed.  In  case  six  men  with 
three  pairs  of  tongs  are  given  a  rail  to  carry,  the  men  with  the  third  pair 
of  tongs  should  not  carry  at  the  middle  of  the  rail,  because  in  going  over 
uneven  ground  the  rail  will  be  either  too  high  or  too  low  for  their  reach 
and  put  them  to  a  disadvantage.  In  order  tci  distribute  the  weight  equally 
among  all  six  men  and  enable  them  to  carry  the  rail  over  uneven  ground 
without  disadvantage  to  any  one,  one  pair  should  carry  at  one  end  and  the 
other  two  pairs,  as  near  together  as  they  can  walk  conveniently,  at  -*-  the 
length  of  the  rail  from  the  other  end.  The  same  manner  of  distribution 
applies  when  three  men  carry  a  tie;  one  man  at  the  rear  end,  the  other  two 
carrying  with  a  stick  at  \  the  tie  length  from  the  front  end.  The  question 
of  properly  distributing  the  weight  of  a  tie  on  three  men,  when  two  of  the 
three  carry  with  a  stick,  is  frequently  debated  among  trackmen. 

131.  Rail  Drills. — The  simplest  device  for  drilling  rails  is  the  ratchet 
drill.  The  simplest  form  of  ratchet  drill  consists  of  a  stock  or  bit  holder, 
operated  by  a  ratchet  wheel,  liand  lever  and  pawl.  Some  kind  of  a  clamp 
must  be  provided  as  a  backing  for  the  stock,  and  the  bit  is  fed  by  a  screw 
working  into  the  stock  and  against  the  clamp.  Drill  clamps  are  made  to 


RAIL  DRILLS  671 

engage  the  rail  in  two  ways — the  "underclutch,"  fitting  under  the  base  of 
rail,  and  the  "overclutch,"  fitting  over  the  rail  head.  The  undercluteh 
arrangement  has  the  advantage  that  the  clamp  need  not  be  removed  for 
the  passage  of  a  train,  and  the  disadvantage  that  spikes  must  sometime? 
be  pulled  and  the  rail  raised  in  order  to  place  the  clamp  properly  (over 
a  tie,  for  instance)  for  drilling  through  a  rail  in  place  in  the  track.  The 
overclutch  arrangement  can  be  applied  to  a  rail  at  any  point,  without  prep- 
aration, but  the  clamp  must  be  removed  to  let  trains  pass.  In  yards  and  at 
other  points  where  the  ties  are  covered  up  an  overclutch  fastening  for  a  drill 
is  very  convenient,  and  sometimes  saves  a  great  deal  of  digging.  An  under- 
cluteh clamp  may  consist  simply  in  a  stout  bar  of  iron  or  steel  of  proper 
length  bent  up  at  both  ends.  In  the  Doyle  &  Williamson  drill  (Fig.  325) 
the  clamp  has  a  sliding  collar  and  clasp,  as  a  means  of  securing  the  clamp 
to  the  rail  flange,  and  the  feeding  screw  works  through  one  leg  of  the  clamp 
and  against  the  bit  stock.  A  more  convenient  underclutehing  arrangement 
is  formed  by  two  clamps  placed  15  to  18  ins.  apart  and  joined  by  a  back 
piece  parallel  with  the  rail,  thus  forming  a  frame  along  which  the  drill 
may  slide,  so  that  several  holes  .ma}7  be  drilled  at  one  setting  of  the  clamp. 
In  this  form  of  clamp  the  range  of  adjustment  for  the  drill  is  such  that  it 
seldom  becomes  necessary  to  clamp  the  frame  to  the  rail  over  a  tie,  which 
requires,  as  above  noted,  the  spikes  to  be  pulled  and  the  rail  raised.  The 
frame  is  sometimes  made  solid,  in  one  piece,  as  in  Fig.  329,  and  sometimes 
the  back  piece  (B)  is  held  at  an  adjustable  distance  from  the  rail  by  pins? 


Fig.  328.— Union  Track  Drill.  Fig.  329.— Perfection  Track  Drill. 

in  the  slotted  ends  of  the  two  clamping  pieces  (C),  as  shown  in  Fig.  330. 
In  the  clamping  frame  for  the  Beland  drill  the  back  jpiece  is  formed  by 
two  fiat  bars,  with  the  shank  of  the  drill  sliding  between  them.  The  back 
piece  is  sometimes  provided  with  a  projection  of  some  kind  on  the  under 
side,  to  hold  the  frame  up  and  keep  the  drill  clear  of  the  ties. 

One  of  the  oldest  track  drills  is  the  Victor  (Fig.  332),  designed  by 
Mr.  .J.  H.  Lake}7,  master  mechanic  with  the  Chicago  &  North  western 'By. 
It  works  with  a  clamp  of  the  overclutch  kind,  fastening  to  the  head  of  the 
rail  by  a  cast  iron  wedge  TF,  which  is  driven  in  between  the  rail  and  a 
depending  lug  on  the  clamp.  The  drill  may  be  undamped  from  the  rail 
in  an  instant  by  knocking  out  the  wedge.  The  feeding  screw  acts  directly 
on  the  bit,  which  has  a  square  shank.  With  this  form  of  clamp  it  is  possi- 
ble to  drill  a  short,  loose  piece  of  rail  without  having  to  spike  it  to  a  tie 
or  otherwise  make  it  fast  against  overturning  as  the  bit  is  worked.  With 
most  forms  of  clamp  this  cannot  be  done.  The  principal  trouble  with  this 
drill  is  that  the  clamp  can  be  made  for  a  rail  of  only  one  size  and  shape, 
and  as  the  rail  head  wears  down  it  becomes  more  and  more  difficult  to  hold 
the  clamp  to  the  rail  securely.  The  Union  drill  (Fig.  328)  has  a  clamp 
or  frame  which  hooks  over  the  rail  head  and  bears  against  the  web  on  the 


672 


TRACK  TOOLS 


opposite  side,  fitting  rails  of  any  section.  The  ratchet  is  encased  and  the  bit 
is  fed  either  automatically  or  by  hand,  as  desired.  In  order  to  remove  the 
clamp  from  the  rail  quickly  a  pry  is  taken  under  the  feed  drum  or  feed 
ratchet  with  a  bar,  pick,  wrench  or  other  convenient  lever,  throwing  the 
drill  out  of  center.  In  this  drill,  as  with  the  Perfection  drill  (Fig.  329), 
the  automatic  feeding  arrangement  consists  in  a  slotted  drum  and  a  finger 
(#)  bearing  thereon  by  a  nub,  the  finger  being  joined  to  a  pawl  (T),  as 
shown.  Once  in  every  turn  the  slot  permits  the  finger  to  drop,  thereby 
throwing  the  pawl  into  engagement  with  the  feeding  ratchet  while  the  nub 
on  the  finger  is  down  in  the  slot. 

A  drill  possessing  several  novel  features  is  the  Warren,  shown  in  Fig. 
333.  The  bit  stock  and  feed  work  through  a  block  with  two  ratchet  sides 
(R),  and  this  block  is  adjustable  on  the  ratchet  seat  (8)  of  the  clamping 
frame,  and  is  held  in  the  same  by  a  pin.  The  feed  screw  is  of  sufficient 
length  to  drill  four  holes  through  the  rail  web  without  backing  the  screw, 
so  that  in  resetting  the  drill  for  the  last  three  of  the  four  holes  it  is  only 
necessarv  to  move  the  block  farther  back  on  the  ratchet  seat.  As  the  bit 


Fig.  330. — Schuttler  Track  Drill. 


Fig.  331.— Paulus  Track  Drill. 

stock  is  not  centered  in  the  block,  the  drill  is  adjustable  to  two  hights  oL! 
'rail  by  reversing  the  block.  A  shankless  twist  bit  is  used  and  it  is  forced 
into  the  rail  by  a  friction  feed  which  can  be  regulated  (increased  or  de- 
creased) by  means  of  a  thumb-screw.  The  same  drill  is  worked  with  an 
underclutching  clamp,  the  only  change  required  being  a  ratchet  seat  at- 
tached to  that  form  of  clamp. 

In  the  drills  thus  far  considered  the  lever  has  been  single  acting — 
that  is,  the  bit  stock  is  turned  by  the  lever  only  one  way  of  the  stroke.  In 
the  Schuttler  drill  (Fig.  330)  the  bit  is  turned  continuously  forward  at 
both  forward  and  back  strokes  of  the  lever,  thus  dispensing  with  all  idle 
movement  in  the  lever.  The  continuous  action  of  the  drill  spindle  upon 
the  'reversal  of  the  lever  is  obtained  by  means  of  a  pair  of  gears  between 
which  is  meshed  a  pair  of  beveled  pinions.  One  of  the  gears  is  rigidly  at- 
tached to  the  spindle  and  the  other  is  loose,  and  in  the  outer  circumference 
of  each  gear  are  ratchet  teeth  set  to  do  service  in  opposite  directions.  There 
are  two  pawls.  When  the  lever  is  moved  in  one  direction  a  pawl  engages 
the  fixed  gear  and  the  action  on  the  spindle  is  direct.  When  the  lever  is 
reversed,  a  pawl  engages  the  loose  gear,  and,  by  means  of  the  intermediate 


KAIL  DRILLS 


673 


bevel  pinions,  the  fixed  gear  is  turned  in  the  same  direction  as  before,  so 
that  the  spindle  is  driven  always  forward.  To  keep  dust  out  of  the  turning 
mechanism  the  gears  and  pinions  are  enclosed  by  a  case  in  two  pieces  held 
together  by  hexagonal  nuts. 

Continuous-motion  drills  operated  by  hand  cranks  do  the  work  most 
rapidly,  and  are  extensively  in  use,  particularly  with  yard  gangs  or  wher- 
ever a  good  deal  of  switch  work  is  to  be  done.  In  these  machines  there 
is  usually  an  upright  shaft  with  two  cranks  and  bevel  gear  connections  at 
the  top,  and  a  horizontal  bit  stock  and  bevel  gear  connections  at  the  bottom ; 
some  means  for  clamping  to  the  'rail,  and  provision  for  quickly  removing 
the  drill  from  the  reach  of  passing  trains.  The  .Waterman,  Buda  and 
Paulus  drills  are  all  very  similar  in  respect  to  these  particulars.  Figure 
331  shows  the  Paulus  drill  in  position  for  work  and  also  thrown  back  to 
allow  a  train  to  pass.  More  in  detail,  the  apparatus  consists  of  a  firmly 
stayed  upright  frame  supporting  a  shaft,  to  which  are  attached  two  handles, 
enabling  the  machine  to  be  worked  in  continuous  motion  by  either  one  or 
two  men.  At  the  back  of  the  horizontal  portion  of  the  frame  there  is  a  sole 
plate  serving  as  a  support  for  this  part  of  the  machine  and  for  the  automatic 
screw  feed  mechanism.  Attached  to  the  horizontal  portion  of  the  frame 
there  are  two  rail  hooks,  which  hold  the  drill  to  its  work.  The  motion 
of  the  handles  is  transmitted  to  the  stock  spindle  by  bevel  gears  on  a  vertical 


Fig.  332.— Victor  Track  Drill.  Fig.  333.— Warren  Track  Drill. 

shaft.  A  simple  ratchet  device,  actuated  by  an  eccentric,  feeds  the  drill 
automatically.  The  upright  is  held  firmly  in  place  by  a  back  brace,  formed 
by  rule-jointed  stay  rods  joined  by  a  wooden  handle.  When  it  is  desired  to 
unc] amp  the  machine  the  back  brace  is  folded  by  pulling  out  the  wooden 
handle,  the  operation  requiring  but  a  few  seconds.  The  rail  hooks  are 
pivoted  to  L-like  extensions  of  the  upright  frame,  so  that  when  the  latte'r  is 
tilted  backwards  the  hooks  are  swung  forward  far  enough  to  clear  the  rail 
head.  As  the  upright  frame  is  being  tilted  backward  the  bevel  gear  which 
transmits  the  turning  motion  from  the  vertical  shaft  disengages  from  its 
companion  on  the  horizontal  spindle  holding  the  bit.  With  this  machine 
a  £-in.  hole  can  be  drilled  through  the  web  of  an  80-lb.  rail  in  about  two 
minutes  The  weight  of  the  machine  is  60  Ibs.,  but  for  very  heavy  work  <i 
drill  is  made  of  the  same  pattern  weighing  90  Ibs.  For  special  work  the 
drill  is  made  with  a  hook  to  fit  under  the  base  of  the  'rail  instead  of  over 
the  head  of  it,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  In  the  Q  &  C  self-feeding  rail  drill 
(Fig.  326)  the  upright  shaft  is  detachable  from  the  horizontal  portion  of 
the  mechanism  and  can  be  quickly  lifted  out  of  the  way  of  passing  trains. 
By  folding  back  the  hooks  all  remaining  parts  of  the  drill  are  out  of  reach, 
as  shown  "in  Fig.  327.  It  is  made  with  either  underclutch  or  overclutch 
fastenings,  (Fig.  326),  the  drilling  mechanism  proper  being  substantially 
the  same  in  either  case.  The  main  frame  slides  forward  on  guides  carry- 
ing the  drill  spindle  with  it  and  a  small  lever  at  the  back  clamps  the  hooks 
to  the  rail,  or  releases  them  when  thrown  back. 


674  TRACK  TOOLS 

In  bonding  rails  for  track  circuit,  in  signal,  or  electric  railway  work, 
the  holes  drilled  usually  run  from  i  to  J  in.  in  diameter.  For  such  light 
work  a  drill  is  required  which  is  easily  portable,  rapid  in  action  and  light  in 
weight.  One  of  the  best  known  devices  for  this  work  is  shown  in  Fig.  324. 
The  drill  stock  is  turned  by  crank  and  bevel  gear  and  the  bit  is  fed  by  a, 
screw  and  hand  wheel.  The  drill  in  this  machine  is  adjustably  clamped 
to  a  piece  of  1J  or  IJ-in.  pipe  laid  across  the  rails.  One  end  of  the  piece 
of  pipe  is  screwed  info  a  fork  with  lugs  to  catch  over  the  rail  and  hold  the 
drill  up  to  its  work,  and  the  other  end  may  lie  across  the  rail  or  on  a 
supporting  block,  as  shown.  The  bit  can  be  set  at  any  desired  hight  by 
turning  the  drill  about  the  pipe  and  clamping  it  at  the  proper  point.  The 
man  who  operates  the  drill  either  sits  on  the  pipe  while  he  turns  the  crank, 
or  holds  it  down  by  foot  pressure.  The  weight  is  68  Ibs.  A  drill  of  similar 
pattern  for  heavier  work  is  shown  as  Engraving  S,  Fig.  309.  The  machine 
has  two  extension  cranks,  facilitating  the  application  of  a  greater  turning 
force  on  the  bit,  when  necessary,  and  there  is  an  automatic  friction  feed 
which  can  be  adjusted  for  fast  or  slow  feeding.  Arranged  as  shown  in  the 
illustration,  the  speed  of  crank  and  spindle  are  geared  as  1  to  1,  but  by 
removing  the  top  yoke  and  placing  one  of  the  cranks  on  the  upright  shaft 
the  gearing  is  changed  to  give  two  revolutions  of  the  spindle  to  one  of 
the  crank.  This  latter  arrangement  is  adapted  for  light  work  and  rapid 
drilling,  as  when  drilling  holes  for  bond  wires.  The  machine  weighs  85  Ibs. 


IN  POSITION  FOR  WORK.  THROWN  BACK  TO  DETACH  FROM  RAIL. 

Fig.  334. — Wilson  Drill  for  Rail  Bonding. 

The  Wilson  machine  (Fig.  334)  is  designed  specially  for  light  drill- 
ing, its  weight  being  only  20  Ibs.  The  machine  is  clamped  to  the  rail  by 
overhanging  hooks  and  a  lever  and  link  motion,  which  moves  the  upright 
part  of  the  drill  forward  to  its  work,  when  the  lever  is  thrown  up,  and 
withdraws  it  when  the  lever  is  thrown  down.  In  the  latter  position  the 
frame"  slides  back  far  enough  to  clear  the  drill  point  from  the  head  of  the 
rail,  so  that  the  machine  is  entirely  free  and  can  be  taken  direct  from  ihe 
Tail.  The  driving  gear  consists  of  sprocket  wheel  and  chain.  On  the  crank 
shaft  are  two  sprocket  wheels:  one,  fastened  rigidly  to  the  shaft  and  re- 
volving with  it,  drives  the  feed  nut  on  the  drill  spindle;  the  other  is  placed 
loosely  on  the  shaft  and  does  not  revolve  unless  engaged  by  a  pawl  on  the 
end  of  the  shaft;  when  so  engaged  it  drives  the  drill  spindle.  Thus  the 
drill  spindle  and  the  feed  nut  both  revolve  in  the  same  direction,  but  are 
so  geared  that  the  feed  nut  travels  a  little  faster  than  the  drill  spindle, 
and  >o  imparts  a  continuous  feed,  either  forward  or  back,  as  the  crank  is 
turned.  By  disengaging  the  pawl  on  the  sprocket  wheel  which  drives  the 
drill  spmdle  the  latter  may  be  held  from  turning  while  the  feed  nut  is 
revolved,  thus  imparting  a  quick  forward  or  back  movement  to  the  drill 
spindle  which  can  be  utilized  to  good  advantage  in  setting  the  drill. 

For  drilling  bolt  holes  1-in.  bits  or  larger  are  used.    Twist  bits  usually 


RAIL  BENDERS  675 

give  better  satisfaction  than  flat  bits.  When  bits  get  dull  they  may  be 
sharpened,  on  the  grindstone.  With  twist  bits  this  method  of  sharpening 
can  be  repeated  indefinitely,  but  flat  bits  must  be  heated  and  worked  over 
occasionally.  Before  starting  a  bit  it  is  well  to  spot  the  place  with  a 
center  punch.  A  desirable  feature  in  a  drill  is  to  be  able  to  adjust  the  bit 
to  the  required  hight  of  the  bolt  hole,  so  that  it  will  do  accurate  work  on 
rails  of  more  than  one  particular  section.  Unless  this  adjustment  can  be 
made  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  block  up  the  frame  and  drill  the  hole 
obliquely,  in  order  to  get  it  at  the  desired  hight. 


Fig.  335. — Hydraulic  Rail  Punch.  Fig.  336. — Hydraulic  Rail  Bender. 

In  the  days  of  iron  rails  bolt  holes  were  frequently  made  with  hammer 
and  punch,  but  this  method  has  nearly  disappeared  from  pactice  with  steel 
rails.  The  method  of  procedure  in  punching  a  rail  by  hand  is  to  notch  in 
a  square  hole  on  one  side  of  the  web,  as  far  as  may  be  practicable  with  a 
•cold  chisel,  and  then  turn  the  rail  over  and  punch  through  with  a  round 
punch,  driving  the  core  toward  the  side  on  which  the  notching  was  done. 
The  punching  of  bolt  holes  with  hydraulic  machinery  is  done  to  some  ex- 
tent. Figure  335  is  a  view  of  the  Watson- Stillman  hydraulic  rail  punch. 
It  is  portable  and  may  be  used  on  rails  in  place  in  the  track.  The  lever 
shown  in  the  middle  of  the  view  is  for  quick  action,  being  used  to  work 
the  ram  in  and  out  a  distance  of  about  2  ins.  without  loss  of  time  and  labor 
of  pumping.  At  the  top  of  the  jaw  there  is  a  guide  which  can  be  set  to 
suit  the  pattern  of  rail  handled,  so  that  all  holes  punched  will  be  at  the  same 
hight  on  the  web  of  the  rail.  For  punching  rails  weighing  70  Ibs.  per  yard, 
or  less,  a  machine  of  50  tons'  capacity,  weighing  200  Ibs.,  is  used;  for 
heavier  rails  there  is  a  machine  having  a  capacity  of  120  tons,  weighing 
375  Ibs.  For  punching  slots  in  the  rail  flange,  for  spikes,  there  is  a-  ma- 
chine of  similar  construction  in  which  the  ram  acts  vertically. 

132.  Rail  Benders. — The  most  common  form  of  rail  bender  is  the 
jim-crow,  Fig.  337.  It  consists  of  a  heavy  U-shaped  forging  of  iron  or 
steel,  the  two  legs  of  which  have  their  ends  hooked  for  holding  against  the 
head  of  the  rail,  while  a  screw  working  through  the  center  or  bend  of  the 
frame  bends  the  rail  midway  between  its  bearings  against  the  two  hooks. 
The  screw  is  usually  made  to  do  its  work  on  the  rail  by  exerting  pressure 
against  a  cast  iron  block  of  proper  shape,  placed  against  the  side  of  the  rail. 
The  ^crew  usually  has  a  capstan  head  and  is  turned  by  an  ordinary  pinch 
bar,  but  sometimes  the  head  is  made  to  be  turned  by  a  long  wrench.  For 
turning  screws  of  this  kind  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company  supplies  a 
large  wrench  with  a  ratchet  head.  Jim-crows  for  ordinary  service  are 
about  2  ft.  wide,  c.  to  c.  of  arms,  have  a  screw  24  to  3  ins.  in  diameter  and 


676  TRACK  TOOLS 

weigh  150  to  200  Ibs.  The  "Eccentric"  rail  bender  (Fig.  338)  has  two 
hooked  legs  forming  an  A-frame,  with  a  pressure  rod  worked  by  a  lever 
and  eccentric.  The  pressure  rod  is  made  adjustable  by  a  sleeve  nut,  so  that 
the  amount  of  bending  or  the  leverage  can*  be  changed  to  suit  the  circum- 
stances. The  weight  of  the  tool  is  about  180  Ibs.  The  Emerson  rail  ben- 
der is  very  similar  to  or  like  the  Eccentric  design.  With  benders  of  this 
type  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  use  the  lever  several  times,  readjusting 
the  sleeve  nut  each  time,  in  order  to  bend  the  rail  the  desired  amount.  The 
Fairbanks-Morse  bender,  which  works  on  the  eccentric  or  cam  principle, 
has  self  feeding  wedges  on  the  ram  which  automatically  feed  it  forward  at 
each  stroke  of  the  lever.  The  Samson  rail  bender  (Engraving  Bf  Fig.  339) 
is  a  heavy  cast  steel  lever  with  a  capstan-headed  screw  at  one  end  and  a 
stout  claw  near  the  other  end.  The  screw  works  into  a  cast  steel  cap  with 
phosphor  bronze  and  tool  steel  bearings,  this  cap  being  grooved  to  fit 
against  the  rail  head.  The  lever  or  frame  has  a  broad  web  with  heavy 
flanges,  and  the  tool  weighs  113  Ibs. 


Fig.  337. — Jim-Crow  Rail  Bender  Fig.  338. — Eccentric  Rail  Bender. 

Figure  336  shows  the  Watson- Stillman  hydraulic  rail  bender,  de- 
signed especially  for  work  on  heavy  rails.  It  is  made  in  two  sizes:  one 
weighing  200  Ibs.,  for  rails  of  70  Ibs.  per  yd.,  or  lighter,  and  one  weighing 
275  Ibs.  for  rails  heavier  than  70  Ibs.  per  yd.  The  ram  has  a  loose  steel 
head  which  fits  against  the  rail  head  and  the  ram  is  graduated  to  show  the 
spring  of  the  rail. 

133.  Hand  Cars. — The  term  hand  car  signifies,  of  course,  any  car 
propelled  by  hand,  and,  in  a  general  sense,  it  might  as  well  be  understood 
to  include  all  cars  propelled  in  any  manner  which  are  lifted  on  or  off  the 
track  by  hand.  As  commonly  used,  however,  the  term  applies  only  to- 
vehicles  for  carrying  section  or  bridge  crews  with  their  tools  (Fig.  340). 
Cars  for  this  purpose  differ  but  little  in  general  features  of  construction. 
There  is  usually  a  platform  carried  on  four  wheels,  on  which  is  mounted  an 
A-frame  or  gallows  frame  supporting  a  walking  beam  or  lever  with  cross 
handles,  attached  by  connecting  rod  and  crank  to  spur  gear  wheels  operating 
on  the  axle  of  the  car.  Cars  for  section  crews  are  usually  about  the  same 
size  on  all  standard-gage  roads  and  are  made  in  about  the  same  way.  The 
platform  is  usually  6  to  6J  ft,  long  and  4  ft.  4  ins.  or  4  ft.  5  ins.  wide, 
formed  upon  four  longitudinal  sills  about  2JxlJ  ins.  in  .section,  the  sills 
extending  beyond  the  platform  on  both  ends  and  rounded  off  for  handles. 
The  two  outer  sills  rest  on  the  journals  or  axle  bearings  and  the  two  inner 
or  middle  sills  carry  the  gallows  frame.  The  longitudinal  sills  support 
cross  pieces,  on  which  is  laid  a  floor  of  matched  lumber.  The  axles  are  of 
steel  and  about  1J  ins.  in  diameter.  Eoller  bearings  are  used  to  some  ex- 
tent. The  lever  has  forked  ends,  each  prong  terminating  in  an  eye  band 
which  holds  the  handle.  Six  men  can  usually  "pump"  without  interference' 
and  two  or  three  more  men  standing  between  the  handles  can  help  a  little.. 
A  dozen  men  can  easily  stand  on  the  car,  and  at  a  pinch  the  car  will  carry 


HAND  CAES 


677 


18  or  20  men.  Years  ago  hand  cars  were  sometimes  made  large  enough  to 
carry  easily  a  crew  of  25  or  30  men,  the  car  being  propelled  by  means  of  two 
long  wooden  levers.  Such  cars,  however,  were  heavy  to  handle  and,  not- 
withstanding the  large  crews  carried,  were  lifted  to  or  from  the  track  with 
some  difficulty.  The  smaller  cars  in  common  use  "with  section  crews  are 
to  be  preferred  for  large  crews  also,  two  or  more  cars  being  furnished  as  the 
size  of  the  crew  may  require.  Hand  cars  propelled  by  two  cranks  were 
formerly  used  to  some  extent,  but  have  largely  gone  out  of  service.  Such 
•cars  give  opportunity  for  only  two  men  to  work  at  propulsion,  and  the 
motion  of  the  cranks,  unless  carefully  and  .continually  watched,  is  some- 
what dangerous  to  men  standing  on  the  car.  On  account  of  the  larger  and 
heavier  tools  carried  a  hand  car  for  a  bridge  gang  is  made  heavier  than  the 
section  hand  car.  The  platform  is  usually  about  8  ft.  long  and  5  ft.  6  or  8 
ins.  wide,  extending  over  the  wheels.  In  order  to  obtain  a  desired  width 
of  platform  on  hand  cars  for  narrow-gage  track,  the  platform  is  extended 
over  the  wheels.  An  important  feature  of  design  in  all  hand  cars  is  to  get 
the  wheels  far  enough  apart  to  obviate  the  danger  of  upsetting  the  car 
when  the  two  ends  are  unequally  loaded  to  the  extent  of  a  man  or  two. 


B 


Fig.  339. 

The  most  important  considerations  in  a  hand  car  are  the  weight  and 
•the  speed,  or  the  distance  the  car  travels  for  a  stroke  of  the  lever.  A  feat- 
ure which  has  to  do  largely  with  the  weight  is  the  manner  of  construction 
of  the  wheels.  The  old  form  of  wheel,  where  the  tire  and  hub  were  cast- 
welded  around  wrought  spokes,  is  too  heavy  and  is  not  so  good  a  wheel  as 
some  of  the  lighter  forms  now  made.  One  difficulty  with  this  old  form  of 
wheel  was  that  an  extraordinary  load  on  the  car  would  loosen  the  spokes, 
after  which  the  wheels  would  wabble  in  running.  Wheels  of  pressed  steel  or 
wheels  made  with  wooden  rim  and  spokes,  or  steel  plate  center,  with  steel 
tire,  are  best  for  hand  cars,  as  such  construction  can  be  made  sufficiently 
strong  and  save  much  weight  over  the  older  forms  of  cast  or  cast-welded 
wheels.  On  roads  using  automatic  electrical  block  signals  with  track  circuit 
the  hand  car  wheels  must  have  wooden  centers  or  insulated  axles.  The  web 
of  pressed  steel  wheels  is  usually  dished  and  ribbed  or  corrugated  radially, 
so 'as  to  effect  a  gain  in  stiffness.  In  the  Buda  steel  wheel  (B,  Pig.  309), 
made  from  a  single  plate,  the  tread  is  doubled  back  upon  itself  half  its 
width,  so  that  the  wheel  center  is  in  line  with  the  middle  of  the  tread,  or  in 
the  direct  line  through  which  the  weight  on  the  wheel  bears.  The  metal  is 
shaped  by  drawing  and  spinning,  without  seam  or  weld,  and  the  wheel  com- 
plete weighs  40  Ibs.  The  Kalamazoo  wheel  has  a  steel  plate  center  and  a 
pressed  steel  tire  or  tread.  The  "Cyrus  Koberts"  hand  car  wheel  has  a  hub 
cast-welded  around  steel  spokes  which  are  screwed  firmly  into  the  felloe. 


678  TRACK  TOOLS 

A  steel  flanged  tire  is  then  shrunk  over  the  felloe.  The  style  of  wheel  in 
most  extensive  use  is  a  dished  steel  plate  with  portions  of  the  metal  cut 
away  or  bent  back,  leaving  the  spokes.  A  section  of  the  Sheffield  pressed 
steel  wheel  is  shown  as  F,  Fig.  309.  The  Donovan  hand  car  wheel  (En- 
graving E,  Fig.  309),  like  several  others,  is  pressed  from  one  piece  of  steel 
plate.  The  engraving  shows  views  of  both  the  outside  and  inside  of  the 
wheel.  The  metal  ^struck  out  between  the  spokes  is  turned  inward  at  right 
angles  to  support  the  tread.  The  hub  plate  is  cast-welded  on  both  side& 
of  the  web  and  through  the  spaces  between  the  spokes,  forming  a  single 
casting  which  closely  binds  the  parts  together  without  bolt  or  rivet. 

The  frame  of  a  hand  car  can  be  much  lightened  by  a  proper  disposi- 
tion of  brace  rods.  Both  longitudinal  and  cross  sills  should  be  trussed  and 
the  platform  should  be  braced  diagonally  to  keep  the  wheels  in  tram  or  in 
position  to  track  properly.  The  gallows  frame,  if  of  wood  construction, 
should  be  braced  diagonally,  to  keep  it  from  getting  rickety.  Section  hand 
cars  sufficiently  strong  to  carry  as  many  men  as  can  conveniently  get  on 
them,  with  their  tools,  need  not  weigh  more  than  500  Ibs.  A  heavy  car  is 


Fig.  340.— Sheffield  Section  Hand  Car. 

unwieldy  to  get  on  or  off  the  track,  is  more  liable  to  be  damaged  in  being 
moved  to  or  from  the  track,  and  runs  hard;  which  means  that  it  cannot 
be  propelled  as  fast  as  a  lighter  car  well  constructed.  The  car  illustrated 
as  Fig.  340  weighs  480  to  545  Ibs,  according  to  the  thickness  of  metal  in 
the  wheels,  but  the  car  of  this  pattern  weighing  510  Ibs.  is  considered  heavy 
enough  and  strong  enough  for  all  ordinary  purposes.  All  parts  of  a  hand  car 
should  be  made  as  light  as  possible  for  the  strength  required,  and  manufac- 
turers, who,  as  a  rule,  have  studied  the  matter  closely,  and  experimented  a 
good  deal  with  the  materials  required,  have  the  business  down  to  its  finest 
points.  As  a  general  proposition  better  and  cheaper  hand  cars  can  be  had 
from  them  than  are  turned  out  from  railway  shops. 

The  two  features  of  hand  car  design  which  determine  speed,  for  tt 
given  outlay  of  strength,  are  the  sweep  of  the  handles  and  the  distance  the 
car  travels  per  stroke  of  the  lever.  In  a  mechanical  sense  a  hand  car  is 
propelled  by  prime  movers  working  in  parallel.  The  physical  exertion  of 
pumping  the  car  may  be  analyzed  into  two  processes — the  expenditure  of 
"elbow  grease"  and  the  movement  of  the  body  in  bending  the  back.  As  a 
matter  of  efficiency,  therefore,  a  large  part  of  the  energy  generated  is  lost 
in  the  prime  mover.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  sweep  of  the  handles 


HAND  CARS    \  679 

and  the  travel  of  the  car  per  stroke  of  the  lever  are  all-important  considera- 
tions ;  because  the  former  has  to  do  with  the  extent  of,  and  the  latter  with 
the  rapidity  of,  the  back-bending  action.  The  lever  handles  should  have  a 
sweep  up  and  down  of  about  24  ins.  and  the  sweep  of  both  ends  of  the  lever 
should  be  the  same,  or  equal,,  and  between  the  same  limiting  distances  from 
the  car  floor.  In  order  that  this  condition  may  obtain,  the  lever  or  walk- 
ing beam  must  be  equally  divided  across  its  axis  or  supporting  shaft  and  the 
connecting  rod  must  be  of  a  certain  fixed  length.  A  sweep  of  the  handles 
exceeding  2±  ins.  'requires  rather  too  much  motion  or  bending  of  the  back. 
Since  large  wheels  are  run  at  a  given  speed  easier  than  small  ones,  the 
wheels  of  a  hand  car  should  be  not  less  than  20  ins.  in  diameter.  These  two 
requirements — the  sweep  of  the  lever  handles  and  the  diameter  of  the 
wheels — being  fixed,  and  a  gear  ratio  to  produce  a  given  speed  being  de- 
termined upon,  it  matters  not  how  the  driving  gear  is  otherwise  arranged. 
The  length  of  the  crank  and  the  leverage  of  the  handles  are  dependent  upon 
each  other;  the  longer  the  crank  of  the  speed  wheel  or  driver,  the  less  can 
be  the  leverage  or  purchase  given  to  the  handles,  the  length  of  the  lever 
to  which  the  handles  are  attached  being  unimportant  so  long  as  the  sweep 
of  the  handles  remains  fixed.  So  it  matters  not  whether  the  crank  be 
longer  and  the  leverage  less,  or  the  crank  shorter  and  the  leverage  greater. 
The  ratio  between  the  number  of  gear  teeth  on  the  driver  and  pinion  de- 
pends upon  the  required  number  of  revolutions  of  the  wheels  in  order  to 
travel  the  given  distance  per  stroke  of  the  lever ;  and  it  matters  not  whether 
these  two  gear  wheels  be  larger  or  smaller,  so  long  as  the  number  of  teeth 
on  each  bear  the  same  ratio  to  each  other. 

In  general,  two  speeds  for  hand  cars  are  required:  viz.,  one  speed  for 
grades  and  another  for  the  level.  A  car  operated  up  grade  will  necessarily 
run  slower  for  a  given  outlay  of  strength  than  when  operated  on  the  level. 
As  the  speed  up  grade  must  then  be  comparatively  slow,  necessarily,  and 
as  to  accomplish  the  same  work  in  propelling  the  car  less  force  or  pressure 
on  the  handles  is  required  at  a  quick  stroke  than  at  a  slower  one,  the 
car  best  suited  for  grades  favors  the  quick  stroke.  On  the  level  the 
opposite  obtains ;  that  is,  the  car  best  suited  for  the  level  favors  the  slow 
stroke,  because  at  a  high  speed  of  the  lever  men  can  put  less  force  on 
it,  and  much  work  developed  in  rapidly  bending  the  back  is  lost,  as  far 
as  the  work  done  upon  the  car  is  concerned.  For  sections  having  heavy 
grades — say  over  1J  per  cent — hand  cars  ought  to  be  speeded  to  run  not 
over  15  ft.  per  full  stroke  of  the  lever  (up  and  down),  and  an  arrangement 
should  be  provided  by  which  the  pinion  may  be  slipped  and  the  drive  wheel 
thrown  out  of  gear  while  running  down  grade.  For  ordinary  grades  17  ft. 
run  per  stroke  is  about  right.  For  the  level  or  slight  grades,  22  to  25  ft. 
run  per  stroke  of  the  lever  enables  men  to  run  a  car  at  good  speed  with 
a  minimum  rate  of  work  developed  in  the  back  and  arms.  The  Eoberts  Oar 
&  Wheel  Co.  makes  a  special  double  gear,  with  slip  pinions,  for  hand  cars. 
The  crank  shaft  carries  two  speed  wheels  of  different  diameters,  and  the 
driver  axle,  which  is  of  square  cross  section  at  the  middle,  carries  two  slip 
pinions,  worked  by  horizontal  levers  extending  under  the  platform  to  the 
end  of  the  car.  The  larger  pinion  matches  with  the  smaller  speed  wheel, 
forming  the  "slow  gear/'  for  grades,  and  the  small  pinion  and  larger  speed 
wheel  provide  the  "fast  gear/5  for  level  track.  To  stop  the  motion  of  the 
lever  when  coasting  down  heavy  grade?  both  pinions  may  be  thrown  out  of 
gear.  This  matter  of  speeding  hand  cars  is  important,  because  for  use  on 
grades  a  high-speed  car — that  is,  a  car  having  a  slow-moving  lever — requires 
so  much  force  applied  to  the  lever  to  move  the  car  at  all  that  it  sometimes 
becomes  easier  to  walk  and  push  the  car  than  to  propel  it ;  whereas,  on  the 


680  TRACK  TOOLS 

level,  with  a  slow-speed  car — which  means  one  having  a  fast-moving  lever — 
the  wind  and  sweat  are  taken  out  of  men  in  rapidly  bending  the  back,  with- 
out being  able  to  attain  good  speed.  A  road  having  long  stretches  of  both 
level  track  and  grades  ought,  in  procuring  hand  cars  for  its  section  crews, 
to  get  for  each  section  that  hand  car  which  is  best  suited  to  the  grades  on 
it,  and  thus  save  much  time  for  the  company  and  much  unnecessary  labor 
for  its  men. 

For  men  of  average  stature  304-  ins.  to  center  is  about  the  proper  hight 
above  the  floor  of  the  car  to  support  the  shaft  or  axis  which  carries  the 
lever.  All  lost  motion  in  boxes  and  keys  should  be  carefully  taken  up.  As 
it  is  difficult  to  keep  a  tight  key  between  crank  shaft  and  speed  wheel,  the 
wheel  should  be  cast  with  a  wide  spoke  carrying  two  lugs,  between  which 
the  crank  is  fitted  and  held  independently  of  the  key  in  the  hub,  as  shown  by 
Engraving  A9  Fig.  309.  On  Buda  hand  cars  there  is  a  set  screw  in  one  of 
these  lugs  to  tighten  up  on  the  crank  when  the  parts  become  worn.  The  oil 
holes  and  tubes  should  be  arranged  where  they  can  be  easily  got  at  and  they 
should  be  provided  with  dust  guards  or  flaps  of  leather  or  painted  canvas, 
or  wire  nails  may  be  stuck  into  them  to  keep  the  dirt  out.  The  main  axle 
boxes  should  be  provided  with  packing,  so  as  to  hold  the  oil  up  to  the  axles, 
underneath.  In  winter  time  a  small  amount  of  kerosene  may  be  mixed 
with  the  black  oil  to  keep  it  properly  thinned.  The  bearings  holding  the 
main  axle  from  springing  at  the  pinion  should  be  fixed  so  as  to  slide  up 
when  an  unusual  weight  is  bearing  down  on  the  floor  above  it;  otherwise 
that  axle  may  sometimes  become  cramped  and  prevented  from  turning  truly. 
One  wheel  on  the  axle  not  driven  should  be  loose.,  so  that  the  car  may  be 
easily  turned  by  lifting  one  end  and  swinging  it  around.  The  loose  wheel 
also  reduces  the  resistance  to  rolling  motion  on  curves,  and  on  tangents  too, 
if  there  be  an  inequality  in  the  circumferences  of  the  two  wheels.  The 
best  way  to  secure  the  wheels  to  the  axles  and  the  pinion  gear  to  the  driv- 
.  ing  axle  is  by  a. tapering  fit,  with  jam  nuts,  screwed  against  the  hub.  The 
method  of  fitting  by  driving  a  key  usually  forces  the  wheel  or  gear  out  of 
center  with  the  axle.  An  eccentric  pinion  is  known  by  the  sound  thereof, 
the  harsh  music  pealing  forth  to  the  tune  of  once  each  revolution.  All 
available  space  inside  the  gallows  frame  should  be  used  for  a  box  to  carry 
the  oil  can,  a  few  bolts,  spikes,  track  chisels,  etc.  A  small,  long  box  i> 
sometimes  placed  alongside  the  gallows  frame,  lengthwise  the  car,  for  keep- 
ing flags  dry  and  out  of  the  way ;  otherwise  flags  ought  to  be  carried  in  a  tin 
case.  Hand  irons  should  be  placed  along  the  side  of  the  top  pieces  of  the 
gallows  frame,  so  that  shovels,  hammers,  picks,  etc.,  can  be  stood  up  inside 
them  and  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  men's  feet.  The  brake  should  be  at  tho 
side,  because  if  the  car  is  running  fast  the  'rapid  motion  of  the  lever  will 
not  permit  a  man  to  throw  his  full  weight  upon  an  end  brake.  The  brake 
blocks  should  be  faced  with  leather,  so  as  to  take  good  hold,  and  everything 
connected  with  the  brake  should  be  maintained  in  good  condition.  In  a  long 
experience  with  hand  cars,  I  have  always  thought  there  should  be  two  brakes 
— one  on  each  side — so  as  to  be  able  to  get  "quick  action"  in  cases  of 
emergency,  which  will  happen  occasionally.  A  chain  and  lock  should  be 
carried  for  locking  the  car  in  case  it  should  be.  left  standing  without  any 
of  the  section  hands  near.  This  chain  gives  least  bother  if  hung  by  a  link. 
near  its  middle,  to  a  staple  or  eye  bolt  in  the  side  of  the  car  close  by  one 
of  the  wheels,  so  that  when  not  used  it  may  hang  out  of  the  way. 

The  knack  of  running  a  hand  car  fast  is  to  get  force  to  the  handles. 
and  this  cannot  be  done  as  easily  by  trying  to  bear  down  and  pull  up  hard 
against  them  while  they  are  moving  rapidly  as  it  can  by  usins:  moderate 
strength  and  trying  to  make  the  hands  race  with  the  handle.  In  this  way 


HAND  CARS  681 

more  force  can  be  put  to  the  lever  while  it  is  moving  rapidly  than  by  trying 
to  exert  so  much  strength.  When  the  rails  are  covered  with  frost  -and  the 
driver  wheels  .slip  it  helps  matters  considerably  to  increase  the  weight  on 
these  wheels  for  traction,  and  this  may  be  done  by  having  most  of  the  men 
stand  on  and  toward  that  end  of  the  car,  running  the  loose  wheels  ahead, 
to  clear  the  rail  of  frost  and  give  better  traction  to  the  drivers.  The  loss 
of  traction  from  frost  on  the  rails  is  very  provoking,  sometimes,  and  is 
frequently  the  cause  of  much  delay  in  getting  to  work.  It  might  be  a  good 
plan  to  place  sprocket  wheels  on  the  axles  of  hand  cars,  to  be  coupled  up 
with  sprocket  chain  temporarily,  during  the  frosty  season,  in-order  to  ob- 
tain four  wheels  for  traction. 

Hand  cars  are  often  needlessly  smashed  by  being  run  into  by  irregular 
trains.  All  irregular  trains  should  blow  the  whistle  before  rounding  each 
curve.  When  running  a  hand  car  either  against  or  before  a  train  which 
is  late  or  a  train  which  may  be  expected  at  any  moment,  it  is  well  while 
rounding  curves  to  keep  a  man  running  between  the  hand  car  and  the  train, 
as  far  away  as  he  can  see  the  hand  car,  so  that  he  may  signal  the  latter  in 
case  the  train  comes  near.  At  least  one  man  of  a  hand  car  crew  should 
always  face  the  rear  and  keep  a  lookout  for  trains.  Hand  cars  run  at 
night  or  through  dark  tunnels  should  display  a  white  light  in  front  and  a 
red  light  at  the  rear.  During  foggy  weather  it  is  dangerous  to  attempt  to 
run  hand  cars,  for  there  is  no  practicable  way  to  protect  the  car  that  will 
permit  it  to  run  faster  than  a  walk,  and  even  then  there  is  considerable 
risk.  On  some  roads  the  foremen  are  forbidden  to  take  hand  cars  out  in  a 
heavy  fog.  On  other  roads  they  are  instructed  not  to  take  the  car  out  in 
fogs  if  the  destination  is  less  than  a  mile  distant.  Hand-car  platforms 
should  be  built  at  intervals  of  one  fifth  to  one  third  mile  along  the  section, 
to  save  time  and  trouble  in  taking  off  the  car  when  it  is  loaded  with  tool*, 
and  also  to  provide  places  at  which  to  take  off  the  car  in  cases  of  emergency. 
In  long  cuts  it  is  well  to  dig  away,  if  necessary  to  make  room,  about  the 
middle  of  the  cut  and  put  in  one  of  these  platforms.  The  platform  may 
consist  simply  of  two  wooden  rails,  blocked  up  with  a  pile  or  cribbing  of 
old  ties,  if  on  a  fill,  running  away  from  the  track  at  a  slightly  descending 
grade  far  enough  to  give  clearance.  Hand  car  "turnouts"  of  earth  filling, 
covered  with  a  shallow  layer  of  gravel  or  cinders,  are  more  convenient  than 
rail  or  timber  platforms,  and  on  shallow  embankments  they  are  to  be  re- 
commended. To  improve  the  appearance,  as  well  as  to  prevent  the  filling- 
from  being  tramped  down,  the  slopes  are  sometimes  paved  with  cobble 
stones.  The  standard  earth  turnout  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  is  9  ft.  wide 
and  extends.  11  ft.  from  the  rail.  It  is  well  to  lay  a  covering  of  inch 
boards  over  the  ties  inside  the  rails,  opposite  the  platform  or  turnout,  so  as 
to  facilitate  turning  the  car;  the  boards  should  be  well  nailed  to  the  ties. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  habitually  take  the  car  off  the  track,  when  working  in 
one  vicinity  for  any  considerable  length  of  time,  whether  a  train  is  expect- 
ed soon  or  not.  If  the  car  is  set  off  on  uneven  ground  the  wheel  which  does 
not  have  a  bearing  should  be  blocked  up.  For  hand  cars  of  ordinary  weight, 
portable  turntables  or  "jiggers"  used  opposite  tool  houses  for  turning  the 
car  are  usually  more  bother  than  they  are  worth.  It  is  more  convenient 
and  expeditious  to  turn  the  car  by  hand,  and  for  this  purpose  the  track, 
between  the  rails,  opposite  the  tool  house  should  be  planked  over  with  2-m. 
plank  well  nailed  or  spiked  fast,  for  a  distance  of  8  or  10  ft.  In  putting 
a  hand  car  off  or  on  track  that  is  not  filled  in,  the  car  should  be  lifted; 
an  attempt  to  turn  it  on  the  ties  may  result  in  a  wrenched  wheel  or  sprung 
axle.  It  is  frequent  observation  that  the  wear  and  tear  on  hand  cars  in 
putting  them  on  and  taking  them  off  the  track  is  greater  than  in  any 
other  wav. 


682  TRACK  TOOLS 

At  all  times  when  running  the  hand  car  the  following  tools  should  be 
carried:  shovel,  claw  bar,  hammer,  gage,  wrench,  2  chisels,  flags,  spare  bolt* 
and  spikes,  plugs  and  oil  can;  and  in  a  wooded  country  an  ax.  These  tool* 
will  answer  in  almost  any  emergency  and  do  not  make  much  of  a  load  to 
carry.  On  railroads  one  can  never  know  what  moment  a  call  for  men 
will  come,  and  for  this  reason  the  tools  referred  to  should  always  be  near- 
by. It  is  also  a  good  plan  to  have  a  small  wooden  box,  with  a  cover,  con- 
veniently fitted  up  inside  to  hold  such  tools  as  hack  saws  and  frame,  hand  cold 
chisels,  small  hammer,  monkey  wrench,  assortment  of  \nre  nails  and  spikes, 
fence  staples,  files,  hand  punch,  a  piece  of  waste,  and  a  few  of  such  other- 
minor  articles  as  may  suggest  themselves.  If  not  kept  in  some  like  system 
such  tools,  which  are  often  very  much  needed,  will  not  be  at  hand  half  of 
the  time,  and  if  habitually  thrown  into  the  open  box  inside  the  gallows 
frame  together  with  spikes,  bolts,  etc.,  they  will  be  either  broken  or  daubed 
with  oil  when  needed.  Bails  and  heavy  loads  of  ties  should  not  be  carried 
on  hand  cars  for  a  common  thing,  as  cars  soon  get  broken  down  if  so  used. 


Fig.  341.— Sheffield  Velocipede  Car.  Fig.  342. 

For  sections  on  heavy  mountain  grades  push  cars  may  be  substituted 
for  hand  cars,  as  when  moving  up  grade  the  men  must  walk  and  push  the 
car,  and  when  coming  down  grade  a  push  car  will  coast  as  fast  as  a  hand 
car.  If  the  push  car  is  braked  with  a  handspike  it  is  a  good  plan  to  carry 
two  of  them,  so  as  to  have  one  to  fall  back  upon  in  case  the  one  in  service 
falls  out  of  the  hand  of  the  man  applying  it.  In  running  a  hand  car  down 
a  mountain  grade  where  the  view  is  clear  along  the  valley  below,  the  ex- 
perience in  looking  for  trains  coming  up  is  similar  in  one  respect  to  look- 
ing for  stearnships  at  sea — the  heavy  black  smoke  of  the  hard-working  en- 
gine is  usually  the  first  indication. 

The  proper  care  of  hand  cars  is  an  important  consideration  in  section 
work,  and  must  be  directed  by  some  degree  of  intelligence,  especially  with 
respect  to  the  adjustment  of  the  bracing  and  truss  rods.  A  car  may  read- 
ily be  spoiled  for  easy  running  by  an  ignorant  use  of  the  monkey  wrench 
in  straining  on  the  b'race  rods.  All  of  the  rods  should  be  kept  in  even  ten- 
sion and  they  should  not  be  drawn  up  so  tightly  as  to  bend  portions  of  the 
platform  or  frame.  Particularly  is  this  rule  applicable  to  the  diagonal  brac- 
ing and  vertical  rods  in  the  gallows  frame.  A  heavy  strain  on  the  ver- 
tical rods  will  give  the  platform  an  upward  curve  in  the  middle  and  an 
uneven  tension  in  the  diagonal  rods  will  twist  the  frame  out  of  shape  and 
warp  the  platform,  causing  the  bearings  to  cramp  the  shafts  and  axles  and 


HAND  CABS 


683- 


make  the  car  run  hard.  Such  ill  usage  of  machinery  is  inexcusable  and 
will  not  occur  with  men  possessed  with  ordinary  powers  of  observation ;  but 
it  sometimes  does  occur,,  and  for  this  reason  some  manufacturers  have  been 
led  to  dispense  with  the  adjustable  feature  and  design  a  gallows  frame  in- 
tended to  be  rigid  enough  without  diagonal  rods  or  other  devices  which  can 
be  tampered  with.  One  of  the  Buda  designs  of  hand  cars  has  an  angle-iron 
gallows  frame  without  adjustable  bracing. 

Track  Velocipedes. — Hand  cars  for  light  service,  capable  of  carrying 
one  or  two,  or  perhaps  three,  persons,  are  made  in  many  forms.  Such  car.- 
are  in  demand  among  track  forces  principally  for  the  use  of  watchmen,  for 
track  inspection  and  for  carrying  switch  lamps ;  to  telegraph  linemen  they 
are  indispensable.  Perhaps  the  best  known  form  is  the  3-wheel  car  with 
one  or  two  seats,  commonly  known  as  a  velocipede  car  or  "speeder,"  shown 
in  Figs.  341  and  343.  The  'rider  sits  over  the  rail,  on  one  side  of  the  track, 
and  operates  the  car  by  lever  and  treadle,  using  both  hands  and  feet.  As 
they  are  shown  in  the  figures  there  is  but  one  seat,  the  cover  over  the  frame 
in  rear  of  the  operator  being  enclosed  by  a  low  guard,  forming  a  receptacle 
for  carrying  tools,  lunch  pail,  packages,  etc.  In.  another  pattern  of  Shef- 
field car  this  guard  is  dispensed  with  and  a  seat  is  provided  for  a  second 
person,  with  a  foot  'rest,  the  latter  hanging  on  the  inner  side  of  the  frame. 
Some  vehicles  of  this  kind  (used  principally  by  telegraph  linemen)  are 


Fig.  343. — Buda  Velocipede  Car. 

made  double  seated,  so  that  two  operators  may  work  on  the  same  lever  and 
treadles.  The  two  seats  are  arranged  either  in  tandem — one  seat  forward  of 
the  lever  and  the  other  in  rear  of  it — or  side  by  side,  in  which  case  the  two 
operators  sit  at  a  balance  on  either  side  of  the  car  frame,  on  a  plank  swung 
across  the  frame  in  rear  of  the  lever.  If  the  riders  are  not  of  similar  avoirdu- 
pois the  heavier  man  should  sit  on  the  inside  end  of  the  plank.  In  the  lat- 
ter arrangemgent  both  riders  face  the  front;  in  the  former,  one  faces  tho 
front  and  the  other  the  rear,  and  in  this  respect  it  is  the  more  desirable 
arrangement.  The  diameter  of  the  wheels  on  the  rider's  side  is  usually 
17  ins.  The  third  wheel,  known  as  the  guide  Wheel,  is  made  about  12  ins. 
in  diameter  and  runs  opposite  the  front  wheel  on  the  rider's  side,  at  the 
end  of  a  braced  cross  arm.  For  convenience  of  shipment  by  train  this  arm 
is  made  detachable  and  may  be  folded  against  the  side  of  the  frame  when 
taken  down.  As  the  guide  wheel  carries  but  little  weight  it  would  easily 
mount  the  outside  tail  of  curves  if  the  car  was  permitted  to  run  freely  from 
side  to  side  of  the  track.  One  way  of  providing  against  derailment  is  to 
give  the  car  a  side  draft  toward  the  rider's  side,  by  setting  either  the  guide4 
wheel  or  the  front  wheel  (usually  the  front  wheel  )to  lead  slightly  that; 
way  in  running ;  and  another  arrangement  is  to  make  the  treads  of  the  f or- 


684 


TRACK   TOOLS 


ward  wheel  and  driver  slightly  concave,  or  beaded  on  the  outer  side.  Fig- 
ure 342  shows  the  construction  of  the  wheel  for  the  Sheffield  3-wheel  cars. 
The  wheel  center  is  of  wood  and  the  tire  is  steel,  concaved.  With  the  Buda 
velocipede  car  (Fig.  343)  the  power  is  applied  to  the  driver  wheel  by  means 
of  a  sliding  rack  and  pinion  operating  on  a  friction  device  which  en- 
gages the  axle  only  when  the  car  is  being  driven,  so  that  the  driving  stroke 
may  vary  in  length  at  the  pleasure  of  the  operator  and  the  return  stroke 
may  be  made  quickly  or  slowly,  as  desired.  When  the  lever  is  not  in  use  in 
propelling  the  car  it  remains  stationary  and  the  car  runs  freely,  which  is  a 
feature  especially  desirable  in  running  down  grades  or  before  a  heavy  wind. 
Three-wheel  cars  fo'r  one  operator,  of  the  forms  above  considered, 
weigh  from  130  to  165  Ibs.  and  are  easily  lifted  to  or  from  the  track  by  one 
man.  The  lightest  car  made  is  the  No.  16  Sheffield  velocipede  car,  weigh- 
ing but  50  Ibs.  It  has  3  rubber-tired  wheels  with  wire  spokes,  bicycle 
style,  and  a  frame  of  seamless  steel  tubing.  The  propelling  mechanism 
consists  of  lever,  with  treadles  at  the  bottom  end,  sprocket  wheel  and  chain. 
The  car  is  equipped  with  anti-friction  bearings.  Double-seated  cars  used 
by  telegraph  linemen  have  a  shallow  box  on  the  cross  arm  for  carrying  wire, 
tools,  etc.,  and  weigh  175  to  200  Ibs. 


Fig.  344.— Eclipse  Hand  Car. 


Fig.  344  A.— The  Pony  Car. 


The  3-wheel  car  is  very  serviceable  and  is  used  in  greater  numbers, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  form  of  light  car.  It  cannot  be  run  backward, 
however,  without  running  off  the  track,  and  when  the  rails  are  frosty  the 
'rear  wheel  is  quite  liable  to  slide  off  the  high  side  of  curves.  It  should  be 
understood,  however,  that  it  is  difficult  to  operate  any  form  of  hand  car  on 
frosty  rails.  It  is  said  that  cars  with  rubber-tired  wheels  give  best  satisfac- 
tion in  this  respect.  A  slight  variation  in  the  set  of  either  wheel  on  the 
rider's  side  will  run  a  3-wheel  car  off  the  track.  The  advantages  claimed 
for  4-wheel  velocipede  cars  are  that  the  wheels  cannot  slide  off  or  swing 
off  the  rails  and  that  the  rider  sits  over  the  middle  of  the  track  where  he 
can  get  a  better  view  of  both  rails  and  their  fastenings  than  when  sitting 
over  one  of  the  'rails,  as  on  a  3-wheel  vehicle.  Moreover,  the  rider  of  the 
four-wheeler  need  pay  no  attention  to  the  poise  of  his  body,  whereas  the 
rider  of  the  three-wheeler  must  be  somewhat  careful  of  his  movements :  by 
leaning  heavily  toward  the  outside  he  will  tip  the  car  over,  and  on  curves 
he  cautiously  leans  toward  the  middle  of  the  track  from  force  of  habit.  On 
the  other  hand  the  four-wheeler  is  cumbersome  for  shipment  in  the  bag- 
gage car,  will  not  carry  .so  heavy  a  load,  and  is  not  so  conveniently  arranged 
for  taking  on  an  extra  load. 


HAND  CARS  685 

The  Eclipse  velocipede  car  is  a  light  four-wheeler  with  saddles  for  one 
or  two  riders,  as  desired.  Its  weight  is  85  Ibs.  In  Fig.  344  it  is  shown  as 
rigged  for  carrying  switch  lamps.  It  is  equipped  with  ball  and  roller  bear- 
ings and  has  trussed  axles  and  frame,  with  diagonal  adjustment  rods  for 
keeping  the  wheels  in  tram.  The  wheels  have  rubber  tires,,  to  insure  noise- 
less running,  and  the  brake  is  applied  to  the  drive  axle  by  a  lever  just  in 
front  of  the  seat.  The  Hartley  &  Teeter  4-wheel  car  (Fig.  345)  for  a  sin- 
gle rider  weighs  but  60  Ibs.  The  frame  is  of  bicycle  tubing,  propulsion  is 
by  foot  gear  of  the  bicycle  kind,  and  the  rider  steadies  himself  by  leaning- 
forward  on  bicycle  handles.  The  wheels  (17  ins.  in  diameter)  are  faced 
with  a  pebbled  rubber  band  3/16  in.  thick,  cemented  on.  The  car  has  ball 
bearings  and  the  brake,  of  the  band  pattern,  is  applied  to  a  friction  wheel 
beside  the  sprocket  wheel  on  the  rear  axle.  The  brake  lever  is  operated  by 
hand.  Its  position  being  just  under  the  handle  bars,  at  the  side  of  the 
head  piece  of  the  frame,  it  does  not  show  in  the  figure.  The  car  has  a  lug- 
gage basket  and  tool  pouch.  The  car  is  also  made  with  two  seats,  arranged 
side  by  side,  in  which  form  it  weighs  75  Ibs.  To  either  of  these  cars  an 
extra  front  seat,  made  of  bent  three-ply  veneer  and  supported  by  a  strong 
steel  frame,  may  be  attached  to  the  framing,  immediately  above  the  front 
axle.  This  seat  adds  only  15  Ibs.  to  the  weight  of  the  car  and  is  a  popular 
attachment,  inasmuch  as  it  increases  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  car  and 
affords  a  position  for  a  person  disinclined  to  work  his  passage. 


Fig.  345.— Hartley  &  Teeter  Hand  Car. 

For  purely  inspection  purposes  light  hand  cars  are  arranged  in  many 
ways  not  stated  above.  On  4-wheel  cars  there  is  sometimes  a  seat  extend- 
ing across  the  car  in  front  of  a  bobtailed  lever  or  walking  beam;  in  other 
cases  swing  chairs  are  mounted  on  supports  at  either  side  of  the  car,  for- 
ward of  the  lever.  Hand  cars  have  been  arranged  with  canopy  tops  and  in 
other  ways  too  numerous  to  mention.  Twelve  or  15  miles  per  hour,  on 
level  track,  is  good  speed  with  hand-propelled  cars,  although  a  much  higher 
rate  may  be  made  in  short  spurts  while  racing. 

As  the  propulsion  of  cars  by  hand  is  not  without  labor,  the  "mother 
of  invention"  has  come  to  the  rescue  with  small  steam  and  gasoline  en- 
gines, and  even  with  sails.  The  Sheffield  gasoline  motor  car  is  shown  in 
Fig.  346.  In  construction  the  car  is  essentially  a  Sheffield  velocipede  car 
with  the  frame  slightly  changed  to  suit  the  requirements  of  power  installa- 
tion. The  device  which  furnishes  the  motive  power  is  essentially  a  double 
gasoline  engine,  the  connecting  rods  from  the  engine  cylinders  operating 
directly  on  cranks  at  either  end  of  the  axle  of  the  driving  wheel,  as  shown, 
the  shield  or  foot  guard  having  been  removed  to  exhibit  this  feature. 
While  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  go  into  all  the  details  of  explaining  the 
operation  of  the  engine  (such  being  similar  to  gas  engines  ordinarily  in 
use),  it  may  be  well  to  explain  that  the  control  of  the  car  is  effected  by 


•686  TRACK  TOOLS 


Fig.  346. — Sheffield  Gasoline  Motor  Velocipede  Car. 

three  levers  or  devices — one  having  to  do  with  the  quantity  of  oil  supplied ; 
another  with  the  quantity  of  air  supplied,  which  determines  the  number 
of  explosions  in  relation  to  the  number  of  strokes;  and  a  third  lever  which 
controls  the  igniting  spark.  In  starting,  the  car  is  given  a  push  and  the 
oil  is  turned  on  and  ignited  by  the  spark,  after  which  the  speed  can  be 
regulated  at  will.  The  igniting  spark  is  furnished  by  a  sealed  battery 
stored  under  the  seat  of  the  car.  There  are  three  seats  on  the  car,  arranged 
for  as  many  riders,  the  operator  sitting  on  the  rear  seat  within  reach  of 
the  controlling  apparatus.  Brakes  are  provided  for  both  the  front  and  rear 
wheels,  so  that  the  car  is  constantly  under  the  control  of  the  operator  and 
the  person  or  persons  riding  in  front.  This  car  weighs  275  Ibs.,  can  read- 
ily be  placed  on,  or  removed  from,  the  track  by  one  man,  and  is  capable  of 
running  25  or  30  miles  per  hour,  if  the  rider  so  desires.  The  Kalamazoo 
and  the  Light  Inspection  Car  Company's  gasoline  motor  cars  have  four 
wheels  and  a  platform,  with  a  seat  extending  across  the  front  end  of  the 
car.  The  gasoline  engine  engages  with  the  rear  axle,  and  is  mostly  below 
the  level  of  the  platform  or  floor.  The  operator  sits  in  a  swing  chair  at  a 
rear  corner  of  the  car  and  a  supply  of  gasoline  is  carried  in  a  storage  tank 
under  the  seat. 

134.  Push  Cars. — Besides  the  hand  car  (the  propulsion  hand  car) 
the  section  outfit  includes  two  kinds  of  slow-speed  vehicles  known  as  the  push 
car  and  the  wheelbarrow.  The  former  is  also  called  a  "truck/'  or  "rubble 
car,"'  and  is  used  for  carrying  materials,  such  as  rails,  ties,  ballast  and  other 
supplies  too  heavy  or  too  bulky  to  carry  on  the  hand  car.  Owing  to  the 
heavier  loads  it  is  required  to  carry  it  must  necessarily  be  made  stronger 
than  the  hand,  car.  The  severest  test  on  the  car  is  a  full  load  of  rails,  be- 
cause they  overhang  the  car  and  ride  with  a  teetering  motion.  For  ordinary 
section  work  the  axles  should  be  of  steel,  If  ins.  in  diameter,  and  to  save 
lifting  too  high  in  loading:,  the  wheels  should  be  lower  than  ordinary  hand 
ar  wheels.  Sixteen  inches  is  about  the  right  diameter,  being  a  compro- 
mise between  high  lifting  and  hard  running;  for  the  smaller  the  wheel 
diameter  the  harder  the  car  runs.  There  is  another  important  advantage 
with  the  low  push  car  not  always  taken  into  consideration,  and  that  is  the 
facility  ^with  which  low  cars  can  be  propelled  by  "kicking."  When  the  car 
is  running  light  or  empty  four  men  can  sit  at  the  corners  of  the  car  and 
send  it  along  at  good  speed  by  kicking  against  the  ends  of  the  ties.  A 
high  platform  places  the  men  out  of  convenient  reach  of  the  ties,  so  that 
the  operation  of  kicking  becomes  extremely  fatiguing,  and  practically  of 
no  effect  as  a  motive  power. 


PUSH  CARS  687 

The  length  of  wheel  base  or  distance  between  the  axles  shoul  1  be  about 
4J  ft.  for  a  7-ft,  car.  The  platform  is  usually  made  5£  ft.  wide,  extending 
over  the  wheels;  and  pieces  of  2xi-in.  strap  iron  should  be  placed  across 
the  ends  to  protect  them  against  being  cut  into  when  the  car  is  loaded  with 
rails.  The  platform  of  the  car  is  usually  formed  upon  two  2x6-in.  side  sills, 
to  which  are  bo] ted  the  journal  bearings,  and  across  which  are  placed  the 
pieces  upon  which  the  floor  is  laid.  As  a  rule  these  cross  pieces  are  notched 
in  the  ends,  where  they  fit  over  the  side  sills,  as  shown  by  sketch  in  Fig. 
347.  •  This  is  a  bad  arrangement,  for  the  piece  is  almost  sure  to  split,  as 
indicated  by  the  heavy  line,  when  the  first  heavy  load  of  rails  is  carried, 
and  if  cross-grained  (as  it  frequently  is)  the  truck  is  greatly  weakened. 
It  is  better  to  make  up  this  2x6-in.  piece  with  a  straight-grained  piece  of 
'2x4  and  one  of  2x2,  bolted  together  near  the  ends.  The  lower  part  is  needed 
to  act  as  a  strut  between  the  side  sills.  To  prevent  spreading  of  the  side 
sills  under  heavy  ]oad  they  are  usually  held  against  the  struts  by  long  boltc. 
passing  entirely  across  the  frame,  and  to  keep  the  car  body  properly  squared 
truss  rods  are  sometimes  run  between  diagonally  opposite  corners.  Most 
push  enrs  turned  out  by  manufacturers,  have  the  end  cross  timbers  strength- 
ened by  truss  rods.  To  keep  dirt  out  of  the  bearings  the  axle  boxes  may  be 
shielded  with  flaps  of  leather  or  painted  canvas. 


Fig.  347. — Improper  Form  of  Cross  Piece  for  Push  Car. 

The  weight  of  the  car  can  be  got  down  to  450  or  500  Ibs.  At  least 
four  men  are  required  to  lift  such  a  car  bodily  and  carry  it  to  or  from  the 
track.  The  ends  of  the  side  sills  are  usually  made  to  project  beyond  the  car 
and  are  rounded  off  for  handles.  Two  handles  at  each  end  of  the  car  are 
enough,  but  a  horizontal  hand  iron  at  the  middle  of  each  end  cross  piece 
affords  opportunity  for  a  third  man  at  each  end.  in  lifting  the  car,  and  is 
&  serviceable  attachment.  To  facilitate  handling  the  car  with  less  than 
four  men  there  should  be  a  loose  wheel  on  one  or  both  axles,  so  that  the 
car  may  be  easily  turned  in  the  track.  For  a  small  crew  the  best  form  of 
push  car  is  one  having  the  body  detachable  from  the  axles,  so  that  two  men 
can  easily  put  it  on  or  off  the  track  in  sections.  With  this  form  of  car. 
however,  the  boxes  cannot  be  packed  and  the  oiling  must  be  attended  to 
frequently.  For  trucking  cinders  or  other  ballast  material  the  car  body 
niaA^  be  provided  with  stake  pockets  and  removable  side  and  end  boards, 
which  are  usually  made  about  12  ins.  high.  For  quickly  dumping  loael* 
when  working  on  main  track,  dumping  beds  or  platforms  are  sometimes 
provided  for  push  cars.  This  device  consists  of  a  platform  of  boards 
nailed  across  a  half-round  stick  and  sided  up  on  three  sides.  The  platform 
{or  shallow  three-sided  box)  is  about  8  ft.  long  and  6  or  7  ft.  wide,  and  it- 
is  placed  for  service  with  the  rounded  support  (which  runs  longitudinally 
under  the  center  of  the  platform)  near  the  side  of  the  car,  with  the  open 
side  of  the  platform  or  box  outward.  The  platform  is  dumped  by  tilting 
it  over  the  side  of  the  car.  Push  cars,  when  not  in  use,  should  be  kept  at  a 
safe  distance  from  the  track  and  the  wheels  should  be  secured  by  chain  and 
lock.  Neither  push  cars  nor  hand  cars  should  be  taken  off  the  track  and 
left  where  they  will  obstruct  highways. 

Push  cars  to  be  useel  on  grades  should  by  all  means  be  provided  with 
n  strong  brake  at  the  side,  for  when  such  a  car  with  a  heavy  load  gets  beyond 
control,  on  a  grade  of  any  consequence,  it  runs  away  like  the  boy's  yoke 
of  oxen — "powerful  stout."  A  Sheffield  pi^sh  car  with  brake  rigging  is 


G88  T1UCK  TOOLS 

shown  in  Fig.  348.  The  weight  of  the  car  complete  is  490  Ibs.  Brake 
blocks  are  applied  to  all  of  the  wheels.  In  a  device  of  this  kind  the  brake 
lever  should  drop  down  out  of  the  way  of  loading,  when  not  in  use ;  or  the 
lever  might  consist  of  handle  and  socket,,  as  arranged  for  a  track  jack. 
When  the  car  is  not  equipped  in  some  such  way  it  is  braked  by  taking  ;i 
pry  over  a  wheel  with  a  handspike,  through  a  hole  in  the  decking :  but  the 
application  of  braking  power  to  one  wheel  only  has  a  tendency  to  wrench 
the  car  out  of  shape  and  the  method  interferes  to  some  extent  with  the 
loading. 

Any  man  who  has  helped  to  kick  a  push  car  some  considerable  dis- 
tance must  have  been  impressed  with  the  desirability  for  some  speedier  and 
easier  means  of  locomotion.  The  idea  of  providing  hand  cars  with  a  de- 
tachable gallows  frame  and  lever,  by  the  removal  of  which  the  vehicle  can 
be  changed  to  a  push  car,  and  vice  versa,  has  been  put  into  practice  in  two 
or  three  different  arrangements  or  designs.  The  construction  of  a  certain 
pattern  of  Cyrus  Eoberts  hand  cars  provides  for  ready  conversion  into  push 
cars.  All  of  the  driving  gearing  is  located  beneath  the  decking  or  floor  and 
the  gallows  frame  is  not  built  in  with  the  platform,  but  constitutes  an  inde- 
pendent framework  which  is  held  to  place  by  a  "clamping  bolt,"  when  in 
position  to  propel  the  car.  All  that  is  required  to  remove  the  gallows  frame 
and  make  the  change  is  to  loosen  the  clamping  bolt  and  disconnect  a  turn- 
buckle  on  the  pitman  or  connecting  rod.  On  another  combination  car  known 


Fig.  348.— Sheffield  Push  Car  With  Brake. 

as  the  Imperial  pattern  the  support  for  the  operating  lever  consists  of  a 
single  upright  standard  fitting  into  a  3 -in.  square  hole  through  a  9-in.  iron 
plate  and  then  into  a  socket  under  the  deck  of  the  car  secured  by  brace 
rods.  The  lower  end  of  this  standard  is  tapered  on  all  four  sides,  so  that 
the  tendency  from  wear  of  parts  is  to  fit  the  standard  more  firmly  into  the 
iron  base.  For  the  connection  of  the  driving  rod  with  the  large  gear  or 
"speed"  wheel  the  latter  is  provided  with  four  holes,  so  that  in  event  of 
wear  to  one  of  them  there  are  still  three  others  available.  The  operation  of 
removing  or  replacing  the  supporting  standard  and  driving  rod  is  a  momen- 
tary affair,  as  there  are  no  bolts  or  nuts  to  be  removed,  requiring  timer 
and  nothing  to  be  misplaced  or  lost.  Another  interesting  feature  of  the 
ear  is  an  arrangement  whereby  the  position  of  the  connecting  rod  can  be-" 
changed  on  the  handle  bar  or  lever,  so  as  to  regulate  the  leverage  according 
to  the  load  on  the  car  or  the  grade  of  the  track.  This  position  of  the  con- 
necting rod  can  be  changed  by  simply  adjusting  a  screw,  while  the  car  is 
in  motion,  if  desirable.  By  this  me'ans  of  adjustment  the  handles  mav 
be  made  to  'describe  an  arc  of  only  8  or  9  ins.  on  level  track,  where  quick 
movement  is  essential  to  speed,  or  18  to  20  ins.  on  heavy  grade,  where  lever- 
age is  required  rather  than  quick  movement. 

There  is  a  handy  little  push-car  vehicle  known  as  the  "Pony"  car, 
which  is  particularly  convenient  for  carrying  light  loads  of  ties,  poles, 
lumber,  tools,  etc.  in  busy  yards  or  wherever  trains  are  frequent.  -It  con- 


OTHER  TOOLS  689 

sists  of  a  light  frame  on  two  double-flanged  wheels  arranged  in  tandem,  to 
run  on  otoe  rail  (Fig.  344A).  It  is  held  in  balance  and  pushed  by  a  lever 
•or  handspike  at  the  middle,  and  in  case  of  emergency  the  car  and  its  load 
can  be  quickly  overturned.,  outside  the  rail,  so  as  to  put  it  clear  of  the  track. 

135.  Other  Tools. — The  ax  should  be  double-bitted.  At  least  one 
bit  is  bound  to  see  hard  usage,  but  if  there  are  two  it  is  possible  that  one  of 
them  may  be  kept  in  good  condition.  A  single-bitted  ax  with  trackmen 
will  usually  be  found  in  the  same  condition  as  a  boy's  jackknife — always 
•dull — and  it  comes  so  handy  for  use  as  a  wedge  that  the  head  is  usually 
found  badly  battered  from  hammer  blows.  A  bush  hook  or  brush  ax  (En- 
graving R,  Fig.  295)  is  a  stout  hooked  blade  carrying  a  strap  and  shank 
to  which  a  single-bitted  ax  handle  can  be  fitted.  It  is  useful  in  cutting 
brush  too  heavy  for  the  scythe,  but  too  light  for  the  ordinary  ax.  Brush 
scythes  should  be  short,  wide,  and  heavy.  The  brush  scythe  is  a  more  suit- 
able tool  for  cutting  sprouts  and  small  brush  than  is  the  brush  ax.  For 
grass  also  the  scythe  should  be  rather  heavier  than  the  ordinary  grass  scythe 
used  by  farmers,  owing  to  the  heavy  weeds  which  usually  grow  along  track. 
The  snaths  should  be  stout  and  interchangeable  with  either  the  brush 
scythe  or  the  grass  scythe.  The  list  of  tools  for  a  section  outfit  (§  116) 
includes  two  adzes.  The  necessity  for  two  tools  of  this  kind  is  that  one  is 
required  for  old  ties  and  in  rough  work,  where  it  cannot  very  well  be  kept 
sharp  or  in  the  best  of  condition  all  of  the  time.  The  other  may  be  used 
•exclusively  on  new  ties  and  in  new  work,  and  in  this  way  can  be  kept  in 
good  condition.  The  crosscut  saw  should  have  a  wooden  guard  to  fit  against 
the  teeth,  to  save  them  from  being  injured  or  dulled  while  it  is  being  car- 
ried on  the  hand  car. 

A  curving  hook  is  made  by  bending  a  bar  of  inch  round  iron,  3  ft. 
long,  into  IJ-shape,  and  then  bending  about  6  ins.  of  each  leg  of  the  "IP" 
at  right  angles,  to  hook  under  the  base  of  the  rail,  turning  up  the  extreme 
•ends  of  the  hooks  about  an  inch  to  keep  them  from  pulling  off.  Two  flat 
files  of  medium  size,  one  fine  and  the  other  coarse,  and  one  round  file,  are 
often  useful  tools  to  have  on  hand. 

If  good  water  is  handy  along  the  section,  a  3-gallon,  heavy,  galvanized 
pail,  and  two  dippers  or  cups  are  needed.  The  best  vessel  for  carrying  wa- 
ter any  considerable  length  of  time  is  a  stone  jug  covered  with  two  or  three 
layers  of  coarse  canvas  or  gunny  cloth.  By  wetting  this  outside  covering 
the  evaporation  of  the  water  from  it  will  cool  the  water  in  the  jug.  Rail- 
way section  hands,  above  all  other  men,  are  inveterate  drinkers  of  water, 
and  it  requires  a  large  jug  indeed  to  hold  a  supply  of  water  sufficient  to 
last  three  or  four  of  them  during  a  hot  day.  Where  water  is  scarce  along 
the  line  a  wooden  keg,  with  iron  handles,  holding  15  or  20  gallons,  is  some- 
times used.  Another  water  receptacle  used  on  some  roads  is  a  pine  box 
lined  with  zinc  or  galvalnized  iron,  leaving  an  air  space  between  the  metal 
and  the  sides  of  the  box,  for  cooling  purposes. 

The  wheelbarrow  should  have  a  box  large  enough  to  hold  a  good  load. 
The  wheel  should  be  of  iron  and  it  should  be  of  rather  large  diameter,  so 
that  the  man  pushing  the  barrow  can  see  it  (the  wheel)  over  his  load  when 
turning  corners  on  running  plank,  thus  necessarily  throwing  more  of  the 
load  on  the  arms  than  is  the  case  with  some  wheelbarrows  used  elsewhere. 
The  large  wheel,  however,  enables  the  barrow  to  be  easily  pushed  over  a 
rough  way.  It  is  not  usual  to  find  on  the  market  wheelbarrows  strong 
•enough  for  railroad  service.  The  most  accurate  tape  line  is  a  steel  one, 
but  such  is  rather  too  expensive  for  the  usage  it  would  get  among  most  sec- 
tion men.  A  linen  tape  with  steel  or  brass  strands  running  through  it 
lengthwise  is  accurate  enough.  Such  a  tape  will  not  stretch,  but  it  will 


690 


TRACK  TOOLS 


shrink  if  it  gets  wet,  and  care  must  be  taken,  therefore,  that  it  is  not  used 
in  the  rain  or  trailed  in  wet  grass  or  on  wet  ground.  A  50-ft.  tape  will 
answer,  and  it  should  be  graduated  to  feet  and  tenths.  The  foreman  should 
at  all  times,  while  on  duty,  carry  a  2-ft.  rule  in  his  pocket. 

The  plan  of  straightening  angle  bars  at  elbowed  joints  on  curves  or 
exchanging  places  with  the  outside  and  inside  splice  bars  at  the  joints,  to 
correct  the  alignment  of  the  rail,  is  elsewhere  referred  to.  While  it  is  an 
easy  matter  to  straighten  an  angle  bar  bent  horizontally,  by  suspending  it 
between  two  supports  and  striking  the  middle  of  the  bar  with  a  hammer, 
such  method  of  treatment  will  not  straighten  a  bar  which  is  surface-bent. 
Mr.  John  Wirley,  roadmaster  with  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern 
Ry.,  is  the  designer  of  a  tool  for  straigtening  surface-bent  angle  bars.  The 
device  is  in  general  use  on  that  and  other  roads  with  satisfactory  results. 
The  right  of  manufacture  having  been  transferred  to  the  Buda  Foundry 
&  Mfg.  Co.,  the  tool  is  commonly  known  as  the  Buda  angle-bar  straighten  - 
er.  Briefly,  the  tool  (Fig.  349)  consists  of  a  screw  clamp  and  a  pair  of 
blocks  notched  to  accommodate  the  legs  of  an  angle  bar  in  any  one  of  the 
four  positions  in  which  it  may  be  desirable  to  place  the  bar  for  straightening, 
namely :  with  the  vertical  leg  of  the  bar  right  side  up,  or  upside  down ;  or 
with  the  vertical  leg  lying  horizontally  and  inside  up,  or  outside  up.  In 


Fig.  349. — Buda  Angle-Bar  Straightener. 

straightening  a  bar  the  clamp  is  hooked  over  the  flange  of  a  rail  in  the 
track  and  the  blocks  or  rests  for  the  angle  bar  are  placed  against  the  web 
of  the  rail,  on  the  opposite  side.  The  splice  bar  is  then  fitted  against  the 
blocks  and  is  bent  by  turning  the  screw  against  its  middle,  as  shown  in  the 
illustration,  It  is  thus  seen  that  it  is  possible  to  straighten  the  bar  when 
bent  in  any  one  of  the  four  ways  in  which  it  is  possible  for  an  angle  bar 
to  become  distorted  in  the  track;  that  is,  bent  in  surface,  either  up  or 
down ;  or  in  alignment,  either  outward  or  inward. 

136.  The  Use  and  Care  of  Tools.— While  the  proper  use  of  track 
tools  cannot  be  said  to  require  skill  of  the  hand  to  a  high  degree,  still  it 
takes  some  time  for  men  to  learn  to  use  them  readily,  and  a  fair  degree  of 
intelligence  with  the  exercise  of  good  judgment  are  essential  in  order  to 
turn  out  good  work  with  them.  W^hen  breaking  in  new  men  foremen  should 
insist  at  the  start  that  they  learn  to  use  tools  properly,  so  as  to  be  able  to- 
perform  a  satisfactory  amount  of  work  for  a  fair  amount  of  exertion.  A 
man  who  can  handle  all  track  tools  well  can  make  himself  quite  handy  in  a 
good  many  other  occupations.  Men  should  get  into  the  habit  of  using 
such  tools  as  the  shovel,  tamping  bar  and  hammer  either  handed.  It  make? 
the  work  easier,  for  to  change  hands  gives  a  sort  of  rest;  and  it  also  helps 
to  keep  the  laborer's  shoulders  even. 

Foremen  should  be  held  strictly  accountable  for  all  the  took  intrusted 
to  their  care,  and  they  should  be  made  to  pay  for  such  as  they  cannot  show 


USE  AND  CARE  OF  TOOLS  691 

up.  A  good  plan  to  inaugurate  is  to  have  a  number  stamped  upon  every 
tool  (in  Arabic  numerals)  on  some  portion  of  it  where  it  .will  not  be  worn 
off,  and  a  book  account  or  record  should  be  kept  of  the  same  from  the  time 
the  tool  is  issued  from  the  headquarters  until  it  gets  back  there  again,  after 
being  worn  out  or  broken.  In  this  way  could  be  stopped  the  practice  of 
stealing  tools.,  for  which  section  crews  are  notorious.  A  tool  found  on  a  sec- 
tion, having  a  number  not  corresponding  to  any  charged  against  that  sec- 
tion, or  having  no  number  at  all,  would  indicate  that  that  tool  has  no  busi- 
ness there,  and  unless  the  number  has  been  effaced  it  could  be  returned  to 
the  section  to  which  it  had  been  charged;  at  all  events  a  wrong  number  or 
the  absence  of  a  number  would  place  the  foreman  in  position  to  show  cause 
therefor.  Each  section  foreman  usually  marks  his  tools  in  Roman  charac- 
ters to  correspond  to  the  number  of  his  section.  The  practice  serves  as  a 
ready  means  of  picking  out  the  tool  at  sight,  but  is  no  guard  against  the 
dishonesty  of  other  section  men,  it  being  an  easv  matter  to  take  a  hammer 
and  cold  chisel  and  add  an  "I,"  and  "X,"  or  a  "V"  or  to  change  an  "I"  to 
an  "X"  or  to  a  "V."  A  method  sometimes  followed,  with  the  intention  of 
preventing  additions  to  Roman  numerals  without  being  detected,  is  to  make 
a  horizontal  chisel  mark  each  side  the  number,  thus :  — XII — .  This  meth- 
od of  marking  is  not,  however,  invulnerable,  for  it  is  an  easy  matter  to 
change  either  letter  "I"  to  a  "V"  without  cutting  across  the  horizontal 
mark,  or  if,  using  the  present  case  for  illustration,  the  horizontal  chisel' 
marks  be  lengthened  so  as  to  cut  across  the  last  "I"  of  the  "XII,"  then 
Section  XI  might  claim  the  tool,  since,  to  all  appearances,  it  would  seem  as 
if  Section  XII  had  stolen  the  tool  from  Section  XI  and  put  on  an  extra  iCL" 
A  discussion  of  this  matter  of  changing  marks  on  track  tools,  somewhat 
more  at  length,  was  published  in  the  Railway  and  Engineering  Review  of 
Feb.  4,  1899,  in  which  I  concluded  with  the  following  remarks :  .  "There 
are  numerous  other  ways  by  which  section  men  get  around  any  system  of 
marking  by  straight  lines.  A  stolen  tool — a  bar,  for  instance — is  some- 
times purposely  bent  at  the  point  where  the  marking  is  made  and  then 
hammered,  as  if  to  straighten  the  bar,  thus  obliterating  the  marking.  The 
bar  is  then  thrust  into  a  heap  of  dirt,  or  thrown  into  a  mud  puddle  to  rusfc 
awhile,  and  then  sent  to  the  shop  for  repairs.  After  it  comes  back  any 
marking  may  be  placed  upon  it  which  the  new  owner  chooses,  and  who  els-? 
can  establish  a  claim  to  it?  But  if  all  track  tools  were  stamped  at  head- 
quarters, in  Arabic  numerals,  a  stop  would  be  put  to  the  practice  of  revis- 
ing the  markings  on  tools,  because  the  would-be  counterfeiters  woulel  not 
have  the  stamps  and  would  not  likely  go  to  the  trouble  of  procuring  them."' 
Worn-out  tools  and  those  broken  beyond  repair,  no  matter  in  what  con- 
dition, should  always  be  sent  to  headquarters,  so  that  when  sending  new  ones 
in  exchange  the  roadmaster's  department  may  know  what  became  of  the 
olel  ones,  before  removing  the  charge  from  the  books.  The  division  track 
official  should  occasinally  review  the  tool  reports  of  his  section  foremen  in 
search  of  excess  accumulations.  A  few  surplus  tools  do  not  seem  like  a 
matter  of  much  importance  to  the  foremen,  individually,  but  when  such 
lists  are  multiplied  by  the  number  of  all  or  of  a  large  portion  of  the  sections 
of  a  division,  the  stock  becomes  a  large  one  and  represents  a  considerable 
idle  investment.  Like  importance  attaches  to  the  practice  of  storing  ma- 
terials on  the  various  sections,  over  and  above  the  local  requirements.  The 
proper  place  for  storage  of  tools  and  track  materials  is  at  the  division  head- 
quarters or  some  other  one  point  convenient  for  distribution.  If  a  fore- 
man's outfit  of  tools  is  augmented  for  a  temporary  increase  in  the  size  of 
his  crew,  as  when  taking  up  some  special  piece  of  work,  he  should,  after  his 
crew  has  been  reduced  to  the  normal  basis,  be  required  to  return  the  surplus- 


•692  TRACK  TOOLS 

tools  to  the  division  storekeeper.  In  instancs  of  this  kind  large  supplies  of 
tools  are  liable  to  be  needlessly  withheld  from  service  for  several  years. 

137.  Tool  Houses. — Every  section  should  by  all  means  be  provided 
with  a  tool  house.  The  practice  of  keeping  tools  in  a  box  unprotected 
from  the  weather,  as  is  the  case  on  many  of  the  less  prosperous  roads,  is  de- 
structive of  tools,  is  inconvenient  and  is  time  lost.  At  the  end  of  the  day, 
when  quitting  work,  men  will  usually  throw  the  tools  into  the  box  in  haste, 
and  in  this  way  they  are  frequently  broken  or  otherwise  injured.  Many 
times  when  a  particular  tool  is  wanted  it  will  be  found  in  the  bottom  of  the 
box,  and  so  the  whole  pile  must  be  handled  over  in  order  to  get  at  it.  Tools 
kept  in  a  box  out  of  doors  during  wet  weather  will  be  found  damp  or  wet 
much  of  the  time,  so  that  the  iron  ones  will,  if  not  used  every  day,  soon  be 
heavily  coated  with  rust,  and  wooden  handles  will  decay  in  short  order. 
Hand  cars  habitually  left  out  of  doors  over  night  deteriorate  rapidly;  be- 
sides, in  winter  the  handles  will  often  be  covered  with  frost  or  the  body 
with  snow,  at  starting  out  in  the  morning.  On  the  other  hand,  a  tool  house 
affords  a  place  where  the  tools  can  be  kept  dry,  everything  may  have  its 
place,  and,  when  wanted,  the  hand  may  be  placed  upon  it  without  having 
to  overhaul  a  half  dozen  other  things.  Such  tools  as  are  habitually,  car- 
ried on  the  hand  car,  and  such  tools  as  are  in  daily  use  during  the  particu- 
lar season  of  the  year,  may  remain  on  the  car  when  it  is  run  into  the  house 
at  quitting  time,  thus  saving  considerable  time  and  labor  which  otherwise 
would  be  expended  in  loading  the  car  in  the  morning  and  unloading  it  at 
-night. 

If  possible,  the  tool  house  should  be  so  located  that  in  taking  the  hand 
•car  from  or  to  it  mornings  and  evenings  the  crew  will  not  be  hindered  by 
standing  trains.  As  a  rule,  therefore,  it  should  be  outside  of  the  switches, 
in  case  there  are  side-tracks  in  the  vicinity.  If  the  room  on  the  right  of 
way  will  permit,  the  house  should  be  far  enough  from  the  track  to  allow 
the  hand  car  to  stand  between  it  and  the  track,  clear  of  trains,  and  still 
leave  room  for  the  door  to  swing.  One  large  door  gives  less  trouble  than 
two  smaller  ones,  and  if  the  house  cannot  be  placed  far  enough  from  the 
track  to  have  a  swing  door  and  give  the  desired  clearance,  a  sliding  door  or 
one  hung  on  rollers  should  be  used.  The  tool  house  floor  should  be  level 
with  or  slightly  lower  than  the  top  of  rail,  but  not  higher;  if  lower,  the 
•track  leading  into  a  house  having  a  swing  door  must  be  level  for  a  sufficient 
distance  in  front  of  the  house  to  permit  the  door  to  swing.  If  the  track 
leading  into  the  house  is  of  metal  rails,  they  should  be  laid  to  slope  from 
the  track,  so  that  a  hand  car  left  standing  without  being  trigged  will  not 
run  toward  the  track.  It  is  a  matter  of  some  convenience  to  have  the 
space  between  the  track  and  the  tool  house  planked  over,  the  plank  laid 
parallel  with  the  track.  In  such  a  case  the  hand  car  track  running  into 
the"  house  may  consist  of  2x4-in.  wooden  rails  spiked  to  the  platform.  These 
rails  may  be  omitted  within  the  swing  of  the  door,  so  that  a  door  may  be 
used  which  will  close  tightly  at  the  bottom. 

The  architecture  of  a  tool  house  is  not  very  complicated,  but  as  the 
building  is  intended  to  serve  a  special  purpose  the  proper  plans  for  it  re- 
quire some  study.  The  typical  section  tool  house  of  American  railways  is 
a  frame  building,  oblong  in  plan  and  sheathed  with  upright  boards  and 
battens  on  the  outside.  The  ordinary  hight  from  floor  to  top  of  plate  is 
7  ft.,  the  roof  is  double  pitched,  is  laid  with  shingles  or  sheet  metal,  and 
the  frame  has  corner  posts,  sometimes  braced,  but  no  studding.  The  floor 
is  generally,  or  should  be,  laid  with  2-in.  plank.  So  far  as  the  purposes  of 
the  building  are  concerned,  construction  on  this  order  is  sufficiently  elab- 
orate. The  character  of  the  finery  that  may  be  added,  for  the  sake  of  ex- 
ternal appearance.,  depends  upon  the  financial  status  of  the  road  and  con- 


TOOL  HOUSES  693 

cerns  more  especially  the  buildings  and  the  traffic  departments ;  the  track- 
man is  concerned  with  other  things. 

The  building  should  contain  ample  room  for  the  hand  car,  push  carr 
grindstone  and  other  tools,  and  additional  space  for  three  or  four  men  to- 
do  tinkering  work  occasionally,  as  on  rainy  days,  when  waiting  for  the  weath- 
er to  clear  up.  A  building  14x18  ft.  in  plan  just  about  fulfills  these  re- 
quirements properly.  About  the  smallest  tool  house  heard  of  is  9x12  ft. 
in  plan.  A  building  of  this  size  affords  room  to  put  the  hand  car  and 
tools  under  lock  and  key  and  that  is  about  all.  A  small  tool  house  should 
be  placed  with  the  longer  side  facing  the  track.  The  car  will  then  enter 
through  the  longer  side  of  the  house  and  it  should  enter  near  one  end,  so 
that  as  much  clear  space  as  possible  may  be  had  between  the  car  and  the 
other  end.  As  a  matter  of  illustration,  if  the  hand-car  track  enters  the 
long  side  of  a  10xl4-ft.  house,  18  ins.  clear  of  one  end,  there  will  be  a  clear 
space  of  7x10  ft.  in  the  other  end  of  the  house.  This  is  the  standard  ar- 
rangement on  the  Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie  and  a  number  of  other  roads.  With 
a  house  of  ample  size  it  does  not  matter  so  much  which  side  of  the  building 
faces  the  track,  providing  there  is  plenty  of  room  on  the  right  of  way.  if 
it  be  the  gable  end,  the  hand  car  or  cars  can  be  run  farther  into  the  build- 
ing, thereby  leaving  more  clear  space  just  inside  the  large  door  than  could 
be  had  if  the  car  entered  the  longer  side  of  the  building ;  and  clear  space  at 
this  point  is  oftentimes  desirable  because  of  the  better  light,  especially  dur^- 
ing  a  cloudy  or  stormy  day.  In  any  case  the  car  should  enter  the  building 
near  one  side  rather  than  at  the  middle.  In  a  house  of  proper  size  the  car 
should  stand  not  less  than  3  ft.  clear  of  the  nearest  side,  so  that  one  may 
easily  walk  all  the  way  around  it.  In  a  14x1 8-ft.  house,  gable  end  to  the 
track,  this  arrangement  would  leave  a  clear  space  6  ft.  wide  the  length  of 
the  house. 

Along  the  sides  of  the  house  there  should  be  arranged  a  few  shelves 
for  the  small  tools,  racks  for  holding  bars  and  other  long  tools  in  ah  up- 
right position,  hooks  for  water-proof  clothing,  etc.  Shovels  should  be 
hung  from  pegs,  and  all  other  tools  arranged  conveniently,  instead  of  be* 
ing  thrown  into  a  heap  in  the  corner.  There  ought  to  be  small  4-pane  win- 
dows in  three  sides  of  the  house,  guarded  outside  by  board  shutters,  and  a 
small  work  bench,  say  18  ins.  x  5  ft.,  made  of  3-in.  plank,  should  be  placed 
under  one  of  the  windows.  The  bench  should  be  fitted  with  a  drawer  and' 
a  4-in.  machinist's  vise,  or  a  blacksmith's  vise.  With  the  vise  should  be 
furnished  a  drawing  knife,  which  is  useful  in  fitting  handles  to  tools.  At- 
tached to  the  side  of  the  house  near  another  of  the  windows  should  be  a 
box  or  locker  with  a  sloping  hinged  cover  to  serve  as  a  writing  desk  for  the 
foreman  and  a  depository  for  report  blanks,  shipping  tags,  writing  ma- 
terials, small  expensive  tools,  etc.  On  some  roads  the  tool  houses  are  pro- 
vided with  a  small  room  for  the  foreman's  use,  and  with  a  chimney  and 
stove.  The  latter,  in  winter  time  is  a  desirable  affair,  from  the  trackman's 
standpoint,  but  generally  too  comfortable  and  attractive  for  profit  to  the 
railway  company.  The  surroundings  of  a  tool  house  are  sometimes  such 
that  inside  privy  facilities  are  desirable,  and  such  may  be  provided  for  by 
partitioning  off  a  small  room  in  one  corner.  • 

The  standard  section  tool  house  of  the  Toledo,  St.  Louis  &  Western1 
R.  R.  is  13x18  ft.  in  plan,  standing  gable  end  to  the  track.  A  5xl3-ft.  room 
is  partitioned  off  in  the  back  end  for  the  foreman's  office  and  each  room  has 
two  windows.  The  foreman's  room  is  provided  with  a  stove  with  a  Dick- 
erson  cast  iron  watch  box  smoke  jack  on  the  comb  of  the  roof.  The  stand- 
ard section  tool  house  plans  of  the  Erie  R.  R.  are  shown  as  Fig.  350.  The 
house  is  12x18  ft.  inside  and  stands  with  the  longer  dimension  parallel 
with  the  track,  the  hand-car  track  being  at  the  middle  of  the  house,  with  a 


694 


TRACK  TOOLS 


clear  space  6J  ft.  wide  on  either  side.  The  plans  show  a  slate  roof,  but 
not  all  the  tool  houses  of  the  road  conform  to  specifications  in  this  respect. 
There  are  windows  in  the  gable  ends,  with  shutters,  and  a  double  slide  door. 
Entering  the  house,  there  is  a  covered  box  for  oil  and  lanterns,  at  the  right 
side  of  the  door,  and  under  the  window  on  the  left  side  of  the  house  there 
is  a  stationary  tool  box  built  in,  with  the  floor  and  window  studding.  The 
grindstone  is  properly  in  front  of  a  window.  The  rear  side  of  the  house 
is  occupied  by  racks  nailed  to  2x4-in.  studding,  as  shown  in  detail.  The 
rack  on  which  tools  are  laid  horizontally  consists  of  three  tiers  of  2Jxl^- 
in.  chestnut  pins  10  ins.  apart  vertically.  The  rack  from  which  tools  are 
hung  consists  of  a  2x4-in.  piece  nailed  across  four  studdings,  5  ft.  10  ins. 
from  the  floor,  and  set  with  eleven  If-in.  round  chestnut  pegs.  Other  de- 
tails of  the  general  construction,  of  the  door  guide  and  rail,  of  the  windows, 
racks,  etc.,  are  clearly  shown. 

In  the  ordinary  tool  house, ,  such  tools  as  scythes,  snaths,  pails  and 
other  extra  tools,  shims  and  extra  supplies  carried  in  stock,  are  usually  in" 
the  way,  some, being  piled  up  in  corners  or  stored  where  they  will  encroach 
upon  room  that  is  needed  occasionally  for  odd  jobs  that  can  be  done  on 
rainy  days.  In  winter  time,  especially,  it  is  desirable  to  store  the  summer 
tools  in  some  place  where  they  will  be  out  of  the  way;  otherwise  they  dis- 
commode necessary  movement?  about  the  tool  house,  and  they  are  also  li- 
able to  be  broken  or  injured.  This  storage  room  in  the  Boston  &  Maine 
standard  tool  house  is  provided  for  in  the  attic,  overhead.  The  standard 
plans  provide  for  two  classes  of  structures,  namely  single  and  double  tool 
houses.  The  plans  for  the  single  house  are  shown  as  Fig.  351.  The  build- 
ing is  24  ft.  long  and  15  J  ft.  wide,  the  longer  dimension  being  parallel 
with  the  track.  The  hand-car  track  enters  the  long  side  of  the  house, 


-  FRONT  I/ F  VA  Jinn  -  -PLA/i  3tiQMM&  P05ITIOM  Of  FUR/i/TUftE ' 

Fig.  350. — Section  Tool  House,  Erie  R,  R. 


TOOL  HOUSES 


695 


SECTION 


TRACK  SIDE 


Store*, 


-ur* 


FLOOR  PLAN 


r*n"m-autfif 
^_TOO/HOO* 


END  ELEVATION 


Fig.  351. — Standard  Single  Section  Tool  House,  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R. 

near  one  end,  and  the  house  is  wide  enough  to  hold  a  hand-car  and  push- 
car,  with  the  door  closed.  A  sliding  door  is  provided  at  the  hand-car  en- 
trance, and  at  the  other  end  of  the  house  there  is  a  swing  door  of  usual 
size.  There  is  a  chimney  for  a  stove  and  in  the  corner  of  the  house,  near 
the  location  for  the  stove,  there  are  seats  arranged,  with  boxes  underneath 
for  holding  bolts,  spikes,  etc.  The  first  story  is  8  ft.  high,  from  the  floor 
to  the  under  side  of  the  joists  of  the  second  floor.  Access  to  the  attic  is 
by  means  of  a  ladder  hinged  at  the  top,  so  that  it  may  be  swung  up  out  of 
the  way.  Other  details  and  dimensions  are  made  clear  in  the  illustration. 
The  standard  double  section  tool  house  is  shown  in  Fig.  351  A.  It  is  40 
ft.  long  and  13  ft.  wide,  with  a  12xl4-ft  tool  room  at  either  end.  Between 


Cobble  Stone  ftr/ntf  4'-6Wtfe 
jff-O-  _  ., 

Tool  'Hooks  > 

^ 

v  .„, 

•*    L  Too/ffoairs 

-            Tbo/ffo&rr 

^            tfM 

\ 

1 
,1 
& 

f 

-tyvt* 

v#*> 

lens/fay? 

Tool  Room 
lZ'x/4' 

I 

r 

Fioo/f  PLAN 

SCCTIOM 


':_. 


Fig.  351  A. — Standard  Double  Section  Tool  House,  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R. 


696  TRACK  TOOLS 

these  two  tool  rooms  there  is  a  10xl2-ft.  room  for  the  men  to  sit  in.  There- 
is  higher  than  the  single-section  house,  the  studdings  being  12  ft.  high.  The 
entrance  to  the  attic  is  by  stairs  leading  up  from  this  room.  This  building 
is  higher  than  the  single-section  house,  the  studdings  being  12  ft.  high.  The 
house  is  well  lighted  with  windows  at  the  gable  ends'and  at  the  back  side  in 
each  room. 

The  plans  for  each  class  of  building  show  a  strip  of  cobblestone  paving 
4J  ft.  wide  extending  entirely  around  the  house,,  with  a  1^-ft.  gutter  3  ft. 
from  the  house.  Wherever  the  situation  permits  this  pavement  is  laid 
and  painted  with  Aquol  paint.  Some  of  the  houses  have  small  desks,  and 
some  have  closets.  A  feature  of  the  design  that  is  commendable,  in  each 
case,  is  the  generous  provision  for  working  space  and  storage  room. 

The  floor  of  a  tool  house  should  be  swept  occasionally.  Spare  bolts, 
spikes,  nut  locks,  etc.,  should  be  kept  in  boxes  or  kegs,  and  other  supplies 
in  neat  piles,  each  kind  by  itself.  A  quantity  of  spikes,  bolts,  angle  bar>, 
switch  rods  (where  there  are  stub  switches),  and  other  supplies  commonly 
used  in  track  repairs,  should  always  be  kept  on  hand  in  the  tool  house. 
During  winter  time,  scythes,  snaths,  and  such  tools  as  will  not  be  used, 
should  be  stored  overhead,  where  they  will  be  out  of  the  way.  Space  for 
such  purposes  may  be  had  next  the  rafters  by  laying  boards  on  the  plates, 
across  the  corners  of  the  ..house.  When  storing  away  scythes  in  such  places- 
the  blades  should  be  taken  from  the  snaths.  Lanterns  necessary  for  use  .as 
night  signals  should  be  kept  filled  and  cleaned  and  otherwise  in  good  con- 
dition, at  all  times,  and  oil  cans,  unless  otherwise  specially  provided  for, 
should  be  set  in  a  shallow  box  or  wooden  tray  filled  with  sand.  Locks  for 
hand  cars  and  tool  houses  should  not  be  the  regulation  switch  lock,  else 
trainmen  and  others  having  switch  keys  may  help  themselves.  In  cases 
of  emergency  on  railroads  there  is  never  any  trouble  about  opening  any  kind 
of  a  lock.  Scrap  must  be  stored  outside  the  tool  house,  and  on  some  roads 
specially  constructed  bins  are  built  for  the  purpose.  The  standard  scrap 
bin  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  is  a  box  8  ft.  square  walled  up  with  four 
layers  of  old  ties  halved  together  at  the  corners  and  spiked.  The  bottom 
of  the  box  is  a  layer  of  old  ties,  and  the  interior  is  partitioned  off  with  walls- 
of  old  ties  toe-nailed  to  the  sides  of  the  box.  Two  of  the  compartments, 
3x3  ft.  each,  are  used  for  assortments  of  track  scrap  and  the  other  com- 
partment, about  3  ft.  x  6  ft.  8  ins.,  is  used  for  car  scrap. 

138.  Tool  Repairs. — Tools  should  be  kept  in  good  repair.  It  seems- 
unnecessary  that  this  should  be  said,  yet  how  many  foremen  are  negligent  of 
so  obvious  a  duty !"  And  then  there -are  foremen — and  a  goodly  number,  too 
—who  withhold  tools  from  the  repair  shop  longer  than  they  should,  out  of 
fear  that  seemingly  frequent  repair  bills  charged  against  their  sections  may 
in  some  way  affect  their  standing,  or  possibly  their  tenure  of  position.  Sucli 
practice  is  bad  economy  for  the  railway  company,  because  both  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  the  work  turned  out  by  trackmen  is  in  many  cases  largely 
dependent  upon  the  condition  of  the  tool  used.  Possibly  some  roadmaster^ 
are  to  be  blamed  for  the  prevalence  of  such  a  foolish  notion  among  their 
section  foremen.  At  any  rate  some  sticklers  for  close  inspection  of  track 
work  have  put  themselves  on  record  as  favoring  low  cost  of  tool  repairs  and 
maintenance  of  tools  as  one  of  the  conditions  to  be  considered  in  awarding 
prizes  or  premiums  at  times  of  annual  inspection.  I  doubt  the  wisdom  of 
such  a  plan,  as  fear  of  repair  bills  incurred  might  beget  the  custom  of 
wearing  tools  beyond  the  point  where  they  cease  to  be  effective.  The  man- 
ipulations of  the  trackman  are  not  as  delicate  as  those  of  some  other  me- 
chanics, and  first-class  trackmen  will  wear  out  tools  faster  than  some  other 
trackmen:  while  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  a  "rambunctious"  man  will  occa- 


TOOL  REPAIRS  697 

sionally  meet  with  an  accident.  If,  however,  tools  are  being  frequently 
and  recklessly  broken  or  discarded  before  they  are  sufficiently  worn,  that 
is  another  question,  and  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  use  of  tools  on  the  part 
of  the  division  officer,  in  connection  with  a  proper  system  of  calling  in  old 
tools  whenever  new  ones  are  forwarded,  is  a  sufficient  check  against  ex- 
travagance. 

The  work  of  repairing  track  tools  at  headquarters  should,  as  far  as 
possible,  be  managed  by  one  man,  who  should  carefully  study  the  shapes, 
dimensions,  temper,  etc.,  best  suited  to  the  tools  for  their  uses.  Of  course 
the  bulk  of  the  repairing  must  be  done  in  the  blacksmith  shop,  and  the 
blacksmith  should  have  at  his  command  such  aid,  whenever  needed,  as  will 
enable  him  to  keep  abreast  of  his  work  and  return  promptly  the  tools  sent 
to  him  for  repairs.  On  some  roads  tools  sent  for  repairs  are  exchanged  at 
the  storeroom  for  others  in  good  repair,  thus  facilitating  quick  return.  But 
such  practice  necessarily  dispenses  with  any  system  by  which  each  foreman 
can  identify  his  own  tools,  or  have  them  repaired  to  suit  special  conditions 
existing  on  his  section. 

There  should  be  a  well  regulated  system  of  sending  tools  to  and  from 
the  repair  shops.  It  is  usual  to  tag  the  tools,  throw  them  into  the  bag- 
gage car  and  let  them  go.  In  this  way  tools  frequently  get  lost,  delayed, 
or  mixed  with  those  belonging  to  different  section  crews,  due  to  tags  pull- 
ing off,  illegible  writing,  or  other  cause.  Mr.  W.  B.  Parsons,  Jr.,  in  his 
book  "Track,"  suggests  that  in  sending  tools  to  and  fro  for  repairs  they 
should  be  checked,  after  the  familiar  manner  of  'checking  baggage.  Brass 
check?,  similar  to  baggage  checks,  have  the  number  of  the  section  and  the 
station  address  stamped  upon  one,  face  of  the  check  and  the  address  of  the 
repair  shops  upon  the  reverse  face.  The  check  strap  is  slipped  through 
two  slots,  in  opposite  edges  of  the  check  plate,  so  as  to  cover  one  face  and 
leave  the  other  face  exposed  to  indicate  the  address  to  which  the  tool  or 
package  of  tools  is  going.  When  the  tools  are  to  be  returned  the  strap  has 
simply  to  be  slipped  through  the  check  plate  from  the  other  side,  exposing 
the  address  on  the  reverse  face  and  covering  the  address  not  wanted. 

In  case  there  are  special  instructions  with  reference  to  the  repairs  of 
the  tools  the  foreman  should  forward  a  note  to  the  repair  shop  or  black- 
smith, stating  what  is  wanted.  Such  information,  if  written  on  a  tag  at- 
tached to  the  tools,  may  easily  be  lost  before  the  tools  reach  the  shops.  It 
might  be  well,  however,  to  note  on  a  tag  that  instructions  have  been  sent 
by  separate  letter.  When  sending  tools  for  repairs  the  foreman  should 
forward  a  note  to  the  roadmaster,  giving  a  list  of  the  tools  sent  and  the 
date  and  train,  this  note  to  be  kept  on  file  in  the  roadmaster's  office  to  serve 
as  an  aid  in  tracing  the  tools,  should  they  for  any  reason  fail  to  get  back. 
On  some  roads  the  foremen  are  supplied  with  printed  blank  forms  for  coin- 


To  

Roadmaster, 


R.  R.  CO. 

•.  Division. 

Station v •„ 

Date ,  190.. 


I  have  this  day  sent  on  Train  No the  following  tools  to  the  Repair 

Shops  at  '. for  repairs : 


,  Foreman  of  Section  No 


698  TRACK   TOOLS 

nmnicating  to  the  shops  and  the  roadmaster  such  information  as  is  noted 
above.  One  form  is  gotten  up  in  the  style  of  a  card  about  3^x5  ins.  One  side 
bears  the  address  of  the  roadmaster,  and  on  the  reverse  is  printed  the  report 
blank.  The  accompanying  form  is  a  sample . 

Another  form  similarly  worded  is  addressed  tO~  the  master  mechanic 
or  master  blacksmith.  On  some  roads  tools  sent  for  repairs  are  billed  by  the 
agent,  the  same  as  ordinary  freight,  but  such  is  not  always  practicable,  since 
in  many  cases  tools  have  to  be  put  on  at  flag  stations  where  there  are  not 
facilities  for  billing  or  keeping  record  of  freight  or  baggage. 

139.  Section  Houses. — It  is  sometimes  incumbent  upon  railway 
companies  to  furnish  dwellings  for  their  trackm'en,  especially  on  some  west- 
ern roads  where  the  distances  between  settlements  are  great  and  where  there 
could  be  no  inducement  for  a  man  to  build  a  house  for  himself,  and,  of 
course,  no  opportunity  to  rent  one.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  fre- 
quently the  case  that  a  station,  or  at  least  a  flag  station,  is  established,  and 
part  of  the  building  is  used  as  quarters  for  the  foreman  and  crew.  Again, 
since  it  is  important  that  at  least  the  foreman  of  the  section  crew  should 
be  within  easy  call,  many  railway  companies  make  it  a  practice  to  build  a 
house  for  every  section,  on  the  right  of  way,  regardless  of  opportunities  for 
renting,  in  order  that  the  foreman  may  remain  near  the  track  while  off 
duty.  For  well  settled  districts,  however,  there  are  many  companies  which 
think  it  not  worth  while  to  furnish  section  houses,  as  foremen  who  are 
single  men  usually  hire  their  board  and  do  not  care  to  bother  with  a  house. 
And  then,  some  foremen  choose  to  own  homes  of  their  own  in  the  near  vi- 
cinity of  the  track.  In  such  an  event  a  company  house  might  have  to  stand 
empty,  unless  the  foreman  was  required  to  occupy  it — which  would  not  be 
a  good  policy  to  insist  upon,  for  such  would  partake  more  of  the  nature  of 
a  system  of  tenancy  than  of  railroading.  The  less  a  railway,  or  any  other, 
company  lias  to  do  with  the  private  affairs  of  its  employees  the  less  trouble 
will  the  company  have,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  more  dependence  can  it  place 
upon  its  employees.  On  eastern  roads  generally  the  practice  of  providing 
quarters  for  the  track  employees  is  not  as  common  as  it  is  in  the  South 
and  West.  Through  purchase  of  land,  however,  railway  companies  some- 
times come  into  possession  of  houses  which  are  rented  to  track  foremen, 
agents  or  other  employees.  Where  rent  is  charged  for  section  houses  it  is, 
as  a  rule,  only  nominal.  Since  it  is  for  the  company's  benefit  that  the  track 
force,  or  at  least  part  of  it,  should  be  near  the  track  during  off  hours,  it 
should  not  be  the  policy  of  the  company  to  make  profit  on  its  rents.  Many 
companies  make  no  formal  charge  for  rent  to  the  occupants  of  its  section 
houses,  while  in  other  cases  no  formal  charge  is  made,  but  an  allowance  of  a 
few  dollars  each  month  is  made  to  such  of  their  foremen  as  are  not  fur- 
nished with  a  house,  or  to  foremen  who  are  single  men  and*  do  not  keep 
house. 

A  building  or  dwelling  for  the  use  of  the  trackmen,  if  owned  by  the 
company,  is  commonly  known  on  American  railways  by  the  name  "section 
house/'  and  for  convenience  it  is  here  treated  in  the  same  chapter  with  tool 
houses.  Such  a  building  is  usually  a  framed  structure,  roofed  with  shin- 
gles or  sheet  metal,  sheathed  on  the  outside  with  upright  boards  and  battens 
or  with  horizontal  weather-boarding,  and  finished  inside  with  either  ceil- 
ing or  lath  and  plaster ;  quite  frequently  with  ceiling,  on  account  of  the  lia- 
bility of  plaster  to  crack  or  loosen  from  the  jarring  of  trains,  if  the  build- 
ing is  close  to  the  track.  A  typical  section  house  would  probably  look  some- 
thing like  a  one-story  building  with  a  double-pitched  roof,  a  small  entrance 
porch  in  front  and  an  "L"  or  "T"  portion  in  the  rear  with  reference  to  the 
track.  The  capacity  of  the  house  will  depend  upon  the  question  as  to 


SECTION  HOUSES 


699 


whether  it  is  to  be  occupied  by  a  single  family  only,  or  by  a  family  and  a 
number  of  boarders.  In  outlying  districts  it  is  customary  for  the  fore- 
man to  board  part  or  all  of  the  single  men  working  in  his  crew.  In  all  cases 
the  section  house  should  afford  plenty  of  room  for  a  family  of  good  size, 
and  it  should  be  two-storied,  so  that  space  for  sleeping  rooms  may  be  had 
on  second  floor.  Some  scetion  houses  appear  as  if  built  on  the  idea  that  the 
occupants  need  facilities  only  for  eating  and  sleeping.  If  the  family  occu- 
pying the  house  is  to  live  in  American  style,  provision  should  be  made  for  a 
sitting  room,  on  ground  floor,  and  to  fulfill  this  requirement  the  ground 
plan  must  usually  include  four  rooms — a  kitchen,  sitting  room,  dining 
room  and  bed  room;  although  if  the  kitchen  be  of  good  size  and  the  family 
small,  the  kitchen  and  dining  room  would  usually  be  combined  in  one;  or 
if  the  dining  room  be  large  and  the  family  small,  the  same  room  might 
easily  serve  the  two  purposes  of  dining  room  and  sitting  room.  If  the  sur- 
face conditions  in  the  locality  will  permit,  the  house  should  have  a  cellar, 
with  both  outside  and  inside  entrances.  If  the  house  is  located  near  a  wa- 
ter tank  or  water  station  fed  by  gravity  supply,  it  would  be  a  matter  of 
small  expense,  and  certainly  a  great  convenience,  to  pipe  water  into  the 
kitchen.  It  would  probably  be  best  to  lea<J  the  pipe  from  some  point  at 
about  half  the  depth  of  the  tank  instead  of  from  the  bottom,  such  arrange- 
ment thereby  serving  as  a  water  gage  to  persons  who  are  interested  and 
who  are  supposed  to  be  responsible  for  the  condition  of  the  feed  pipe  lead- 
ing to  the  tank.  If  the  tank  is  supplied  by  pumping,  it  might  be  question- 
able whether  the  plan  of  supplying  the  section  house  with  " running  water" 
would  be  advisable. 

As  for  the  exterior  design  of  the  house  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
rooms  there  is,  of  course,  wide  latitude  for  selection.  While  nothing  fancy 
is  required,  the  house  should  be  comfortable  and  convenient,  for  such  pro- 


Fig.  352.— Standard  Section  House,  Norfolk  &  Western  R.  R. 


700 


Fig.  353. — One-Story  Section  House. 

vision  will  be  found  an  inducement  in  getting  a  good  class  of  men  as  fore- 
men. It  should  be  finished  off  inside  with  such  quality  of  material  that  it 
can  be  kept  clean  and  homelike.  Matters  of  this  kind  which  please  the 
women  folks  will  work  together  to  encourage  the  foreman  to  take  a  lively- 
interest  in  his  work  and  to  stay  where  he  is.  Aside  from  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  rooms  with  respect  to  convenience  in  passing  from  one  to  the 
other,  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in  the  various  duties  about  the  house, 
the  arrangement  of  the  rooms  and  the  openings  and  entrances  thereto  should 
be  made  with  a  view  to  comfort,  taking  into  consideration  the  climatic  con- 
ditions of  the  locality.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  a  hot  country  good  ventila- 
tion will  require  that  the  house  be  of  open  construction,  well  .provided  with 
doors  and  windows,  and  so  arranged  that  a  draft  may  be  had  throughout 
the  house.  In  a  cold  country,  however,  the  principal  aim  should  be  toward 
compact  construction,  so  as  to  economize  in  the  heating  arrangements  neces- 
sary to  keep  the  house  warm.  In  dry  portions  of  the  country,  as  in  the 
Southwest,  where  water  is  usually  scarce,  it  is  incumbent  upon  the  railway 
company  to  provide  the  house  with  a  cistern  of  good  capacity,  for  catching 
rain-water. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  United  States  the  railway  section  houses 
are  usually  one  story  in  hight,  with  a  plentiful  supply  of  windows  and 
doors,  wide  porches  or  verandas,  and  a  separate  building  in  the  rear  to  serve 
as  a  kitchen.  The  standard  section  house  of  the  Savannah,  Florida  & 
Western  By.  (Atlantic  Coast  Line)  is  designed  especially  to  meet  the  condi- 
tions of  a  southern  climate.  The  house  is  a  one-story  framed  building,  well 
spread  out,  being  33  ft.  6  ins.  x  31  ft.  in  plan,  an.d  divided  into  five  rooms. 
The  kitchen  is  13x16  ft.  in  size  and  is  separated  from  the  rear  of  the  main 
building  15  ft.,  the  two  being  connected  by  a  covered  walk.  The  house 
lias  a  high  garret,  ventilated  at  the  gable  ends  with  louver  windows,  and  a-, 
wide  porch  extends  along  the  entire  front  of  the  house.  The  house  is  set 
on  brick  or  stone  pillars  and  the  space  below  the  floor  is  left  open,  to  give 


Fig.  354.— Section  House,  C.,  R.  I.  &  P.  Ry. 


SECTION  HOUSES 


701 


-ventilation,  being  guarded  at  the  edge  of  the  building  by  several  strands 
of  barbed  wire  stretched  from  pillar  to  pillar,  to  prevent  animals  from 
getting  under  the  building.  The  standard  section  house  of  the  East  Ten- 
nessee^ Virginia  &  Georgia  branch  of  the  Southern  Ey.  is  a  one-story,  three- 
roomed,  L-shaped  building  with  a  front  and  rear  porch  connected  by  a-  hall- 
way through  the  center  of  the  house,  this  feature  being  especially  suitable 
for  good  ventilation.  Many  section  houses  throughout  the  South  are  pro- 
vided with  fireplaces  in  the  two  principal  rooms,  which  arrangement  con- 
duces very  much  to  comfort  during  chilly  weather,  in  spring  and  fall,  when 
it  is  not  desirable  to  keep  fires  burning  continuously  throughout  the  day. 

The  standard  section  foreman's  house  of  the  Norfolk  &  Western  E.  E. 
is  a  cheap  but  neatly  arranged  one-story  building  of  four  rooms,  and  might 
be  taken  to  fairly  represent  a  typical  southern,  section  house.  As  shown  in 
Fig.  352,  there  is  a  hall  leading  from  the  front  porch  to  a  sitting  or  living 
room  in  the  rear,  which  also  has  a  door  opening  to  the  outside.  On  either 
side  of  the  hall  there  is  a  13x15  ft.  bed  room,  and  in  rear  of  the  sitting 
room  is  the  kitchen  and  dining  room.  In  this  part  of  the  country  it  is  not 
usual  for  the  section  foremen  to  board  any  of  their  men,  and  iarge  section 
houses  are  not  required.  Ninety  per  cent  of  the  section  laborers  are  col- 
ored men,  who  provide  a  cooking  stove,  cots  or  bunks,  buy  their  own  sup- 


Fig.  355. — Standard  Section  House,  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry. 


702 


TRACK  TOOLS 


Fig.  356. — Standard  Section  House,  Wabash  R.  R. 

plies  and  do  their  own  cooking.  For  their  accommodation  the  railway  com- 
pany provides  a  one-room  house  14x18  ft.  in  plan,  known  as  the  "stand- 
ard house  for  section  men."  There  are  a  door  and  window*  in  the  front  side 
and  two  windows  in  the  back  side.  A  thimble  and  a  brick  chimney  ex- 
tend from  the  ceiling  through  the  center  of  the  double-pitched  roof.  To 
provide  for  large  gangs  temporarily  employed  old  box  cars  are  set  off.  Fig- 
ure 353  shows  the  arrangement  of  a  four-room,  one-story  section  house  of 
a  western  railway.  There  are  three  front  rooms  12x15  ft.  in  size,  with  two 
front  doors,  and  a  kitchen,  pantry  and  closet. 

Coming  to  two-story  buildings,  Fig.  354  shows  the  arrangement  of  the 
six-room  section  house  of  the  Nebraska  district  of  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island 
&  Pacific  Ey.  A  noticeable  feature  is  the  unusual  number  of  outside  doors. 
Considering  the  purpose  of  the  rooms  as  shown,  it  would  seem  that  a  door 
should  be  provided  between  the  dining  room  and  men's  sitting  room,  so  as 
to  avoid  going  through  the  kitchen. 

The  plans  of  the  standard  section  house  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  & 
St.  Paul  Ey.  are  arranged  with  a  view  to  alternative  construction,  to  suit 
the  size  of  the  crew.  For  an  ordinary  or  single  crew  the  building  has  three 
rooms  on  first  floor  and  three  bed  rooms  on  second  floor.  There  is  a  con- 
venient arrangement  of  closets,  and  a  pantry,  as  shown  in  Fig.  355.  The 
front  door  opens  into  a  small  hallway  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  leading  to 
the  upper  floor,  from  which  doors  lead  to  a  bed  room  on  one  side  and  the 
dining  room  on  the  other  side.  The  dining  room  is  12x15  ft.  iri  size  and 
the  kitchen  15  ft.  x  9  ft.  6  ins.  in  size,  thereby  affording  good  opportunity 
to  combine  the  kitchen  and  dining  room  in  one,  so  as  to  reserve  the  largo 
front  room  for  a  sitting  room.  Or  the  small  bed  room,  which  communi- 
cates with  both  the  kitchen  and  hallway,  would  answer  as  a  dining  room  for 
a  small  family.  On  the  second  floor  the  two  family  bed  rooms  communicate 


SECTION  HOUSES  703 

with  each  other  and  there  is  only  a  single  door  leading  to  the  stairway. 
The  kitchen  auxiliaries,  in  the  shape  of  pantry  and  shelves,  are  facilities 
not  usually  found  in  buildings  of  this  kind.  The  building  is  20  ft.  x  28  ft. 
()  ins.,  roofed  with  shingles  and  sheathed  on  the  outside  with  6-in.  lap 
siding.  The  interior  is  ceiled.  The  building  rests  upon  cedar  posts  or 
pile  ends,  or  upon  a  brick  or  stone  wall  16  ins.  thick,  as  conditions  deter- 
mine. When  resting  upon  posts  the  open  space  is  closed  in  by  matched 
fencing.  The  rooms  are  well  lighted,  by  windows  of  good  size  for  a  building 
of  this  class,  and  in  general  the  interior  is  conveniently  arranged.  When 
constructed  for  a  double  crew  or  for  a  large  number  of  boarders,  a  9J-ft. 
addition  is  built  on  one  of  the  gable  ends,  thereby  increasing  the  size  of 
the  building  to  20x38  ft.,  as  shown  by  the  broken  lines.  This  extra  space, 
on  both  lower  and  upper  floors,  is  divided  into  two  rooms,  each  9  ft.  x  9  ft. 
3  ins.  in  size,  marked  for  bed  rooms,  in  the  illustration.  It  is  readily  seen 
that  by  leaving  out  the  partition  between  these  two  rooms  on  the  lower 
floor  a  room  of  good  size,  with  three  windows,  is  afforded  for  a  sitting  room 
or  for  any  other  desirable  purpose.  The  position  of  the  windows  for  either 
the  single  or  the  double  arrangement  is  shown  in  the  figure.  This  double 
arrangement  affords  on  the  upper  floor  four  single  bed  rooms  and  one 
double  bed  room.  The  structure  is  designed  with  an  idea  to  economize 
material,  and  it  forms  what  might  be  taken  as  a  very  good  basis  for  conven- 
ient additions,  in  various  ways.  Thus,  for  instance,  if  either  of  the  longer 
sides  of  the  building  faced  the  south  it  might  be  provided  with  a  porch 
of  substantial  dimensions;  or  to  obtain  additional  room  a  lean-to  or  L  or 
T-extension  could  be  built  on  the  rear  side. 

The  standard  section-house  plans  of  the  Wabash  E,  E.  (Fig.  356)  show 
a  feature  that  is  highly  commendable,  but  not  commonly  found  with  rail- 
way buildings  of  this  class,  and  that  is  a  cellar.  The  house  is  also  well  ar- 
ranged in  other  respects,  there  being  a  pantry  and  stairway  to  the  cellat 
convenient  to  the  kitchen,  and  a  chimney  in  every  room  in  the  building. 
For  plans  of  a  large  number  of  tool  houses  and  section  houses  the  reader 
is  referred  to 'an  extensively  illustrated  work  on  railroad  structures  entitled 
"'Buildings  and  Structures  of  American  Railroads,"  by  Walter  G.  Berg, 
chief  engineer  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E. 


The  Hand  Cars  of  the  Pike's   Peak  Cog  Road  (See  Index) 


CHAPTER  X. 


WORK  TRAINS. 

140. — There  is  much  track  work  which  can  be  done  most  profitably 
with  a  train  and  crew,,  and  much  that  cannot  well  be  done  in  any  other  way. 
For  various  kinds  of  work  a  train  of  some  kind  is  needed,  at  least  a  portion 
of  the  time,  or  at  one  or  more  intervals  during  the  year,  on  every  road  or 
division ;  and  in  some  cases  it  can  be  kept  employed  constantly.  But  wheth- 
er the  need  of  a  work  train  be  for  little  or  much  of  the  time,  sooner  or  later 
such  exigencies  will  arise  as  will  make  the  demand  for  the  train  practically 
imperative,  on  any  road  where  the  reliability  of  the  train  service  is  of  conse- 
quence. Such  preparation  should  be  made,  therefore,  that  whenever  the  de- 
mand comes  everything  will  be  in  readiness  as  soon  as  the  crew  can  be  made 
up.  Compared  with  the  ordinary  expense  for  railroad  equipment,  the  neces- 
sary cost  of  such  preparation  is  small  and  it  is  a  profitable  .investment  in 
the  end. 

141.  The  Train. — The  kind  of  cars  which  make  up  a  work  train  de- 
pends, of  course,  upon  the  work  the  train  is  handling  at  the  time ;  and  as  the 
different  kinds  of  work  usually  handled  by  work  trains  and  their  crews  are 
taken  up  in  separate  sections,  the  cars  needed  in  each  case,  as  well  as  those 
which  must  be  kept  in  readiness  with  their  equipments,  are  discussed  in 
those  sections.  There  are  always  required  a  locomotive,  a  caboose  for  the  crew 
and  workmen,  and  a  flat  car  provided  with  a  large  tool  chest  or  two.  A  loco- 
motive too  much  worn  for  regular  train  service  but  which  can  be  profitably 
used  for  awhile  before  going  to  the  shops,  will  answer.  Tor>  often,  though, 
the  engine  furnished  the  work  train  is  one  so  badly  out  of  repair  that  much 
time  is  lost  in  getting  over  the  road ;  and  the  work  is  seriously  hindered  if  it 
is  unable  to  pull  good-sized  loads.  It  should  preferably  be  a  passsenger  en- 
gine of  fair  weight,  so  that  passenger-train  time  can  be  made ;  and  the  train 
should  be  so  equipped  that,  if  necessary,  it  will  be  able  to  run  as  second  sec- 
tion of  a  passenger  train.  In  this  connection,  all  cars  used  in  work-tram 
service  should  be  equipped  with  air  brakes ;  and  cars  having  flat  wheels  and 
old  cars  too  weak  to  carry  heavy  loads  at  high  speed  should  not  be  used.  In 
some  cases — on  level  roads,  for  instance — an  old  locomotive  too  light  for  the 
increased  train  loads  of  the  road  is  fitted  up  and  used  exclusively  in  work- 
train  service.  On  roads  where  the  grades  are  not  heavy  such  an  engine  usu- 
ally does  quite  well,  and  if  it  is  too  light  to  be  of  service  at  wrecks,  a  heavier 
one  can  be  sent  out  on  such  occasions,  for  it  sometimes  becomes  necessary  to 
send  two  or  three.  A  tender  having  a  large  capacity  for  fuel  and  water  will 
contribute  much  toward  the  efficiency  of  a  locomotive  for  work-train  service. 
It  sometimes  happens  that,  owing  to  the  interference  of  traffic  trains,  a  ne- 
cessary run  for  water  is  the  cause  of  losing  several  hours'  work.  A  switch 
rope  should  always  be  carried  on  the  tender.  , 

The  caboose  should  be  large — at  least  40  ft.  long  inside.  The  inside 
should  not  be  cut  up  by  partitions,  but  the  space  should  be  in  one  compart- 
ment, and  open.  The  seats  are  best  arranged  along  the  sides — generally 
chests  with  hinged  covers,  in  which  can  be  stored  fuel,  dinner  pails,  coupling 
links,  etc.  The  seats  should  be  provided  with  cushions  of  some  sort,  and  a 


WORK    TRAIX    CREW  705 

few  arm-chairs  will  be  found  articles  of  much  comfort  to  tired  workmen 
when  the  caboose  is  crowded,  and  should  be  furnished,  as  far  as  there  is  room. 
There  should  be  a  heavy,  flat-top  heating  stove  anchored  to  the  floor,  at 
one  side,  at  the  middle  of  the  car,  a  writing  desk  in  one  corner  and  a  tank 
for  drinking  water  in  another  corner.  The  windows  should  be  large,  so  as 
to  give  good  ventilation  in  hot  weather.  The  doors  at  the  ends  should  be 
large,  and  the  platforms  should  also  be  large,  covered  overhead/  and  there 
should  be  a  hand-brake  on  each.  The  steps  and  grab-irons  should.be  large 
and  conveniently  placed.  There  should  be  a  cellar  or  store  box  hanging  to 
the  middle  of  the  car,  underneath,,  and  in  it  should  be  carried  a  3-in.  nia- 
nila  switch  rope  about  80  ft.  long  and  two  snatch  blocks ;  two  journal  jacks 
and  two  heavy  screw  jacks;  two  £-in.  chains,  each  16  ft.  long;  two  rerailing 
frogs  and  two  dollies.  There  need  be  no  seats  or  windows  aloft,  as  is  neces- 
sary for  a  freight  caboose,  but  hand-irons  for  getting  to  the  roof  should  be 
provided  at  each  end. 

The  flat  car  used  as  a  tool  car  should  always  be  coupled  with  the  ca- 
boose; preferably  ahead  of  it.  A  2x8-in.  plank  should  be  hung  along  each 
side  of  this  car  at  the  proper  hight  to  serve  as  a  step,  so  that  men  may  get 
aboard  quickly  and  easily.  Along  the  outer  edge  of  the  car  floor  a  2x2-in. 
scantling  should  be  spiked  or  bolted  fast  to  serve  as  a  grab-piece  for  men 
getting  on  the  car.  On  this  car  there  should  be  two  large  tool  boxes  for 
holding  picks  and  shovels,  but  both  picks  and  shovels  should  not  be  thrown 
into  the  same  box.  They  should  also  contain  a  few  pinch  bars,  spike  ham- 
mers, a  claw  bar,  gage,  track  wrench  and  a  dozen  pairs  of  rail  tongs. 

Of  course,  the  train  may  run  on  or  hold  main  track  only  subject  to  the 
orders  of  the  train  dispatcher.  Before  starting  out,  full  information  should 
be  given  the  dispatcher  regarding  the  character  of  the  work  to  be  done, 
the-  limits  within  which  it  is  to  be  done,  the  probable  time  required  for 
doing  it  and  where  it  is  desired  that  the  train  shall  go  after  getting  through 
at  any  place.  With  this  understanding  the  dispatcher  may  be  able  to 
make  better  arrangements  than  would  be  possible  if  he  knew  nothing  about 
the  plans  for  the  train.  Wherever  it  can  be  done  without  deranging  the 
service  too  much,  the  work  train  should  be  allowed  to  hold  main  track 
until  the  arrival  of  freight  or  second-class  trains  in  sight  (always  pro- 
tecting itself  by  flagging),  since  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  when  such 
trains  are  late  much  more  time  might  be  used  by  the  work  train,  whereas, 
it  would  otherwise  be  lost  while  standing  in  some  siding  waiting  for  the  ar- 
rival of  the  belated  train.  The  case  of  a  heavy  grade  against  the  freight 
train  could  be  cited  as  an  instance  where  this  rule  might  have  to  be  modi- 
fied. It  is  a  good  plan  to  carry  a  velocipede  or  speeder  on  the  flat  (tool)  car, 
as  it  can  often  be  used  to  good  advantage  when  it  becomes  desirable  to  "flag 
in"  to  some  point.  Work  trains  running  "special"  should  whistle  before  en- 
tering every  curve,  so  as  to  give  hand  cars  a  chance. 

142.  The  Crew. — The  crew  required  to  handle  the  train  is  an  engi- 
neer, fireman,  at  least  one  brakeman,  and  a  conductor.  While  the  brake- 
man  is  out  flagging,  the  fireman  should  assist  by  Opening  switches.  The  con- 
ductor is  sometimes  dispensed  with  and  the  foreman  of  the  working  force 
is  given  charge  of  the  running  of  the  train,  but  since  there  is  always  need 
for  two  men  to  act  as  brakemen,  and  as  the  conductor  usually  takes  the 
place  of  one  of  them,  it  is  better  to  have  "him.  To  require  too  many  duties 
of  the  foreman  may  hinder  him  in  ovc  rseeing  the  working  crew. 

The  foreman  of  the  working  force  should  be  an  active,  decisive,  cool- 
hradcd,  intelligent  man  who  understands  all  kinds  of  track  work  and  who 
1ms  previously  been  a  laborer  on  a  work  train  himself.  He  should  be  a  more 
capable  man  than  is  necessarily  required  for  the  average  section  foreman, 


706  WORK  TRAINS 

and  his  executive  ability  should  be  such  that  he  can,  at  times,  get  intelligent 
laborers  to  hurry  a  little  without  offending  them.  He  should  be  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  rules  and  principles  governing  the  running  of  trains,  so 
that  he  can,  in  consultation  with  the  conductor,  lay  out  his  work  to  best  ad- 
vantage. The  man  holding  this  position  ought  to  be,  or  at  any  rate  ought 
to  be  capable  of  being,  the  assistant  roadmaster.  It  seldom  works  well  to 
have  the  conductor  act  as  foreman  of  the  working  force :  first,  because  train- 
men do  not  ordinarily  take  interest  in  track  work,  even  if  they  have  had 
previous  experience  in  it ;  and,  secondly,  a  trainman  who  is  held  responsible 
for  one  duty,  such  as  the  safe  running  .of  a  train,  and  who  does  it  well,  is 
not  so  apt  to  feel  responsible  in  a  like  degree  for  some  other  duty  not  usu- 
ally intrusted  to  trainmen.  He  is,  therefore,  inclined  to  look  upon  the  over- 
sight of  the  work  as  a  secondary  matter,  and  feel  that  any  slight  negligence 
of  it  is  not  going  to  be  charged  against  his  record  as  conductor.  It  is,  there- 
fore, better  to  have  the  man  in  charge  of  the  work  responsible  directly 
to  the  track  department  and  to  that  department  only. 

The  working  force  should  comprise  at  least  20  laborers,  and  as  many 
more  as  can  be  profitably  employed  at  the  particular  work  to  be  done.  The 
cost  to  a  railway  company  for  a  locomotive  and  fuel,  and  crew  to  run  ity  is 
about  $25  per  day,  or  about  the  wages  of  20  laborers.  There  is  no  economy 
in  sending  out  a  work  train  without  enough  help  to  accomplish  something 
proportionate  to  the  entire  cost.  If  the  train  is  kept  constantly  at  work  it 
has  its  own  crew,  of  course,  but  if  it  is  used  only  a  few  days  at  a  time  inex- 
perienced men  picked  up  temporarily  will  not  always  make  a  satisfactory 
showing,  and  the  scheme  of  sending  out  a  work  train  at  occasional  inter- 
vals is  sometimes  called  in  question.  When,  however,  it  is  considered  that 
a  competent  work-train  crew  may  oftentimes  dispose  of  much  section  work, 
and  to  vastly  better  advantage  than  is  possible  for  the  regular  section  crews, 
it  will  sometimes  pay  to  draw  upon  the  section  help  for  manning  the 
work  train  temporarily,  if  it  cannot  be  done  in  any  other  way.  Under  such 
circumstances  the  practice  of  calling  a  man  from  each  section  is  a  good 
one.  These  men  will  understand  the  work  better  from  the  start  and  ac- 
complish a  great  deal  more  than  green  men  hired  upon  the  street.  An  in- 
crease of  10  or  20  cents  per  day  in  wages  will  usually  be  an  inducement  for 
them  to  cheerfully  leave  the  section  temporarily,  especially  with  single 
men  who  have  to  pay  board.  Oftentimes  a  crew  has  been  made  up  in  this 
way  where  the  management  would  not- have  consented  to  the  hiring  of  a 
special  crew.  An  opportune  time  to  do  this,  providing  the  work  is  also 
seasonable,  is  about  the  usual  time  of  laying  off  section  hands,  in  the  fall. 
Men  sent  from  the  sections  to  work  with  a  train  should  each  take  a  shovel 
and  be  responsible  for  its  return  when  the  user  returns.  Another  plan, 
where  the  work  train  is  intended  only  for  temporary  service,  is  to  organizo 
the  crew  with  one  of  the  floating  gangs  as  a  nucleus.  In  selecting  a  work- 
train  crew,  young  or  middle-aged  men  only  should  be  sought,  because 
climbing  on  and  off  cars  is  too  hard  work  for  old  men,  and,  besides,  to 
them,  it  is  dangerous. 

It  should  be  the  aim  of  the  work-train  foreman  to  keep  the  men  em- 
ployed as  constantly  as  possible,  and  by  all  means  to  avoiel  working  over 
hours.  The  men  should  not  fall  into  the  habit  of  thinking  that  because 
the  train  must  run  to  a  siding  to  clear  the  main  track  the  company  can  af- 
ford to  pay  .them  for  standing  idle.  The  men  get  abundant  rest  while 
riding  to  and  fro  on  trips  that  are  really  necessary.  Any  work  which  the 
foreman  can  see  about  him,  for  which  he  has  tools,  he  should  set  his  men 
to  doing.  Thus,  for  example,  he  may  find  opportunity  to  clean  station 
grounds,  or  in  summer  time  he  can  often  steal  a  march  on  'some  section 


BOARDING  ACCOMODATIONS  707 

foreman  by  striking  in  and  grubbing  a  half  mile  or  more  of  grass  in  the 
track,  while  waiting  for  his  train;  or  the  men  might  work  at  ditching  or 
policing.  A  half  hour's  waiting  with  a  gang  of  20  men  is  the  loss  of  a  day's 
labor  paid  for  by  the  company. 

143.  Boarding  Accommodations. — A  question  ,  of  importance  in 
some  situations  is  whether  or  not  the  crew  of  a  work  train  should  be  board- 
ed with  the  train.  Unless  the  headquarters  for  the  train  are  near  the 
middle  of  the  division  it  will  frequently  happen  on  single-track  roads  that 
much  time  will  be  lost  running  to  and  from  work,  and  the  hours  of  all 
connected  with  the  train  are  much  prolonged.  This  is  so  not  altogether 
on  account  of  the  distance,  but  because  of  interference  from  the  traffic 
trains,  especially  when  scheduled  trains  happen  to  be  late.  On  roads  with 
long  divisions,  principally  in  the  West,  it  is  usually  found  to  be  a  matter 
of  much  convenience  to  the  company,  and  of  comparatively  little  cost,  to 
furnish  facilities  for  board  and  lodging  for  the  men,  so  that  after  the  day's 
work  the  train  may  lie  over  at  the  nearest  telegraph  station. 

Lodging  in  bunk  cars  should  be  furnished  the  men  free  of  charge, 
and  board  at  cost.  It  is  rank  injustice  and  little  short  of  robbery  to  let 
the  boarding  of  a  work-train  crew  to  contractors,  or  to  allow  the  foreman 
or  anyone  else  to  run  it  at  a  profit.  The  same  sentiments  apply  to  the 
practice  of  running  a  commissary  car  to  pay  off  the  workmen  in  overalls 
and  tobacco,  at  high  price.  Wherever  it  may  be  found  necessary  to  sup- 
ply the  workmen  with  ordinary  necessities  of  living  it  should  be  the  busi- 
ness of  the  company  to  see  that  these  things  are  furnished  at  cost.  It  is 
quite  generally  known  that  work-train  foremen  on  some  roads  are,  or  have 
been,  permitted  to  "make  a  little  on  the  side"  by  boarding  the  workmen 
on  their  own  account,  the  company  fixing  the  price  of  board  and  collect- 
ing the  same  from  the  men's  wages,  while  the  foreman  furnishes  the 
board  and,  of  course,  decides  upon  the  quality  thereof.  Looked  at  from 
an  income  standpoint,  some  transactions  of  this  kind  would  easily  lead  one 
to  believe  that  the  chief  business  of  the  foreman  was  the  keeping  of  board- 
ers, while  his  duties  as  an  overseer  of  labor  and  the  monthly  compensation 
therefor  was  the  real  matter  "on  the  side."  The  most  satisfactory  method 
•of  boarding  a  work-train  crew  is  on  the  club  plan,  each  man  paying  his 
share  of  the  cost.  The  company  can  well  afford  to  furnish  a  car  for  the 
purpose  of  cooking  and  also  pay  the  cost  of  cooking.  The  cost  of  provi- 
sions should  then  be  borne  equally  among  the  whole  crew,  both  the  train 
•crew  and  working  force,  the  foreman  and  the  cook — all  who  eat.  There 
is  no  good  reason  why  the  cook  should  not  be  paid  satisfactory  wages  and 
then  share  in  the  boarding  expense,  the  same  as  the  rest.  Under  such  an 
arrangement  some  cooks  would  have  reason  to  be  less  wasteful  of  the  sup- 
plies which  pass  through  their  hands. 

The  cost  of  equipping  a  kitchen  car,  outside  of  the  cost  of  the  car  it- 
self, is  small.  A  large,  clean  box  car,  preferably  a  new  one,  at  least  34  ft. 
long  on  the  inside,  may  be  selected  and  end  doors  and  four  side  windows 
should  be  put  in.  A  large  cooking  range,  well  secured  to  the  floor,  should 
be  placed  in  or  near  one  corner.  This  end  of  the  car  should  be  fitted  with 
cupboard  and  side  table,  and  a  water  tank  or  reservoir  having  a  capacity  of 
at  least  four  or  five  barrels  should  be  provided  and  so  arranged  that  it  may 
be  filled  by  hose  or  at  water  tanks.  The  reservoir  is  sometimes  placed  un- 
derneath the  floor,  taking  its  supply  by  hose  from  a  water  car  or  from  the 
locomotive  tender.  The  supply  for  the  kitchen  can  be  had  through  a  pump 
at  the  sink.  For  a  small  crew  the  kitchen  and  dining  facilities  may  be 
combined  in  one  car,  in  which  case  an  eating  table,  oilcloth-covered,  may 
extend  two-thirds  the  length  of  the  car.  This  table  will  accommodate  about 


708 


WORK  TRAINS 


24:  men  at  one  sitting.     If  the  working  crew  exceeds  this  number  dining- 
car  facilities  ought  to  be  provided  in  a  separate  car  or  cars.    For  this  pur- 
pose ordinary  box  cars  with  a  table  running  the  whole  length  of  the  car, 
except  for  room  to  walk  around  the  end  of  the  table  at  each  end  door  of 
the  car,  will  answer;  if  there  is  only  one  dining  car  it  should  preferably 
be  coupled  in  at  the  stove  end  of  the  kitchen  car.     By  taking  the  dining 
table  out  of  the  kitchen  car.,  one  end  of  the  latter  is  then  available  as  a 
storage  room  for  provisions,  etc.,  for  a  large  crew.     Old  baggage  or  com- 
bination cars  remodeled  to  suit  the  service  are  much  used  for  work-train 
dining  cars. 

One  cook  can  prepare  food  for  25  men;  and  if  the  kitchen  and  dining 
facilities  are  combined  in  one  car,  and  the  men  not  permitted  to  rush  in 
prematurely  at  meal  time,  he  can  set  the  table  for  that  many  and  do  the 
waiting.  For  a  larger  crew,  especially  if  the  victuals  have  to  be  carried 
into  an  adjoining  car,  he  will  need  assistance  in  the  cooking,  or  in  waiting 
on  the  tables.  The  dishes,  plates,  etc.,  should  be  of  tin,  and  the  cooking 
utensils  of  large  capacity.  There  should  be  a  small  cleat  along  the  edges  of 
the  table  to  keep  dishes  from  being  jarred  off  while  the  car  is  running, 
or  when  it  gets  bumped.  A  large  cellar  should  be  suspended  underneath 
the  car  and  provided  with  locks,  for  storing  meats,  vegetables,  etc.,  and 
an  ice  box  might  also  be  arranged  in  it.  There  should  be  provided  a  half 
dozen  wash  basins,  to  be  used  outside,  a  pipe  leading  from  the  tank  inside 
the  car  serving  as  a  convenient  water  supply.  Unless  basins,  soap  and  tow- 
els are  provided  in  a  convenient  manner  there  are  always  some  men  who  will 
neglect  washing  at  meal  time,  much  to  the  discomfort  of  those  of  more 
cleanly  habits. 

A  supply  of  provisions  sufficient  to  last  several  days  should  be  bought 
wholesale,  each  time,  so  that  the  board  will  cost  a  minimum.  Daily  sup- 
plies of  fresh  meat  and  other  perishables,  as  per  the  foreman's  order,  can, 
with  very  little  trouble  to  the  company,  be  sent  by  the  regular  trains.  The 
foreman  should  see  to  the  accounting  for  the  same  and  to  the  distribution 
of  the  charges.  Everybody  should  be  treated  alike — second  table  with  the 
first,  if  meals  have  to  be  served  in  that  way — and  the  foreman  should  not 
permit  the  trainmen  to  slip  into  the  kitchen  at  odd  spells  to  feast  on  deli- 
cacies or  to  get  their  meals  by  special  order.  The  regular  meals  should  be 
good  enough  for  all. 

The  following  bill  of  supplies  is  supposed  to  be  a  fair  estimate  of  the 
needs  of  25  working  men  for  7  days,  giving  a  good  variety — perhaps  bet- 
ter than  many  would  choose : 


Flour    501bs. 

Bread    175  Ibs. 

Coffee    22  Ibs. 

Tea    / 1%  Ibs. 

Crackers 25  Ibs. 

Granulated    sugar  40  Ibs. 
Condensed  milk ...  8  cans 

Lard   20  Ibs. 

Butter    27  Ibs., 

Eggs    18  doz. 

Potatoes    300  Ibs. 

Turnips    %  bush. 

Onions    %  bush. 

Cabbage    40  Ibs. 

Cheese   25  Ibs. 

Vinegar    1  gal. 

Soap    20  cakes. 


Baking   powder..  .iy2  Ibs. 
Steak   and    roast  125  Ibs. 

Boiling  meat 50  Ibs. 

Ham    38  Ibs. 

Bacon    18  Ibs. 

Salt  pork   7  Ibs. 

Codfish    10  Ibs. 

Beans    25  Ibs. 

Rice    8  Ibs. 

Oatmeal 8  Ibs. 

Corn  meal   15  Ibs. 

Tomatoes    12  cans. 

Corn    12  cans. 

Peas 6  cans. 

Raisins 4  Ibs. 

Nutmegs    1  doz. 

Cinnamon 1  pkg. 


Ginger    %  Ib. 

Pepper 1  lb. 

Salt   9  Ibs. 

Baking  soda 1  lb. 

Mustard    2  bot. 

Catsup  y2  doz.  bot. 

Pickles  iy2  gals. 

Canned  salmon...^  doz. 
Can'd  corned  beef  1  doz. 

Dried  peaches 8  Ibs. 

Dried  apples    8  Ibs. 

Dried  apricots 8  Ibs. 

Primes    10  Ibs. 

Pie  fruit   S1^  gals. 

Syrup    2  gals. 

Kerosene  oil   2  gals. 


Bread,  of  course,  could  not  be  furnished  a  week  ahead,  neither  coultf 
fresh  meat,  in  summer  time.     A  half  barrel   (98  Ibs.)   of  flour  will  make 


BOARDING  ACCOMODATIONS  701) 

175  Ibs.  or  175  loaves  of  bread.  As  pointed  out  in  the  chapter  on  track- 
laying,  the  baking  for  a  large  crew  can  be  done  by  an  extra  cook  working 
at  night.  Altogether,  there  is  more  meat  in  this-  bill  than  will  be  eaten  by 
the  number  of  men  stated,  but  the  eggs,  preserved  and  canned  meats  and 
fish  will  keep ;  and  such  an  amount  should  be  kept  on  hand  to  fall  back  upon 
in  case  the  regular  supply  of  fresh  meat  should  for  any  reason  be  delayed, 
as  often  happens.  When  fresh  milk  can  be  obtained  it  should  be  used  in 
place  of  the  condensed  article,  and  7  or  8  quarts  per  day  will  be  required. 
In  place  of  the  dried  fruits  there  might  be  substituted,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
about  32  quarts  of  canned  fruits.  There  are  a  few  things  included,  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  cheese,  onions,  catsup,  etc.,  which  couldT'be  dispensed 
with,  of  course,  and  not  materially  affect  the  necessary  supply.  In  sum- 
mer time  it  is  desirable  to  have  ice,  and  an  ice  chest  should  be  provided.  A 
supply  of  100  to  150  Ibs.  of  ice  on  alternate  days  is  sufficient  for  the 
kitchen  purposes.  The  cooking  should  be  regulated  somewhat  to  the  sea- 
son and  to  the  climate.  For  instance,  during  the  hot  months  of  summer 
or  in  a  hot  and  dry  desert  country  salt  meats  should  be  used  sparingly,  or 
only  for  the  evening  and  Sunday  meals ;  otherwise  the  men  will  be  thirsty 
much  of  the  time  and  drink  too  much  water,  causing  them  to  become  weak 
and  incapacitated  for  work.  In  districts  where  the  water  is  poor  such 
food-  should  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible  at  all  times. 

When  the  work  comes  to  an  end  the  cook  should  clean  the  car  thorough- 
ly and  put  things  in  order.  A  few  of  such  eatables  as  are  not  quickly  per- 
ishable should  be  kept  on  hand,  to  be  had  in  readiness  in  case  this  car 
should  be  needed  at  a  wreck,  a  slide  or  in  other  emergency. 

An  ordinary  box  car  fitted  with  a  small  stove  and  bunks  serves  well  for 
sleeping  quarters.  While  it  is  possible  to  arrange  double  berths  in  two  rows 
the  length  of  the  car,  so  that  a  34-ft.  car  can  accommodate  40  men4  in  20 
berths  (upper  and  lower)  such  an  allotment  of  space  is  too  close  for  com- 
fort, as  it  does  not  give  the  men  room  enough  outside  the  beds,  to  sit  or 
stand  around.  It  is  better  to  arrange  eight  double  berths  on  one  side  and 
eight  single  berths  on  the  other  side,  including  upper  and  lower  in  each 
case,  thus  providing  for  24  men,  leaving  a  wider  passageway  between  the 
berths  and  a  large  clear  space  between  the  two  side  doors.  The  latter 
space  is  necessary  for  stove  room  or  for  proper  ventilation  in  hot  weather; 
and  it  also  permits  access  to  the  car  from  either  side,  the  need  for  which 
alternates  from  one  side  to  the  other  as  the  car  is  placed  on  different  side- 
tracks, or  to  meet  other  conditions.  There  should  be  a  side  lamp  attached 
to  each  side  of  the  car  (as  in  cabooses)  on  diagonally  opposite  sides  of 
the  large  doors,  some  benches,  and  perhaps  a  small  table.  The  fewer  con- 
veniences there  are,  the  farther  will  the  men  straggle  off  nights  and 
Sundays  to  find  them  in  neighboring  towns.  For  bedding  the  men  usu- 
ally furnish  their  own  blankets,  which,  with  some  straw,  are  sufficient. 
The  bunk  car,  if  used  permanently  for  such,  should  have  four  windows  in 
the  two  sides,  and  there  should  be  end  doors,  so  that  one  may  walk  from 
car  to  car  through  the  train  while  it  is  in  motion.  These  changes  cost 
but  little  and  do  not  so  alter  the  cars  that  they  cannot  readily  be  turned 
again  to  their  former  use.  Old  passenger  coaches  with  the  seats  re- 
moved and  fitted  with  berths  are  much  used  for  work  train  sleeping  cars. 
The  caboose  provides  the  train  crew  and  foreman  with  desk  room  for  ne- 
(•(  ssary  writing.  The  bunk  and  dining  cars  should  be  left  on  side-track 
near  the  work,  for  they  need  not  necessarily  be  pulled  about  continually. 
A  car-load  of  coal  should  be  taken  along,  and  a  night  watchman  for  the 
locomotive. 

For  large  work-train  crews  employed  with  more  or  less  regularity, 
specially  designed  double-deck  boarding  cars  are  used  a  .good  deal.  The 


710  WORK    TRAINS 

outfit  of  this  style  for  the  St.  Paul  &  Duluth  branch  of  the  Northern  Pa- 
cific Ry.  consists  of  two  cars  with  accommodations  for  about  60  men.  Each 
car  is  40  ft.  8  ins.  long,  10  ft.  wide,  and  16  ft.  3  ins.  high,  from  top  of 
rail  to  running  board.  The  head  room  at  all  points  on  the  road  is  suffi- 
cient to  admit  the  passage  of  a  car  of  this  size.  One  of  the  cars  in  each  out- 
fit is  known  as  the  kitchen  car,  the  lower  floor  being  equipped  with  a  range, 
ice  chest,  hot-water  tanks  and  other  necessary  appliances.  Over  the  cook- 
ing range  there  is  a  large  hood  to  carry  the  heat  and  steam  up  through 
the  second  story,  and  there  is  a  removable  extension  pipe  above  the  roof 
to  improve  the  draft.  One  end  of  the  lower  floor  in  this  car  is  partitioned 
off  for  a  foreman's  office  and  dining  room,  which  is  used  also  by  the  train 
crew.  The  upper  story  has  sleeping  quarters  for  the  foreman,  train  crew> 
and  the  cook  and  his  helpers,  and  the  remainder  of  the  space  is  used  for 
storage  purposes.  In  the  other  car  the  entire  space  on  the  lower  floor  is 
used  for  a  dining  room.  Instead  of  the  usual  arrangement  of  a  long  table 
extending  lengthwise  the  car,  there  are  a  number  of  short  tables  placed 
crosswise  the  car,  the  length  being  such  as  to  leave  a  clear  passageway 
along  one  side,  for  the  waiters.  The  dining  room  will  seat  56  men  at 
one  time.  The  tables  and  benches  are  movable,  so  that  the  space  may  be 


Fig.  357. — The  Fort  Ditching  Scaffold,  Southern  Ry. 

cleared  to  afford,  lounging  room  for  the  men  at  night  and  during  stormy 
weather.  The  upper  floor  on  this  car  is  used  entirely  as  sleeping  quar- 
ters, and  accommodations  are  provided  for  48  men.  The  berths  are  double, 
upper  and  lower,  with  an  aisle  along  the  middle  of  the  car.  The  car  is  well 
ventilated,  there  being  a  half  window  at  the  side  of  each  berth.  The  upper 
story  is  entered  by  a  stairway  at  each  end  of  the  car,  but  for  emergency, 
as  in  case  of  fire,  there  are  end  doors  convenient  to  the  fixed  ladders  up  the 
ends  of  the  car.  Owing  to  the  unusual  hight  and  large  amount  of  surface 
presented  to  the  wind,  means  are  provided  for  attaching  guy  lines  to  the 
top  corners  of  the  car,  to  secure  the  car  against  uncomfortable  swaying  or 
danger  of  overturning  when  hard  winds  are  blowing. 

144.  Ditching  with  the  Train. — The  task  of  cleaning  out  ditches 
in  long,  deep  through  cuts  cannot  be  performed  economically  by  the  slow 
process  of  running  the  dirt  or  mud  out  on  push  cars;  such  is  proper  em- 
ployment for  the  work  train.  Where  the  cuts  are  bad,  ditches  should  be 
given  a  general  cleaning  out  twice  a  year — in  the  spring,  and  again  during 
the  fall,  before  winter  or  the  rainy  season  sets  in.  One  advantage  in  hand- 
ling the  work  with  a  train  is  that  the  material  taken  out  of  the  ditches  may 
then  be  used  on  fills  which  have  shrunk  away ;  and  especially  is  such  disposi- 
tion of  the  material  profitable  if  there  be  shrunken  fills  at  the  ends  of 
bridges.  Another  advantage  is  that  the  means  of  transportation  is  of  suf- 
ficient capacity  to  move  large  quantities  of  material,  as  when  widening  a 
cut  that  is  too  narrow.  On  many  roads  a  sufficient  quantity  of  material 
is  taken  from  the  ditches  to  maintain  the  fills  to  their  proper  width,  and 


DITCHING  WITH  TRAINS  711 

that  such  a  balance  may  be  maintained  it  is  only  necessary  that  some  means 
of  transporting  the  material  be  available.  It  frequently  happens,  also, 
that  such  material  can  be  disposed  of  to  good  advantage  in  filling  for  a 
side-track  about  to  be  put  in,  or  for  a  change  of  alignment  somewhere  in 
the  main  line,  or  to  fill  in  trestle  bridges.  It  is  far  better  to  dispose  of 
the  material  in  such  ways,  even  if  it  must  be  carried  some  distance,  than 
to  run  to  a  near-by  siding  to  unload  where  the  material  is  not  needed, 
purely  with  the  idea  of  utilizing  time  while  waiting  for  trains  to  pass.  On 
roads  running  through  a  hilly  or  uneven  country  it  is  usual  to  find  fills 
on  every  section,  where  spare  material  may  be  deposited  to  good  purpose. 

The  work  of  ditching  should  be  thorough.  Loose  material  should  be 
cleaned  from  the  faces  of  the  cuts,  and  this  can  usually  be  scraped  down 
while  the  work  train  is  running  to  clear  for  the  traffic  trains.  In  summer 
time  when  the  ground  is  dry  and  hard  the  picks  may  have  to  be  used  a 
good  deal;  hence  a  good  supply  of  them  should  be  carried  along,  so  that 
a  sufficient  number  may  always  be  kept  sharp.  The  most  convenient  way  to 
carry  picks  while  in  use  is  to  stick  the  handles  downward  through  the  stake 
pockets  and  let  them  hang  at  the  side  of  the  car.  They  are  handy  to  get 
from  this  position,  secure  while  the  train  is  moving,  and  out  of  the  way 
while  unloading.  If  thrown  upon  the  car  they  might  get  covered  with 
material  or  be  jarred  off  while  the  train  is  running.  In  some  situations, 
as,  for  instance,  where  there  is  a  good  deal  of  ditching  to  be  done  in  one 
place,  particularly  if  the  ground  is  wet,  it  is  cheaper  to  use  a  plow  than 
picks. 

Flat  cars  used  for  moving  dirt  or  gravel  should  have  smooth  floors. 
In  unloading  from  cars  which  have  floors  cut  up  or  so  rough  that  there 
is  not  a  good  bottom  for  the  shovel,  much  time  is  lost.  Before  loading 
the  cars  all  spikes  which  may  be  projecting  above  the  floor  planks  should 
be  driven  down.  When  loading  material  on  cars  during  freezing  weather, 
as  must  sometimes  be  done  at  slides  or  on  other  occasions,  the  material 
may  be  kept  from  freezing  to  the  car,  for  several  hours,  by  sprinkling 
the  car  floor  with  brine,  or  by  scattering  salt  over  it,  just  before  loading. 
A  water  barrel  and  garden  sprinkler  furnish  all  the  necessary  equipment. 

It  frequently  happens  that  in  ditching  cuts  with  work  trains  there  are 
long  delays  waiting  at  sidings  for  the  traffic  trains  to  pass,  and  under  or- 
dinary methods  of  working  it  is  not  always  possible  to  keep  the  men  em- 
ployed to  advantage.  Where  the  ground  is  firm  it  is  permissible  to  deposit 
moderate  quantities  of  ditch  material  on  top  of  the  banks,  providing  it  is 
thrown  well  back  from  the  top  of  the  slope  and  does  not  interfere  with  the 
surface  ditches.  Wherever  the  material  may  be  disposed  of  in  this  manner 
while  the  train  is  away,  the  ditching  of  the  cut  can  be  carried  on  without 
interruption.  For  getting  material  out  of  cuts  that  are  too  deep  for  cast- 
ing at  a  single  throw,  Mr.  W.  A.  Fort,  supervisor  with  the  Southern  Ky., 
has  used  a  scaffold,  of  which  he  is  the  designer.  As  illustrated  in  Fig. 
357,  it  consists  of  two  2x6-in.  posts  12  ft.  long,  with  two  2x6-in.  horizontal 
pieces  10  ft.  long  running  into  the  bank  to  support  a  platform  of  five 
Ixl2-in.  boards  5  ft.  long,  upon  which  material  from  the  ditches  is  thrown 
in  process  of  casting  it  out  of  the  cut  by  stages.  The  posts  and  horizon- 
tal supports  are  bored  at  intervals  to  permit  adjustment  of  the  hight 
of  the  platform,  and  in  a  deep  cut  one  scaffold  may  be  placed  above 
another.  The  device  is  obviously  simple,  and  is  readily  carried  about  on 
a  push  car  or  work  train.  This  scaffold  was  first  furnished  the  section 
foremen,  and  was  found  to  be  of  such  value  as  a  time  saver  when  trains 
were  late  and  the  foreman  was  not  allowed  to  use  a  flag  to  protect  a  push 
car,  that  the  ditching  trains  were  equipped  with  them.  By  placing  one 


712  WORK    TRAINS 

man  on  the  scaffold  and  two  in  the  ditch  the  dirt  can  be  kept  moving  regard- 
less of  trains. 

Ditching  Machines. — Ordinary  ditching  is  usually  done  by  hand,  but 
on  some  roads  running  through  long  stretches  of  swampy  land  or  mellow  soil 
machinery  is  brought  into  use.  The  Barnhart  railroad  ditcher  consists  of 
a  light  excavator  or  steam  shovel. mounted  upon  a  timber  frame,  which  is 
dragged  along  between  the  side  stakes  of  ordinary  flat  cars  in  the  same 
manner  that  an  unloading  plow  is  moved.  The  excavator  rests  directly 
upon  a  turntable  which  can  be  operated  throughout  a  complete  circle,  and 
the  handle  of  the  clipper  is  long  enough  to  permit  the  machine  to  exca- 
vate to  the  required  depth  below  the  track.  The  machine  is  supplied  with 
a  winding  drum  and  wire  rope  tackle,  which  is  stretched  out  over  the 
cars  ahead  of  the  machine  and  anchored,  thus  enabling  the  machine  to 
drag  itself  over  the  cars  and  travel  away  from  the  material  which  it  exca- 
vates and  loads  upon  the  car  behind.  The  radius  of  the  boom  is  such 
that  excavation  can  be  made  sufficiently  wide  to  prepare  the  roadbed  for  a 
second  track.  This  machine  has  been  used  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  the 
Pittsburg  &  Western,  the  South  Carolina  and  other  southern  railways. 


Fig.  358. — American  Railway  Ditching  Car. 

Another  method  of  ditching  by  machinery  is  by  the  use  of  a  car  pro- 
vided with  side  attachments  which  plow  or  scoop  up  the  material  by  the 
movement  of  the  car  when  coupled  in  with  a  work  train  or  directly  to  a 
locomotive.  The  "American"  railway  ditching  machine  (Fig.  358)  con- 
sists of  a  flat  car  upon  which  is  constructed  a  heavy  framework,  strongly 
braced  and  provided  with  two  cranes  on  either  side.  A  car  with  low 
wheels,  20  ins.  in  diameter,  is  considered  the  best,  although  ordinary  flat 
cars  with  33-in.  wheels  will  do  the  work.  The  ditching  operations  are 
performed  by  dragging  a  heavy  scoop,  of  about  1J  cu.  yds.  capacity,  at  the 
side  of  the  car.  The  scoop  has  3  bails :  one  lifting  vertically  at  the  rear, 
another  lifting  vertically  at  the  front  end  and  another  pulling  horizontally 
at  the  front  end,  to  which  is  attached  a  chain  made  fast  to  a  *  projecting 
cross  beam  at  one  end  of  the  car,  for  hauling  the  scoop.  The  scoop  is  sus- 
pended from  the  two  cranes  by  means  of  chains  attached  to  the  vertical 
bails  and  wound  up  by  winches  on  the  car,  so  that  the  inclination  of  the 
scoop  and  the  depth  of  scooping  are  regulated  by  the  winches.  The  setting 
of  the  crane  regulates  the  distance  of  the  ditch  from  the  track.  By  at- 
taching a  scoop  to  either  side  of  the  car,  ditching  operations  may  be  car- 
ried on  at  both  sides  of  the  track  simultaneously.  The  attachments  are 
easily  reversible,  and  can  be  worked  either  way  without  turning  the  car. 
In  service  the  machine  is  roofed  over,  so  as  to  enable  the  men  to  use  it  in 


DITCHING  WITH  TRAINS  713 

stormy  'weather,  at  which  time  the  condition  of  the  ground  is  most  favor- 
able to  the  operation  of  the  machine.  The  machine  works  best  in  muddy 
or  wet  earth,  but  can  be  used  with  good  effect  in  dry  earth  which  has  been 
plowed.  The  material  scooped  up  is  held  until  the  train  is  run  to  a  fill 
or  other  point  for  dumping.  The  scoop  is  dumped  by  winding  up  on  the 
winch  which  lifts  the  rear  end.  This  type  of  machine  has  been  used  on 
the  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  and  other  roads  in  the  Northwest.  A  machine  of  simpler  con- 
struction which  has  been  used  on  the  Chicago,  Ft.  Madison  &  Des  Moines 
R.  R.,  has  a  12xl2-in.  beam  20  ft.  long  extending  crosswise  the  car  and  sup- 
ported upon  braced  posts,  with  winches  for  raising  or  lowering  the  scoops, 
which  are  suspended  by  ropes  passing  over  pulleys  at  the  extremities  of 
the  beam. 


Fig.  359. — Ditching  Train,  Chicago  Great  Western  Ry. 

The  Chicago,  Great  Western  and  the  Kansas  City  Southern  roads 
have  ditching  cars  with  machinery  operated  by  steam.  In  each  case  the 
working  apparatus  consists  of  a  flat  car  with  a  housing  at  the  forward  end 
covering  a  boiler  and  engine  which  furnish  the  hoisting  power;  a  hoist- 
ing shaft,  with  chains,  mounted  upon  a  strong  frame  which  rests  upon  a 
turntable;  and  a  scoop  suspended  from  the  hoisting  shaft  at  either  side 
of  the  car.  The  hoisting  shaft  projects  past  its  supporting  frame  at 
either  side,  being  of  sufficient  length  to  drop  the  scoop  into  the  ditch  at  the 
desired  distance  from  the  track.  When  the  car  is  in  service  the  frame 
is  revolved  to  stand  crosswise  the  car  (Fig.  359)  and  is  held  firmly  in  place 
by  stay  rods  passing  from  the  car  decking  to  the  top  part  of  the  frame. 
When  out  of  service  it  is  necessary  to  revolve  the  frame  90  deg.,  or  to  a 
position  parallel  with  the  car  (Fig.  360),  in  order  to  clear  for  transit. 
The  turntable  upon  which  the  frame  rests  is  operated  by  the  hoisting 
engine.  The  scoops  of  the  Chicago  Great  Western  ditcher  are  made  of 
boiler  plate  and.  on  the  average,  each  will  hold  a  load  of  If  cu.  yds.,  the 
capacity  depending  somewhat  upon  the  character  of  the  material.  The 
front  or  cutting  edge  of  the  bottom  is  reinforced  with  three  teeth,  after 
the  manner  of  a  steam-shovel  dipper.  The  scoop  is  provided  with  a  strong 
bail,  and  at  the  back  side  or  closed  end  there  is  a  strong  socket  into  which 
is  fitted  a  pole  about  10  ft.  long  and  6  ins.  in  diameter.  This  pole 
serves  as  a  means  of  tipping  the  scoop  while  it  is  taking  its  load,  and  is 
controlled  by  a  rope  attached  to  the  end  of  the  pole  anel  passed  through 


714  WORK    TRAINS 

a  pulley  block  suspended  from  the  hoisting  shaft.  The  scoop  is  hauled 
in  the  ditch  by  two  chains,  one  attached  to  either  side,  to  keep  it  straight 
with  the  ditch.  The  chains  are  attached  to  a  stout  cross  beam  which 
rests  upon  hangers  suspended  from  the  sills  of  the  car.  When  the  scoops 
are  put  into  use  this  beam  is  pulled  out  to  project  over  the  ditch  and  is 
held  by  a  stay  rod  attached  to  the  front  corner  of  the  car. 

The  ditching  train  consists  of  a  locomotive,  followed  by  an  extra 
tender,  which  serves  the  steam  plant  of  the  ditching  car;  behind  the- 
extra  tender  the  ditching  car  is  coupled  in,  and  in  rear  of  the  ditching 
car  there  is  a  "tool  car."  All  the  cars  are  air-braked,  and  the  tool  car  is 
provided  with  a  conductor's  valve  for  quick  application.  The  tool  car 
carries,  besides  other  tools,  a  forge  and  blacksmithing  outfit,  for  repairing 
chains,  clevises,  etc.  The  operating  force  (when  working  both  sides) 
consists  of  six  men,  including  a  hoisting  engineer,  who  does  his  own  firing ;. 
two  men  manipulating  the  ropes  to  fill  the  scoops;  two  men  who  handle 
and  dump  the  scoops,  and  a  foreman,  who  is  also  conductor  of  the  train. 
The  foreman  sits  in  the  tool  car  and  gives  all  the  necessary  signals  by 
means  of  bell  cords,  there  being  one  cord  running  to  the  locomotive,  over 
the  ditcher,  and  another  to  the  hoisting  engine  for  signaling  when  to 
raise  and  lower  the  scoops.  Besides  the  ditching  crew  there  are  two  flag- 
men, to  protect  the  train. 


Fig.  360. — Chicago  Great  Western  Ditcher  Arranged  for  Transit. 

The  manipulation  of  the  train  and  ditching  apparatus  is  about  as 
follows:  As  the  train  arrives  at  the  ditch  the  -coops  are  quickly  lowered, 
and  as  the  train  starts  forward  each  scoop  is  tilted  by  the  pole  and  rope 
arrangement,  and  as  soon  as  it  receives  its  load  a  man  jumps  down  and 
sets  a  dog,  which  extends  from  the  back  side  of  the  scoop  to  the  middle 
of  the  bail  and  prevents  the  scoop  from  tilting  and  dropping  its  load.  The 
scoop  is  then  immediately  hoisted  and  the  train  starts  for  the  dump.  On 
the  way,  while  the  train  is  in  motion,  the  scoop  is  drawn  up  and  the  rear 
end  is  hitched  to  the  loose  end  of  the  hoisting  chain,  which  hangs  from  the 
shaft,  being  made  fast  to  the  spool  of  the  winding  shaft  at  about  the 
middle  of  the  chain.  The  two  parts  of  the  chain  are  then  wrapped  sev- 
eral times  around  the  spool,  in  opposite  directions,  so  that  the  turning  of 
the  shaft  unwinds  one  part  of  the  chain  while  it  winds  up  the  other.  As 
the  dumping  ground  is  reached  the  shaft  is  revolved  as  though  to  lower 
the  scoop,  thus  unwinding  the  chain  attached  to  the  bail  and  winding  up 
on  the  chain  attached  to  the  rear  of  the  scoop.  The  scoop  being  thus 
hung  up  on  its  rear  end,  dumps  itself.  Meantime  the  train  is  quickly 
stopped  and  immediately  starts  back  to  the  ditch,  being  kept  continually 
in  motion  except  when  reversing  direction  and  when  stopping  an  instant 
for  the  men  to  set  the  dogs  on  the  scoops.  The  train  may  run  either  way 


DITCHING  WITH  TRAINS 


715 


to  dump,  and  when  ditching  only  one  side  the  off  scoop  is  filled  with  stone. 
In  usual  practice  the  pulling  beam  and  hoisting  chains  are  set  to  excavate 
the  ditches  14  ft.  8  ins.  from  inside  to  inside.  The  car  is  also  used  to 
slope  down  the  bank  where  the  material  is  dumped,  there  being  for  this 
purpose  a  moldboard  connected  with  the  pulling  beam  and  maintained  in- 
upright  position  by .  brace  pieces  footing  into  shoes  which  slide  on  the 
ground,  and  by  brace  struts  abutting  against  the  car.  When  it  is  desired 
to  pull  dirt  toward  the  track  the  sloper  is  held  to  its  work  by  block  and' 
tackle  attached  to  the  car. 

An  average  day's  work  with  the  machine,  when  within  convenient 
distance  of  the  dumping  place,  is  300  cu.  yds.  of  material  moved.  Of 
course  a  great  deal  depends  upon  the  amount  of  time  lost  from  interfer- 
ence with  the  traffic  trains.  At  one  time  while  working  on  Sunday  the 
ditching  train  made  91  trips,  with  4  cu.  yds.  of  material  at  each  trip,  the 
distance  covered  in  a  round  trip  being  700  ft.  more  than  a  mile.  On 
this  day  the  ditching  train  had  to  run  to  clear  for  six  stock  trains.  On 
another  occasion  656  cu.  yds.  of  material  was  taken  out  in  seven  hours. 
For  a  number  of  years  the  machine  was  used  from  early  spring  to  late  in 
the  fall. 


Fig.  362. — Dumping  the  Scoops.  Fig.  361. — Loaded  Scoops  in  Transit. 

The  ditching  car  of  the  Kansas  City  Southern  Ey.  is  quite  similar 
to  the  Chicago  Great  Western  machine,  on  general  lines,  but  essentially 
different  in  a  number  of  the  details  of  operation.  The  ditching  machitii 
and  all  the  appurtenances  necessary  to  its  operation  are  carried  on  a  single 
car,  the  hoisting  engine  taking  steam  from  the  locomotive.  The  hauling 
beam  on  each  side  is  hinged,  and  when  put  into  service  is  swung  out  at 
right  angles  and  secured  by  a  stay  rod.  As  may  be  seen  in  Figs.  361  and 
362,  this  ditcher  has  a  small  shaft  below  the  main  hoisting  shaft,  to  which 
is  attached  a  chain  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  inner  side  of  the  scoop, 
to  give  the  ditch  the  proper  slope  for  drainage.  This  lower  shaft  does 
not  revolve,  the  tilting  of  the  scoop  being  adjusted  by  lengthening  or 
shortening  the  chain.  While  taking  its  load  the  scoop  is  steered  and 
maintained  in  balance  by  means  of  a  guiding  pole  13  J  ft.  long.  The 
scoop,  which  is  6  ft.  long,  4J  ft.  wide  and  3  ft.  deep,  is  hauled  by  two 
chains  attached  to  its  sides,  at  its  front  end,  and  to  the  pulling  beam. 
The  capacity  of  each  scoop  is  3  to  3J  cu.  yds.,  and  each  reaches  14  ft.  from 
the  center  of  the  track,  or  a  distance  of  28  ft.  over  all,  for  the  machine^ 


716  WORK    TRAINS 

The  pulling  beam  is  hinged  to  a  side  post  at  a  point  higher  than  the  deck- 
ing of  the  car,  thus  making1  it  possible  to  swing  the  beam  onto  the  car 
when  it  is  not  in  use  and  save  considerable  time  which  would  otherwise 
be  occupied  in  lifting  it  and  putting  it  in  place. 

This  machine  is  used  in  cuttings  where  the  amount  of  material  is 
too  small  to  be  excavated  at  economical  cost  by  a  steam  shovel.  If  the 
ground  is  hard  it  is  first  loosened  up  by  hitching  a  heavy  plow  to  the  pull- 
ing beam  and  plowing  several  furrows  through  the  cut.  In  excavating 
the  material  the  scoops  are  hauled  forward  until  filled  and  are  then  hoisted 
high  enough  to  clear  objects  at  the  side  of  the  track,  and  maintained  in  hor- 
izontal position,  as  shown  in  Fig.  361.  The  locomotive  then  runs  to  some 
near-by  embankment  or  other  point  where  filling  material  is  in  demand. 
The  scoop  is  dumped  by  hooking  to  its  rear  end  a  chain  wound  upon  the 
hoisting  shaft  in  the  reverse  direction  from  that  in  which  the  chain  is 
wound  which  supports  the  bail.  When  it  is  desired  to  dump  the  load  \;he 
hoisting  shaft  is  revolved  to  unwind  the  latter  and  wind  up  the  former, 
thus  tilting  up  the  scoop  and  dumping  the  load,  as  shown  in  Fig.  362. 


Fig.  363. — Doddridge  Ditching  Car. 

The  average  amount  of  dirt  handled  with  this  machine  during  one 
season's  work  was  a  little  more  than  400  cu.  yds.  per  day,  carried  an  aver- 
age distance  of  1800  ft.  This  included  material  taken  out  of  cuts  con- 
taining rocks,  stumps,  etc.,  and  from  other  places  where  considerable  time 
was  lost  in  removing  obstacles  that  could  not  be  handled  by  the  scoop. 
At  times  as  high  as  900  cu.  yds.  of  material  was  handled  in  one  day.  The 
cost  of  handling  the  dirt  has  ranged  from  7.74  to  9  cents  per  cu.  yd.  This 
includes  the  cost  of  labor,  train  crew,  use  of  locomotive,  fuel,  repairs  to 
ditcher,  and,  in  fact,  all  costs.  The  limit  of  economical  haul,  as  deter- 
mined from  the  experience  with  the  machine  on  this  road,  was  found  to 
be  about  4000  ft.  The  car  and  machinery  were  designed  by  Mr.  F.  Mert- 
scheimer,  superintendent  of  motive  power.  The  plan,  drawings  Liid  dimen- 
sions in  detail  were  published  in  the  Railway  and  Engineering  Review  of 
Jan.  12,  1901. 

The  Doddridge  ditching  car,  designed  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Doddridge, 
while  general  manager  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Ry.,  and  used  quite  exten- 
sively on  the  St.  Louis  Southwestern,  the  Texas  Midland  and  the  Minneap- 
olis &  St.  Louis  and  other  roads,  is  worked  by  compressed  air  supplied 
ty  the  air  brake  system.  The  car  itself  is  50  ft.  long  and,  with  the 
exception  of  the  decking,  is  constructed  entirely  of  steel  or  iron.  Both 
side  and  center  sills  are  plate  girders  18  ins.  deep,  strongly  braced.  The 
car  has  attachments  for  handling  material  in  excavating  ditches,  building 


DITCHING  WITH  TRAINS 


717 


up  and  re-enforcing  embankments,  lowering  track,  raising  track,  altering 
grades  and  filling.  All  of  these  implements  or  tools  are  carried  on  the 
car  and  are  composed  of  a  plow,  scraper,  scoop  and  shoulder  former.  At 
the  center  of  the  car  (Fig.  363)  there  is  mounted  a  revolving  crane  9  ft. 
high,  having  a  reach  of  14  ft,  from  the  center  of  the  car,  capable  of  rais- 
ing a  load  of  8000  Ibs.,  and  swinging  through  an  entire  circle.  The 
crane  is  provided  with  two  cylinders:  one  12  ins.  in  diameter  and  14  ft. 

7  ins.  stroke,  for  hoisting;  and  another  12  ins.  in  diameter  and  9  ft.  5 
ins.  length  of  stroke,  for  swinging  the  crane.       In  addition  to  the  crane 
cylinders  there  are  four  air  cylinders  near  the  four  corners  of  the  car,  each 

8  ins.  in  diameter  and  5  ft.  4-J  ins.  long,  for  operating  the  plow  guides. 
The  air  supply  is  stored  in  five  cylindrical  reservoirs,  each  22  ins.  in  diam- 
eter and  10  ft.  long,  secured  to  the  frame  beneath  the  floor  of  the  car. 

In  operation,  the  plow  is  generally  used  first.  This  is  of  cast  steel, 
in  one  piece,  except  the  moldboard,  which  is  of  heavy  boiler  plate,  and 
weighs  2500  Ibs.  The  plow  is  swung  from  its  position  on  the  car  by  the 
crane  and  is  held  to  its  work  by  four  attachments.  There  is  a  draft  cable 
attached  to  a  heavy  steel  casting  forming  the  end  sill  of  the  car,  which 
has  extensions  at  both  sides  of  the  car  for  this  purpose.  The  depth  at 
which  the  plow  runs  is  regulated  by  the  crane  hoisting  cable,  and  the  plow 
is  held  at  the  desired  distance  from  the  car  by  a  tubular  strut  attached 
to  the  front  end  of  the  beam,  as  shown  in  Fig.  364.  The  plow  is  main- 
tained in  a  vertical  position  by  a  strut  attached  to  the  rear  or  upwardly 
deflecting  extension  of  the  beam,  the  strut  being  operated  by  the  piston 
rod  of  an  air  cylinder.  At  the  rear  end  of  the  beam  of  the  plow  there 
is  a  small  platform  upon  which  a  rider  may  stand  while  the  plow  is  in 
operation.  The  plow  cuts  a  furrow  24  ins.  wide  and  30  ins.  deep,  if  such 
depth  is  desired.  It  can  be  run  as  far  out  as  20  ft.  from  the  center 
of  the  track  and  at  an  elevation  of  10  ft.  above  to  16  ft.  below  the  top  of 


Fig.  364. — Doddridge  Ditching  Car,  Plowing  and  Scraping. 


718  WORK    TRAINS 

rail.  The  tqol  next  used  after  the  ground  has  been  furrowed  up  by  the 
plow  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  work  to  be  accomplished.  If  it 
is  desired  to  level  down  a  strip  of  earth  next  the  track  the  scraper  is  used ; 
•or  if  the  embankment  needs  strengthening  the  scraper  is  used,  being  so 
attached  as  to  carry  the  earth  toward  the  track.  The  shoulder  former  is 
then  hauled  along  to  even  off  the  surface  of  the  roadway  to  a  uniform 
contour.  In  ditching  operations  the  scoop  is  used. 

The  scraper  consists  of  a  heavy  moldboard,  such  as  is  used  in  ordinary 
road  machines,  and  is  braced  at  the  back  to  horizontal  trailing  pieces  which 
maintain  it  in  a  vertical  position.  It  is  attached  to  the  end  sill  extension 
•of  the  car  by  a  draft  cable  and  maintained  at  proper  distance  from  the 
car  by  the  swing  beam  or  tubular  distance  bar.  The  nose  or  forward 
end  of  the  scraper  is  attached  to  the  swing  beam  by  a  short  piece  of  chain 
and  the  amount  of  dirt  scraped  is  controlled  by  the  hoisting  cable  attached 
to  the  rear  end  of  the  scraper,  which  gives  it  the  inclination.  The  scraper 
will  bring  material  toward  the"  track  from  a  distance  of  20  ft.  from  the 
'•center  ~2  the  track,  and  will  throw  material  either  to  or  from  the  track, 
-as  may  be  desired.  The  shoulder  former  consists  of  a  heavy  scraper 
having  a  bottom  edge  shaped  to  the  desired  cross  section  and,  as  previously 
•explained,  is  used  for  leveling  material  brought  up  by  the  scraper  or 
dumped  at  the  side  of  the  track.  It  is  attached  to  the  side  of  the  car 
by  a  pivot  hinge,  at  one  end,  and  to  a  draft  cable  at  the  other.  It  is  re-en- 
forced at  the  rear  by  several  tubular  struts  bearing  against  the  side  of 
the  car.  The  depth  at  which  it  works  is  regulated  by  the  hoisting  cable, 
attached  to  it  at  the  top,  at  the  middle  of  its  length. 

The  operation  of  scooping  is  shown  in  Fig.  364.  The  scoop  is  4  ft. 
wide,  8  ft.  long  and  has  a  capacity  of  3J  cu.  yds.  It  is  maintained  at  prop- 
er distance  from  the  car  by  the  swing  beam,  and  the  depth  of  ditch  is  regu- 
lated by  the  hoisting  cable,  which  also  is  the  means  by  which  the  scoop 
is  dumped.  It  is  hauled  by  a  draft  cable  attached  to  the  end  sill  ex- 
tension of  the  car.  It  can  be  used  at  any  point  from  the  ends  of  the 
ties  to  20  ft.  from  the  center  of  the  track.  It  comes  into  use  in  ditching 
or  when,  after  plowing  a  cut,  more  material  is  turned  up  than  is  required 
to  form  the  shoulder.  The  dirt  taken  up  is  carried  to  the  end  of  the  cut 
or  to  a  fill,  to  be  deposited.  It  is  easily  seen  how  the  use  of  this  tool 
<?ould  be  readily  adapted  to  the  excavation  of  the  summits  of  grades  in 
lowering  track. 

All  of  the  operations  of  this  car  are  manipulated  at  a  single  point 
on  the  car  by  one  operator,  by  means  of  cocks  in  pipe  connection  with 
the  various  cylinders  of  the  car.  The  machinery  is  worked  by  one  man 
who  handles  the  air  and  two  laborers  who  attend  to  the  shifting  and 
adjusting  of  the  side  attachments.  When  not  in  use  as  a  track  tool  the 
car  is  stationed  at  a  division  point,  and  in  emergencies  is  utilized  as  a 
wrecker,  for  which  purpose  it  is  readily  adaptable,  being  quickly  gotten 
into  action  simply  by  coupling  on  a  locomotive  to  get  the  air  connection. 
In  wrecks  where  the  lifting  is  not  too  heavy  the  car  does  rapid  work. 
So  extensive  and  effective  have  been  the  operations  of  this  car  in  the 
swamp  lands  of  Arkansas  that  farms  and  forests  in  some  cases  have  been 
drained  many  miles  back  from  the  railroad. 

145.  Distributing  Ties. — The  details  of  the  work  of  distributing 
ties  for  renewals  vary  considerably  with  different  roads,  according  to  con- 
ditions of  supply,  density  of  the  regular  traffic,  ideas  concerning  economical 
methods,  etc.  Where  the  supply  of  ties  can  be  bought  in  the  district  trib- 
utary to  the  road  they  are  usually  received  at  the  stations  .or  at  side-tracks 
and  loaded  upon  flat  cars,  to  be  distributed  by  the  section  men  or  by  a 


DISTRIBUTING    TIES  719 

work-train  crew.  If  the  tics  are  received  at  numerous  points  more  or 
less  uniformly  located  part  of  the  crew  can  be  employed  at  loading  while 
the  remainder  are  distributing.  J.f,  however,  the  ties  have  to  be  loaded 
some  distance  from  the  points  where  they  are  to  be  used  it  is  a  good  plan 
to  load  a  long  train  of  cars  at  one  time  and  side-track  them  at  points  con- 
venient for  the  work  of  distribution.  This  arrangement  saves  much  run- 
ning to  and  fro  over  the  road,  for  as  fast  as  the  ties  are  unloaded  the 
•empty  cars  can  be  set  out  and  loaded  cars  picked  up  without  running  con- 
siderable distance.  A  similar  method  is  to  have  the  ties  shipped  to  the 
stations  and  side-tracks  in  order,  beginning  at  the  end  of  the  division 
nearest  to  the  point  of  shipment  and  setting  the  cars  out  in  lots  according 
to  the  number  of  ties  needed,  and  then  begin  the  distribution  with  a  work 
train  and  keep  it  steadily  employed  until  all  the  ties  are  laid  down.  The 
distributing  crew  is  sometimes  an  extra  gang  or  work-train  crew  and  some- 
times it  is  made  up  of  two  or  three  section  crews. 

For  rapid  distribution  the  ties  should  be  loaded  on  flat  cars,  crosswise 
the  car,  except  two  under  courses  at  each  end.  These  courses  should  be 
placed  lengthwise  the  car,  each  course  blocked  under  the  outer  end  by  a 
tie  placed  crosswise,  so  as  to  give  it  a  pitch  inward.  These  slanting 
courses  act  as  guards  to  keep  the  ties  placed  crosswise  from  being  jarred 
or  rolled  over  the  end  of  the  car.  If  in  these  slanting  courses  the  two 
thickest  ties  of  each  course  are  placed  on  the  outside,  they  will  be  held 
in  place  by  the  weight  from  above  and  no  stakes  will  be  needed.  Enough 
room  should  be  reserved  at  the  end  of  the  car  for  the  brake  to  be  used. 
On  some  roads  flat  cars  for  use  in  distributing  ties  are  specially  fitted  up 
with  permanent  end  boards.  Ties  received  from  points  beyond  the  par- 
ticular line  of  railway  are  usually  shipped  in  box  or  stock  cars,  and,  if 
received  at  about  the  time  they  are  required  for  distribution,  are  usually 
unloaded  from  these  cars  direct  to  the  side  of  the  roadbed.  In  long-dis- 
tance shipments  of  ties  over  a  single  line  of  railway  or  system,  it  is  also 
quite  common  practice  to  use  box,  stock,  or  gondola  cars  with  high  sides :  this 
for  two  principal  reasons :  In  the  first  place,  the  commercial  shipments  in 
cars  of  the  kind  named  may  be  heavier  in  one  direction  than  in  the 
other,  and  to  avoid  hauling  some  of  these  cars  back  empty  they  are  loaded 
with  company  material.  Again,  accidents  have  happened  by  ties  working 
out  on  flat  cars  and  striking  switch  stands,  through  truss  bridges,  the  sides 
of  tunnels  and  snow  sheds;  and  even  cars  and  engines  standing  on  side- 
track or  passing  on  another  track  have  been  struck  by  ties  that  stuck  out 
from  piles  on  flat  cars. 

The  exact  number  of  ties  wanted  for  renewals  in  places  can  be  known 
and  the  right  number  of  new  ties  can  be  dropped  off,  just  as  well  as  not. 
Much  useless  handling  and  trucking  of  ties  results  from  throwing  them 
off  by  guess  while  distributing,  for  without  some  system  of  estimating  or 
counting  the  number  required  and  the  number  delivered  there  will  usually 
be  either  too  many  or  else  not  enough.  Where  ties  are  thrown  off  in  excess  of 
the  requirements  it  is  usually  the  case  that  many  old  ties  which  could  profit- 
ably remain  another  year  will  be  removed,  simply  to  make  room  for  all  of  the 
new  ties.  Some  foremen  seem  to  have  the  idea  that  new  ties  are  neces- 
sarily the  best  medicine  for  rough  track.  On  the  other  hand,  if  an  insuf- 
ficient number  of  ties  are  distributed  in  places,  the  deficiency  must  be 
made  good  by  trucking,  or  else  some  old  ties  will  remain  in  the  track  which 
ought  to  come  out.  The  work  of  distributing  ties  should  be  conducted 
with  such  system  that  the  required  number  may  be  had  at  .all  points.  It 
will  then  not  be  necessary  to  redistribute  the  ties  with  a  push  car,  and 
there  can  be  no  waste  of  timber.  Just  before  the  time  for  distributing 


720  WORK    TRAINS 

comes,  each  foreman  should  carefully  inspect  the  ties  on  his  section  and 
count  the  number  needed  for  renewals  between  each  two  telegraph  poles. 
This  number  should  be  marked  with  chalk  on  the  pole  which  stands  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  train  will  come  when  distributing.  The  best 
plan  is  to  take  a  short  ladder  and  place  the  marking  out  of  reach  of 
mischievous  persons.  Then  when  the  work  train  comes  along  it  will  be- 
an easy  matter  to  throw  off  the  required  number,  almost  in  place.  Another 
method  that  is  sometimes  followed  is  to  drive  a  stake  on  the  shoulder 
temporarily  for  each  ten  ties  required. 

When  ties  are  delivered  in  box,  stock  or  gondola  cars  a  strong  force 
is  needed  to  unload  them  promptly — say  25  or  30  men.  On  the  average 
it  takes  four  men  about  30  minutes  to  unload  a  box  car  holding  300  oak 
ties.  If  the  ties  are  loaded  on  flat  cars  a  few  men  can  tumble  them  off 
rapidly,  and  15  to  18  men  are  a  sufficient  force.  The  best  way  to  control 
the  number  of  ties  put  off  when  unloading  from  flat  cars  is  to  work  the 
men  in  relays  of  a  few  men  each.  It  is  much  easier  to  control  the 
movements  of  a  few  men  working  rapidly  than  of  a  whole  crew  working; 
at  the  ordinary  gait.  When  unloading  from  flat  cars  four  or  five  men 
besides  one  to  tally  are  usually  a  sufficient  force  working  at  one  time  to- 
do  the  unloading.  The  crew  being  small,  the  man  keeping  tally  can  eas- 
ily stop  the  delivery  of  the  ties  from  the  cars  as  soon  as  the  required  num- 
ber for  the  place  has  been  thrown  off,  or  by  calling  to  individuals  he  can 
easily  increase  the  number  thrown  off  by  a  tie  or  two,  if  need  be,  after 
the  signal  has  been  given  to  stop  unloading.  Another  way  to  stop  the 
unloading  as  soon  as  the  required  number  has  been  thrown  off  in  a  place 
is  to  designate  each  man  in  the  gang  by  a  number,  and  have  it  understood 
that  each  man  whose  number  does  not  exceed  the  one  sung  out  by  the  tally 
man  is  to  throw  off  a  tie.  Suppose,  for  instance,  there  are  15  men  in 
the  gang  and  it  is  desired  to  unload  12  ties  between  two  certain  telegraph 
poles.  The  tally  man  would  sing  out  "twelve,"  and  each  man  up  to  and 
including  No.  12  would  throw  off  a  tie.  If,  say,  22  ties  were  needed  the 
tally  man  would  sing  out :  "Once  around  and  seven  more,"  when  every  mart 
in  the  gang  would  throw  off  a  tie,  and  each  man  up  to  and  including  Xo. 
7,  one  additional. 

The  train  should  not  be  run  faster  than  6  miles  per  hour ;  and  on  high 
fills  quite  slow,  because  in  such  places  ties  thrown  too  hard  will  roll  to 
the  bottom  of  the  slope.  The  foreman  of  the  section  whereon  the  ties 
are  being  unloaded  should  invariably  accompany  the  train  to  advise  as- 
to  the  number  of  ties  wanted  and  the  exact  location  of  the  same.  It  is 
also  well  to  have  the  section  crew,  or  part  of  it,  follow  the  train  on  a 
hand  car,  to  throw  out  any  ties  which  may  have  fallen  too  close  to  the 
track.  At  narrow  cuts  it  is  a  good  plan  to  throw  off  the  whole  number 
in  piles  at  each  end  of  the  cut,  especially  jf  the  old  ties  are  not  to  be 
taken  out  for  some  time,  and  the  same  is  true  for  high,  narrow  embank- 
ments. Proper  attention  should  be  given  to  loading  and  throwing  off  tin1 
hardest  ties  for  the  curves,  as  heretofore  pointed  out.  In  distributing  ties 
on  curves  observation  should  be  taken  of  the  side  of  the  track  from  which 
the  ties  will  have  to  be  pulled  in  when  making  renewals,  and  the  ties  should 
be  thrown  off  on  that  side,  if  there  is  room.  Thus,  for  instance,  it  will 
frequently  be  found  that  in  renewing  ties  on  curves  the  ties  must  be- 
pulled  in  from  the  outside  of  the  curve. 

The  question  of  using  way  freight  trains  for  tie  distribution  depends 
upon  the  traffic  conditions.  On  roads  where  the  local  freight  business  is- 
light  it  is  found  to  be  economical  to  send  the  ties  out  a  few  car-loads  at 
a  time  with  these  trains,  to  be  unloaded  in  place  by  the  section  men,  who> 


DISTRIBUTING    TIES  721 

4ire  previously  notified  to  be  on  hand  at  the  point  where  the  ties  are  wanted. 
The  delay  to  the  train  in  waiting  for  the  ties  to  be  unloaded  is  necessarily 
•-considerable,  and  on  roads  where  the  local  freight  work  is  heavy  the  way 
trains  are  frequently  or  nearly  always  behind  time,  and  the  extra  work  of 
tie  distribution  is  considered  inexpedient.  Such  is  also  quite  liable  to  be 
the  decision  where  the  ties  are  to  be  unloaded  from  box  cars,  or  where  a 
train-load  of  ties  arrives  and  there  is  a  demand  for  prompt  release  of  the 
<-ars.  Quite  frequently  part  of  the  ties  are  distributed  from  way  freight 
trains  and  part  from  work  trains,  on  the  same  road.  One  situation  under 
•which  such  is  the  practice  is  where  some  of  the  ties  are  delivered  at  stations 
or  sidings,  the  cars  being  set  in  for  the  section  men  to  load,  and  afterward 
taken  out  by  local  freight  to  be  unloaded'  by  the  same  forces ;  ties  delivered 
from  outlying  points,  however,  are  handled  by  work  train  with  a  special 
;gang.  Where  only  one  car-load  or  a  few  scattering  car-loads  are  to  be 
sent  out  it  is  convenient,  of  course,  to  use  the  local  freight  trains,  in 
any  case.  (rood  authorities  are  occasionally  quoted  on  both  sides  of  this 
question,  one  view  being  that  distribution  from  local  freight  trains  is  the 
cheapest  way  to  handle  ties,  while,  on  the  contrary,  the  experience  of  some 
other  man  is  that  the  same  method  is  expensive  and  unsatisfactory.  The 
Tarying  conditions  of  traffic  above  noted  undoubtedly  account  for  the  dif- 
ference. Mr.  J.  C.  Kockhold,  roadmaster  with  the  San  Francisco  & 
San  Joaquin  Valley  Ry.  (Santa  Fe  system),  has  kindly  favored  me  with 
#  clear  and  comprehensive  statement  of  practice  under  certain  conditions 
which  are  quite  extensively  found.  This  statement,  which  covers  a 
method  of  distribution  not  hitherto  described,  is  published  as  §  5  in  Sup- 
plementary Notes. 

As  a  general  thing  ties  distributed  from  a  work  train  are  put  off  in 
better  shape  than  from  a  way  freight.  The  crews  of  the  latter  class  of 
train,  especially  when  late,  are  frequently  inclined  to  rush  the  work  too 
fast,  either  by  urging  the  men  or  by  moving  the  train  too  fast  for  the 
men  to  properly  unload  the  ties.  An  ordinary  result  of  such  haste  is 
that  ties  are  thrown  down ,  embankments,  into  bridge  openings,  or  are  so 
sparsely  distributed  that  much  time  is  lost  in  carrying  them  to  place  when 
renewals  are  made.  In  distributing  ties  with  a  work  train  time  is  some- 
times needlessly  lost  or  wasted  in  attempting  to  do  the  work  continuously. 
For  purpose  of  illustration,  suppose  the  train  is  proceeding  from  north  to 
south  and  at  a  certain  time  must  qurt  work  and  run  six  miles  south  to  clear 
for  a  regular  train.  If  another  train  is  due  at  the  point  where  the  work 
stopped,  in  less  than  an  hour,  it  is  more  advantageous  to  work  back  north 
from  the  passing  siding  after  the  first  train  has  departed  than  to  run  back 
the  six  miles  purposely  to  make  the  distribution  continuous,  for  in  the 
latter  case  the  train  will  have  but  a  few  minutes  to  work  before  it  must 
again  run  to  clear,  whereas  if  it  starts  in  to  work  back  from  the  siding  the 
time  otherwise  consumed  in  running  to  and  fro  is  employed  in  throwing  off 
tk's,  and  the  gap  can  be  closed  up  during  some  more  favorable  interval  in 
the  train  schedule.  For  this  reason  it  is  usually  more  advantageous  to 
select  the  passing  points  in  the  direction  in  which  the  work  is  progressing. 

The  best  time  to  distribute  ties  is  in  the  early  spring,  just  before  the 
time  for  renewing  begins,  and  the  counting  of  the  old  ties  to  be  taken 
out  should  not  be  done  until  a  few  days  before  the  new  ones  are  distributed. 
Of  course,  on  many  roads  it  is  necessary  for  the  purchasing  agent  to  have 
in  the  fall  an  estimate  of  the  number  of  ties  required  the  next  spring  for 
renewals,  but  an  actual  count  in  the  fall  comes  so  close  upon  the  renewals 
made  in  the  summer  (when  all  unserviceable  ties  are  supposed  to  have 
been  removed)  that  it  is  but  little  if  any  better  than  a  guess,  because  the 


722  WORK    TRAIXS 

probable  condition  of  the  ties  six  to  eight  months  later  is,  after  all,  largely 
conjectural — the  number  counted  may  overrun  or  fall  short  of  actual 
requirements  the  next  spring;  and  it  is  an  expensive  mistake  to  distribute 
more  ties  than  are  actually  needed.  On  old  roads  an  estimate  based  upon 
the  average  renewals  for  a  series  of  years  is  more  rational  than  an  actual 
count  of  the  ties  in  the  fall,  and  is  sufficiently  close  for  the  purchasing 
agent.  If  a  few  ties  are  left  over  as  the  result  of  a  liberal  allowance  on 
the  general  yearly  average  they  will  be  all  the  better  for  the  seasoning  they 
get.  Authorities  on  timber  say  that  ties  should  be  allowed  to  season  at 
least  a  year  before  being  put  into  the  ground,  but  generally  they  are  pur- 
chased green  in  the  winter,  distributed  in  the  spring  and  put  into  the  track 
in  the  spring  and  summer.  There  should,  therefore,  be  no  money  lost  if 
a  few  ties  remained  over  for  another  year. 

On  roads  where  ties  are  handled  by  way  freight  it  is  quite  custom- 
ary to  begin  the  distribution  as  early  as  January;  this  for  the  obvious 
reason  that  only  a  few  car-loads  can  be  distributed  each  day,  and  it  is 
necessary  to  take  a  good  deal  of  time  in  order  to  get  over  the  division  by 
spring.  Again,  on  roads  where  ties  are  received  from  outlying  sources 
of  supply  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  the  distribution  begins  late  in  the 
fall,  so  as  to  release  the  cars  promptly  and  avoid  piling  the  ties  up  in  the 
yards.  It  is  doubtful  whether  anything  is  gained  in  either  case.  In  the 
first  place,  ties  should  not  be  unloaded  and  left  lying  on  the  ground  through 
the  winter,  as  in  this  position  they  gather  moisture  from  the  ground,  are 
covered  with  snow  or  lie  in  ditches  or  wet  places  and  become  water-soaked, 
so  that  the  germs  of  decay  are  well  induced  before  the  tie  se%s  any  service 
at  all.  In  order  to  obtain  all  the  advantage  possible  from  seasoning,  the 
ties  that  are  received  during  fall  and  winter  should  be  carefully  piled  at 
points  exposed  to  the  winds  and  sun,  but  it  costs  no  more  to  do  this  in  the 
yards  and  along  side-tracks  and  to  load  them  up  again  on  flat  cars  in  the 
spring  and  deliver  them  right  where  they  are  wanted,  than  it  does  to  pile 
them  up  all  along  the  right  of  way  and  then  carry  them  or  truck  them 
to  place  when  the  renewals  are  made.  In  the  second  place,  the  practice 
of  piling  up  new  ties  along  the  right  of  way,  to  remain  three  to  six  months 
before  they  are  used,  is  contrary  to  the  principles  of  good  policing.  If 
the  right  of  way  is  piled  with  new  ties  all  winter  and  spring  and  with  old 
ties  all  summer  and  perhaps  most  of  the  fall,  there  are  but  few  months 
when  it  presents  a  clean  or  finished  Appearance.  In  the  third  place,  as 
already  explained,  an  accurate  count  of  the  ties  to  be  renewed  cannot  be 
made  until  the  time  for  renewing  is  close  at  hand,  and  then  is  the  best 
time  to  make  the  distribution,  unloading  the  ties  right  where  they  are 
wanted,  and  so  soon  before  they  are  used  that  they  need  not  be  piled. 

Where  it  is  the  practice  to  pile  ties  up  after  they  have  been  distributed 
along  the  track  they  are  usually  piled  loosely,  sometimes  cribbed,  10  to 
20  in  a  place,  near  the  track.  In  localities  where  timber  is  scarce  railroad 
ties  are  in  good  demand  for  gate  .posts  and  for  numerous  other  purposes, 
and  on  some  roads  it  is  necessary  to  watch  the  tie  piles  closely.  In  order 
to  check  up  thefts  of  this  kind  it  is  the  practice  on  some  roads  to  place  the 
same  number  of  ties  in  all  the  piles,  so  that  the  foreman  can  tell  if  any 
have  been  taken.  The  loss  is  liable  to  be  greatest  from  piles  conveniently 
near  the  highway  crossings.  Certain  remarks  in  the  above  relating  to 
inspection  and  distribution  of  ties  with  reference  to  the  seasons  may  not 
apply  to  some  railways  of  the  South  and  Southwest  where  the  winters  are 
mild  or  the  ground  does  not  freeze.  Thus,  on  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Moun- 
tain &  Southern  Ry.,  in  southern  Arkansas,  it  is  the  practice  to  inspect 
and  renew  tics  twice  each  year — in  the  winter  and  again  in  the  summer. 


HANDLING  HAILS  723 

146.  Handling  Rails. — In  the  work  of  unloading  rails,  either  at 
piles  or  when  distributing  for  renewals,  there  are  several  methods  in  prac- 
tice. The  method  of  prying  the  rail  over  the  edge  of  the  car  with  bars  and 
letting  it  slide  off  on  skids  is  referred  to  in  connection  wffch  track-laying. 
At  points  where  a  large  number  of  rails  are  to  be  unloaded  a  derrick  is 
sometimes  erected,  the  rail  being  lifted  from  the  car  and  swung  around 
on  the  boom,  to  the  pile  or  to  a  tram  car.  For  unloading  its  100-lb. 
rails  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  R.  R.  makes  use  of  portable 
derricks  which  are  attached  to  the  side  of  the  car.  The  derrick  is  con- 
structed with  a  piece  of  rail  for  a  mast  and  a  piece  of  1^-in.  gas  pipe  for 
a  boom.  Two  of  these  derricks  are  used  with  each  car  as  it  is  unloaded, 
one  being  placed  4  ft.  from  each  end  of  the  car,  on  the  side  opposite  that 
from  which  the  rails  are  unloaded.  There  are  two  sliding  clamps  on  the 
mast,  one  of  which  engages  the  top  edge  of  the  side  board  of  the  car  and 
the  other  the  lower  edge  of  the  side  sill.  With  this  device  six  men  to 
the  car  unload  the  rails  at  the  rate  of  about  one  each  minute.  There  are 
two  men  who  handle  the  rope  tackle,  two  men  on  the  car  to  attach  the 
tongs  and  two  men  on  the  ground  to  release  the  load.  When  the  car  is 
unloaded  two  men  can  take  up  and  transfer  the  derricks  to  another  car  in 
about  two  minutes.  It  is  used  both  when  unloading  rails  in  piles  and  for 
distribution  along  the  line,  the  car  being  moved  a  rail's  length  at  a  time 
in  the  latter  case.  The  usual  method  of  operation  is  to  have  two  sets 
working  simultaneously,  unloading  two  cars  at  once.  The  average  result 
during  one  season  was  upwards  of  700  rails  unloaded  per  day  with  16  men, 
20  men  in  one  instance  unloading  917  rails  in  a  day,  on  main  line  under 
traffic. 

In  distributing  rails  for  renewals  it  is  here  and  there  the  practice  on 
double-track  roads  to  drop  the  rails  onto  the  ballast  between  the  tracks, 
two  in  a  place.  If  the  space  between  the  tracks  is  evenly  filled  in,  or  if 
the  ground  is  covered  with  snow  of  sufficient  depth  to  serve  as  a  cushion, 
and  both  ends  of  the  rail  are  dropped  simultaneously,  such  treatment  is 
not  liable  to  kink  the  rails ;  neither  are  they  liable  to  be  damaged  if  prop- 
erly dropped  on  a  well  filled  shoulder  outside  the  tracks,  as  on  single 
track,  but  the  rails  cannot  in  this  way  be  kept  even  with  the  distance 
so  well.  A  very  common  method  is  to  haul  the  rails  off  the  rear  end  of 
the  car  and  lay  them  to  place.  As  each  car  is  unloaded  it  is  cut  off 
and  left  standing,  so  that  other  cars  may  be  got  at.  Two  men  on  the 
car,  with  light  pinch  bars,  slide  the  rails  onto  dollies,  one  being  placed  on 
each  side  of  the  car  at  the  rear  end.  By  means  of  a  rail  hook  and  short 
piece  of  rope  the  men  standing  in  the  track  grab  the  end  of  the  rail  in  a 
bolt  hole,  pull  it  back,  and,  letting  the  end  down,  .place  it  to  the  end  of 
the  rail  just  previously  taken  off,  which  is  usually  left  on  the  ties,  outside 
the  track  rail,  or  else  on  the  shoulder  near  the  ends  of  the  ties.  At  a  sig- 
nal the  car  is  then  pulled  ahead  a  rail's  length  and  the  other  end  of  the  rail 
is  caught,  as  the  car  is  pulled  out  from  under  it,  and  dropped  in  place 
outside  the  track  rail.  While  the  rail  is  being  pulled  back  one  of  the  men 
on  the  car  should  hold  his  bar  in  the  frame  of  the  dolly  to  keep  the  rail 
from  running  off  the  roller.  With  a  dolly  having  a  concave  roller,  how- 
ever, it  is  not  necessary  to  do  this.  Twenty  men,  divided  into  two  gangs, 
can  unload  rails  on  both  sides  at  the  same  time.  Rails  of  45  or  60  ft. 
length  can  best  be  pulled  off  the  car  by  means  of  a  chain,  cable  or  rope, 
which  is  usually  about  30  ft.  long,  with  a  hook  in  one  end  to  attach  to  the 
rail,  in  a  bolt  hole,  and  a  clamp  or  grab  hook  at  the  other  end  for  attach- 
ing to  the  track  rail,  or  for  catching  at  the  back  of  a  tie.  The  rail  is 
pulled  off  by  moving  ahead  with  the  car,  arid  drops  onto  the  ties,  in  the 


724  WORK    TRAINS 

track.     No  dollies  or  rollers  are  used  on  the  car.     The  rails  are  easily 
thrown  outside  the  track  with  pinch  bars. 

The  practice  of  hauling  rails  off  the  cars  with  a  drag  rope  anchored 
to  the  track  is"  quite  extensively  employed  for  rails  of  30  ft.  length  also, 
and  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  rails  should  be  let  down  with  a  gang  of  men. 
In  order  to  break  the  fall  a  "platform  car"  or  "tail  gate"  arrangement  is 
quite  commonly  used.  The  former  consists  of  an  ordinary  push  car  coupled 
on  behind  and  carrying  a  large  stick  of  timber  or  a  few  ties  placed  cross- 
wise the  car  for  the  rail  to  drop  on  as  it  is  pulled  off  the  rear  end  of  the  train, 
thus  letting  the  rail  drop  easily  by  stages.  The  tail  gate  consists  of  a  panel 
of  heavy  plank,  the  top  edge  of  which  is  attached  to  the  sill  of  the  car., 
the  bottom  edge  trailing  along  on  the  rails,  thereby  forming  an  incline 
down  which  the  end  of  the  rail  can  slide  gradually.  For  gondola  cars  two 
gates — one  attached  to  the  top  edge  of  the  car,  with  its  foot  resting  upon 
the  lower  gate — might  be  a  desirable  arrangement.  Another  contrivance  to 
break  the  fall  is  an  iron  yoke  bolted  to  the  coupler  head  at  the  rear  of  the 
car.  This  is  crowned,  so  that  when  the  end  of  the  rail  elrops  from  the  car  it 


Fig.  365. — Unloading  Rails  With  Drag  Rope  and  Truck,  C.,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry. 

will  slide  laterally  off  the  yoke  and  fall  clear  of  the  track.  It  may  be  well 
to  here  explain  that  if  one  end  of  the  rail  rests  upon  the  ground  when  it  is 
dropped,  the  liability  of  injury  is  not  nearly  so  great  as  it  is  when  drop- 
ping the  rail  bodily,  and  rails  as  long  as  45  ft.  sag  so  low  before  the  end 
drops  upon  the  track  that  the  rail  cannot  fall  heavily,  and  on  some  roads 
no  device  is  used  to  drop  the  rail  by  stages.  It  may  be  stated,  however, 
that  in  general  practice  rails  are  handled  with  more  care  than  formerly. 
As  for  the  details  of  the  drag-rope  method  of  unloading,  the  work  is 
started  by  pulling  back  the  first  rail  until  its  end  stands  even  with  a  joint. 
The  drag  rope  is  then  pulled  back  taut  and  anchored,  and  as  the  train 
pulls  ahead  this  rail  drops  off  end  for  end  with  the  rail  in  the  track.  After 
that  the  clamp  is  applied  to  every  track  rail  at  a  corresponding  position 
relative  to  the  joints;  that  is,  if  in  pulling  off  the  first  rail  the  clamp  is 
applied  10  ft.  ahead  of  a  joint  in  the  track,  then  by  applying  the  clamp 
in  the  same  relative  position  in  pulling  off  the  succeeding  rails,  they  will 
drop  rail  for  rail  with  the  ones  in  the  track  and  just  a  rail  length  apart. 
By  such  a  system  of  working,  the  rails  are  distributed  in  proper  place  and 
the  extra  work  of  carrying  them  ahead  or  back  when  they  are  set  into 
place  for  coupling  up  in  the  track  is  avoided.  In  the  case  of  short  rails  it 
is  necessary  to  make  allowance,  which,  however,  is  a  matter  of  ready  men- 
tal calculation.  In  usual  practice  two  drag  ropes  are  used,  sometimes  to 


HANDLING  RAILS 


725 


unload  on  Loth  sides  of  the  track  at  the  same  time,  and  sometimes  alter- 
nately on  the  same  side  of  the  track,  so  as  to  unload  for  one  side  without 
stopping  the  train,  as  explained  further  along.  One  of  the  roadmasters  of 
the  Chicago.  Burlington  &  Quincy  %.  has  used  four  drag  ropes— two  alter- 
nately for  each  side  of  the  track. 

On  many  roads  the  track  department  is  seldom  or  never  fortunate  in 
receiving  shipments  of  rails  on  flat  cars.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in 
the  West,  where  rails  frequently  come  in  box,  stock  or  gondola  cars.  For 
unloading  rails  from  box  cars  Mr.  Edward  Laas,  with  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  Si.  Paul  It}.,  while  roadmaster,  pin  into  practice  a  drag-rope  method 
involving  a  number  of  interesting  details.  To  prevent  the  rails  from  fall- 
ing heavily  upon  the  track  a  platform  car  is  used  at  the  rear  of  the  train 
or  car  that  is  being  unloaded,  arranged  with  an  incline  to  support  the  rails 
as  they  are  dragged  from  the  train  and  permit  them  to  slide  off  easily  onto- 
the  ballast  shoulder  at  the  ends  of  the  ties,  without  the  use  of  bars.  This 
arrangement  is  illustrated  in  Figs.  365  and  366.  Across  the  front  end  of 
a  push  car  there  is  a  timber,  to  the  top  of  which  is  spiked  a  piece  of  rail 
about  9  ft.  long,  bent  to  a  crown  and  bowed  backward;  and  bolted  to  this 
at  the  middle  there  is  a  V-shaped  piece  of  rail  rearwardly  inclined  over  the 
hind  corners  of  the  push  car,  forming  wings  which  cause  the  rail  to  slide 
outward  as  the  push  car  is  hauled  underneath  it.  On  the  rear  end  of  the 


Fig.  366. — Unloading  Rails  With  Drag         Fig.  367. — Torrey  Ballast  Cars  Loaded, 
Rope  and  Truck;   End  View.  Michigan  Central  R.  R. 

push  car,  between  these  two  wings,  there  is,  a  piece  of  timber  shod  with  an 
iron  strap  to  prevent  any  possibility  of  the  rail  dropping  between  the  wings. 
The  coupling  to  the  train  is  by  means  of  a  link  in  the  rear  coupler  made 
fast  to  the  cross  beam.  The  whole  arrangement  is  simple,  cheaply  gotten 
up  and  can  be  quickly  lifted  from  the  track  and  set  aside.  The  Minne- 
apolis, St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ey.  has  used  the  same  kind  of  an  out- 
fit. 

In  unloading  rails  two  drag  ropes,  each  50  ft,  long  and  1J  ins.  in  diam- 
eter, are  employed  alternately^  and  the  train  is  moved  slowly  ahead  without 
stopping.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  continual  movement  the  rails  for 
one  side  of  the  track  only  are  unloaded  at  one  time,  those  for  the  opposite 
side  being  unloaded  during  another  trip.  For  handling  the  rails  in  this 
manner  there  is  a  gang  of  11  men,  three  in  the  car  and  eight  outside.  Two 
of  the  men  in  the  car  stand  in  the  rear  end,  on  either  side  of  the  rear  door, 


726  WORK    TRAINS 

with  a -pair,  of  tongs,  to  swing  the  ends  of  the  rails  into  the  opening.  The 
third  man  stands  at  the  front  end  of  the  car  and  handles  a  short  bar  to 
free  the  end  of  any  rail  wrhich  gets  caught  between  other  rails  in  the  pile: 
in  order  that  the  rear  end  of  the  same,  outside  the  box  car,  may  be  swung 
out  of  the  track.  Outside  of  the  car,  there  is  a  man  standing  on  the  front 
end  of  the  unloading  truck  to  reach  into  the  door  to  apply  the  hook* 
On  each  rope  there  are  two  men,  one  to  pass  the  end  of  the  rope  up  to  the 
man  who  hooks  it  to  the  rail  and  another  who  carries  and  anchors  the 
clamp.  Besides  the  foregoing  there  are  two  men  who  seize  the  rail  and 
push  it  outside  the  track  when  it  is  about  half  way  out  of  the  car,  or  when 
about  to  overbalance,  and  another  man  who  carries  a  bar  and  walks  behind 
to  make  sure  that  all  of  the  rails  are  clear  of  the  track  after  dropping  upon 
the  ballast.  Occasionally  one  end  of  a  rail  may  slide  off  the  shoulder  and 
cause  the  other  end  to  stick  up  and  obstruct  the  track.  By  this  method  700 
to  750  rails  are  unloaded  per  day,  including  the  time  lost  in  getting  out 
of  the  way  of  the  traffic  trains. 

If  the  rails  are  delivered  on  flat  cars  without  sideboards  they  may  be 
picked  off  the  car  and  lowered  to  place  by  a  crew  standing  on  the  ground. 
The  proper  way  to  take  the  rail  from  the  car  is  to  place  a  stake  in  one 
of  the  corner  pockets  and  swing  the  end  of  the  rail  from  the  other  end  of 
the  car  so  that  men  can  get  hold  of  it ;  this  can  be  done  by  one  man  on  the 
car  working  with  a  bar.  The  rail  is  then  grasped  by  the  whole  crew,  pull- 
ed from  behind  the  stake,  and  let  down  to  place.  In  this  manner  of  un- 
loading it  is  customary  to  run  a  long  string  of  flats  opposite  the  point  where 
the  rails  are  needed  and  have  two  unloading  gangs  walk  from  car  to  car 
and  unload  the  rails.  These  gangs  may  work  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
train;  or  they  may  work  on  the  same  side,  beginning  in  the  middle  and 
working  toward  the  ends  of  the  train  on  one  side,  when  they  begin  again 
at  the  ends  and  work  toward  each  other  on  the  other  side,  repeating  the 
operation  at  each  stop  of  the  train.  Of  course,  one  gang  can  unload  by 
this  method  to  good  advantage,  or  if  it  is  desired  to  hurry  the  work  four 
gangs — two  on  each  sid^  of  the  train — can  be  set  to  work.  It  should  be 
noted  that  when  unloading  by  this  method  calculation  should  be  made  for 
backing  the  train  a  sufficient  distance  to  allow  for  the  spaces  between  the 
cars.  By  observing  the  necessary  distance,  the  train  may  be  backed  two  or 
three  times  while  the  men  are  progressing  the  length  of  the  train,  so  that 
the  rails  laid  down  will  just  about  reach  over  the  ground  covered.  This  dis- 
tance can  be  gaged  by  the  engineer,  allowing  so  many  rail  lengths  for  the 
idle  space.  In  placing  the  rails  on  the  ground  it  is  always  desirable,  of 
course,  to  lay  them  as  near  as  may  be  to  the  point  where  they  will  be  used 
in  the  track,  and  hence  it  saves  a  good  deal  of  labor  if  the  rails  are  un- 
loaded both  sides  of  the  track,  instead  of  unloading  both  rails  on  the  same 
side. 

Dependence  upon  physical  exertion  for  handling  heavy  material  used  in 
track  maintenance  has  been  gradually  giving  way  to  more  rapid  and  more 
economical  methods  of  work.  One  of  the  most  toilsome  operations  in  track 
work,  when  done  by  hand,  is  that  of  unloading  rails  and  stringing  them 
out  along  the  roadbed  for  renewals,  and  this  fact  accounts  for  the  many 
devices  for  and  methods  of  unloading  rails  without  direct  lifting  or  low- 
ering to  place  by  hand  labor.  Aside  from  the  contrivances  already  named 
there  are  several  arrangements  for  lowering  rails  to  the  ground  by  means 
of  side  attachments  to  the  car.  The  Byers  rail  unloader,  which  has  been 
used  on  the  Pennsylvania  R.  E.,  consists  of  three  brackets  with  hooks  of 
graduated  length  to  attach  to  the  stake  pockets  of  flat  cars  or  to  hang  over 
the  sides  of  gondola  cars.  These  brackets  carry  rollers,  and  when  hung  in 


HANDLING  KAILS  727 

place  form  an  incline  from  front  to  rear.  Upon  being  placed  upon  the 
rollers  the  rail  runs  back,  and  when  the  train  moves  ahead  the  rail  drops 
to  the  ground  and  is  set  to  place  by  a  gang  of  men.  In  a  similar  way  a 
trough-shaped  or  channel-shaped  chute  is  sometimes  used,  being  hung  at 
the  side  of  the  car.  The  rail  slides  back  until  the  lower  end  strikes  the 
ground,  and  as  the  train  pulls  ahead  the  upper  end  of  the  rail  is  let  down 
gradually  as  the  chute  is  dragged  from  under  it.  For  unloading  rails  from 
gondola  cars  a  pair  of  skids  are  also  sometimes  used.  The  skids  are  hooked 
over  the  top  edge  of  the  side  of  the  car,  one  pair  at  each  side,  so  as  to  unload 
on  both  sides  of  the  track.  The  rails  are  lifted  and  placed  upon  the  skids 
by  a  gang  of  men  in  the  car,  and  each  rail  slides  down  the  skids  under  con- 
trol of  ropes  in  the  hands  of  two  men.  Each  rope  is  provided  with  a  hook  to 
attach  to  the  end  of  the  rail  and  is  passed  around  a  pulley  at  the  top  end 
of  the  skid.  Each  time  the  car  is  moved  ahead  the  men  pick  up  the  bot- 
tom ends  of  the  skids  and  carry  them  along. 

Loading  Rails. — The  quickest  and  easiest  way  to  load  up  old  rails  by 
hand  is  to  get  men  enough  to  raise  the  rail  at  arm's  length,  high  over  the 
head,  step  up  close  to  the  car  and  throw  it  on  broadside.  It  is  dangerous 
for  inexperienced  men  to  attempt  this  method  without  careful  instruction, 
but  as  soon  as  they  get  confidence  in  themselves,  so  that  all  will  acut  together, 
there  is  no  danger.  The  rail  should  be  grabbed  by  the  head  and  raised  up 
by  word.  A  good  word  to  raise  and  throw  by  is:  "Up— high — yo — heave!" 
It  can  be  done  in  that  many  distinct  movements.  In  order  to  pitch  the  rail 
to  the  farther  side  of  the  car  the  word  should  be  given  with  greater  force 
than  when  throwing  to  the  near  side.  In  all  heaving  and  throwing  by  word, 
there  being  much  of  it  done  in  railroad  work,  men  should  practice  lifting 
heavily  or  lightly  according  as  the  word  is  given  more  or  less  loudly.  The 
foreman  should  always  be  sure  that  every  man  fully  understands ,  what  is  to 
be  done  when  the  word  is  given;  and  he  should  explain  that  each  man 
should  act  as  though,  independently  of  the  others,  he  were  throwing  a 
piece  of  the  rail  equal  in  length  to  his  share,  according  to  the  number  of 
men  who  have  hold  of  it.  If  a  flat  car  is  loaded  with  rails  to  be  sent  some 
distance  it  should  be  provided  with  end  boards  of  heavy  plank,  and  four 
stakes  on  each  side. 

The  foregoing  method  of  lifting  and  throwing  rails  applies  to  the  work 
of  loading  upon  flat  cars  or  flat  cars  with  low  side  boards.  In  times  of  busy 
traffic,  however,  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  flat  cars  are  not  available, 
and  consequently  gondola  cars,  or  even  box  cars,  must  sometimes  be  used 
for  this  purpose.  The  work  of  loading  rails  into  gondola  or  box  cars  by 
hand  is  a  tedious  operation,  as  they  must  be  shoved  through  the  end  of  the 
car.  The  usual  method  is  to  lift  the  rails  and  shove  them  over  a  dolly 
placed  at  the  end  of  the  car,  but  it  saves  a  good  deal  of  high  lifting  and  hard 
labor  to  have  a  "loading  truck"  or  "platform  car"  carrying  a  dolly  at  the 
proper  hight  to  form  an  incline  rollway  onto  the  car.  An  arrangement  of 
this  kind  is  shown  in  Fig.  368.  A  push  car  is  coupled  to  the  rear  gondola 
or  box  car  by  means  of  a  stick  of  timber,  and  upon  this  push  car  there  is  a 
dolly  blocked  to  proper  hight  for  shoving  the  rails  upon  the  car.  A 
gang  of  men  large  enough  to  lift  the  rail  then  pick  it  up,  shove  it  forward 
on  the  dolly  until  it  reaches  the  end  of  the  gondola,  where  men  with  tongs 
grab  the  rail  and  pull  it  forward.  In  order  to  handle  the  rails  easily  and 
quickly  by  this  method,  about  22  or  24  men  are  required. 

An  ingenious  machine  which  dispenses  with  the  services  of  a  large 
gang  of  men  in  the  heavy  work  of  rail  loading  is  in  use  on  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  By.",  being  designed  by  Mr.  Edward  Laas  while  road- 
master  on  the  Chicago  &  Council  Bluffs  division.  This  machine  is  operated 


7.28  WORK    TRAINS 

by  compressed  air  supplied  by  the  air  brake  system  of  the  cars.  It  consists 
of  a  derrick  operated  by  an  air  hoist,  mounted  upon  a  push  car  or  truck  7 
ft.  wide  and  10  ft.  long,  with  a  tool  box  on  one  end  to  carry  such  tools  a» 
are  needed  for  the  convenience  of  the  work  and  to  counterbalance  the  der- 
rick while  it  is  being  moved.  The  derrick  mast  is  a  piece  of  3-in.  gas  pipe 
screwed  into  a  plate  on  one  end  of  the  truck  and  held  by  stays  running  to 
the  four  corners.  The  foot  of  the  boom  swivels  on  a  pin  set  in  the  plate 
which  supports  the  mast.  The  boom  is  23^  ft.  long  and  consists  of  two 
2^-in.  gas  pipes  trussed  vertically  with  rods  passing  over  the  ends  of  wooden 
blocks,  and  braced  laterally  by  rods  running  over  iron  struts  set  against 
the  aforesaid  wooden  blocks.  The  hoisting  cylinder  is  8  ins.  in  diam.  and  6 
ft.  long,  on  the  inside.  The  piston  rod  carries  a  17-in  sheave  wheel  on  a 
cross  head  guided  by  small  wheels  running  on  the  two  pipes  of  the  boom. 
Hoisting  is  done  by  means  of  a  two-part  f-in.  wire  cable  made  fast  at  the 
end  of  the  boom  and  passed  around  the  piston  sheave  wheel  so  that  for  a  full 
travel  of  the  piston  the  cable  lifts  12  ft.  The  pulley  at  the  end  of  the  boom 
is  17  ins.  in  diam.  In  rear  of  the  mast  there  is  a  storage  reservoir  3  ft. 
high  and  2  ft.  in  diam.  which  is  placed  in  connection  writh  the  air  brake 


Fig.  368. — Loading  Rails  Over  a  "Platform"  Truck. 

pipe  of  the  cars  by  disconnecting  the  hose  between  two  cars  and  coupling  on 
in  the  ordinary  manner.  This  reservoir  has  a  capacity  sufficient  to  lift 
two  rails  after  the  air  from  the  train  has  been  cut  off.  The  hoisting  cylin- 
der is  operated  by  means  of  an  air  cock.  The  end  of  the  boom  stands  19  ft, 
above  top  of  rail,  and  when  rails  are  being  lifted  the  end  of  the  derrick 
truck  opposite  from  the  derrick  is  held  down  to  the  car  by  means  of  two 
adjustable  hook  clamps  attached  to  a  beam  running  crosswise  the  truck  and 
set  to  catch  the  under  sides  of  the  side  sills  of  the  car.  The  derrick  is  de- 
signed to  lift  a  load  of  1500  Ibs.  In  handling  rails  the  derrick  truck  is  run 
to  one  end  of  a  flat  or  gondola  car  (Fig.  369)  and  clamped  in  position  for 
loading  upon  the  adjoining  car.  As  each  car  is  loaded  the  machine  is 
pulled  back  one  car  length,  small  gang  planks  being  used  to  bridge  the 
opening  between  the  cars.  The  machine  can  be  pushed  over  the  cars  by 
five  men,  but  in  usual  practice  it  is  pulled  by  cutting  the  train  one  or  two 
cars  back  of  the  machine  and  attaching  a  rope  to  the  last  car  coupled  with 
the  locomotive.  One  important  advantage  in  the  use  of  the  machine  is  that 
it  may  be  operated  to  load  a  whole  train  of  empty  cars  without  the  necessity 
of  shifting. 

In  loading  rails  six  meri  are  required,  and  the  usual  practice  is  to  pick 
up  the  section  gang  where  the  rails  are  to  be  loaded. -In  the  distribution  of 
this  force  there  is  one  man  at  the  air  cock  (usually  the  foreman),  two  on 
the  ground  to  attend  to  the  lifting  tongs  and  to  prevent  the  rail  from  swing- 
ing; and  three  on  the  car,  one  of  whom  handles  the  lifting  hooks  and  the 
other  two  swing  the  rail  to  place  while  the  man  handling  the  air  lowers  the 
derrick  cable.  While  the  work  of  loading  is  in  progress  the  boom  is  stayed  to' 


LOADING  LOGS 


729 


one  side  of  the  gondola  or  flat  car  so  it  will  not  swing  too  far  out.  When 
'a  rail  is  lifted  the  boom  is  swung  by  merely  swinging  on  the  rail.  After 
some  experience  it  was  found  that  the  most  convenient  device  for  attach- 
ing to  the  rail  was  a  single  pair  of  tongs  at  the  middle.  As  a  matter  of 
record  this  machine  has  loaded  65  rails  in  30  minutes.  The  cost  of  labor  in 
loading  608  rails,  or  18,240  lineal  feet,  of  75-lb.  rail,  on  one  occasion  when 
the  work  was  interruped  by  running  to  sidings  to  clear  for  trains,  was 
$8.75,  or  less  than  1J  cents  per  rail. 

When  laying  new  steel  on  double  track  it  ia  the  practice  on  this  road 
to  throw  the  old  rails  into  the  space  betAveen  .the  tracks,  so  that  with  this 
machine  the  rails  can  be  loaded  with  the 'work  train  standing  on  either 
track.  When  loading  the  rails  into  box  cars  they  are  first  lifted  onto  a 
flat  or  gondola  car  and  then;  run  into  the  end  of  the  box  car  on  a  series  of 
dollies  placed  at  an  incline.  As  is  obvious  from  the  illustration,  the  ma- 
chine can  be  used  just  as  conveniently  in  unloading  rails  as  in  loading  them. 
Machines  built  to  a  later  design  have  the  wheels  inside  of  the  side  sills  of 


Fig.  369.— Loading  Rails  With  a  Laas  Derrick,  C.,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry. 

the  truck,  where  they  are  out  of  the  way  and  cannot  catch  the  side  of  a  gon- 
dola car  when  being  hauled  over  the  train.  The  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  & 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ey.  uses  one  of  these  machines  for  loading  rails. 

147.  Loading  Logs. — On  roads  where  logs  are  handled  as  traffic  it 
sometimes  becomes  necessary  to  reload  logs  which  have  rolled  off  the  cars; 
and  on  any  road  running  through  forests  large  trees  will  occasionally  fall 
across  or  into  the  cuts  and  have  to  be  removed.  One  way  of  handling  trees 
is  to  roll  them  into  the  track,  drag  them  out  of  the  cut  with  the  work 
train,  and  then  roll  them  down  the  embankment,  if  there  be  one  near. 
If  the  logs  or  trees  must  be  loaded  onto  cars,  however,  it  may  as  well 
be  done  in  the  cut,  at  the  first  handling,  or  once  for  all.  For  lift- 
ing the  logs  the  derrick  or  wrecking  car  can  be  used,  of  course,  but  with 
this  means  only  one  car  can  be  loaded  before  it  becomes  necessary  to  switch 
the  cars  in  order  to  get  an  empty  car  next  the  derrick.  A  convenient  meth- 
od quite  frequently  resorted  to  is  the  use  of  a  parbuckle,  the  hauling  being 
done  by  the  engine  or  train.  The  arrangement  is  quite  simple  and  is  shown 
in  Fig.  370.  The  car  to  be  loaded  is  placed  opposite  the  log  and  the  brake 
set.  A  rope  is  then  passed  around  the  log,  near  one  end,  one  part  (A),  of 
which  is  passed  over  the  car  floor  and,  after  being  looped  around  the  rail 
under  the  far  side  of  the  car,  is  made  fast  to  the  snatch  block  C.  The  other 
part  (B)  is  passed  through  the  snatch  block  and  is  pulled  on  by  the  locomo- 


WORK     TRAINS 


tive,  the  part  A  remaining  stationary.  Two  sets  of  ropes  and  snatch  blocks 
being  arranged  as  shown — one  set  near  each  end  of  the  log — both  are  pulled 
on  at  the  same  time,  so  that  both  ends  of  the  log  come  up  evenly.  On  the 
car  the  log  should  be  rolled  onto  skjds,  so  that  the  ropes  can  be  easily  taken 
from  under  it.  It  is  better  to  use  a  f  or  J-in.  wire  rope  than  a  hemp  rope, 
as  a  hemp  rope  would  be  rapidly  worn  out  in  being  drawn  over  the  edge  of 
the  car.  -A  chain  might  be  used  for  anchoring  the  snatch  block  to  the  rail, 


£  ^^Tfr-^^^^1. 


Fig.  370. — Loading   Logs  with   Parbuckle. 

instead  of  looping  the  rope.  The  log  can  be  slung  or  raised  by  a  straight 
lift,  over  the  edge  of  the  car,  but  it  is  easier  on  the  ropes  and  a  better  plan 
every  way  to  use  skids,  as  shown  in  the  figure,,  pieces  of  rail  answering  well 
for  such  purpose. 

148.  Handling  Ballast  and  Filling  Material. — Most  railway  com- 
panies which  have  the  opportunity  avail  themselves  of  a  bank  of  gravel  on 
or  somewhere  near  the  line,  as  a  source  of  ballast  supply.  When  running 
a  spur  into  a  gravel  bank  it  should,  if  possible,  be  made  long  enough  to 
extend  paet  the  bank.  If  the  loading  is  to  be  done  by  steam  shovel  the 
"tail  track"  should  be  at  least  as  long  as  the  train  of  cars  which  the  engine 
is  expected  to  handle  in  the  pit.  The  practice  of  taking  out  gravel  in  piece- 
meal sections  spoils  the  bank  for  the  most  convenient  methods  of  loading. 
The  end  which  swings  into  the  bank  cannot  easily  be  kept  even  with  the  rest 
as  the  work  progresses  inward,  and  a  nasty  curve  results  which  sooner  or 
later  brings  things  to  a  halt.  In  order  to  get  more  gravel  the  track  must 
then  be  thrown  back,  over  the  ground  on  which  it  has  advanced,  and  extend- 
ed beyond  the  pit  so  made;  and  thus  the  work  goes  on  at  continual  incon- 
ience  and  disadvantage.  It  is  a  better  plan  to  use  more  rails  when  the  track 
is  first  laid,  as  then  the  track  will  not  have  to  be  moved  so  frequently  and, 
having  room  to  shift  cars,  the  face  of  the  whole  bank  can  be  worked  away 
evenly.  It  usually  happens  that  by  the  time  a  railway  company  gets 
through  with  a  gravel  bank  the  amount  of  material  taken  out  has  proved 
to  be  several  times  the  first  estimate.  In  case  the  track  cannot  be  run  past 
the  whole  length  of  the  bank,  the  far  end  of  the  spur  can  be  kept  even  with 
the  rest  by  shortening  it  a  rail's  length  at  each  move  inward ;  or  by  running 
up  the  far  end  and  taking  out  the  bank  to  a  less  depth  there  to  compensate 
for  the  extra  amount  of  material  which  must  be  moved  at  the  end  of  the  last 
car.  In  loading  gravel  or  filling  material  it  is  sometimes  desirable  to  make 
a  cut  straight  into  the  face  of  a  bank  and  extend  it  for  some  distance  by 
loading  one  car  at  a  time  at  the  head  end  of  the  track.  One  way  to  keep 
the  track  even  with  the  work  without  frequently  laying  short  pieces  of  rail 
is  to  use  extension  rails  bottom  up.  Each  extension  rail  is  laid  outside  the 
last  rail  that  is  coupled  in  the  ordinary  manner,  with  the  base  of  the  former 
overlying  the  head  of  the  latter.  This  arrangement  brings  the  upturned 
bases  of  the  extension  rails  to  gage,  and  in  line  with  the  gage  sides  of  the 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND  FILLING  MATERIAL  731 

rails  laid  in  permanent  style;  and  as  the  excavation  advances  they  are  mere- 
ly shoved  ahead  while  a  car  is  being  switched.  After  the  pit  has  been  ex- 
tended a  rail  length  the  end  rails  are  laid  workwise  and  inverted  extension 
rails  are  placed  temporarily  as  before.  Sketch  B,  Fig.  3  70 A,  shows  the 
arrangement,  the  extension  rails  being  shown  in  solid  section.  To  make 
the  rails  secure  against  overturning,  a  switch  rod  of  suitable  length  might 
be  put  on  at  the  end,  but  such  is  not  generally  used. 

In  order  to  keep  gravel  ballast  free  from  loam  it  is  usually  necessary  to 
strip  the  top  soil  from  the  bank.  It  is  sometimes  considered  that  in  deep 
cutting  the  mixture  of  top  soil  is  so  slight  as  to  be  negligible,  but  if  the 
gravel  is  otherwise  clean  and  the  soil  overlying  it  of  appreciable  depth,  and 
particularly  if  there  is  a  sod,  it  will  generally  pay  to  strip  it.  Stripping  is 
usually  done  by  teams  and  scrapers.  Strippings  makes  good  material  for 
filling  on.  the  slopes  of  embankments  where  it  is  desired  to  get  seeding 
started,  and  one  way  to  dispose  of  it  at  a  gravel  pit  is  to  scrape  it  to  the 
front  side  and  load  it  up  for  that  purpose  when  making  the  first  cut 
through.  It  is  also  good  material  for  placing  under  track  that  is  being 
lifted  in  stages,  as  in  raising  grade,  through  a  sag,  or  in  track  elevation. 
Eailway  companies,  when  loading  gravel  on  private  property,  are  sometimes 
obliged  to  enter  into  a  contract  to  replace  the  soil  on  the  land  after  excavat- 
ing the  gravel  to  a  stipulated  depth.  One  way  in  which  this  is  done  is  to 
scrape  the  soil  to  the  edge  of  the  bank  and  cast  it  to  the  foot  of  the  slope 
each  time  a  cutting  is  made  through  the  bank,  or  as  often  as  each  two  or 
three  cuttings  are  made,  thus  moving  the  material  in  strips  of  a  width 
corresponding  to  convenient  scraping  distance.  The  soil  thrown  down  the 


Fig.  370  A. 

slope  is  then  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  usually  with  teams  and 
scrapers.  If  the  pit  is  narrow  the  soil  may  be  sraped  into  a  long  heap, 
either  to  the  front  side  or  to  the  back  side,  or  half  in  each  direction,  before 
the  excavation  of  the  ballast  is  started,  and  then  spread  over  the  bottom 
of  the  pit  after  all  the  work  of  excavation  is  completed.  Another  plan  that 
is  sometimes  followed  is  to  haul  in  loam  on  cars  from  the  outside,  and  un- 
load it  behind  the  steam  shovel  or  loading  gang  as  each  cutting  is  made, 
the  empty  cars  being  loaded  with  gravel  on  the  return  trip.  It  is  sometimes 
quite  convenient  to  do  this,  the  material  being  available  where  work  is  in 
progress  at  widening  cuts  through  loam  or  in  making  original  cuttings  for 
a  changed  location. 

When  loading  gravel  by  hand  it  is  well  to  put  about  2  ins.  of  elevation 
in  the  rail  farthest  from  the  bank.  This  inclination  in  the  track  will  tilt 
the  flats  toward  the  bank  and  very  much  facilitate  the  work  of  loading. 
By  loading  a  little  from  the  side  farthest  from  the  bank,  or  by  handling  the 
material  over  on  the  car,  15  cu.  yds.  of  gravel  can  be  put  on  a  33x9-ft.  flat 
without  side  boards,  and  it  will  ride  the  car  a  good  distance  without  spill- 
ing off  to  any  extent;  with  side  boards  12  ins.  high  the  load  can  be  made 
20  cu.  yds.  By  going  deeper  than  the  bottoms  of  the  ties  at  each  move,  the 
hi ght  of  the  bank  may  be  continually  increased,  thus  necessitating  less  fre- 
quent moving ;  and  also  it  continually  leaves  behind  a  quantity  available  for 
finishing  out  the  far  side  of  the  car.  It  is  best  to  load  the  cars  to  their  full 


732  WORK    TRAINS 

capacity,  if  it  can  be  clone  conveniently,  as  under  such  a  plan  fewer  cars 
are  required  to  move  the  material  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  there  is  less 
shifting  to  be  done.  If  the  gravel  is  thrown  upon  the  cars  carelessly,  with 
no  view  to  getting  loads  of  good  size,  or  if  clear  space  is  reserved  at  each  end. 
of  the  car  for  standing  room,  10  or  11  cu.  yds.  will  be  about  the  average 
load.  Since  the  track  must  be  moved  frequently,  little  attention  need  btv 
paid  to  the  manner  of  its  support.  Bring  the  ties  approximately  to  an. 
even  bearing  by  throwing  gravel  or  blocks  of  wood  under  them  and  let  it 
go  at  that,  without  much  regard  to  surface.  Much  time  spent  on  such  track 
is  time  thrown  away.  Ordinary  judgment  will  suggest  to  the  foreman  when, 
the  track  is  safe  enough  for  slow-moving  cars  or  the  locomotive. 

In  ordinary  gravel,  20  cu.  yds.  is  a  fair  amount  for  one  man  to  load 
on  a  flat  car  by  hand,  in  a  day  of  10  hours.  Shoveling  gravel  becomes  more 
tedious  than  tiresome,  and  most  men,  as  time  goes  on,  will  fail  to  keep  up 
the  gait  which  they  started  out  with  during  the  first  few  days,  especially  if 
too  many  get  together  at  loading  the  same  car.  Men  paid  by  the  car-load, 
however,  will  gradually  increase  the  amount  loaded  per  day  and  are  not 
so  apt  to  complain  about  the  work  being  hard.  Loose  gravel,  if  fine,  seldom 
needs  picking  down.  For  the  sake  of  a  change  men  sometimes  get  into  the 
foolish  habit  of  climbing  up  the  bank  and  picking  it  down  from  the  top. 
The  more  the  bank  is  picked  away  at  the  top  the  more  gradual  becomes 
the  slope,  of  course,  and  therefore  the  greater  the,  necessity  for  using  the- 
pick  at  the  bottom  or  foot  of  slope.  Picking,  if  done  at  all,  should  be  done 
at  the  bottom,  as  fast  as  the  loose  material  is  shoveled  away.  The  weight 
of  the  material  above  will  then  bring  down  the  top,  of  itself.  Large,  round 
stones  found  in  a  gravel  pit  are  generally  disposed  of  easiest  by  burying. 
Dig  a  pit  as  close  to  the  boulder  as  possible,  roll  it  in  and  cover  it  over. 

During  winter  time,  when  the  ground  is  frozen  and  section  men  cannot 
do  much  on  the  track,  in  place  of  laying  off  part  of  each  section  crew  for  the 
time  being,  it  will  pay  to  make  up  a  work-train  crew  (if  there  be  no  regular 
one),  by  calling  one  man  or  more  from  each  section,  and  with  it  to  spend  a 
week  or  so  hauling  out  cinders  along  the  road.  The  cinder  piles  at  water 
stations  and  other  places  can  in  this  way  be  cleaned  up  and  the  material 
utilized  to  advantage  by  being  spread  over  the  shoulder,  outside  the  tie  ends, 
to  a  depth  of  2  or  3  ins.  Money  spent  in  this  way  will  be  more  than  re- 
funded by  the  decreased  cost  for  grubbing  weeds,  which  will  result  from  the 
use  of  the  cinders  during  the  following  summer;  and  then  there  are  usually 
many  places  where  the  shoulder  needs  strengthening.  If  by  keeping  the 
winter  forces  at  work  as  steadily  as  possible  the  results  can  be  made  to  show 
substantially  by  way  of  decreased  labor  expense  during  the  following  sum- 
mer, the  policy  is  certainly  a  wise  one  to  follow. 

Steam  Shovel  Work.— Sometimes  a  question  arises  as  to  the  advisa- 
bility of  using  a  steam  shovel  for  loading  gravel.  There  are  circumstances- 
and  conditions  under  which  a  steam  shovel  is,  of  course,  a  very  economical 
means  for  loading  gravel,  and  there  are  others  when  hand  labor  will  load 
cheaper  than  the  machine.  First,  the  question  must  be  settled  as  to  whether 
the  quantity  of  material  to  be  handled  will  warrant  the  outlay  for  a  steam 
shovel;  next,  whether,  under  the  conditions,  the  steam  shovel  can  compete 
with  hand  labor.  A  steam  shovel  in  gravel  is  worked  to  best  advantage 
where,  the  bank  is  high,  as  then  its  progress  is  not  so  frequently  interrupted 
in  moving  ahead.  There  should  also  be  ample  ground  beyond  the  pit  for 
the  tail  track,  so  that  a  string  of  cars  may  extend  past  the  machine  when 
it  is  working  at  any  point  along  the  bank,  else  the  time  taken  up  in  switch- 
ing will  delay  the  work  to  a  great  extent.  Under  favorable  conditions  a 
steam  shovel  with  a  1J  or  2-yd.  dipper  will  load  about  125  flat  cars  per  dayr 
or  1100  to  1200  cu.  yds.  In  many  cases  this  record  has  been  far  exceeded,. 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND  FILLING  MATERIAL  733 

-machines  with  3  or  3J-yd.  dippers  loading  more  than  2000  cu.  yds.,  but  the 
average  machine  under  average  conditions  will  not  keep  it  up  day  after 
-day.  There  are  certain  conditions,  as  where  the  bank  is  short  or  shallow,  or 
the  work  train  service  is  much  interrupted  by  the  traffic  trains,  so  that  time 
is  lost  waiting  for  empties,  where  it  is  not  safe  to  put  the  average  day's 
•work  higher  than  700  or  800  cu.  yds.  The  expense  of  running  a  steam 
shovel  per  day  is  not  usually  less  than  $25,  including  cost  of  wear  and  tear, 
fuel,  men  to  operate  it,  and  pitmen.  There  is  required,  or,  at  any  rate, 
usually  employed,  in  addition  a  locomotive  with  its  engineer,  fireman,  brake- 
man  and  conductor,  in  constant  attendance,  making  the  cost  to  the  company 
of  running  the  machine  not  less  than  $50  per  day,  or  the  wages  of  about 
40  laborers.  Now,  in  fair  gravel,  40  laborers  can  load  800  cu.  yds.  per  day, 
and  no  locomotive  will  be  needed.  The  locomotive  which  hauls  the  gravel 
away  can  do  the  necessary  shifting  of  cars,  whereas  to  get  the  gravel  away 
from  the  machine  requires  two — a  matter  of  importance  for  a  small  road 
to  consider.  An  occasional  breakdown  or  delay  of  some  kind  to  the  ma- 
chine is  bound  to  occur,  while  with  a  force  of  laborers  there  is  no  break- 
down, and  the  right  kind  of  foreman  will  see  that  there  is  no  delay.  It  is 
thus  seen  that,  to  compete  with  hand  labor,  the  machine  must  work  under 
favorable  conditions.  In  material  which  would  require  much  picking,  if 
loaded  by  hand,  the  advantage  is  with  the  machine. 

The  expense  of  operating  a  steam  shovel,  together  with  a  locomotive 
working  with  it  in  a  pit,  is  itemized  below.  The  amounts  of  fuel  used, 
price?  for  the  same  and  for  labor  of  the  various  kinds  are  averages  of  figures 
obtained  from  similar  work  on  several  roads.  One  night  watchman  is 
supposed  to  .take  care  of  both  locomotive  and  steam  shovel.  Six  pitmen 
are  allowed  for  leveling  off  the  surface  and  laying  track  ahead  of  the 
machine,  handling  the  jacks,  picking  and  poling  down  the  slope  and  other 
miscellaneous  work.  A  steam  shovel  in  a  high  bank  might  get  along  .with 
four  men  for  this  work,  but  in  shallow  cutting  as  many  as  eight  are  some- 
times required.  No  allowance  is  made  for  foremanship,  as  the  cost  would 
be  the  same  for  either  hand  or  machine  loading,  and  therefore  this  item 
is  not  needed  for  the  comparison.  The  cost  also  of  throwing  over  the 
loading  track  would  be  taken  the  same  in  either  case,  although  there  is 
always  more  tinkering  with  tracks  where  a  steam  shovel  is  used  than 
where  the  loading  is  done  by  hand.  Allowance  is  made  for  a  con- 
ductor and  brakeman  in  the  pit.  In  ordinary  work  two  men  will  be 
needed  to  do  switching  in  the  pit,  in  order  to  keep  the  machine  loading 
as  constantly  as  possible.  The  conductor  is  thus  supposed  to  do  a  brake- 
man's  work,  his  work  in  the  capacity  of  conductor  being  light.  He  should 
endeavor  to  so  arrange  his  cars  that  switching  may  be  done  while  the  ma- 
chine is  being  moved  ahead.  The  locomotive  used  in  the  pit  should  be  sup- 
plied with  air  or  steam  driver  brakes,  to  facilitate  close  movement  and 
rapid  handling  of  the  cars  while  they  are  being  loaded  by  the  machine. 

t)aily  Expense  of  Locomotive  in  Pit.  Daily    Expense    of    Operating    Steam 

Shovel. 

Use  of  Locomotive $  8.00  Use  of  shovel $  6.00 

Coal,  2  tons  @$2.25    4.50  Coal,  1800  Ibs.  @$2.25  per  ton. . .     1.80 

Oil,  14  cents;  waste,  5  cts .19  Oil,  20  cts.;  Waste,  5  cts 25 

Water.  50  cts. ;   Kindling,  20  cts.      .70  Water 25 

Half  watchman 88  Engineer,  1/26  month  @$125. . .     4.81 

Ordinary  repairs    55  Fireman,  1/26  month  @$60 2.31 

Engineer's  wages   3.75  Cranesman,  1/26  month  @$90..     3.46 

Fireman's  wages    2.25  Half  watchman 87 

Conductor's  wages 3.25  Six  pitmen 7.50 

Brakeman's  wages 1-75  Ordinary  Repairs  and  Supplies. .       .75 

Total   .  . .  $25.82          Total    $28.00 


734  WORK    TRAINS 

The  work  of  loading  dirt  can  usually  be  done  cheapest  with  the  steam 
shovel,  as  in  such  work  the  shoveling  is  more  difficult  than  in  ordinary 
gravel,  and  the  machine  can  outstrip  hand  labor  more  easily  than  it  can 
in  gravel.  In  widening  cuts,  where  the  cars  are  loaded  on  main  track,  the 
advantages  in  favor  of  the  machine  are  apparent.  In  such  case  a  locomo- 
tive is  required  with  hand  labor,  the  same  as  with  the  machine ;  and  while 
the  train  must  be  away  to  give  track  rights  or  to  unload,:  the  loss  from  the 
machine  standing  idle  would  be  less  than  that  for  a  large  crew  of  laborers. 
And  then,  too,  the  machine  can  generally  utilize  at  least  part  of  such  time- 
in  moving  ahead.  In  widening  out  cuts  for  double  track  the  machine  can 
reach  the  main  track  from  the  far  side  of  the  excavation,  whereas  hand 
shovelers  could  not  cast  the  material  over  the  whole  distance. 

A  steam  shovel  works  upon  a  short  piece  of  track  laid  in  sections  -t 
to  10  ft.  long.  It  is  advanced  by  taking  up  sections  in, the  rear,  carrying 
ahead,  and  laying  them  down  at  the  front.  Lengths  of  6  ft.  are  most  com- 
monly used,  the  rails  being  held  to  gage  by  tie  bars  and  spliced  with  short 
splices  with  one  or  two  bolts  or  keys  in  each.  Another  arrangement  com- 
monly in  service  is  to  have  the  sections  of  rails  spiked  to  6xl2-in.  string- 
ers which  rest  upon  ties  or  blocking  at  the  joints.  The  track  is  held 
to  gage  by  tie  rods  hooked  into  eye-bolts  in  the  sides  of  the  stringers,  and 
the  sections  are  joined  end  to  end  by  tie  rods  across  the  joints,  hooking 
into  eye-bolts  in  the  sides  of  the  stringers,  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
splice  the  rails  which  rest  upon  the  stringers.  Another  form  of  shovel 
track  has  joint  ties  with  wrought  iron  chairs  bolted  or  spiked  fast.  The 
rail  sections  fit  into  these  chairs  and  carry  the  shovel  without  splices  or 
tie  bars. 

In  working  a  steam  shovel  in  a  bank  considerably  higher  than  the 
reach,  of  the  dipper  it  is  desirable  to  have  the  material  slide  down  to  the 
shovel  gradually.  In  a  gravel  pit  the  working  of  the  machine,  with  per- 
haps a  little  extra  labor  at  picking  or  poling  the  face  of  the  bank,  is 
usually  all  that  is  necessary  to  bring  the  material  within  convenient  reach 
of  the  dipper  as  fast  as  it  is  needed.  In  a  high  bank  of  hard  earth, 
however,  the  material  will  frequently  stand  to  a  vertical  face  until  under- 
mined by  the  shovel  and  then  suddenly  cave  off  in  large  masses,  burying 
the 'shovel  or  jeopardizing  the  lives  of  the  pitmen.  Where  trouble  of 
this  kind  is  liable  to  occur  it  is  common  practice  to  loosen  the  bank  or 
"shoot  it  down"  with  explosives,  in  advance  of  the  shovel.  In  doing 
this  holes  are  bored,  say  a  rod  apart  and  to  a  depth  and  at  a  distance  back 
from  the  edge  of  the  bank  depending  upon  conditions,  and  loaded  with 
blasting  powder  after  exploding  a  stick  of  dynamite  in  the  bottom  of  the 
hole  to  spring  it  to  larger  cavity.  In  some  cases  one  hole  is  fired  at  a 
time  just  in  advance  of  the  shovel,  the  latter  backing  off  far  enough  to- 
escape  the  falling  bank;  and  sometimes  a  number  of  holes  are  fired  simul- 
taneously, bringing  down  a  long  stretch  of  bank  in  rear  of  the  shovel  to  be 
handled  when  it  backs  up  for  a  new  cut. 

In  order  to  economize  in  cost  of  engine  service,  a  team  of  horses- 
is  frequently  used  to  spot  the  cars  at  the  shovel.  The  heavy  shifting  is 
attended  to  by  the  road  engine  that  hauls  away  the  material,  and  if  the 
grades  in  the  pit  are  easy  the  plan  works  fairly  well.  In  providing 
loading  tracks  for  steam  shovels  there  are  two  general  arrangements.  The- 
ordinary  plan  is  to  have  only  a  single  track  through  the  pit,  and  after  the 
shovel  reaches  the  end  of  its  cut  this  track  must  be  thrown  over  to  the 
bank  before  the  shovel  can  be  run  back  and  begin  another  cut.  Where 
the  cut  is  a  long  one  this  throwing  of  the  track  takes  a  good  deal  of  time, 
frequently  a  half  day  for  a  gang  of  a  dozen  men.  In  order  to  avoid  delay 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND  FILLING  MATERIAL  735 

to  the  loading-  this  work  is  sometimes  done  in  the  night.  By  what  is 
known  as  the  "double-track"  plan,  a  track  is  laid  in  behind  the  shovel  as 
fast  as  the  latter  advances,  and  as  soon  as  the  shovel  reaches  the  end  of 
a  cut  it  may  immediately  be  run  back  to  begin  another  cut,  the  only  delay 
being  to  connect  the  new  loading  track  with  the  main  siding  where  the 
shovel  starts  in  again.  In  one  instance  where  this  arrangement  was  in 
practice  on  the  Canada  Atlantic  Ky.  a  shovel  was  moved  back' 1300  ft. 
and  put  to  work  again  in  27  minutes  from  the  time  she  ran  out  of  the 
cut.  The  material  for  laying  the  track  which  follows  up  the  shovel  is 
obtained  by  taking  up  the  old  loading  track  for  the  previous  cut  and 
carrying  it  across  piece  by  piece.  This  is  done  by  the  pit  crew,  which 
usually  has  more  or  less  time  to  spare,  and  thus  the  laborious  work  of 
throwing  track  is  avoided  without  extra  help  or  delay  to  the  work  of 
loading.  This  plan  of  working  requires  sufficient  material  for  a  double 
track  the  length  of  the  pit.  In  some  instances  a  switch  is  put  in  at 
the  starting  end,  so  that  the  track  behind  the  shovel  can  be  used  to  hold 
the  tank  car,  where  it  can  be  available  while  the  shovel  is  working.  This 
arrangement  is  something  of  a  convenience,  for  the  usual  plan  is  to 
push  the  water  transport  and  fuel  supply  cars  back  on  the  tail  track,  or 
couple  them  behind  the  string  of  empties  to  be  loaded,  and  then  spot 
them  opposite  the  shovel  or  the  shovel  tender  when  the  engine  pulls  out 
to  switch  the  loads,  so  that  water  and  coal  can  be  taken  while  the  train  is 
away.  It  is  also  usual  to  attend  to  taking  on  coal  and  water  during  the 
noon  hour  and  at  night.  Where  the  steam  shovel  is  working  lower  than 
the  loading  track,  as  when  cutting  down  summits  on  main  track,  the  coal 
can  be  ran  over  on  a  chute.  Plenty  of  track  room  in  a  gravel  pit  is  a 
useful  provision,  as  with  a  good  supply  of  empty  cars  on  hand  the  steam 
shovel  can  keep  going  regardless  of  delays  to  the  road  train  or  trains 
that  are  hauling  the  material. 

Dredging  Gravel  Ballast. — In  order  to  obtain  suitable  gravel  for  bal- 
last within  reasonable  hauling  distance,  railway  companies  sometimes  find 
it  necessary  to  resort  to  unusual  methods  of  excavation.  Good  deposits 
of  gravel  are  sometimes  found  on  low-lying  land  or  m  the  beds  of  streams, 
so  that  the  material  is  available  only  by  taking  it  from  under  water, 
by  dredging  methods.  The  Choctaw,  Oklahoma  &  Gulf  R.  R.  is  a  road 
whereon  such  a  condition  prevails.  Gravel  banks,  as  they  are  ordinarily 
found,  do  not  exist,  but  along  the  Memphis  division  of  the  road  a  supply 
of  good  material  has  been  taken  from  the  beds  of  streams,  many  of  which 
are  apparently  dry  about  two  thirds  of  the  time.  In  times  past  the  com- 
pany has  contracted  for  the  loading  of  this  gravel  by  teams,  over  traps, 
for  12^  cents  per  cu.  yd.  This  cost  was  exclusive  of  trap  material  and 
the  labor  account  for  ditching.  Delays  incident  to  rain  storms,  floods, 
etc.,  were  troublesome,  and  in  addition  there  was  a  great  deal  of  annoyance 
arising  from  the  cutting  down  of  the  team  force  on  account  of  sore  hoofs, 
and  from  the  large  amount  of  skeletonizing  of  the  track  in  advance  of 
delivery  of  the  gravel,  owing  to  the  impracticability  of  keeping  the  supply 
properly  regulated  to  the  demand. 

As  these  difficulties  made  it  desirable  to  devise  some  method  of 
machine  loading  adapted  to  the  conditions,  the  matter  was  taken  in  hand 
by  Mr.  John  II .  Harris,  general  superintendent,  who  concluded  to  try 
the  method  of  dredge  working,  whereby  the  machine  could  be  floated  and 
cut  its  own  channel  along  a  siding  used  for  a  loading  track.  An  ordinary 
Bucyrus  steam  shovel  with  a  H-yd.  dipper  was  placed  upon  a  barge  50 
ft.  Jong,  20  ft,  wide  and  drawing  27  ins.  of  water,  constructed  of  old 
stringers  taken  from  bridges  rebuilt,  and  was  launched  into  a  ahole"  or 


736 


WORK     TIUIXS 


pond  excavated  for  the  purpose,  the  scene  of  operations  here  described 
being  the  bed  of  Crow  creek,  between  Madison  and  Forest  City,  Ark. 
The  steam  shovel  was  run  aboard  on  a  track  spiked  to  the  deck  of  the 
barge.  There  was  a  spud  at  each  corner  of  the  barge  to  steady  the  outfit 
and  hold  it  to  its  work,  and  the  only  change  made  in  the  steam  shovel  was 
the  lengthening  of  the  dipper  arm  to  enable  it  to  reach  a  distance  of 
2-t  ft.  from  track  center,  thus  giving  the  barge  considerable  latitude  of 
movement  in  its  channel.  The  position  of  the  shovel  on  the  barge  (Fig. 
371)  was  regulated  by  means  of  stay  chains  on  either  side,  snubbed  to 
posts  upon  the  barge,  and  in  addition  to  these  chains  there  were  permanent 
beams  securely  bolted  across  the  rails  at  the  ends  of  the  barge  as  a  safe- 
guard against  dropping  the  shovel  overboard.  The  shovel  was  capable  of 
working  to  a  depth  of  10  ft.  under  the  water.  In  moving  ahead  from  one 
working  position  to  the  next  the  barge  was  shoved  against  the  gravel 
slope  ahead,  this  being  done  in  two  or  three  minutes,  by  two  men,  who 


Fig.  371.— Loading  Gravel  Ballast  with  a  Floating  Steam  Shovel,  C.,O.  &  G.  R.  R. 

would  lift  the  spuds  and  push  the  barge  ahead  with  poles,  after  which  the 
spuds  would  be  dropped  and  the  shovel  moved  ahead  on  the  barge  to  its 
working  position.  When  the  shovel  had  worked  out  all  the  material  within 
reach  of  any  certain  position  it  would  be  moved  back  a  few  feet  on  the 
barge,  lifting  the  bow  and  causing  the  barge  to  float  at  both  ends.  The 
barge  would  be  then  backed  off  a  few  feet  and  held  to  position  on  pinned 
spuds  while  the  shovel  cleared  out  the  channel.  The  barge  as  it  appeared 
in  the  figure  was  working  up  stream,  the  fall  of  which  is  at  the  rate  of 
about  f  of  one  per  cent.  The  plan  of  work  was  to  proceed  as  far  up  stream 
as  the  point  where  the  shovel  could  no 'longer  reach  the  top  of  the  cars, 
after  being  blocked  up  on  its  trucks  to  gain  something  more  in  hight. 
If  it  was  desired  to  go  farther,  the  water  would  be  raised  by  damming 
the  channel  behind  the  barge  and  then  the  work  would  proceed  as  before. 
The  gravel  obtained  in  this  way  was  of  excellent  quality,  being  free  from 
mud  or  clay,  and  as  the  dipper  was  lifted  through  the  water  the  excess  of 
sand  was  washed  out,  the  quantity  remaining  being  usually  less  than  5  per 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND  FILLING  MATERIAL 


cent.    When  plenty  of  empty  cars  were  on  hand  the  gravel  was  loaded  for  1^ 
cents  per  cu.  yd. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  E.  E.  has  employed  an  ordinary 
dipper  dredge  for  loading  gravel  ballast.  At  a  point  on  the  Wabash  river, 
in  Illinois,  four  miles  from  Vincennes,  Ind.,  a  gravel  ridge  12  to  16  ft. 
high  on  a  low  prairie  had  been  taken  off  with  a  steam  shovel  to  the  water 
line.  It  was  then  found  that  below  the  water  there  was  a  deep  deposit 
of  gravel  suitable  for  ballasting  purposes,  and  to  save  buying  more  land 


o 

su 

Q. 

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O 

S 
— 

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-I 
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it  was  decided  to  put  in  a  dredge  and  take  out  a  deeper  cut.  Accordingly 
a  2J-yd.  Marion  dipper  dredge  was  put  in  and  gravel  was  excavated  to  an 
average  depth  of  24  ft.  below  water  line.  Figure  372  shows  the  dredge  in 
operation.  The  cars  hauling  away  the  material  were  Eodger  ballast  cars 
of  80,000  Ibs.  capacity.  At  the  time  the  photograph  was  taken  the  whole 
region  was  overflowed  to  a  depth  of  about  18  ins.,  and  in  order  to  lay  the 
track  high  and  dry,  and  throw  it  over  on  dry  ground  when  the  dredge 


738 


WORK    TRAINS 


reached  the  end  of  the  cut,  the  dredge  deposited  gravel  enough  on  the  far 
side  of  the  track  to  raise  the  roadbed  above  the  water.  As  the  ground 
had  been  formerly  worked  over  by  a  steam  shovel  the  gravel  taken  up  by 
the  dredge  was  free  from  soil. 

Loading  Gravel  in  Moderate  Quantities. — In  loading  gravel  for  bal- 
last renewals,,  or  for  any  purpose  where  the  quantity  of  material  needed 
during  each  season  is  comparatively  small,  there  frequently  arises  some 
question  regarding  the  economy  of  working  a  steam  shovel.  The  opera- 
tion of  a  steam  shovel  requires  an  extra  engine  and  crew  to  haul  the  bal- 
last away  from  the  pit,  for  distribution  along  the  line,  since  the  quantity 
which  a  steam  shovel  will  load  each  day  is  rather  more  than  can  be  dis- 
posed of  if  it  is  intended  to  economize  in  cost  of  hauling  by  using  the 
local  freight  trains.  In  employing  a  steam  shovel  it  is  therefore  neces- 
sary to  go  into  the  work  somewhat  extensively  while  the  work  lasts. 
On.  the  other  hand,  where  hand  labor  is  employed  the  cost  of  loading 
is  a  considerable  figure.  Nevertheless,  where  it  becomes  desirable  to  forego 
the  heavy  expense  of  a  steam  shovel  and  work  trains  the  plan  of  loading 
gravel  by  hand  and  distributing  it  by  local  freight  trains  is  very  commonly 
found  in  practice.  One  method  of  loading  at  medium  expense  is  with 
teams  and  scrapers,  dumping  into  cars  through  traps.  This  method  is 
followed  on  a  number  of  roads.  The  arrangement  for  the  purpose  consists 
of  a  platform  or  staging  built  over  the  track,  with  an  opening  through 
which  the  material  can  be  dropped  into  the  cars.  The  construction  some- 
times consists  of  a  temporary '  bridge  over  the  loading  track  or  siding,  the 
bridge  stringers  being  laid  upon  cribbings  of  ties  which  serve  for  the 


Fig.  374. — Torrey  Ballast  Loader,  Michigan  Central  R.  R. 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND  FILLING  MATERIAL  739 

•abutments.  As  the  temporary  use  of  the  material  in  this  way  does  not 
injure  it  for  other  purposes  (except  for  the  wear  to  the  floor  planking), 
the  expense  for  the  lumber  is  only  a  trifle.  'The  most  favorable  location 
for  traps  is  where  they  can  be  built  over  a  side-track  along  the  foot  of  a 
hill  or  bank,  or  along  side  hill,  as  then  the  material  can  be  scraped  into 
the  cars  without  elevating  it.  The  cost  of  loading  gravel  in  this  manner 
is  8  cents,  more  or  'less,  per  cubic  yard,  depending  upon  the  lay  of  the 
ground,  the  distance  the  material  must  be  hauled,  the  quantity  that  can 
be  loaded  before  it  becomes  necessary  to  move  the  traps,  etc.  In  one 
instance  where  the  average  haul  of  the  scrapers  was  175  ft.  and  the 
average  distance  traveled  per  round  trip  over  the  traps  600  ft.,  the  aver- 
age quantity  of  material  handled  per  team  was  50  cu.  yds.  per  day,  making 
the  cost  of  loading  7  cents  per  cu.  yd/  Most  of  the  scrapers  were  of  the 
wheel  type,  only  a  few  being  drag  scrapers. 

A  method  of  team  work  similar  in  some  respects  to  the  foregoing  was 
at  one  time  practiced  by  the  Calumet  Improvement  Co.,  at  Plainfield, 
111.,  and  in  some  other  places,  for  loading  gondola  cars.  The  material 
was  excavated  by  teams  and  scrapers  and  conveyed  to  the  gondola  cars  by 
an  endless  belt  driven  by  a  portable  or  stationary  engine.  The  belt  was 
composed  of  steel  plates  and  was  made  to  pass  under  a  low  platform  onto 
which  the  gravel  was  hauled  and  dumped  upon  the  belt.  The  other  end 
of  the  belt  was  elevated,  so  that  the  material  was  dropped  into  the  cars  as 
they  were  hauled  along  under  it  or  let  down  an  incline  by  gravity.  The 
teams  were  driven  around  in  a  circle,  so  that  several  could  be  worked  within 
a  close  radius.  In  this  way  the  material  was  handled  quite  rapidly  and 
cheaply,  so  it  is  stated,  but  no  figures  are  at  hand.  One  of  the  principal 
objections  of  this  method  of  loading  was  the  fact  that  it  failed  to  mix  the 
gravel  properly.  As  the  scrapers  were  necessarily  worked  on  the  upper  sur- 
face continually,  the  gravel  was  taken  off  in  layers,  or  practically  as  it  lay  in 
the  strata  in  their  natural  positions,  so  that  some  cars  were  loaded  with  the 
fine  material  and  others  with  material  from  the  coarser  layers.  In  loading 
gravel  by  hand  or  by  steam  shovel  the  material  is  taken  from  or  near  the 
bottom  of  slope,  so  that,  as  the  gravel  from  the  various  layers  rolls  down  the 
slope,  all  sizes  become  quite  thoroughly  mixed,  which  is  the  condition  most 
suitable  for  the  purposes  of  ballast. 

An  interesting  scheme  for  loading  gravel  is  a  combination  of  machine 
work  and  hand  labor  devised  by  the  late  Chief  Engineer  A.  Torrey,  of 
the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  In  general  terms  it  may  be  stated  that  the 
arrangement  enables  the  loading  of  smaller  quantities  of  material  than 
would  be  handled  by  a  steam  shovel  working  to  its  capacity,  and  at  a 
-cost  for  loading  which  approximates  that  of  steam  shovel  work.  The  load- 
ing outfit  (Fig.  374)  consists  of  an  elevator  or  loading  car,  which  occupies 
a  track  at  the  foot  of  the  gravel  bank  and  conveys  the  gravel  to  the  ballast 
car  standing  upon  a  track  12  ft.  distant  from  the  first,  center  to  center. 
The  material  is  conveyed  from  hoppers  into  which  it  is  deposited  by 
shovels  of  large  size,  handled  by  the  men  with  the  assistance  of  power  to 
lift  the  loaded  shovel  to  a  level  with  the  hopper.  The  loading  car  is  9  ft. 
long,  8  ft.  wide,  and  is  housed  over.  The  source  of  power  is  an  upright 
gasoline  engine  of  5  horse  power.  At  each  end  of  this  car  there  is  a 
rubber  belt  conveyor  running  over  20-in.  pulleys.  The  belt  is  10  ins. 
wide  and  carries  buckets  3  ins.  deep,  3  ins.  wide,  9  ins.  long  across  the 
'belt  and  set  9  ins.  apart  on  the  belt,  being  formed  of  steel  plates  riveted 
to  the  belt,  with  overlapping  plates  at  the  sides,  so  that  no  openings  are 
formed  as  the  belt  turns  around  the  pulleys.  The  belt  has  a  velocity 
of  180  ft.  per  minute.  The  hoppers  are  10  ft.  4  ins.  apart  between  centers 


740  WORK  TRAINS 

and  3  ft.  above  the  ties,  and  they  extend  3  ft.  beyond  the  rail.  Attached 
to  the  upper  part  of  the  elevator  car  there  is  an  overhanging  frame  carry- 
ing a  horizontal  shaft  24  ft.  above  the  track  and  4  ft.  beyond  a  perpen- 
dicular line  through  either  hopper,  or  7  ft.  beyond  the  rail.  On  each  end 
of  this  shaft  there  is  a  double  crank,  or  pair  of  oppositely-extending  crank 
arms,  from  which  are  suspended  two  ropes,  to  the  bottom  end  of  each  of 
which  there  is  attached  a  scoop  shovel,  with  a  long  handle,  the  scoop 
being  the  size  of  an  ordinary  grain  scoop,  holding  2J  to  3  times  as  much 
material  as  an  ordinary  track  shovel.  The  rope  is  attached  to  the  scoop 
about  1  ft.  from  the  blade,  and  adjustment  in  the  length  of  the  rope  is 
obtained  by  a  strap  and  buckle,  which  forms  the  means  of  attachment. 
Each  crank  is  18  ins.  long,  from  center,  which  gives  a  3-ft.  stroke  to 
the  rope  which  lifts  the  scoop.  The  modus  operandi  of  a  single  scoop  is 
as  follows:  The  length  of  the  rope  to  which  the  scoop  is  attached  is  so 
adjusted  that  while  the  crank  is  passing  under  the  center  the  scoop  is  low- 
ered to  about  the  level  of  the  bottoms  of  the  ties,  and  is  then  thrust  into  the 
bank  of  gravel,  by  the  man  holding  the  handle.  As  the  shaft  revolves 
it  lifts  the  scoop  to  the  hight  of  the  hopper,  the  shoveler  meantime  swing- 
ing it  to  position  over  the  hopper,  into  which  the  scoop  is  emptied  by 
revolving  the  handle  and  overturning  it.  As  the  crank  descends  the 
scoop  is  again  lowered  to  receive  another  load.  At  the  other  end  of  the 
same  crank  the  rope  attached  manipulates  another  scoop  in  the  same  man- 
ner, the  two  scoops  being  worked  180  degrees  apart  in  phase,  one  scoop 
being  at  the  lowest  point  of  suspension,  or  at  the  point  where  it  receives 
its  load,  as  the  other-  scoop  reaches  the  highest  point  of  suspension,  at 
which  time  its  load  is  being  delivered  to  the  hopper.  Both  scoops  sus- 
pended from  the  same  crank  are  unloaded  into  the  same  hopper.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  revolving  shaft  the  same  evolutions  occur,  there  being 
two  suspended  scoops  lifted  and  lowered  alternately  as  the  crank  revolves. 
The  cranks  on  the  two  ends  of  the  revolving  shaft  are  set  90  degrees  apart, 
or  at  right  angles,  as  the  shafts  of  a  locomotive,  the  idea  in  this  arrange- 
ment being  to  balance  the  work  on  the  engine,  since  if  the  cranks  were 
set  together  there  would  be  two  loaded  scoops  to  be  lifted  simultaneously 
while  the  other  two  scoops  would  be  empty.  The  reach  of  the  scoops  into- 
the  bank  is  10  ft.  from  the  hopper,  at  the  level  of  the  bottoms  of  the  ties. 
The  revolving  shaft  to  which  the  suspended  scoops  are  attached  makes 
10  revolutions  per  minute,  so  that  each  shoveler  delivers  to  the  hopper  10 
times  each  minute,  the  gait  being  set  by  the  machine.  The  speed  of  the- 
shaft,  however,  can  be  regulated  at  will.  The  ordinary  rate  at  which 
a  shoveler  will  load  gravel  onto  a  flat-car,  from  the  ground  level,  is  about 
eleven  shovelfuls  per  minute.  Working  in  this  manner  a  crew  of  six. 
.men  and  a  foreman,  including  four  shovelers  and  two  men  to  pole  down 
the  bank,  have  loaded  300  to  350  cu.  yds.  of  gravel  per  day  of  ten  hours, 
when  cars  were  available  for  continuous  work.  The  engine  burns  five- 
pints  of  gasoline  per  hour,  costing  about  12  J  cents  per  gallon.  The 
elevator  belts  and  engine  have  a  capacity  for  carrying  about  three  times 
the  amount  of  material  here  mentioned.  The  gravel  cars  are  run  to  posi- 
tion opposite  the  loading  machine  by  gravity,  half  of  the  car,  or  the  space 
from  the  middle  to  either  end,  being  loaded  in-  one  position  of  the  car. 
The  gravel  is  first  permitted  to  drop  into  the  car  direct  from  the  two 
conveyors,  until  the  two  ends  of  the  half  section  of  the  car  become  filled, 
when  incline  troughs  (See  figure)  are  set  to  direct  the  material  from 
both  conveyors  into  the  intervening  space,  thus  loading  the  half  section- 
evenly  over  its  whole  length.  The  foreman  attends  to  setting  these 
incline  troughs,  for  trimming  out  the  load,  and  to  shifting  the  cars  to- 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND   FILLING  MATERIAL  741 

position  in  front  of  the  machine.  The  loading  machine  is  easily  pushed 
by  the  shoveling  crew  from  point  to  point  as  the  bank  within  reach  of 
the  same  becomes  shoveled  away.  Machines  of  this  design  are  used  on 
the  Duluth,  -South  Shore  &  Atlantic,  the  Mississippi  Eiver  &  Bonne  Terre 
and  other  roads  besides  the  Michigan  Central.  An  average  result  of  a 
season's  work  (11?  working  days)  with  one  of  these  machines  in  a  pit 
at  Oxford,  Mich.,  on  the  Michigan  Central  E.  Kv  was  240  cu.  yds.  of 
gravel  loaded  per  day,  at  a  cost  of  5.2  cents  per  yard.  This  cost  covered 
the  expense  of  supplies  for  and  repairs  to  the  elevator,  and  all  labor, 
including  that  for  moving  the  tracks,  the  full  pay  of  men  during  wet 
weather,  when  they  could  not  work  all  of  the  time,  and  for  time  lost  in 
standing  idle  waiting  for  cars. 

Hauling  Away. — The  cost  of  hauling  material  from  the  pit  is  the 
most  uncertain  and  the  most  difficult  of  estimation  of  any  of  the  expense 
items  connected  with  the  work  of  handling  material  for  ballasting  or  for 
filling  in  embankments  or  for  other  purposes.  It  depends  somewhat  upon 
the  distance  moved,  but  more  largely  upon  track  rights  and  the  number 
of  cars  which  can  be  taken  out  per  train  load,  which  latter,  of  course, 
depends  upon  the  grades.  The  quantity  of  material  carried  per  car-load 
is  also  a  factor  not  to  be  overlooked,  as  are  also  any  unusual  difficulties 
in  the  unloading.  Allowing  30  cents  per  day  for  the  use  of  flat  cars 
each,  and  8  cents  per  train  mile  for  depreciation  of  track,  the  cost  of  haul- 
ing material  in  trains  of  15  cars  or  more,  with  loads  averaging  8  cu.  yds. 
per  car,  a  distance  up  to  10  miles,  may  be  taken  at  somewhere  between 
4  and  5  cents  per  cubic  yard.  Of  course  this  estimate  must  be  looked 
at  in  a  most  general  way,  for  delay  to  work  trains  by  interference  from 
traffic,  the  manner  of  unloading,  etc.,  all  affect  it.  The  expense  for  the 
locomotive,  cars,  and  crew  goes  on  just  about  the  same  whether  the  train 
is  waiting  or  running.  The  average  cost  of  hauling  large  quantities  of 
gravel  ballast  on  one  of  the  railway  systems  running  wesf  from  Chicago 
lias  been  0.35  cent  per  cu.  yd.  per  mile.  This  average  covers  material 
hauled  all  distances  up  to  50  miles,  on  flat  cars  with  side  boards,  holding  15 
to  18  cu.  yds.  per  car.  The  average  cost  of  unloading  with  plow  and  cable 
has  been  0.84  cent  per  cu.  yd. 

On  roads  where  train  movements  are  frequent  it  requires  a  good 
deal  of  head  work  to  dodge  the  traffic  trains  and  dispose  of  the  material 
promptly  and  to  good  advantage.  In  this  connection  it  is  important 
that  there  should  be  proper  switching  room  at  the  pit,  else  delay  to  the 
road  train  hauling  away  the  material  may  cause  the  shutting  down  of  the 
steam  shovel  or  loading  force.  In  some  cases  where  the  time  for  com- 
pleting an  important  piece  of  work  has  been  limited,  it  has  been  found 
advantageous  to  run  the  steam  shovel  and  the  work  trains  both  night 
and  day,  in  this  way  supplying  material  for  a  large  working  force  during 
day  time.  If  the  work  of  hauling  gravel  or.  other  material  from  the 
same  pit  is  to  continue  for  some  time  and  no  permanently  established 
station  is  near  by,  it  may  pay  to  establish  a  temporary  telegraph  station  at 
the  pit,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  -movement  of  the  work  trains. 

At  pits  from  which  large  quantities  of  material  are  to  be  taken,  and 
particularly  where  more  than  one  work  train  is  engaged  in  hauling  the 
loaded  cars  away,  extra  sidings  of  good  length,  for  the  use  of  the  road 
work  trains,  are  usually  paying  investments.  They  facilitate  the  move- 
ments of  the  work  trains  in  keeping  out  of  the  way  of  the  traffic  trains 
without  occupying  the  pit  loading  track.  The  use  of  the  latter  for  passing 
purposes  might  in  cases  necessitate  shutting  down  the  shovel  meanwhile. 
In  hauling  to  some  point  where  a  large  quantity  of  filling  material  is 


742 


WORK  TRAINS 


required,  as  at  a  long,  high  trestle  to  be  filled  in  or  large  embankment  to  b? 
constructed,  certain  economies  can  be  put  into  practice  which  would  be 
sources  of  useless  expense  when  hauling  material  in  small  quantities  to 
any  one  point.  One  of  these  is  a  passing  siding  at  the  trestle  or  embank- 
ment. This  arrangement  gives  the  work  train  two  places  for  passing 
the  traffic  trains,  and  where  the  distance  from  pit  to  fill  is  considerable,, 
or  the  traffic  congested,  the  arrangement  is  sometimes  a  means  of  saving 
costly  delays. 

Cars  and  Unloading  Plows. — In  §  36,  Chapter  IV,  in  connection  with 
the  subject  of  ballasting  new  track,  there  are  descriptions  and  illustrations 
of  several  kinds  of  center  and  side-dumping  ballast  cars.  In  work-train 
service  on  old  track  the  largest  practice  is  to  unload  material — either  ballast 
or  filling — from  the  side,  and  hence  flat  cars  with  plow  and  cable,  and  side- 
dumping  cars  are  in  largest  use.  An  unloading  plow  is  a  heavy  framework 


Fig.  375.— Barnhart  Side  Unloading  Plow. 

as  wide  as  the  cars,  faced  with  a  boiler-plate  moldboard.  The  Barnhart  side 
unloading  plow,  used  in  unloading  filling  material  or  ballast  for  double  track 
and  sidings,  is  shown  in  Fig.  375.  Formerly  the  plow  was  guided  by  a  timber 
guard  bolted  .at  one  edge  of  the  car  floor  and  shod  at  the  ends  with  beveled 
cast  iron  tips,  to  prevent  the  plow  catching  when  passing  from  car  to  car ; 
but  as  such  an  arrangement  required  some  modification  of  the  car  and  dis- 
conunoded  very  much  the  work  of  unloading  by  hand  at  occasional  inter- 
vals when  such  became  necessary,  such  plows  are  now  made  to  be  guided 
by  side  stakes  only.  .  The  old  arrangement  for  guiding  a  plow  unloading 
to  both  sides  of  the  track  was  a  timber  guard,  bolted  along  the  middle  line 
of  the  car,  but  this  arrangement  also  has  been  replaced  by  devices  which 
do  not  require  a  modification  of  the  car  floor.  Either  type  can  be  used  on 
ordinary  flat  cars  simply  by  taking  the  brake  shafts  from  the  ends  of 
the  cars  and  placing  them  at  the  sides  thereof,  and  placing  short  stakes 
in  the  side  pockets.  On  some  roads  (the  Michigan  Central  being  one)  the 
brake  shafts  of  flat  cars  used  in  the  work  train  service  are  jointed  at  a 
socket  below  the  level  of  the  car  floor.  While  the  plow  is  being  drawn 
over  the  cars  the  top  part  of  the  shaft  is  lifted  out  of  the  socket  and  hung 
on  a  side  stake.  The  Barnhart  center  unloading  plow  is  shown  as  Fig. 
376.  The  plow  is  preceded  by  two  runners  or  guides  which  bear  against 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND   FILLING  MATERIAL 


743 


the  side  stakes  and  are  united  by  an  arched  frame  which  straddles  the 
load.  The  nose  of  the  plow  is  hinged  to  the  arched  frame,  which  serves 
to  hold  it  in  the  middle  of  the  car.  At  the  rear  of  the  plow,  on  both  sides 
of  the  car,,  there  are  trailing  runners  to  hold  the  plow  steady.  The  cable 
for  hauling  the  plow  is  attached  to  the  plow  direct,  at  the  nose.  There 
is  a  weighted  lever  t'ulcrumed  over  the  arch,,  which  tends  to  lift  the  point 
of  the  plow  and  prevent  it  from  scraping  the  car  floor  too  hard  when 
running  in  light  material.  The  weight  is  adjustable  and  is  set  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  material  handled.  Thus,  for  instance,  when  plowing 
off  gravel,  sand  or  light  loam  the  weight  is  placed  at  the  end  of  the  lever, 
so  as  to  reduce  the  bearing  of  the  plow  at  the  point  and  throw  the  weight 
onto  the  runners;  but  in  sticky  clay  or  soggy  material,  where  the  tendency 
of  the  plow  is  to  lift  from  the  car  and  ride  the  load,  the  weight  is  slipped 
toward  the  fulcrum  as  far  as  possible,  so  that  the  point  of  the  plow  may 
bear  on  the  car  with  its  full  weight.  In  extreme  cases  additional  weights 
have  to  be  added;  and  this  is  true  as  to  both  of  the  extreme  positions  of 
the  weight,  it  sometimes  being  necessary  to  place  a  few  stones  on  a  plat- 
form laid  on  the  braces  of  the  plow  framing,  in  order  to  hold  it  down 
and  properly  clear  away  the  material  on  the  car.  It  is  also  customary 
for  a  man  to  ride  the  plow  when  difficulties  of  this  kind  are  being  encoun- 
tered, to  watch  the  action  of  the  nose  and  lift  the  lever  if  the  plow  starts 
to  ride  the  load.  Figure  377  shows  a  man  attending  to  this  duty.  Owing 
to  the  heavy  friction  against  the  side  stakes,  side  plows  are  harder  to  pull 
than  center  plows. 


Fig.  376. — Barnhart  Center  Unloading  Plow. 

An  unloading  plow  used  on  the  Northern  Pacific  Ey.,  designed  by 
Mr.  II.  II.  Warner,  master  mechanic,  is  guided  by  a  yoke  which  over- 
reaches the  sides  of  the  car  and  bears  against  the  side  sills  by  rollers, 
there  being  no  side  stakes  or  guard  timbers.  This  plow  has  a  wide  range 
of  adjustment,  it  being  possible  to  set  it  to  unload  all  of  the  material 
at  one  side,  half  on  each  side,  or  to  unload  unequal  parts  of  the  material 
at  the  two  sides  of  the  car.  It  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  373.  The  nose  of  the  plow 
is  adjustably  attached  to  the  guide  yoke,  and  the  spread  of  the  latter  can  be 
adjusted  to  the  width  of  the  car.  The  rear  of  the  plow  is  guided  by  two  roll- 
ers journaled  at  each  side,  as  shown,  these  also  being  adjustable  to  the  width 


7-14  WORK  TRAINS 

of  the  car.  The  guide  rollers  are  spaced  widely  enough  apart  to  straddle  the 
opening  between  the  cars — that  is,  as  each  pair  of  rollers  passes  the  opening 
between  the  cars,  the  roller  in  the  advance  reaches  the  side  of  the  car  ahead 
before  the  following  roller  leaves  the  car  behind.  The  plow  is  adaptd  to  or- 
dinary flat  cars  by  placing  filling  blocks  between  the  stake  pockets  to  give  an 
even  bearing  for  the  rollers.  Cars  detailed  for  special  and  continuous 
service  in  ballasting  work,  or  for  hauling  material  of  any  kind,  are  pro- 
vided with  a  metallic  plate  attached  to  the  side  sills,  as  is  the  case  with 
the  car  shown  in  the  figure.  The  back  ends  of  the  moldboards  project  over 
the  sides  of  the  car,  making  it  possible  to  clear  the  deck  completely.  The 
clevis  at  the  point  of  the  plow,  to  which  the  hauling  cable  is  attached, 
can  be  moved  up  or  down  in  suitable  holes  to  adjust  the  draft  of  the  plow 
to  suit  the  character  of  the  material  handled.  One  trouble  frequently 
experienced  with  unloading  plows  used  in  handling  coarse  material  on 
cars  with  side  stakes  is  that  large  stones  or  snags  get  fouled  between  the 
stakes  and  the  plow,  breaking  off  the  stakes  or  wrenching  off  the  pockets. 
Cakes  of  hardpan  are  particularly  troublesome  in  this  respect.  It  is 
obvious  that  with  the  Warner  plow  no  such  difficulty  can  arise.  It  is 
said  that  the  plow  is  pulled  over  the  cars  with  less  than  the  usual  amount 
of  friction  attending  the  operation  of  plows  guarded  by  center  timber  or 
side  stakes. 

In  usual  practice  the  unloading  plow  is  hauled  by  a  locomotive, 
attaching  to  it  with  a  1J  or  H-in.  wire  cable  reaching  over  the  entire  train 
to  the  plow  on  the  rear  car.  In  case  the  train  should  be  longer  than  the 
cable,  the  train  can  be  parted  at  a  suitable  distance  from  the  plow  and 
the  end  of  the  cable  attached  to  the  last  car  in  the  section  of  the  train 
which  still  remains  coupled  to  the  locomotive.  The  cable  is  usually 
thrown  to  one  side  of  the  track  when  through  pullkig  on  the  plow,  as  it 
is  then  in  position  to  be  thrown  on  the  train  to  attach  to  the  plow  for 
hauling  off  the  next  train  load.  This  is  a  better  plan  than  to  leave  it 
lying  on  the  empties  to  be  covered  up  when  the  cars  are  loaded,  for  it 
requires  considerable  power  to  haul  it  through  the  material.  Whenever 
it  becomes  necessary  to  load  the  cable,  it  is  easier  to  haul  the  cars  along- 
side of  it  and  throw  it  on  than  to  have  the  men  drag  it  endwise  over  the 
cars.  The  plow  is  usually  left  on  the  last  car  to  which  it  is  hauled  in  un- 
loading the  train,  and  switched  each  time  to  the  far  end  of  the  train 
from  the  locomotive.  If  it  is  desired  to  unload  all  the  material  in  one 
place,  as  at  a  washout,  a  sink  hole  or  at  some  particular  point  in  filling 
in  a  trestle,  the  plow  is  headed  from  the  locomotive  and  the  cars  are 
then  unloaded  by  anchoring  the  cable  to  the  rail  at  the  far  end  aad  pull- 
ing the  train  from  under  the  plow.  In  unloading  by  plow  around  a  curve, 
the  cable  may  be  kept  along  the  line  of  the  cars  by  snatch  blocks  held  by 
chains  secured  to  the  stake  pockets  or,  better,  to  the  track  rail  under- 
neath. 

By  the  method  of  hauling  the  plow  with  a  locomotive  it  is  necessary 
that  all  the  material  loaded  upon  a  car  be  unloaded  in  one  place,  or  in  a 
distance  corresponding  to  the  length  of  the  car.  In  unloading  filling 
material  or  in  unloading  ballast  for  the  first  time  along  new  track^  where 
all  the  material  is  needed,  this  method  may  do  quite  well,  providing  the 
locomotive  is  heavy  enough  to  pull  the  plow;  but  when  it  comes  to  unload- 
ing ballast  the  second  time  in  one  place,  or  wherever  a  smaller  quantity 
than  a  full  car-load  is  needed  each  car  length,  this  plan  of  work  is  some- 
what inconvenient.  In  some  instances  where  the  material  is  desired  in 
small  quantities  the  cars  are  unloaded  by  hand,  and  in  other  instances  the 
cars  are  loaded  below  their  capacity,  in  order  that  the  plow  may  be  used, 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND   FILLING  MATERIAL  745 

but  either  plan  increases  the  expense  of  handling  the  material.  By  the  use 
of  a  machine  with  a  winding  drum,  known  as  the  Lidgerwood  "unloader," 
the  objections  met  with  in  pulling  the  plow  with  a  locomotive  are  not 
found.  This  device  consists  of  a  heavy  hoisting  engine  set  up  on  a  flat 
car,  taking  steam  either  by  flexible  pipe  connection  with  the  locomotive 
or  from  a  boiler  carried  on  the  car.  On  some  roads  the  outfit  is  called 
a  "mill  car/'  With  this  device  the  movement  of  the  plow  is  indepen- 
dent of  the  movement  of  the  train  or  of  the  locomotive,  so  that  it 
can  be  hauled  over  the  cars  while  they  are  in  motion,  making  it  pos- 
sible to  distribute  material  along  the  track  in  any  desired  quantities, 
regulated  by  the  speed  of  both  train  and  plow.  If  desirable  to  skip 
a  place,  it  is  only  necessary  to  stop  the  winding  drum  until  the  train 
moves  to  the  point  where  material  is  needed  again.  By  hauling  the  plow 
in  the  same  direction  that  the  train  is  moving  the  material  may  be  dis- 
tributed in  smaller  quantity  than  the  loading,  and  by  hauling  the  train 
and  plow  in  opposite  directions  simultaneously  the  load  may  be  deposited 
along  a  stretch  of  track  shorter  than  the  length  of  the  train;  if  the  two 
are  moved  in  opposite  directions  at  the  same  speed  the  material  will  all 
be  discharged  in  one  place,  as  is  sometimes  desirable  at  a  washout  or  in 
filling  in  a  trestle.  Thus,  where  this  device  is  used  the  cars  may  be  loaded 
without  regard  to  the  quantity  of  material  that  it  is  desired  to  unload  per 
unit  length  of  track.  As  an  illustration  of  this  principle,  a  certain  rail- 
way, in  handling  material  for  reballasting,  uses  cars  with  high  side  boards, 
loaded  to  full  capacity,  and  by  means  of  a  Lidgerwood  unloader  the  gravel 
is  deposited  along  a  stretch  of  track  three  times  as  long  as  the  train. 

There  are  also  other  advantages.  The  plow  can  be  pulled  at  a  stead- 
ier speed  than  when  hauled  by  a  locomotive,  and  no  brakes  need  be  set 
when  unloading  the  train  at  a  standstill;  but  when  hauling  with  a  loco- 
motive, brakes  must  be  set  to  keep  the  cars  from  being  started  as  the 
plow  is  hauled  over  them.  The  machine  also  has  greater  hauling  capacity 
than  locomotives  of  ordinary  weight,  which  are  sometimes  unable  to  plow 
off  heavy  material,  like  sticky  clay,  if  the  cars  are  loaded  to  their  capacity. 
In  heavy  pulling  the  locomotive  is  sometimes  unable  to  start  the  plow 
without  backing  up  and  jerking  on  the  cable,  and  such  performances  fre- 
quently result  in  broken  cables.  For  this  reason  it  is  sometimes  the  prac- 
tice to  use  two  locomotives,  in  order  to  get  sufficient  pulling  force  to  haul 
the  plow  steadily  and  avoid  broken  cables  and  the  troublesome  delays  in- 
cident thereto.  The  capacity  for  hauling  the  plow  may  also  limit  the 
train-load  or  the  number  of  car-loads  handled  in  each  train,  for  the  longer 
the  train  the  harder  the  cable  pulls.  In  general  practice  it  is  considered 
that  20  car-loads  are  all  that  it  is  economical  to  handle  at  one  time  when 
pulling  the  plow  with  a  locomotive,  but  with  an  unloading,  machine 
the  plow  can  be  pulled  through  as  many  car-loads  as  the  locomotive  can 
haul — 35  or  40  or  more  cars,  if  the  grades  are  not  too  steep.  When  the 
pulling  is  done  with  a  Lidgerwood  machine  a  man  usually  rides  the  plow 
and  gives  hand  signals  to  the  engineer  of  the  winding  engine  which  enable 
the  latter  to  regulate  the  speed  in  accordance  with  the  conditions  of  the 
unloading. 

The  cable  may  be  unwound  by  making  the  end  of  it  fast  to  a  post 
or  some  other  anchorage  at  the  side  of  the  track  and  then  pulling  ahead 
with  the  train.  When  drawn  out  in  this  manner  it  must  afterward  be 
thrown  upon  the  cars.  In  order  to  drop  the  cable  upon  the  cars  as  it  is 
unwound  it  is  usually  the  practice  to  set  up  a  "stretcher  boom"  over  the 
siding  on  which  the  loaded  train  stops  to  await  orders.  This  is  a  simple 
and  cheap  device  consisting  of  a  stout  pole  or  mast  set  at  the  side  of  the 


746 


WORK  TRAINS 


track,  to  support  a  horizontal  arm  or  ''boom"  extending  over  the  track 
at  a  hight  sufficient  to  clear  all  cars.  As  shown  in  Sketch  C,  Fig.  3  70 A,, 
the  mast  is  guyed,  and  the  boom  is  stayed  to  the  top  of  the  mast  and 
guyed  to  withstand  the  pull  of  the  unloading  cable.  After  hooking  the- 
cable  to  the  boom  the  train  is  pulled  slowly  ahead,  the  cable  unwinding 
and  dropping  on  the  center  of  the  loaded  cars.  When  the  plow  car  reach- 
es the  "stretcher"  the  train  is  stopped  and  the  cable  is  hooked  to  the  plow. 
Another  way  to  arrange  for  unwinding  the  cable  is  to  drive  a  pile  on  each 
side  of  the  track.  When  it  is  desired  to  draw  out  the  cable  a  chain  is 
stretched  between  these  piles  to  clear  the  track  about  14  ft.  The  cable 
is  then  hooked  to  the  chain  and  as  the  train  pulls  ahead  it  drops  upon  the 
center  of  the  loaded  cars.  Still  another  arrangement  that  has  been  used 
is  an  A-frame  erected  on  each  side  of  the  track,  using  old  bridge  timber. 
As  constructed  on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ky.,  this  device  con- 
sists of  vertical  posts  footing  between  a  pair  of  long  switch  ties  laid  to 
project  from  both  sides  of  'the  track,  with  leaning  posts  to  brace  the 
vertical  ones  in  the  direction  in  which  the  cable  is  to  be  pulled  out.  To 
anchor  the  cable  for  unwinding,  a  chain  is  stretched  between  the  A-frames 


Fig.  376  A.— Cable  Stretcher,  G.  T.  W.  Ry.     Fig.  376  B. — Apron  for  Trestle  Filling. 

and  the  cable  is  hooked  to  it.  When  the  work  is  completed  these  upright 
frames  and  track  sills  are  taken  down  and  out,  and  if  needed  elsewhere 
are  set  up  again.  A  cable-stretching  device  that  has  been  used  on  the 
Grand  Trunk  Western  Ey.  consists  of  a  pile  and  swinging  arm  (Fig. 
376A),  the  top  of  the  pile  standing  15  ft.  and  the  arm  9  ft.,  above  the- 
rail.  The  cable  to  be  pulled  out  is  attached  to  a  hook  with  a  tripping  ar- 
rangement which  the  brakeman  (who  rides  the  car  on  which  the  plow  is 
carried)  strikes  with  a  stick  as  he  passes  underneath  it,  causing  the  cable 
to  let  go  without  stopping  the  train.  The  stretcher  post  or  pile  is  driven 
to  lean  slightly  away  from  the  track,  and  the  guy  for  the  stretcher  arm  is 
clamped  to  the  cable  which  guys  the  post,  as  shown.  As  the  cable  lets  go, 
the  spring  in  the  guys,  due  to  the  sudden  release  from  tension,  pulls  the 
arm  back,  causing  it  to  automatically  swing  around  clear  of  the  track. 

In  order  to  reduce  the  cost  of  hauling  material  to  a  low  figure,  espe- 
cially when  hauling  a  long  distance,  it  is  necessary  to  send  the  cars  out 
well  loaded,  and  in  this  connection  25  to  30  cu.  yds.  should  be  considered 
only  ordinary  car-loads.  There  is  no  economy  in  handling  cars  loaded  to- 
only  half  or  two  thirds  of  their  capacity.  Not  more  than  8  or  9  cu. 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND   FILLING  MATERIAL 


74T 


yds.  of  gravel  can  be  placed  upon  a  33x9-f  t.  flat  car  by  steam-shovel  load- 
ing, without  boarding  up  the  sides,  for  the  reason  that  in  dropping  from 
the  dipper  the  material  sprawls  out  over  the  car;  and  consequently  more 
cars  are  required  for  handling  the  same  amount  of  material  than  is  the- 
case  where  it  is  loaded  by  hand,  and  the  dead  weight  load  runs  up  rapidly. 
Side  boards  at  least  12  ins.  high  are  now  commonly  used  in  loading  flat 
cars,  and  in  order  to  have  them  always  with  the  car  they  are  sometimes 
attached  to  the  side  sills  with  pieces  of  chain  just  long  enough  to  permit 
them  to  drop  down  and  hang  about  18  ins.  from  the  ground  while  the  car 
is  being  unloaded.  To  facilitate  handling  these  planks,  a  hand  hole  may 
be  cut  under  the  top  edge  near  each  end. 

To  increase  the  loading  of  flat  cars  beyond  the  capacity  with  side 
boards,  it  is  now  extensively  the  practice  to  side  them  up  with  outswing- 
ing  doors  hinged  at  the  top  and  locked  in  position  by  catches  at  the  bot- 
tom. Such  is  known  as  the  Haskell  &  Barker  type  of  construction.  The 
plow  being  the  same  width  as  the  cars  inside,  the  doors  are  swung  open- 
by  the  crowding  of  the  material  against  them,  and  the  car  is  completely 
cleaned.  To  prevent  material  from  dropping  upon  the  track  an  apron  of 


Fig.  377.— Haskell  &  Barker  Cars,  Norfolk  &  Western  Ry. 

boiler  plate  is  hinged  at  one  end  of  each  car,  so  as  to  overlap  the  space  at 
the  coupling.  A  typical  car  of  this  class  is  the  standard  ballast  car  of 
the  Wisconsin  Central  Ry.  The  car,  which  is  40  ft.  long  over  end  sills, 
is  made  by  side-staking  a  flat  car  and  mortising  a  5x6-in.  top  plate  over 
the  side  stakes,  which  are  spaced  6  ft.  3|  ins.  center  to  center.  The 
side  doors  are  2  ft.  8  ins.  high,  from  the  floor  to  the  under  side  of  the 
plate,  'and  the  top  plate  is  6  ft.  8  ins.  high  above  top  of  rail.  The  side- 
doors  are  hinged  to  the  top  plate  with  strap  hinges  which  extend  below 
the  door  and  rest  against  the  face  of  the  side  sill.  Eunning  along  each 
side  of  the  car  there  is  a  shaft  with  locking  dogs  which  engage  the  bottom 
ends  of  the  straps.  This  shaft  is  operated  by  a  lever  at  one  end  of  the 
car.  There  are  no  end  boards,  and  at  each  end  of  the  car  there  is  a  hinged 
apron  plate  of  3/10-in.  iron,  which  is  folded  across  to  cover  the  gap  between 
the  cars.  The  cars  are  unloaded  by  plow  and  cable.  After  turning  the 
shaft  to  unlock  the  straps  holding  the  side  doors  in  place,  the  plow  is 
hauled  along  and  the  pressure  of  the  ballast  forces  open  the  doors,  which 
return  to  the  closed  position  after  the  plow  has  passed.  These  cars 
have  a  capacity  of  100,000  Ibs.  and  in  ordinary  service  are  loaded  with 


748  WORK  TRAINS 

about  32  cu.  yds.  of  gravel.  When  the  cars  are  not  used  in  work-train 
service  they  are  fitted  with  portable  ends  and  converted  into  40-ft.  gondola 
cars  for  the  regular  freight  service,  for  handling  coal,  lumber,  etc.  The 
Norfolk  &  Western  cars  shown  in  Fig.  377  are  of  similar  construction. 
The  center  unloading  plow  seen  in  this  picture  is  the  Marion  "Class  10" 
pattern  for  heavy  duty.  By  heaping  cars  of  this  type  they  may  be  loaded 
with  40  to  45  cu.  yds.  of  material.  In  making  extensive  grade  reductions 
on  the  Kansas  City  Southern  Ey.  at  one  time,  cars  of  this  kind  were  used 
with  remarkable  effect.  By  loading  the  cars  to  the  heaped  capacity  stated 
the  average  cost  of  hauling  (average  distance  not  stated)  and  unloading 
for  a  period  of  five  months  was  only  1.36  cents  per  cubic  yard.  When 
material  is  to  be  plowed  from  cars  with  swinging  sides  the  catches  are 
sometimes  knocked  loose  by  two  men  with  spike  mauls  stationed  on  either 
side  of  the  train  as  it  is  moved  slowly  past.  As  the  doors  are  released  con- 
siderable material  falls  from  the  cars,  and  in  filling  trestles  it  is  desirable 
that  this  material  should  drop  into  the  embankment.  One  arrangement 
which  provides  for  this  is  a  platform  built  on  each  side  of  the  track  on  arid 
.  near  the  end  of  the  trestle,  on  which  are  stationed  the  men  for  knocking 
lv>ose  the  catches  on  the  side  boards,  so  that  all  the  earth  which  escapes 
from  the  cars  as  the  doors  are  released  will  drop  into  the  fill. 

When  ballast  or  filling  dirt  is  carried  a  long  distance  the  economy  of 
hauling  and  unloading  is  decidedly  with  the  plow  and  cable  method  or 
with  side-dumping  cars  of  large  capacity.  The  Goodwin  car  (Figs.  44  and 
45)  is  of  the  latter  class,  and  has  been  used  to  considerable  extent  under 
the  conditions  stated.  The  average  cost  of  unloading  with  plow  and  cable, 
including  labor  of  handling  the  cable  and  use  of  equipment,  is  about  £ 
cent  per  cubic  yard.  For  handling  filling  material  on  short  haul,  careen- 
ing or  tilting  side-dump  cars  are  usually  more  economical  than  flat  cars 
unloaded  with  plow  and  cable  pulled  by  a  locomotive.  This  comparison 
'may  be  found  to  hold  true  in  hauling  up  to  three  miles,  and,  under  some 
conditions,  perhaps,  up  to  five  miles.  The  facts  regarding  a  test  of  the 
relative  serviceability  of  tilting  side-dump  cars  and  flat  cars  unloaded 
with  plow  and  cable,  made  in  connection  with  extensive  grade-reduction 
work  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &.  Quincy  Ey.,  at  Galva,  111.,  are  as 
follows:  The  material  was  a  heavy  loam,  loaded  by  steam  shovel  with 
a  dipper  capacity  of  1J  cu.  yds.  The  side-dump  cars  used  were  of  the 
tilting  type,  capacity  5  cu.  yds.,  three  dippers  per  car-load,  the  pit  meas- 
urement averaging  3.87  cu.  yds.  per  car.  The  hauling  distance  from  pit 
to  fill  was  J  mile  to  2  miles,  and  two  trains,  hauled  by  switching  engines, 
were  worked  continuously  day  and  night.  The  work  consisted  in  elevating 
9000  ft.  of  double-track  main-line  road  a  maximum  of  17  ft.,  requiring 
193,000  cu.  yds.  of  filling  material.  The  tracks  were  raised  with  the  fill- 
ing, one  at  a  time,  in  lifts  of  3  to  4  ft.  It  thus  happened  that  much  of 
the  time  the  material  dumped  did  not  slide  clear  of  the  track.  As  soon 
as  the  bank  would  begin  to  widen  from  the  ends  of  the  ties,  the  dirt 
dumped  from  the  cars  would  be  plowed  out  over  the  slope  with  a  spreader 
car,  which  left  a  shoulder  level  with  top  of  rail  for  a  distance  6  ft.  out. 
With  the  dumping  ground  in  this  condition  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
load  would  remain  in  the  tilted  car,  making  it  necessary  to  adopt  the 
practice  of  dumping  half  the  train  and  then  pulling  ahead  to  let  the  dirt 
slide  out  of  the  cars,  when  the  latter  would  be  righted  and  the  other  half 
dumped  in  the  same  manner.  Such  were  the  conditions  during  a  good 
deal  of  the  time  of  handling  upwards  of  5000  train-loads.  The  average 
time  consumed  in  dumping  trains  of  16  side-dump  cars  was  1J  minutes, 
and  the  average  time  required  to  dump  the  cars  and  get  them  back  into 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND   FILLING  MATERIAL  749 

position — that  is,  from  the  time  the  train  stopped  to  unload  until  it  was 
ready  to  return  to  the  pit — was  6  minutes.  The  other  plan  tried  was  with 
trains  of  10  flat  cars  each,  with  an  extra  locomotive  to  assist  in  hauling 
the  side  unloading  plow  and  cable.  When  working  on  this  plan  it  was 
found  that  about  6  minutes  were  consumed  each  trip  in  stretching  out  the 
cable  and  getting  ready  to  haul  the  plow,  besides  considerable  delay  occa- 
sioned in  setting  brakes  to  hold  the  cars  at  a  standstill.  The  average  time 
consumed  in  unloading  the  flat  cars  by  this  method  was  20  minutes,  thus 
deciding  the  competition  in  favor  of  the  side-dump  car,  without  question. 
The  dump-car  trains  could  handle  the  same  quantity  of  material  as  the 
flat-car  trains  in  much  less  time  and  at  less  cost,  even  when  the  expense 
of  the  extra  locomotive  used  to  haul  the  plow  was  not  considered.  The 
reason  for  using  the  extra  locomotive  was  to  enable  the  power  to  pull  the 
plow  steadily  and  avoid  breaking  the  cable,  which  frequently  occurred 
from  jerking  when  only  one  locomotive  was  used. 

In  constructing  new  road  tilting  side-dump  cars  are  very  extensively 
used,  as  they  can  be  readily  transported  ahead  of  the  track-laying,  and,  on 
short  haul,  can  be  worked  to  good  advantage  by  horses.  For  such  service 
they  are  usually  built  for  narrow-gage  track  (2  or  3  ft.)  and  are  of  small 
capacity — 1  to  3  cu.  yds.  In  widening  out  embankments  for  a  second 
track,  where  the  material  is  taken  from  an  adjacent  cut,  this  type  of  car  is 
quite  convenient  and  extensively  used,  being  sometimes  pulled  by  horses, 
and  sometimes  by  light  locomotives,  in  trains  of  considerable  length.  An 
interesting  track  arrangement  sometimes  employed  in  such  places  until 
the  embankment  becomes  well  widened  out,  is  to  use  one  main-track  rail 
for  one  side  of  the  tram  track,  the  outside  tram  rail  being  laid  as  a  third 
rail  at  gage  distance  from  the  outside  of  the  main  rail.  Where  the  tram 
track  diverges  to  clear  main  track  a  switch  point  is  laid  against  the  main 
rail.  When  cars  are  run  out  to  dump  it  is  of  course  necessary  to-  send 
out  flags  or  manipulate  distant  signals. 

The  body  of  the  usual  form  of  tilting  side-dump  car  is  either  hinged 
to  a  center  longitudinal  beam  of  the  truck  or  is  supported  by  transverse 
rockers  which  bear  upon  tracks  suspended  from  the  truck  on  hanger  irons 
at  each  end.  In  a  few  instances  dump  cars  of  this  type  have  been  operated 
automatically  by  an  air  cylinder  and  piston  under  one  side  of  the  car  body. 
In  the  case  of  the  Thatcher  automatic  dump  cars,  used  on  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Ry.,  the  air  was  taken  from,  and  the  operation  of  the  car  was 
controlled  from,  the  locomotive  through  a  line  of  hose  pipe  independent 
of  the  brake  system.  These  cars  were  designed  for  dumping  material 
from  trestles,  so  that  it  would  be  unnecessary  for  men  to  be  upon  the 
structure  while  the  cars  were  being  dumped.  Many  attempts  to  operate 
tilting  dump  cars  by  compressed  air  have  not,  however,  proved  successful,, 
and  the  usual  method  of  dumping  such  cars  has  been  to  push  the  body  over 
by  hand  or  by  prying  under  the  rockers  with  bars ;  or  to  have  the  load  over- 
balance, so  that  the  body  would  tilt  by  gravity  upon  releasing  the  stay 
chain  or  prop.  Owing  to  the  character  of  the  body  supports  and  to  the- 
method  of  dumping,  the  capacity  of  such  cars  is  necessarily  limited  to  a 
small  quantity — usually  3  to  5  cu.  yds.,  or  perhaps  7  cu.  yds.  in  a  few 
instances.  For  this  reason  they  are  not  an  economical  car  to  use  in  a  long, 
haul.  Neither  are  they  suitable  for  unloading  ballast,  because  on  an  em- 
bankment of  ordinary  width  the  material  leaves  the  tilted  car  with  a  mo- 
mentum sufficient  to  carry  a  portion  of  it  over  the  shoulder  and  waste  it 
down  the  slope.  On  many  roads  there  is  a  good  demand,  however,  for  a 
side-dumping  ballast  car  which  will  drop  all  of  its  load  near  the  track, 
as  will  now  be  explained. 


750  WORK  TRAINS 

On  roads  where  the  local  freight  trains  are  not  hard  worked  it  is 
•economical  of  maintenance-of-way  expense  to  have  these  trains  distribute 
the  moderate  quantities  of  material  usually  needed  for  ballast  replenish- 
ment; and  if  the  cars  in  which  it  is  sent  can  be  rapidly  unloaded,  a  great 
•deal  of  ballast  can  be  handled  in  this  way  without  seriously  delaying  the 
trains.  Again,  there  are  roads,  particularly  some  systems  with  poorly  con- 
structed branch  lines,  where  only  a  meager  supply  of  ballast  has  been  pro- 
vided, or  where,  perhaps,  the  track  is  largely  or  entirely  ballasted  with 
dirt.  In  such  cases  considerable  quantities  of  gravel  or  cinders  may  be 
in  demand,  here  and  there,  for  raising  the  track  out  of  sags  or  for  ballast- 
ing stretches  of  track  on  a  plan  of  gradual  improvement.  Such  work  may 
be,  and  commonly  is,  undertaken  by  the  regular  section  crews,  and  if  the 
ballast  can  be  distributed  by  the  local  freight  trains  the  saving  in  expense 
which  would  otherwise  be  incurred  for  extra  train  service  is  important.  In 
order  to  give  entire  satisfaction  when  handled  in  the  local  freight  service, 
ballast  cars  must  be  designed  to  suit  several  requirements  besides  quick 
action  in  dumping  the  load.  Some  side-dump  cars  deposit  the  ballast  too 
far  from  the  track,  and  in  the  case  of  a  narrow  shoulder  much  of  the 
ballast,  as  already  stated,  is  lost  by  sliding  down  the  embankment.  Again, 
other  cars  deposit  'the  ballast  so  close  to  the  track  that  it  obstructs  the 
rail  and  must  be  shoveled  away,  at  some  expense  for  labor,  not  to  speak 
of  the  inconvenience  and  the  time  lost  to  the  section  forces  in  being  obliged 
to  be  on  hand  every  time  ballast  is  to  be  unloaded.  Another  requirement 
is  that  the  cars  shall  be  of  large  capacity,  so  that  a  considerable  quantity 
of  material  may  be  handled  without  unduly  increasing  the  length  of  the 
train ;  and  still  there  should  be  such  flexibility  in  the  arrangement  for 
unloading  that  the  material  may  be  discharged  in  quantities  commensur- 
able to  the  work.  One  respect  in  which  some  side-dumping  cars  of  large 
capacity  fail  to  meet  this  requirement,  although  quite  suitable  for  the  ser- 
vice in  other  ways,  is  that  the  whole  load  must  be  let  go  in  one  place  once 
the  doors  are  opened. 

To  cite  an  example  of  a  road  which  has  in  practice  a  well  regulated 
system  of  ballast  distribution  by  local  freight  trains,  reference  may  be 
made  to  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E,  This  system  and  the  plans  of  cars 
specially  designed  to  meet  the  requirements  were  studied  out  by  the  late 
Mr.  A.  Torrejr,  chief  engineer,  whose  method  of  loading  gravel  has  already 
been  described.  The  plan  of  work  is  such  that  after  the  gravel  is  loaded 
upon  the  cars  no  extra  expense  other  than  that  which  accrues  in  operating 
the  regular  trains  is  involved  in  transporting  the  gravel  and  unloading 
it  at  the  exact  points  wrhere  it  is  needed  along  the  track;  and  the  delays 
to  the  regular  trains  in  handling  this  material  are  inconsiderable.  The 
system  was  intended  mainly  for  the  branch  lines  of  the  road.  The  ballast 
cars  were  designed  with  particular  reference  to  facility  of  unloading,  so 
as  to  dispense  with  an  extra  crew  for  this  purpose.  The  cars  are  34  ft. 
long  and  the  carrying  capactiy  is  80,000  Ibs.  The  floor  of  the  car  slopes 
each  way  from  the  center,  at  a  pitch  of  3  in  4.  The  car  is  divided  trans- 
versely across  the  middle  into  two  compartments,  and  each  compartment 
is  divided  lengthwise  into  three  sections,  the  middle  section  containing 
about  half  the  material  in  each  compartment.  The  material  in  each 
section  is  retained  or  released  by  doors  extending  the  whole  length  of  the 
compartment.  The  doors  for  the  middle  section  in  each  compartment 
close  against  the  sloping  floor  of  the  car  about  midway  between  the  peak 
and  the  outer  edges,  and  are  hinged  from  5Jx5J-in.  longitudinal  timbers. 
The  doors  of  the  outer  sections  are  hinged  from  4-|x5|-in.  timbers  built 
into  the  sides  of  the  car.  The  sides  of  the  car  are  tied  together  in  two 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND   FILLING  MATERIAL 


751 


places  in  each  compartment  by  3Jx5J-in.  timbers.  Each  set  of  doors  is 
locked  by  a  winding  shaft  running  the  length  of  the  car — all  the  inner 
doors  by  one  shaft  and  all  the  outer  doors  by  another.  Each  shaft  car- 
ries a  grooved  wheel  which  is  locked  by  means  of  a  friction  block  set  by  a 
hand  wheel  and  screw.  The  chains  connecting  the  locking  wheels  and 
shafts  with  the  main  winding  shafts  running  the  length  of  the  car  pass 
through  an  open  space  12  ins.  wide  separating  the  two  compartments  of 
the  car.  The  doors  are  released  by  the  pressure  of  the  load  as  soon  as  the 
friction  block  is  withdrawn  from  the  grooved  wheel.  By  the  means  described 
half  of  the  load  can  be  dumped  at  one  time  by  releasing  the  outside  doors, 
while  the  other  half  may  be  retained  by  holding  the  inside  doors  in  the 
locked  position.  The  car  stands  8  ft.  4  ins.  high  above  the  rail,  and  across 
•each  end  and  along  one  side  there  is  a  foot  board  and  hand  railing.  The 
hand  wheels  for  locking  the  doors  are  arranged  at  the  middle  of  the  car, 
to  one  side,  on  a  small  stand,  as  shown  in  Figs.  367  and  374.  The  normal 
capacity  of  the  car  loaded  to  the  top  timbers  from  which  the  doors  are 
suspended,  is  20  cu.  yds.,  or  22  cu.  yds.  when  heaped;  but  by  placing  side 
boards  on  the  car  the  load  may  be  increased  to  26  cu.  yds.  There  are 
pockets  to  hold  planks  when  it  is  desired  to  heap  the  load.  When  not 


Fig.  378.—Half  Unloaded.  Torrey  Ballast    Car.    Fig.    379.— Empty. 

in  use  these  side  boards  or  planks  are  carried  in  an  open  space  under  the 
Hoor,  access  to  the  same  being  had  through  a  door  in  each  end  of  the 
-CST.  Figure  367  is  a  view  showing  the  general  appearance  of  the  car 
when  loaded.  The  night  of  the  cars  has  been  restricted  to  the  limit  of 
-convenient  loading  by  steam  shovel,  so  that  they  can  be  utilized  in  any 
equipment  for  general  ballasting  work. 

The  transporting  of  the  gravel  and  the  work  of  unloading  it  at  points 
along  the  track  where  it  is  needed,  as  indicated  by  stakes  set  by  the  section 
foremen,  is  done  by  the  local  freight  trains  with  their  regular  crews.  As 
•each  train  of  this  class  going  in  the  direction  in  which  the  gravel  is  needed 
arrives  at  the  pit  it  takes  what  loaded  cars  happen  to  be  on  hand  and, 
stopping  at  the  point  where  material  is  needed,  the  outer  doors  are  released 
and  half  of  the  load  slides  down  into  heaps  at  the  ends  of  the  ties  on  either 
side  of  the  track.  The  train  is  then  pulled  ahead  the  length  of  the  several 
gravel  cars,  when  the  inner  doors  are  let  go  and  the  remainder  of  the  gravel 
is  unloaded.  The  releasing  of  the  doors  is  but  the  work  of  a  moment,  as 
the  brakemen  have  only  to  run  from  car  to  car  and  give  each  hand  wheel 
a  turn.  The  whole  operation  of  unloading  a  long  string  of  these  gravel 
<;ars,  depositing  half  of  the  load  at  each  stop  and  pulling  up  in  the 
meantime,  requires  but  a  few  minutes.  Figure  378  is  a  view  showing 


752  WORK  TRAIXS 

some  of  these  cars  coupled  in  with  a  local  freight  train,  taken  just  after 
the  outer  doors  had  been  released  and  half  of  each  load  deposited.  Figure 
379  is  another  view  showing  the  same  cars  after  they  had  been  pulled 
ahead  and  the  inner  doors  released.  The  outer  doors  swing  inward  after 
the  gravel  slides  out  and  require  no  attention  on  the  part  of  the  train 
crew  after  the  material*  has  been  unloaded,,  as  the  cars  are  returned  to 
the  pit  with  the  doors  unlocked.  As  the  train  proceeds  the  empty  cars- 
are  set  out  at  the  first  side-track  and  returned  to  the  pit  by  the  next  local 
freight  train  going  that  way.  By  dumping  half  the  load  in  a  place  enough 
gravel  can  be  placed  to  raise  the  track  8  ins.  The  quantity  of  gravel  to- 
be  unloaded  at  any  particular  point,  to  meet  the  conditions  there  obtaining, 
may  be  suited  to  the  requirements  by  regulating  the  quantity  loaded.  For 
this  purpose  load  lines  for  16  and  20  cu.  yds.  are  marked  on  the  car.  The- 
stakes  set  by  the  foremen  to  indicate  where  ballast  is  needed  have  arms- 
or  pointers  showing  in  which  direction  from  the  stake  the  ballast  is  to  be- 
dumped.  A  valuable  feature  of  the  work  is  that  the  material  is  deposited 
close  to  the  track  but  not  near  enough  to  obstruct  the  rail,  so  that  no 
attention  to  the  unloading  is  required  of  the  section  men. 

The  Pratt  side-dumping  cars  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hart- 
ford E.  E.,  which  have  one  swing  door  above  another,  for  unloading  half 
the  material  at  one  time,  are  described  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
ballasting  new  track  (§  36,  Chap.  TV).  In  the  same  place  some  account 
is  also  given  of  the  method  of  unloading  ballast  between  the  rails  from 
hopper-bottom  gondola  coal  cars.  This  plan  is  sometimes  followed  also 
on  old  track,  where  the  line  is  being  reballasted  or  the  ballast  replenished,, 
such  being  the  case  on  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Ey.  The  practice  there  is- 
to  remove  the  old  ballast  filling  as  low  as  the  bottoms  of  the  ties  and  throw 
it  out  to  widen  the  shoulders.  The  hopper  doors  are  opened  in  one  car, at 
a  time,  and  just  far  enough  to  let  out  the  desired  quantity  of  gravel,  which 
is  struck  off  level  with  top  of  rail  by  skidding  a  tie  ahead  of  the  wheels  of 
the  rear  truck.  If  a  large  quantity  of  material  is  to  be  leveled  down  and: 
spread  out  over  the  rails  in  this  manner,  two  ties  are  used — one  on  top  of 
the  other.  To  prevent  the  wheels  from  mounting  the  tie  that  is  being: 
shoved  before  them,  as  they  are  liable  to  do  in  case  the  tie  should  strike  a 
lump  or  other  obstruction,  the  brake  on  these  wheels  should  be  set  up 
tight. 

Fitting  Trestles. — Improved  earth-handling  appliances,  such  as  steam 
shovels,  material  cars  and  unloading  plows  of  large  capacity,  have  so  cheap- 
ened the  cost  of  handling  dirt  that  trestle  filling  has  become  a  widely 
established  method  of  constructing  railway  embankments.  When  new 
roads  are  being  constructed  it  is  frequently  the  plan  to  build  temporary 
trestles  out  of  timber  conveniently  at  hand,  in  order  to  quickly  open  the- 
road  for  traffic  and  begin  earning  money,  while  these  trestles  are  being- 
filled  in  with  steam  shovels  and  work  trains  at  much  less  cost  than  it 
could  have  been  done  by  contract  from  borrow  pits  or  adjacent  cuts  at 
the  time  the  roadbed  was  being  graded.  It  is  also  a  policy,  now  widely- 
adopted,  to  fill  in  all  the  old  wooden  trestles  of  moderate  hight  as  fast  as 
they  require  renewing.  In  support  of  this  plan  there  are  many  consider- 
ations, such  as  the  relative  cost  of  track  and  bridgo  maintenance,  danger 
from  fire,  accidents  liable  to  happen  in  cases  of  derailment,  etc.  Investi- 
gations of  the  comparative  cost  of  embankment  filling  and  wooden  trestle 
construction  have  shown  that,  under  usual  conditions  of  timber  supply  and 
traffic  movement,  trestles  as  high  as  22  to  25  ft.  can  be  filled  as  cheaply  as 
they  can  be  rebuilt,  considering  first  cost  only;  and  that,  taking  the  cost 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AXD  BILLING  MATERIAL  753 

-of  periodical  rebuilding  and  the  various  items  of  bridge  inspection  and 
bridge  maintenance  into  consideration,  it  is  an  economical  proposition 
to  fill  trestles  up  to  50  ft.  in  hight,  providing  unusual  difficulties  are  not 
encountered  in  maintaining  a  waterway.  Local  conditions,,  such  as  cost 
of  timber  and  cost  of  handling  earth,  as  influenced  by  interference  with 
work-train  service  by  the  traffic  trains,  might  change  these  figures  one  way 
or  the  other,  but  for  general  practice  they  are  regarded  as  typical  limits, 
unless  the  situation  is  attended  with  exceptional  conditions. 

Before  the  work  of  filling  a  trestle  is  started  there  are  two  important 
matters  requiring  investigation.  One  of  these  is  the  area  of  the  waterway 
to  be  left  in  the  embankment.  This  question,  which  has  a  bearing  on 
the  size  and  design  of  the  culvert  or  of  the  bridge  construction,  in  case  an 
open  waterway  is  decided  upon,  .is  treated  with  some  fulness  under  the 
subject  "Culverts,"  §  5,  Chap.  I.  The  other  matter,  the  importance  of 
which  increases  with  the  hight  of  the  trestle,  is  the  character  of  the  bot- 
tom. It  is  well  understood,  of  course,  that  the  surface  is  sometimes  unable 
to  support  a  high  fill.  In  order  to  properly  understand  the  conditions  it 
is  therefore  necessary  to  examine  the  under  formation.  This  may  be 
done  by  digging  pits  or  driving  piles,  at  different  points.  Almost  any 
kind  of  surface  except  solid  rock  will  settle  at  least  a  little  under  a  high 
fill,  but  excessive  settlement  may  badly  break  up  or  wreck  any  culvert  that 
is  not  placed  on  a  solid  foundation.  Some  experience  is  necessary  to 
prompt  the  judgment  in  matters  of  this  kind.  The  remedy  for  a  soft 
or  unstable  bottom  is  to  start  the  culvert  on  a  pile  and  concrete  foundation. 
Some  •  attention  should  also  be  paid  to  the  character  of  the  material 
dumped.  Clay  is  treacherous  and  should  not  be  placed  in  any  part  of  an 
embankment.  Whenever  it  meets  with  water  it  assumes  a  slippery  condi- 
tion, and  is  frequently  the  cause  of  sliding  embankments.  Material 
ditched  from  cuts  should  be  rejected  for  filling  purposes  if  it  possesses  the 
characteristics  of  clay,  but  mud  or  other  wet  material  is  not  necessarily 
•objectionable. 

In  filling  trestles  it  is  the  practice  to  a  considerable  extent  to  put  in 
the  base  of  tlie  embankment  with  teams.  The  local  conditions,  such  as 
the  opportunity  to  use  grading  machines  or  to  open  borrow  pits  within 
economical  distance  for  hauling  in  scrapers,  may  be  such  that  a  good  deal 
of  team  work  can  be  done  to  advantage.  It  may  also  be  necessary  to  con- 
struct ditches  for  draining  the  ground  or  to  change  the  course  of  a  stream, 
and  in  such  work  teams  would  usually  be  employed  and  the  excavated 
material  hauled  into  the  base  of  the  fill.  The  bulk  of  trestle  filling  is, 
however,  usually  done  with  trains,  using  cars  that  are  unloaded  from  the 
side— either  flat  cars  with  plow  and  cable  or  tilting  side-dump  cars. 

In  dumping  material  from  high  trestles  considerable  damage  is  fre- 
quently done  to  the  bents  and  bracing  in  being  struck  by  large  stones  or 
lieavy  lumps  of  material  falling  from  the  cars.  In  order  to  prevent  trestle 
posts  or  piles  from  being  knocked  or  crowded  out  of  position  while  filling  is 
fceing  done,  struts  of  old  timber  are  sometimes  fastened  between  the  ends 
of  these  members,  underneath  the  caps ;  and  in  trestle  bents  of  two  or  more 
decks  struts  are  placed  between  the  posts  both  underneath  and  on  top  of 
the  inter-caps.  In  filling  very  high  trestles  such  reinforcement  is  not 
sufficient  protection,  and  in  order  to  avoid  damage  or  accident  in  such  cases 
it  is  sometimes  the  practice  to  construct  an  apron  of  heavy  plank  or  timbers 
sloping  outward  from  the  top  of  the  trestle,  so  as  to  deflect  the  material 
and  cause  it  to  drop  far  enough  out  to  clear  the  bracing  and  batter  posts. 
The  apron  also  drops  the  material  nearer  the  foot  of  slope,  so  that  there 
Is  less  sliding  of  the  material  in  building  up  the  embankment  and  less 


754  WORK  TRAINS 

material  to  move  in  case  the  practice  is  followed  of  leveling  down  the 
dirt  as  fast  as  it  is  dumped.  Figure  376B  shows  an  apron  for  trestle 
filling  in  use  on  a  structure  about  100  ft.  high,  011  the  Southern  Pacific 
Lines  in  Oregon.  The  apron  was  built  to  slope  from  the  ends  of  the 
bridge  ties  and  was "  supported  upon  stringers  placed  upon  the  caps  of 
the  trestle  bents  and  on  braces  footing  against  the  batter  posts  of  the 
bents  at  the  level  of  the  bottom  of  the  top  deck.  The  timber  used  con- 
sisted of  old  stringers  of  odd  sizes.  The  apron  was  taken  up  when 
the  fill  reached  the  lower  edge.  Owing  to  the  cost  of  erecting  these 
aprons  and  removing  them  when  the  embankment  approaches  comple- 
tion,, this  company  has  abandoned  the  use  of  .them  on  structures  lower 
than  60  ft.  in  hight.  In  such  cases  it  is  the  practice  to  merely  strengthen 
the  girt  timbers  temporarily  by  using  old  trestle  stringers.  In  the  experi- 
ence with  trestle  filling  on  this  road  it  has  been  observed  that  the  girt  tim- 
bers are  the  members  which  suffer  most  from  the  material  dumped.  Aprons 
are  sometimes  made  as  a  screen,  with  plank  set  edgewise,  to  let  the  fine 
material  drop  through  but  to  intercept  large  masses  and  throw  them  clear 
of  the  trestle  bents. 

In  building  some  remarkably  high  embankments  on  the  Boone  cut-off 
of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ky.,  between  Boone  and  Ogden,  la.,  port- 
able aprons  were  used  to  protect  the  temporary  trestles  erected  for  the 
purpose  of  construction.  As,  however,  the  arrangement  is  applicable  to- 
old  trestles  as  well,  a  description  of  these  aprons  and  their  operation  is 
not  out  of  place  here.  The  general  scheme,  which  was  adopted  with  a  view 
to  spread  the  material  over  the  entire  width  between  the  slope  stakes  as  it 
was  unloaded,  was  to  dump  it  from  two  lines  of  trestle  80  ft.  apart  con- 
structed across  the  ravine.  On  each  side  of  each  trestle,  10  ft.  below 
the  top,  a  bench  or  shoulder  was  built  to  support  a  track  which  carried  the 
portable  apron  or  chute.  Half  of  this  apron,  in  width,  was  a  good  deal 
longer  than  the  other  part,  and  the  two  parts  were  separated  by  a  vertical 
partition.  Material  dumped  into  the  longer  side  was  dropped  out  near  the 
slope  stakes,  while  that  dumped  into  the  short  side  fell  closer  to  the  trestle. 
As  the  material  accumulated  in  a.  place  the  apron  would  be  moved  along. 
In  this  way  the  .embankment  was  built  up  by  dumping  the  material  in 
two  parallel  ridges  each  side  each  trestle,  or  eight  ridges  in  all. 

For  temporarily  supporting  the  track  over  culverts  built  under  trestles 
that  are  to  be  filled  in,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  has  made 
extensive  use  of  a  pair  of  through  girders  80  ft.  long.  After  the  culvert 
is  completed  the  embankment  is  filled  in,  either  with  wheeled  scrapers  or 
by  dumping  from  a  work  train,  and  as  soon  as  the  track  can  be  supported 
on  the  grade  the  girders  are  picked  up  by  a  derrick  car  and  shipped  away 
for  use  at  some  other  point. 

In  filling  trestles  it  is  usual  to  permit  the  material  to  drop  and  form 
its  own  slope  as  the  embankment  is  built  up.  Embankments  built  in 
this  manner,  however,  are  loose  and  will  settle  about  10  per  cent  in  hight f 
and  when  thus  made  they  are  usually  permitted  to  settle  for  a  year  or 
longer  before  the  trestle  floor  and  stringers  are  pulled.  In  this  way  a  good 
deal  of  expense  is  entailed  keeping  the  track  in  surface.  As  the  embank- 
ment is  formed  in  sloping  layers  it  frequently  happens  that  troublesome- 
slides  will  occur,  for  which  reasons  some  engineers  think  that  it  pays  to 
level  down  the  material  as  it  is  dumped  from  the  cars.  If  such  is  done- 
with  teams  and  scrapers  the  embankment  becomes  solidly  compacted  and 
will  not  settle  appreciably  after  the  work  is  completed.  It  also  prevents 
damage  to  the  trestle  and  distortion  of  the  track  alignment  during  the- 
progress  of  the  filling.  Where  the  material  is  dumped  and  allowed  to> 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND.  FILLING  MATERIAL  755 

take  care  of  itself,  braces  are  liable  to  be  broken  by  the  weight  of  the  earth 
and  trestles  are  frequently  pushed  out  of  line  by  unequal  pressure  of 
earth  against  the  bents  or  unequal  settlement  of  different  parts  of  the 
embankment.  A  trouble  that  is  frequently  experienced  is  that  the  bat- 
ter piles  of  pile  bents  and  batter  posts  of  framed  bents  are  crowded 
toward  the  center  of  the  bridge,  causing  them  to  drop  away  from  the 
cap  and  leave  it  supported  only  on  the  plumb  posts.  At  a  high  trestle 
the  fill  should  be  built  up  more  or  less  uniformly  from  end  to  end.  If 
the  filling  takes  place  from  one  end  or  is  made  too  fast  in  one  place,  the 
pressure  of  the  earth  against  the  bents  is  liable  to  strain  the  structure 
longitudinally.  In  filling  over  culverts  the  material  should  be  deposited 
directly  on  top  or  simultaneously  from  both  sides,  avoiding  a  slope  against 
one  side  only,  as  unequal  pressure  which  then  exists  is  liable  to  shove 
the  culvert  or  crowd  in  the  walls.  The  sliding  of  material  is  sometimes 
caused  by  plowing  large  masses  of  earth  down  the  slope,  as  with  a  side 
leveler,  about  the  time  the  embankment  is  being  finished  out.  The  slip- 
ping of  an  embankment  may  also  occur  where  loose  material  has  been  de- 
posited on  ground  which  slopes  transversely  to  the  track.  A  way  of  pre- 
venting this  is  to  cut  trenches  parallel  with  the  track  before  the  filling  is 
started. 

One  road  whereon  conditions  of  the  foregoing  description  have  been 
carefully  investigated  for  a  number  of  years  is  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga 
&  St.  Louis  Ky.  On  the  Paducah  &  Memphis  division  of  this  road  a  num- 
ber of  high  trestles  have  been  filled  in  at  various  times,  and  numerous 
interesting  details  of  the  practice  of  doing  the  work  and  of  the  behavior 
of  the  material  in  the  embankments  have  been  described  in  papers  pre-, 
sented  before  the  Engineering  Asociation  of  the  South,  by  Mr.  I.  0. 
Walker,  assistant  engineer  with  the  road.  On  this  road  it  is  the  prac- 
tice to  ]evel  down  the  material  with  teams  and  drag  scrapers  as  fast,  as  it 
is  unloaded  from  the  trestle.  In  spreading  the  earth  the  fill  is  kept  a  few 
feet  higher  in  the  center,  so  that  the  loaded  teams  can  pull  down  hill.  The 
outer  edge  of  the  fill  is  also  carried  about  a  foot  higher  than  the  adjacent 
material,  so  that  in  case  of  rain  the  water  will  soak  into  the  fill  and  not 
wash  down. i he  slope.  The  fill  is  checked  occasionally  to  see  that  the  sloDe 
is  being  carried  up  correctly,  and  practically  no  trimming  is  done.  The 
outer  row  of  scraper  loads  is  dumped  about  1  ft.  inside  the  slope  line, 
as  it  is  found  that  when  the  next  row  is  dumped  the  teams  will  tramp 
the  first  row  out  to  the  slope  line,  thus  finally  getting  the  earth  where  it 
is  required  and  packing  it  solid.  The  cost  of  spreading  earth  in  this  man- 
ner for  trestles  under  30  ft.  in  hight  is  about  2  cents  per  cu.  yd^  and  for 
trestles  50  ft.  in  hight  the  cost  is  about  2.8  cents  per  cu.  yd.,  wet  weather 
increasing  the  cost  in  either  case.  When  trestles  have  been  filled  in  this 
manner  the  embankment  is  so  solid  that  the  ties  and  stringers  are  pulled 
within  10  to  60  days  after  the  filling  is  complete. 

On  this  road  high  fills  receive  careful  attention  for  a  year  or  two  after 
completion.  If  holes  are  washed  in  the  slopes  by  rain  they  are  promptly 
filled  with  good  earth,  and  new  embankments  are  protected  by  planting 
Bermuda  grass  all  over  the  slopes.  This  is  done  by  setting  tufts  of  grass 
in  rows  2  fit.  apart  each  way.  In  order  to  get  the  grass  to  take  root  quickly 
the  richest  earth  dumped  from  the  trains  is  scraped  out  to  the  slopes,  and 
sometimes  stable  manure  is  mixed  into  the  layers  at  the  outside  of  the  fill. 
Fertilized  in  this  manner  it  usually  occurs  that  a  continuous  sod  will  be 
formed  all  over  the  slopes  within  a  year. 

In  filling  high  trestles  it  will  frequently  occur  that  the  trestle  will 
settle  as  the  embankment  rises,  owing  to  the  settling  of  the  original  surface 


756  WORK  TRAINS 

from  the  pressure  of  the  fill,  and  if  the  fill  settles  unevenly  it  may  crowd 
the  bents.over  and  puJi  the  track  out  of  line.  When  such  work  is  being  done 
it  is  therefore  necessary  that  the  track  should  be  closely  watched  and  main- 
tained in  fair  surface  and  line.  Surfacing  may  be  done  by  shimming  up 
the  stringers,  but  the  easiest  way  to  reline  the  track  is  to  draw  the  spikes 
and  set  the  rails  over.  In  order  to  have  ready  access  to  the  caps  and 
stringers  it  is  a  good  plan  not  to  fill  higher  than  the  caps  until  just  before 
the  ties  and  stringers  are  to  be  pulled.  If  access  to  the  caps  is  obstructed 
by  a  mass  of  frozen  earth  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  reaching  them 
when  it  becomes  necessary  to  block  up  are  considerable.  It  is  sometimes 
the  practice  to  fill  in  the  embankment  to  the  level  of  the  bottoms  of  the  ties 
but  leaving  sufficient  open  space  at  each  bent  to  expose  the  cap. 

When  trestles  are  filled  the  usual  practice  is  to  permit  the  floor  sys- 
tem to  remain  until  the  embankment  has  become  well  settled,  which  may 
take  a  year  or  longer.  When  finally  the  track  is  put  upon  the  grade  it 
is  necessary  to  "pull"  the  stringers,  level  down  the  roadbed  and  ballast 
and  surface  the  track.  The  easiest  way  to  remove  the  stringers  is  to  first 
take  up  the  rails  and  ties.  The  work  of  lifting  out  the  stringers  with 
track  jacks  and  bars  is  a  "tough  job,"  and  on  some  roads  it  is  done  with 
a  derrick  car,  using  a  pair  of  heavy  tongs  to  grapple  the  timbers,  so  that 
but  little  or  no  digging  is  required.  Such  is  the  practice  on  the  Nashville, 
Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Ry.,  where  a  steam  derrick  car  with  a  24-ft.  boom 
is  used  to  lift  the  stringers  and  swing  them  out  of  the  way,  the  rails  and 
ties  being  removed  from  60-ft.  sections  at  a  time.  On  this  road  the  cost 
of  pulling  long  trestles  has  sometimes  been  as  low  as  12  cents  per  foot, 
the  cost  being  highest  for  the  short  trestles.  In  one  instance  the  cost  of 
pulling  1144  ft.  of  trestle  top  and  replacing  and  surfacing  the  track  was 
$506,  or  44.2  cents  per  foot. 

Filling  Trestles  by  Hydraulic  Methods. — The  economical  and  very 
extensive  operations  of  moving  earth  in  hydraulic  mining  suggested  the 
application  of  the  same  process  to  railway  trestle  filling,  and  on  the  North- 
ern Pacific  and  Canadian  Pacific  roads  a  large  number  of  high  wooden 
structures  have  been  filled  in  this  way.  The  process,  commonly  known  as 
sluicing,'  consists  in  loosening  the  material — gravel,  earth  or  loose  rock — 
from  the  bank  with  a  powerful  hydraulic  jet  and  conveying  it  to  the  site 
of  the  trestle  in  sluice  boxes  or  flumes.  The  water  is  obtained  by  diverting 
mountain  streams  at  a  sufficiently  high  level  to  produce  the  pressure  re- 
quired for  such  purposes.  The  flow  to  the  monitor  is  through  strong 
iron  pipe,  the  head  sometimes  being  upwards  of  200  ft.  The  monitor  is 
provided  with  nozzles  3  to  6  ins.  in  diameter,  according  to  the  head  and 
the  character  of  the  material.  For  breaking  up  masses  of  material  the 
small-size  nozzles  are  most  effective,  while  for  flushing  the  sluices  the  in- 
creased volume  of  water  required  is  furnished  by  the  larger  ones.  By 
directing  the  jet  against  the  face  of  the  hillside  the  earth  or  gravel  is 
broken  up  by  the  force  of  the  discharge  and  brought  down  in  the  flow  to 
the  sluiceway.  The  sluice  box  or  flume,  which  is  sometimes  3  ft.  wide 
and  3  ft.  deep,  is  laid  to  a  steep  grade — 10  to  25  per  cent — so  that  heavy 
material,  including  boulders  as  large  as  18  ins.  in  diameter,  is  readily  car- 
ried with  the  current.  To  protect  the  flume  from  scour  the  bottom  is 
paved  with  wood  blocks  or  laid  with  old  rails.  The  distribution  of  the 
material  at  the  place  of  deposit  is  controlled  by  shifting  the  end  of  the 
flume  from  time  to  time  and  by  deflecting  the  current  to  desired  points 
on  the  fill. 

As  the  material  drops  upon  the  fill  it  is  carried  in  rivulets  toward 
the  slope,  and  as  the  water  drains  away  the  solid  material  is  left  behind. 


HANDLING  BALLAST  AND  FILLING  MATERIAL  757 

To  prevent  washing  where  the  water  runs  strong  on  the  fill,  boards  are 
sometimes  set  down  to  break  the  force  of  the  current  and  catch  the  mate- 
rial, and  are  then  pulled  up  as  the  embankment  rises.  To  deflect  the  cur- 
rent to  desired  points  short  pieces  of  plank  with  braces  at  the  back  are 
used.  To  protect  the  edges  of  the  newly-made  bank  from  washing  down, 
hay,  straw,  marsh  grass  or  brush  is  used  as  a  binder.  To  confine  the  fill- 
ing to  proper  limits  and  to  form  the  slope  to  the  established  angle  (usually 
about  38  deg.)  old  ties  or  logs  are  laid  at  the  edge  in  rows,  to  form  tiers 
on  the  slope.  One  advantage  in  binding  the  layers  of  material  with  hay 
or  straw  is  that  the  seeds  will  germinate  and  soon  grow  a  sod.  The 
retaining  logs  are  sometimes  selected  from  wood  that  will  take  root  and' 
sprout,  and  thus  in  a  short  time  bind  the  surface  mass  firmly  together. 
The  levee  at  the  outside  of  the  fill  is  carried  up  and  maintained  several 
inches  to  a  foot  higher  than  the  interior,  so  as  to  form  a  pool  and  cause 
the  water  to  drop  its  sediment  before  escaping. 

Filling  by  the  sluicing  process  has  been  done  at  the  rate  of  500  to 
1500  cu.  yds.  of  embankment  built  per  day,  using  one  nozzle.     The  quan- 
tity and  the  cost  would,-  of  course,  be  expected  to  vary  with  the  character 
of  the  material,  the  water  supply  and  other  local  conditions.     The  labor 
required  is  five  to  nine  men  with  each  nozzle,  including  one  expert  to 
handle  the  nozzle,  two  or  more  men  with  hooks  to  keep  the  sluices  clear 
and  two  to  six  men  to  take  care  of  the  material  on  the  embankment.     The 
cost  of  the  work  has  been  5  to  8  cents  per  cu.  yd.    The  average  cost  of  sev- 
eral million  cu.  yds.  of  hydraulic  filling  for  the  Northern  Pacific  Ey.  was 
about  6  cents  per  cu.  yd.     In  one  instance  where  the  sluiced  material 
was  conveyed  a  distance  of  -J  mile  from  borrow  pit  to  fill  the  cost  was 
5  cents  per  cu.  yd.,  including  all  charges.     The  average  cost  of  moving 
377,000  cu.  yds.  in  filling  eight  trestles  was  4.79  cents  per  cu.  yd.,  of 
which  3.85  cents  was  the  cost  for  sluicing  and  building  side  levees  and 
0.66  cent    the  cost  for  lumber  and  labor   in  building  flumes.     The  re- 
mainder  (0.28  cent)    was  for  tools,  levee  material,  superintendence  and 
engineering.      In   one   case    where   the   water   was    pumped   the   cost   of 
filling  42,250   cu.   yds.    averaged    13 1    cents   per   cu.    yd.     In   filling   a 
trestle   at  North  Bend,   in   the  Frazer  river  canyon,   on  the   Canadian 
Pacific  Ey.,   the  embankment  built   was   231   ft.   in  extreme  hight   and 
contained   148,000   cu.   yds.      The   material   in   the   pit   consisted   of   50 
per  cent  cemented   gravel,    30   per   cent   loose   gravel   and   20   per   cent 
large  boulders  which  had  to  be  removed  by  a  derrick.     The   cost  for 
all    charges,    including    explosives    to    blast    the  cemented  gravel,  aver- 
aged 7.24  cents  per  yard.    Of  this  3.44  cents  was  for  the  plant.     The  work- 
ing force  consisted  of  eight  men,  all  common  laborers  except  the  pipeman. 
At  a  similar  fill  of  66,000  cu.  yds.  the  total  cost  was  7J  cents  per  yard,  of 
which  3.2  cents  was  for  the  plant  and  1.78  cents  the  actual  cost  for  sluicing. 
The  embankments  formed  by  this  process  are  said  to  be  very  compact,  inso- 
much  that  the  foundations  of  masonry  abutments  and  piers  can  be  laid  in 
the  same.     After  completion  no  settlement  of  the  material  is  noticeable. 
Aside  from  being  cheap,  the  process  has  the  further  advantage  that  it  does 
not  require  work  trains  or  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  traffic  of  the  road. 
Hydraulic  dredging  is  another  process  that  has  been  employed,  in 
cases,  to  fill  in  trestles  or  "make  land"  for  railways.     The  opportunity  to 
handle  the  material  in  this  way  has  usually  been  in  connection  with  harbor 
work.     In  hydraulic  dredging  the  sand  and  other  material  at  the  bottom 
is  taken  up  with  the  water  by  a  revolving  cutter  and  forced  through  a  line 
of  pipe  extending  from  the  dredging  boat  to  the  place  of  deposit.     This  pipe 
is  supported  at  intervals  upon  scows  or  light  pile  bents.    As  the  spoil  falls 


758  WOJIK  TRAINS 

from  the  end  of  the  pipe  line  the  water  drains  off,  leaving  the  entrained 
solid  matter  behind.  An  interesting  piece  of  work  of  this  kind  was  the 
filling  of  12,600  ft.  of  trestle  of  the  South  Pacific  Coast  Ky.,  extending  from 
the  month  of  Oakland  harbor  to  the  Alameda  pier,  in  the  Bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. This  trestle,  which  ran  parallel  with  the  government  channel  into 
Oakland  harbor,  at  a  distance  of  250  ft.,  was  SJ  ft.  high  at  the  shore  and 
20  ft.  high  at  the  pier,  the  track  being  7  ft.  above  mean  high  water  and  11 
ft.  above  mean  low  water.  In  dredging  out  this  channel  the  spoil  was  used 
to  fill  in  the  whole  space  between  the  south  line  of  the  channel  and  the  far 
side  of  the  railway  trestle.  To  retain  the  embankment  and  protect  it  from 
the  waves,  rock  revetments  were  built  along  the  boundary  lines.  Before 
the  dredging  began  sheet  piling  was  driven  along  the  south  side  of  the 
trestle,  behind  which  the  rock  was  eventually  deposited,  partly  from  barges 
and  partly  by  dumping  from  cars  on  the  trestle.  The  rock  and  dredgings 
were  put  in  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  same  time,  so  as  to  keep  the  pressure 
of  the  dredgings  on  the  inner  side  and  the  rock  on  the  outer  side  about  equal, 
to  prevent  the  bulkhead  giving  way.  At  the  track  side  of  the  embank- 
ment the  top  of  fill  was  made  level  with  the  top  of  ties,  but  at  the  channel 
side  it  was  made  1  ft.  below  the  top  of  the  training  wall,  which  was.  7  ft. 
below  the  level  of  the  top  of  tie  on  the  trestle.  Thus  the  top  of  the  fill  has 
a  gradual  slope  from  the  track  to  the  channel.  At  the  west  end  the  em- 
bankment gradually  widens  from  250  ft.,  at  a  point  2100  ft.  from  the  bay 
end  of  the  trestle,  to  525  ft.  at  the  end  of  the  embankment.  This  road  is 
part  of  the  suburban  system  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  terminating  in 
Oakland,  Cal.  The  dredging  was  done  by  The  New  York  Dredging  Co. 

149.  Wrecking. — At  least  some  part  of  the  work  of  clearing  up 
wrecks  falls  to  the  track  department,  while  on  some  roads  the  entire  work 
of  clearing  the  line  for  traffic  and  picking  up  the  wreckage  is  placed  in 
charge  of  the  roadmaster  or  other  track  officer.  In  the  organization  of 
wrecking  crews  the  most  common  practice  seems  to  favor  the  plan  of  se- 
lecting the  nucleus  of  the  crew  from  men  working  around  division  head- 
quarters, such  as  machinists  and  repair  men  from  the  locomotive  and  car 
shops,  car  inspectors,  roundhouse  employees  and  trackmen  working  in 
the  yards.  These  men  are  within  easy  call  during  working  hours,  and  their 
places  of  residence  are  known  at  the  train  dispatcher's  office,  so  that  at 
night  or  when  off  duty,  they  may  be  quickly  called  into  service  by  mes- 
senger. Men  who  work  at  repairing  rolling  stock  are  familiar  with  the 
use  of  jacks,  ropes  and  tackle  and,  having  experience  in  placing  crip- 
pled cars  in  running  order,  are  usually  given  charge  of  the  derrick 
car  and  jacks.  The  balance  of  the  crew  is  usually  made  up  of  work- 
train  hands  or  section  men  picked  up  by  the  wrecking  train  on  its 
way  to  the  scene  of  the  wreck.  As  outlined  thus  far  the  organiza- 
tion may  be  considered  applicable  to  railways  generally,  the  respect 
in  which  custom  varies  with  different  roads  being  in  the  matter  of 
supervision.  As  bosses,  big  and  little,  are  nearly  always  on  hand  in 
good  numbers  at  a  wreck,  there  is  never  any  lack  of  authority,  and  it  is 
therefore  important  that  an  understanding  be  had  as  to  who  shall  have 
the  direction  of  affairs.  Two  systems  are  recognized:  one  in  which  the 
roadmaster  takes  charge  and  handles  the  bulk  of  the  work  with  the  track 
forces,  the  men  from  the  shops  then  being  employed  as  experts  at  stripping 
locomotives  and  looking  more  particularly  to  getting  the  rolling  stock  into 
running  condition,  so  far  as  may  be.  By  the  other  system  the  mechanical 
department  is  placed  in  authority,  the  master  mechanic  or  one  of  his 
assistants  being  placed  in  charge  as  wreckmaster.  In  any  case  the  track 
forces  must  look  after  placing  the  track  in  repair  and  all  the  "dirty"  work, 


WRECKING  759 

such  as  the  handling  of  freight,  lugging  blocking,  heavy  tools  and  tackle, 
sinking  dead  men,  etc.  It  w6uld  hardly  be  possible  to  clear  away  a  bad 
wreck  in  good  season  without  the  aid  of  the  track  department. 

The  plan  of  placing  the  track  department  in  full  charge  of  the  wreck- 
ing operations  is  perhaps  more  usually  the  case  on  roads  where  a  work 
train  is  constantly  employed.  Under  this  arrangement  the  foreman-  of 
the  work  train  usually  takes  charge  until  the  roadmaster  arrives.  The. 
work-train  crew  is  more  at  home  out  on  the  road  in  all  kinds  of  weather 
than  are  machinists  and  other  workmen  from  the  shops,  and  work-train 
crews  of  the  old  class  soon  become  expert  at  handling  heavy  masses.  Some 
of  the  work-train  crews  employed  these  days,  however,  would  make  but 
little  headway  at  picking  up  wrecks — not  even  with  the  aid  of  a  half  dozen 
interpreters.  The  work  of  wrecking  should  never  be  incumbered  by  a 
confusion  of  tongues.  Such  labor  can  dig  sewers  and  shovel  ballast,  but 
it  cannot  handle  a-  wreck  to  any  advantage.  This  much  said  in  a  general 
way,  it  may  be  well  to  mention  various  plans  of  organization  for  clearing 
wrecks,  as  carried  out  on  a  few  of  the  principal  roads  of  the  country. 

On  the  Southern  Pacific  road  each  division  is  provided  with  an  outfit 
consisting  of  a  derrick  car,  two  tool  cars  and  one  camp  or  cooking  car. 
This  outfit  is  held  at  division  headquarters  in  charge  of  the  master  car 
repairer,  who  has  charge  of  handling  all  wrecks.  The  master  mechanic 
also  accompanies  the  outfit  train  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  handle  a 
wrecked  engine.  This  outfit,  with  10  or  12  men  from  the  shops,  is  run  spe- 
cial to  the  wreck  as  soon  as  it  is  reported,  and  additional  force  is  picked 
up  from  the  section  gangs.  There  is  also  a  telegraph  outfit  which  is 
taken  along  and  cut  in,  if  the  wreck  is  a  bad  one.  It  is  frequently  the 
case  that  two  outfits  are  sent  to  one  wreck;  that  is,  should  a  serious  wreck 
(one  requiring  some  hours  to  clear)  occur  as  much  as  100  miles  west  of 
El  Paso,  one  wrecking  outfit  is  dispatched  from  Tucson  and  another  from 
El  Paso  (312  miles  east  of  Tucson),  one  outfit  working  at  each  end  of 
the  wreck. 

On  the  Nebraska  division  of  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  there  is,  on  the 
main  line,  one  complete  wrecking  outfit  stationed  at  Council  Bluffs  and 
a  smaller  one  at  North  Platte.  The  outfit  at  Council  Bluffs  is  equipped 
for  the  heaviest  kind  of  work  and  has  a  regular  force  of  one  foreman  and 
one  assistant.  When  the  outfit  is  idle  it  is  taken  care  of  by  these  two 
men;  when  in  service,  the  extra  force  necessary  is  drawn  from  the  shops 
and  section  gangs.  Usually  the  same  shop  and  track  men  are  selected,  on 
account  of  their  familiarity  with  the  work  of  handling  wrecks.  In  extraor- 
dinary cases  a  large  number  of  men  are  drawn,  usually  from  the  track 
forces.  The  outfit  at  North  Platte  is  for  lighter  work  and  its  working  force 
generally  consists  of  a  few  men  taken  from  the  shop  at  North  Platte  and 
from  track  men  collected  at  the  scene  of  the  wreck.  On  the  Wyoming  di- 
vision of  the  road  there  is  a  steam  derrick  car  kept  in  readiness  at  the 
middle  of  the  division,  to  facilitate  getting  it  to  any  point  quickly,  and 
arrangements  are  made  whereby  an  experienced  wrecker  is  always  with  it. 
One  man  is  sent  along  to  look  after  tools,  and  three  car  repairers  and  six 
handy  men  accompany  the  car  regularly.  Extra  men  are  drawn  from 
the  section  crews.  At  district  terminals  there  are  hand  derrick  cars,  with- 
a  regular  force  of  car  repairers  who  go  out  whenever  it  becomes  necessary 
to  pick  up  a  pair  of  trucks  or  a  small  wreck.  By  a  system  of  signals  for 
calling  out  the  men  it  is  the  aim  to  get  started  within  30  minutes  after  the 
wreck  is  reported. 

On  the  Great  Northern  Ry.  there  is  at  most  division  points  a  regularly 
organized  force  consisting  of  a  car  foreman  and  several  car  repairers  or 


760  WORK  TRAINS 

rough  carpenters — men  who  are  handy  with  jacks  and  other  tools — who 
are  called  upon  for  wrecking  service.  The  balance  of  the  force  is  drawn  from 
the  track.    On  the  East  Iowa  division  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Ey.  the  wrecking  crew  is  composed  of  .round-house  men  and  laborers.    If  the 
wreck  is  of  considerable  magnitude  any  force  of  men  additional,  track 
men,   bridge  men   or  other   available  help,    is   called   upon.      After   the 
.  track  is   clear  a  force  is  selected  to   work  with  the  wrecking  outfit  at 
picking  up  the  wrecked  cars.     On  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey. 
the  wrecking  crews  work  at  track  repairs  at  the  division  points  where 
the   wrecking  cars  are  located.       The  number  of  men  sent  out   is   de- 
termined by  the  seriousness  of  the  wreck  and  the  damage   done.       If 
an  engine  is  wrecked  a  machinist  and  helper  from  the  shops  are  sent, 
but  usually  the  car  repairers,  with  their  foreman,  constitute  the  skilled 
labor  of  the  crew.    The  roadmaster  always  goes  to  the  wrecks  and  generally 
takes  charge,  unless  the  trainmaster  or.  superintendent  is  present.     On  the 
Illinois  Central  E.  E.  the  regularly  organized  wrecking  crew  consists  of  a 
foreman  and  six  men,  who  take  charge  of  the  wrecking  outfit.     All  of 
these  men  are  employed  in  the  car  department  at  district  terminals.    Where 
engines  are  damaged  and  it  is  necessary  to  strip  them  a  machinist  is  sent. 
The  six  regular  men  are  used  as  follows :  one  man  on  the  deck  of  the  der- 
rick car,  one  to  each  guy,  one  giving  signals,  one  to  make  hitches  and  one 
attending  to  the  line.     The  six  men  are  used  first  in  preparing  each  por- 
tion of  the  wreckage  for  the  derrick,  such  as  disconnecting  brake  rigging, 
taking  out  trucks,  etc.     In  addition  to  this  force  a  sufficient  number  of 
track  laborers,  with  their  foremen,  are  called  to  the  place  of  the  accident 
to  transfer  freight*  and  assist  the  crew  employed  on  the  derrick  car,  the 
number  of  men  so  furnished  depending  upon  the  condition  of  the  wreck. 

Of  roads  entering  Chicago  the  one  best  equipped  for  handling  wrecks 
is  probably  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  E.  E.  This  company  has  two 
large  steam  wrecking  cars,  one  of  35  tons'  capacity  (Fig.  396)  and  the- 
other  of  45  tons  (Fig.  395),  and  this  outfit  is  available  for  any  road  enter- 
ing the  city  of  Chicago,  whenever  the  wreck  interferes  with  the  traffic 
of  the  C.  &  W.  I.  road.  These  derrick  cars  in  cold  weather  are  fired  up 
both  night  and  day,  in  order  to  keep  them  from  freezing  and  have  them 
ready  at  a  moment's  notice;  and  locomotives  with  steam  up  are  at  all  times- 
available.  The  wrecking  crew  is  composed  principally  of  car  repairers, 
the  car  foreman  being  foreman  of  the  wrecking  outfit.  In  day  time  tha 
wrecking  outfit  can  be  got  ready  to  move  on  10  minutes'  notice,  but  at 
night  a  somewlw.t  longer  time  is  consumed  in  calling  the  crew  and  get- 
ting it  together.  Besides  the  car  repairmen  noted  there  are  two  machin- 
ists— one  running  the  engine  and  the  other  working  the  crane — who  go- 
with  this  wrecking  outfit.  As  a  matter  of  record,  this  crew  in  one 
year  picked  up  66  locomotives  and  523  cars.  Most  of  these  wrecks  inter- 
fered with  the  traffic  on  the  C.  &  W.  I.  tracks,  but  whether  the  wrecks  occur- 
to  the  company's  own  trains  or  to  foreign  trains  the  outfit  is  sent  immedi- 
ately to  the  wreck  to  pick  it  up,  and  the  bill  for  the  work  is  sent  the  com- 
pany responsible  for  the  damage. 

On  the  Allegheny  division  of  the  Erie  E.  E.  the  wrecking  crew  is 
organized  from  the  shop  forces  under  a  wreckmaster.  These  men  are 
generally  engaged  in  doing  labor  around  the  shops,  such  as  loading  and 
unloading  materials,  handling  scrap,  etc.,  but  with  them  are  sent  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  skilled  men  from  the  repair  yard.  This  force  at  the 
terminals  is  organized  into  gangs  of  four  men  each.  When  a  derailment 
occurs  the  shop  is  immediately  notified  and  advised  as  to  about  how  many 
men  are  necessary.  Callers  are  immediately  given  slips  on  which  are  shown. 


WRECKING  761 

the  date,,  name  of  caller,  time  he  receives  the  slip  and  the  names  of  the 
men  to  be  called,  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  the  shops.  This  slip  the  caller 
returns  to  the  shop  with  a  record  of  the  time  each  man  was  called. 
This  system  gives  better  satisfaction  than  the  old  way  of  calling  the 
wrecking  gang  by  whistle  or  bell.,  as  the  location  of  the  men  about  the 
shops  is  known  during  daytime  and  they  are  expected  to  be  at  their 
homes  at  night.  At  the  same  time  the  shop  is  notified  the  yardmaster 
is  notified,  who  calls  the  first  crew  ready  to  run  the  wrecking  train.  It  is 
not  found  necessary  to  hold  a  crew  (train  crew)  specially  assigned  to  the 
wrecking  train  in  readiness,  as  the  time  consumed  in  getting  the  wreck- 
ing train  out  of  either  terminal  of  this  division  averages  only  about  40 
minutes,  which  includes  the  time  required  in  securing  orders,  etc.  A  track 
force  in  sufficient  number  to  repair  the  track  and  do  the  rough  work  of 
wrecking  is  notified  and  picked  up  en  route.  In  every  case  of  derailment 
where  the  wrecking  crew  is  ordered  the  track  supervisor  on  whose  sub- 
division the  derailment  occurs  goes  on  the  train ;  also  the  division  roadmas- 
ter,  who  looks  after  the  general  disposition  of  the  track  forces,  and  attends 
to  the  care  of  the  merchandise,  etc.  The  trainmaster  also  accompanies 
the  wrecking  train  to  attend  to  and  care  for  the  matters  of  transportation 
in  connection  with  the  derailed  train  and  to  order  the  movement  of  traf- 
fic at  the  wreck.  The  wreckmaster  has  entire  charge  of  the  wrecking  forces 
and  the  clearing  of  the  road,  but  the  roadm aster  and  trainmaster,  in  their 
respective  departments,  are  supposed  to  give  him  advice  and  assistance. 
The  trainmaster  is  in  authority  and  represents  the  superintendent  in  case 
lie  is  not  at  the  wreck. 

On  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.  the  wrecking  crews  are  made  up  of  shop 
men  in  charge  of  one  of  the  car  shop  foremen.  On  the  Western  divi- 
:-ion  of  the  Fitchburg  E.  E.  the  wrecking  operations  are  under  the  direction 
of  the  roadmaster,  who  mans  the  force  from  the  work-train  crew.  In  case 
an  engine  is  in  the  wreck  the  machine  shop  is  called  upon  for  machinists 
to  accompany  the  crew.  On  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  the  shops  are  drawn 
upon  for  forces  to  handle  the  derrick  and  jacks.  A  representative  of  the 
track  department  accompanies  the  train  and  furnishes  any  additional  labor 
that  may  be  necessary.  On  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  wrecks  are  handled 
by  the  division  work  trains,  the  work-train  foreman  or  supervisor  being 
in  charge  of  all  the  details  of  the  wrecking  operations.  On  the  New  York, 
New  Haven  &  Hartford  E.  E.  the  wrecking  crew  ordinarily  consists  of 
15  or  18  men  taken  from  the  locomotive  and  car  shops,  the  foreman  being 
one  of  the  erecting  foremen  in  the  locomotive  machine  shops.  This  crew 
is  increased,  when  necessary,  by  details  from  the  regular  track  force,  to  do 
the  rough  work.  The  train,  including  a  steam  derrick  car,  a  car  loaded 
with  trucks,  a  car  loaded  with  blocking,  tool  car  and  locomotive,  is  always 
kept  in  readiness  on  a  side-track.  One  of  the  spare  engines  from  the 
roundhouse  is  run  out  to  the  train  and  stands  on  side-track  instead  of  in 
the  house  until  it  goes  out  on  its  next  run,  when  its  place  on  side-track 
is  taken  by  another  locomotive.  The  engine  number  is  always  known  by 
the  dispatcher,  which  arrangement  avoids  delay  in  getting  the  train  orders 
ready,  and  during  working  hours  the  train  is  frequently  off  within  two 
or  three  minutes  after  receipt  of  the  notice  of  a  wreck.  Steam  is  kept  up 
in  the  boiler  of  the  derrick  car,  the  fire  being  looked  after  by  the  round- 
house men.  The  signals  for  calling  the  men  to  the  train  are  given  by  air 
whistle  in  the  shops  and  by  a  large  bell  rung  by  compressed  air  in  the 
roundhouse,  both  being  operated  by  the  telegraph  operator  in  the  master 
mechanic's  office.  When  these  signals  are  sounded  throughout  the  works 
the  members  of  the  crew  are  supposed  to  drop  everything  and  make  for  the 


702  WORK  TRAINS 

train  on  the  run.  The  total  cost  of  maintaining  the  equipment  in  readiness 
to  start  is  $3.15  per  day.  This  estimate  does  not  include  a  charge  for 
the  locomotive,  because  one  is  selected  which  would  ordinarily  stand  in 
the  house,  so  that  no  locomotive  is  kept  out  of  service  on  this  account.  The 
system  of  keeping  a  locomotive  standing  coupled  to  the  train  with  steam 
lip  is  also  in  practice  on  other  roads. 

Wrecking  Tools. — The  first  thing  to  look  to  by  way  of  preparation  for 
such  sudden  emergencies  as  train  wrecks  is  a  sufficient  supply  of  efficient 
tools.  The  list  of  tools  needed  is  a  long  one.  They  may  not  all  be  service- 
able at  anv  one  time,  but  will  always  be  appreciated  when  they  are  needed. 
It  is  altogether  probable  that  no  road,  or  but  few  roads,  at  the  most,  would 
use  a  selection  of  tools  as  large  as  that  in  the  following  list.  The  inten- 
tion is  to  present  a  list  that  includes  typical  selections  of  the  various  kinds 
of  tools,  most,  if  not  all,  of  which  are  in  use  on  a  considerable  number  of 
roads.  In  the  line  of  jacks  the  usual  selection  is  four  30-ton  and  two  20- 
ton  hydraulic  jacks,  both  crown  and  toe  lift;  two  8-in.,  two  12-in.,  four 
18-in  and  four  24-in.  screw  jacks;  a  pair  of  Pearson  jacks.  Hydraulic  jacks 
of  10  or  15  tons'  capacity  are  frequently  included,  but  four  10-ton  ratchet 
track  jacks  may  be  substituted  for  the  light  lifting. 

In  looking  over  the  wrecking  outfits  of  half  a  dozen  different  roads 
picked  at  random  it  is  seldom  that  the  ropes  of  corresponding  diameter 
will  be  found  of  the  same  length,  or  even  approximately  so.  Eope  3-ins. 
in  diameter  is  the  largest  in  general  service,  one  or  more  pieces  of  good 
length  being  usually  furnished  for  heavy  pulling  through  snatch  blocks, 
although  rope  of  this  size  is  sometimes  carried  in  pieces  as  long  as  600  ft. 
or  longer  for  -block  and  tackle  work.  For  heavy  block  and  tackle  work 
2^-in.  rope  is  generally  standard,  being  used  in  lengths  of  800  to  1500  ft. 
For  lighter  work  of  this  kind  2-in.,  If-in.  and  IJ-in.  ropes  are  used,  all 
three  sizes  being  frequently  found  in  the  same  outfit.  For  hand  lines  1-in. 
rope  is  preferable  to  IJ-in.  or  f-in.  sizes,  for  general  service,  although  all 
these  sizes  are  sometimes  found  in  the  same  outfit.  Switch  ropes  of  5  ins. 
diameter  are  sometimes  carried,  but  wire  rope  of  equivalent  strength  is 
to  be  preferred.  The  following  might  be  taken  as  a  fairly  representative 
equipment  of  wrecking  ropes,  specifications  usually  calling  for  No.  1 
manila:  One  piece  of  3-in.  rope  300  ft.  long,  with  one  double  and  one 
triple  pulley  block  and  three  snatch  blocks;  two  pieces  of  3-in.  rope,  one 
80  ft,  and  one  125  ft,  long;  one  piece  of  2J-in.  rope  1200  ft.  long,  with 
one  triple  and  one  quadruple  pulley  block  and  three  snatch  blocks;  one 
piece  of  24-in.  rope  500  ft.  long,  with  one  double  and  one  triple  pulley 
block ;  one  piece  of  If -in.  rope  500  ft.  long  and  another  piece  300  ft.  long, 
with  two  double  and  two  triple  pulley  blocks  and  three  snatch  blocks;  one 
piece  of  1-in.  rope  500  ft.  long,  one  piece  300  ft.  long,  one  piece  175  ft. 
long  and  one  piece  100  ft.  long,  with  two  double  and  two  triple  pulley 
blocks  and  three  snatch  blocks;  one  piece  of  f-in.  rope  500  ft.  long,  with 
two  single  blocks  and  one  snatch  block,  to  be  cut  into  lengths  as  needed. 
Four-strand  rope  is  more  evenly  round  than  3-strand  and  is  preferable  for 
use  in  tackle  blocks.  For  convenience  of  reeving  the  long  ropes  in 
blocks,  both  ends  of  the  same  should  be  free,  and  tapered  and  marled,  but 
ropes  larger  than  1-in.  diameter  and  as  short  as  100  ft.  or  less  may  have 
one  end  spliced  to  a  link  and  the  other  end  to  a  hook.  This  arrangement 
is  preferable  to  splicing  on  a  link  at  both  ends,  as  the  hook  can  be  attached 
'to  a  link  if  the  latter  is  needed  at  both  ends.  Iron  blocks  are  preferable 
to  wooden  ones  and,  to  reduce  the  weight  of  the  large  blocks  as  far  as 
possible  without  sacrificing  strength,  they  should  have  shackles  instead  of 
hooks. 


WRECKING  763 

The  rope  list  would  also  include  about  three  slings  of  2J-in.  rope, 
each  12  ft.  long;  4  slings  of  l-J-in.  rope,  two  6  ft.  long  and  two  12  ft.  long; 
4  slings  of  1-in.  rope,  two  6  ft.  long  and  two  12  ft.  long;  4  slings  of  IJ-in. 
wire  rope,  each  16  ft.  long;  four  pieces  of  1-in.  steel  wire  guy  line,  each  175 
i't.  long;  one  l|-in.  steel  hoisting  cable  for  switch  rope,  125  ft.  long,  having 
one  end  spliced  to  a  link  and  the  other  end  to  10  ft.  of  1-in.  crane  chain 
with  hook  on  one  end  and  ring  on  the  other.  The  wire  ropes  should  be 
spliced  around  a  thimble  at  each  end.  There  should  also  be  a  steel  wire 
switch  rope  30  ft.  long,  one  50  ft.  long  and  another  80  ft.  long,  the  ends 
of  each  spliced  to  hook  and  link.  The  manila  switch  rope  will  be  needed 
•\vhere  a  snatch  block  has  to  be  used  and  "the  steel  wire  ropes  for  straight 
pulling.  Steel  wire  rope  weighs  only  about  half  as  much  as  hemp  rope  of 
equal  strength,  and  as  it  does  not  absorb  water  and  get  soggy  like  hemp 
rope,  it  is  better  for  use  in  wet  weather. 

In  chains  there  should  be  four  best  charcoal  iron  1-in.  crane  chains, 
each  '20  ft.  long  and  having  a  IJ-in.  iron  ring  of  4  ins.  clear  diameter,  on 
one  end.  and  a  hook  on  the  other  end;  one  f-in.  car  chain  40  ft.  long  and 
six  16  ft.  long,  with  hooks  and  rings;  six  f-in.  log  chains,  each  16  ft.  long, 
and  two  10  ft.  long,  each  having  a  1  J-in.  iron  ring  of  4  ins.  clear  diameter, 
on  one  end  and  hook  on  the  other  end;  six  f-in  chains  each  16  ft.  long,  and 
two  10  ft.  long,  with  hooks  and  rings;  one  IJ-in.  chain  24  ft.  long  and  anoth- 
er 16  ft.  long,  with  ring  and  hook  of  suitable  size.  For  hoisting  purposes  chain 
with  links  not  to  exceed  f  in.  diam.  are  preferable.  Then  what  is  lacking 
in  strength  of  chain  from  links  of  small  size  can  be  made  up  by  increasing 
the  number  of  parts  in  the  tackle.  Hooks  to  hitch  to  the  links  of  a  chain 
are  made  diamond  shape  in  section,  with  jaws  open  just  enough  to  admit 
the  link  edgewise.  A  double  hook  of  this  kind  is  convenient  for  temporarily 
joining  pieces  of  chain  or  for  splicing  broken  chain.  There  should  be 
clevises  for  all  the  chains;  a  supply  of  cold  shuts  for  quickly  mending 
broken  chain,  and  some  bulge  links,  part  having  a  link  attached  and  part 
without ;  two  L-hooks  for  catching  hold  of  car  sills ;  four  double  or  S-hooks, 
made  of  2-in.  iron,  and  two  of  3-in.  iron;  six  links  18  ins.  to  30  ins.  in 
length  made  of  1  J-in.  iron ;  four  pairs  of  rerailing  frogs ;  four  wrecking  in- 
clines; four  iron  dollies,  with  rollers  6  ins.  in  diameter;  eight  steel  rollers, 
each  4  ins.  diameter,  15  ins.  long. 

Excepting  hand  car,  push  car,  brush  hooks,  rake,  grass  and  brush 
scythes  and  snaths,  and  wheelbarrows,  there  should  be  a  full  set  of  track 
tools,  as  per  list  given  for  a  section  crew  in  §  116,  Chap.  IX,  increased  by 
about  12  pinch  bars,  3  axes,  18  shovels,  2  claw  bars,  12  track  chisels,  2 
track  wrenches,  4  spike  hammers,  1  cross-cut  saw,  one  16-lb  sledge,  6  picks. 
3  peavies,  3  cant  hooks,  2  kegs  of  track  spikes,  some  angle  bars  and  track 
bolts,  2  red  and  4  white  lanterns  and  a  portable  rail  saw.  There  should 
be  a  chest  of  carpenter's  tools  commonly  used .  in  rough  work,  such  as 
hand  and  rip  saws,  hammer,  square,  brace  and  full  set  of  bits;  one  2-in., 
one  IJ-in.  and  one  1-in.  hand  auger;  drawing  knife,  hatchet,  mallet  and 
chisel ;  keg  of  60d  Vire  spikes;  lot  of  40d,  20d,  lOd,  8d  and  6d  wire  nails. 

There  should  be  a  set  of  machinist's  hand  tools,  including  a  good  assort- 
ment of  monkey  wrenches — say  two  each  of  6,  8,  12,  18  and  24  ins.;  also 
one  large,  one  medium  and  one  small-sized  pipe  wrench,  and  an  alligator 
pipe  wrench.  There  should  be  a  set  of  blacksmith's  hand  tools,  anvil,  port- 
able hand  forge  and  fuel  and  a  6-in.  vise.  The  forge  and  anvil  can  be  set 
up  on  the  ground  beside  the  tool  car,  or  on  a  flat  car  at  the  end  of  it.  They 
are  found  to  be  very  useful  sometimes.  There  should  also  be  included  a 
drill  press,  a  set  of  taps  and  dies,  a  few  bars  of  round  iron  of  different 
sizes,  a  strip  of  f-in.  iron  plate  and  a  good  assortment  of  files.  The  drill 


764 


WORK  TRAINS 


press  should  be  kept  set  up  against  a  post  attached  to  the  side  of  the  car,, 
inside.  It  can  easily  be  taken  down  and  lag-bolted  to  a  post  or  telegraph 
pole  or  other  object  outside  the  car,,  if  there  is  not  room  to  use  it  within. 

There  should  be  a  sack  of  linemen's  took,  including  climbers ;  a  port- 
able telegraph  set,  mounted  in  some  convenient  manner;  200  ft.  of  flexible 
insulated  wire ;  2  coils  of  No.  6  galvanized  iron  wire ;  a  tent  and  poles  for 
telegraph  office;  a  small  "A."  tent  with  poles.,  to  use  for  a  water  closet,  if 
the  locality  of  the  wreck  requires  it;  and  a  railroad  velocipede.  And  then; 
there  should  be  a  set  of  car  repairer's  tools,  with  a  supply  of  center  pinsr 
center  plates,  side  bearings,  journal  bearings,  a  few  drawheads,  couplers 
and  three-link  couplings,  and  some  extra  air  brake  hose;  a  wheel  gage;  a 
quantity  of  ordinary  sizes  of  bolts,  short  and  long ;  a  quantity  of  waste  and 
car  oil,  packing  hook  and  knife ;  a  barrel  of  kerosene  oil ;  one  2-gal.  can  of 
signal  oil ;  one  2-gal.  can  of  machine  oil,  and  a  few  oilers ;  and  perhaps- 
several  other  articles  which  a  car  inspector  might  think  necessary  to  have 
in  such  an  emergency. 


Fig.  380. — Buckeye  Torch. 


Fig.  381. 


Fig.  382.— Tilden  Frog. 


There  should  be  24  oiled  suits  for  the  men  to  use  in  case  of  rain ;  and 
hip  rubber  boots  for  wading  in  water — say  6  pairs  of  No.  8  and  6  pairs  of 
No.  10.  A  flat-bottom  boat  is  also  very  useful  sometimes  at  wrecks,  and 
might  be  taken  along.  On  some  roads  two  or  three  dozen  umbrellas  are 
carried  in  the  tool  car  for  use  in  transferring  passengers  around  a  wreck 
in  wet  weather.  For  use  in  extinguishing  fire  there  should  be  two  empty 
oil  barrels,  40  strong  galvanized  water  buckets,  a  few  lengths  of  2-irL 
hose,  with  couplings  and  nozzle.  For  use  in  handling  freight  there. should 
be  100  jute  grain  sacks,  20  grain  baskets;  a  half  dozen  tarpaulins,  24x30 
ft.,  for  protecting  freight  from  rain :  a  dozen  hay-bale  hooks  and  six  pairs 
of  ice  tongs. 

For  work  at  night  there  should  be  about  20  hand  torches  and  two  pot 
torches.  The  way  to  place  torches  at  desirable  points  -around  a  wreck  is* 
to  drive  stakes  into  the  ground  and  fix  the  torches  on  the  stakes.  Oil-spray 
lights,  like  the  Wells  or  Buckeye  portable  torches,  are  commonly  used  in 
wrecking  work  at  night.  These  torches  (Fig.  380)  consist  of  a  tank,  a  hand 
pressure  pump  attached  thereto,  and  a  burner  standing  about  6  ft.  high 
on  the  end  of  a  pipe  which  enters  the  tank.  The  No.  3  torch  has  an  18x24- 
in.  tank,  holding  15  gals,  of  oil  besides  the  necessary  air  space.  The  weight 
when  empty  is  110  Ibs.  and  when  full,  245  Ibs.  This  size  burns  1  gal,  of 
kerosene  per  hour  and  produces  a  light  of  2000  candle  power.  The  pres- 
sure is  pumped  at  intervals  of  three  or  four  hours.  The  burner  is  first 


WRECKING 


'65 


heated  by  burning  a  little  oil  in  the  pan  underneath,  and  the  light  is  pro- 
duced by  passing  the  oil  through  this  heated  burner,  where  it  becomes 
vaporized  and  issues  in  a  white,  smokeless  flame  30  ins.  long,  which  is  not 
•affected  by  wind  or  rain.  Two  or  three  of  these  lights  are  usually  carried 
in  each  wrecking  outfit.  Old  locomotive  headlight^  are  also  serviceable  for 
night  work  at  wrecks.  They  are  used  to  best  advantage  if  placed  some 
-distance  away  and  set  so  as  to  throw  the  light  on  parts  of  the  wreck  from 
different  directions,  so  that  the  men  engaged  will  not  have  to  work  in  their 
•own  shadow.  'A  bonfire  may  also  be  used  to  good  advantage  for  light,  espe- 
cially on  a  side  hill,  and  in  cold  weather  it  is  needed  for  limbering  up  the 
men's  fingers,  benumbed  by  cold.  The  wreckage  will  oftentimes  supply 
the  fuel.  For  lighting  purposes  at  wrecks  some  roads  keep  on  hand  three 
•or  four  car-loads  of  cord  wood  or  rubbish  cut  up  into  cord-wood  length. 
The  lighting  power  of  a  bonfire  which  does  not  burn  up  quickly  enough 
may  be  "assisted"  by  throwing  on  some  rosin.  The  Pennsylvania  E.  E. 
has  a  car  fitted  up  with  a  boiler,  engine  and  10-light  dynamo,  with  a  crew 
•of  four  linemen  to  string  wires  and  set  lights  for  use  at  wrecks.  The  lights 
(arc  lights)  are  suspended  from  tripods  placed  here  and  there  about  the 
wreck,  and  mounted  on  top  of  the  car  there  is  a  search  light.  On  a  road 
like  this,  where  there  are  four  tracks  on  the  main  line,  there  are  facilities 
for  holding  such  a  car  at  a  wreck  which  cannot  be  had  on  single  and  double- 
track  roads.  It  would  be  practicable,  however,  to  carry  a  set  of  storage  bat- 
teries ready  charged  for  lighting  purposes.  These  might  be  arranged  under 
the  derrick  car  or  on  the  tool  car. 


Fig.  383. — Wrecking  Frog. 


Fig.  384. — Toe-Lifting  Jacks. 


Fig.  385. — Pearson  Jack. 


Fig.  386. 


Toe  lifting  with  hydraulic  jacks,  for  applying  the  lifting  force  near 
the  ground,  is  accomplished  by  either  of  two  different  arrangements,  as 
shown  on  the  Watson- Stillman  jacks  in  Fig.  384.  The  jack  shown  at 
the  right  of  the  figure  has  a  stationary  claw  cast  solid  with  the  lifting  cylin- 
der. The  jack  shown  at  the  left  has  an  independent  claw,  detachable  from 
the  jack,  so  that  it  need  not  be  used  when  there  is  no  toe  lifting  to  be 
done.  Hydraulic  jacks  of  20  tons'  capacity  weigh  200  to  225  Ibs.  and  30- 
ton  jacks  weigh  280  to  300  Ibs.  In  wrecking  it  is  frequently  a  matter  of 
convenience  to  set  jacks  canting,  so  as  to  lift  and  carry  at  the  same  time. 
Ordinary  jacks  are  not  well  adapted  for  this  sort  of  work,  since  when  the 


766 


WORK  TRAINS 


jack  tilts  over  the  bearing  comes  entirely  upon  one  side  of  the  base  and  is 
liable  to  crack  or  break  it.  The  Pearson  jack,,  shown  as  Figs.385  and  386, 
is  made  expressly  for  this  kind  of  work.  The  jack  is  composed  of  five- 
principal  pieces,  the  central  one  of  which  is  a  screw,  either  provided  with 
a  ratchet  or  formed  into  a  hexagonal  nut  at  the  middle,  with  holes  .for 
bars.  The  screw  turns  within  threaded  pieces  of  hollow  cast  iron,  which 
are  provided  with  swiveling  foot  and  head,  forming  the  bearing  parts  or 
shoes.  The  outer  portions  of  the  shoes  are  serrated  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  a  good  hold  upon  blocking  and  car  timbers.  The  25-ton  jack 
of  this  type  weighs  85  Ibs.  This  jack  is  a  convenient  device  for  placing 
derailed  cars  upon  the  track.  Two  jacks  are  used  under  the  end  of  tne 
car,  the  general  arrangement  being  to  set  both  jacks  to  lean  in  the  direction 
in  which  the  car  is  to  be  moved.  If  the  derailed  car  is  near  the  rails 
it  is  hoisted  until  the  treads  of  the  wheels  inside  the  track  and  the  flanges 
of  the  wheels  outside  the  track  just  clear  the  rails.  The  truck  will  then 
adjust  itself  to  the  rails,  the  flanges  of  the  wheels  inside  the  track  preventing 


Fig.  387.— Snow  Wrecking        Fig.  387  B.       Fig.  388.— Alexander  Wrecking  Frog. 
Frogs. 

the  truck  from  swinging  over  too  far.  If  the  derailed  car  is  some  distance? 
from  the  track  it  is  replaced  by  jacking  one  end  at  a  time,  shifting  the 
car  sidewise  by  swinging  first  one  end  and  then  the  other  over  toward  the} 
track.  In  order  to  have  the  truck  lift  with  the  car  it  is  necessary  to  secure 
it  in  some  way  to  the  cai  body.  One  way  to  do  this  is  to  chain  it  fast, 
either  by  taking  up  on  the  safety  chains  or  by  passing  a  chain  over  the  top 
of  the  car  or  through  the  car  floor.  For  passenger  cars  the  practice  of 
cutting  through  the  car  floor  is,  of  course,  objectionable.  A  device  which 
obviates  the  use  of  chains  is  the  Pearson  king-bolt  clamp  (Fig.  381).  It 
consists  essentially  of  a  strong  bar  bent  double,  to  hold  two  pawls  or 
knuckles  for  engaging  the  king-bolt  under  the  truck  bolster.  As  'the  car 
body  is  lifted  the  clamp  holds  fast  to  the  king-bolt  and  the  truck  is  lifted 
with  the  car,  and,  if  necessary,  may  be  swung  around  to  its  proper  position 
on  the  track.  Engraving  A,  over  Fig.  387,  shows  the  Pearson  ratchet 
pulling  jack,  which  is  used  where  a  short  and  powerful  pull  is  required,  as 
in  bringing  joints  and  connections  together. 

A  wrecking  frog  is  an  incline  of  some  sort  for  carrying  a  derailed 
wheel  to  the  level  of  the  top  of  the  rail,  at  the  same  time  shifting  it  laterally 
to  take  position  on  the  rail.  There  are  numerous  forms  of  wrecking  frogs.,. 
'derailing  frogs"  or  "car  replacers,"  as  they  are  variously  called,  and 
several  of  them  are  patented.  About  the  oldest  pattern,  and  one  that  is 
very  commonly  used,  is  illustrated  as  Fig.  383.  It  consists  of  a  heavy  bar 
pivoted  a,t  one  end  to  an  inverted,  flanged  U-strap  which  straddles  the  rail 
and  holds  the  bar  in  position  for  leading  the  wheel  onto  the  rail.  The  free 
end  is  formed  into  a  claw  for  fastening  to  a  tie.  The  device  is  used  in 
pairs — one  for  each  rail — and  in  light  work  gives  fairly  good  service,  but 


WRECKING 


767 


under  heavy  locomotives  or  heavily  loaded  cars  the  incline  bar  will  bend 
and  fail  to  do  its  work  satisfactorily.  Among  the  best  known  wrecking 
frogs  or  replacers  are  the  Alexander,,  the  Snow  and  the  Tilden.  The 
Alexander  replacer  (Fig.  388)  is  made  of  pressed  steel  ^  in.  thick.  The 
'weight  per  pair  is  140  to  150  Ibs.,  the  latter  corresponding  to  rails  higher 
than  5J-  ins.  The  higher  replacer  of  the  pair  is  placed  on  the  outside  of 
the  rail,  and  as  the  wheel  that  is  derailed  inside  the  track  is  lifted  to  top 
of  rail  the  outside  replacer  lifts  the  flange  of  its  wheel  over  the  rail.  The 
Snow  replacer  (Fig.  387)  consists  of  a  pair  of  inclines  of  dissimilar  design. 
The  part  placed  outside  the  rails  is  known  as  the  "male"  frog  and  the 
part  that  is  between  the  rails  is  the  "female"  frog.  The  latter  has  a  switch 
or  tongue  piece  which  enables  it  to  be  used  either  right  or  left.  At  the 
top  of  the  incline  on  the  male  frog  there  is  a  cone  which  crowds  the  wheel 
far  enough  laterally  to  carry  its  flange  over  the  rail.  On  both  these  frogs 
the  wheels  bear  on  the  treads,  thus  obviating  any  danger  of  breaking  the 
flanges.  The  frogs  may  be  placed  at  an  angle  with  the  rails,  and  when  the 
wheels  are  off  the  ties,  leads  of  rails  can  be  used  to  carry  the  wheels  to  the 
frogs.  As  the  maximum  hight  of  the  replacer  is  at  the  end,  the  incline  is 
gradual,  so  that  a  locomotive  can  pull  herself  up  without  assistance.  The 


/fJ5y^HJS7JBB'2w»W  , 


PJ.AN 
Fig.  389. — The  Burlington  Replacer. 

weight  of  the  frogs  is  215  Ibs.  per  pair.  The  Tilden  replacer  (Fig.  382) 
consists  of  a  pair  of  segmental  castings  with  the  tops  inclining  transversely, 
so  that  when  the  wheels  are  lifted  up  they  slide  onto  the  rails.  To  hold  the 
frog  to  its  place  there  is  a  clamp  fitting  to  the  base  of  the  rail.  The  John- 
son wrecking  frog  (Engraving  A,  over  Fig.  382)  consists  of  an  incline 
casting  which  straddles  the  rail,  with  ribs  at  the  edges  to  guide  the  wheel 
toward  the  rail.  In  rerailing  wheels  a  pair  -of  frogs  is  used,  as  shown  in 
the  illustration.  An  obvious  advantage  with  this  frog  is  that  it  cannot 
slip  out  from  under  the  wheel  when  the  load  comes  on.  The  standard 
rerailing  device  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey.  is  made  from  a 
segment  of  an  old  locomotive  driving  wheel  tire,  in  its  natural  shape,  with 
the  tread  beveled  and  the  flange  somewhat  turned  down,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  389.  This  piece  of  tire  is  filled  on  the  concave  side  with  oak  wood 
protected  on  the  bottom  by  a  piece  of  scrap  tank  iron,  fastened  with  f-in. 
steel  rivets  with  countersunk  heads  and  diamond  points  projecting  j  in.  as 
spurs  to  prevent  slipping  on  the  ties.  It  is  made  in  two  sizes,  the  smaller 
being  27  ins.  and  the  larger  32  ins.  in  length.  It  was  designed  by  Mr. 


768  WORK  TRAINS 

Henry  Miller,  assistant  superintendent  of  the  St.  Louis,  Keokuk  &  North- 
western E.  E.  Heavy  oak  wedges  about  3  to  4  ft.  in  length,  faced  with 
iron  plates,  commonly  known  as  "wrecking  inclines,"  are  useful  in  lifting 
derailed  wrheels  to  the  top  of  the  rail,  and  should  be  included  in  the  wreck- 
ing outfit.  The  bottom  plate  has  spurs  to  prevent  sliding  on  the  ties. 

All  these  tools  should  be  stamped  "Tool  Car"  and  have  besides  some 
distinguishing  mark  easily  seen.  It  is  usual  to  paint  part  of  the  tool 
or  its  handle  green  or  red.  A  skid  is  a  useful  thing  to  have  for  unloading 
heavy  tools  from  the  car,  and  it  also  comes  handy  in  handling  freight.  The 
heaviest  tools  should  be  placed  near  the  floor  of  the  car,  so  as  to  avoid 
making  it  top-heavy.  Hydraulic  jacks  should  be  kept  standing  upright. 
Such  an  outfit  constitutes  quite  a  little  shop  on  wheels,  but  all  these  tools 
can  be  made  use  of,  and  besides  the  tool  car  is  often  needed  at  work  other 
than  wrecks.  There  are  other  tools  which  might  be  needed  in  case  of  a 
washout  or  bridge  wreck,  but  most  roads  having  numerous  bridges  have 
pile  drivers,  and  special  cars  fitted  out  with  tools  and  appliances  for  bridge 
work. 

It  is  money  well  invested  to  equip  the  traffic  trains  with  a  few  wrecking 
appliances,  as  then  in  many  cases  of  derailment  they  can  help  themselves 
and  thus  avoid  the  delay  of  waiting  for  a  wreck  train.  Each  engine  should 
carry  a  pair  of  rerailing  frogs  and  a  pair  of  heavy  screw  jacks.  Each 
freight  caboose  should  carry  a  pair  of  rerailing  frogs,  a  pair  of  jour- 
nal jacks,  a  pair  of  20-in.  screw  jacks,  a  pair  of  Pearson  jacks,  with 
king-bolt  clamp;  a  ratchet  track  jack,  a  3-in.  switch  rope  30-ft.  long, 
with  hook  and  link  and  snatch  block;  two  f-in.  wrecking  chains,  each 
16  ft.  long,  with  ring  and  hook;  a  16-lb.  sledge  hammer,  a  machinist's 
hand  hammer,  two  heavy  cold  chisels,  a  hand  punch,  an  18-in.  monkey 
wrench,  hand  saw,  pinch  bar,  claw  bar,  ax,  spike  hammer,  two  track 
chisels  with  handles,  track  wrench,  two  pairs  of  splices,  some  track  spikes 
and  bolts,  some  wire  spikes  and  nails,  a  track  shovel;  a  few  pieces 
of  4xl2-in.  and  4x6-in.  blocking,  30  ins.  long,  and  a  few  pieces  2x8  ins.  xlS 
ins.  long.  The  heavy  and  bulky  tools  may  be  carried  in  a  cellar  suspended 
underneath  the  caboose. 

One  of  the  most  important  items  of  a  wrecking  outfit  is  the  block- 
ing. It  may  sometimes  happen  that  but  little  blocking  is  needed  at  a 
wreck,  but  when  it  is  needed  in  quantity  it  will  usually  be  hard  to  find 
if  it  is  not.  included  in  the  regular  list  of  wrecking  appliances.  Some 
blocking  is  always  needed  for  jack  footings,  while  on  rough  ground  it  is 
needed  for  cribbing  and  in  soft  places  it  comes  handy  for  corduroying  or 
for  packing  between  ties.  The  best  blocking  for  general  purposes  is  sound 
white  pine,  since  it  is  strong  and  light  to  handle,  but  old  car  and  bridge 
timbers  answer  the  purpose  very  well,  and  are  extensively  used.  It  is  a 
wise  provision  to  carry  plenty  of  it;  say  40  pieces  6x8  ins.  x8  ft.,  40  piece? 
6x8  ins.  x4  ft.,  40  pieces  4x6  ins.  x3  ft.,  40  pieces  4x12x30  ins.,  24  pieces 
3x12  ins.  x2  ft.,  24  pieces  2x6  ins.  x  2  ft.,  24  pieces  1x6  ins.  x2  ft.,  20  oak- 
wedges,  1x6x12  ins.,  and  twenty  2x12x18  ins.;  1  bundle  of  shingles.  The 
6x8-in.  pieces  may  be  sawed  track  ties,  of  any  light  wood.  There  ought 
also  to  be  two  pieces  of  pine,  8x14  ins.  x  14  ft.,  to  be  used  as  bolsters  in 
jacking  up  car  bodies;  and  6  pieces  of  7x16  ins.  x3  ft.  pine,  or  6x14  ins.  x3 
ft.,  oak,  to  be  used  as  rests  for  the  heavy  jacks.  This  blocking  is  most 
conveniently  accessible  if  carried  on  a  flat  car  provided  with  suspended 
side  planks  for  steps,  and  with  2x2-in.  strips  spiked  or  bolted  at  the  outside 
edge  of  the  floor  for  grab-pieces.  The  blocking  may  be  stacked  up  at  one 
end,  between  side  boards.  On  this  car  it  is  also  well  to  carry  six  30-ft. 
rails;  2  pieces  of  rail  12  ft,  long  and  4  pieces  16  to  20  ft,  long,  for  skids; 


WRECKING  769 

a  standard  rigid  frog,  a  set  of  switch  points,  and  a  ground-lever  switch 
stand.  For  various  purposes  there  might  also  be  carried  on  this  car 
several  pieces  each  of  2x12  ins.  x24  ft.,  1x12  ins.  x!6  ft.,  1x6  ins.  x!6  ft., 
2x4  ins.  x!6  ft.,  rough  lumber.  On  this  car  or  on  top  of  the  tool  car  there 
should  be  carried  a  strong  ladder,  30  ft  long,  and  four  short  ladders  which 
can  be  joined  together  with  it.  On  bridge  repair  cars  and  painters'  cars 
a  long  box  is  sometimes  arranged  on  the  roof  for  carrying  the  ladders.  It 
is  also  a  good  plan  to  carry  a  gang  plank  and  a  runway,  for  transferring 
freight. 

The  wrecking  outfit  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Ry.,  at  Tacoma,  Wash., 
includes  a  double-deck  car,  designed  by  Mr.  H.  H.  Warner,  superintendent 
of  shops,  for  carrying  equipment  which  cannot  conveniently  be  stored  in 
an  enclosed  car,  such  as  car  trucks,  rails,  timbers,  blocking,  etc.  As  shown 
in  Fig.  389  A,  there  is  a  flat  car,  with  side  stakes  8  or  9  ft.  long  well  braced 
longitudinally.  These  stakes  support  the  upper  deck,  which  is  about  62 
ins.  clear  of  the  car  floor.  Of  this  space  40  ins.  is  set  apart  for  car  trucks 
and  wheels,  and  22  ins.  immediately  under  the  upper  deck  is  used  for  storing 
long  bridge  timbers,  etc.,  on  rods  through  the  stakes.  Except  for  the  stakes, 
the  sides  of  the  lower  deck  are  open,  but  the  upper  deck  is  sided  up.  The 
lower  deck  is  designed  to  carry  three  pairs  of  trucks  and  a  pair  of  mounted 


Fig.  389A — Wrecking    Supply   Car,    Northern    Pacific    Ry. 

wheels,  on  one  end  of  the  car,  with  the  derrick  car  outrigging,  rails,  wheel 
skids,  track  levers,  etc.,  in  the  center  of  the  floor  and  at  the  sides  of  the 
trucks.  The  upper  deck  carries  ties,  assorted  blocking,  etc.  Under  the 
car  there  is  a  locker  for  storing  small  supplies,  such  as  spikes,  splice  bars, 
track  bolts,  track  and  other  tools.  The  respect  in  which  the  car  is  par- 
ticularly convenient  is  that  the  appliances  are  arranged  where  they  can 
be  readily  removed  without  having  to  handle  over  other  material. 

Tool  Cars. — In  order  that  wrecking  tools  may  be  readily  accessible 
when  they  are  wanted  it  is  necessary  to  have  systematically  arranged  TOO! 
cars.  Many  of  the  large  railway  systems  go  to  considerable  expense  in 
fitting  up  tool  cars,  providing  for  the  purpose  cars  mounted  on  passenger 
trucks,  on  the  style  of  a  baggage  car  and  about  the  same  size.  An  ordinary 
arrangement  is  to  have  two  covered  tool  cars  in  the  wrecking  train,  one  of 
which  is  divided  into  two  compartments — one  being  used  for  tools  and  the 
other,  provided  with  seats  and  perhaps  berths  and  kitchen  accommodations 
also,  for  the  regular  wrecking  crew.  As  an  example  of  a  wrecking  train 
and  equipment  of  the  better  class,  reference  may  be  made  to  some  of  the 
details  of  the  outfit  of  the  Chicago  Terminal  division  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Lines  West,  omitting  mention  of  many  kinds  of  tools  and  appliances  to  oe 
found  in  any  up-.to-date  collection  of  the  kind.  The  wrecking  train  con- 
sists of  five  cars  as  follows :  one  steam  derrick  car,  one  truck  car,  one 
"'maintenance-of-way  car,"  one  block  and  tool  car  and  one  commissary  and 
tool  car.  The  truck  car  is  an  ordinary  flat  car  carrying  four  heavy  trucks, 
and  an  assortment  of  center  plates,  side  bearings,  Janney  knuckles  for 


7  ;  0  WORK  TRAINS 

couplers,  etc.,  in  the  "possum  belly"  underneath  the  car.  The  mainte- 
nance-of-way  car  is  an  ordinary  flat  car  carrying  a  quantity  of  rails,  ties, 
spikes  and  other  fastenings,  split  switches  and  frogs,  with  a  full  set  of  track 
tools  in  the  '"possum  belly." 

The  block  and  tool  car  resembles  a  baggage  car  in  exterior  appearance, 
and  carries  a  large  quantity  of  blocking,  together  with  a  portion  of  the 
tools,  including  the  ropes.  The  latter  equipment  includes  3-in.  manila 
rope  in  lengths  of  30,  300  and  600  ft.,  two  pieces  of  5-in.  rope  35  ft.  long, 
and  two  pieces  of  2J-in.  rope  300  ft.  long  (for  block  and  tackle),  all  except 
the  last  two  pieces  having  hooks  and  links  spliced  into  the  ends.  For  the 
3-in.  rope  there  are  three  large  snatch  blocks  which  are  used  in  the  plac*,- 
of  tackle  blocks,  being  considered  more  expeditious  when  it  comes  to 
arranging  tackle.  There  are  eight  10-ton  Barrett  lever  jacks,  a  20-ft. 
piece  of  chain  made  of  1-in.  links,  two  sets  of  Tilden  rerailing  frogs,  two 
tarpaulins  30  ft.  square,  a  large  canvas  apron  for  transferring  grain  from 
cars,  with  eyelets  for  attaching  to  the  sides  of  the  door;  two  Wells  lights, 
30  hand  torches,  6  Cox  torches,  each  arranged  to  set  upon  a  staff ;  12  bushel 
baskets,  12  coke  forks  and  20  scoop  shovels.  The  oils  are  stowed  away  in 
a  separate  closet.  Figure  390  shows  interior  views  taken  from  both  ends 
of  this  car.  The  various  pieces  of  hose  used  with  a  fire  pump  on  the 
derrick  car  are  disposed  overhead.  At  one  end  of  the  car  the  racks 
extend  half  way  to  the  roof,  and  on  top  of  the  same  space  is  provided  for 
a  few  bunks. 


Fig.  390. — Interior  Views  of  Blocking  and  Tool  Car,  Penna.  Lines  West. 

The  combined  commissary  and  tool  car  is  of  coach  constructon  and  is 
partitioned  off' into  a  kitchen  at  one  end  and  a  dining  room  and  sleeping 
apartment  at  the  other.  In  the  kitchen  there  is  a  range,  with  pantry,  ice 
box,  dishes,  cooking  utensils,  and  the  usual  assortment  of  canned  goods 
and  other  common  provisions  are  carried  in  stock.  In  the  sleeping  room 
there  are  lower  and  upper  single  berths,  with  other  berths  located  in  various 
parts  of  the  car,  provision  being  made,  altogether,  for  16  men  to  sleep  in 
the  car.  The  upper  berths  have  hair  mattresses.  Extra  bedding  is  also 
carried  for  16  men,  consisting  of  a  double  woolen  blanket,  two  sheets, 
a  comforter  and  one  pillow  for  each  man.  In  the  sleeping  end  of 
the  car  there  is  an  office  desk,  and  a  dining  table  5x6  ft.  in  size,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  392.  The  tools  and  other  appliances  carried  in  this 
car  include,  among  other  wrecking  appliances,  a  box  of  carpenter's 
tools,  one  hundred  2 -bushel  sacks,  fusees,  aprons  and  bibs  for  handling 


WRECKING 


771 


meat  in  case  of  wreck  to  a  refrigerator  car,  white,  red  and  blue  lanterns,  12 
axes,  extra  telegraph  wire,  a  fence  wire  stretcher,  two  Babcock  fire  extin- 
guishers and  four  30-ton  and  two  20-ton  hydraulic  jacks.  There  is  an 
ingenious  device  for  passing  the  jacks  to  and  from  the  car,  consisting 
of  a  small  crane  attached  to  the  door  post  and  arranged  to  swing  out  of  the 
•car,  as  shown  in  Fig.  391.  The  jacks  are  hoisted  or  lowered  by  means  of 
a  small  set  of  block  and  tackle.  The  arrangement  is  found  to  be  very 
convenient  and  a  means  of  saving  time.  One  of  the  fire  extinguishers  and  a 
vise  appear  also  in  the  view,  which  is  somewhat  distorted,  owing  to  the 
unfavorable  position  of  the  camera  in  cramped  quarters.  The  train  is 
provided  with  air  brakes  and  air  signals  throughout.  The  wrecking  crew 
•consists  of  a  wreckmaster,  an  assistant  wreckmaster  and  an  engineer  for  the 
steam  derrick,  assisted  by  a  gang  of  nine  men,  who  work  in  the  shops  and 
reside  near  by.~  These  men  are  within  call  at  all  hours.  During  working 
hours  in  the  shops  the  call  for  a  wreck  is  three  short  blasts  of  the  shop 


Fig.  391. — Crane  for  Handling  Jacks.  Fig.  392. — Dining  and  Sleeping  Room. 

Commissary  and  Tool  Car,  Pennsylvania  Lines  West. 

whistle.  At  night  the  men  are  called  by  an  electric  alarm  system  running 
around  to  the  different  homes.  Ordinarily  this  crew  handles  all  the  work 
at  wrecking,  including  slight  repairs  to  the  track.  When  the  track  is  con- 
siderably damaged  section  men  are  picked  up  by  the  train  en  route  to  the 
wreck.  In  the  commissary  car  there  is  carried  a  telegraph  outfit  neatly 
packed  in  a  box,  with  wire  and  all  facilities  for  setting  it  up  at  any  point 
along  the  line.  When  running  to  a  'bad  wreck  the  telegraph  operator  is 
taken  from  the  nearest  station  and  a  telegraph  office  is  set  up  at  the  wreck. 
On  small  roads  the  tool  car  equipment  is  not  usually  as  elaborate  as 
the  foregoing,  and  it  is  not  necessary,  for  box  cars  can  be  fitted  up  quite  as 
•conveniently  for  the  tools,  and  the  work-train  caboose  can  be  used  to 
•carry  the  men.  As  a  general  thing  the  most  extensive  equipments  are 
to  be  found  with  the  larger  roads,  but  the  variety  needed  by  the  small 
road  will  be  quite  as  large,  if  it  should  not  contain  so  many  pieces  of  each 
kind  or  so  varied  an  assortment  of  each  kind.  The  actual  requirements 
of  different  roads  may  call  for  a  different  assortment  of  tools,  in  some 
respects,  to  suit  special  conditions,  but  in  the  main  the  list  is  about  the  same 
for  all,  so  far  as  regards  the  most  important  tools  or  those  most  commonly 
used.  In  fitting  out  a  box  car  for  a  tool  car  a  large,  new  car,  34  ft.  long 
inside,  or  longer,  if  possible,  should  be  selected.  The  interior  should  have 


772  WORK  TRAINS 

good  light,  which  may  be  supplied  by  placing  two  windows  in  each  side 
of  the  car,,  one  on  either  side  of  the  door,  and  a  door  in  each  end  of  the 
car  with  a  window  in  the  upper  panel.       There  should  be  a  cellar  under 
the  car,  to  hold  rerailing  frogs,   chains,   draw-heads,  etc. ;  and  a  plank 
should  be  hung  at  each  side  of  the  car,  under  the  door,  to  serve  as  a  step, 
and  convenient  grab-irons  should  be  provided  for  getting  into  and  out 
of  the  car.      Inside  the  car  there  should  be  hooks  at  the  side,  on  which  to 
string  out  the  ropes ;  pegs  for  shovels,  racks  for  bars,  boxes  and  locker » 
for  small  and  valuable  tools,  etc.      There  should  be  a  flat-top  heating  stove 
well  secured  to  the  floor,  some  fuel,  and  a  6-gal.  coffee  pot ;  several  packages 
of  ground  coffee,  and  a  dozen  tin  cups  for  passing  around  hot  coffee.-    There- 
should  also  be  a  box  properly  lined  for  storing  ice  temporarily,  which  might 
be  placed  as  a  compartment  of  the  cellar,  underneath.     There  should  be  a 
small,  heavy  work  bench  with  a  6-in,  machinist's  vise,  and  a  good  assortment 
of  flat,  quarter  round,  half  round,  and  three-cornered  files. 

In  one  corner  of  the  car  there  should  be  a  closet  or  medicine  chest 
under  special  lock  and  key.     This  closet  should  be  supplied  with  a  stock  of 
medicines,  instruments,  bandages,  stretchers,   etc.,   such   as  any  railroad 
surgeon  can  direct.     It  is  desirable,  however,  to  have  an  emergency  chest 
containing  such  simple  appliances  as  are  usually  administered  in  the  way 
of  "first  aid  to  the  injured,"  or  when  immediate  professional  assistance 
cannot  be  procured.       The  wrecking  cars  of  the  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans 
&  Texas  Pacific  Ky.  have  ambulance  chests  fully  equipped  with  muslin 
bandages,  cotton    (absorbent  and  carbonated),  adhesive  plaster,  sponges, 
vaseline,  tourniquet,  scissors,  and  all  the  other  necessaries  for  a  complete 
emergency  outfit,  so  that  they  can  be  readily  available  in  case  of  need, 
With  each  chest  are  the  following  printed  instructions  for  the  information 
of  the  employees:       "Arrest  bleeding  from  wounds  by  pressure  with  a 
sponge  moistened  with  cold  or  very  hot  water;  if  the  loss  of  blood  is  con- 
siderable, apply  the  tourniquet,     The  pad  of  the  latter  must  be  applied 
to  the  inner  side  of  the  arm  below  the  shoulder,  in  injuries  of  the  arm; 
and  to  the  front  surface  of  the  thigh,  below  the  groin,  in  those  of  the  leg. 
.    .    .   .    .    .    .In  small,  clean-cut  wounds,  bring  the  edges  together  with 

strips  of  adhesive  plaster;  in  wounds  more  than  an  inch  in  length,  unite 

the  edges  with  stitches If  the  wound  is  ragged  and  torn, 

clean  it  as  thoroughly  as  possible;  then  cover  it  with  vaseline  and  a  thick 
layer  of  cotton.  Fix  this  dressing  by  applying  a  bandage  as  evenly  as 
possible,  and  with  moderate  firmness When  a  limb  is  evi- 
dently broken,  place  it  in  as  natural  a  position  as  possible,  until  the  local 
surgeon  of  the  company  can  see  the  patient." 

To  carry  the  wrecking  tools  and  appliances  heretofore  listed  as  essen- 
tial to  a  complete  outfit,  at  least  two  covered  cars  are  necessary.  Usually 
one  car  is  needed  for  the  ropes,  jacks  and  chains.  The  most  convenient- 
place  to  carry  track  shovels,  bars  and  spike  hammers  is  in  two  large, 
strongly  built  and  tightly  covered  boxes  on  a  flat  car.  When  box  cars  are 
used  for  tool  cars  the  roofs  of  the  same  may  be  provided  with  flat  racks 
for  carrying  the  wire  cables.  The  cables  may  be  rolled  up  in  large  coils, 
and  when  carried  aloft  they  should  be  securely  tied  in  place.  To  keep 
them  from  rusting  rapidly  when  thus  exposed  they  may  be  painted. 

The  tool  cars,  with  their  contents,  should  be  placed  in  charge  of  one 
man,  who  should  have  a  list  of  everything  in  them,  be  accountable  for 
everything  leaving  them,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  be  expected  to  get  every- 
thing back.  He  should  live  within  easy  reach  of  the  car,  and  arrange- 
ments should  be  made  to  call  him,  either  by  day  or  by  night,  by  an  electric 
bell  operated  from  the  dispatcher's  office.  He  should  accompany  the 


WRECKING  773 

wrecking  train  on  all  occasions,  and  be  provided  with  a  cot  or  bunk  so  that 
he  can  stay  with  it;  and  provision  should  be  made  for  some  one  to  take 
.his  place  in  case  of  sickness.  An  ingenious  blacksmith  is  the  best  man 
for  such  a  position,  because  he  can  usually  be  given  steady  work  about  the 
company's  headquarters,  and  time  spent  with  the  car  can  be  considered 
part  of  his  duties ;  and  also  because  a  blacksmith  is  always  a  handy  man  to 
have  around  any  place  where  promiscuous  work  is  going  on.  He  should, 
after  every  occasion  on  which  the  tools  are  used,  be  allowed  time  to  put 
the  cars  in  order;  repairing  broken  or  bent  tools;  making  requisition  for 
those  broken  beyond  repair,  or  for  tools  lost;  washing  dirty  rope  and 
splicing  broken  ones;  cleaning  and  oiling  tools,  etc.  The  large  blocks 
should  be/ carefully  examined  after  doing  heavy  service,  taking  them  apart 
occasionally  to  inspect  for  bent  pins,  chipped  sheaves  or  cracked  strops. 
He  should  closely  inspect  the  wrecking  cars,  including  the  derrick  car,  and 
see  that  the  axle  boxes  are  kept  well  oiled,  so  that  they  may  stand  a  long, 
fast  run  without  heating ;  in  short  he  should  have  the  cars,  in  every  detail, 
always  ready  to  go  at  a  moment's  notice. 

The  proper  care  of  the  large  ropes  requires  considerable  attention. 
They  should  be  kept  clean,  and  it  is  worth  a  good  deal  of  pains  to  keep  them 
free  from  oil,  which  greatly  weakens  rope.  In  order  to  have  tackle  over- 
haul freely  the  extra  turns  should  be  taken  out  of  the  new  rope  when  it 
is  uncoiled,  and  it  should  be  rove  with  the  lay.  In  using  triple  or  quadruple 
blocks  with  tackle  that  is  not  liable  to  be  pulled  "block  and  block,"  the  rope 
should  be  rove  through  the  outside  sheaves  first  and  the  middle  or  inter- 
mediate sheaves  last.  This  arrangement  crosses  the  ropes  on  one  side  of 
the  tackle,  but  the  hauling  part  of  the  tackle  pulls  directly  on  the  center 
of  the  block  and  keeps  it  in  line ;  whereas  if  passed  through  a  side  sheave 
it  will  cant  the  block  with  the  first  strain,  and  the  ropes  will  not  render 
freely.  As  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  lug  tackle  a  considerable  distance 
to  a  wreck,  the  best  plan  is  perhaps  to  unreeve  it  each  time  it  is  put  in  the 
tool  car  and  keep  the  blocks  and  rope  separate.  It  is  easier  to  carry  in  this 
shape,  and,  taking  one  time  with  another,  more  quickly  rigged,  than  when 
carried  around  already  rove.  The  ropes  are  also  easier  to  clean,  they  will 
dry  quicker  after  being  wet,  and  the  blocks  are  more  accessible  to  inspection, 
if  the  tackle  is  unrove  each  time  it  is  taken  in  from  a  wreck.  Two  good 
articles  on  the  design  of  blocks  and  the  rigging  of  tackle  for  wrecking  pur- 
poses, by  Mr.  P.  W.  Hynes,  of  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Eapids  &  Northern 
Ry.,  were  published  in  the  Railroad  Gazette  of  Dec.  5  and  19,  1890. 

Derrick  Cars. — A  wrecking  outfit  is  never  complete  without  a  derrick 
car.  Although  its  use  is  not  always  indispensable,  scarcely  no  road  can 
afford  to  be  without  one,  because  it  can  be  used  to  much  advantage  in  hand- 
ling heavy  objects  generally.  The  lifting  mechanism  of  a  wrecking  car  is 
sometimes  a  derrick  and  sometimes  a  crane,  but  in  common  practice  the 
distinction  is  overlooked  and  a  car  equipped  with  either  machine  is  called 
a  "derrick  car."  (The  essential  difference  between  a  derrick  and  a  crane 
is  that  the  former  is  rigged  with  tackle  for  raising  or  lowering  the  boom, 
while  in  the  latter  the  inclination  of  the  boom,  while  lifting,  is  fixed.)  The 
best  derrick  cars  are  made  principally  of  steel.  The  frame  of  the  car  body 
is  of  steel  I-beams  or  channels  and  the  mast  of  the  derrick  (if  a  hand 
machine)  is  heavy  riveted  plate.  As  a  means  of  increasing  its  stability 
the  car  is  equipped  with  adjustable  grappling  hooks  or  tongs  for  fasten- 
ing to  the  rail,  and  with  car  jacks  for  supporting  the  car  under  the  side 
sills.  The  mast  of  a  hand  derrick  car  should  be  hollow  and  so  arranged 
that  a  rope  may  be  passed  down  through  it,  over  pulleys,  to  be  pulled  by 
the  locomotive,  when  convenient  and  desirable  to  do  so.  Steam  derrick  cars 


774 


WORK  TRAIXS 


having  a  lifting  capacity  as  high  as  40  tons  are  extensively  used,  and  are 
often  made  to  lift  a  loaded  box  car  bodily  and  swing  it  onto  a  flat  car; 
and  frequently  a  light  locomotive  is  lifted  bodily.  Hand  derricks  are  ser- 
viceable, but  are  slower  of  movement  in  lifting  than  steam  derricks  and 
are  not  made  of  nearly  so  large  capacity,  15  tons  being  about  the  maximum. 
The  convenience  of  a  derrick  car  depends  a  good  deal  upon  the  location 
of  the  derrick  on  the  car.  A  derrick  on  one  end  of  the  car  can  reach  farther 
over  another  car  when  loading  than  where  the  derrick  is  in  the  middle  of  a 
short  car;  but  when  it  happens  to  come  the  wrong  end  to  the  work,  it  (the 
car)  must  first  be  turned  around,  thus  frequently  causing  troublesome  delay. 
Another  advantage  with  the  short  car  mounting  a  derrick  in  the  middle 
is  that  pieces  of  the  wreck,  like  a  truck,  for  instance,  may  be  lifted  from 
the  ground  in  front  of  the  car  and  swung  around  and  loaded  upon  a  flat 
car  in  the  rear;  or  in  placing  good  trucks  under  wrecked  car  bodies,  they 
may  be  taken  from  a  flat  car  in  rear  of  the  derrick  and  swung  around  to 
the  front.  In  either  case  the  derrick  has  free  action  in  front.  The  best 
form  of  hand  machine  is  a  car  with  a  derrick  on  each  end.  It  ha?  the 
advantage  of  always  having. a  derrick  on  the  right  end  of  the  car,  the  lifting 
capacity  of  the  two  derricks  can  be  united,  and  frequently  both  derricks  can 
be  used  at  the  same  time  independently  of  each  other.  Hand  derricks 


Fig.  393.— Hand  Wrecking  Car,  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 

should  have  two  speeds  for  lifting.  The  boom  should  be  curved,  so  as 
to  allow  of  more  freedom  of  movement  in  turning  objects  lifted  high,  such 
as  box  cars,  and  its  reach  or  radius  should  be  at  least  16  ft.,  and  the  lift  at 
least  12  ft.  above  the  rail.  The  lower  block  of  the  derrick  «hould  be  heavy, 
so  as  to  assist  in  overhauling  the  tackle,  and  at  the  same  time  short,  so  as 
to  permit  a  maximum  hoist  for  the  hight  of  the  boom.  It  should  have  a 
heavy  swiveling  hook.  The  stability  of  the  car  becomes  less  as  the  derrick 
works  at  a  greater  angle  from  the  direction  of  the  track.  A  beam  or  out- 
rigger running  out  opposite  the  derrick  mast  and  supported  at  its  end  by 
a  jack  or  upon  blocking,  affords  one  means  of  increasing  the  stabili^-  of 
the  car  under  a  heavy  side  lift.  The  top  of  the  mast  should  be  provided 
with  attachments  for  guy  ropes,  so  that  it  may  be  stayed  to  surrounding- 
objects  when  an  extra  heavy  load  is  to  be  lifted. 

Figure  393  is  a  view  of  a  double-masted  hand  power  wrecking  car 
used  on  the  Oregon  Short  Line  branch  of  the  Union  Pacific  E.  E.  (The 
standard  wrecking  cars  of  the  main  line  are  each  equipped  with  a  steam 
power  derrick.)  The  car  is  33  ft.  long,  8J  ft.  wide  and  weigh?  69,235 
Ibs.  The  car  frame  is  composed  of  four  12-in.  I-beams  and  the  masts 
of  the  cranes  are  constructed  of  rolled  steel  plates  riveted  together.  The 


WRECKING  775 

jibs  are  built  up  of  steel  channels  and  plates.  The  hoisting  mechanism 
consists  of  spur  gearing,  arranged  for  two  speeds  in  hoisting,  and  provided 
with  an  automatic  brake  which  holds  the  load  in  any  position  and  prevents 
the  winch  handles  from  flying  back.  The  loads  may  be  lowered  by  revers- 
ing the  handles  or  releasing  the  brake.  The  capacity  of  each  crane  is  15 
tons.  When  lifting  on  single  gear  the  crank  makes  six  revolutions  to  one* 
of  the  drum  and  when  on  double  gear,  11  revolutions  to  one  revolution  of 
the  drum.  The  weight  of  the  crane  and  machinery  is  carried  by  a  series 
of  steel  balls  upon  the  top  of  the  crane  post,  and  roller  bearings  are  also 
provided  at  the  base  of  the  mast.  Each  crane  is  provided  with  a  locomotive 
pulling  attachment,  for  handling  heavy  loads  rapidly,  the  rope  pass-ing  over 
a  sheave  at  the  end  of  the  jib,  thence  down  through  the  mast  and  out 
under  the  car  to  the  drawhead  of  the  locomotive.  There  are  four  car 
jacks  and  four  sets  of  rail  tongs  at  each  end  of  the  car,  and  the  car  is  air- 
braked.  Under  the  middle  of  the  car  there  is  a  cellar  for  carrying  snatch 
blocks,  ropes  and  chains. 


Fig   394.— Wrecking   Car  with   Wooden    Derrick. 

Taking  up  steam  wrecking  cars  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  evolved, 
the  first  to  receive  attention  are  cars  with  wooden  derricks,  and  such  are 
still  extensively  in  service  and  capable  of  doing  heavy  work.  On  general 
lines  the  car  shown  in  Fig.  394  is  typical  of  this  style  of  construction, 
although  certain  details  of  the  design  are  objectionable.  The  power  con- 
sists of  a  double-cylinder  engine  with  two  drums,  one  of  which  works  the 
tackle  for  raising  and  lowering  the  boom  and  the  other  the  main  lifting 
tackle  suspended  from  the  end  of  the  boom.  The  tackle  suspended  at  the 
shorter  radius  is  worked  by  a  locomotive  line  passed  under  the  car  deck  at 
the  foot  of  the  mast  and  out  under  the. rear  of  the  car,  as  shown.  Such 
a  line  and  tackle  are  not  used  on  a  steam  derrick  car,  but  are  drawn  in  the 
figure  to  show  the  arrangement  on  derricks  .that  are  not  operated  by  steam. 
The  car  shown  has  a  trussed  boom,  but  a  12xl2-in.  stick  of  timber  is  fre- 
quently used  for  this  purpose.  For  setting  bridge  material  out  ahead,  a 
boom  as  long  as  40  ft,  is  sometimes  used,  and  on  some  roads  as  many  as 
three  booms  of  different  lengths  are  carried  with  the  car  for  various  kinds 
of  work.  The  boom  is  swung  laterally  by  means  of  hand  tackle  anchored 
at  the  front  corners  of  the  car.  The  stability  of  the  car  in  heavy  side 
lifting  is  assisted  by  grappling  tongs  and  body  jacks,  as  shown.  The  front 
stiff-legs  which  brace  the  top  of  the  mast,  when  arranged  as  shown,  do  not 
permit  enough  lateral  swing  for  the  boom,  and  in  this  respect  the  cTesign 
is  improper.  These  stiff-legs  should  brace  the  mast  transversely  with 


776 


WORK  TRAINS 


respect  to  the  car,  so  as  to  permit  the  boom  to  swing  to  a  right  angle  with 
the  car.  The  sills  of  these  cars  are  frequently  built  of  steel  I-beams  or 
channels. 

Figure  395  is  a  view  showing  one  of  the  first  types  of  steam  wrecking 
car  designed  and  built  by  the  Industrial  Works,  of  Bay  City,  Mich.  It  is  in 
use  on  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  E.  E.,  Great  Northern  Ey.,  Chicago 
&  Eastern  Illinois  E.  E.  and  other  roads.  The  jib  is  a  heavy  girder  construc- 
ted of  plates  and  angles,  and  straddles  a  mast  built  as  a  Phoenix  column. 
The  forward  end  of  the  car  is  supported  upon  two  locomotive  trucks,  the  I- 
beams  appearing  just  above  the  car  floor,  on  either  side  of  the  mast,  serving 
as  equalizers.  The  jib  radius  for  lifting  is  24  ft.  and  the  jib  is  supported 
cantilever  fashion  by  two  struts  and  two  tension  bars  attached  to  a  collar 
revolving  about  the  mast.  The  inclination  of  the  jib  for  lifting  is  fixed, 
but  while  in  transit  the  jib  is  lowered  to  a  horizontal  position  by  slipping 
the  pin  holding  it  to  the  two  tension  bars.  It  is  lowered  or  raised  to  or  from 
the  horizontal  position  by  tackle  operated  by  steam  power.  When  in  posi- 
tion for  service  the  jib  bears  against  the  mast  by  a  saddle  about  4  ft.  above 


Fig.  395.— Steam  Wrecking  Car,  Great  Northern  Ry. 

the  deck  of  the  car.  The  lifting  capacity  of  the  crane  is  rated  at  35  tons  at 
a  24-ft.  radius,  but  loads  of  40  tons  have  been  lifted  by  it  repeatedly.  The 
crane  is  turned  by  a  pinion  engaging  with  a  segment  gear  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  jib.  The  car  is  self  propelling.  The  car  body  is  of  steel  I-beam  con- 
struction, and  the  total  weight  of  car  and  machinery  is  64  tons.  Figure 
396  shows  an  earlier  form  of  this  car,  with  the  jib  lowered  into  the  horizon- 
tal position.  With  the  exception  of  the  jib,  which  is  of  tubular  construc- 
tion, of  flanged  and  riveted  steel  boiler  plate,  the  two  cars  are  very  similar. 
The  plates  of  the  jib  are  riveted  to  a  heavy  casting  encircling  the  mast. 
The  thickness  of  the  plates  varies  from  f  in.  at  the  casting  to  f  in.  at  the 
end.  Cars  with  this  form  of  crane  are  in  use  on  the  Denver  &  Eio  Grande, 
the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern,  the  Mich- 
igan Central,  the  Grand  Trunk  and  other  roads.  The  weight  of  the  car 
(D.&E.  G.  E.  E.)  is  128,900  Ibs. 

Another  design  of  steam  wrecking  car,  made  by  the  Bucyrus  Co.,  South 


WRECKING 


Fig.  396. — Steam  Wrecking  Car,  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R. 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  is  shown  in  Fig.  397,  in  actual  service.  The  car  frame  is 
42  ft.  long  and  10  ft.  wide,  and  is  built  with  15-in.  steel  I-beams.  It  is 
carried  upon  three  heavy  4- wheel  diamond  trucks — one  at  the  rear  and  two 
at  the  front  end.  The  load  upon  these  front  trucks  is  distributed  from  a 
center  bearing  on  an  equalizing  frame  between  the  car  sills.  The  crane 
consists  of  a  structural  steel  A-frame,  pin  connected,  and  a  jib  33  ft.  long 
made  of  two  15-in.  steel  channels  with  cover  plates,  forming  a  solid  box 
girder.  The  top  of  the  A-frame  is  provided  with  eye  bolts  and  rings  for  at- 
taching side  guys  when  required.  The  back  guys  and  jib  guys  are  solid  forged 
steel  eye  bars,  the  latter  (two)  having  a  rear  extension  to  provide  for  a  pin 
connection  with  the  A-frame  when  the  jib  is  lowered  to  prepare  for  trans- 
portation. The  A-frame  stands  15  J  ft.  high  above  the  rail,  and  the  main 
hoist  has  a  clear  lift  of  18  ft.,  from  rail  to  hook.  The  raising  or  lowering 
of  the  jib  is  quickly  accomplished  by  hoisting  through  a  snatch  block  at- 
tached to  the  A-frame.  The  main  hoist,  which  works  at  a  radius  of  224  ft., 


Fig.  397. — bteam  Wrecking  Car,  Gulf,  Colorado  &  Santa  Fe  Ry. 


778 


WORK  TTUIXS 


has  a  six-part  tackle  of  1-in.  steel  wire  cable,  running  in  24-in.  sheaves,,  and 
the  lifting  speed  is  10  ft.  per  minute.  Suspended  from  the  end  of  the  jib, 
for  quickly  handling  light  loads  there  is  a  secondary  hoist  consisting  of  a 
three-part  1-J-in.  manila  rope  long  enough  to  reach  75  ft.  from  the  end  of  the 
jib.  The  auxiliary  equipment  also  includes  two  winch  heads,  commonly 
called  "nigger  heads,"  for  direct  pulling  independently  of  the  main  hoist, 
or  for  hauling  the  car  along  the  track  by  warping.  These  heads,  there  being- 
one  on  either  side  of  the  car,  are  fitted  to  a  cross  shaft  underneath  the  sills 
of  the  car,  at  the  middle,  and  are  removable.  The  jib,  with  its  load,  can  be 
swung  through  a  half  circle,  the  movement  of  rotation  being  effected  by 
steel  wire  cables  wrapped  around  a  large  swinging  circle  at  the  foot  of  the 
jib  and  carried  back  and  wound  reversely  on  one  of  the  drums  of  the  engine, 
which  is  provided  with  a  brake  to  hold  it  in  any  desired  position.  The 
hoisting  engine  has  double  8xl2-in.  cylinders  with  link  motion  for  revers- 
ing. The  boiler  is  of  the  locomotive  type,  10  ft.  long.  The  total  weight 
of  the  car  is  136,000  Ibs.  Stability  under  heavy  side  lifting  is  provided 


Fig.  398.— Steam  Derrick  Car,  P.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry. 

for  by  steel  jack  arms  hinged  to  the  base  of  the  A-frame  on  either  side. 
These  arms  extend  to  a  lateral  base  of  19  ft.,  and  are  arranged  to  fold  up 
against  the  A-frame  when  not  in  service.  When  let  down  for  use  the  lower 
strut  of  the  jack  arm  is  pin  connected  to  the  bottom  member  of  a  transverse 
truss  under  the  A-frame.  The  jack  arms  thus  form  a  continuation  of  this 
transverse  truss,  and  transmit  the  reaction  from  the  screw  jacks  directly 
to  the  A-frame  without  straining  the  frame  of  the  car;  they  also  take  the- 
extra  weight  that  would  fall  upon  the  front  trucks  when  the  crane  is  lifting 
a  load.  In  addition  to  this  means  of  side  support  there  are  two  car  jacks 
hinged  under  the  side  sills,  at  the  front  end,  and  four  rail  clamps,  which  are 
sufficient  for  ordinary  loads.  The  jack  arms  are  lowered  and  raised  by 
means  of  light  tackle.  The  lifting  capacity  of  the  crane  is  35  tons,  through 
an  arc  of  45  deg.  when  standing  on  the  jack  arms,  and  through  180  deg. 
with  side  guys  to  the  top  of  the  A-frame ;  when  standing  upon  the  jack  arms 
without  the  side  guys  the  crane  can  swing  20  tons  through  180  deg. 

Figure  398  illustrates  the  typical  modern  derrick  car,  this  design,  on 
general  lines,  being  standard  with  many  of  the  large  railway  systems.  The 
body  of  the  car  shown  is  of  steel  construction  throughout,  with  longitudinal 


WRECKING  779* 

and  transverse  sills  composed  of  20-in.  I-beams  securely  connected  by  platen 
and  angles.  The  car  is  24  ft.  1J  ins.  long,  9J  ft.  wide  and  runs  upon 
trucks  of  especially  heavy  design  with  steel-tired  wheels.  Both  air  and 
hand  brakes  are  provided.  The  engines  are  double.,  with  cylinders  9x12  ins., 
fitted  with  link  reversing  motion.  The  hoisting  is  done  with  steel  wire  rope, 
but  chain  may  be  used  for  this  purpose  if  desired.  The  raising  or  lowering 
of  the  boom,  the  hoisting,  and  the  swinging  of  the  derrick,  are  all  accom- 
plished by  engine  power.  The  radius  of  the  boom  ranges  from  16  to  25  ft., 
and  the  extreme  hight  of  lift  (from  the  hook  of  the  hoisting  tackle  to  the 
rail)  is  23  ft.  On  one  end  of  the  axle  of  the  drum,  outside  its  side  bearings, 
there  is  a  "nigger  head"  for  hauling  on  loads  direct.  This  car  has  three  sets 
of  outriggers,  as  follows :  At  each  end  of  the  car  there  are  two  telescopic  steel 
I-beams  15  ins.  deep,  mounted  on  rollers  carried  by  the  plate  brackets. 
These  outriggers  may  be  pulled  4  ft.  beyond  the  side  of  the  car,  on  either 
side,  where  they  are  supported  on  jacks  with  broad  bases  or  upon  blocking, 
as  shown  in  the  figure.  In  lifting  loads  up  to  25  tons  the  end  outrig- 
gers only  are  used,  but  for  heavier  loads  there  is  a  central  outrigger  of  box 
section,  formed  of  two  24-in.  I-beams  with,  cover  plates,  which  extends  to 
a  distance  of  10  ft  from  the  center  of  the  car.  There  are  two  of  these,  one 
for  each  side  of  the  car,  and  being  too  long  to  be  carried  in  position  under 
the  middle  of  the  car  during  transit,  they  are  placed  either  upon  the  deck 
of  the  derrick  car  or  upon  the  tool  car,  being  easily  swung  to  position  by 
the  derrick.  The  guide  for  these  center  outriggers  is  arranged  in  the  form 
of  a  box  with  a  removable  cover  plate  at  each  end,  so  that  it  may  be  used 
as  a  tool  box  when  the  outriggers  are  not  in  place.  The  lifting  capacity  of 
the  derrick,  at  a  radius  of  20  ft.,  with  the  outriggers  in  use,  is  40  tons;  at 
a  radius  of  25  ft.,  with  the  outriggers  in  use,  30  tons :  at  a  radius  of 
16  ft.,  independent  of  the  outriggers,  15  tons;  at  a  radius  of  2.0  ft., 
independent  of  the  outriggers,  10  tons.  In  actual  service  these  derrick 
cars  frequently  pick  up  one  end  of  a  60-ton  locomotive  or  lift  a.  loaded  box 
car  or  light  locomotive  bodily.  The  largest  machines  of  this  type  are  built 
upon  cars  with  24-in.  I-beam  sills  and  have  a  lifting  capacity  of  50  tons  at  a 
radius  of  20  ft.  and  40  tons  at  25  ft.,  and  weigh  83  tons.  The  engine  is 
mounted  in  a  heavy  frame  on  a  turntable  with  a  circular  rack,  the  boiler 
and  water  tank  at  the  rear  serving  as  a  counterbalance  for  the  boom.  The 
turntable  is  at  the  middle  of  the  car  and  the  derrick  can  be  swung 
through  an  entire  circle  with  the  load  lifted.  At  each  corner  of  the  car 
there  is  a,  pair  of  heavy  rail  clamps. 

The  particular  derrick  car  shown  in  Fig.  398  was  built  by  the  Indus- 
trial Works  for  the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ry.,  and 
is  in  service  on  the  Chicago  Terminal  division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lines 
West.  One  of  the  interesting  features  in  the  equipment  of  this  car  is  the 
provision  for  lighting  when  working  at  night,  consisting  of  a  Buckeye  torch 
of  2500  candle  power  fixed  at  the  end  of  the  boom,  and  fed  by  a  reservoir 
at  the  foot  of  the  boom,  as  shown  in  the  illustration.  The  pressure  for  the 
reservoir  is  pumped  by  machinery  on  the  car.  This  arrangement  fulfills  a 
convenience  which  is  much  appreciated,  as  the  light  is  always  present  in 
the  direction  in  which  the  boom  is  working,  it  is  out  of  the  way,  and  is 
located  so  high  that  few  if  any  things  can  intervene  between  it  and  the 
work  to  cut  off  the  light.  Another  very  useful  auxiliary  to  the  derrick  car 
is  a  fire  pump,  arranged,  as  shown,  just  underneath  the  main  hoisting  en- 
gine of  the  derrick.  This  pump  is  provided  with  125  ft.  of  2^-in.  wire- 
trapped  suction  hose  and  300  ft.  of  l|-in.  discharge  hose.  A  novel  feature 
of  this  part  of  the  equipment  is  that  the  pump  is  detachable,  and  may  be 
set  up  for  fluty  temporarily  at  a  distance  of  125  ft.  from  the  car,  wire- 


780 


WORK  TRAINS 


wrapped  steam  hose  of  that  length  being  provided  to  make  the  connection. 
As  the  pump  can  force  a  stream  90  ft.  from  the  end  of  the  hose,  the  radius 
of  effective  duty  is  more  than  500  ft..  The  heavy  horizontal  bar  hanging 
from  the  hoisting  pulley  of  the  derrick  is  known  as  the  "singletree/'  and 
is  used  as  a  spreader  when  lifting  a  box  car  or  locomotive,  being  placed 
over  the  top  of  the  car  or  engine  cab  to  prevent  the  chain  from  crushing  in 
the  sides.  For  lifting  box  cars  two  wire  cables  with  L-hooks  at  the  ends 
are  attached  to  each  end  of  the  singletree  and  made  fast  under  the  side  sills 
of  the  car.  When  the  front  end  of  a  locomotive  is  lifted,  cables  are  sus- 
pended from  the  singletree  and  fastened  to  the  ends  of  the  pilot  beam; 
when  a  locomotive  is  lifted  bodily  the  singletree  stands  parallel  with  the 
boiler.  A  particular  advantage  in  the  use  of  this  device  is  that  it  divides  the 
weight  equally  among  the  cables  and  hooks  used  in  lifting  the  car  or  loco- 
motive. All  movements  of  the  derrick  when  at  work  are  controlled  by  bell 
signals  given  by  a  cord  in  the  hands  of  the  wrecking  foreman. 


I 


Fig.  399.— Stability  Strut  for  Derrick  Car,  Norfolk  &  Western  R.  R. 

On  some  roads  a  steam  shovel  is  used  for  the  wrecking  car,  the  only 
change  necessary  tov  convert  such  a  machine  into  a  derrick  car  being  the 
dropping  or  removal  of  the  dipper,  which,  with  some  machines,  can  be 
quickly  done.  The  hoisting  capacity  of  some  steam  shovels  is  sufficient,  of 
course,  for  ordinary  wrecking  purposes.  The  principal  objection  to  the  plan 
of  depending  upon  a  steam  shovel  for  a  wrecking  car  is  the  liability  of  delay. 
If  the  steam  shovel  is  in  service  at  the  time  it  is  needed  at  a  wreck,  the 
chances  are  that  it  will  be  found  on  an  isolated  piece  of  track  or  possibly 
at  the  far  side  of  some  gravel  pit  securely  blocked  in  by  50  to  100  ballast 
cars  put  away  for  the  night.  Bridge  erection  derrick  cars  are  very  fre- 
quently called  into  service  at  wrecks. 

To  increase  the  stability  of  wrecking  cars  for  very  heavy  lifting,  espe- 
cially for  sidewise  positions  of  the  derrick,  Mr.  J.  E.  Graham,  for  some 
years  wreckmaster  of  the  Norfolk  &  Western  E.  K.,  designed  and  has  used 
a  bracing  strut  hinged  to  the  boom  of  the  derrick  near  the  end,  as  illustrated 
in  Fig.  399.  The  strut  consists  of  two  channel  pieces  diverging  down- 
wardly to  a  broad  base  plate  which  rests  upon  the  track  or  blocking.  These 
channels  are  cross  braced,  and  when  not  in  service  the  strut  is  folded  up 
against  the  under  side  of  the  boom.  When  lifting  is  to  be  done  that  is  be- 
yond the  capacity  of  the  car  with  the  ordinary  stability  supports,  the  strut 
is  swung  out  and  blocked  up  for  the  support  of  the  boom.  The  strut  is 
serviceable  either  for  heavy  straight  pulling  with  the  main  hoisting  tackle 
or  for  a  heavy  side  lift.  In  either  instance  force  may  be  applied  to  the 
full  capacity  of  the  hoisting  engine  and  tackle  without  straining  the  der- 
rick or  car.  Although  the  device  cannot  render  assistance  in  cases  where 
loads  have  to  be  lifted  and  swung,  nevertheless  there  are  many  situations 
in  which  it  should  be  useful;  as,  for  instance,  for  quickly  raising  a  loco- 


WRECKING  781 

motive  into  a  more  favorable  position  for  blocking,  or  for  rolling  over  a 
locomotive  which  has  fallen  upon  its  side,  or  for  pulling  on  a  locomotive 
straight  away,  with  the  main  hoist. 

Running  to  Wrecks. — The  wreck  train  proper  consists  of  a  locomotive 
work-train  caboose,  tool  cars  and  derrick  car,  and  all  should  be  air  braked. 
These  cars  should  stand  on  a  side-track  near  the  shops  and  where  egress  to 
main  track  cannot  be  blocked  by  other  cars.  Steam  derrick  cars  are  usually 
kept  with  a  banked  fire  in  the  boiler,  so  that  steam  can  be  raised  quickly. 
It  is  well  to  always  have  a  car  loaded  with  spare  freight  trucks,  and  another 
with  about  20  rails  and  200  ties,  to  take  along,  unless  it  is  known  before 
starting  that  such  material  will  not  be  needed.  On  some  roads  the  truck 
car  is  provided  with  a  light  hand  crane  for  lifting  the  trucks  to  and  from  the 
car.  This  outfit  consists  of  an  ordinary  flat  car  with  the  crane  set  in  the 
middle  of  the  car,  the  bottom  of  the  mast  being  supported  beneath  the  car 
floor,  so  that  the  car  decking  acts  as  a  stay  instead  of  guy  ropes  or  rods.  A 
locomotive  truck  is  sometimes  habitually  carried  on  the  truck  car.  The 
work-train  kitchen  and  bunk  cars  and  a  cook  should  be  taken  along  or  sent 
out  at  first  opportunity,  because  men  called  suddenly  to  go  to  a  wreck  da 
not  always  have  time  to  get  a  good  supply  of  lunch,  and  through  excitement 
and  hurry  no  attempt  is  usually  made  to  provide  anything  to  eat  until  the 
men  are  nearly  famished ;  and  then,  owing  perhaps  to  the  remoteness  of  the 
locality  or  to  misunderstanding,  somewhere,  it  is  sometimes  not  possible 
to  get  anything  to  eat  for  several  hours  longer.  Many  old  trackmen  know 
how  it  feels  to  work  hard  at  a  wreck  for  12  hours  or  longer  without  any- 
thing to  eat.  When  men  get  real  hungry  there  is  then  something  besides, 
the  company's  interests  which  will  engage  their  attention.  Perhaps  the 
safest  way,  under  any  circumstances,  is  to  keep  on  hand  in  the  tool  car  at 
all  times  a  barrel  of  soda  crackers  or  hardtack  and  a  case  of  canned  meat. 
As  it  sometimes  takes  several  days  to  pick  up  a  bad  wreck,  it  is  well  to  -have 
the  bunk  car  at  the  nearest  side-track  and  to  let  the  men  have  sleep,  if 
needed,  as  soon  as  the  track  is  cleared  and  put  in  running  order.  More  profit- 
able work  can  be  done  in  this  way  than  by  working  men  completely  out  be- 
fore giving  them  time  to  rest.  The  wrecking  train  can  then  remain  at  the 
wreck  until  everything  is  done,  and  waste  no  time  running  to  and  fro,  if  the 
distance  to  headquarters  be  considerable.  Where  it  is  seen  that  a  long  job  is 
at  hand  the  best  method  to  pursue  is  to  divide  the  men  into  day  and  night 
shifts,  at  the  first. 

When  taking  the  first  report  of  a  wreck  the  train  dispatcher  should 
endeavor  to  gain  all  possible  information  from  the  man  giving  the  report; 
otherwise  only  a  meager  idea  may  be  had  of  what  is  on  hand.  The  matter 
of  first  importance  is,  of  course,  to  ascertain  whether  any  one  has  been 
killed,  or  injured  seriously,  and  to  what  extent,  so  that  medical  assistance 
may  be  sent.  At  a  bad  passenger  wreck  it  is  best  to  send  a  surgeon  whether 
injuries  are  reported  or  not,  because  a  railroad  company  is  often  sued  for 
injuries  which  are  not  made  known  on  the  spot.  And  it  is  best  to  send  a 
company  surgeon,  because  he  understands  the  importance  to  the  company 
of  making  thorough  examination  of  the  injuries  at  the  first.  The  exact 
location  of  the  wreck,  the  cause  and  time  it  happened ;  the  length  of  track 
torn  up  or  blocked ;  the  condition  of  the  locomotive,  if  wrecked,  and  its  posi- 
tion and  location  with  respect  to  the  track ;  the  number  of  cars  off  the 
track,  in  what  condition,  and  with  what  loaded ;  the  number  of  cars  each  side 
the  derailed  or  wrecked  ones;  whether  the  derrick  car  is  needed,  and  from 
which  end  it  can  work  to  best  advantage;  and  what  track  material  is  need- 
ed, if  any,  are  information  that  is  indispensable  to  the  train  dispatcher.  In. 
case  of  double  track  the  report  should  state  particularly  whether  both 


782  WORK  TRAINS 

tracks  are  blocked,  and,  if  so,  which  one  can  be  cleared  first;  or  whether 
one  track  is  clear,  and  which;  and  in  any  case  whether  there  is  a  side-track 
through  which  trains  may  be  got  around  the  wreck.  What  trains,  if  any, 
are  being  held  by  the  obstruction;  what  working  forces  have  gathered  at 
the  wreck;  what  must  be  done  to  get  the  track  clear;  how  many  empty  cars, 
and  what  kinds,  are  needed  to  hold  the  freight  to  be  transferred,  and  such 
•other  information  as  circumstances  may  dictate  should  be  ascertained  and 
made  known  to  the  man  in  charge  of  the  wreck  train  before  he  starts. 

Some  railways  have  a  list  of  numbered  questions  covering  all  the  in- 
formation usually  desired,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  blank  report,  and  a 
supply  of  these  blanks  is  kept  on  hand  at  all  telegraph  stations.  In  trans- 
mitting a  report  the  operator  then  gives  only  the  numbers  of  the  questions 
and  their  answers.  Some  railway  officials  prefer  that  the  first  information 
of  the  wreck  shall  be  a  primary  telegraphic  report,  stating  briefly  "what 
happened,  where  it  happened,  when  it  happened  and  what  is  needed/'  This 
enables  the  dispatcher  to  order  out  the  wrecking  train  in  the  shortest  time 
possible,  and  in  the  meanwhile  the  conductor  of  the  wrecked  train  can 
think  out  a  more  complete  report,  which  would  likely  be  forwarded  before 
the  wrecking  outfit  would  be  ready  to  start  and  would  probably  cover  more 
desired  information  then  would  be  the  case  if  he  attempted  to  tell  the 
whole  story  when  first  arriving. 

The  work  train  or  wrecking  crew,  if  at  their  homes,  are  usually  called 
out  by  many  long  blasts  of  the  locomotive  whistle  (thus  arousing  the  whole 
neighborhood)  or  by  messengers  sent  from  house  to  house.  In  some  cases 
where  the  organization  of  the  crew  has  been  carefully  planned,  the  homes 
of  the  crew  are  connected  with  the  dispatcher's  office  by  electric  bell  or  by 
telephone.  If  there  is  no  crew  organized,  and  the  work  train  proceeds  to  the 
wreck  during  working  hours,  one  may  be  made  up  by  picking  up  the  section 
men  along  the  road,  while  on  the  way ;  or  if.  after  working  hours,  all  avail- 
able men  at  headquarters  should  be  pressed  in,  and  section  men  who  can  be 
reached  by  wire  should  be  notified  to  get  ready  and  flag  the  train  when  it 
comes,  so  that  there  shall  be  no  needless  stopping  in  anticipation  of  getting 
section  men  who  fail  to  show  up.  Then  if  a  sufficient  force  is  not  had  by 
the  time  the  wreck  is  reached/  recruits  should  be  brought  on  the  first  train 
following.  If  the  work  train  is  out -on  the  road  when  the  wreck  occurs  it 
is  not  usually  advisable  to  have  it  first  run  a  long  distance  back  for  the  tool 
and  derrick  cars,  but  to  send  it  (the  work  train)  immediately  to  the  scene  of 
action  and  send  the  wrecking  cars  with  a  heavy  engine  to  take  the  place  of 
the  other  in  case  it  be  too  light  for  the  work,  or  to  assist  it.  If  a  locomo- 
tive in  the  wreck  is  badly  off  the  track  both  engines  will  be  needed.  It  will 
frequently  happen  that  in  this  way  the  work  train,  with  the,  switch  rope 
and  the  few  other  appliances  which  it  always  carries,  will  be  able  to  have 
the  track  cleared  before  the  wrecking  outfit  arrives.  In  this  connection, 
also,  the  locomotive  of  the  wrecked  train,  if  able,  should  be  set  to  work  as 
soon  as  possible  to  clear  main  track;  and  section  foremen  should  have  the 
understanding  that  whenever  they  hear  of  a  serious  wreck  within  10  miles 
they  should  go  to  it  as  soon  as  possible  with  hand  car,  men,  and  tools,  with- 
out waiting  for  special  orders. 

Where  the  headquarters  are  at  one  end  of  the  division  this  arrangement 
of  wrecking  with  the  work-train  crew  is  no  doubt  as  expeditious  as  any, 
because  the  train  in  daytime  will  always,  if  working,  be  in  the  direction  of 
the  wreck,  and  sometimes  near  by,  so  that  by  a  little  extra  effort  in  some 
way,  word  can  usually  be  got  to  it  without  much  delay.  At  night  the  work- 
train  crew,  if  at  headquarters,  can,  of  course,  be  called  out  as  soon  as  any 
other  crew,  and  in  the  same  manner.  If  the  work  train  was  lying  out  on  the 


WRECKING  783 

Toad  at  night  it  could  get  off  more  quickly.,  for  the  crew  would  be  with  the 
irain.  For  this  reason  the  work  train  should  lie  over,  with  steam  up,  at  a 
station  where  there  is  a  night  operator;  or  at  any  rate  an  operator  should 
be  sent  to  the  station  to  remain  during  the  night,  if  a  night  operator  is 
.not  usually  stationed  there.  Where,  however,  the  headquarters  are  at  some 
intermediate  point  of  the  division,  a  wrecking  crew  taken  from  the  shops 
would  probably  be  able  to  get  to  a  wreck  with  less  delay  in  most  cases  dur- 
ing daytime,  and  certainly  so  in  any  case  where  a  work-train  crew  is  not 
steadily  employed.  The  wreck  train  should  carry  a  telegraph  operator, 
who  is  a  lineman,  who  should  tap  the  wires  as  soon  as  he  arrives  at  the 
scene  of  the  trouble,  put  himself  in  communication  with  the  dispatcher, 
-and  keep  him  informed  of  the  progress  of  the  work,  so  that  trains  may  be 
moved  as  soon  as  the  track  is  clear.  The  best  arrangement  is  to  have  this 
man  employ  his  time  with  the  crew,  whether  a  telegraph  office  is  needed 
;at  the  wreck  or  not.  In  many  instances  this  plan  proves  more  satisfactory 
than  that  of  taking  an  operator  from  a  near-by  station  or  even  that  of  tak- 
ing one  along  from  headquarters  when  it  is  thought  he  might  be  needed. 
In  any  case  the  crew  must  necessarily  include  a  lineman,  or  a  man  who  is 
.able  to  use  pole  climbers,  as  very  few  telegraph  operators  are  likely  to  be 
found  equal  to  such  a  task.  The  lineman  of  the  wrecking  force  should  make 
the  necessary  splices  and  put  the  line  in  its  original  condition  after  the 
wreck  has  been  cleared  up,  thus  saving  the  expense  of  sending  a  line  repairer. 

The  use  of  the  telephone  on  railroads  affords  a  convenient  and  ready 
means  of  communication  with  division  headquarters  in  time  of  wrecks. 
Some  railway  systems  have  telephone  wires  on  the  right  of  way  along  the 
main-line  divisions  and  the  more  important  branch  lines.  Where  such  a 
circuit  is  at  hand  the  wrecking  outfit  should  include  a  compact  telephone 
set,  which  may  be  attached  to  a  telegraph  pole  at  the  scene  of  the  wreck, 
•establishing  direct  means  of  communication  with  the  dispatcher,  the  super- 
intendent or  with  the  signal  towers  at  the  ends  of  the  block,  as  soon  as  con- 
nection is  made  with  the  circuit.  On  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hart- 
iord  E.  E.  use  has  been  made  of  portable  telephone  instruments  on  such  oc- 
casions. 

At  the  last  switch  passed  on  the  way  to  the  wreck  the  locomotive  should 
be  shifted  and  the  train  approach  the  wreck  made  up  in  the  following 
order :  derrick  car,  truck  car,  blocking  car,  locomotive,  tool  cars.  If  the  truck 
car  has  a  crane  of  its  own,  or  if  the  derrick  of  the  wrecking  car  does  not 
swing  through  a  complete  circle,  the  blocking  car  should  then  be  coupled 
in  next  the  derrick  car.  A  flagman  should  be  left  at  this  switch  and  the 
track  should  be  kept  clear  that  far  back.  Empty  cars  taken  along  to  be 
loaded  with  transferred  freight  should  usually  be  left  in  a  near-by  side- 
track until  they  are  needed.  While  switching,  the  men  should  get  out  such 
tools  as  will  surely  be  needed1 — ropes,  jacks,  etc. — and  place  them  on  the 
•derrick  car.  If  the  men  work  lively  they  can  do  this  without  holding  the 
train  much,  if  any.  But  such  preparation  might  be  made  before,  while 
Tunning,  in  case  the  derrick  car  happens  to  be  coupled  next  the  tool  cars. 
In  the  other  direction  from  the  wreck  a  flagman  should  be  put  out,  and  the 
locomotive  of  the  first  train  "arriving  should  be  brought  up  to  help  clear 
the  wreck  from  that  side.  Where  oil  tank  cars  have  been  wrecked  and  oil 
is  lying  around  o"n  the  ground  there  is  danger  in  running  a  locomotive  or 
steam  derrick  car  into  the  vicinity,  and  unless  a  good  deal  of  caution  is 
exercised  there  is  liability  of  setting  the  whole  wreck  on  fire.  One  way  to 
<lo  the  work  and  still  keep  the  locomotive  away  is  to  push  the  derrick  car 
up  to  the  wreck  at  the  end  of  a  string  of  empty  cars.  Exposed  oil  may  be 
covered  with  dirt,  and  if  work  is  to  be  done  at  night  lanterns  or  closed 


784  WORK  TRAINS 

lights  should  be  substituted  for  hand  torches.  Although  it  is  to  be  as- 
sumed that  ordinary  men  would  be  cautious  about  handling  lights  in  the 
presence  of  highly  inflammable  or  explosive  materials  exposed  in  a  wreck, 
it  might  be  best  in' some  cases  of  the  kind  to  suspend  night  work  altogether, 
especially  if  there  is  a  clear  track  around  the  wreck.  In  all  cases  when 
beginning  work  at  a  wreck  the  wreckmaster  should  ascertain  the  character 
of  all  freight  involved  in  the  wreck,  so  that  precautions  may  be  taken  in 
case  there  is  danger  of  conflagration  or  explosion.  Where  oil  cars  are  on  fire 
or  in  danger  of  taking  fire  and  cannot  be  got  out  of  the  way,  the  wrecking 
crew  should  endeavor  to  get  everything  movable  out  of  reach  as  soon  as 
possible,  so  as  to  prevent  the  fire  from  spreading. 

Clearing  and  Picking  Up  Wrecks  and  Aid  to  the  Injured. — The  first 
duties  of  a  train  crew  in  time  of  a  wreck  are  to  see  that  signals  are  placed  to 
protect  other  trains,  to  look  after  the  injured,  if  there  are  any,  and  to  protect 
the  wreck  from  fire.  Railway  surgeons  recommend  that  when  a  person  is 
bleeding  freely  the  limb  or  bleeding  part  should  be  elevated  and  the  'edges 
of  the  wound  should  be  drawn  together.  A  closely  folded  clean  handker- 
chief may  be  applied  to  the  wound  and  tied  snugly,  but  some  judgment 
must  be  exercised  as  to  the  time,  or  the  bandage  may  be  kept  on  too  long. 
Cloths  wrung  out  of  hot  water  and  applied  to  the  bleeding  part  are  a  good 
means  for  stopping  bleeding.  When  a  person  is  suffering  from  shock  the 
head  should  be  kept  low,  on  a  level  with  the  body,  so  that  blood  will  flow 
easily  to  the  brain.  To  keep  the  blood  in  circulation  warmth  should  be 
applied  to  the  body,  and  the  hands  and  feet  should  be  rubbed.  A  crushed 
or  fractured  limb  should  always  be  supported,  and  a  temporary  splint  may 
be  applied  to  prevent  the  broken  bones  from  doing  additional  injury  to  the 
flesh.  For  transporting  persons  who  are  seriously  injured,  common  pas- 
senger coaches  are  better  than  Pullman  cars.  The  winding  entrances  of  the 
latter  are  inconvenient  for  the  passage  of  stretchers,  making  it  necessary, 
to  handle  the  bodies  by  other  means.  The  seats  of  ordinary  day  coaches  are 
also  easier  to  arrange  for  the  reception  of  persons  on  stretchers,  and  they 
permit  the  injured  to  lie  in  better  position  for  surgical  aid.  „ 

Many  railways  have  established  schools  or  meetings  wherein  train  and 
other  employees  are  instructed  in  what  is  commonly  known  as  "First  Aid 
to  the  Injured,"  and  in  the  use  of  emergency  appliances  for  injured  per- 
sons. On  the  Pittsburg  &  Lake  Erie  E.  R.,  for  example,  the  emergency  box 
contains  bandages,  assorted  sizes ;  sublimated  -gauze,  rubber  tourniquet,  cot- 
ton, safety  pins,  etc. — enough  to  care  for  two  or  three  injured  persons.  The 
folding  stretcher*  contains  two -blankets  and  one  rubber  blanket,  and  four 
splints,  assorted.  Each  caboose  and  each  baggage  car  has  a  set  of  these 
supplies,  and  each  station  and  telegraph  office  is  similarly  supplied.  A 
small  handbook  has  been  issued  to  the  men,  and  a  circular  has  been  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  men,  entitled  "Aid  to  Memory,"  an  abstract  of  which 
is  as  follows: 

First  Aid  Package. — For  small  wounds  on  any  part  of  the  body. 

Gauze. — For  large  wounds. 

Cotton. — To  cover  over  on  top  of  tire  gauze. 

Rubber  Band  (Tourniquet). — To  fasten  around  a  limb  or  around  the  head 
to  stop  hemorrhage,  particularly  in  case  of  crushed  limb. 

Adhesive   Plaster. — To   hold   dressings,     but  never  to  be  applied  to  an  open 
wound. 

Cotton  Bandages. — To  be  used  over  first  dressings  where  there  is  much 
bleeding. 

Gauze  Bandages.— To  fasten  splints  in  place  and  to  support  light  dressings  • 
where  there    is  no  hemorrhage. 

Safety  Pins.— To  fasten  bandages,  etc. 
First — Don't  give  a  drink  of  whisky. 


WRECKING  7-85 

Second — Don't  pour  ice  or  very  cold  water  on  wounds. 

Third — The  patient  should  be  placed  on  his  back,  with  head  low,  and  this 
position  should  be  continued  in  transporting. 

Fourth — If  the  person  is  suffering  from  "shock,"  that  is,  pale  with  pinched 
expression  of  face,  drooping  eyelids  and  cold  surface  of  body,  with  feeble  pulse, 
give  spoonfuls  of  hot  tea  or  coffee;  if  this  cannot  be  had,  teaspoonful  of  whisky 
or  some  other  alcoholic  stimulant,  in  a  tablespoonful  of  hot  water  every  ten 
minutes  until  five  or  six  doses  have  been  taken.  Wrap  in  a  warm  blanket  and 
put  hot  water  bottles  or  heated  bricks  about  the  body. 

Fifth — Remove  the  clothing  from  the  wounded  part  by  cutting  it  away.  Do 
not  attempt  to  tear  or  draw  clothing  off,  as  this  may  further  injure  the  wounded 
part.  Always  see  the  wound  and  know  by  your  eye  just  what  the  nature  of  it  is. 

Sixth — If  a  limb  is  crushed  or  torn,  apply  over  the  wound  a  thick  pad  gauze, 
then  a  large  covering  or  pad  of  cotton,  fastened  with  several  turns  of  the 
bandages,  handkerchief  or  an  elastic  suspender. 

Seventh — Hemorrhage.  This  follows  shock  and  is  very  rarely  severe  unless 
reaction  takes  place.  Too  much  stimulation  increases  hemorrhage,  and  for  this 
reason  it  is  best  to  give  only  a  little  stimulant,  well  warmed,  and  repeat  the 
dose  if  reaction  is  delayed.  Bleeding  is  of  two  kinds:  First,  arterial,  when  the 
blood  comes  out  bright  and  red  in  spurts;  second,  venous,  when  the  blood  is 
dark  and  flows  in  an  even  stream.  Avoid  trying  to  stop  bleeding  by  twisting 
cords  or  handkerchiefs  around  limbs  with  sticks.  When  the  wound  is  large  and 
blood  comes  out  in  spurts,  apply  the  rubber  band  tightly  just  above  the  wound, 
previously  raising  the  wounded  memb'er  or  part,  especially  if  it  be  a  limb. 
Be  careful  to  put  the  band  on  uninjured  flesh  (if  the  limb  be  crushed)  and  about 
3  ins.  above  the  crushed  tissues,  else  it  will  slip  down  and  increase  tire  hemor- 
rhage. Be  carefulto  see  that  the  band  be  firmly  hooked  and  fixed  before  leav- 
ing it.  Small,  wounds,  -even  though  the  hemorrhage  be  arterial,  require  only  a 
firm  compress  of  the  sublimated  gauze,  placed  immediately  over  the  wound  and 
bandage  tightly  in  place  with  one  of  the  muslin  bandages.  It  is  best  after  this 
to  bandage  firmly  from  the  extremity  of  the  hand  or  foot  upward  to  beyond  the 
wound  with  muslin  bandages.  Venous  bleeding,  which  occurs  when  the  wound 
is  shallow  (does  not  go  deeper  than  the  skin),  as  a  rule,  requires  firm  pressure 
over  the  wound,  and  especially  below  it.  If  the  wound  be  quite  small,  put  a 
pad  of  styptic  cotton  into  it  and  over  it  and  bandage  tightly  in  place  and  then 
apply  a  bandage  from  below  upward.  If  only  the  scalp  is  involved,  it  may  also 
be  controlled  by  drawing  a  rubber  band  around  the  head,  encircling  it  just  above 
the  eyebrows.  This  is  very  painful,  however,  and  unless  the  bleeding  is  severe,, 
it  may  be  controlled  by  bringing  the  wounded  or  torn  surface  together  and 
applying  along  the  wound  a  thick  layer  of  styptic  cotton,  and  over  this  another 
layer  of  absorbent  cotton  and  a  tight  muslin  bandage.  It  is  well  to  pass  the 
bandage  under  the  chin  if  the  wound  be  on  top  of  the  head,  as  this  holds  it 
firmer  and  tighter. 

Eighth — After  hemorrhage  has  been  controlled  apply  gauze  next  to  the 
open  wound,  always,  and  never  let  an  open  wound  remain  uncovered  longer 
than  is  absolutely  necessary  to  control  the  hemorrhage;  but  remember,  a  soiled 
or  dirty  covering  is  worse  than  none  at  all. 

Ninth — If  a  leg  or  arm  is  broken,  straighten  it  gently  and  lay  on  a  pillow, 
then  tie  the  pillow  up  with  several  strips  of  muslin,  bandage  or  splints  found 
in  the  stretcher.  Laths  or  barrel  staves,  padded  with  some  soft  material,  may 
be  used  for  this  purpose.  This  should  be  done  before  the  injured  person  is 
moved  any  distance. 

Tenth — Compound  fractures  are  fractures  accompanied  by  a  wound  of  tire 
soft  tissues  at  the  point  of  fracture,  so  that  the  bone  is  exposed  to  the  air.  In 
these  cases  treat  hemorrhage  and  the  wound  according  to  the  foregoing  rules 
and  then  apply  splints.  If  the  bones  project  beyond  the  skin,  remember  to  bring 
them  back  into  place  by  pulling  the  extremity  in  the  direction  of  the  displace- 
ment until  the  ends  of  the  fragments  are  quite  free  from  over-riding.  Remem- 
ber to  alv/ays  cover  these  wounds  with  the  sublimate  gauze  and  bandage. 

Eleventh — Burns.  Carefully  remove  the  clothing  by  cutting  it  off,  if  the 
part  be  clothed,  and  apply  immediately  three  or  four  thicknesses  of  the  sub-' 
limate  gauze  (dry  or  wet,  in  warm  water  in  which  one  tablespoonful  of  the 
bicarbonate  of  soda  to  the  quart  has  been  dissolved).  As  a  rule  never  attempt 
to  clean  burns  immediately  after  they  occur.  Cover"  the  wounded  part  imme- 
diately, as  directed  above,  and  leave  the  cleansing  to  the  surgeon  afterward. 
Extensive  burns  are  attended  with  great  shock,  as  a  rule,  and  require  free 


786  WORK  TRAINS 

stimulation.    As  the  burns  are  rarely  followed  by  hemorrhage,  stimulants  may 
be.  and  should  be,  given  in  considerable  quantities. 

Twelfth — Prostration  from  Excessive  Heat. — In  these  cases  (not  sunstroke) 
the  face  is  pale,  lips  colorless  or  blue,  breathing  slow,  pulse  slow  and  very  weak. 
Place  the  patient  on  his  back,  with  his  head  level  with  his  body  and  loosen 
clothing.  Apply  heat  to  the  surface  of  the  body  and  extremities.  Bathe  the 
face  with  warm  water  into  which  a  little  whisky  or  alcohol  has  been  poured, 
and  if  he  can  swallow,  give  the  patient  an  ounce  of  whisky  in  as  much  water. 
When  prostration  is  caused  by  drinking  too  much  ice  water  when  overheated, 
the  face  is  red  or  even  purple,  breathing  heavy  and  irregular,  pulse  irregular. 
Loosen  clothing,  place  on  back,  with  head  slightly  elevated.  Give  hot  drinks, 
apply  h«at  to  the  spine  and  the  extremities. 

Thirteenth — Position  in  Which  a  Person  Should  be  Placed  After  Injury. — 
Injuries  to  the  head  require  that  the  head  be  raised  higher  than  the  level  of 
the  body.  In  all  cases,  if  practicable,  lay  the  patient  on  his  back,  with  the 
limbs  stretched  out  in  their  natural  positions;  loosen  the  collar  and  waist  bands, 
and  unless  the  head  be  injured,  remember  to  have  the  head  on  the  same  level 
as  the  body;  do  not  bolster  it  up  with  anything. 

Fourteenth — To  Place  a  Person  on  a  Stretcher  to  Carry  Him.— Three  per- 
sons are  necessary  to  do  this;  two  to  act  as  bearers  of  the  stretcher  and  one 
to  attend  to  the  injured  part.  Place  the  stretcher  at  tire  head  of  the  patient, 
on  a  line  with  the  body,  the  foot  of  the  stretcher  being  nearest  the  patient's 
head.  One  bearer  kneels  on  each  side  of  the  patient  and  joins  hands  under- 
neath his  hips  and  shoulders  with  the  bearer  on  the  opposite  side.  The  third 
man  attends  to  the  wounded  limb  or  looks  after  any  bandages  or  splints  that  may 
have  been  applied.  Tire  bearers  then  rise  to  their  feet,  raising  their  patient 
in  a  horizontal  position,  and  by  a  series  of  side  steps  bring  the  patient  over  the 
stretcher.  He  is  then  lowered  gently  on  it  and  made  as  comfortable  as  possible. 
One  bearer  starts  off  with  his  left  foot  and  the  other  with  his  right;  should 
'they  keep  step,  the  stretcher  would  roll  badly. 

When  a  freight  train  is  wrecked  the  wrecking  crew  should  include  a 
check  clerk  from  the  freight  department,  or  one  who  is  familiar  with 
methods  of  accounting  for  freight  transferred.  This  man  should  carefully 
examine  damaged  goods,  keep  a  record  of  damaged  or  destroyed  freight,  and 
obtain  on  the  spot  all  other  information  which  might  be  necessary  for  the 
uses  of  the  claim  agent.  In  too  many  instances  such  accounting  falls  to 
the  wrecking  foreman,  who  should  be  relieved  of  all  duties  minor  to  that  of 
clearing  the  track  and  picking  up  the  wrecked  property  in  the  most  expedi- 
tious and  economical  manner.  Where  different  kinds  of  freight  are  mixed 
up,  or  where  only  one  empty  car  can  be  run  into  position  for  loading  at  a 
time,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  load  the  freight  indiscriminately  and 
move  it  to  some  convenient  point  for  assortment. 

The  first  work  to  perform  on  a  wreck,  if  too  much  will  not  be  sacrificed, 
is  to  clear  the  track  of  obstruction  and  put  it  in  condition  to  let  the  traffic 
trains  pass  slowly.  In  some  cases  of  very  bad  wrecks  the  quickest  way  of 
opening  the  road  to  traffic  has  been  to  lay  temporarily  a  piece  of  track 
around  the  obstruction ;  but  it  can  usually  be  done  most  quickly  by  placing 
on  the  track  such  cars  as  are  in  the  way  and  easily  got  on;  or  by  pushing 
aside  those  which  are  badly  disabled;  or  by  dragging  them  out,  if  there  is 
not  room  to  push  them  aside,  as  would  be  the  case  at  a  wreck  in  a  through 
cut.  Some  cars  may  be  so  badly  damaged  as  to  be  not  worth  saving.  No 
care  need  therefore  be  given  to  the  handling  of  such  cars,  and  as  a  usual 
thing  the  quickest  way  of  getting  them  out  of  the  way  is  to  cut  them  up. 
The  initials  and  numbers  of  all  cars  destroyed  should,  of  course,  be  reported. 
Where  there  is  double  track,  one  track,  if  clear,  may  temporarily  be  used 
by  trains  going  in  both  directions,  and  then  the  work  of  picking  up  the 
wreck  on  the  other  track  may  be  immediately  begun  without  first  clearing 
away.  But  if  both  or  all  tracks  are  blocked  one  of  them  must  be  opened  up, 
and  this  should  be  the  one  requiring  the  least  amount  of  work.  The 
wrecking  outfit  of  the  New  York  division  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  & 


WRECKING  787 

Hartford  R.  E.  includes  a  portable  emergency  crossover,  devised  by  Mr.  F. 
K.  Coates,  formerly  roadmaster,  which  is  used  in  running  trains  around  a 
wreck  or  other  obstruction  in  case  one  of  the  tracks  is  clear.  The  device 
consists  of  frogs  laid  on  blocking,  to  cross  over  and  above  the  track  rails, 
and  raised  switch  points  which  are  laid  down  on  top  of  the  track  rails,  thus 
lifting  the  wheels  above  the  ordinary  track  rails.  Under  ordinary  condi- 
tions it  can  be  laid  and  made  ready  for  the  passage  of  a  locomotive  in  from 
15  to  25  minutes.  It  is  also  used  for  setting  steam  shovels,  pile  drivers 
and  camp  cars  off  the  main  line  and  in  replacing  derailed  locomotives  and 
cars.  The  Southern  Pacific  Co.  has  standard  plans  for  laying  temporary 
tracks  around  wrecks,  washouts  and  other  obstructions  of  like  consequence. 
At  each  end  the  run-by  turns  out  from  main  line  by  either  a  10  or  15-deg. 
curve,  reversing  at  the  end  of  a  50-ft.  tangent  to  bring  the  track  parallel 
with  main  line.  Figure  400  shows  a  diagram  of  the  arrangement  and  tables 
of  ordinates  for  staking  out  the  curves. 

If  fastenings  run  short  when  laying  track  at  wrecks,  there  are 
ways  of  '"borrowing."  Spikes  may  be  obtained  quickly  by  pulling  every 
other  one  from  the  gage  sides  of  the  rails  on  tangent,  and  half  the  bolts 
may  be  taken  from  any  of  the  joint  splices.  Where  bolts  have  been  sheared 
from  one  side  of  the  track  by  a  derailed  car,  as  sometimes  happens  for  long 
distances,  half  the  bolts  may  be  taken  from  the  other  side  to  secure  the 
splice  bars  on  the  damaged  side.  Part  of  the  spikes  may  also  be  taken 
temporarily  from  the  gage  side  of  a  rail  to  replace  broken  spikes  on  the 
other  side  of  the  track  or  on  the  other  side  of  the  same  rail. 

Cars  not  badly  off  the  track  should  be  pulled  on  with  the  replacing 
frogs  and  hauled  out  of  the  way.  In  running  wheels  over  blocking  placed 
lengthwise,  the  flanges  will  cut  into  the  wood  and  the  tendency  is  to  follow 
the  grain.  Cross-grained  pieces  are  therefore  not  good  for  such  service.  A 
truck  which  has  become  skewed  to  the  track  may  be  swung  straight  by  pull- 
ing on  one  corner  of  it  with  a  switch  rope.  If  the  car  is  loaded,  first  take 
the  weight  from  the  truck  by  jacking,  and  block  between  the  ties  to  keep 
the  wheels  from  sinking  in.  A  car  body  may  be  put  to  one  side,  out  of  the 
way,  by  lifting  one  end  with  the  derrick  and  swinging  it  out,  and  by  hauling 
the  other  end  around  on  a  skid  with  switch  rope  and  snatch  blocks  so  placed 
that  the  rope  will  pull  away  from  the  track.  If  no  derrick  is  on  hand  the 
heavy  switch  ropes  or  the  tackle  may  be  used  in  this  manner  to  drag  cars 
out  of  the  way.  A  car  body  may  be  rolled  over  by  first  unloading  the  freight 
and  then  catching  hold  under  the  sill  and  lifting  with  the  derrick.  On  a 
high  fill  or  steep  bank  cars  put  down  the  bank  should  be  put  aside  endwise, 
FO  that  they  will  not  start  rolling.  A  car  body  off  its  trucks  may  be  dragged 
out  by  placing  it  straight  with  the  track,  lifting  its  front  end  with  the  der- 
rick, placing  a  tie  under  it  crosswise,  and  skidding  it  along  on  the  rails, 
oiling  the  rails  if  the  load  is  heavy.  After  hauling  it  some  distance,  ditch 
it  by  rolling  over,  if  it  be  much  damaged ;  or  swing  one  end  over  at  a  time, 
hauling  the  hind  end  around  with  the  switch  rope  attached  to  the  hind  cor- 
ner toward  the  ditch  and  lifting  the  front  end  over  with  the  derrick.  It  is 
almost  always  necessary  to  remove  the  freight  from  cars  which  are  badly  off 
the  track.  A  car  off  its  trucks  and  crosswise  the  track  can  be  swung  straight 
with  the  track  by  attaching  a  switch  rope  to  one  end  and  hauling  it  around 
on  skids.  It  may  happen  that  while  the  locomotive  is  hauling  at  the  wreck 
a  part  of  the  force  may  accomplish  a  good  deal  on  some  other  part  of  the 
wreck  hauling  on  tackle  by  hand.  The  men  are  strung  out  along  the  rope 
and  pull  by  the  word.  In  a  very  heavy  pull  the  1-in.  rope  tackle. may  be 
used  as  the  hauling  part  on  the  larger  tackle. 

An  easy  way  to  get  freight  up  a  steep  bank  is  to  pile  or  lash  a  lot  of  it 


788  WORK  TRAINS 

on  a  car  door  and  then  haul  it  up  on  skids,  with  tackle,  by  hand,  or  with  the 
derrick  or  locomotive.  Heavy  boxes,  castings,  machinery,  barrels  of  oil,  etc., 
-can  usually  be  handled  with  the  derrick.  It  is  well  to  have  two  barrel 
slings  for  handling  barrels  or  hogsheads  by  the  chime,  such  as  are  used  on 
board  ships  for  that  purpose.  It  consists  of  a  piece  of  rope  or  chain  with 
-chime  hooks  at  the  ends  and  a  ring  at  the  center.  If  the  freight  cannot  be 
transferred  directly  to  cars  and  locked  it  is  well  to  place  a  watchman  over 
such  of  it  as  can  be  carried  away,  for  there  is  usually  an  eager  crowd  stand- 
ing ready  to  help  themselves  to  the  "spoil."  When  meat  refrigerator  cars 
are  wrecked  and  broken  open  they  should  be  boarded  up  as  soon  as  possible, 
so  as  to  keep  the  outside  air  from  the  meat.  It  may  sometimes  occur  that 
extra  refrigerator  cars,  newly  iced,  can  be  provided  to  hold  meat  transferred 
from  wrecked  cars,  but  if  cars  other  than  refrigerators  must  be  used,  they 
should  be  swept  out  and  well  scrubbed.  The  floor  should  then  be  covered 
with  a  layer  of  clean  ice  in  large  cakes  closely  placed.  If  the  meat  cannot 
be  hung  up  it  may  be  supported  on  clean  planks  laid  on  the  ice. 

If  trees  or  other  stable  objects  cannot  be  found  near  enough  to  attach 
pulleys  or  guy  lines,  "dead  men"  or  other  anchorage  must  be  put  in.  The 
planting  of  a  dead  man  consists  in  digging  a  trench  crosswise  the  direction 
t)f  the  pulling,  and  burying  a  log,  piece  of  lumber  or  rail,  or  a  tie,  to  which 
is  attached  a  guy  rope.  The  guy  is  led  to  the  surface  through  another 
trench  dug  at  right  angles  to  the  first  one,  at  its  middle,  at  a  downward 
slant,  so  that  the  stress  will  pull  the  log  against  the  bank  of  undisturbed 
earth  instead  of  straight  up.  By  looping  the  guy  about  the  log  and  bring- 
ing both  ends  to  the  surface  it  may  be  got  out,  when  through  with,  by  pull- 
ing on  one  end  with  the  locomotive.  Or  if  it  be  desired  to  save  the  piece  of 
timber  or  rail  it  may  be  got  out  quickly  without  digging  by  pulling  straight 
up  with  the  switch  rope  over  a  samson  post.  A  wire  rope  sling  about  16  ft. 
long  is  the  best  attachment  that  can  be  used.  The  ground  should  be  looked 
over  carefully  and,  if  possible,  each  dead  man  should  be  placed  where  it 
can  serve  as  a  stay  for  pulling  from  several  different  directions.  Idle  section 
men  or  other  men  not  used  to  wrecking  can  be  doing  this  work  while  the  en- 
gine is  pulling  at  the  wreck.  There  is  a  device,  known  as  the  Stombaugh 
guy  anchor  (Fig.  387B),  which  may  be  used  in  lieu  of  dead  men.  It  con- 
sists of  a  helix  12  ins.  in  diam.  cast  around  a  heavy  wrought  iron  bar  of 
square  cross  section.  The  bar  is  6  ft.  long  and  the  upper  end  terminates 
in  a  welded  eye  3  ins.  in  diam.  By  means  of  a  lever  placed  through  the 
eye  the  anchor  may  be  bored  into  the  ground  in  a  few  minutes,  and  it  can 
be  removed  with  equal  facility.  As  the  ground  is  not  greatly  disturbed,  the 
anchor  will  withstand  a  tremendous  pull. 

In  picking  up  a  wreck  the  old  trucks  and  car  bodies  should  be  used,  as 
far  as  possible,  in  hauling  the  wreckage  to  the  shops.  A  car  body  may  be 
put  on  trucks  by  the  derrick  car  in  the  following  way:  Skid  or  roll  the 
body  onto,  and  straight  with,  the  track,  first  getting  a  truck  beyond  it.  Eaise 
the  end  with  the  derrick  and  support  the  body  just  beyond  the  middle,  so 
•  that  the  end  next  the  derrick  will  slightly  overbalance.  A  strong  timber 
horse  is  sometimes  provided  for  such  support,  but  a  handy  one  may  be 
quickly  arranged  by  supporting  a  piece  of  rail  14  or  16  ft.  long  upon  a  pile 
of  blocking  at  either  side  of  the  track,  or  a  car  truck,  with  some  blocking 
on  top,  will  answer  the  same  purpose.  After  the  support  is  in  place  under 
the  car  let  the  derrick  end  of  the  body  down.  This  will  throw  up  the  other 
end  so  that  the  truck  may  be  run  underneath  it.  Then  raise  the  end  again 
with  the  derrick,  run  a  truck  under  that  end,  take  out  the  rail  or  horse  and 
let  the  end  down  upon  the  truck.  It  is  well  to  see  that  the  journal  bearings 
are  in  place  before  letting  the  body  down  on  to  the  trucks.  A  passenger 


WRECKING  78!) 

coach  is  too  long  and  too  heavy  to  be  handled  in  this  way,  and  must  usually 
be  raised  by  the  slower  process  of  jacking.  Place  a  jack  under  or  near  each- 
corner  and  keep  the  car  cribbed  up  as  it  is  raised.  A  freight  car  body  may 
be  loaded  upon  a  flat  car  by  balancing  it  across  a  horse  or  other  support 
and  running  the  flat  car  as  far  under  the  body  as  possible.  Then  lift  the 
other  end  and  run  the  body  on  the  rest  of  the  way  on  dollies  or  rollers  while 
the  end  is  held  up  by  the  derrick.  Whenever  the  air  brake  apparatus  would 
be  injured  in  handling  a  car  it  should  first  be  removed  and  placed  inside  the 
car.  Car  bodies  broken  in  two  and  disabled  trucks  are  loaded  upon  flat  cars. 
All  pieces  of  iron  should  be  picked  up  and  thrown  upon  the  cars.  All  traces 
of  the  wreck  should  be  removed — either  by  loading  upon  cars,  giving  away 
or  burning. 

Considerable  care  must  be  exercised  in  handling  passenger  coaches 
that  are  but  slightly  damaged.  As  the  tops  of  these  cars  are  of  light  con- 
struction they  cannot  be  hauled  on  as  with  the  tops  of  box  cars.  When  such 
a  car  is  on  its  side  it  may  be  rolled  by  passing  several  ropes  or  slings  through 
the  ventilator  openings  in  the  roof,  looping  them  around  blocks  padded  with 
grain  sacks  and  placed  crosswise  the  openings,  and  bringing  all  these  ropes 
to  a  common  center,  so  that  all  bear  as  nearly  as  possible  an  equal  stress. 
Where  passenger  coaches  have  rolled  or  run  down  a  bank  they  can  generally 
be  got  back  easiest  by  laying  a  piece  of  track  to  them  at  an  incline,  diagonally 
down  the  bank,  and  hauling  them  up  with  switch  ropes  or  tackle.  A  foun- 
dation for  the  track  may  be  had  by  digging  into  the  bank  on  one  side  and 
laying  timbers  or  rails  upon  cribs  of  ties  or  blocking,  to  support  the  other 
side,  or  by  cribbing  under  both  sides.  If  the  material  cannot  be  obtained 
in  any  other  way,  it  may  be  had  by  taking  up  some  near-by  side-track.  This 
track  may  be  hastily  built,  spacing  the  ties  at  wide  intervals,  and  it  may- 
be connected  to  the  main  track  at  the  top  by  cutting  and  throwing  the  main 
track  over  to  it.  The  derrick  car,  if  needed  at  the  bottom,  may  be  let  down 
this  incline.  When  a  locomotive  is  to  be  hauled  up  a  bank  in  this  way  a 
more  substantial  foundation  for  tracks  is  required,  and  it  might  be  found 
necessary  to  cut  a  bed  out  of  the  bank  the  full  width  of  the  track.  Where 
cars  have  run  away  from  the  track,  on  the  level,  they  may  be  easiest  got  back 
by  cutting  the  track  and  throwing  it  over  to  them  between  train  times,  or 
side,  not  much  can  usually  be  done  with  the  jacks.  The  locomotive  may  be 
thrown  to  connect.  The  cars  should  be  ready  to  haul  onto  the  track  as  soon 
as  it  is  thrown  over.  A  car  down  the  bank  or  to  one  side^  resting  on  its 
sills,  may  be  hauled  to  the  track  by  swinging  first  one  end  and  then  the 
other,  with  the  derrick.  If  the  bank  is  steep  the  advantage  gained  at  each 
hitch  should  be  held  by  a  rope  anchored  to  the  track  rail. 

A  locomotive  off  the  rails  but  not  off  the  ties  may  be  put  on  by  using 
the  replacing  frogs  or  wedges  and  hauling  straight  ahead.  It  will  fre- 
quently save  time,  however,  to  lay  pieces  of  rail  in  front  of  the  wheels  and 
throw  the  track  rails  over  to  connect  with  them.  In  pulling  locomotives 
or  cars  around  very  sharp  curves  on  temporary  tracks  it  is  well  to  oil  the 
rails.  If  one  side  of  a  locomotive  is  off  the  ties,  sunk  into  the  mad  or  bal* 
last,  and  the  machine  badly  tilted,  or  if  it  is  tipped  completely  over  on  its 
^ide,  not  much  can  usually  be  done  with  the  jacks.  The  locomotive  may  be 
righted  by  passing  a  chain  around  the  dome  and  hauling  on  it  with  tackle 
attached  to  a  dead  man  or  other  object  off  at  the  side.  A  collar  or  strap 
is  sometimes  made  to  go  around  the  dome  of  a  locomotive  as  a  means  of  at- 
tachment in  turning  it  over.  In  rolling  over  a  locomotive  a  leverage  may 
be  had  by  lashing  a  heavy  stick  of  timber  to  the  side  and  pulling  on  the  end 
of  it.  If  the  timber  can  be  placed  under  the  locomotive,  the  bottom  end 
would  be  chained  to  the  frame  and  blocking  would  be  arranged  for  a  bear- 


790 


WORK  TRAINS 


ing  against  the  dome;  otherwise,  the  timber  lever  would  be  applied  to  the 
top-side,  with  the  foot  bearing  on  the  frame  or  against  a  driving  wheel,  and 
lifting  by  means  of  a  chain  around  the  dome.  A  start  may  be  had  by  jack- 
ing against  this  timber  for  a  ways,  or  by  pulling  over  a  guyed  samson  post, 
or  by  hitching  the  tackle  to  the  top  of  a  strong  telegraph  pole  securely 
held  with  guy  ropes.  In  righting  a  locomotive  where  one  side  is  on  the  ties, 
lift  the  machine  a  few  inches  at  a  time  and  follow  it  up  with  blocking.  If 
the  locomotive  is  upright  but  sunk  deeply  into  the  earth,  jack  it  up  and 
run  ties  and  rails  under  it  before  attempting  to  haul  it  away.  Where  an  en- 
gine has  gone  down  over  a  high  bank  or  through  a  bridge,  a  powerful  tackle 
must  be  arranged,  and  two  or  more  locomotives  will  be  required  to  haul  it 
back.  If  it  is  overturned  it  must  first  be  righted  and  put  in  line  with  a 
piece  of  track  laid  to  it  down  an  incline.  If  the  incline  is  steep  it  is  well  to 
pull  on  it  with  double  sets  of  tackle  secured  to  several  dead  men  or  trees ; 
otherwise  it  may  be  hauled  Ky  attaching  to  it  directly  with  steel  cables.  It 


10  °  CURVES 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

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422 

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.   390 

6I.Q 

Fig.  4ww. 


Fig.  401. — Rear  View  of  Locomotive. 


is  usually  best  to  first;  dismantle  a  locomotive,  especially  if  it  is  to  be  much 
handled.  The  shafts,  connecting  rods,  headlight  and  many  other  parts 
which  might  be  damaged  should  be  taken  off;  and  the  locomotive  can  also  be 
pulled  somewhat  easier,  especially  if  some  portion  of  the  driving  parts  are 
bent.  Wherever  close  movement  is  required  and  heavy  pulling  is  to  be 
done  there  should  be  as  few  cars  as  possible  attached  to  the  locomotive  that 
is  doing  the  pulling,  and  in  such  cases  the  tool  car,  derrick  car,  etc.,  may  be 
run  back  out  of  the  way. 

Cars  which  have  fallen  through  a  bridge  into  deep  water  are  sometimes 
lifted  out  by  a  dredging  machine  and  placed  upon  barges.  For  work  of  this 
kind  the  dipper  and  dipper  handle  of  the  dredge  are  removed  and  heavy 
block  and  tackle  is  hung  from  the  boom.  Locomotives  may  be  lifted  out  of 
deep  water  by  hoisting  between  two  scows.  Figure  402  is  a  view  snowing 
the  manner  of  lifting  a  44-ton  locomotive  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  & 


WRECKING 


791 


St.  Paul  I\y.  out  of  18  ft.  of  water  in  the  Chicago  river,  the  locomotive 
and  passenger  train  having  run  into  an  open  drawbridge.  By  the  aid  of  a 
diver  a  line  was  passed  under  the  boiler,  just  back  of  the  cylinders,  and  this 
line  was  used  to  haul  under  a  heavy  chain.  Another  chain  was  made  fast 
to  a  toggle  placed  inside  the  firebox  door.  Two  scows,  each  measuring  85x 
22x6  ft.  and  capable  of  carrying  250  tons,  were  then  run  over  the  locomotive 
and  partly  filled  with  water  so  as  to  settle  considerably.  The  chains  were 


then  maae  last  to  the  scows,  when  the  water  was  pumped  out  and  the  loco- 
motive lifted  off  the  bottom  and  carried  farther  from  shore,  in  order  to 
obtain  more  room.  The  locomotive  was  then  dropped  and  the  scows  placed 
alongside — that  is,  one  on  each  side  of  it — 9  ft.  apart  and  securely  braced  so 
as  not  to  separate.  In  order  to  facilitate  placing  the  locomotive  on  a  track 
after  being  lifted,  it  was  raised  as  near  as  possible  to  one  end  of  the  scows. 
Four  16xl6-in.  spruce  beams,  each  56  ft.  long,  were  then  placed  crosswise 


792 


WORK  TRAIXS 


the  scows  and  supported  on  blocking  14  ft.  high.  Chains  were  then  made 
fast  to  each  of  the  four  drivers,,  in  addition  to  the  chain  looped  under  the- 
head  end  of  the  boiler,  previously  noted,  and  passed  to  12xl2-in.  oak  lexers 
supported  on  the  spruce  timbers,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  These  levers  were 
six  in  number,  arranged  in  three  pairs,  and  operated  by  screw  jacks.  The 
chains  were  held  to  the  levers  by  toggles,  and  to  hold  the  chains  while  drop- 
ping the  levers,  in  order  to  take  up  on  the  chains,  toggles  were  arranged  on 
the  beams  underneath  the  levers.  A  rear  view  of  the  locomotive,  in  which 
these  levers  appear  more  clearly,  is  shown  in  Fig.  401.  After  the  locomo- 
tive was  righted  and  raised  to  a  sufficient  hight  the  scows  were  swung  "end 
on"  to  a  piece  of  track  laid  down  the  bank  and  supported  at  the  end  upon 
two  piles  driven  into  the  bed  of  the  river.  The  work  was  accomplished  in  7 
days  with  a  crew  of  14  men,  considerable  delay  being  occasioned  by  the 
limited  room  for  handling  the  scows  and  the  necessity  for  dropping  the 
locomotive  and  raising  it  a  second  time. 


Fig.  404. — Recovering  a  Sunken   Locomotive,   Niagara  Junction  Ry. 

In  some  cases  locomotives  have  been  fished  up  by  running  chains  under 
them  and  fastening  to  water-logged  scows.  At  low  tide  the  scows  would.be 
pumped  out,  lifting  the  wreck,  and  at  high  tide  they  would  be  towed  into 
low  water.  When  the  tide  fell  again  the  water  logging  and  pumping  opera- 
tions would  be  repeated,  and  the  locomotive  carried  shoreward  until  finally 
it  would  stand  dry,  with  the  tide  out,  when  a  piece  of  track  would  be  laid 
to  the  site  and  the  locomotive  hauled  away.  At  Terre  Haute,  Tnd.,  a  loco- 
motive of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ey.,  at  one  time, 
was  raised  out  of  water  by  means  of  sets  of  heavy  block  and  wire  rope  tackle 


WRECKING  793 

fastened  to  a  bridge.  The  tackle  was  pulled  by  a  locomotive  on  the  track 
over  the  bridge,  and  to  prevent  side  strain  on  the  bridge  trasses  the  tackle 
was  suspended  from  special  wooden  chords  laid  upon  the  bridge  and  secured 
against  lateral  movement  or  pressure  by  guy  lines  run  to  the  shore.  The 
wrecked  engine  was  lifted  10  or  12  ft.  above  the  water  and  let  down  upon  a 
scow,  and  finally  hauled  away  on  a  temporary  track  built  to  the  scow  land- 
ing. As  heretofore  stated,  locomotives  of  light  weight  are  frequently  lifted 
bodily  by  steam  wrecking  derricks.  An  example  of  such  an  instance  of 
recovery  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  404.  A  locomotive  and  six  freight  cars  of 
the  Niagara  Junction  Ry.,  at  Niagara,  N.  Y.,  ran  off  the  end  of  a  dock 
into  the  Niagara  river  and  sank  in  about  15  ft.  of  water.  The  picture 
shows  a  "Bay  City"  derrick  car  (like  the  one  in  Fig.  398)  in  the  act  of 
lifting  the  locomotive  out.  The  chains  were  fastened  by  a  diver,  and  after 
the  locomotive  was  lifted  high  enough  to  clear  the  dock  it  was  swung 
around  and  placed  upon  the  track. 

In  the  absence  of  the  roadmaster,  if  he  be  wreckmaster,  the  foreman 
of  the  work  train,  or  the  highest  assistant  in  authority  under  the  wreck- 
master  who  is  present,  should  take  charge  until  the  wreckmaster  arrives. 
The  wreckmaster  should  keep  his  head  cool  and  avoid  hasty  speech.  Some 
men  appear  to  think  that  a  wreck  gives  them  good  excuse  for  cursing  or 
abusing  their  subordinates  upon  the  slightest  mistake  or  irregularity;  and 
some  men  in  authority  show  more  ingenuity  in  finding  fault  than  in  hand- 
ling a  wreck.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  better  opportunity  for  an  official 
or  foreman  to  gain  the  good  will  of  his  men  than  by  keeping  patient  and 
civil  wrhile  they  are  engaged  at  hard  and  hurrying  work.  He  should  give 
the  signals  to  the  engineer  when  ready  to  pull  at  the  wreck  and  see  that 
men  stand  clear  where  they  will  not  be  liable  to  injury  by  the  breaking  of 
ropes  or  chains.  At  night  he  should  carry  a  lantern  with  a  colored  globe, 
so  that  he  may  be  readily  found  when  sought.  He  should  be  able  to  rig 
block  and  tackle  to  best  advantage,  and  should  acquaint  himself  with  a  few 
ways  of  making  hitches  and  tying  knots  in  large  ropes.  A  knowledge  of 
how  to  tie  knots  comes  handy  when  ropes  break. 

Knots  and  Hitches. — Figures  405  and  406  show  a  number  of  the  most 
common  knots  and  hitches,  the  former  illustration  being  reproduced  by  per- 
mission of  the  C.  W.  Hunt  Company,  West  New  Brighton,  N.  Y.,  from  a 
plate  published  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Manila  Rope."  This  publication 
also  contains  instructions  for  splicing  ropes.  In  order  to  show  clearly  the 
position  of  the  parts  the  engravings  in  Fig.  405  were  made  open,  or  to  rep- 
resent the  rope  before  being  drawn  taut. 

The  principle  of  a  knot  is  that  no  two  parts  which  would  move  in  the 
same  direction  if  the  rope  were  to  slip  should  lie  alongside  of  and  touching 
each  other.  Sketch  C,  Fig.  405,  shows  the  wrong  way  to  attempt  to  tie  a 
figure-8  knot,  as  it  makes  an  overhand  knot  identical  with  B,  except  that 
one  is  right  hand  and  the  other  left  hand.  Sketch  00,  Fig.  406,  shows 
the  correct  way  to  tie  a  figure-8  knot,  the  right-hand  end  going  first  under, 
and  then  over,  the  loop  instead  of  over  and  then  under,  as  in  Fig.  405, 

One  of  the  most  serviceable  knots  is  the  bowline,  used  in  fastening  a 
rope  to  a  tree  or  post.  It  will  not  slip,  and  after  being  strained  is  easily 
untied.  The  three  steps  in  tying  the  knot  are  shown  as  engravings  F,  G  and 
H,  in  Fig.  405.  The  square  or  reef  knot  (I)  is  used  in  joining  the  ends 
of  two  ropes  and  is  difficult  to  untie.  If  the  short  ends  be  wound  together 
in  the  reverse  way  the  result  is  a  "granny  knot,"  which  will  slip  under 
strain.  The  weaver's  knot  (J)  may  be  used  to  join  the  ends  of  two  ropes 
or  to  fasten  the  end  of  a  rope  to  a  bight  in  another  rope.  The  stevedore 


794 


WORK  TRAINS 


knot  (M)  is  useful  where  a  rope  passes  through  an  eye  and  is  held  by  the 
knot,  as  it  will  not  slip  and  is  easily  untied  after  being  strained. 

The  Blackwall  hitch  is  used  for  attaching  the  end  of  a  rope  or  a  sling 
to  the  hook  of  a  block.  When  the  rope  spreads  away  to  its  load — that  is, 
when  both  ends  are  attached  to  the  load,  as  when  using  a  sling — the  hitch 
is  made  as  in  Sketch  TF,  Fig.  405.  This  hitch  causes  the  rope  to  jam  when 
ABC  D  E 


A,  Bight  of  rope.  P, 

B,  Simple  or  overhand  knot.  Q, 

C,  Figure-8  knot  (wrong  way).  R, 

D,  Double   knot.  S, 

E,  Boat  knot.  T, 

F,  Bowline,    first   step.  U, 

G,  Bowline,    second   step.  V, 
H,    Bowline   completed.  W, 
I,      Square  or  reef  knot.  X, 
J,     Sheet  bend  or  weaver's  knot.  Y, 
K,    Sheet  bend  with  toggle.  Z, 
L,    Carrick  bend.  AA, 
M,    Stevedore   knot   completed.  BB, 
N,    Stevedore  knot  commenced.  CC, 
O,    Slip  knot. 

Fig.  405.— Knots  and 


Flemish   loop. 
Chain  knot  with  toggle. 
Half  hitch. 
Timber  hitch. 

Clove    hitch   or   builder's   knot. 
Rolling  hitch. 

Timber  hitch  and  half  hitch. 
Blackwall  hitch  (single). 
Fisherman's  bend. 
Round   turn   and   half   hitch. 
Wall  knot  commenced. 
Wall   knot    completed. 
Wall  knot  crown  commenced. 
Wall  knot  crown  completed. 

Hitches. 


WRECKING 


795 


DD,  Shortened  rope. 

EE,  Swab  hitch. 

FF,  Clove  hitch. 

GG,  Double  Blackwall  hitch. 

HH,  Cat's-paw  hitch. 

JJ,  Barrel  hitch. 

KK,  Open  hand  knot. 

LLi,  Englishman's    tie. 


MM,    Ordinary  tie. 

NN,    Parbuckle. 

OO,    Figure-8  knot. 

PP,    Timber  hitch  (direct  pull). 

RR,    Double  half  hitch. 

SS,     Flemish  loop  (taut). 

TT,    Eye   splice. 


Fig.  406.— Knots  and  Hitches. 


the  strain  comes  on  and  prevents  the  sling  from  slipping  through  the  hook 
and  tilting  the  load  in  case  the  latter  meets  with  some  obstruction  .while 
being  hoisted.  The  rope  is  easily  detached  when  the  strain  is  relieved.  If 
the  end  of  the  rope  is  to  be  used  it  should  be  passed  twice  around  the  hook., 
as  in  Sketch  GG,  Fig.  406.  With  only  one  turn,  as  in  Sketch  W,  the  rope 
is  liable  to  slip  when  subjected  to  heavy  pull,,  especially  if  it  is  wet.  When 
the  rope  is.  too  long  for  convenient  manipulation  of  the  end  it  may  be  se- 
cured to  the  hook  by  a  cat's-paw  hitch,  Sketch  HH,  Fig.  406.  This  hitch 
is  made  by  taking  hold  of  the  rope  with  both  hands  at  points  about  2  ft. 
apart  and  twisting  it  two  or  three  times  either  way,  when  the  ends  of  the 
loops  thus  made  are  applied  to  the  hook.  The  twisting  prevents  the  rope 
from  becoming  jammed  and  the  hitch  is  easily  loosened. 

A  wall  knot,  or  wale  knot  (A A,  BE,  CO,  Fig.  405)  is  a  knot  made 
at  the  end  of  a  rope  by  interlacing  the  strands,  and  is  used  to  keep  the  end 
from  drawing  through  an  eye  or  hole.  It  is  made  by  proceeding  as  follows : 
Form  a  bight  with -strand  1  and  pass  strand  2  around  the  end  of  it,  and 
strand  3  round  the  end  of  2,  and  then  through  the  bight  of  1,  as  shown  in 
the  engraving  Z.  Haul  the  ends  taut,  when  the  appearance  will  be  as 
shown  in  the  engraving  A  A.  The  end  of  strand  1  is  now  laid  over  the  cen- 
ter of  the  knot,  strand  2  laid  over  1  and  3  over  2,  when  the  end  of  3  is 
passed  through  the  bight  of  1,  as  shown  in  the  engraving  BB.  Haul  all 
the  strands  taut  as  shown  in  the  engraving  CC.  By  going  a  step  farther 
than  what  is  done  in  Sketch  Y  and  making  another  half  hitch,  and  then 
drawing  taut,  the  end  of  the  rope  will  hold  without  wrapping,  and  it  then 
becomes  a  good  hitch  to  make  around  a  tree. 

Sketch  DD,  Fig.  406,  shows  a  method  of  shortening  a  rope  which  is 
too  long  for  some  temporary  purpose.  It  consists  of  a  half  hitch  at  each 
end  of  one  or  more  bights  laid  up  to  shorten  the  rope  to  the  required 
length.  If  several  bights  are  laid  up  the  standing  part  is  passed  through 


796  WORK  TRAIXS 

the  ends  of  all  and  pulled  tight.  The  illustrations  EE  and  FF  show  hitches- 
for  securing  a  small  rope  to  one  of  larger  diameter.  In  the  swab  hitch 
(EE)  the  end  of  the  smaller  rope  is  sometimes  passed  twice  around  the 
bight  of  the  larger,  instead  of  only  once,  as  shown.  Sketch  FF  will  be  recog- 
nized as  the  clove  hitch,  identical  with  Sketch  T,  Fig.  405.  The  hitch  JJ 
is  used  on  barrels  and  similarly-shaped  things  when  it  is  desired  to  hoist 
the  vessel  in  a  vertical  position.  The  illustrations  KK  (open  hand  knot),, 
LL  (Englishman's  tie),  and  MM  (ordinary  tie)  show  various  knots  for  ty- 
ing the  ends  of  two  ropes  together  or  for  uniting  the  two  pieces  of  a  rope  at 
a  break.  When  the  knot  KK  is  tied  in  the  bight  of  a  single  piece  of  rope 
it  is  known  as  a  loop  knot.  Sketch  NN  shows  the  parbuckle  hitch,  for 
rolling  a  barrel  or  similar  load  up  an  incline  with  a  single  length  of  rope. 

For  heavy  pulling  with  manila  or  hemp  ropes  the  spliced  eye  (TT , 
Fig.  406)  is  the  most  efficient  method  of  attachment,  as  it  will  stand  a 
pull  sufficient  to  break  the  rope  in  the  straight  part.  Next  in  efficiency 
come  the  timber  hitch,  the  slip  knot  and  the  double  half  hitch,  in  about  the 
order  named.  Numerous  tests  made  at  the  engineering  laboratory  of  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  give  the  relative  average  efficiencies 
of  various  hitches  as  follows:  Spliced  eye,  100  per  cent;  timber  hitch,  74 
per  cent;  double  half  hitch,  69  per  cent;  slip  knot,  73  per  cent;  bowline, 
58  per  cent;  Flemish  loop,  50  per  cent.  These  figures  apply  to  manila  and 
Russian  hemp  rope.  With  American  hemp  rope  the  efficiencies  proved  to- 
be  higher  in  every  case,  being  84  per  cent  for  the  timber  hitch,  90  per  cent 
for  the  double  half  hitch,  92  per  cent  for  the  slip  knot,  80  per  cent  for  the 
bowline  and  76  per  cent  for  the  Flemish  loop.  With  cotton  rope  the  eye 
splice  was  not  found  as  efficient  as  the  timber  hitch. 

None  of  the  knots  will  withstand  a  pull  as  great  as  the  strength  of  a 
straight  rope.  The  Englishman's  tie  (LL,  Fig.  406)  is  the  strongest.  The 
relative  average  efficiencies  of  knots,  as  determined  by  tests  at  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology,  were  reported  as  follows:  Englishman's- 
tie,  61  per  cent;  ordinary  tie  (MM,  Fig.  406),  57  per  cent;  square  knot 
(Sketch  I,  Fig.  405),  52  per  cent;  open  hand  knot  (KK,  Fig.  406),  46 
per  cent. 

150.  Fighting  Snow. — The  task  of  clearing  the  track  of  snow  falls; 
to  the  track  department.  In  certain  portions  of  the  country,  particularly 
in  the  Northwest  or  upper  Mississippi  valley  states,  the  handling  of  snow  is 
a  work  of  much  importance;  indeed  the  regularity  of  the  traffic  in  winter 
time  depends  much  upon  the  alertness,  the  industry  and,  quite  frequently, 
upon  the  ingenuity,  of  the  man  or  men  in  charge  of  it.  Of  snow  plows  and 
other  appliances  in  use  for  removing  snow  there  are  many  kinds,  but,  gener- 
ally considered,  they  may  be  divided  into  five  types,  namely:  push  plows, 
pilot  plows,  machine  plows,  wing  plows  and  flangers.  On  eastern  roads,. 
or  roads  east  of  Chicago,  the  most  common  type  of  plow  in  general  use  is 
some  form  of  push  plow;  between  Chicago  and  the  Rocky  mountains  the- 
type  of  plow  in  most  general  use  is  the  pilot  plow;  while  on  the  Rocky 
mountain  roads  one  finds  the  machine  plow  in  common  use. 

Push  Plows. — A  push  snow  plow  has  fixed  parts,  runs  upon  its  own 
wheels,  and  -in  operation  is  pushed  ahead  of  one  or  more  locomotives.  The- 
plow  proper  is  usually  constructed  at  the  end  of  a  flat  car  or  box  car.  and 
it  usually  takes  one  of  two  shapes,  namely,  V-shaped  or  square-nosed.  A 
plow  shaped  like  a  locomotive  pilot  would  be  one  example  of  a  V-shaped 
plow.  Its  tendency  is  to  crowd  the  snow  out  or  throw  it  aside  without  lift- 
ing it  much.  A  V-shaped  plow  having  its  faces  vertical,  or  perpendicular 
to  the  track,  crowds  the  snow  aside  without  lifting  it  any,  and  it  becomes 
a  difficult  matter  to  hold  such  a  plow  down  in  compact  snow.  There  is 


FIGHTING  SNOW  79? 

then  the  further  objection  that  snow  handled  in  this  manner  will  fall 
back  under  the  wheels  after  the  plow  passes.  A  square-nosed  plow  is  one 
the  front  and  lower  edge  of  which  extends  squarely  across  the  track  the 
full  width  of  the  plow.  Its  action  is  first  to  lift  the  snow,  as  dirt  is  lifted 
in  a  scraper,  and  then  to  throw  it  aside,  without  crowding.  The  uppei- 
part  of  the  plow  is  V-shaped.  The  face  of  the  plow  is  in  principle  a  rec- 
tangular inclined  plane  surface  having  a  V-shaped  plow  of  the  same  width 
set  upon  it  some  distance  back  from  the  front  edge.  For  use  in  snow  of 
moderate  depth  a  plow  at  the  end  of  a  flat  car  is  frequently  employed.  One 
such  in  the  service  of  the  Micigan  Central  R.  R.  consists  of  a  wooden  plow 
with  vertical  faces  (V-shaped),  suspended  from  the  overhanging  end  of  a 
12xl4-in.  beam  running  longitudinally  over  the  car  and  hinged  to  the  frame 
of  the  car  at  the  rear  end.  At  the  front  end  of  the  car  there  are  two  vertical 
brake  cylinders,  one  at  either  side  of  the  beam,  for  lifting  the  plow  at  cross- 
ings and  switches.  These  cylinders  are  supplied  with  air  piped  from  the 
-cab  of  the  locomotive  and  are  under  the  control  of  the  engineer,  who  raises 
-and  lowers  the  plow  as  necessity  requires.  It  is  therefore  not  necessary  to  the 
operation  of  the  plow  that  an  attendant  should  remain  on  the  car.  The 
<>ar  is  weighted  down  and  is  pushed  ahead  of  the  locomotive.  The  Penn- 
sylvania R.  R.  has  a  plow  of  somewhat  similar  construction,  the  front  and 
rear  ends  of  the  car  being  loaded  'with  old  car  wheels.  At  the  front  end  of 
the  car  there  is  a  plow,  and  just  back  of  the  front  truck  there  is  a  flanger. 
'This  flanger  is  attached  to  the  ends  of  two  struts  hinged  in  front  of  the  rear 
truck  of  the  car  and  raised  either  by  an  air  cylinder  or  by  a  long  lever, 
which  is  used  when  air  pressure  is  not  available.  The  Boston  &  Albany 
R.  R.  also  uses  a  snow  plow  rigged  at  the  front  end  of  a  flat  car.  The  plow 
•device  is  6J  ft.  high  and  there  is  a  small  house  or  cab  on  the  car  for  the 
pilot. 

One  of  the  best  known  push  plows  is  the  Russell  design,  first  put  to 
service  in  1885  on  the  Intercolonial  Ry.,  in  Canada,  and  now  used  on  a 
large  number  of  roads.  This  plow  is  of  the  square-nosed  type  and  is  very  sol- 
idly built.  The  incline  or  face  of  the  plow  is  formed  upon  a  12xl2-in.  white 
•oak  timber  known  as  the  "backbone,"  and  the  plow  is  pushed  at  the  front 
^iid  by  a  12xl2-in.  oak  timber  called  the  "power  bar,"  which  lies  between 
the  two  center  sills  of  the  car  frame,  extending  the  entire  length  of  the 
car  to  the  "backbone,"  to  which  it  is  hinged  by  heavy  straps.  The  rear  end 
of  the  timber  is  left  free  to  move  laterally  a  distance  of  4  ins.  each  way 
from  the  center,  so  that  it  readily  adjusts  itself  to  curves.  The  nose  of  the 
plow  or  cutting  edge  is  10  ft.  wide  and  reaches  within  a  few  inches  of  the 
rail.  The  rear  portion  of  the  car  is  6  ins.  narrower  than  the  width  at  the 
Incline,  so  as  to  relieve  the  car  of  the  friction  of  snow  against  its  sides.  The 
share  or  center  cutter  of  the  plow  starts  some  distance  back  from  the  cut- 
ting edge  and  both  it  and  the  portions  of  the  incline  subjected  to  heaviest 
wear  are  faced  with  steel  plates.  The  surfaces  which  come  into  contact 
with  the  snow  at  the  rear  of  the  face  are  long,  sweeping  curves.  The  front 
end  of  a  square-nosed  plow  is  subjected  to  heavy  downward  pressure  from 
the  snow  and  hence  a  very  strong  forward  truck  is  required.  One  difficulty 
with  such  trucks  has  been  the  heating  of  the  journals,  due  to  the  excessive 
load.  To  overcome  this  trouble  the  forward  truck  of  the  Russell  plow  is 
made  especially  heavy  and  of  special  design  Each  axle  is  provided  with 
four  journals — that  is,  a  journal  each  side  of  each  wheel — thus  giving  the 
necessary  strength  and  ample  bearing  surface.  The  face  of  the  plow  and 
the  exterior  of  the  car  are  covered  with  matched  yellow  pine,  planed  smooth 
and  shellacked,  so  that  it  presents  a  smooth  surface.  The  front  of  the  plow 
is  provided  with  a  draw-bar,  attached  to  straps  anchored  in  the  framing 


798 


WORK  TRAINS 


of  the  plow,  so  as  to  enable  the  car  to  be  coupled  up  in  a  train.,  when  neces- 
sary. The  top  of  the  car  is  fitted  with  a  raised  portion  for  the  lookout,  who 
communicates  with  the  engineer  by  means  of  a  bell  cord  and  directs  the 
movements  of  the  car. 

This  plow  is  made  in  three  styles :  a  single-track  plow,  with  a  symmetri- 
cal front,  throwing  to  both  sides ;  a  double-track  plow,,  with  unsymmetrical 
front,  throwing  to  one  side  only ;  and  a  "wing-elevator"  plow,  for  either- 
double  or  single  track.  Each  of  these  styles  is  made  in  three  sizes.  Figure 
407  is  a  view  of  the  single-track  plow,  intermediate  size,  as  made  for  the 
New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  R,.  E.  This  plow  is  34  ft.  long,  11  ft.  high 
at  the  front  and  weighs  46,000  Ibs.  without  ballast.  The  rear  buffer  is  mount- 
ed on  the  end  of  the  "power  bar"  and  is  shown  in  the  rear  view.  To  facilitate 
coupling  with  locomotive  draw-bars  of  varying  hights  it  has  four  pockets.  The 
Russell  plow  for  double  track  is  constructed  on  the  same  general  principles 
as  the  single-track  plow,  the  only  essential  difference  being  in  the  location, 
of  the  share  or  cutter,  which,  of  course,  is  placed  at  one  side  of  the  incline 
instead  of  at  the  center,  so  as  to  throw  all  the  snow  to  one  side.  The  plow  is 


Fig.  408. — Self-Turning  Snow  Plow,  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  R.  R. 

made  for  either  right-hand  or  left-hand  running.  The  usual  method  of  clear- 
ing a  double-track  road  is  to  run  the  plow  over  one  of  the  tracks,  turn  the 
plow  and  return  by  the  other  track.  As  some  double-track  roads  (including. 
the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  and  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern) 
run  left-handed — that  is,  the  right-hand,  or  engineer's,  side  of  the  engine 
coming  between  the  tracks  instead  of  on  the  outside — the  snow  plows  for 
such  roads,  in  order  to  run  in  the  customary  direction  of  the  train  move- 
ments, must  necessarily  throw  to  the  left.  These  double-track  plows,  if 
they  happen  to  be  turned  the  right  way,  are  well  adapted  to  side-hill  plow- 
ing. The  cutting  edge  of  the  share  is  5  ft.  back  of  the  front  of  the  incline, 
so  that  the  incline  is  securely  held  down  by  the  weight  of  snow  in  advance 
of  the  point  where  the  side  pressure  on  the  plow  begins,  and  there  is  no  dan- 
ger of  the  plow  being  thrown  off  the  track  by  side  pressure.  It  may  also  be 
stated  that  in  side-hill  plowing  with  a  single-track  plow,  the  bank  side  of  the 
plow  will  fill  up  and  all  of  the  snow  will  be  thrown  to  the  other  side,  or  away 
from  the  bank.  One  way  to  clear  both  tracks  of  a  double-track  road,  and' 
the  midway  at  the  same  time,  is  to  run  a  single-track  plow  over  the  track  on 


FIGHTING  SNOW 


799 


the  windward  side,  with  the  wings  open,  and  follow  behind  with  a  side  plow 
on  the  other  track,  opening  out  the  wing  on  the  lee  side.  In  order  to  do 
this  it  is  of  course  necessary  to  have  both  tracks  clear  of  traffic. 

In  lighting  snow  the  demand  often  arises  for  some  arrangement  where- 
by a  snow  plow  may  at  any  time  be  made  quickly  ready  for  use  in  either  di- 
rection. It  is  sometimes  the  case  that  snow  at  one  end  of  a  division  is  deeper 
or  more  troublesome,  from  drifting  or  because  of  other  conditions,  than  at 


the  other,  and  in  cases  of  this  kind  it  frequently  happens  that  it  is  desirable 
to  stop  at  some  intermediate  point  on  the  division  and  return.  Such  might 
be  the  case  on  double  track,  where,  after  having  covered  the  district  over 
which  the  snow  is  most  troublesome,,  it  is  desired  to  take  a  crossover  and 
plow  back  over  the  other  track;  or,  indeed,  in  event  the  snow  is  rapidly 
drifting,  it  might  be  desirable  to  start  the  plow  back  over  the  same  track, 
as  on  a  single-track  road,  thus  saving  time  which  would  otherwise  be  wasted 


800 


WORK  TRAINS 


in  running  to  the  nearest  turntable,,  which  would  usually  be  at  the  end  of 
the  division.  To  meet  the  requirements  of  such  a  situation  the  Delaware, 
Lacka wanna  &  Western  E.  E.  has  a  push  plow  with  a  turntable  arrangement 
self  contained  with  the  car,  for  turning  the  plow  end  for  end  at  any  point  on 
main  track.  There  is  a  turntable  track  44  ft.  in  diameter  attached  to  the 
front  truck  of  the  car,  and  near  the  center  of  the  car,  which  is  37  ft.  long, 
there  is  a  bolster  with  a  center  bearing  to  fit  the  truck,  and  six  8J-in.  wheels 
arranged  in  a  circle  to  bear  upon  the  turntable  track.  In  order  to  turn  the 
plow  the  front  end  of  the  car  is  raised,  by  means  of  compressed  air  cylin- 
ders, to  clear  the  forward  truck,  which  is  then  rolled  back  under  the  center 
bolster  or  bearing.  The  weight  of  the  car  is  then  supported  by  the  truck 
under  the  center,  the  rear  truck  hanging  to  the  car  body.  The  turntable 
device  being  located  at  such  a  point  that  the  car  body  is  balanced  over  the 


Fig.  409. — Pilot  Snow  Plow  and  Flanger,  Vermont  Valley  R.  R. 

center  truck,  the  plow  is  turned  by  pushing  it  around  with  a  gang  of  men, 
three  men  being  a  sufficient  force.  Figure  408  is  an  illustration  of  this  plow 
in  process  of  turning.  The  arrangement  for  hoisting  the  front  of  the  plow 
clear  of  the  truck  at  that  end  is  a  1.2 -in.  air  cylinder  on  each  side  of  the 
car,  opposite  the  center  of  the  truck.  It  has  a  downwardly  acting  piston 
which  takes  a  bearing  on  blocking  placed  on  the  ends  of  the  ties. 

Pilot  Plows. — Pilot  snow  plows,  sometimes  called  Congdon  plows,  are 
of  various  kinds  and  sizes,  ranging  from  moldboards  of  boiler  plate  2  or  3 
ft.  high  attached  to  the  pilot  of  the  engine.,  to  a  plow  extending  as  high  as 
the  top  of  the  boiler.  In  the  latter  case  the  steel  plate  face  or  moldboards 
of  the  plow  are  usually  backed  by  a  wooden  frame  attached  to  the'1  pilot  and 
braced  against  the  engine  frame,  or  in  some  cases  the  pilot  is  removed  to 
give  place  to  this  frame.  One  fault  with  many  pilot  plows  is  that  when 
the  engine  runs  backward  the  moldboarels  will  pull  snow  into  the  track, 
and  in  hard  snow  the  moldboards  are  sometimes  broken  off  in  this  way. 


FIGHTING  SNOW 


801 


One  way  to  overcome  this  difficulty  is  to  place  guard  plates  at  the  sides  of 
the  plow,  in  rear  of  the  moldboards.  Pilot  plows  are  usually  intended  for 
service  in  snow  of  moderate  depth,  say  not  to  exceed  4  ft.,  the  intention  be- 
ing to  equip  all  or  part  of  the  trains  with  such  plows  and  keep  the  road 
clear  by  the  frequent  passing  of  the  trains.  In  cases,  however,  such  plows 
are  made  to  do  heavy  work,  the  locomotive  equipped  with  the  plow  being, 
assisted  by  one  or  more  locomotives  as  pushers.  On  a  number  of  roads  plows 
as  high  as  the  pilot  are  permanently  attached  to  locomotives  for  the  win- 
ter season,  remaining  on  the  locomotives  while  making  their  regular 
trips.  Thus,  on  the  Wisconsin  Central  Ry.,  all  the  passenger  engines 
and  about  25  per  cent  of  the  freight  engines  are  equipped  with  pilot 
plows  reaching  to  the  top  of  the  bumper  beam,  while  one  engine  for 
each  division  has  a  pilot  plow  8J  ft.  high,  or  extending  to  the  top  of  the 
smoke  box,  for  heavier  duty  in  emergency. 


Fig.  410. — Pilot  Snow  Plow,  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 

Figure  409  shows  a  pilot  plow  used  on  the  Vermont  Valley  branch  of 
the  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R.,  for  all  except  the  deep  snows.  The  plow  is  built 
of  heavy  framed  timbers,  sheathed  with  hard  pine  and  faced  with  J-in.  iron 
plate.  The  plow  is  4  ft.  high,  above  the  rail,  at  the  front  end  and  6  ft.  high 
at  the  rear  end.  The  plow  is  attached  to  the  locomotive  by  means  of  a  hinge 
at  the  bottom.  The  hinge  rod  or  pin  extends  the  entire  width  of  the  plow, 
running  through  the  hinge  castings  on  either  side.  The  abutment  for  the 
plow,  on  the  locomotive,  is  arranged  similarly  to  the  old-fashioned  "broom 
guards."  The  top  of  the  plow  is  connected  by  rod  and  crank  to  an  air  cylin- 
der which  stands  in  a  vertical  position  directly  over  the  front  axle  of  the 
engine  truck.  When  in  service  the  nose  of  the  plow  rests  upon  cast  iron 
shoes  which  slide  upon  the  rails.  When  not  in  service  it  is  lifted  from  the 
working  position  by  means  of  the  air  cylinder  and  held  clear  of  the  rails. 
The  "cutters"  or  nangers  consist  of  heavy  steel  plates  bolted  to  the  nose  of 
the  plow,  as  seen  in  the  picture,  which  shows  the  plow  in  the  working  posi- 
tion. This  arrangement  provides  for  quickly  replacing  the  flangers  should 
they  become  torn  loose  by  an  obstruction.  They  are  adjustable  by  means 
of  the  bolts,  and  when  the  plow  is  used  at  night  they  are  taken  off.  To  pro- 
vide for  service  in  the  case  of  sudden  calls  the  pilot  of  the  engine  is  removed 


80.2 


WORK  TRAINS 


in  the  fall,  and  this  engine  is  then  used  for  switching  purposes,  so  that  it 
is  in  readiness  at  any  time.  The  plow  can  be  attached  to  the  engine  or  de- 
tached from  it  in  five  minutes.  The  crew  for  operation  consists  of  the  en- 
gineer, fireman  and  a  conductor,  the  engineer  handling  the  plow.  Figure 
410  shows  a  plow  attached  to  the  pilot  of  a  light  engine  of  the  Union 
Pacific  R.  E.,  which  is  kept  in  the  roundhouse  at  Bawlins,  Wyo.,  for  service 
in  snow  of  3  ft.  depth  and  less.  For  heavy  work,  in  hard  snow,  two  en- 
gines are  used  to  push  the  plow,  and  in  snow  of  the  depth  stated  the  plow 
is  said  to  do  efficient  work. 

Machine  Ploics. — The  machine  snow  plow  might  be  described  as  a 
modified  type  of  old-fashioned  fanning  mill,  of  monster  size,  on  wheels, 
with  the  hopper  turned  up  squarely  to  the  front.  The  pressure  of  the  ma- 
chine forward  crowds  the  snow  into  the  hopper  and  the  swiftly  revolving 
fan  throws  it  violently  through  an  opening  high  into  the  air  and  to  one  side, 
in  a  stream  as  large  as  a  flour  barrel.  By  adjusting  the  opening  or  exit 
passage  the  stream  may  be  thrown  to  either  side,  as  desired.  The  wheel  in 
one  style  of  machine  is  a  propeller,  similar  in  action  to  the  propeller  of  a 
steamboat,  and  in  other  machines  it  is  simply  an  immense  screw  or  auger, 
which  bores  out  the  material  crowded  against  it,  throwing  it  out  of  the 


Fig.  411. — The  "Rotary"  Snow  Plow. 

chute  directly  or  into  a  fan  wheel.  It  is  turned  by  power  furnished  on  the 
machine  itself,  the  rotary  or  plow  portion  being  but  the  head  end  of  a  long 
car.  The  first  machine  snow  plow  to  see  real  service  was  designed  by  Mr. 
Orange  Jull,  and  was  tried  for  the  first  time  on  April  1,  1884,  in  the  yards 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  By.,  at  Montreal.  This  plow  had  a  rotating  wheel 
with  cutting  blades  and  was  the  prototype  of  the  modern  "Botary."  The 
first  machine  snow  plow  used  in  the  United  States  was  an  improved  form 
of  this  plow,  and  saw  service  in  the  winter  of  1886-87  on  the  Union  Pacific 
E.  E. ;  but  up  to  the  year  1888  this  was  the  only  machine  plow  to  be  put  to 
work.  During  the  years  1888  to  1890,  inclusive,  machine  plows  were  vastly 
improved  upon  and  came  into  use  quite  extensively,  particularly  on  the 
Eocky  mountain  roads.  The  three  types  which  then  came  into  use  were 
the  "Botary,"  the  "Centrifugal"  or  Jull  plow,  and  the  "Cyclone."  On 
general  principles  the  construction  and  operation  of  all  three  machines  are 
the  same,  except  in  the  form  of  the  excavating  device.  They  all  take  the' 
form  of  a  box  car  with  a  rotating  device  or  excavator  enclosed  within  a 
hood  at  the  front  of  the  car. 


FIGHTING  SNOW  803 

The  "liotary"  snow  plow  (Leslie  machine)  is  shown  in  Fig,  411.  At 
the  front  of  the  car  there  is  a  hood  formed  of  steel  plates,  with  cutting 
edges  at  the  sides  and  bottom.  The  width  of  the  hood  is  10  ft.  and  the 
bottom  cutting  edge  is  carried  only  3  or  4  ins.  above  the  rail.  This  hood 
tapers  into  a  circular  drum,,  within  which  the  rotator  revolves  at  about  200 
revolutions  per  minute  upon  a  longitudinal  shaft  turned  by  two  vertical 
engines  combining  800  horse  power.  At  the  rear  of  the  car  there  is  a  loco- 
motive tender  to  supply  fuel  and  water.  In  the  old  form  of  Eotary  plow 
(Fig.  412)  the  excavator  consists  of  a  knife  wheel  with  flat  cutting  blades, 
mth  a  fan  wheel  in  the  rear,  both  being  attached  to  the  same  shaft  and 
turning  together.  In  the  improved  machines,  however,  the  fan  wheel  is 
-dispensed  with  and  a  new  form  of  wheel  is  provided.  This  wheel  is  com- 
posed of  ten  hollow  funnel-shaped  scoops,  arranged  radially  on  the  wheel. 
The  scoops  widen  or  flare  from  center  to  circumference  of  the  wheel,  and 
•each  scoop  is  open  its  entire  length  on  the  front  side,  through  which  the 
snow  is  taken  in.  On  each  side  of  the  opening  on  the  front  side  of  the 
scoops  there  is  hinged  a  knife  or  cutting  blade,  the  knives  of  each  two  ad- 
jacent scoops  being  linked  together,  as  shown,  so  as  to  automatically  adjust 


Fig.  412. — Rotary  Snow  Plow  (Old  Design). 

themselves  into  cutting  position  whichever  way  the  wheel  is  turned.  The 
•center  of  the  wheel  projects  ahead  of  the  hood,  while  at  the  circumference 
of  the  wheel  the  hood  projects  3  ins.  in  advance  of  the  cutting  edges  of  the 
knives.  At  the  top  side  of  the  drum  within  which  the  wheel  revolves  there 
is  an  opening  with  an  adjustable  cover,  arranged  so  as  to  throw  the  snow 
to  either  side,  as  desired.  The  action  of  the  wheel  is  to  cut  the  snow  into 
the  scoops,  from  which  it  is  thrown  at  high  velocity,  by  centrifugal  force. 
As  the  snow  is  revolved  at  high  speed  within  the  scoops  it  leaves  the  wheel 
at  a  tangent  as  it  meets  the  opening.  In  order  to  change  the  direction  in 
which  the  snow  is  thrown,  as  sometimes  becomes  necessary,  in  order  to 
throw  to  the  down-hill  side  or  to  avoid  throwing  the  snow  against  the  wind, 
the  wheel  must  be  revolved  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  chute  through 
which  the  snow  leaves  the  drum  is  just  in  rear  of  the  headlight,  and  the  cap 
or  adjustable  cover  of  the  chute  is  so  arranged  that  it  can  be  reversed  from 
the  pilot  house  when  the  wheel  is  turned  to  throw  the  snow  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  track.  The  pilot  house  is  in  the  forward  end  of  the  cab,  being 
partitioned  off  in  front  of  the  front  end  of  the  boiler.  A  curved  deflector 
plate  or  apron  is  placed  across  the  top  of  the  hood  to  prevent  snow  from 


804  WORK  TRAINS 

flying  and  obstructing  the  view  of  the  pilot.  In  front  of  each  forward 
wheel  of  the  car  there  is  an  ice  cutter,  secured  to  the  lower  end  of  an  arm 
of  a  wrought  iron  frame,  by  two  bolts.  This  ice  cutter  is  composed  of  two 
parts,  known  as  the  wing  and  the  cutter.  The  wing  projects  over  the  rail 
and  the  cutter  drops  down  inside  the  rail.  Should  the  cutter  strike  a 
guard  or  crossing  rail  it  will  shear  the  lower  bolt  holding  the  arm  to  the 
frame,,  and  the  cutter  will  be  deflected  backward  without  further  injury. 
To  repair  the  damage  it  is  necessary  to  replace  only  the  broken  or  sheared 
bolt.  It  is  said  that  this  ice-cutting  device  works  efficiently,  and  prevents 
the  derailment  of  the  car  when  working  through  drifts  of  snow  frozen  at  the 
bottom.  At  the  rear  of  the  front  truck  the  car  is  provided  with  a  flanker, 
hung  on  the  rear  end  of  the  frame  of  the  truck  and  drawn  by  wrought  iron 
arms  which  are  journaled  on  the  rear  axle  of  the  truck.  The  flanger  is 
raised  or  lowered  by  an  air  cylinder  operated  by  the  pilot  or  lookout 
stationed  in  the  pilot  house.  The  flanger  points  are  four  in  number  and  are 
the  only  parts  which  extend  below  the  top  of  the  rail.  These  parts  are 
bolted  to  the  bottom  of  each  wing  of  the  flanger  with  J-in.  bolts  with 
countersunk  heads,  so  as  to  be  readily  torn  loose  in  case  the  flanger  meets 
with  an  unyielding  obstruction.  The  ice  cutter  and  flanger  are  both  con- 
nected by  means  of  iron  rods  to  cranks  on  a  balance  shaft  mounted  on  the 
truck  frame  about  midway,  thus  permitting  both  to  be  raised  and  lowered 
simultaneously  by  the  air  cylinder.  In  the  operation  of  the  plow  the  pilot 
or  lookout  operates  the  air  brakes  on  the  entire  snow-plow  train  with  an 
engineer's  valve,  in  the  pilot  house.  He  also  operates  the  flanger  and  ice 
cutter.  In  case  the  air  pump  on  the  rotary  becomes  disabled  while  the 
plow  is  in  service,  the  flanger  and  ice  cutter  are  operated  by  steam  instead 
of  air.  The  ordinary  weight  of  the  plow  is  70  tons,  and  the  length  without 
the  tender  36  ft.  A  later  design  of  this  machine,  built  for  the  Colorado 
Midland  Ey.,  has  a  hood  12  ft.  wide,  built  of  j-in.  steel  plate,  and  a  12- 
tube  rotator  11-J  ft.  in  diameter.  The  hood  cuts  a  passage  wide  enough  to 
permit  long  Pullman  cars  to  pass  around  16-deg.  curves  without  rubbing 
the  inside  bank.  The  car  is  strongly  built  on  12-in.  I-beam  sills,  and  the 
total  weight  is  85  tons. 

The  "Centrifugal"  or  Jull  machine  snow  plow  consists  of  a  heavy 
iron  car  with  a  hood  in  front,  like  the  "Rotary."  This  plow  was  designed 
by  Mr.  Orange  Jull,  the  designer  also  of  the  original  rotary  pattern,  as 
stated.  It  was  brought  out  during  1889  and  was  first  put  to  service  on 
the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  between  Granger,  Wyo.,  and  Huntington,  Ore.,  in 
the  winter  of  1889-90.  The  working  portion  of  this  plow  consists  of  a 
cone  of  74-  ft.  diameter  at  the  large  end,  with  four  spiral-shaped,  curved 
blades  of  J-in.  steel,  making  about  f  of  a  turn  in  the  length  of  the  cone. 
At  the  base  of  the  cone  these  blades  are  2  ft.  wide,  tapering  to  the  apex  of 
the  cone.  The  cone  is  set  diagonally  across  the  hood,  pointing  to  the 
right-hand  rail — that  is,  the  small  end  or  apex  of  the  cone  is  journaled  at 
the  lower  right-hand  side  of  the  hood  (looking  forward)  and  the  rear  por- 
tion or  large  end  of  the  cone  is  journaled  in  the  diagonally  opposite  corner 
of  the  hood.,  or  rear  left-hand  side.  The  cone  is  run  at  from  250  to  300 
revolutions  per  minute  by  a  powerful  engine  and-  the  snow  is  discharged 
through  the  chute  in  the  top  of  the  hood  by  centrifugal  force  when  leav- 
ing the  cone,  without  the  use  of  an  auxiliary  fan.  The  chute  or  outlet 
for  the  snow  at  the  top  is  5|x2  ft.,  and  the  opening  is  adjustable,  so  that  the 
snow  may  be  thrown  to  either  side  of  the  track.  The  weight  of  the  ma- 
chine is  65  tons. 

The  ''"'Cyclone"  snow  plow  was  brought  out  during  the  year  1889  and 
did  its  first  service  on  the  Central  (now  Southern)  Pacific  Ry.  also  dur- 


FIGHTING  SNOW  805 

ing  the  winter  of  1889-90.  The  working  portion  of  this  plow  consists  of  a 
large  auger  revolving  within  the  hood  upon  a  longitudinal  shaft  turned  by 
a,  vertical  engine  of  600  horse  power.  This  auger  is  10 J  ft.  in  diameter  at 
the  rear  portion  and  tapers  down  to  a  conical  head  at  the  extreme  point. 
The  auger  is  formed  by  three  spiral-shaped  blades  of  steel,  f  to  J  in.  thick, 
the  blades  being  conical  in  outline.  Attached  to  the  edge  of  each  blade 
there  is  a  3^-in.  steel  angle,  beveled  on  the  cutting  edge.  At  the  rear  of  the 
auger  there  is  a  fan  wheel  10  ft.  4  ins.  in  diameter,  composed  of  12  blades 
of  5/16-in.  steel  plate,  turned  by  two  engines  of  600  horse  power  each.  The 
hood  is  made  of  |-in.  steel  plates  and  is  provided  at  the  top  with  two  open- 
ings with  a  swinging  door  between,  to  serve  as  the  chute  for  discharging 
the  snow.  Of  these  three  kinds  of  machine  snow  plow  the  Eotary  or  Les- 
lie machine  is  the  most  extensively  used.  The  manufacture  of  the  Cyclone 
plow  was  discontinued  long  ago,  and  as  late  as  1902  only  a  comparatively 
few  Jull  plows  were  in  service. 

The  ability  of  machine  plows  to  handle  snow  of  any  depth  ordinarily 
met  with  on  railways  is  well  established.  Such  plows  will  bore  their  way 
through  a  bank  of  snow  as  high  as  the  top  of  the  hood  with  all  ease,  and  if 
the  snow  bank  is  much  higher  than  the  hood  it  is  only  necessary  to  tumble 
the  snow  down  in  front  of  the  plow  in  order  to  have  it  thrown  clear  of  the 
track.  In  snow  exceeding  8  ft.  in  depth  or  wherever  snow  becomes  hard 
packed  or  frozen,  they  are  particularly  in  demand.  For  mountain  dis- 
tricts, where  snow  falls  very  deep,  and  also  for  heavy  drifts  in  cuts,  it  is 
the  most  effective  type  of  plow.  Its  progress  is  much  slower  than  the  push 
plow  doing  ordinary  open  work,  but  nothing  short  of  a  solid  mass  of  ice 
can  stall  it.  It  also  throws  the  snow  well  clear  of  the  track,  whereas  the 
push  plow  can  not  always  fling  the  snow  out  of  deep  cuts.  No  road  which 
has  difficulty  in  keeping  the  track  clear  with  push  plows  should  be  with- 
out one.  In  side  drifts  that  are  hard  packed  or  mixed  with  sand  or  dirt, 
where  it  might  be  dangerous  to  use  a  push  plow  without  first  shoveling 
down  the  high  side,  the  machine  plow  can  be  operated  without  difficulty 
and  without  leveling  up  the  drift.  These  plows  will  throw  the  snow  in  a 
solid  stream  of  about  4  ft.  diameter,  from  50  to  150  ft.  from  the  track,  the 
plow  traveling  at  a  speed  which  will  perhaps  not  exceed  6  miles  per  hour 
in  heavy  snow  and  12  or  15  miles  per  hour  in  light  snow.  The  records 
of  the  Fremont,  Elkhorn  &  Missouri  Valley  E.  E.  (Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Ey.  system),  where  as  many  as  six  rotary  machines  have  been  in  service  at 
one  time,  show  that  the  machine  has  gone  through  400  ft.  of  snow  8  to  12 
ft.  deep  in  2  minutes,  1830  ft.  of  snow  6-J  ft.  deep  in  3J  minutes,  1200  ft. 
of  snow  7  ft.  deep  in  5J  minutes,  etc.  In  heavily  compacted  or  frozen 
snow  of  good  depth  the  speed  is  one  mile  per  hour  or  less. 

The  enormous  power  of  the  machines  may  be  judged  from  the  fact 
that  in  January,  1890,  the  "Centrifugal"  plow,  working  between  Glens 
Ferry  and  Huntington,  Ore.,  ran  afoul  of  a  steer  on  the  track,  cutting  the 
animal  in  two  and  throwing  it  out  with  the  snow  without  the  least  impedi- 
ment to  the  machinery.  During  the  same  winter  the  Denver  daily  papers 
reported  a  similar  occurrence  with  a  "Eotary"  plow  on  the  Colorado  Mid- 
land Ey.  As  the  story  goes,  a  herd  of  cattle  had  taken  refuge  in  a  cut  and 
frozen  to  death  and  eventually  were  buried  under  15  ft.  of  snow.  It  is 
said  that  the  Eotary  "went  right  through  the  cut,  shedding  beefstakes  all 
over  the  country."  These  plows  can  work  their  way  through  heavily  filled 
cuts  where  it  would  be  impossible  to  lift  the  snow  with  any  form  of  push 
plow,  not  to  speak  of  throwing  the  snow  out  of  the  cut.  On  the  switch- 
back of  the  Great  Northern  Ey.,  in  the  Cascade  mountains,  before  the  con- 
struction of  the  Cascade  tunnel,  rotary  snow  plows  were  required  almost 


806  WORK  TRAIXS 

continuously  during  winter  time  to  keep  the  track  clear.  In  order  to  avoid 
having  to  turn  the  plow  when  changing  from  one  spur  of  the  switchback 
to  the  other,  it  was  arranged  to  have  two  rotaries  in  the  same  train  headed 
in  opposite  directions,  with  two  consolidation  locomotives  coupled  between. 
In  this  manner  the  rotaries  came  alternately  into  service  as  the  train 
moved  from  one  leg  of  the  switchback  to  the  other.  On  the  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  K.  the  rotary  plow  is  used  to  widen  cuts 
cleared  by  the  push  plow.  After  the  push  plow  has  been  run  through  the 
cut  the  men  throw  the  snow  down  into  the  track  and  the  rotary  is  run 
along  to  throw  it  out  of  the  cut. 

Wing  tinow  Plows. — A  wing  plow  is  one  having  extensions  or  wings 
at  the  sides  for  widening  a  cut  previously  plowed  out.  A  very  common 
arrangement  is  to  attach  wings  to  the  sides  of  a  box  car  or  some  special 


Fig.  413. — Wing  Snow  Plow  and  Flanger,  Vermont  Valley  R.  R. 

car  and  couple  it  on  at  the  rear  end  of  a  train.  On  the  Minneapolis,  St. 
Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  the  Duluth,  South  Shore  &  Atlantic  roatl*  a 
rotary  plow  is  first  used  to  clear  the  cut,  after  which  a  wing  plow  is  run 
through  the  cut  pulling  down  the  snow  from  the  bank  on  either  side  and 
depositing  it  in  the  track  behind  the  car.  A  second  trip  of  the  rotary 
clears  out  the  cut  again.  This  wing  plow  is  formed  by  constructing  a 
heavy  framework  on  a  flat  car,  to  which  is  attached,  on  either  side  a  wing, 
opening  to  the  front.  These  wings  shear  the  snow  8  ft.  from  the  center 
of  the  track.  The  purpose  of  widening  cuts  through  snow  is  to  make 
room  for  snow  thrown  out  by  flangers  and  to  facilitate  plowing  out  later 
accumulations  of  freshly  fallen  or  drifted  snow.  The  use  of  a  wing  plow 
in  deep  snow  may  thus  enable  pilot  plows  to  take  care  of  light  snowfalls 
or  drifting  snow  from  that  time  on.  Where  a  cut  through  deep  snow  is 
not  widened  out  beyond  the  ordinary  clearance  lines  refuge  niches  should 
be  cut  in  the  walls  o£  the  snow  at  intervals  to  protect  workmen  from  pass- 
ing trains. 


FIGHTING  SNOW 


807 


The  most  approved  arrangement  is  to  combine  the  wings  with  a  push 
plow.  A  good  example  of  this  kind  of  construction  is  a  car  built  by  the 
Vermont  Valley  E.  E.,  shown  in  Fig.  413.  The  plow  is  7  ft.  8  ins  wide  on 
the  cutting  edge  and  8  ft.  2  ins.  wide  above  the  cutting  edge,  which  is  made 
adjustable,  for  flanging  purposes.  The  car  is  32  ft.  long  and  the  outside 
width  of  the  car  body  is  7  ft.,  being  narrower  than  the  width  of  the  plow, 
to  afford  recesses  for  the  wings.  The  extreme  hight  of  the  car  is  13  ft.  8 
ins.  and  the  hight  of  the  plow  is  10^  ft.  above  top  of  rail.  The  framework, 
especially  at  the  forward  end,  is  strongly  built  and  the  car  is  mounted  upon 
locomotive  trucks.  The  plow  is  heavily  ballasted,  the  space ~  under  the 
flooring,  between  the  sills,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  trucks,  being  filled  in  solid 
with  pieces  of  old  rail.  The  weight  of  the  car  is  54,000  Ibs.  The  plow  is 
built  strong  enough  to  stand  up  under  work  requiring  three  locomotives 
for  the  pushing  force,  if  necessary.  The  plow  is  faced  with  hard  pine, 
which  is  covered  with  galvanized  sheet  iron.  Extending  over  the  face  of 
the  plow  there  is  a  guard  to  prevent  snow  from  flying  against  the  lookout 


«  Fig.  414. — Interior  of  Vermont  Valley  Wing  Snow  Plow. 

windows.  On  this  guard  there  is  placed  a  locomotive  headlight  and  a  loco- 
motive bell.  The  wings  are  huge  doors  hung  at  the  sides  of  the  car  and 
operated  from  within.  They  are  constructed  of  two  thicknesses  of  heavy 
plank  bolted  together,  and  a  strip  3  ft.  high  from  the  bottom  edge  is  faced 
with  J-in.  steel  plate.  When  the  wings  are  extended  their  full  width  they 
have  a  sweep  of  17  ft.  To  secure  firm  anchorage  for  the  hinges  of  the  wings 
the  sides  of  the  car  are  reinforced  with  plank.  The  mechanism  for  oper- 
ating the  wings  and  the  nose  of  the  plow  is  shown  in  the  interior  view, 
Fig.  414.  The  large  wheel  at  each  side  of  the  car  operates  a  sprocket 
wheel  and  chain,  the  latter  running  over  pulleys  in  a  manner  to  pull  on 
the  end  of  the  arm  or  strut  which  throws  out  the  wing  on  the  same  side 
of  the  car.  One  end  of  the  chain  is  attached  to  the  wing  direct  and  the 
other  end  to  the  end  of  the  arm,  thus  affording  a  means  for  moving  the 


808  WORK  TRAINS 

wing  either  outward  or  inward.  To  hold  the  wings  up  to  their  work  there 
is  a  large  cast  iron  ratchet  on  the  shaft  of  the  sprocket  wheel,,  which  is  en- 
gaged by  a  2|x3-in,  red  oak  dog,  which  will  split  and  save  the  mechanism 
from  breakage  in  case  the  wing  should  meet  with  a  solid  obstruction.  When 
the  pressure  against  the  wing  is  very  hard  it  is  released  by  striking  the 
dog  with  a  hammer.  In  case  the  dog  becomes  split  it  is  reversed  on  its 
supporting  pin  and  this  expedient  may  be  resorted  to  until  all  four  cor- 
ners become  split  off.  The  seat  for  the  lookout  or  pilot  appears  in  the 
right-hand  corner.  In  front  of  the  seat  there  is  a  conductor's  valve,  for 
operating  the  air  brakes,  with  which  the  car  is  equipped,  for  use  in  emerg- 
ency, and  a  cord  runs  to  the  locomotive  bell  in  front.  There  is  also  a  cord 
running  to  an  alarm  bell  in  the  locomotive  cab.  The  signals  for  operat- 
ing the  wings  are  delivered  by  bells,  one  bell  for  each  wing.  These  bells 
have  different  tones,  to  avoid  mistakes  when  it  is  desired  to  operate  only  one 
of  the  wings.  The  long  lever  in  the  center  of  the  car  adjusts  the  mov- 
able nose  or  cutting  edge,  The  lifting  mechanism  consists  of  roller-ended 
struts  operated  by  the  lever.  The  movable  point  or  nose  is  a  heavy  cast 


Fig.  415.— Russell  Wing-Elevator  Snow  Plow,  C.  &  W.  M.  Ry. 

iron  plate.  For  flanging  out  the  space  between  the  rails  there  is  a  1-in. 
steel  plate  bolted  to  the  nose  casting  (Fig.  413),  and  the  side  cutters  con- 
sist of  f-in.  steel  plates  bolted  in  the  same  manner.  To  facilitate  adjust- 
ment the  bolt  holes  of  these  cutter  plates  are  slotted.  The  cutter  or  flang- 
ing plate  between  the  rails  reaches  3  ins.  below  top  of  rail  and  the  outside 
plates  reach  as  low  as  top  of  rail.  When  the  nose  is  dropped  for  flanging 
it  bears  upon  shoes  which  slide  upon  the  rails.  The  plow  is  usually  oper- 
ated by  the  roadmaster  with  the  assistance  of  four  men.  When  operating 
on  double  track  it  is  usual  on  the  first  trip  out  to  run  the  car  at  high  speed, 
with  both  wings  wide  open,  throwing  the  snow  on  the  inside  clear  across 
the  other  track.  On  the  return  trip  the  plow  is  run  slowly,  with  only  the 
right-hand  or  outer  wing  open.  The  plow  has  given  satisfactory  service  in 
snow  8  ft.  deep  and  in«  bucking  hard  packed  snow  in  cuts. 

The  Russell  "wing-elevator7'"  snow  plows  are  heavily  built  and  exten- 
sively used.  Figure  415  shows  a  plow  of  this  type,  with  a  flanger,  built 
for  the  Chicago  &  West  Michigan  branch  of  the  Pere  Marquette  R.  R.  The 
largest  plows  of  this  design  are  44  ft.  long,  13  ft.  10  ins.  high,  10  ft.  1  in. 
wide  at  the  front  and  16  ft.  4  ins.  in  outline  width  with  both  wings  open. 
The  plow  is  carried  upon  two  4-wheel  trucks,  the  front  truck  being  of  spe- 
cial design,  with  eight  journals — one  each  side  of  each  wheel.  The  weight 


FIGHTING  SNOW  809 

is  35  tons.  The  wing  feature  of  the  plow  consists  of  a  heavy  framework 
constructed  of  double  courses  of  oak  plank  and  hinged  to  a  post  at  either 
side  of  the  car.  The  outer  face  of  each  wing  is  formed  into  two  concave 
portions  or  chutes,  called  "elevators,"  slanting  upward  at  an  angle  of  30 
degress  with  the  horizontal,  so  that  when  the  wing  is  swung  into  working 
position  the  snow  is  carried  outward  and  upward.  This  wing  is  hinged 
at  its  front  end  and  the  rear  end  is  stayed  by  a  truss  rod  running  over  the 
top  of  the  post,  as  shown.  When  the  wings  are  not  in  use  they  hang  with- 
in recesses  at  the  sides  of  the  car.  They  are  operated  by  a  man  in  the  car 
with  hand-wheels  and  bevel  gear,  at  the  command  of  the  lookout,  who  has 
a  gong  and  code  of  signals.  The  wing  can  be  forced  out  and  held  at  any 
point  within  the  limit  of  its  movement,  and  the  wing  on  one  side  of  the  car 
can  be  operated  independently  of  that  on  the  other  side.  The  action  of 
the  wings  is  to  cut  under  the  snow  and  lift  it,  throwing  it  30  to  60  ft.  away, 
according  to  speed  of  the  train,  instead  of  crowding  the  snow  to  one  side, 
which  would  be  difficult  if  the  snow  was  packed  hard.  The  car  is  also 
fitted  with  a  fianger,  which  is  located  just  forward  of  the  rear  truck,  and 
is  described  further  along.  , 

Snow  Flangers. — A  flanger  is  a  device  for  holding  blades  in  position  to 
throw  snow  out  of  the  track  as  the  contrivance  is  trailed  along.  The  blade 
scrapes  the  top  of  the  rail  or  very  near  the  top,  and  is  notched  down  so 
as  to  scoop  out  2  or  3  ins.  below  top  of  rail  inside  the  track.  On  roads 
where  the  nuts  of  the  track  bolts  are  placed  on  the  gage  side  of  the  rails 
the  flanger  blades  must  be  notched  with  offsets  to  clear  them.  These 
blades  may  be  placed  on  the  pilot  of  an  engine  or  be  trailed  behind  a  ca- 
boose. It  is  more  usual,  however,  to  rig  them  under  a  flat  or  box  car.  The 
blade  is  run  slantwise  to  the  rail,  with  the  inner  end  ahead,  and  must  be 
raised  when  approaching  switches,  guard  rails,  cattle  guards,  wooden  insu- 
lation splices  and  road  crossings — generally  at  a  signal  by  whistle  from 
the  engineer.  The  apparatus  for  raising  it  may  consist  of  a  system  of 
levers,  block  and  tackle,  windlass,  or  a  pneumatic  cylinder  and  piston,  the 
supply  of  air  being  taken  from  the  train  pipe  through  extra  auxiliary  res- 
ervoirs and  check  valves,  so  as  not  to  set  the  brakes.  Another  way  in 
which  flangers  have  been  operated  is  to  cut  out  the  air  brake  cylinder  under 
the  tender  and  other  cars  in  the  train,  thus  rendering  the  brakes  inoper- 
ative for  the  time  being,  so  as  to  permit  the  flanger  to  be  worked  by  the 
engineer,  from  the  engine  cab.  The  flanger  usually  consists  of  two  parts 
— moldboard  and  knives.  The  knives  are  usually  attached  to  the  mold- 
board  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  easily  torn  loose  when  meeting  with  an 
unyielding  obstruction.  In  rear  of  the  flanger  there  should  be  a  wire  broom 
to  clear  the  rail  of  snow  dug  up  by  the  flanger.  The  principal  advantage 
in  flanging  is  to  make  room  for  the  wheels  to  crowd  out  accumulations  of 
freshly  fallen  or  drifted  snow.  When  wheels  cut  their  way  through  snow 
a  nit  is  formed  along  each  rail,  and  eventually  the  snow  at  the  sides  of 
these  ruts  becomes  hard  packed,  and  sometimes  frozen  into  ice.  When 
snow  drifts  these  ruts  become  quickly  filled,  and  since,  owing  to  the  condi- 
tions, the  wheels  cannot  readily  throw  the  snow  out  or  crowd  it  aside,  a 
good  deal  of  it  must  go  under  them,  making  traction  difficult  and  increas- 
ing the  train  resistance. 

One  of  the  best  known  snow  flangers  is  the  Priest  device,  designed  by 
Mr.  A.  F.  Priest,  master  mechanic  of  the  Duluth,  Missabe  &  Northern  Ey. 
The  cutting  blades  and  deflecting  plates  are  attached  to  a  cross  bar  sup- 
ported upon  the  front  boxes  of  the  engine  truck  by  extending  the  outside 
equalizing  bars.  It  thus  works  but  a  few  inches  in  front  of  the  forward 
wheel,  or  just  in  rear  of  the  pilot,  in  which  position  the  depth  of  cutting  is 


810  WORK  TRAINS 

not  affected  by  the  teetering  motion  of  the  engine  on  rough  track,  and  the 
blades  cannot  move  across  the  rails  on  curves.  The  flanger  is  operated  by 
an  8-in.  air  cylinder  placed  under  the  running  board  and  connecting  by 
means  of  a  reach  rod,,  and  is  controlled  by  a  special  three-way  cock  in  the 
cab,  within  reach  of  the  engineer,  who  can  instantly  raise  the  blades  or 
knives  to  clear  crossing  plank,  guard  rails,  frogs  etc.  The  backward  thrust 
of  the  knives  is  received  against  the  forward  truck  boxes.  The  cutting- 
knives  are  5/16-in.  steel  blades  and  each  knife  is  held  to  its  wing  support 
by  a  pin  and  bolt.  In  case  the  knife  becomes  broken  or  bent  it  may  be 
disengaged  by  the  removal  of  only  one  bolt.  The  knife  is  held  1  in.  above 
the  rail  and  1^  ins.  clear  of  each  side  of  the  rail  head ;  so  that  it  will  not 
remove  torpedoes  placed  for  danger  signals.  It  makes  a  cut  12  ins.  wide 
by  2  ins.  deep  inside  the  rail  and  12  ins.  wide  by  J-in.  deep  outside  the 
rail.  A  safety  latch  is  provided  for  holding  the  cutting  knives  in  their 
raised  position  without  continued  use  of  the  air.  The  Temple  flanger 
is  fitted  to  locomotive  cowcatchers.  The  Eussell  flanger,  already  referred 
to,  is  shown  as  Fig.  416.  The  lower  edge  or  knives  of  the  flanger  are  sep- 
arable from  the  moldboards  and  are  easily  replaced  in  case  of  breakage  at 
guard  rails  or  crossings.  The  knives  drop  2^  ins.  below  top  of  rail  and 
are  operated  either  by  compressed  air  cylinders  or  h$nd  levers  inside  the 
car.  The  flangers  shown  in  Figs.  409,  411  and  413  are  described  in  connec- 
tion with  the  plows  with  which  they  are  combined. 


Fig.  416. — Russell  Snow  Flanger. 

The  Union  Pacific  and  Oregon  Short  Line  roads  have  a  number  of 
four-wheel  flanger  cars  of  short  length,  one  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  417. 
The  car  is  11  ft.  long  and  is  loaded  down  with  old  car  wheels  and  other 
scrap  iron  to  a  weight  of  30,000  Ibs.  The  flanging  devices  consist  of  a  set 
of  knives  and  a  moldboard  of  boiler  plate  on  each  side,  the  latter  to  lift  the 
snow  and  throw  it  out  of  the  way.  The  flanger  knives  consist  of  a  steel 
plate  10  ins.  wide  by  1J  ins.  thick,  each  side  of  each  rail,  attached  to  ;i 
rock  shaft  made  from  an  old  car  axle,  which  is  supported  crosswise  the 
track  upon  braced  hangers  strongly  stayed  to  the  back  end  of  the  under 
side  of  the  car  framing.  Safety  chains  suspended  from  the  car  prevent  the 
knives  from  being  dropped  too  low.  These  knives  can  be  raised  and  low- 
ered either  by  hand,  with  the  lever  attachment  shown,  or  by  air  from  the- 
ir ain  pipe  controlled  by  the  engineer  through  the  brake  valve  in  the  cab. 
In  operation  the  flanger  car  is  hauled  behind  a  locomotive,  and  to  indi- 
cate to  the  engineer  whether  or  not  the  flanger  is  working,  there  is  a  target 
on  a  staff  in  connection  with  the  shaft  which  carries  the  flanger  knives. 
Another  contrivance  sometimes  used  for  flanging  track  on  this  road  is  a 


FIGHTING  SNOW 


811 


Eodger  ballast  spreader  car  (Fig.  43)  with  the  ballast  plow  removed  and 
a  snow  Hanger  substituted  in  its  place.  In  winter,  while  there  is  no  other 
use  for  the  spreader  car,  the  flanging  knives  remain  attached  to  the  car,, 
ready  if  or  service.  The  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.  uses  a  type  of  flanger 
designed  for  double  track,  to  throw  all  the  snow  to  one  side.  The  flang- 
ing arrangement  is  on  the  moldboard  style,  something  similar  to  the  one 
shown  in  Fig.  417,  and  there  are  three  of  them  disposed  in  tandem,  diag- 
onally across  the  track,  under  a  box  car.  There  is  a  flanger  on  each  rail 
and  one  between  these  two  to  scoop  out  the  middle  of  the  track,  the  flanger 
on  the  right-hand  rail  being  in  the  advance  (for  left-hand  running),  with 
the  middle  flanger  just  to  the  rear  and  to  one  side  of  it,  while  the  flanger 
on  the  left  side  is  just  in  rear  and  to  one  side  of  the  middle  flanger,  which 
scoops  out  the  track  1  in.  below  top  of  rail.  Each  of  the  outside  flangers 
is  notched  at  the  rail  and  bears  upon  the  rail  by  a  sliding  shoe.  The  flan- 
gers are  attached  to  rock  shafts  operated  from  the  car  above.  On  each  side 
of  the  car  there  is  a  projecting  box  with  a  window  in  the  front  side  to- 
serve  as  a  lookout. 


Fig.  417. — Snow  Flanger  Car,  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 

For  handling  snow  and  ice  in  the  Adirondack  mountains  the  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  has  a  specially  designed  strongly-built 
car  of  the  freight  caboose  style,  with  the  lookout  centrally  located  on  top, 
as  in  Fig.  408.  Under  the  car  there  are  two  pilot-shaped  plows  arranged 
for  service  in  either  direction.  Each  of  these  plows  consists  of  vertically 
adjustable  plates  backed  by  heavy  cast  iron  knees  or  brackets  rigidly  sus- 
pended from  the  car  sills.  The  flanging  plates  are  notched  to  plow  out 
deeper  than  top  of  rail  on  the  inside  of  the  track,  and  they  are  lowered 
and  raised  by  a  10-in.  air  cylinder,  pressure  being  supplied  by  the  air  brake 
system  through  storage  reservoirs  on  the  car.  At  the  sides  of  the  car,  on 
the  flanks  of  the  flangers,  there  are  narrow  wings  hinged  at  an  incline,  to 
remove  snow  to  the  desired  clearance  for  any  kind  of  equipment.  These 
wings  are  operated  by  an  air  cylinder  lying  horizontally  on  the  car  floor. 


812  WORK  TRAINS 

The  operation  of  the  flangers  and  side  wings  is  controlled  by  air  valves  in 
the  pilot  house.  The  detail  drawings  are  shown  in  the  .Railway  and  Engi- 
neering .Review  of  March  15,  1902. 

Each  year  before  snow  fails  the  section  foremen  should  see  that  snow 
plow  markers  are  set  in  advance  of  any  obstruction  which  will  interfere 
with  the  operation  of  the  flangers.  On  some  roads  there  is  a  fixed  date  on 
or  before  which  all  the  markers  are  required  to  be  up.  Markers  are  usually 
placed  on  the  engineers  side,  except  on  some  double-track  roads,  where  it  is 
occasionally  the  practice  to  place  them  across  the  other  track.  As  no  snow 
is  thrown  toward  that  side  a  clear  view  is  always  obtained,  except  when 
passing  a  train  on  the  other  track,  so  that,  after  all,  the  practice  has  its 
objections. 

A  common  form  of  snow  marker  is  one  or  two  pieces  of  fence  board 
18  to  24  ins.  long  nailed  to  a  post  set  some  standard  distance  from  the  track, 
like  6  ft.,  and  30  to  50  ft.  in  advance  of  the  obstruction.  It  is  common 
practice  also  to  nail  a  marker  board  about  3  ft.  long  well  up  on  the  first 
telegraph  pole  in  advance  of  the  obstruction.  In  the  largest  practice  it  is 
not  considered  necessary  to  paint  snow  markers,  and  they  are  removed  in  the 
spring  and  saved  for  future  use;  otherwise  they  are  liable  to  be  stoned 
by  the  boys  and  knocked  off  or  broken  up.  On  a  few  roads,  however,  par- 
ticularly in  New  England,  the  markers  are  got  up  in  good  shape  and 
painted,  and  remain  permanently  in  place  the  year  around.  The  Vermont 
Valley  E.  R.  uses  a  24x8-in.  board  with  the  corners  cut  off,  having  a  7-in. 
black  circle  painted  on  a  yellow  ground.  The  post  is  square  in  cross  sec- 
tion and  is  painted  white,  with  a  black  top.  Among  other  conspicuous  signs 
that  are  used,  mention  may  be  made  of  a  black  panel  with  two  white  bull's 
eyes,  and  a  yellow  panel  with  black  spots.  The  New  York,  New  Haven 
&  Hartford  R.  R.  uses  a  black  board  with  white  stars,  on  a  post  consisting 
of  a  piece  of  old  rail  painted  black.  If  the  panel  gets  knocked  off,  the 
black  post  shows  up  prominently  against  the  background  of  snow  and  still 
indicates  the  position  of  the  marker.  On  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  R.  R.  the  post  for  the  standard  snow  plow  marker  is  2x4  ins.,  pine,  12 
ft.  long,  set  4  ft.  in  the  ground,  7  ft.  trom  the  rail.  Tip  to  4  ft.  above 
ground  the  post  is  painted  black,  and  above  that,  white.  The  sign  is  a  f-in. 
board  8  ins.  wide  and  24  ft.  long,  painted  black  with  a  white  margin.  The 
board  is  nailed  to  the  post  at  one  end,  so  as:  to  stand  out  at  one  side  of  the 
post,  at  the  top  of  the  same,  and  it  points  diagonally  upward  and  away 
from  the  track  at  an  angle  of  45  deg.  with  the  post.  The  ends  of  the  board 
are  cut  off  vertical. 

The  exact  limits  from  the  rail  and  below  top  of  rail  within  which  any 
object  would  constitute  an  obstruction  to  the  flangers,  should  be  made  known 
to  the  section  foremen ;  and  any  obstruction  that  is  not  necessary  to  a  suf- 
ficient purpose  should  be  removed.  Badly  rail  cut  ties  which  project  high 
enough  to  be  struck  by  the  flanger  blades  should  be  adzed  down.  Some 
roadmasters  keep  on  file  a  list  of  all  obstructions  to  the  flanger,  and  this 
list  is  revised  from  time  to  time  as  changes  are -made  in  the  track,  the 
section  foremen  reporting  such  changes  at  the  time  they  are  made.  The 
list  is  always  carried  on  the  flanger  car  and  consulted  when  running  after 
dark.  When  the  headlight  does  not  give  entire  satisfaction  this  list  is 
found  to  be  a  great  convenience.  It  is  also  necessary  to  watch  for  and 
remove  obstructions  which  might  interfere  with  the  operation  of  snow 
plows.  At  grade  highway  crossings  the  material  for  some  little  distance 
outside  the  rails  and  between  the  rails  should  be  leveled  down  to  the  top 
of  the  rail ;  on  the  inside  of  curves  it  should  be  made  somewhat  lower,  owing 
to  the  elevation.  Where  side-tracks  turn  out  from  the  inside  of  curves  the 


FIGHTING  SNOW  813 

lead  rail  from  the  switch  and  the  rail  at  the  heel  of  the  frog  should  run 
low  enough  to  clear  the  nose  of  the  plow  as  far  as  it  extends  laterally.  In 
anticipation  of  the  use  of  a  wing  plow  all  unnecessary  obstructions  should 
be  kept  cleared  away  from  the  track  the  required  width,  and  a  plow  should 
be  run  over  the  road  in  the  fall,  with  the  wings  open,  so  as  to  see  that 
everything  of  the  kind  is  clear  before  winter  sets  in,  and  to  take  note  of 
bridges  and  other  structures  or  obstructions  which  the  plow  will  not  pass 
with  the  wings  open. 

Snow  Plow  Work. — Outside  of  mountain  regions,  or  wherever  the  snow 
fall  is  normal,  and  where  drifting  into  cuts  is  not  bad,  snow  is  most  quickly 
removed  by  a  push  plow,  or  "wedge"  plow,  as  it  is  sometimes  called.  The 
pushing  force  required  will,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  depth  of  the  snow 
and  its  compactness.  It  is  usual,  however,  to  start  the  plow  out  with  two 
locomotives  to  do  the  pushing,  with  a  third  locomotive  following  in  the 
rear,  commonly  called  the  "drag-out,"  to  assist  in  extricating  the  plow 
and  pushers  in  case  they  get  stuck  in  a  cut.  Some  companies  forbid  the 
use  of  more  than  two  locomotives  with  a  push  plow,  on  the  theory  that  in 
case  of  derailment  of  the  plow  at  high  speed  the  great  momentum  of  a 
number  of  locomotives  is  liable  to  cause  a  dangerous  wreck.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  companies  favor  the  use  of  three  or  four  and  sometimes  five 
locomotives,  the  idea  being  that  with  this  number  it  is  not  necessary  to  run 
at  high  speed  in  order  to  push  through  a  cut  or  heavy  bank  of  snow,  since 
the  large  capacity  for  traction  will  enable  the  plow  to  do  its  work  at  a  mod- 
erate pace,  thereby  reducing  to  a  minimum  the  ill  effects  of  derailment, 
should  one  occur. 

While  a  bad  snow  storm  is  in.  progress  it  is  best  not  to  start  out  the 
heavy  freight  trains,  or  at  any  rate  the  trains  that  are  sent  should  be  of 
short  length.  It  is  better  to  have  trains  in  the  yards  than  to  have  them 
stalled  out  on  the  road.  In  districts  where  the  snowfall  throughout  the 
winter  is  frequent,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  sheath  the  pilots  of  the  locomotives 
to  within  two  or  three  inches  of  the  rail.  Such  provision  will  enable  the 
regular  trains  to  make  their  own  way  through  2  or  3  ft.  of  snow,  and  in  this 
way  the  road  can,  in  many  instances,  be  kept  open  without  a  special  plow. 
At  any  rate  when  snow  is  falling  fast  it  may  accumulate  as  deep  as  2  ft. 
soon  after  the  plow  has  passed,  so  that  pilot  plows  are  to  be  recommended 
in  any  event  where  snow  is  particularly  troublesome.  On  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Ey.  strips  of  wood  are  nailed  in  between  the  bars  or  slats 
of  the  pilots,  so 'as  to  form  a  solid  face  or  surface.  It  is  not  always  best  to 
hold  the  plow  back  waiting  for  the  storm  to  stop,  lest  it  may  get  the  start 
of  things.  As  soon  as  the  depth  of  the  snow  begins  to  look  threatening  or 
as  soon  as  it  begins  to  drift,  the  plow  should  not  wait  any  longer.  Some 
roads  make  it  the  practice  to  run  the  plow  continually  during  snow  storms, 
after  the  snow  once  becomes  deep  enough  to  plow  off.  In  starting  out,  the 
heaviest,  best  steaming  freight  locomotive  should  be  taken.  It  should  be 
coupled  to  the  plow  short,  leaving  little  or  no  slack.  Eather  than  use  a  bar 
coupling  a  switch  engine  should  be  taken  or  else  the  pilot  may  be  removed 
from  one  of  the  road  engines.  The  same  precaution  applies  to  additional 
engines  which  may  be  sent  along  as  helpers.  It  is  well  to  carry  a  piece  of 
steam  hose  for  heating  water  in  the  tender  tank,  so  that  snow  may  be  melted 
as  a  water  supply  if  need  be.  Water  should  be  taken  at  every  tank  passed 
whether  needed  at  the  time  or  not.  A  car-load  of  coal  should  be  carried 
next  the  tender  of  the  "drag-out,"  the  work-train  boarding  car  and  caboose, 
and  the  work-train  crew,  supplied  with  scoop  shovels  and  some  sharp  pick?;. 
No  flanger  car  need  be  run  until  after  the  track  is  once  cleared.  It  is  best, 
however,  to  run  the  wing  plow  early,  while  the  snow  is  soft,  and  herein  lies 


814  WORK  TRAINS 

the  advantage  in  having  the  wings  combined  with  the  push  plow;  otherwise 
it  may  be  hauled  by  the  "drag-out."  In  snow  of  moderate  depth  the  wings 
of  a  push  plow  may  be  opened  out  part  way  or  perhaps  to  full  extent  on  the 
first  trip  over  the  road,  but  in  deep  snow  it  may  not  be  practicable  to  open 
them  out  fully  until  making  the  second  trip:  this  is  a  question  of  motive 
power.  At  the  most  there  need  be  but  four  cars  besides  the  locomotives  and 
push  plow.  All  section  foremen  should  be  under  instructions  to  keep  watch 
of  snow  accumulations  in  time  of  storms  and  report  early  by  wire  to  the 
roadmaster  the  condition  of  things  along  their  sections.,  as  far  as  they  can 
ascertain.  If.  then,  before  starting,  it  is  known  that  the  snow  along  any 
part  of  the  division  is  exceedingly  deep,  or  that  cuts  are  badly  drifted; 
or  if  the  wires  are  down,  so  that  information  cannot  be  had,  the  third 
locomotive  or  "drag-out,"  already  referred  to,  should  by  all  means  follow, 
hauling  the  train  and  hands,  the  first  two  handling  simply  the  plow.  It 
is  best  to  have  these  two  engines  coupled  together,  whether  both  are  needed 
constantly  or  not,  especially  after  dark  or  while  snow  is  falling  thick.  Cars 
should  never  be  placed  between  two  engines  which  are  pushing  a  snow 
plow.  If  all  the  engines  are  used  in  making  a  run  at  a  bad  cut  it  is  well  to 
cut  the  train  loose  and  hold  it  back  until  the  cut  is  cleared,  so  that  there 
"will  be  no  possibility  of  the  whole  train  getting  stuck  in  the  cut. 

In  plowing  snow  where  the  track  is  not  raised  much  above  the  sur- 
rounding level  the  train  should  be  run  at  considerable  speed,  so  as  to  throw 
the  snow  a  good  distance  and  scatter  it.  In  such  places  it  is  undesirable  to 
pile  the  snow  up  at  the  side  of  the  track,  as  if  the  snow  drifts  it  will  settle 
on  the  track  as  high  as  the  side  heaps.  The  plow  will  not  usually  find  diffi- 
culty except  at  cuts.  Here,  if  the  snow  be  deep,  the  engine  or  engines  and  the 
plow  back  up  and  take  a  run  at  it,  striking  at  good  speed;  hence  the  term 
"bucking"  the  cut.  If  they  fail  to  go  through,  the  plow,  and  usually  one 
or  all  the  engines,  will  be  stuck  fast  and  unable  to  get  either  way  until  shov- 
eled out  by  the  crew.  Before  striking  the  cut  the  man  in  charge  must  make 
sure  that  no  one  is  working  in  it.  No  men  should  ever  work  in  a  cut  filled 
with  snow  unless  there  is  a  watchman  posted  on  top  to  warn  them  of  ap- 
proaching trains;  but  the  whistle  should  nevertheless  be  sounded  before 
entering  the  cut.  If,  upon  approaching  a  drifted  cut,  the  appearance  of 
things  is  not  entirely  satisfactory,  it  is  usually  best  to  stop  and  look  the 
•cut  over.  If  the  snow  at  the  mouth  of  the  cut  is  shallow  and  compact  or 
frozen  it  should  be  shoveled  away  until  a  depth  of  3  ft.  is  had,  on  the  leav- 
ing as  well  as  the  entering  end  of  the  cut.  If  the  wall  of  snow  at  the  en- 
trance is  hard,  it  should  be  undercut.  The  hardest  snow  is  usually  found 
at  the  ends  of  the  cut.  Diagonal  drifts  across  the  mouth  of  the  cut,  espe- 
cially if  the  snow  is  mixed  with  sand  or  dirt,  are  the  most  dangerous,  and 
'before  striking  such  a  drift  its  face  should  be  squared  up.  Ice  in  the  cut 
may  be  discovered  by  probing  through  the  snow  with  a  bar  or  by  sinking  test 
pits.  - 

If  the  plow  cannot  be  got  through  a  cut  after  repeated  attempts,  or  if 
the  bottom  is  frozen  into  ice,  such  that  the  plow  will  leave  the  rail,  re- 
sort is  sometimes  had  to  hauling  out  the  snow  in  blocks,  with  locomotive 
and  switch  rope.  The  snow  is  cut  into  blocks  about  10  ft.  square,  by  shov- 
eling around  in  trenches.  The  switch  rope  is  attached  to  the  block  by 
running  it  around  near  the  bottom,  placing  short  pieces  of  board  at  the 
corners  to  keep  the  rope  from  cutting  in  too  deeply.  Another  way  of  getting 
through  a  hard  cut  has  been  already  described;  that  is,  by  shoveling  out 
sections  of  the  snow  at  intervals.  Such  preparation  is  frequently  completed 
by  the  section  men  in  advance  of  the  arrival  of  the  train.  If  the  cut  is 
deep  the  snow  must  be  handled  over  several  times,  perhaps,  before  it  can 


FIGHTING  SXOW  815 

be  got  out  of  the  cut.  The  usual  method  is  to  .arrange  the  men  on 
'benches,  or  ledges  cut  in  the  snow,  each  shoveler  passing  the  snow  on  to  the 
next  shoveler  above,  and  so  on — a  slow  and  laborious  process. 

Engineers  who  push  snow  plows  should  be  men  of  good  judgment, 
willing,  able  to  handle  their  engines  to  advantage,  and  not  in  the  least 
timid.  Only  judgment  gained  from  experience  can  teach  men  what  would 
be  a  reckless  speed  under  any  given  circumstances.  A  speed  too  slow  will 
frequently  be  the  cause  of  getting  stuck.  It  is  work  always  attended  with 
more  or  less  danger,  but  it  must  be  done  with  decision  and  firmness,  else 
poor  success.  The  roadmaster  or  man  in  charge  must  needs  be  the  respon- 
sible party,  and  he  should  therefore  not  shrink  from  taking  his  post  where 
the  danger  is.  He  should  not  accuse  an  engineer  of  timidity  when  he  is 
afraid  to  ride  with  that  engineer  in  the  cab.  In  handling  push  plows  the 
flying  snow  usually  obscures  the  vision  of  the  engineer,  so  that,  in  the 
movement  of  the  train,  he  must  be  guided*  by  signals  from  the  pilot  on 
the  plow.  Such  signals  are  usually  given  by  bell  and  cord.  It  has  some- 
times been  the  practice  to  use  the  locomotive  whistle  as  a  means  of  signaling 
the  engineer,  the  pilot  on  the  plow  having  a  line  running  to  the  whistle 
for  that  purpose.  Whenever  such  a  system  is  used  it  should  be  the  under- 
standing that  the  engineer  must  do  no  whistling  at  all,  for  if  he  should  the 
pilot  would  have  no  way  to  signal  him  while  he  is  blowing.  The  plow 
should  be  equipped  with  a  conductor's  valve,  for  applying  the  brakes  on 
short  notice,  and  also  with  a  locomotive  bell  to  warn  people  to  get  off  the 
track. 

A  difficulty  often  experienced  is  the  inability  to  see  ahead  from  the 
plow,  on  account  of  the  blinding  effect  of  snow  thrown  up  by  the  plow,  or 
by  snow  sticking  fast  to  the  lookout  windows.  It  is  usually  an  advantage 
in  this  respect  to  look  ahead  from  the  windward  side,  and  alcohol  may  be 
Aviped  over  the  glass  to  prevent  snow  from  sticking.  Use  is  also  made  of 
portable  bay  windows,  to  some  extent.  Of  these  there  are  two  different 
styles,  namely  V-shaped  and  box-shaped,  and  they  are  pushed  out  of  a  hole 
in  the  side  door,  or  in  the  side  of  the  car.  Another  scheme  that  has  been 
put  into  practice  on  several  roads  is  to  extend  a  long  box-like  peep  tube 
forward  from  the  lookout  window  at  each  side  of  the  front  end  of  the  plow 
•car.  These  tubes  are  about  12  ins.  square  in  cross  section,  are  made  of 
boards,  and  extend  ahead  of  the  plow  or  far  enough  to  be  ahead  of  the 
snow  thrown  up  by  the  plow. 

After  the  train  with  the  plow  has  got  over  the  road  it  should  start 
back  with  the  flanger,  if  the  storm  is  over  by  that  time.  It  is,  of  course, 
an  advantage  to  have  a  flanger  on  the  plow,  as  then  both  plowing  and 
flanging  may  be  done  simultaneously  and  a  clear  rail  may  be  made  for  the 
engine  pushing  the  plow.  Where  the  plow  is  not  so  equipped  it  is  fre- 
quently the  practice  to  couple  a  flanger  car  on  behind  the  engine  or  engines 
that  are  pushing  the  plow.  It  is  a  good  plan  in  any  case  to  do  the  flanging 
^arly,  while  the  snow  is  soft.  If  a  thaw  comes  and  the  snow  next  the  rail 
suddenly  freezes  into  ice,  it  cannot  be  flanged  with  the  machine,  but  must 
be  dug  out  with  pick  and  shovel.  The  stretches  of  track  missed  in  lifting 
the  flanger  at  the  marker  boards  are  cleaned  out  by  the  section  men.  On 
the  way  back  it  is  well  to  run  through  all  side  tracks  with  the  plow,  so  as 
to  save  section  men  the  work  of  cleaning  them  out.  Necessary  repairs  to 
snow  plows  should  be  made  before  they  are  put  away  for  the  summer,  else 
the  matter  may  be  forgotten  and  left  until  snow  begins  falling  again. 
Snow  is  usually  most  troublesome  to  roads  not  prepared  for  it,  as  is 
instanced  every  few  years  by  blockades  in  the  East  when  snow  falls  to  a 
depth  of  4  or  o  ft. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

151.  Fence. — In  nearly  all  the  states  railroad  companies  are  re- 
quired by  law  to  fence  in  their  tracks.  As  applying  to  unimproved  or  un- 
enclosed lands,  the  law  in  some  cases  is  modified  or  made  inapplicable 
where  the  need  of  a  fence  is  not  shown.  Thus,  the  obligation  of  the 
company  is  sometimes  determined  by  the  railroad  commissioners  of  the 
state;  or  in  other  instances,  and  in  well  settled  districts,  often,  the  own- 
er of  land  adjoining  the  company's  right  of  way  must  first  enclose  his  land 
with  fence  on  all  boundaries  except  that  of  the  right  of  way,  before  the 
need  of  a  fence  along  the  right  of  way  is  supposed  to  exist.  In  their  speci- 
fications or  terms  the  fence  laws  of  the  different  states  are  almost  as  vary- 
ing as  the  number  of  states,  except  in  the  one  particular — that  the  whole 
expense  of  building  and  maintaining  right-of-way  fences  must  be  borne  by 
the  railroad  companies.  Failure  to  comply  with  the  law  usually  places  the 
company  liable  to  heavy  fines,  which  in  cases  are  made  accumulative;  or 
for  the  market  value  of  stock  killed,  or  double  the  market  value;  or  for  the 
single  or  double  appraised  amount  of  injury  to  stock  done  by  trains;  or 
for  injury  received  from  an  illegal  fence;  or  for  crops  destroyed  by  stock 
gaining  ingress  over  the  company's  right  of  way ;  and  in  other  instances  fail- 
ure to  provide  fence  makes  the  company  liable  for  the  actual  cost  of  the 
fence  when  built  by  the  adjoining  landowner,  or  for  a  certain  price  per 
rod  of  fence  so  built,  with  usurious  rates  of  interest  until  paid. 

In  most  of  the  states  the  maintaining  of  a  legal  fence  and  cattle 
guards  in  good  condition  releases  the  railroad  company  from  payment  for 
damage  to  animals  getting  on  the  track  through  the  owner's  negligence. 
The  laws  of  some  states  also  provide  that  where  abutting  landowners  are 
under  contract  with  the  railroad  company  to  keep  up  the  fences,  the  latter 
cannot  then  be  held  liable  for  killing  or  injuring  animals  which  get  on 
the  track  or  right  of  way,  except  where  such  killing  or  injury  is  willfully 
done.  In  view  of  such  enactments  it  behooves  the  railroad  company,  when 
building  fence,  to  conform  to  what  constitutes  in  the  state  a  legal  fence, 
whether  such  be  compulsory  or  otherwise.  It  is  important  to  have  it  every- 
where the  full  legal  hight.  for  the  slightest  variation  from  this  require- 
ment might  have  great  weight  with  a  jury.  Although  there  is  no  fence 
which  can  be  constructed  at  a  reasonable  cost  that  will  hold  certain  unruly 
animals,  yet  if  the  law  does  permit  a  choice  or  any  improvement  on  the 
legal  fence  it  will  generally  pay  the  company  to  build  only  the  best — mak- 
ing it  as  nearly  ffbull-proof"  and  "hog-tight"  as  a  reasonable  expenditure 
will  permit.  Exemption  from  payment  for  animals  killed  or  injured 
should  not  beget  with  the  railroad  company  an  indifference  as  to  whether 
or  not  animals  shall  be  kept  from  trespassing  the  right  of  way.  An  animal 
struck  while  lying  in  the  track,  or  by  a  slow-moving  train,  has  often  thrown- 
the  locomotive  from  the  track  and  damaged  the  railroad  company  more 
than  the  cost  of  right-of-way  fence  for  half  a  division. 

A  fence  4-J  ft.  high  comes  nearest  to  the  legal  fence  in  the  majority  of 
cases.    One  or  more  of  such  kinds  as  board,  wire,  part  board  and  part  wire,. 


FEXCE  817 

•worm  fence,  and  some  others,  are  allowed  in  cases,  but  the  wire,  or  part 
fooard  and  part  wire,  nearly  always.  Generally  considered,  barbed  wire  is  the 
<best  material  for  a  railroad  fence.  It  is  cheap,  reasonably  efficient  and  dur- 
able. It  cannot  be  burned,  or,  at  most,  nothing  but  the  posts  can,  and  fire 
•cannot  travel  along  it  as  it  can  along  board  fence.  It  catches  less  drifting 
•snow  than  a  board  fence  and  is  less  favorable  to  the  growth  of  weeds.  The 
-chief  objection  to  the  use  of  barbed  wire  is  the  fact  that  it  will  injure  stock 
if  the  animals  get  astride  of  it.  If  a  board  or  rail  be  used  for  the  top  of 
the  fence,  however,  so  that  the  animals  can  see  the  fence  in  the  night,  there 
is  but  little  danger  of  severe  injury  to  stock.  On  this  account  the  combina- 
tion part  wire  and  part  board  fence  is  well  liked,  and  sometimes  two  top 
boards  or  a  top  board  and  cap  are  used.  For  a  top  rail  a  2x4-in.  scantling, 
mortised  into  the  posts,  is  commonly  used,  but  split  rails  are  more  durable. 
•Split  chestnut  rails  mortised  into  the  posts  are  used  a  good  deal  in  the 
East,  and  they  last  a  long  time.  The  top  board  or  rail  is  also  useful  in 
another  way,  in  that  it  serves  as  a  brace  to  keep  the  posts  properly  spaced. 

Touching  now  a  point  just  merely  mentioned  above,  it  is  not  always 
•desirable  that  right-of-way  fence  should  hold  drifting  snow ;  as  for  instance, 
on  level  ground,  where  there  is  no  liability  that  the  track  will  be  drifted, 
a  board  fence  might  cause  the  formation  of  snow  banks  which  would  extend 
to  the  track;  while  with  track  in  a  cut,  where  drifts  are  liable  to  form, 
the  board  fence,  if  at  the  proper  distance,  may  be  made  to  answer  for  a 
snow  fence  as  well  as  a  line  fence.  The  same  applies  to  stone  fence,  which 
is  used  in  some  parts  of  the  country  where  stone  is  plentiful  and  con- 
venient to  the  location.  The  proper  hight  for  a  stone  wall  fence  is  about 
4J  ft.  It  will  not  rot  or  burn  down,  and  when  it  is  well  built  but  very 
little  work  is  required  to  keep  it  in  repair.  It  is  also  an  absolute  stop  to 
small  animals. 

Fence  Posts. — Posts  for  fence  should  be  of  durable  wood,  like  white 
or  red  cedar  or  chestnut,  and  the'  bark  should  be  removed.  When  the'  bark 
is  left  on  it  hastens  decay  of  the  post,  and  in  dry  weather  it  increases  the 
liability  of  catching  fire.  Locust  is  very  good,  but  generally  scarce,  and 
white  oak  is  quite  durable.  The  life  of  a  fence  is  in  its  posts.  The  bottom 
or  buried  portion  of  the  post  can  be  preserved  either  by  charring  the  out- 
side or  dipping  it  in  hot  coal  tar,  and  a  small  heap  of  stones  placed  around 
the  post  will  have  a  tendency  to  keep  back  the  weeds  and  afford  it  some 
protection  against  fire.  On  some  roads  it  is  the  practice  to  reverse  the 
posts  after  the  bottom  part  becomes  considerably  rotted  in  the  ground. 
In  this  way  the  bottom  can  be  made  to  last  until  the  entire  post  is  about 
gone.  The  liability  of  wooden  posts  to  burn  and  the  growing  scarcity  of 
timber  in  some  quarters  have  led  to  the  use  of  metal  fence  posts  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  It  is  to  be  remarked  to  the  credit  of  metal  posts  that 
they  are,  or  ought  to  be,  more  durable  than  wood,  they  are  not  lifted  out 
of  the  ground  when  overflown  by  the  rising  of  streams;  and  grass,  weeds 
and  rubbish  along  the  fence  can  be  burned  without  injuring  the  posts. 

The  International  steel  fence  post  is  tubular  in  form,  tapering  slightly 
from  top  to  bottom,  and  is  rolled  from  a  sheet  of  cold  metal  (No.  16  gage) , 
so  that  an  open  seam  remains.  The  7-ft.  post  is  2J  ins.  in  dianii.  at  the 
top,  3J  ins.  in  diam.  at  the  bottom  and  weighs  13  Ibs.  The  post  is  driven 
into  the  ground  with  a  wooden  maul,  the  blows  being  received  upon  a  driv- 
ing cap  placed  on  the  top  of  the  post  temporarily  while  it  is  being  set.  As 
the  post  is  driven  it  spreads  open  at  the  bottom  and  thus  takes  a  form 
well  suited  to  resist  being  pulled  up.  After  the  post  is  driven  the  top 
is  compressed  by  a  pair  of  tongs  and  a  permanent  cap  is  slipped  on.  Holes 
are  punched  at  proper  intervals  for  the  wires,  which  are  held  by  long  staples 


818 


MISCELLANEOUS 


passing  through  the  post.  The  end  post  is  braced  by  a  piece  of  gas  pipe 
fitting  against  the  post  by  a  collar,  or  by  stay  wires  anchored  to  a  stone  or 
piece  of  timber  buried  in  the  ground.  The  Kokomo  steel  fence  post  is  an 
angle  bar  of  Y-shaped  section,  with  a  spear-shaped  point  reinforced  by  a 
cast  block  fitting  into  the  60-deg.  angle  of  the  steel  bar.  Just  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  ground  there  is  a  9x3-in.  breast  plate  riveted  to  the  post  to 
resist  the  sidewise  pull.  The  post  is  set  by  driving  and  the  wires  are  fas- 
tened with  staples  secured  in  holes  punched  through  the  angle  of  the  bar. 
The  end  and  corner  posts  are  made  of  3-in.  heavy  angle  steel  and  are  braced 
by  a  truss  formed  by  two  IJx^-in.  pieces  of  steel  7-j  ft.  long  with  spools 
between.  The  bottom  of  the  post  is  riveted  to  a  cast  iron  anchor  plate 
10  ins.  square  and  J  in.  thick,  while  near  the  surface  of  the  ground  there 
are  two  breast  plates  4  ins.  wide  and  20  ins.  long  set  at  right  angles  to  each 
other.  The  total  weight  of  the  8-ft.  end  or  corner  post  is  105  Ibs.  The 
Avery  post  is  semi-circular  in  section,  tapering  from  top  to  bottom.  Near 
the  bottom  there  are  upwardly  pointing  prongs  or  barbs  stamped  out  of  the 


H 


attaching  urire 

Fig.  418.— Boiler  Tube  Fence  Post,  Fig.  419.— Tools  for  Setting  Telegraph 

B.  &  M.  R.  R.  R.  Poles  and  Fence  Posts. 

post  to  give  it  firm  anchorage.  The  Mathews  steel  fence  post  is  Y-shaped  in 
section,  with  legs  lfx£  in.,  and  is  securely  attached  to  a  piece  of  vitrified 
sewer  pipe  6  ins.  in  diameter  and  12  ins.  long,  for  setting  in  the  ground, 
as  shown  by  Engraving  (7,  Fig.  427.  In  setting  the  post  the  dirt  is  tamped 
both  inside  and  outside  the  pipe,  and  the  bottom  of  the  pipe  has  a  rim 
about  2 1  ins.  wide  which  prevents  the  pipe  from  being  pulled  up.  The 
end  and  corner  posts  are  made  heavier,  of  T-shaped  sections  2Jx2Jx5/10-in., 
attached  to,  a  piece  of  sewer  pipe  10  ins.  in  diameter  and  2  ft.  4  ins.  long. 
The  post  is  set  3|  ft.  deep  and  is  braced  by  an  angle  bar  footing  against 
a  stone  in  the  ground. 

The  use  of  steel  or  iron  for  fence  and  sign  posts  is  now  generally  in 
combination  with  a  base  of  brick,  terra  cotta,  vitrified  clay  or  concrete 
moulded  about  the  foot  to  give  the  post  sufficient  bearing  in  the  ground, 
and  protect  it  from  corrosion.  Some  steel  shape,  like  an  angle,  a^T,"  a 
channel  or  an  I-beam  section,  or  a  tube  is  commonly  used,  and  as  for  the 


.FENCE  819 

base  or  butt  there  are  many  patented  devices.  The  Indestructible  post 
has  a  base  of  hollow  vitrified  and  glazed  fire  clay,  square  in  cross  section, 
with  projecting  corners.  In  this  there  is  a  high-carbon  angle  steel  set  with 
cement.  The  "Durable"  post  is  a  combination  of  wood,  iron  and  cement 
In  the  cement  butt,  which  is  26  ins.  long  and  4  ins.  square  in  cross  section, 
are  embedded  two  iron  straps  about  2J  ins.  apart  and  projecting  about  3 
ins.  above  the  top.  Between  these  straps  is  bolted  a  painted  oak  post, 
which  can  be  renewed  without  digging  up  the  butt.  The  "ravine"  pattern, 
designed^  to  withstand  the  upward  pull  of  fence  wires  stretched  taut  across 
a,  ravine  or  other  depression,  has  a  butt  which  widens  out  toward  the  bottom 
like  a  pyramid.  It  is  to  some  extent  the  practice  to  mould  the  butts  of 
combination  concrete  posts  in  the  ground.  A  post  hole  is  dug  and  filled  with 
freshly  mixed  concrete,  and  into  this  the  post  is  driven  and  the  concrete 
permitted  to  set.  As  soon  as  the  concrete  hardens  the  post  is  firmly  embed- 
ded without  tamping.  One  scheme  when  setting  posts  in  this  manner  is  to 
sink  a  wooden  stake  into  the  concrete,  and  after  the  latter  sets  an  iron  or 
steel  post  is  screwed  into  the  stake.  When  the  stake  rots  it  can  be  pulled  out 
and  a  sound  one  driven  in  its  place. 

The  Burlington  &  Missouri  Eiver  E.  K.  has  made  extensive  use  of 
combination  fence  posts  by  utilizing  discarded  boiler  tubes,  which  are  a 
staple  scrap  article  with  railroad  companies.  The  post  is  constructed  by 
moulding  a  concrete  butt  25J  ins.  high,  6  ins.  square  at  the  top  and  4  ins. 
square  at  the  bottom,  around  one  end  of  a  section  of  boiler  tube  6J  ft.  long. 
For  line  posts  2-in.  and  2J-in.  tubes  are  used,  and  for  corner  posts  and 
braces  24-in.  tubes.  The  corner  post  has  a  concrete  base  10  ins.  square 
and  6  ins.  high,  surmounted  by  a  mass  of  concrete  6  ins.  square  and  24 
ins  high,  the  bottom  part  thus  forming  an  anchor  to  prevent  the  post  from 
being  pulled  out.  At  the  foot  of  each  brace  piece  there  is  a  concrete 
pyramid  10  ins.  square  at  the  base  and  21  ins.  long,  to  afford  bearing  for 
the  brace  in  the  ground.  The  details  of  the  line  post  are  illustrated  in 
Fig.  418.  To  protect  the  post  from  rust  at  the  surface  of  the  ground,  the 
top  of  the  concrete  butt  is  sloped  down  for  1J  ins.,  so  that  dirt  will  wash 
down  and  keep  from  contact  with  the  iron.  The  concrete  is  composed 
of  one  part  cement,  three  parts  of  sand  and  three  parts  of  screened  crushed 
stone  in  sizes  from  that  of  a  grain  of  corn  up  to  a  walnut.  The  posts  are 
made  in  batteries  of  48  moulds  each.  Before  the  concrete  base  is  put  on 
the  tube  is  filled  with  mortar  made  of  cement  and  sand,  and  then  plugged 
at  the  top.  This  filling  serves  to  stiffen  the  tube  and  keep  it  from  rusting 
on  the  inside.  After  the  post  is  made  the  iron  is  coated  with  a  hot  mixture 
of  pitch  and  gas  tar.  The  company  has  a  plant  at  Lincoln,  Neb.,  worked 
to  a  capacity  of  150  posts  per  day,  produced  by  the  labor  of  about  4^  men, 
on  an  average.  Since  6000  to  8000  boiler  tubes  are  scrapped  each  year, 
and  as  this  material  is  of  but  little  value  as  scrap  iron,  the  posts  can  be 
produced  relatively  cheap.  The  cost  varies  from  16  to  19 J  cents  per  post, 
as  against  12J  cents  for  red  cedar  and  16  or  16J  cents  for  oak  posts.  The 
wires  are  held  to  the  post  by  staples  running  entirely  through  the  post  and 
clinched  on  the  back  side.  The  details  of  the  design  of  the  post  were 
worked  out  by  Mr.  T.  E.  Calvert,  general  superintendent.  A  source  of 
extraordinary  expense  before  these  posts  were  used  was  the  loss  of  wooden 
fence  posts  by  prairie  fires.  It  was  estimated  that  an  average  of  10,000 
posts  were  lost  annually  from  this  cause,  as  experience  showed  that  more 
than  half  of  the  wooden  fence  posts  along  the  line  were  destroyed  by  fire 
during  the  natural  life  of  a  wooden  post. 

Building  Fence. — Wooden  posts  should  not  be  set  by  driving,  because 
such  method  necessitates  sharpening  the  post,  and  a  sharpened  post  is  much 


820 


MISCELLANEOUS 


more  liable  to  be  heaved  up  by  frost  than  a  post  with  a  squarely-cut  end  at 
the  bottom.  In  sharpening  a  post  for  hand  driving  it  is  necessary  to  hew 
it  down  to  a  long  point,  and  the  large  amount  of  material  cut  away  shortens 
the  life  of  the  post,  as  there  is  then  less  timber  at  the  bottom  of  the 
post  to  resist  decay.  In  the  prairie  states  small  pile  drivers  built  on  wheels 
have  been  used  to  some  extent  for  driving  fence  posts.  When  thus  driven 
a  blunt  point  answers  the  purpose  sufficiently  well  and  is  better  for  the 
fence. 

A  common  length  for  fence  posts  is  7  ft.  and  the  usual  depth  for 
setting  the  post  is  2^  ft.,  but  3  ft.  is  a  better  depth  for  posts  in  soft  ground 
or  ground  that  freezes  deeply  in  winter.  Increased  depth  of  setting, 
requires,  of  course,  a  longer  post.  The  post  should  be  at  least  6  ins.  in 
diameter  at  the  large  end  and  that  end  should  be  set  in  the  ground.  For 
either  board  or  wire  fence  the  posts  should  stand  an  equal  hight  above  the 
general  surface  of  the  ground  and  they  should  extend  but  little  above  the 
top  board  or  wire.  To  obtain  such  uniformity  it  may  be  necessary  in 
cases  to  vary  slightly  the  depth  of  setting.  If  the  lengths  of  the  posts 
vary — which  they  should  not — the  tops  of  the  long  posts  may  be  sawed 
off,  if  the  digging  is  too  difficult  for  setting  the  post  an  extra  depth,  but 
posts  considerably  shorter  than  standard  length  should  not  be  used. 


T 


Fig.  420.  Fig.  421.  Fig.  422.  Fig.  423.  Fig.  424. 

Post-Hole  Augers  and  Diggers. 

The  right  of  way  boundary  is  usually  located  by  measuring  out  from 
the  center  of  the  track.  On  tangent  such  measurements  need  not  be  taken 
at  nearer  intervals  than  100  or  200  ft.,  as  the  posts  between  can  be  lined 
by  the  eye,  or  perhaps  better  by  stretching  a  chain  tagged  at  intervals  cor- 
responding to  the  spacing  of  the  posts.  Along  curved  track  the  distance 
to  the  boundary  should  be  checked  at  least  every  50  ft.  Post-hole  exca- 
vators or  "diggers"  are  much  used  in  setting  fence  posts,  and  in  mellow 
ground  or  where  there  are  but  few  stones  they  are  labor-saving  devices,  doing 
the  work  more  rapidly  than  a  bar  and  shovel  or  "spoon"  (Engraving  E, 
Fig.  419).  An  ordinary  post-hole  auger  is  shown  as  Fig.  420.  Figure 
424  shows  the  lower  portion  of  the  Eureka  post-hole  digger,  commonly 
known  as  the  "scissors"  type.  It  consists  of  a  pair  of  pointed  segmental 
spades  so  jointed  together  that  when  rotated  they  cut  a  cylindrical  hole, 
and  by  spreading  the  two  handles  apart  they  close  upon  the  material,  tongs- 
fashion,  so  that  it  may  be  lifted  out  of  the  hole.  In  hard  ground  the 
material  must  first  be  loosened  by  jabbing  with  a  bar.  Figure  421  shows 
the  Champion  digger  with  an  iron  handle.  Figure  423  shows  the  Eapid 
post-hole  auger  and  Fig.  422  the  Monarch  post-hole  auger.  The  blades 


FEJTCE  821 

of  the  latter  are  radially  adjustable  to  bore  holes  7  to  9  ins.  in  diameter. 
In  favorable  material  the  blades  are  usually  filled  in  four  revolutions.  This 
auger  has  been  used  in  digging  wells  as  deep  as  30  ft.  These  excavators 
will  take  out  about  a  gallon  of  dirt  at  each  lift  and  they  dig  a  hole  but 
little  larger  than  the  post. 

Three  men  can  work  together  to  advantage  in  setting  posts,  one  man 
digging  the  holes  and  two  men  setting  the  posts  and  tamping  the  dirt 
around  them.  The  man  who  digs  the  holes  cannot  keep  out  of  the  way 
of  the  post  setters,  and  so  whenever  they  overtake  him  he  goes  ahead  and 
starts  a  new  hole,  while  one  of  the  post  setters  completes  the"  unfinished 
hole  and  the  other  man  carries  posts  over  from  the  track.  Under  very 
favorable  conditions  three  men  have  dug  the  holes  and  carried  and  set  180 
fence  posts  in  a  day,  but  an  ordinary  record  would  be  about  100  posts  per 
day. 

In  boggy  land  where  fence  posts  will  not  hold,  and  on  rocky  ground 
where  post  holes  cannot  be  excavated  by  ordinary  methods,  the  posts  may 
be  mortised  or  drift-bolted  to  sills  of  old  ties  or  old  bridge  timber  laid 
down  transversely  to  the  line  of  the  fence.  To  secure  the  post  in  the 
upright  position  a  brace  piece  may  be  spiked  to  the  side  of  the  sill  and  the 
side  of  the  post.  On  rocky  ground  A-frames  are  sometimes  substituted  for 
posts,  such  being  made  by  using  two  posts  for  the  legs  and  tying  them 
across  the  bottom  by  spiking  a  piece  of  fence  board  on  each  side. 

Posts  for  a  board  fence  are  usually  set  8  ft.  apart  center  to  center, 
and  the  boards  in  most  common  use  are  1x6  ins.  x  16  or  24  ft.  long,  of 
culled  pine,  hemlock  or  other  cheap  lumber.  A  fence  four  boards  high 
will  answer,  but  it  is  better  to  have  five  boards,  especially  if  there  are 
small  animals,  like  pigs  and  lambs,  to  keep  out.  In  a  four-board  fence 
the  bottom  of  the  first  board  should  be  about  4  ins.  from  the  ground,  then 
a  6-in.  spacing  between  it  and  the  second  board,  the  two  other  boards  divid- 
ing equally  the  remaining  space.  All  of  the  boards  should  be  nailed  to  the 
field  side  of  the  posts  and  be  cut  to  meet  those  of  another  panel  end  to  end, 
instead  of  overlapping.  It  strengthens  the  fence  very  much  if  the  boards 
are  made  to  break  joints  at  the  posts,  but  on  uneven  ground  this  plan  is  not 
practicable ;  otherwise,  that  is,  if  the  ends  of  all  the  boards  meet  at  the 
same  post,  a  Ix6-in.  batten  as  high  as  the  fence  should  be  nailed  over  the 
ends  of  the  boards  to  cover  the  joints.  It  also  strengthens  a  fence  to 
use  a  cap  board.  This  board  is  sometimes  nailed  flat  on  the  tops  of-  the 
posts,  but  it  isi  considered  better  practice  to  cut  the  tops  of  the  posts  off  ta 
an  angle,  of  25  to  45  deg.  with  the  horizontal,  and  it  is  preferable  to  have 
the  cap  meet  and  cover  the  edge  of  the  top  side  board.  Each  board  should 
be  nailed  to  each  post  with  three  lOd  wire  nails  at  the  ends  and  with  two  at 
the  middle  post.  A  fence  built  of  16-ft.  boards  without  battens  will 
require  45  Ibs.  of  nails  per  mile  per  one  board  high.  There  are  65  lOd 
wire  nails  in  a  pound.  A  good  way  to  arrange  the  work  of  nailing  on 
boards  is  to  have  two  men  go  ahead  and  tack  them  to  the  posts,  with  one 
man  to  follow  after  and  complete  the  nailing. 

Ordinary  barbed  wire,  commonly  known  as  "cattle  wire,"  consists  of 
two  twisted  strands  with  a  two-pointed  barb  about  every  3  in&.  The 
weight  of  a  single  wire  per  mile  is  330  to  380  Ibs.  "Hog  wire"  has  four- 
pointed  barbs  and  weighs  about  400  Ibs.  per  mile  of  single  wire.  Buck- 
thorn barbed  wire  is  a  steel  band  or  ribbon  with  J-in.  saw-teeth  barbs 
about  1-in.  apart  on  the  edges  of  the  band.  In  order  to  present  barbs  in 
all  directions  the  wire  is  twisted.  This  wire  is  more  easily  seen  by  stock 
than  strand  wire.  Both  twisted  ribbon  and  twisted  strands  without  barbs 
are  used  to  some  extent  for  fence  wire.  Barbed  wires  stretched  over 


S22 


MISCELLANEOUS 


panels  are  sometimes  tied  together  by  pieces  of  band  iron  at  intervals  of 
about  8  ft.  between  the  posts,  to  prevent  the  wires  from  sagging  or  being- 
spread  apart.  Staples,  of  the  size  commonly  used  in  building  wire  fence, 
number  about  70  to  the  pound,  so  that  about  5  Ibs.  are  required  per  wire 
per  mile,  posts  16  ft.  apart. 

Wire  fence  should  be  at  least  four  wires  high,  or  three  wires  with  a 
board  or  stretcher  at  the  top;  but  six  wires  alone  or  five  wires  with  a  top 
board  are  considered  only  ordinary  construction;  it  requires  six  or  seven 
wires  to  keep  hogs,  sheep  and  calves  from -crawling  through.  To  hold 
such  animals  there  should  be  four  or  five  wires  within  2  ft.  of  the  ground, 
the  lower  wire  not  farther  than  3  ins.  from  the  ground  and  the  next  two 
spaced  at  4  ins.  In  some  states  the  law  allows  posts  for  railway  wire 
fence  to  be  placed  as  far  as  30  ft.  apart,  if  pickets  are  interwoven  between 
and  the  wires  stapled  to  the  same,  to  make  them  act  together  and  maintain 
them  at  an  even  spacing.  Thirty  feet,  however,  is  too  far  apart.  Where 
a  board  or  rail  is  placed  at  the  top  the  posts  should  not  be  farther  than  12 
ft.  apart  and  the  boards  should  extend  over  two  panels.  For  an  all-wire 
fence  the  posts  should  be  not  farther  than  16  ft.  apart,  or  20  ft.  where  there 
are  pickets  or  stays  fastened  to  the  wires  between  the  posts.  On  some  roads 
the  posts  are  set  as  close  as  8  ft.  apart. 


Fig.  425. — Methods  of  Anchoring  End  Posts.  Fig.  426. 

Posts  at  the  end  of  a  wire  fence  or  at  each  side  of  a  gate  or  cattle 
guard  should  be  braced  by  a  leaning  post,  the  foot  of  the  latter  being 
supported  against  the  adjoining  fence  post  at  the  ground,  or  against 
a  stake  firmly  driven;  and  posts  at  intervals  of  200  ft.  should  be 
braced,  either  with  two  leaning  posts  or  by  heavy  stay  wires  -wrapped 
around  the  top  of  the  post  and  anchored  to  adjoining  posts  at  the 
ground.  Figure  42 7 A  shows  another  method  of  bracing  end  post*. 
End  and  corner  posts  should  be  larger  in  diameter  and  longer  than 
the  intermediate  ones,  and  should  be  set  4  to  4J  ft.  in  the  ground.  Addi- 
tional bracing  may  be  given  to  an  end  post  by  nailing  an  anchor  board 
across  the  post  near  the  bottom,  on  the  rear  side,  and  another  near  the  top 
of  the  hole  on  the  front  side,  with  reference  to  the  direction  in  which  the 
wires  pull.  Corner  posts  should  be  braced  with  leaning  posts  butting  at 
the  ground  against  other  fence  posts  (Fig.  425)  placed  at  half  panel 
distance  from  the  corner.  A  braced  post  or  a  post  which  comes  in  a  hollow 
should  be  anchored,  to  resist  being  pulled  up  by  the  tension  of  the  wires. 
One  way  of  doing  this  is  to  bore  a  hole  through  the  post  near  the  bottom 
and  run  a  bar  of  iron  through  the  hole ;  another  way  is  to  spike  a  piece  of 
board  across  the  post  near  the  bottom,  and  preferably  on  each  side  of  the 
post.  A  very  secure  method  of  anchoring  a  post  is  shown  in  Fig.  426. 


FEXCE  823 

The  bottom  wire  may  be  anchored  between  the  posts  by  driving  a  stake 
into  the  ground  and  securing  the  wire  to  the  stake  with  a  staple,  or  a  stone 
with  a  tie  wire  attached  may  be  buried  18  ins.  or  2  feet  deep  to  serve  as  an 
anchor.  The  necessity  for  anchoring  the  bottom  wire  arises  where  the  posts 
are  a  long  distance  apart  or  where  the  wire  crosses  a  low  spot  in  the  ground. 

If  the  fence  is  a  combination  board  and  wire  structure  the  boards 
should  be  nailed  to  the  posts  before  the  wires  are  stretched.  On  uneven 
ground  only  one  wire  should  be  reeled  out  and  stretched  at  a  time.  Where 
two  or  more  wires  are  unrolled  before  any  is  stretched  they  get  tangled. 
Some  prefer  to  follow  this  plan  in  all  cases,  but  where  the  ground  is  even 
over  long  distances  it  is  commonly  the  practice  to  first  reel  out  all  the  wires 
ready  for  stretching,  the  wires  lying  on  the  ground  some  distance  apart  or 
at  different  distances  from  the  fence  line,  to  prevent  tangling.  Then 
men  are  stationed  15  or  20  rods  apart,  and  one  man  does  the  stretching 
with  block  and  tackle  while  the  others  pick  the  wire  up  out  of  the  grass 
and  hold  it  off  the  ground  until  it  is  tight  enough,  when  each  staples  it  to 
the  post  where  he  is  standing.  This  procedure  is  repeated  with  each  wire 
until  they  are  all  up  and  stapled  to  enough  posts  to  prevent  appreciable  sag, 
when  each  man  proceeds  to  drive  all  the  remaining  staples  on  his  section. 
The  posts  should  be  marked  to  indicate  the  spacing  of  the  wires,  and  for 
this  purpose  use  may  be  made  of  a  marker  board  or  gage.  It  takes  a  man 
1  to  1J  hours  to  mark  the  posts  for  a  mile  of  fence.  To  reel  out  the  wire 
a  bar  is  run  through  the  roll  and  two  men  carry  it  between  them,  but  where 
there  is  a  top  board  they  put  the  bundle  of  wire  up  and  roll  it  along  on 
the  fence,  steadying  it  with  the  bar.  On  level  ground  one  man  can  do  this 
alone,  but  up  and  down  hill  two  men  are  required.  In  stretching  the  wire 
it  is  pulled  taut  over  a  number  of  panels  and  tacked  to  several  posts  near 
the  stretcher  before  letting  go.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  the  stretcher 
right  along  with  or  just  behind  the  roll  of  wire  and  to  stretch  it  up. and 
secure  it  to  the  posts  as  fast  as  it  is  reeled  out.  It  is  a  good  deal  of  bother 
to  pull  up  the  slack  when  the  reel  gets  far  ahead  of  the  stretching.  The 
wires  should  be  put  on  the  field  side  of  the  posts,  except  on  fence  which 
bounds  the  inside  of  a  curved  right  of  way,  when  it  should  be  on  the  track 
side;  although  in  cases  of  this  kind  the  wire  is  sometimes  stapled  to 
alternate  sides  of  consecutive  posts.  On  corner  posts  the  wire  must,  of 
course,  be  placed  so  as  to  pull  against  the  post.  A  serviceable  and  con- 
venient form  of  wire  stretcher  is  a  handspike  with  a  small  claw  plate 
screwed  fast  at  one  end,  for  catching  the  wire  behind  a  barb.  The  wire 
is  stretched  by  taking  a  pry  back  of  a  post,  and  to  prevent  the  handspike 
from  turning  when  straining  on  the  wire  the  end  holding  the  claw  should  be 
about  4  ins.  wide  and  flattened.  In  the  absence  of  a  stretcher  a  hold  may 
be  had  on  the  wire  by  giving  it  a  turn  once  or  twice  around  a  handspike 
or  bar.  Block  and  tackle  is  also  used  much  for  a  stretcher.  Fence  wire 
stretched  in  cold  weather  should  be  drawn  up  pretty  tight,  else  it  will  sag 
in  summer ;  if  stretched  in  warm  weather  it  should  be  drawn  taut  but  not 
put  under  heavy  tension,  lest  it  will  break  when  it  contracts  in  winter.  In 
putting  up  the  wires  four  men  can  work  to  advantage:  two  to  roll  out  or 
string  out  the  wire,  one  to  use  the  stretcher  and  one  to  tack  the  wires 
to  just  enough  of  the  posts  to  secure  them  temporarily.  Later  one  man 
goes  along  and  nails  them  solidly  to  all  the  poets,  driving  all  the  remaining 
staples. 

Labor  Data. — The  cost  of  labor  in  fence  construction  is  quite  variable 
in  different  localities,  even  with  the  same  type  of  fence.  The  topography 
of  the  right  of  way,  and  its  condition  respecting  growth  of  trees  or  brush ; 
the  condition  of  the  ground  as  affecting  the  digging  of  post  holes,  the  expe- 


MISCELLANEOUS 

rience  of  the  workmen,  and  sometimes  other  matters,  have  a  considerable 
bearing  upon  the  result  of  each  day's  labor.  The  same  amount  of  effort 
might  accomplish  much  more  or  a  good  deal  less  in  one  place  than  ii* 
another.  Labor  data  on  fence  building  should  therefore  be  regarded 
conditionally.  With  this  understanding  the  following  statement,  except  where- 
otherwise  expressed,  refers  to  ordinary  work  under  ordinary  conditions.  A. 
working  day  is  supposed  to  be  10  hours.  Where  an  auger  or  digger  can  ba 
used  effectively  a  man  will  dig  100  to  125  post  holes  2±  ft.  deep,  in  a  day;, 
or  50  with  bar  and  shovel,  where  there  are  but  few  stones.  In  one  day 
a  man  will  carry  and  set  about  70  posts.  A  day's  labor  will  carry  about 
600  16-ft.  boards  from  the  side  of  the  track  to  the  fence  line  on  a  100-ft. 
right  of  way.  If  the  ground  is  hilly  or  rocky  or  ii  there  are  brush  or  logs 
in  the  way  it  may  not  carry  more  than  half  as  many.  A  day's  labor  will 
cut  to  length  and  nail  on  about  90  fence  boards,  with  battens,  each  board 
being  nailed  to  three  posts.  In  building  wire  fence  with  a  top  board  a 
day's  labor  will  carry  from  track  to  fence  line  about  450  boards,  and  it 
will  cut  to  length  and  nail  on  about  160  boards,  each  board  being  nailed  to 


A,    Page   Fence;   B,    Lamb   Fence;    C,    Mathews   Fence;    D,    McMulleii   Fence;    E, 
American  Fence;  F,  Jones  Fence;  G,  Ellwood  Fence. 

Fig.  427.— Woven  Wire  Fence. 


FENCE  825 

three  posts.     A  day's  labor  will  reel  out,  stretch  up  and  nail  to  posts  12 
to  16  ft.  apart  about  6400  ft.  of  barbed  wire  (single  wire). 

Assuming  that  one  man  will  dig  the  holes  and  carry  and  set  35  posts  in 
a  day,  which  would  be  an  average  record,  the  time  required  to  build  one 
mile  of  fence  of  various  kinds  is  roughly  estimated  below.  No  allowance 
is  made  for  delays  in  clearing  brush  or  in  building  around  stumps  or  other 
obstacles.  The  work  of  building  a  four-board  fence,  16-ft.  boards,  posts 
8  ft.  apart,  without  battens,  requires  about  29^  days'  labor;  with  battens, 
36  days;  a  five-board  fence,  or  a  four-board  fence  with  cap  board,  with 
battens,  41  days.  The  labor  of  building  a  barbed  wire  fence-four  strands 
high,  posts  16  ft.  apart,  is  about  13  days7  work;  with  posts  12  ft.  apart, 
16  days;  with  top  board  and  three  wires,  posts  12  ft.  apart,  17  days;  with 
top  board  and  four  wires,  posts  12  ft.  apart,  18  days.  For  a  fence  with  a 
different  number  of  wires  allow  about  8  hours'  labor  for  each  wire,  more 
or  less  as  the  case  may  be.  Experienced  fence  men  working  by  contract 
will  build  just  about  50  per  cent  more  fence  in  a  given  time  than  the  same 
number  of  ordinary  track  laborers  engaged  in  the  work  only  a  short  time 
each  season.  Thus,  on  a  certain  railroad  the  average  record  for  the  section 
men  was  17 -J  days'  labor  per  mile  of  fence  built,  with  top  board  and  three 
\vires,  posts  12  ft.  apart.  The  average  record  for  a-  gang  of  experienced 
fence  men,  working  for  the  same  company  at  the  same  time,  under  similar 
conditions,  the  same  number  of  hours  per  day,  but  for  a  contract  price  per 
rod,  was  12  days'  labor  per  mile  of  fence. 

Woven  Wire  Fence. — The  necessity  for  keeping  small  animals  off  the 
right  of  way  has  led  to  the  extensive  use  of  woven  wire  fence  along  rail- 
roads. The  method  of  construction  in  most  forms  of  woven  wire  fence 
consists  in  tying  together  a  number  of  horizontal  wires  with  cross  wires, 
to  form  a  fabric  or  mesh  of  some  desired  shape.  The  cross  wires  serve  to 
keep  the  horizontal  wires  at  proper  spacing,  and  thus  woven  wire  is  supposed 
to  permit  the  use  of  fewer  posts  than  are  required  for  a  fence  built  with 
independent  wires,  but  in  practice  such  hardly  proves  to  be  the  case.  The 
woven  fabric  does,  however,  permit  the  use  of  lighter  horizontal  wires  for 
the  intermediates  than  would  be  serviceable  were  they  stretched  up  inde- 
pendently ;  and  by  using  lighter  wire  a  larger  number  can  be  afforded,  and 
hence  a  tighter  fence  secured.  The  cross  ties  in  a  woven  fence  add  no 
particular  tensile  strength  to  the  horizontal  wires,  but  they  do  serve  to  pr> 
vent  the  horizontal  wires  from  sagging  when  part  of  the  same  are  forced 
out  of  the  straining  line  and  stretched.  Figure  427  is  composed  of  a  num- 
ber of  engravings  illustrating  some  of  the  forms  of  factory-made  woven 
wire  fence  in  railroad  service.  Engraving  A  is  the  Page  fence,  of  "coiled 
spring"  laterals  and  straight  verticals,  forming  a  rectangular  mesh.  The 
horizontal  wires  are  of  hard  steel  and  the  vertical  are  annealed.  The  top 
lateral  in  the  example  shown  is  of  No.  7  wire,  the  bottom  lateral  No.  9 
wire  and  the  nine  intermediate  laterals  of  No.  11  wire;  the  vertical  wires 
are  No.  14  and  the  spacing  of  the  laterals  is  indicated  on  the  engraving; 
the  vertical  wires  are  spaced  about  12  ins.  apart.  The  spiral  twist  in  the 
lateral  wires  is  produced  by  coiling  the  wire  around  a  f-in  rod  and  then 
pulling  it  out  again.  The  purpose  of  this  twist  is  to  put  the  fence  in 
tension  upon  being  stretched  up  and  fastened  to  place,  so  that  it  will  auto- 
matically adjust  itself  for  expansion  and  contraction  due  to  change  of  tem- 
perature, and  enable  it  to  return  to  its  original  shape  after  being  run 
against  and  stretched  by  stampeded  cattle  or  other  animals.  The  Lamb 
fence  is  similar  to  the  Page  fence  and  is  shown  as  Engraving  B,  the  knot 
or  method  of  attaching  the  verticals  to  the  laterals  being  also  shown. 

Engraving  (7  shows  the  Mathews  woven  wire  fence  stretched  upon 


826  MISCELLANEOUS 

steel  posts  already  described.  The  top  and  bottom  selvages  are  straight 
and  the  intermediate  laterals  are  bent  or  depressed  at  intervals  of  12  ins., 
and  into  these  bends  are  wrapped,  the  vertical  stays,  the  idea  being  to  keep 
the  latter  from  slipping  out  of  place.  The  top  and  bottom  cables  are 
formed  of  two  No.  11  hard  steel  wires  twisted  together;  tne  other  laterals 
are  of  No.  11  hard  steel  spring  wire;  and  for  the  vertical  stays  No.  12 
annealed  steel  wire  is  used.  The  vertical  stays  are  wrapped  four  times 
around  the  top  and  bottom  cables.  The  fence  as  shown  is  constructed 
with  barbed  wire  for  the  top  strand.  The  steel  and  sewer-pipe  posts  are 
placed  two  rods  apart  and  a  stay  rod  is  driven  half  way  between  the  posts  to 
act  as  a  stiffener.  The  wire  netting  is  fastened  to  the  post  by  cutting  a 
small  slot  in  the  post,  dropping  the  strand  of  wire  into  it  and  then  closing 
the  slot  with  a  hammer.  The  Keystone  woven  wire  fence  has  a  mesh  similar 
to  that  of  the  Mathews. 

Engraving  D  shows  four  patterns  of  McMullen  woven  wire  fence,  the 
first  section  on  the  left  being  of  the  "spiral  spring  steel"  type,  in  which 
the  horizontal  wires  are  spirally  curved  to  provide  for  expansion,  contrac- 
tion, etc.  The  top  wire  is  of  No.  7  gage,  the  intermediates  of  No.  11  and 
the  bottom  wire  of  No.  9  gage.  The  cross  or  tie  wires  are  of  No.  12  gage, 
spaced  24  to  the  rod.  The  next  section  is  of  the  "crimped  steel  wire"  type. 
The  horizontal  wires  have  a  special  crimp  for  preserving  a  "springy  qual- 
ity." The  tie  or  cross  wires  are  of  No.  14  gage,  with  24  meshes  to  the 
rod,  the  fabric  being  otherwise  made  up  as  in  the  case  of  the  spiral  spring 
type.  The  next  section  to  the  right  is  of  the  "steel  wire  cable"  type.  The 
top  cable  is  of  four  strands  of  No.  13  steel  wire  and  the  other  laterals  each 
of  two  strands  of  No.  13  steel  wire;  with  No.  13  cross  or  tie  wires,  24  meshes 
to  the  rod.  The  form  shown  as  the  right-hand  section  of  the  engraving  has 
a  diamond  mesh,  intended  especially  for  holding  hogs  and  other  small  ani- 
mals. The  mesh  is  made  in  two  sizes — 2x4  ins.  and  3x6  ins.  The  selvages 
are  of  twisted  wires  of  No.  14  or  No.  15  gage  and  the  netting  strands  of  No. 
15  or  No.  16  wire.  The  netting  is  made  in  various  widths  to  suit  different 
purposes. 

Engraving  E  shows  the  12-bar  American  woven  wire  fence  in  four 
different  styles.  The  top  and  bottom  wires  are  No.  9,  the  intermediate 
laterals  No.  11  and  the  stay  wires  No.  12,  spaced  about  12  ins.  apart.  For 
holding  the  smaller  animals  the  fence  is  made  with  an  extra  stay  running 
in  between  the  regular  stays  for  a  few  meshes  up  from  the  bottom,  as 
shown  in  the  second  section  from  the  right.  For  a  cattle  fence  one  or  two 
strands  of  barbed  wire  are  stretched  above  the  netting,  as  shown  in  the 
two  left-hand  sections.  The  Clinton  woven  wire  fence  has  straight  wires 
with  rectangular  mesh,  the  verticals  and  laterals  being  electrically  welded 
together.  Engraving  G  is  an  illustration  of  the  Ellwood  fence,  formed 
upon  twisted  lateral  strands,  with  a  triangular  mesh  formed  by  stays  run- 
ning diagonally.  The  meshes  near  the  bottom  of  the  fence  are  smaller 
than  those  at  the  top,  so  as  to  take  care  of  the  smaller  animals.  "Hog 
fence"  is  a  special  form  of  woven  wire  fence  made  by  nearly  all  of  the 
woven  wire  fence  manufacturers,  in  which  the  bottom  portion  of  the  net- 
ting for  a  hight  of  from  24  to  33  ins.  above  the  ground  is  formed  by 
closely  spaced  horizontal  wires  with  numerous  stays,  so  as  to  secure  a  small 
mesh. 

Engraving  F  in  an  illustration  of  the  Jones  "locked"  fence.  The  lat- 
erals are  straight  wires  spaced  as  indicated  in  the  engraving,  and  at  inter- 
vals these  wires  are  locked  to  vertical  stays  by  looping  the  wire  through  a 
ring  and  slipping  the  stay  through  the  loops  of  all  the  laterals.  The 
standard  fence  of  this  type  has  No.  9  lateral  wires  throughout,  with  No.  7 


FENCE  827 

hard  steel  wires  for  the  stays,  which  are  spaced  2  to  3  ft.  apart,  according 
to  the  panel  length.  These  stays  are  applicable  to  old  as  well  as  to  new 
fences  and  to  either  barbed  or  plain,  straight  or  spiral-spring  wire.  The 
stay  is  applied  to  wires  already  attached  to  the  posts  by  crimping  the  wires 
with  a  special  tool,  working  from  top  to  bottom,  and  in  order  to  slip  the  stay 
through  all  the  wires  easily  the  rings  or  clamps  are  first  doubled  over  and 
after  the  stay  is  in  position  they  are  spread  to  lock  the  wires  firmly  to  the 
stay. 

To  prevent  old  barbed  wire  from  swagging  it  is  quite  customary  to 
use  stays  between  the  posts.  Wooden  pickets  or  slats  interlaced  with  the 
wires,  using  staples  to  secure  the  latter  and  preserve  the  proper  spacing, 
are  frequently  employed.  Besides  the  Jones  stay  and  method  of  locking 
there  is  another  device  for  a  similar  purpose  known  as  the  Crescent  stay. 
It  is  long  enough  to  engage  two  or  more  wires,  as  may  be  desired,  and  con- 
sists of  a  piece  of  steel  of  trough  section,  3/64  in.  thick  and  about  1-J  ins. 
wide,  notched  on  the  edges  to  engage  with  the  wire.  The  fence  wire  is  se- 
cured to  the  stay  by  tying  with  a  wire  loop,  which  is  drawn  very  tight  by 
means  of  a  special  tool. 

Woven  wire  fence  comes  from  the  manufacturer  in  rolls  of  20,  30 
or  40  rods5  length,  and  sometimes  in  rolls  as  small  as  10  rods,  if  so  ordered. 
A  whole  roll  is  usually  stretched  at  one  time.  The  netting  is  unrolled 
flat  on  the  ground,  the  bottom  of  the  fence  next  the  posts.  The  end  of 
the  fence  is  then  made  fast  to  the  starting  post,  wrapping  the  strands  clear 
around  the  post  and  fastening  well  with  staples  both  at  the  extreme  end 
and  on  the  back  of  the  post.  The  stretcher  is  then  put  on  at  the  other  end 
of  the  roll  and  the  fence  pulled  up  tight  to  place.  The  netting  is  stretched 
up  either  by  pulling  on  one  wire  at  a  time  (the  top  and  bottom  wires  first) 
or  by  clamping  the  netting  between  two  tongued  and  grooved  pieces  bolted 
together  or  to  a  stretcher  bar  provided  with  a  special  clamp  for  each 
horizontal  wire,  and  then  pulling  on  the  clamping  device  with  block  and 
tackle,  ratchet  and  chain,  or  other  mechanical  contrivance.  In  splicing 
sections  of  woven  wire  together  the  individual  wires  of  the  netting  are 
spliced  together,  the  joint  made  being  similar  to  or  like  that  made  in 
splicing  telegraph  wire.  In  building  woven  wire  fence  across  a  hollow 
the  wire  netting  is  usually  stapled  to  the  last  post  on  one  side  of  the 
hollow  and  then  stretched  up  at  a  post  on  the  other  side.  The  net- 
ting is  brought  down  to  the  posts  in  the  hollow  by  stepping  on  the  bot- 
tom selvage  and  pulling  it  down  to  place,  slacking  off  on  the  stretcher  as 
the  fence  is  depressed  from  post  to  post,  but  keeping  a  good  tension  all 
the  while.  In  stretching  over  a  hill  the  fence  is  pulled  partly  up  and 
then  hung  up  on  the  highest  post  on  a  staple  loosely  driven.  After  that  it 
is  stretched  tightly  to  place.  In  stretching  woven  wire  netting  up  to  an 
end  post  it  is  usually  necessary  to  set  a  straining  post  behind  the  end  post, 
temporarily,  in  case  there  is  nothing  else  in  line  with  the  fence  to  which 
the  stretching  apparatus  can  be  attached.  Posts  for  woven  wire  fence  are 
usually  set  12  to  16  ft  apart,  but  sometimes  as  close  as  8  ft.  apart.  The 
cost  of  building  woven  wire  fence,  posts  12  ft.  apart,  is  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  20  cents  per  rod.  The  average  cost  for  labor  in  erecting  22  miles 
of  Page  woven  wire  fence,  as  shown  by  the  reports  of  the  fence  gang  of  a 
certain  railroad,  was  17.2  cents  per  rod.  The  posts  were  set  an  average 
distance  of  17  ft.  apart,  and  3  to  3J  ft.  in  the  ground.  The  surface 
was  generally  rough  and  uneven  and  a  great  many  anchor  posts  had  to  be 
used.  The  cost  stated  covered  the  labor  of  loading  and  unloading  new 
material,  removing  the  old  fence  and  disposal  of  the  same,  either  by  piling 


828 


MISCELLANEOUS 


or  burning,  and  the  time  consumed  in  moving  the  fence  gang  from  one 
point  to  another. 

Combination  barbed  and  woven  wire  fences  are  used  a  good  deal,  espe- 
cially where  it  is  necessary  to  hold  small  animals.  A  committee  report 
to  the  Headmasters'  and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association,  in  1902,  recom- 
mended for  a  hog-tight  or  sheep-tight  fence  in  level  country,  a  26  or  28-in. 
netting  of  woven  wire  (square  mesh)  at  the  bottom,  with  three  barbed 
wires  on  top.  The  standard  wire  fence  of  the  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western 
Ry.  consists  of  Keystone  woven  wire  fencing  25  ins.  high  for  the  bottom, 
put  on  2  ins.  clear  of  the  ground,  with  three  four-point  cattle  wires  spaced 
at  6  ins.,  8  ins.  and  10  ins.  for  the  top.  The  posts  are  7  ft.  long,  set  12  ft, 
apart  and  2  ft.  7  ins.  in  the  ground.  Other  details  are  shown  in  Fig.  42 7 A. 
The  left  of  the  figure  shows  the  braced  panel  that  is  standard  with  this 
company.  The  end  post  is  extra  heavy,  and  between  this  and  another  post 
-set  at  a  distance  of  7^  ft.  c.  to  c.,  there  is  a  7-ft,  post  used  horizontally 
as  a  strut.  The  third  post  is  6J  ft.  beyond  the  second,  and  is  used  as  a 
footing  for  a  7-ft.  brace  post.  The  tops  of  the  second  and  third  posts  are 


I 

Fig.  427  A. — Standard  Fence   and   Brace   Panel,   Toledo,   Peoria  &  Western    Ry. 

then  stayed  to  the  end  post  by  four  strands  of  No.  12  wire  twisted  together. 
The  posts  and  braces  are  firmly  secured  together  by  boat  spikes. 

Fence  Machines. — Woven  wire  fence  is  also  made  in  the  field,  with 
machines  operated  by  hand  power,  and  such  machines  have  been  used  to 
some  extent  in  railway  work.  The  line  wires,  which  may  be  either  plain  or 
barbed  or  part  of  each,  are  first  stretched  up  alongside  the  posts,  as  in 
building  strand  wire  fence,  utilizing  old  fence  wire  already  in  place,  if 
desired,  and  then  the  machine  is  worked  along  these  wires  to  twist  on  or 
"weave  in"  the  cross  ties  to  form  the  fabric.  There  are  several  kinds  of 
these  machines,  but  on  general  lines  the  construction  consists  of  an  upright 
iron  or  wooden  frame  as  high  as  the  fence,  on  which  are  arranged  a  series  of 
tubular  spindles,  spool  carriers  and  twister  wheels  turned  by  a  crank  and 
gearing  (Fig.  446A).  The  line  wires  pass  through  the  spindles,  and  the 
spools  which  carry  the  cross  wires  are  revolved  around  the  spindles  and 
automatically  transferred,  first  to  the  upper  and  then  to  the  lower  spindle 
of  each  set  of  two,  each  time  a  new  row  of  meshes  is  formed.  Each  dis- 
tinct operation  of  the  machine,  as  it  is  moved  along,  forms  a  series  of 
meshes  from  top  to  bottom  of  the  fence.  The  base  of  the  machine,  about 
8x14  ins.  in  size,  is  carried  upon  small  wheels  which  run  upon  a  plank  laid 
down  on  the  ground.  The  machine  builds  fence  over  hilly  and  uneven 
ground  without  trouble.  In  making  vertical  turns  to  follow  the  lay  of  the 
ground  the  machine  makes  the  meshes  at  top  and  bottom  of  different  length, 
so  that  the  fence  fits  the  ground  and  does  not  require  so  much  anchoring 
in  such  places  as  does  factory-made  fence.  The  meshes  can  be  made  very 
wide  or  close  enough  to  turn  small  chickens,  simply  by  varying  the  adjust- 
ment of  the  machine,  and  it  can  be  used  to  weave  numerous  kinds  of  meshes, 


FENCE  829 

including  ornamental  designs.  The  machine  is  run  by  a  man  and  a  boy — 
the  man  to  weave  and  the  boy  to  fill  the  spools  with  wire  for  the  bobbins. 
-Such  an  outfit  can  weave  40  to  70  rods  of  fence  in  a  day,  the  speed  depend- 
ing upon  the  size  of  the  mesh.  Mr.  John  Wirley,  roadmaster  with  the  Lake 
Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ky.,  has  used  one  of  these  machines  in  building 
right  of  way  fence.  The  labor  cost  one  year  was  33.7  cents  per  rod  of  fence, 
including  the  taking  down  of  the  old  fence,  setting  new  posts  and  weaving 
the  new  fence.  During  another  year  the  average  cost  was  63.1  cents  per  rod 
of  fence,  including  all  material  and  labor.  As  used  on  this  road  a  man  and 
;a  boy  have  woven  60  to  70  rods  of  fence  per  day. 

Durability. — Experience  has  shown  that  fence  wire  for  railway  service 
should  be  thickly  and  uniformly  galvanized.  Wire  in  right  of  way  fence 
is  exposed  to  sulphurous  smoke  and  cinders  from  locomotives,  and  parts  of 
the  metal  which  are  unprotected  or  too  thinly  coated  are  rapidly  corroded. 
Trouble  of  this  kind  has  occurred  most  frequently  with  woven  wire  fence, 
the  smallest  wires  giving  out  first.  In  some  instances  the  mesh  wires  have 
•entirely  rusted  out  in  four  to  five  years.  Different  authorities  have  laid  the 
fault  to  inferior  galvanizing,  due  to  careless  or  too  rapid  work  in  the  manu- 
facturing processes;  and  to  scaling  or  peeling  of  the  spelter  in  the  process 
of  massing  the  wires  through  the  weaving  machines.  The  fact  of  failure 
under  the  influences  stated  has  in  some  instances  been  made  the  basis  of 
recommendation  for  the  use  of  larger  wires  than  are  required  in  fence  of 
ample  strength  to  resist  stock.  As  increase  in  size  of  wire  increases  the 
•cost,  and  since  the  matter  of  failure  as  between  a  large  and  a  small  wire  is 
only  a  question  of  time,  wherever  the  corrosive  action  is  present,  the  sug- 
gestion of  larger  wire  is  not  altogether  satisfactory.  Failures  of  wire  fence 
from  corrosion  have  been  most  rapid  where  the  quantity  of  locomotive  or 
bituminous  coal  smoke  has  been  greatest,  but  such  failures  have  not  been 
confined  to  the  vicinity  of  roundhouses  and  switching  yards  alone*  it  has 
iDeen  found  to  prevail  to  more  or  less  extent  along  the  entire  length  of  some 
roads,  being  most  marked  where  the  exposure  is  greatest,  or  in  places  where 
the  fmoke  is  driven  to  the  ground.  The  inception  and  progress  of  the  corro- 
sion has  been  watched  closely  and  found  to  appear  first  in  spots,  in  some 
instances  only  one  or  two  wires  being  affected  for  a  considerable  distance. 
This  fact  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  galvanizing  of  the  wire  was  not 
-everywhere  uniform. 

Gates. — A  gate  of  substantial  construction  can  be  easily  made  by  unit- 
ing a  panel  of  horizontal  boards  by  vertical  pieces  or  battens  at  the  ends 
and  at  the  middle,  using  clinched  nails.  Preferably  there  should  be  double 
battens — that  is,  a  batten  on  each  side  of  the  panel — at  each  of  the  three 
points,  and  to  hold  the  gate  in  shape  a  diagonal  strip  may  be  nailed  to  the 
panel,  running  from  the  top  corner  on  the  free  end  of  the  gate  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  middle  batten.  In  hanging  the  gate  the  bottom  edge  of  the  top 
board  may  rest  upon  a  pin  or  cross  piece  between  staggered  posts.  The 
gate  may  then  slide  back  half  its  length  and  be  swung  around  at  a  balance 
on  the  cross  piece.  Another  way  to  support  such  a  gate  is  to  hang  it  upon 
two  track  spikes  driven  into  the  post,  hook  upward,  one  spike  coming  under 
the  top  board  and  the  other  spike  under  the  second  board  from  the  bottom, 
to  keep  the  gate  from  swinging  outward  at  the  bottom.  In  constructing  a 
swing  gate  the  vertical  end  piece  to  which  the  hinges  are  attached  should 
run  up  considerably  higher  than  the  panel  of  boards,  and  the  diagonal  or 
brace  strip  should  be  run  from  the  top  of  this  vertical  piece  to  the  bottom 
corner  of  the  swinging  end  of  the  panel.  Figure  428  shows  a  convenient 
form  of  gate  which  can  be  improvised  with  materials  obtained  on  any  rail- 
road section.  Old  switch  ties  may  be  utilized  for  gate  posts,  and  the  swing- 


830 


MISCELLANEOUS 


ins  panel  is  made  of  Ix6-in.  fence  boards  of  16  ft.  or  other  available  length. 
The  hinge  piece  is  set  leaning,  so  that  the  gate  will  rise  when  opened  and 
swing  to  the  closed  position  when  released.  For  a  top  hinge  an  old  fish 
plate  or  angle  bar  spiked  to  the  gate  post  will  suffice,  and  a  piece  of  old  tie 
bedded  in  the  ground  with  a  dowel  pin  running  into  the  hinge  piece,  serve* 
as  a  bottom  hinge.  The  gate  may  be  held  in  the  closed  position  by  a  stop 
piece  and  a  wooden  peg  stuck  into  the  gate  post,  or  by  some  form  of  latch. 
To  prevent  cattle  rubbing  against  a  gate  several  strands  of  barbed  wire 
may  be  stretched  across  it  on  the  field  side. 

To  admit  farm  machinery,  gates  should  be  at  least  15  ft.  long,  and 
for  several  reasons  swing  gates  should  be  arranged  to  open  only  on  the  field 
side,  or  away  from  the  track.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these  reasons  is 
that  a  gate  which  swings  toward  the  field  has  the  support  of  the  post  when 
cattle  crowd  against  it  from  that  side,  while  if  it  opens  toward  the  track 
it  is  held  by  the  fastenings,  and  if  these  are  faulty  or  the  timber  to  which 
they  are  attached  somewhat  decayed,  the  gate  is  liable  to  be  thrown  open 
from  pressure  in  the  manner  stated.  Another  reason  is  that  while  a  team 
is  standing  on  the  right  of  way  waiting  for  the  gate  to  be  opened  it  may 
have  to  stand  dangerously  near  the  track  if  the  gate  swings  that  way ;  if  the 
gate  swings  toward  the  field  the  team  may  be  driven  right  up  to  it  before 
it  is  opened,  and  not  nearly  so  much  damage  is  liable  to  occur  should  the 
team  become  frightened  and  run  into  the  gate  before  it  has  been  swung  en- 


Fig.  428. — Gate  for  Railroad  Fence. 

tirely  open.  It  is  the  duty  of  section  foremen  and  track-walkers  to  see  that 
gates  opening  into  the  company's  right  of  way  are  kept  closed  when  not  in 
use. 

Fence  Crews. — In  order  to  work  to  advantage  in  building  a  fence  a 
gang  of  at  least  four  men  is  needed.  Where  there  is  much  fence  to  be 
built  it  is  a  better  plan  to  set  one  or  more  fence  crews  at  work  than  to  take 
the  section  crews  off  the  track  to  do  it.  It  is  customary  to  pay  a  contract 
price  per  rod  or  hundred  feet  of  fence  built,  the  company  furnishing  the 
material.  The  gang  should  be  furnished  with  a  box  car  to  carry  tools,  sup- 
plies of  wire,  nails,  staples,  etc.,  and  a  hand  car.  Where  supplies  are  not 
carried  in  this  way  it  is  often  inconvenient  to  get  them  to  the  gang  just 
when  wanted.  Posts  and  boards  should  be  unloaded  in  advance  of  the  work. 
In  dropping  boards  from  a  car  in  motion,  as  in  distributing  fence  material 
from  a  slowly-moving  train,  the  trailing  end  of  the  board  should  be  dropped 
first;  otherwise  there  is  danger  of  accident  to  the  men  on  the  car.  The 
safest  practice  is  to  forbid  dropping  long  material  of  any  kind  from  a  train 
in  motion,  but  in  unloading  fence  boards  this  rule  is  not  always  observed. 
The  supply  car  should  be  set  out  at  the  side-track  nearest  to  the  work,  and 
the  gang  may  find  it  necessary  to  furnish  their  own  board,  as  there  will 
sometimes  be  no  other  opportunity  of  getting  board  within  reasonable 
distance. 


FENCE 


831 


Some  roads  have  cars  specially  fitted  up  for  fence  gangs.  The  fence 
men's  car  of  the  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Ky.  (Fig.  428A)  is  45  ft.  long 
and  8  ft.  wide,  inside,  and  has  a  platform  on  one  end.  In  this  end  of  the  car 
there  is  a  room  22%  ft.  long  fitted  up  for  living  and  sleeping  quarters.  The 
side  walls  are  covered  with  matched  and  dressed  fencing  put  on  horizon- 
tally, over  which  is  a  layer;  of  building  paper,  and  then  10-in.  stock  boards 
and  battens  up  and  down.  The  ceiling  is  covered  with  10-in.  stock  boards 
and  battens  running  lengthwise  the  car.  The  battens  are  laid  on  in  fresh 
paint  and  nailed  every  few  inches,  so  that  there  are  no  cracks.  The  floor- 
ing consists  of  matched  and  dressed  fencing  crosswise  the  "car,  overlaid 
with  paper  and  then  with  hard  pine  flooring  running  lengthwise.  One 
object  in  view  in  the  inside  finishing  was  to  make  the  car  as  nearly  vermin- 
proof  as  possible.  The  frames  of  the  bunks  are  all  made  of  1-in.  gas  pipe. 
There  are  three  sections  of  beds  three  berths  high,  besides  a  single  bed,  pro- 
viding accommodations  for  10  men.  The  beds  have  movable  wov^n  wire 
springs.  There  are  also  a  desk  fastened  to  the  wall  with  angle  irons  and 
provided  with  a  drawer  underneath,  a  water  tank  and  wash  basin,  a  stove, 
and  four  lockers  18x20  ins.  by  6  ft.  clear  hight.  Passing  from  this  room 
through  a  side  door  at  the  left,  entrance  is  made  to  the  hand-car  or  tool 
room,  which  is  9  ft.  long,  with  doors  6  ft.  wide  on  either  side.  In  this  room 
there  is  a  work  bench  2  ft.  wide  and  6  ft.  long,  with  space  underneath  for 
coal,  nails,  fence  staples,  etc.  Ten  feet  of  space  in  the  end  of  the  car  is 
used  for  a  barbed  wire  bin,  which  is  partitioned  off  by  cross  bars  fitting  in 
stirrups  bolted  to  angle  irons  reaching  from  floor  to  ceiling.  Light  is  ad- 
mitted through  windows  and  transoms,  some  of  the  windows  being  specially 


Fig.  428  A. — Fence  Men's  Car,  Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Ry. 


832  MISCELLANEOUS 

arranged  to  give  ventilation  to  the  sleeping  sections,  there  being  a  window 
to  every  berth.  Under  the  car  there  is  a  cellar  of  good  size,  with  two  doors 
on  each  side.  The  fence  gang,  consisting  of  five  to  nine  men  and  a  foreman, 
according  to  the  condition  of  the  fences,  is  engaged  each  year  from  about 
April  1  until  the  ground  freezes  up  in  the  fall,  or  about  eight  months. 

Fence  repairing,  like  a  great  many  other  things  on  the  railroad, 
usually  requires  immediate  attention,  and  much  of  it  must  be  looked  after 
by  the  section  crews.  There  is  some  work  which  can  usually  be  done  on 
fences  during  winter,  when  other  work  is  scarce.  Wherever  the  posts  are 
in  good  condition  weak  places  may  be  strengthened  by  nailing  on  new  boards 
where  old  ones  have  been  split,  or  loose  wires  may  be  tightened,  corner  and 
end  posts  braced  etc.,  but  wherever  the  work  of  repairing  involves  resetting 
or  straightening  up  of  the  posts,  nothing  more  than  urgent  work  should 
be  done  until  after  the  frost  leaves  the  ground.  Staples  and  lOd.  wire  nails 
should  habitually  be  carried  on  the  hand  car,  so  that  light  or  temporary 
repairs  can  be  attended  to  when  the  need  is  first  seen ;  otherwise  such  mat- 
ters are  liable  to  be  neglected. 

Use  of  Fence  Wires  for  Telephone  Lines. — In  sections  of  the  country, 
particularly  in  the  West  and  Southwest,  where  there  are  long  stretches  of 
right  of  way  wire  fence  with  but  few  or  no  breaks  of  consequence,  consider- 
able use  is  made  of  the  wires  for  telephone  circuits,  both  by  private  parties 
and  by  the  railway  companies.  As  ihe  posts  insulate  the  wires  from  the 
ground  it  is  only  necessary  to  keep  the  strands  that  are  used  from  contact 
with  the  other  wires  and  to  jump  the  road  crossings,  culverts  and  cattle 
passes,  which  can  be  done  by  erecting  poles  and  carrying  the  wire  over  at  a 
hight  sufficient  to  clear  hay  wagons  or  whatever  may  pass.  If  a  complete 
metallic  circuit  is  desired  the  top  wire  of  the  fence  on  both  sides  of  the 
track  is  used.  In. dry  weather  these  wires  can  be  used  with  good  service 
up  to  a  distance  of  100  miles.  In  Texas  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  has  a  num- 
ber of  wire-fence  "telephone  lines  in  service,  affording  communication  with 
section  houses  situated  at  a  distance  from  telegraph  stations.  One  of  these 
lines  extends  from  Sierra  Blanca  to  Dalberg,  28  miles,  and  another  from 
Marfa  to  Valentine,  a  distance  of  35  miles.  In  the  latter  case  there  are  two 
section  houses  at  "blind  sidings"  that  are  served  by  the  telephone  line. 
There  is  no  expense  for  installation  except  for  a  telephone  instrument  at 
each  point  of  communication,  and  a  trifle  for  wire  to  bridge  over  gates  and 
other  gaps  in  the  fence.  In  the  arid  region  the  working  of  the  system 
is  entirely  satisfactory.  The  telegraph  stations  being  widely  separated, 
this  cheap  means  of  communication  with  isolated  section  houses  in  times  of 
emergency  is  greatly  appreciated. 

152.  Cattle  Guards. — A  stock  guard,  commonly  called  cattle  guard, 
is  a  barrier  of  some  kind  in  the  track  intended  to  prevent  the  passage  of 
stock.  It  is  used  principally  at  either  side  of  grade  highway  crossings, 
where  the  track  is  fenced  in,  being  in  principle  a  means  for  preserving  a 
continuity  in  the  fence  past  the  track;  it  is  frequently  used  also  at  private 
road  crossings  with  the  track  and  to  guard  the  approach  to  bridges,  tunnels 
and  deep  cuts.  Like  right-of-way  fence,  cattle  guards  are  required  by  law, 
but  in  no  case  does  the  law  of  any  state  specify  a  particular  kind  or  form  of 
guard.  Such  terms  as  "sufficient  cattle  guards,"  "proper  cattle  guards," 
"suitable  and  sufficient  to  prevent  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,"  etc.,  are  com- 
mon expressions  embodied  in  the  language  of  different  state  laws  on  this 
point.  On  some  roads  the  building  and  maintaining  of  cattle  guards  are 
put  in  charge  of  the  track  department  and  on  other  roads  in  charge  of  the  , 
bridge  and  buildings  department,  but  as  a  general  thing  neither  depart- 
ment craves  the  iob. 


CATTLE   GUARDS  833 

In  general,  cattle  guards  may  be  divided  into  two,  types :  pit  and  sur- 
face guards ;  and  of  the  former  type  there  are  two  kinds — open  and  covered 
pits.  Practically,  there  is  only  one  barrier  which  can  certainly  prevent 
domestic  animals  from  traveling  the  track,  and  that  is  an  open  pit  so  wide 
that  they  cannot  jump  across  it  and  so  deep  they  cannot  jump  out  in  case 
they  get  into  it.  A  frightened  animal  running  before  a  train  will  not  al- 
ways turn  aside,  even  for  a  deep  pit.  A  common  form  of  pit  guard  is  an  ex- 
cavation 8  or  10  ft.  long  (measured  with  the  track),  10  ft.  wide  and  3  to 
6  ft.  deep  under  the  track,  walled  up  with  framed  timbers  or  masonry.  If 
the  excavation  serves  also  for  a  waterway  or  open  culvert,  as  Is  frequently 
the  case,  the  side  walls  are  omitted;  but  in  any  case  means  should  be  pro- 
vided for  draining  the  pit.  In  the  West,  where  pile  structures  are  common, 
each  wall  is  usually  composed  of  three  piles  with  a  12xl2-in.  cap,  backed  by 
a  bulkhead  to  retain  the  roadbed.  At  an  open  pit  the  rails  are  supported 
upon  stringers  direct — usually  wooden  stringers  with  the  upper  corners 
chamfered  away  nearly  to  the  base  of  the  rail.  The  chamfering  is  necessary 
in  order  to  prevent  animals — particularly  hogs  and  sheep — from  walking 
the  stringer  astride  the  rail.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  open  pit  properly  con- 
structed will  stop  stock.  There  are,  of  course,  those  who  will  declare  they 
have  seen  some  old  cow  do  the  tight-rope  act  and  walk  the  rail  over  the 
pit,  but  such  exhibitions  may  properly  be  considered  unusual  and  of  infre- 
quent occurrence ;  and  no  doubt  room  could  be  found  for  all  such  rare  ani- 
mals in  menageries,  where  they  could  make  their  living  easier  than  by 
picking  it  along  the  track. 

Pit  Cattle  Guards. — While  the  open  pit  answers  admirably  the  purpose 
of  a  cattle  guard  it  is  nevertheless  objectionable  from  almost  any  other 
standpoint  of  the  railway  company  and  the  public  as  well.  It  forms  an 
opening  into  which  a  derailed  truck  will  drop  and  cause  a  wreck.  The 
stringers  constitute  a  bridge  of  short  span,  and  if  these  or  any  other  of  the 
parts  are  of  timber  the  structure  must  necessarily  be  watched  against  fire  as 
closely  as  any  wooden  bridge.  The  open  pit  is  a  constant  menace  to  the 
lives  of  people  traveling  the  track  after  dark.  It  is  necessary,  of  course, 
that  trainmen,  watchmen,  and  other  employees  should  use  the  track  at  all 
hours ;  but  from  the  fact  that  American  railroad  tracks  are,  far  foot  passen- 
gers, equivalent  to  public  highways,  the  majority  of  people  who  have  been 
injured  by  falling  into  pit  cattle  guards  have  been  of  the  common  public. 
Pit  guards  are  objectionable  in  many  ways,  also,  when  looked  at  from  the 
standpoint  of  track  maintenance.  Any  break  in  the  continuity  of  the  road- 
bed, such  as  at  the  ends  of  bridges  and  at  open  culverts,  always  increases 
the  work  of  maintaining  a  good  surface  at  that  point.  It  is  desirable,  there- 
fore, to  have  as  few  of  these  breaks  as  possible.  Low  joints  are  more  liable 
to  be  neglected  at  or  near  planked  road  crossings  than  anywhere  else;  and 
to  place  a  pit  at  each  side  and  near  the  crossing  only  serves  to  increase  the 
natural  tendency  to  postpone  repairs  to  the  track  surface  at  such  points. 
Where  the  pit  cannot  very  well  be  drained,  as  in  a  through  cut,  it  will  hold 
the  water  caught  in  wet  weather,  which  will  soak  away  into  the  roadbed  and 
cause  the  track  to  settle.  The  exposure  of  the  roadbed  at  the  opening  leads  to 
deep  freezing  in  winter,  resulting  perhaps  in  badly  heaved  track  at  the  pit, 
which,  in  connection  with  a  chance  low  joint  at  the  crossing,  puts  a  consid- 
erable stretch  of  track  in  bad  surface.  An  open  pit  on  a  curve  is  a  bad 
arrangement,  because  it  leaves  a  stretch  of  track  of  some  length  without  a 
tie  to  hold  the  outer  rail  against  spreading.  The  best  provision  against  such 
trouble  is  to  box  the  stringers  into  a  good-sized  timber  at  their  ends,  or  to 
hold  them  together  with  long  bolts,  but  even  then  there  is  still  the  liability 
that  the  rail  will  spread  by  crowding  the  spikes  and  splitting  the  stringer. 


834 


MISCELLANEOUS 


The  danger  of  spreading  could  easily  be  taken  care  of  by  notching  the  string- 
ers at  the  middle  and  connecting  the  rails  with  a  switch  rod,  but  such  a  rod 
would  be  in  about  the  right  position  to  break  a  person's  neck  if  he  should 
walk  into  the  pit,  and  it  might  also  serve  to  catch  and  hold  animals  where 
they  would  form  a  dangerous  obstruction  to  trains.  Thus  it  seems  almost 
criminal  to  place  open  pits  in  the  track,  and  their  use  ought  to  be  illegal. 
The  very  fact  that  the  use  of  such  pits  (being  the  best  barriers  against  stock) 
has  not  been  enforced  by  law  goes  to  show  thai  they  are  in  disfavor  with  the 
public.  Moreover,  railroad  companies  have  for  years  been  spending  large 
sums  of  money  on  guard-rail  appliances  and  ballasted  bridge  floors,  to  mini- 
mize the  chances  of  serious  wreck  from  derailed  wheels ;  so  that,  in  the  light 
of  modern  improvements,  the  open  pit  cattle  guard  is  out  of  date,  and  is  fast- 
going  into  disuse.  It,  should  be  said,  however,  that  if  a  pit  is  to  be  used  at 
all  it  ought  to  be  so  deep  that  animals  falling  into  it  shall  be  clear  of  trains ; 
and  there  should  be  placed  over  it  nothing  to  catch  and  hold  animals.  A 
shallow  pit  is  more  objectionable  than  a  deep  one,  because,  while  it  is  about 
as  dangerous  for  a  derailed  truck  to  strike^  the  likelihood  of  an  animal's 
making  an  attempt  to  cross  it  is  greater  than  it  is  with  a  deep  pit.  A  tell- 
tale placed  each  side  of  the  pit,  in  the  track,  might  serve  as  a  warning  to 
trainmen  or  trackmen  running  along  the  track  after  dark,  whether  or 
not  it  would  to  others.  Such  a  telltale  might  consist  of  a  few  strips  of  lum- 
ber placed  diagonally  across  the  track,  nailed  to  the  ties — something  like  a 
surface  cattle  guard,  say. 


Mud  Sect  8"xtt"x4'-0" 


T/e8"x8"x/4.'-o"OKed<ye 


Wo//  Timber  ']# 
4 


Lll SECTION         I    "   I 
Fig.  428  B— Covered  Pit  Cattle  Guard,  Florida  East  Coast  Ry. 

The  danger  to  train  operation  attending  the  use  of  open  pit  cattle 
guards  is  in  one  respect  obviated,  perhaps,  by  covering  the  pit  with  ties  laid 
across  the  stringers  to  form  a  bridge  floor.  A  timber  guard  is  laid  along 
the  ends  of  the  ties,  on  either  side,  and  bolted  to  them,  to  prevent  their 
being  bunched  when  struck  by  derailed  wheels  and,  except  for  the  rail  seats, 
the  upper  corners  of  each  tie  are  chamfered  off  nearly  to  the  center  of  the 
face",  so  as  to  present  an  insecure  footing  to  animals.  The  pit  in  this  case 
is  usually  shallower  than  the  ordinary  open  pit.  Such  an  arrangement, 
however,  is  hardly  any  improvement  on  the  open  pit  guard,  for  if  it  does 
not  actually  destroy  the  effectiveness  of  the  pit  as  a  cattle  guard  it  intro- 
duces a  new  element  of  danger  to  trains.  If  the  pit  is  so  shallow  that  cat- 
tle or  other  stock  can  touch  the  bottom  they  will  step  down  between  the 
ties  and  walk  across,  and  if  the  bottom  is  beyond  their  reach  they  are  quite 
liable  to  slip  and  be  caught  astride  the  ties  when  attempting  to  cross,  thus 


CATTLE   GUARDS  835 

/ 

being  rendered  entirely  helpless.  Instead  of  a  cattle  guard  the  contrivance 
then  becomes  a  cattle  trap,  and  if  the  unfortunate  animal  is  struck  in  this 
position  the  train  will  almost  surely  be  thrown  from  the  track.  There  is 
also  some  question  as  •  to  the  ability  of  chamfered  ties  to  carry  derailed 
wheels  safely,  unless  the  ties  be  so  closely  spaced  that  they  lose  some  of  their 
•effectiveness  as  a  guard.  All  things  considered,  then,  about  the  safest  pit 
for  train  operation  is  the  deep  open  pit.  Hence,  for  the  reasons  above 
stated,  the  use  of  a  pit  cattle  guard  in  any  form  should  be  discouraged. 

Figure  428B  shows  a  design  of  covered  pit  cattle  guard  that  is  standard 
with  the  Florida  East  Coast  By.  The  ties  are  8x8  ins.  laid  orrcorner.  The 
guard  is  intended  to  be  strong  enough  to  carry  derailed  trucks  and  is  said 
to  be  efficient  in  turning  stock.  In  that  part  of  the  country  there  is  no 
trouble  from  heaving  of  the  track  by  frost,  so  that  one  of  the  objectionable 
features  found  with  such  guards  in  the  North  is  absent.  Following  is  the 
bill  of  material :  8  mud  blocks,  8x12-  ins.  x4ft. ;  2  wall  timbers,  12x12  ins. 
x!4  ft. ;  4  wall  planks,  3x12  ins.  x  10J  ft. ;  2  stringers,  12x14  ins.  xlO  ft. ; 
2  ballast  boards,  3x14  ins.  x!4  ft.;  8  ties,  8x8  ins.  x!4  ft;  2  guard  rails, 
•8x8  ins.  xlOJ  ft. ;  4  round  drift  bolts,  f  in.  x22  ins.  (for  stringers)  ;  8 
square  drift  bolts,  J  in.  x!8  ins.  (wall  timbers);  6  bolts,  f  in.  x!8  ins. 
(guard  rails) ;  12  cut  washers  for  f-in.  bolt.  The  timbers  used,  including 
the  ties,  scale  1805  ft.  B.  M. 

Surface  Cattle  Guards. — Surface  cattle  guards  are  of  two  kinds,  viz. : 
those  intended  to  present  to  animals  insecurity  of  footing  and  another  kind 
intended  to  inflict  pain.  A  surface  guard  properly  built  will  turn  away  horses 
and  ordinary  cattle,  but  of  cattle  in  the  habit  of  roaming  through  woods 
there  are  some  that  will  not 'stop  for  a  surface  guard  if  there  is  better  grass 
on  the  other  side.  The  kind  of  guard  first  mentioned  usually  consists  of  strips 
or  slats  of  wood  or  metal  spiked  to  the  ties,  either  lengthwise  or  crosswise  the 
track,  both  inside  and  outside  the  rails,  and  presenting  upturned  corners  or 
edges.  The  ballast  is  usually  removed  as  far  as  the  bottoms  of  the  ties,  so 
that,  to  stall-fed  animals  or  stock  habitually  pastured  in  cleared  fields,  it  has 
an  unfamiliar  appearance  which  is  supposed  to  put  them  in  fear  of  attempt- 
ing to  cross.  These  strips  or  slats  should  be  spaced  at  such  a  distance  apart 
that  there  will  either  not  be  room  for  the  hoofs  of  cattle  or  horses  to  slip  be- 
tween them,  or  else  at  such  distance  that  when  slipping  between  them  there 
is  room  for  their  extrication.  The  form  of  surface  guard  designed  to  inflict 
pain  is  usually  made  of  iron  or  steel  slats,  the  upper  edges  of  which  are 
serrated  or  formed  into  saw  teeth,  or  studded  with  spike-like  projection?. 
In  either  kind  of  guard  the  slats  are  sometimes  spiked  directly  to  the  ties 
and  sometimes  they  are  held  in  end  pieces  running  crosswise  the  slats  and 
secured  to  the  ties  by  spiking.  As  a  usual  thing  the  slats  run  parallel  with 
the  rails.  A  guard  formed  of  slats  running  crosswise  the  track  is  known 
as  the  "gridiron"  pattern. 

As  to  the  relative  merits  of  the  various  forms  of  surface  guards  there 
is  probably  but  little  difference.  Guards  with  wooden  slats  are  the  ones 
most  generally  used,  and  are  perhaps  as  efficient  as  any.  They  are  cheaper 
in  first  cost  than  metal  guards  and  are  more  cheaply  and  easily  repaired 
when  torn  out  or  damaged  by  dragging  parts  of  cars  or  by  derailed  wheels ; 
on  the  other  hand  there  is  with  the  wooden  guard  the  disadvantage  that 
it  is  occasionally  subject  to  destruction  by  fire.  As  between  the  guard 
which  renders  footing  insecure  and  that  which  inflicts  pain  it  would  seem 
that  the  latter  ought  to  be  the  more  formidable,  since  it  necessarily  par- 
takes somewhat  of  the  nature  of  the  other  also.  The  objection  is  raised, 
however,  that'so  far  as  the  pain  is  concerned,  such  a  device  is  just  about  as 
severe  on  men  who  may  chance  to  stumble  upon  it  at  night  as  it  is  upon 


836 


MISCELLANEOUS 


PLAN. 


.      &li) 

Fig.  429.— Standard  Wooden  Cattle  Guard,  Wabash  R.  R. 
beasts ;  and  if  a  flagman  was  to  fall  and  strike  his  knee  or  elbow  upon  one 
of  the  prongs  he  would  undoubtedly  be  in  poor  shape  to  signal  a  train. 

From  the  foregoing  considerations  one  might  correctly  infer  that  there 
is  in  reality  no  form  of  cattle  guard  that  gives  entire  satisfaction.  The 
two  essential  conditions  of  a  perfect  cattle  guard — a  structure  which  will 
safely  carry  the  wheels  of  a  derailed  truck  and  which  will  form  an  impassa- 
ble barrier  to  stock  without  entrapping  the  animals  to  the  peril  of  trains — 
are  incompatible  with  each  other.  The  status  of  the  cattle-guard  problem 
is  similar  to  that  of  the  rail  joint  splice — the  seemingly  best  solution  (a 
welded  joint)  is  either  inexpedient  or  impracticable  of  application.  Under  the 
circumstances,,  the  best  practice  seems  to  favor  the  use  of  the  surface  guard, 
taking  advantage  of  any  design  or  plan  conducing  to  general  effectiveness. 
A  common  fault  with  surface  guards  is  that  they  are  not  made  long  enough. 
Horses  will  clear  an  8-ft.  guard  at  a  single  jump,  and  by  stepping  as  far  as 
possible  with  their  front  feet  cattle  will  leap  the  rest  of  the  way  over  a 
guard  10  ft.  long.  If  cattle  guards  were  made  15  or  20  ft.  long,  measured 
with  the  track,  and  well  flanked  by  side  fence,  there  would  be  but  very  few 
animals  better  domesticated  than  the  Texas  steer  or  the  southern  "razor- 
back"  hog  that  would  attempt  to  clamber  over  them.  On  the  Chesapeake 
&  Ohio  Ky.  it  has  been  found  that  12-ft.  cattle  guards  are  much  more  effec- 
tive than  guards  8  ft.  long.  The  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Ey. 
has  at  some  places  used  two  8-ft.  guards  end  to  end,  making  one  guard  16 
ft.  long.  A  point  not  to  be  overlooked  in  locating  a  cattle  guard  is  to  select 
a  place  where  there  is  opportunity  for  stock  to  readily  turn  aside  when  con- 
fronted by  the  guard. . 

From  all  accounts  obtainable  it  adds  much  to  the  effectiveness  of  a  sur- 
face guard  to  give  it  a  coat  of  whitewash  occasionally.  Many  say  that  a 
whitewashed  wooden  slat  guard  has  been  known  to  stop  stock  where  with- 
out the  white  color  the  stock  would  pay  no  heed  to  it.  Others  claim  that 
black  paint  is  even  better  than  white.  Either  color  is  undoubtedly  better 
than  the  natural  color  of  the  wood,  as  it  gives  to  the  structure  the  appear- 
ance of  a  distinct  obj.ect  in  the  track  and  adds  a  sort  of  scarecrow  feature 
which  ought  to  make  the  general  appearance  of  things  so  much  the  more 
forbidding.  An  advantage  with  the  white  color  is  that  it  is  conspicuous  at 
night.  Some  who  have  tried  both  colors  claim  that  the  most  effective  scare- 
crow is  to  be  had  by  painting  the  slats  alternately  white  and  black. 


CATTLE   GUARDS  837 

It  may  be  of  service  to  describe  briefly  some  of  the  various  forms  of 
surface  cattle  guards  in  use.  •  Wooden  slat  guards  for  single  track  are 
sometimes  formed  by  spiking  slats  to  the  ties  direct,  but  more  usually  they 
are  grouped  in  sections — two  sections  to  cover  the  space  between  the  rails 
and  a  section  about  2£  ft.  wide  to  lie  outside  each  rail.  On  some  roads  where 
wing  snow  plows  are  used  the  cattle  guards  are  made  wide  enough  outside 
the  track  to  permit  the  side  panel  of  fence  to  clear  the  plow  with  the  wings 
open.  It  facilitates  repairs  to  have  the  guard  inside  the  rails  in  two  sections, 
rather  than  one,  as  then  the  whole  guard  need  not  be  taken  up  to  repair  a 
broken  slat  or  to  make  room  for  tamping  one  side  of  the  track,  in  case  it 
gets  out  of  surface.  One  manner  of  holding  the  slats  together  in  sections  is 
by  a  Ix6-in.  cross  piece  at  each  end  of  the  section,  gained  into  the  under  side 
of  the  slats,  securing  each  slat  to  the  cross  piece  by  a  J-in.  bolt.  Another  cross 
piece  should  be  nailed  to  the  under  side  of  the  slats  at  the  middle  of  the  sec- 
tion. These  details  are  shown  in  Fig.  429.  If  the  cattle  guard  was  to  exceed 
12  ft.  in  length  it  would  undoubtedly  be  best  to  have  it  made  in  two  sections, 
lengthwise.  Another  method  of  holding  the  slats  together  is  to  separate 
them  at  proper  intervals  by  spacing  blocks  at  each  end  and  pass  a  f-in.  bolt 
across  the  section,  through  both  slats  and  spacing  blocks.  The  sections 
may  be  held  to  the  track  by  spiking  the  cross  pieces  to  the  ties  or  by  track 
spikes  driven  into  the  ties  with  the  heads  hooking  over  the  edges  of  the 
slats,  or  by  lag  screws.  The  use  of  lag  screws  permits  the  guard  to  be 
readily  taken  up.  On  some  roads  cattle  guards  are  taken  up  during  the 
winter  season. 

Wooden  slats  are  usually  triangular  in  section  and  are  made  by  rip- 
sawing  diagonally  across  the  corners  a  scantling  3  or  4  ins.  square;  or,  if 
it  is  desired  that  the  slat  should  have  vertical  sides  for  a  portion  of  its 
depth,  a  stick  of  oblong  section  may  be  ripped  diagonally  through  the  mid- 
dle— as,  for  instance,  a  2x6-in.  piece,  which  might  be  ripped  into  two  slats, 
each  2  ins.  wide,  4  ins.  deep  on  one  side  and  2  ins.  deep  on  the  other,  the 
bottom  half  of  the  slat  section  then  being  2  ins.  square  and  the  top  half 
triangular,  2  ins.  wide  and  2  ins.  high.  Strips  of  1-in.  board  set  edgewise 
between  spacing  blocks,  with  the  top  edge  of  the  board  beveled,  and  slats 
of  square  cross  section  set  on  corner  into  triangular  notches  sawed  into  the 
end  cross  pieces  half  the  depth  of  the  slat^  are  also  used  to  a  considerable 
oxtent.  Oak  and  hard  pine  are  much  used  for  slat  material.  Figure  429 
shows  a  typical  wooden  slat  cattle  guard,  with  another  form  of  slat  that  is 
commonly  used.  The  slats  are  yellow  pine  3x5  ins.  x8  ft.  long,  and  the  ends 
of  the  sections  are  fastened  to  8x8-in.  x!2-ft.  yellow  pine  pieces  laid  in 
place  of  the  ties.  As  used  on  the  Wabash  R.  R.  a  coat  of  tar  is  applied  hot. 
A  slat  guard  across  the  midway  of  a  double  track  is  usually  laid  on  ties 
placed  between  the  tracks. 

Metal  Cattle  Guards. — Metal  surface  guards  have  slats  of  various 
forms.  The  National  guard  has,  in  one  form,  flat  metal  slats  serrated  and 
barbed,  set  on  edge  and  fitting  into  slotted  cross  pieces  of  triangular  sec- 
tion, at  the  ends' and  at  the  middle.  Alternate  slats  are  2-J  and  3J  ins.  deep 
and  the  slats  are  spaced  from  2f  to  3f  ins.  apart.  Another  form  of  this 
guard  has  slats  of  angle  iron,  with  the  angle  placed  uppermost,  or  like  an 
inverted  V.  The  Kalamazoo  cattle  guard  has  triangular  slats,  alter- 
nating with  rows  of  triangular  teeth  that  do  not  extend  quite  so  high 
as  the  triangular  slats,  the  idea  being  that  an  animaPs  hoof  will  slip 
down  upon  the  teeth,  but  a  person  falling  upon  the  guard  would  (if 
he  fell  across  the  slats)  not  strike  the  teeth.  The  guard  consists  of 
four  sections  of  steel  plate  stamped  into  inverted  V-shaped  ribs  alter- 
nating with  flat  surfaces  out  of  which  the  triangular-shaped  teeth  or 


838  MISCELLANEOUS 

tongues  referred  to  are  struck  up.  The  triangular  ribs  are  spaced  so  far 
apart  that  the  hoofs  of  stock  cannot  reach  between  two,,  but  must  slip  down 
upon  the  teeth.  The  ends  of  the  ribs  are  sloped  off  by  bending  down  a 
piece  of  the  metal.  The  Bush  cattle  guard  has  slats  of  inverted  T-irons  2 
ins.  apart  held  in  slotted  pressed  steel  cross  pieces  of  triangular  section. 
The  Merrill- Stevens  cattle  guard  has- slats  of  IJxl^-in.  T-irons  set  at  a 
slant,  so  as  to  present  an  upturned  edge.  One  design  of  the  Standard  cattle 
guard  has  Z-bar  slats'  set  at  an  incline  so  as  to  present  an  upturned  corner. 
In  another  style  of  this  cattle  guard  the  slats  are  angle  bars  with  one  leg 
much  longer  than  the  other,  and  it  is  laid  with  the  long  leg  inclined  to  the 
ties  and  overhanging  the  upturned  short  leg  of  the  next  bar.  The  bars  are 
arranged  in  sections  with  spacing  plates  and  cross  bolts,  and  the  ends  of  the 
slats  are  beveled  down  to  prevent  dragging  things  from  catching. 


Fig.  430.— The  Cook  Cattle  Guard. 

The  Cook  cattle  guard  (Fig.  430)  consists  of  serrated  steel  slats  in  four 
interchangeable  sections  of  nine  slats  each,  resting  upon  metal  cross  pieces 
of  channel  section  spiked  to  the  ties.  The  teeth  in  adjacent  slats  are  alter- 
nated, so  that  the  point  of  a  tooth  in  one  slat  is  directly  opposite  the  space 
between  two  teeth  on  the  adjacent  slat,  thereby  presenting  an  uneven 
and  unstable  footing  for  stock.  The  teeth  are  sufficiently  pointed  to  inflict 
punishment  without  cutting  deep  enough  to  cause  serious  injury  to  animals 
stepping  or  falling  upon  them.  The  slats  are  held  in  position  by  looped 
irons  or  fasteners  bolted  to  the  back  of  the  channel  cross  pieces.  For  secur- 
ing these  sections  to  the  ties  spikes  may  be  driven  between  any  of  the  slats. 
A  special  attachment  which  may  be  used  in  connection  with  this  guard  is 
an  intermediate  slat  for  turning  hogs  and  other  animals  with  feet  small 
enough  to  pass  between  the  main  slats.  It  is  lower  than  the  main  slats  and 
has  small  teeth  projecting  alternately  from  side  to  side,  after  the  manner 
of  set  in  a  saw.  These  auxiliary  hog  slats  are  placed  between  the  main 
slats  at  the  end  toward  the  highway,  being  fastened  by  bolts  passed  up 
through  the  cross  channels.  The  chain  cattle  guard  has  rows  of  link-belt 
chain  stretched  parallel  with  the  rail  over  suitable  cross  pieces  at  intervals. 

The  Sheffield  cattle  guard  (Fig.  431)  is  formed  from  four  sheets  of 
annealed  steel  plate,  each  26  ins.  wide,  from  which  3-in.  triangular  teeth 
are  struck  up  3  ins.  apart,  in  rows  3  ins.  between.  The  sections  are  spiked 
flat  on  the  ties  without  preparation  of  the  latter,  and  there  is  no  chance  for 
dragging  brake  gear  to  catch  the  plate  and  tear  it  out.  Being  of  soft  steel 
the  teeth,  if  bent  by  accident,  can  be  straightened  up  by  driving  with  a  spike 
maul.  The  sections  are  made  in  lengths  as  ordered.  The  Walhaupter  and 
Positive  cattle  guards  are  similar  and  are  formed  of  buckled  plate  with  folds 
running  crosswise  the  track  and  reaching  to  the  bottom  of  the  ties,  the 
pitch  of  the  folds  or  corrugations  corresponding  in  length  to  the  spacing 
between  the  ties.  These  folds  are  shaped  something  like  the  teeth  of  a 
ratchet,  and.,  as  laid  down  in  the  track,  there  is  an  inclined  surface  run- 
ning from  an  upper  corner  of  each  tie  to  a  lower  corner  of  the  next  tie, 
so  that,  when  an  animal  steps  upon  it  the  hoof  will  slide  into  the  fold  and 


CATTLE   GUARDS  839 

strike  against  the  ridge  or  upper  corner  of  the  adjacent  fold,  and  thus  the 
leg  meets  with  an  obstruction  just  above  the  ankle  which  prevents  the  ani- 
mal from  stepping  forward.  The  Trackman's  cattle  guard  (Fig.  432)  ac- 
complishes its  purpose  in  the  same  manner.,  but  the  folded  metal  is  made  in 
separate  pieces,  one  of  which  is  spiked  to  each  tie.  The  ties  are  spaced  1-2 
ins.  apart  in  the  clear  and  the  ballast  is  removed  even  with  their  bottoms. 
The  object  in  making  the  guard  in  small  pieces  is  to  facilitate  removing 
ties  for  renewals,  to  permit  lining  or  surfacing  of  the  track  without  taking 
the  guard  apart,  and  to  avoid  the  ripping  up  of  a  large  sheet  of  metal  in  case 
some  parts  should  be  torn  loose.  Iron  cattle  guards  in  large -sections  have 
been  known  to  tear  loose,  get  under  the  wheels  and  cause  train  wrecks.  As 
will  be  noticed  in  the  sectional  view,  there  are  three  different  shapes,  one 
being  next  the  highway,  another  at  the  opposite  end,  with  several  pieces  on 
the  intermediate  ties  that  are  of  the  same  shape. 

The  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ry.  has  in  use  a  number  of  barbed 
wire  cattle  guards  designed  by  Roadmaster  J.  D.  Sullivan.  The  strands 
of  barbed  wire  in  each  section  of  the  guard  are  stretched  over  a  frame 
made  of  two  strips  running  parallel  with  the  rails,  with  four  cross  pieces  of 
wood  of  triangular  section,  covered  with  sheet  metal.  The  ends  of  the  sec- 
tion are  held  together  by  bolts  and  the  barbed  wires  are  woven  back  and  forth 
from  end  to  end  of  the  section,  on  lines  parallel  with  the  track.  This 
guard  is  used  on  parts  of  the  road  in  Indian  Territory  and  northern  Texas, 
where  the  cattle  are  hard  to  hold  and  where  other  forms  of  surface  guard 
have  failed.  The  guard  was  illustrated  and  described  in  the  Railway  and 
Engineering  Review  of  July  17,  1897.  In  some  quarters  it  is  the  practice 
to  cover  wooden  slat  guards  with  strands  of  barbed  wire  stretched  over  or 
interlaced  between  the  slats,  to  frighten  the  animals  away.  From  the  ap- 
pearance of  some  such  affairs  after  a  dragging  brake  beam  has  struck  it  one 
would  think  that  it  surely  would  frighten  either  man  or  beast,  if  anything 
could. 


Fig.  431.— Sheffield  Cattle  Guard.  Fig.  432.— Trackman's  Cattle  Guard. 

The  Climax  cattle  guard  consists  of  blocks  of  vitrified  shale  clay  18 
ins.  long,  13  ins.  wide  and  5  ins.  high.  Each  block  is  formed  of  three  longi- 
tudinal triangular  ridges  molded  hollow  and  united  at  the  base.  The 
blocks  are  placed  in  rows  and  held  in  place  by  means  of  rods  passing 
through  the  holes  in  the  blocks.  The  end  blocks  are  beveled  and  slotted 
for  spikes.  The  complete  guard  is  composed  of  36  blocks  and  weighs  about 
1000  Ibs.  There  is  also  a  style  of  cattle  guard  consisting  of  rows  of  drain 
tile  standing  vertically  on  end  between  the  ties  and  left  empty.  The  top 
of  the  tile  comes  at  about  the  level  of  the  top  of  rail  and  each  tie  is  covered 
with  a  triangular  stick  of  timber. 

Cattle  guards  are  as  numerous  as  Yankee  ingenuity  has  been  able  to 
devise,  but  only  a  comparatively  small  number  of  the  inventions  in  this 


840  MISCELLANEOUS 

line  have  succeeded  in  being  put  to  use.  One  idea  which  inventors  seem  to 
persist  in  working  at  employs  a  gate  or  other  barrier  which  normally  lies 
flat  in  the  track,  but  is  flipped  up  like  a  jumping  jack  in  the  face  of  the 
animal,  which  is  supposed  to  put  the  concern  in  motion  by  stepping  upon  a 
plank  or  treadle  of  some  kind  lying  between  the  ties.  Just  what  would 
become  of  such  a  piece  of  apparatus  if  it  was  nipped  up  in  response  to  a 
dragging  brake  beam  may  be  readily  imagined. 

The  highway  or  wing  fence  which  is  brought  across  the  right  of  way. 
and  terminated  on  either  side  of  the  cattle  guard,  should  meet  the  guard 
with  a  leaning  panel  or  "apron  f ence"  which  is  fully  as  long  as  the  guard ; 
and  this  panel  should  be  so  substantially  built  that  it  cannot  be  hooked 
down.  Animals  will  jump  or  "angle"  themselves  around  a  short  triangu- 
lar panel  or  A-fence,  which  not  infrequently  constitutes  the  apron  fence 
of  the  guard,  as  shown  in  Fig.  432.  The  correct  way  to  build  this  panel 
is  shown  in  Fig.  431.  The  leaning  panel  should  foot  at  the  guard,  and  it 
may  consist  of  boards  nailed  to  leaning  posts,  or  the  posts  may  be  set  plumb 
and  support  the  panel  by  brace  pieces  nailed  to  the  panel  battens.  At  all 
events  there-  should  be  post  supports  at  the  ends  of  the  panel,  and  the 
bottom  of  the  panel  should  not  be  fastened  to  the  ties  or  to  the  guard,  as  the 
jarring  of  the  ties  would  soon  work  it  loose.  All  cattle  guards  should  extend 
squarely  across  the  track,  whether  the  fence  joining  the  guard  approaches 
the  track  at  right  angles  or  diagonally.  Leaves,  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and 
pieces  of  waste,  if  allowed  to  accumulate  in  a  wooden  pit  or  surface  guard, 
make  good  kindling  and  increase  very  much  the  liability  of  destruction  by 
fire.  But  the  effectiveness  of  a  surface  guard,  of  either  metal  or  wood,  is 
much  better  maintained  if  it  is  kept  cleared  of  rubbish.  Weeds  should  not 
be  permitted  to  grow  in  cattle  guards. 

The  wing  fence  and  the  leaning  panels  at  a  cattle  guard  should  be 
whitewashed.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  such  treatment  may  increase  the 
effectiveness  of  the  guard,  the  white  fence  is  conspicuous  at  night  and 
assists  enginemen  to  readily  locate  themselves.  The  most  common  mixture 
for  whitewash  for  railway  fences  is  salt  and  air-slaked  lime,  the  salt  being 
generally  used  in  the  proportion  of  one  tenth  the  quantity  of  the  lime.  It 
is  considered  advantageous  to  permit  the  lime  to  slake  several  days  before 
using  it.  The  Chicago  Terminal  Transfer  E.  E.  uses  white  glue  and 
whitewash,  and  on  second  application  finds  that  it  will  last  about  one  year. 
The  mixture  consists  of  5  Ibs.  of  glue  to  each  barrel  of  lime.  Another 
mixture  that  is  sometimes  used  consists  of  100  Ibs.  of  cement  to  each  barrel 
of  lime,  allowing  the  lime  to  slake  30  days  before  using.  Salt  and  boiled 
rice  mixed  with  lime  is  still  another  mixture  that  is  used  for  a  whitewash. 
A  half  bushel  of  lime  is  slaked  in  water  and  covered  to  keep  in  the  steam. 
To  this  is  added  4  quarts  of  salt  dissolved  in  warm  water,  and  then  3  Ibs. 
of  rice  ground  and  boiled  to  thin  paste,  while  still  boiling  hot,  is  stirred 
into  the  whitewash.  A  mixture  that  is  used  on  government  buildings  and 
light  houses  consists  of  -J  bushel  of  lime,  8  quarts  of  salt  and  3  Ibs.  of  ground 
rice  treated  in  the  foregoing  manner,  to  which  are  added  J  Ib.  of  Spanish 
whiting  and  1  Ib.  of  glue  previously  dissolved  in  water.  After  adding  5 
gals,  of  hot  water  the  mixture  is  allowed  to  stand  for  a  few  days  covered 
from  dirt.  When  used  it  is  heated  and  applied  hot.  The  Grand  Eap- 
ids  &  Indiana  Ey.  uses  a  locomotive  and  car  equipped  with  air  compressing 
machinery  and  spraying  devices.  This  outfit  is  in  service  for  all  white- 
washing along  the  right  of  way,  including  fences,  cattle  guards,  etc. 

One  thing  which  conduces  to  the  effectiveness  of  cattle  guards  is  to 
keep  stock  from  becoming  familiar  with  them,  and  to  do  this  obstacles 
may  be  placed  in  the  way  of  walking  up  to  the  guard  and  which  will  make 


BRIDGE  FLOORS  841 

it  inconvenient  to  stand  around  them.  On  general  principles  it  is  also  de- 
sirable to  prevent  stock  from  standing  on  or  near  the  track  in  the  vicinitv 
of  road  crossings.  A  plan  that  is  sometimes  followed  with  this  end  in  view 
is  to  put  the  cattle  guard  a  little  way  back  from  the  road  and  then  cover 
the  track  and  roadbed  on  the  highway  side  of  the  guard  with  some  mate- 
rial that  will  make  the  footing  insecure.  The  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  uses 
coarsely  broken  slag  in  such  places.  Such  may  also  be  used  for  a  "bicycle 
guard"  in  towns  and  cities,  where  people  are  inclined  to  use  their  wheels 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  roadbed  or  in  the  midway  between  tracks.  In  this 
case  it  will  usually  suffice  to  merely  strew  the  ground  with  the  lumpy  mate- 
rial for  some  distance  from  the  crossing. 

The  usual  practice  is  to  bring  the  wing  fence  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
guard  or  to  the  highway  end  of  the  same,  but  some  careful  observers  of  the 
behavior  of  stock  in  the  vicinity  of  cattle  guards  claim  that  the  efficiency 
of  the  guard  is  improved  by  running  the  fence  up  to  the  end  of  the  guard 
or  guard  panel  which  is  farthest  from  the  highway  crossing ;  in  other  words 
by  putting  the  cattle  guard  all  on  the  highway  side  of  the  wing  fence.  The 
explanation  is  that  when  cattle  are  feeding  or  wandering  along  the  wing 
fence  and  headed  toward  the  track,  they  meet  with  an  obstruction  which 
will  direct  their  attention  away  from  the  track  instead  of  presenting 
an  opening  into  which  curiosity  might  lead  them;  and  also,  when  cattle 
standing  upon  the  crossing  become  frightened  by  the  approach  of  a  train, 
the  guard  and  side  panels,  standing  out  in  front  of  the  highway  fence,  as 
they  do,  appear  to  the  animal  like  a  shelter,  behind  which  they  will  dodge, 
instead  of  making  a  rusli  for  the  opening,  as  they  are  likely  to  do  where  the 
end  of  the  guard  nearest  the  highway  is  flush  with  the  wing  fence. 

153.  Bridge  Floors. — The  bridge  floor  is  where  the  track  and  bridge 
departments  meet.  Although  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  bridge 
floors  are  placed  in  charge  of  the  bridge  department,  the  rails  and  fastenings 
are  subject  to  inspection  and  repair  by  the  track  forces;  and  as  the  design  of 
the  floor  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  safety  of  the  track,  under  certain 
circumstances,  the  subject  may  properly  be  considered  in  a  treatise  of  this 
character.  The  bridge  floor  may  be  defined  as  that  portion  of  the  supporting 
structure  which  is  added  to  the  naked  trusses,  girders,  or  trestle  bents  with 
their  necessary  bracing,  to  support  and  protect  the  track  and  properly  dis- 
tribute the  load  to  the  trusses,  girders  or  main  supports.  The  component 
parts  would  then  include  the  ties,  guard  rails,  guard  timbers,  floor  beams, 
and  stringers,  if  the  last  mentioned  are  used.  As  the  floor  beams  and  string- 
ers constitute  the  foundation  of  the  floor,  the  manner  of  their  arrangement 
determines  very  largely  the  strength  of  the  floor  and  may  logically  be  con- 
sidered first. 

Floor  Beams  and  Stringers. — The  floor  of  trestle  bridges  is  usually 
formed  of  sawed  track  ties  resting  across  stringers  supported  by  the  caps 
of  the  trestle  bents.  This  is  about  the  simplest  form  of  bridge  floor  and 
the  one  on  which  the  designs  of  different  railways  vary  the  least.  In  wooden 
trestles  the  spans  are  usually  12  to  16  ft.  and  there  are  usually  three 
stringers  placed  directly  under  each  rail,  or  nearly  so,  a  common  size  of 
stringer  for  spans  of  16  ft.  being  8x16  ins.  On  some  roads  only  two 
such  stringers  are  used  under  each  rail.  The  stringers  under  each  rail 
are  usually  spaced  from  2  to  4  ins.  apart,  bolted  together  through  spacing 
blocks  or  spools,  to  maintain  air  space,  and  to  prevent  them  from  shifting 
sidewise  one  of  the  stringers  is  bolted  to  the  cap,  a  long  bolt  sometimes 
being  used  which  passes  through  cap,  stringer  and  tie,  and  sometimes  also 
through  the  guard  timber.  A  drift  bolt  is  also  frequently  used,  either 
being  preferable  to  the  practice  of  spiking  pieces  of  plank  on  top  of  the 


842 


MISCELLANEOUS 


cap,  as  such  will  retain  moisture  and  start  early  decay.  In  addition  to  the 
sets  of  stringers  placed  underneath  the  rails  a  side  or  "jack"  stringer  is 
sometimes  used  under  or  near  each  end  of  the  ties,  to  support;  the  ties  oui> 
side  the  rail  in  case  of  derailment.  Owing  to  the  deflection  of  the  main 
stringers  and  ties  these  side  stringers  are  usually  considered  to  carry  a 
portion  of  the  load,  the  distribution  depending,  of  course,  upon  the  amount 
of  deflection  in  the  main  stringers  and  in  the  ties.  On  girder  and  truss 
bridges  there  is  a  considerable  variation  with  the  different  roads,  in  the 
arrangement  of  floor  beams  and  stringers,  and  although  in  a  discussion  of 
the  various  designs  there  is  room  for  a  great  deal  to  be  said,  a  condensed 
statement  will  serve  to  bring  out  the  principal  features  of  many  of  these 
designs.  In  preparing  this  I  have  consulted  a  very  thorough  report  on 
"Bridge  Floors"  by  a  committee  of  the  Association  of  Railway  Super- 
intendents of  Bridges  and  Buildings  in  1897.  Some  of  the  illustrations 
used  were  selected  from  a  large  number  contained  in  that  report. 

In  wooden  through  truss  bridges  the  distribution  of  the  floor  beams 
may  be  effected  in  three  different  ways:  they  may  be  concentrated  in  sets 
at  the  panel  points  (A,  Fig.  433)  ;  they  may  be  uniformly  spaced  at  short 
intervals  (B,  Fig.  433),  thus  permitting  the  use  of  smaller  stringers;  or 
the  ties  may  bear  upon  the  lower  chord  of  the  bridge  direct,  thus  serving  as 
floor  beams  (D,  Fig.  433).  When  the  last-mentioned  method  is  resorted' 


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Fig.  433.— Floors  for  Wooden  Through  and  Deck  Trusses. 


BRIDGE  FLOORS 


843 


r- —ii'-6"  croc  of  trusses — -j 

A— •  Epping  Bridge,     BOSTON  AND  MAINE.  RAILROAD 


B- -Standard  100  *  Deck  Span,         SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  Co. 
Fig.  434. — Floors  for  Wooden  Deck  Trusses. 

to  ties  which  coine  opposite  the  panel  points  must  be  cut  off  short  and  sup- 
ported in  some  manner  upon  the  adjacent  ties.  One  method  of  obtain- 
ing such  support  is  shown  by  Engraving  D',  Fig.  433.  A  wrought  iron 
stirrup  formed  from  a  bar  4  ins.  wide  and  J  in.  thick  supports  the  tie 
at  each  end  and  is  hooked  over  the  tops  of  the  two  adjacent  ties.  The  tie 
is  securely  held  to  its  proper  spacing  by  bolts  and  separating  spools  and  an 
Sx8-in.  guard  timber  is  bolted  to  every  tie.,  which  also  aids  in  distributing 
the  load  over  the  ties.  When  the  floor  beams  are  supported  directly  upon 
the  bottom  chord  the  deflection  of  the  beam  under  load  brings  an  undue 
proportion  of  the  load  ou  the  inner  edge  of  the  chord.  One  method  of 
alleviating  this  trouble  to  some  extent  is  to  arrange  for  carrying  a  por- 
tion of  the  load  upon  side  stringers,  ~thus  reducing  the  deflection  of  the 
beam.  By  hanging  the  floor  beam  below  the  chord  the  load  may  be  dis- 
tributed over  the  whole  width  of  the  chord,  the  beams  can  be  distributed 
without  interference  from  the  braces  or  posts  at  the  panel  points,  and' 
there  is  effected  a  gain  in  headroom  over  the  track  equal  to  the  depth  of 
the  floor  beam  plus  the  depth  of  the  chord.  The  method  of  suspending 
floor  beams  from  the  bottom  chord  in  practice  on  the  Boston  &  Maine 
E.  E.  is  illustrated  by  engraving  C,  Fig.  433.  With  suspended  floor  beams, 
however,  the  lateral  bracing  of  the  trusses  rests  upon  the  top  of  the 
beams,  thus  necessitating  the  cutting  of  the  stringers  where  these  mem- 
bers cross.  Such  cutting  or  notching  necessarily  weakens  the  stringers, 
and  for  this  reason  suspended  floor  beams  are  usually  distributed  uni- 
formly, so  as  to  relieve  the  stringers  of  the  bending  moments  which  they 
-would  necessarily  have  to  undergo  if  supported  on  floor  beams  concen- 
trated at  the  panel  points. 

On  wooden  pony  trusses  the  floor  beams  may  be  either  supported 
upon  or  suspended  from  the  lower  chord,  but  the  design  of  the  floor  may 
somewhat  affect  the  manner  of  bracing  the  top  chord.  The  top  chord  is 
usually  braced  from  the  outside  by  a  leaning  strut  footing  into  a  collar 
beam  suspended  from  the  bottom  chord.  If  the  floor  beams  rest  upon 
the  bottom  chord  the  collar  beam  is  independent  of  the  bridge  floor  and 
there  is  consequently  no  interference.  Likewise,,  if  the  floor  beams  are 
suspended  from  the  chord  the  collar  beam  must  be  made  independent  of" 
the  bridge  floor,  else  the  deflection  of  the  floor  will  carry  the  collar  beam 
down  with  it  and  operate  to  throw  the  top  chord  out  of  line.  One  method 
of  avoiding  such  trouble  is  to  block  the  collar  beam  against  the  under 


844 


MISCELLANEOUS 


side  of  the  chord  so  as  to  be  clear  of  the  stringers  of  the  bridge  floor.  On 
wooden  deck  trusses  the  ties  may  rest  directly  upon  the  top  chords  (En- 
graving E,  Fig.  433),  or  they  may  be  laid  upon  stringers  supported  on 
floor  beams  concentrated  at  the  panel  points,  as  in  the  case  with  the 
Southern  Pacific  bridge  shown  by  Engraving  B,  Eig.  434. 

With  track  supported  by  columns  and  I-beams  there  is  the  usual 
arrangement  of  main  and  side  stringers,  as  with  trestle  bridges.  With 
deck  plate-girder  bridges  there  are  usually  two  girders  under  each  track, 
the  girders  being  spaced  6  to  9  ft.  centers,  the  spacing  depending  largely 
upon  length  of  span  and  depth  of  girder.  Engraving  B,  Fig.  435,  shows 
the  usual  method  of  construction,  the  ties  acting  as  floor  beams.  On 
widely  spaced  girders  the  deflection  of  the  ties  under  load  brings  a  heavy 
bearing  upon  the  inner  edge  of  the  top  flange  of  the  girder,  tending  to 
bend  the  flange  and  spring  the  web  plate.  Engraving  D  shows  a  method 
of  concentrating  the  load  at  the  center  of  the  flange,  as  practiced  on  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.  The  standard  deck  girder  bridge  of 
the  Boston  &  Maine  E.  E.  (Engraving  A)  has  girders  spaced  at  9  ft. 
centers  with  floor  beams  and  iron  stringers  between,  the  top  of  the  string- 
er coming  even  with  the  top  of  the  girder^  so  that  the  latter  acts  as  a  side 
stringer  for  supporting  the  ends  of  the  ties.  The  lateral  bracing  is  con- 
fined to  one  system,  which  is  placed  in  the  plane  of  the  bottom  flanges 
of  the  floor  beams.  The  simplest  form  of  floor  for  through  plate  girders  is 
shown  as  Engraving  A,  Fig.  436.  The  ties  act  as  floor  beams  and  are  sup- 
ported upon  the  bottom  angle  or  flange  of  the  girder.  This  method  of 
support  has  a  tendency  to  weaken  the  flange,  and  the  lateral  bracing  and 
the  ties  interfere  with  each  other  with  detrimental  effect  to  the  latter. 
This  trouble  is  overcome  by  th  use  of  a  "shelf  angle,"  which  carries  the 
ties  clear  of  the  bracing,  as  shown  on  the  Nashua  and  Acton  bridge, 
Engraving  E.  In  some  places  plate  girders  are  so  closely  spaced  that 
the  necessary  clearance  cannot  be  obtained  to  use  them  as  a  through 
structure,  and  the  allowable  depth  will  not  permit  a  deck  structure.  In 


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Fig.  435. — Floors  for  Plate-Girder  and  Iron  Truss  Deck  Spans. 


BRIDGE  FLOORS 


845 


D— /V  r  /..EG  W  ft  ft  H-  CeftOfMtrto*  Bft/oGe:,  tf/ssou/rt, 

Fig.  436. — Floors  for  Iron  Through  Girders  and  Trusses. 

that  case  the  ties  can  be  laid  upon  shelf  angles  riveted  to  the  webs  of  the 
girders  at  such  a  hight  that  top  of  rail  will  come  even  with  the  top 
flanges  of  the  girders.  Such  is  the  construction  of  some  of  the  bridge 
floors  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.  In  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  bridge  shown  as  engraving  B  there  are  two  plate- 
girder  stringers  heading  against  the  floor  beams,  and  the  ties  are  arranged 
as  upon  a  deck  girder.  The  introduction  of  floor  beams  and  stringers 
shortens  the  span  of  the  tie  and  reduces  its  size.  Engraving  F  shows  a 
method  of  support  with  side  stringers,  in  use  on  the  Boston  &  Maine  E.  E. 
In  iron  through  truss  bridges  there  are  usually  two  iron  stringers 
for  each  track  spaced  5  to  8  ft.  apart  and  headed  into  the  floor  beams.. 
In  some  cases,  however,  both  main  and  side  stringers  are  used,  all  of  the 
stringers  heading  against  the  floor  beams.  The  floor  beams  are  some- 
times hung  from  the  pins  at  the  panel  points  and  sometimes  they  are 
riveted  to  the  posts.  As  a  usual  thing  the  stringers  heading  against  the 
floor  beams  are  supported  upon  the  bottom  flange  of  the  floor  beam  which, 
being  of  greater  depth  than  the  stringer,  extends  into  the  space  between 
the  ties  and  sometimes  within  a  few  inches  of  the  top  of  tie  or  rail  base. 
In  such  cases  the  tie  spacing  must  be  modified  slightly  to  make  room 
for  the  upper  flange  of  the  floor  beam,  but  as  the  interval  is  not  great 
there  is  no  serious  objection.  On  the  Union  Pacific  bridge  shown  by 
Engraving  C,  Fig.  436,  the  stringers  project  above  the  top  flange. of  the 
floor  beam  and  are  connected  across  the  space  over  the  floor  beam  by  a 
12xf-in  plate  2  ft.  6  .ins.  long.  Engraving  H,  Fig.  436,  shows  a  combina- 


846  MISCELLANEOUS 

tioii  wood  and  iron  floor  in  use  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Ky.,  in  which 
wooden  stringers  are  used  upon  plate-girder  floor  beams. 

On  iron  deck  trusses  the  ties  may  be  used  as  floor  beams  and  rest 
directly  upon  the  upper  chord.  As  in  the  case  with  wooden  deck  trusses, 
some  bridge  engineers  object  to  such  practice  on  the  principle  that  the 
upper  chord  of  the  truss  is  designed  primarily  as  a  compression  member, 
and  not  as  a  beam,  and  that  a  load  bearing  upon  the  chord  between  panel 
points  subjects  that  member  to  an  excessive  burden,  unless  it  is  designed 
-especially  heavy  for  the  two  duties  it  must  perform.  Engraving  F,  Pig. 
435,  shows  this  method  of  support.  Engravings  G  and  G  illustrate  forms 
of  construction  in  which  iron  girder  stringers  and  floor  beams  are  used, 
the  latter  being  riveted  to  the  posts,  and  the  top  chords  acting  as  side 
stringers.  In  the  form  shown  by  Engraving  G  the  lateral  bracing  is  ar- 
ranged in  the  plane  of  the  bottom  flange  of  the  chord  and  the  top  flange 
of  the  floor  beam,  while  in  Engraving  0,  in  which  a  greater  depth  of  truss 
is  utilized,  the  bracing  is  attached  to  the  top  flange  of  the  floor  beam, 
some  distance  below  the  chord.  The  latter  arrangement  is  somewhat 
objectionable,  from  the  fact  that  the  lateral  bracing  at  this  point  may 
cause  bending  of  the  post.  The  simplest  and  perhaps  the  best  form,  if 
the  depth  can  be  spared,  is  to  rest  the  floor  beams  on  the  top  of  the  chord 
at  the  panel  points  and  head  the  stringers  against  the  floor  beams. 

The  arrangement  of  placing  the  stringers  between  the  floor  beams 
on  an  iron  bridge  makes  a  stiffer  floor  than  is  to  be  had  by  supporting 
the  stringers  on  top  of  the  beams.  A  secure  way  of  making  the  connection 
between  floor  beams  and  iron  stringers  which  abut  against  them  is  to  rivet 
on  a  pair  of  vertical  angle  irons  through  the  web  at  each  end  of  the  string- 
er and  then  rivet  these  arigle  irons  to  the  web  of  the  floor  beam.  Where 
stringers  are  headed  into  both  sides  of  a  floor  beam,  as  at  any  of  the 
intermediate  panels,  the  angle  connections  on  both  sides  of  the  floor  beam 
may  then  be  riveted  to  the  web  of  the  same,  through  and  through.  An 
efficient  way  to  arrange  lateral  bracing,  where  the  conditions  will  per- 
mit, is  to  rivet  angle  irons  to  the  ends  of  the  floor  beams  or  to  the 
chord  members  and  pass  them  diagonally  under  the  track  stringers,  rivet- 
ing to  the  bottom  flanges  of  the  stringers  wherever  the  two  cross. 

Wooden  stringer  pieces  are  usually  two  panels  or  two  spans  in  length 
and  are  laid  to  break  joints  over  the  caps  or  floor  beams.  A  lap  stringer 
is  one  composed  of  pieces  whose  ends  overlap  each  other  on  the  caps  or 
floor  beams.  Owing  to  the  predisposition  of  timber  to  decay  where  sur- 
faces in  contact  are  exposed  to  the  weather,  it  is  not  considered  the  best 
practice  to  have  stringer  timbers  abut  squarely,  if  they  meet  end  to  end. 
Where  this  rule  is  observed  the  stick  is  cut  off  slightly  out  of  square  at 
the  ends,  so  that  the  two  pieces  abut  against  each  other  at  the  top,  or  for  an 
inch  or  two  down  from  the  top,  but  are  separated  by  an  air  space  of  f  or  J 
in.  at  the  bottom,  where  they  rest  upon  the  cap  or  other  support  and  where 
it  is  highly  desirable  to  preserve  the  timber  in  sound  condition  as  long 
as  possible.  Where  stringers  are  packed,  together  in  sets  they  are  some- 
times spliced  at  the  panel  points  by  pieces  of  plank  about  6  ft.  long  bolted 
either  upon  the  outside  or  between  the  pieces,  thus  serving  the  additional 
purpose  of  spacing  blocks.  To  prevent  contact  between  the  wood  surfaces 
the  splice  pieces  are  separated  from  the  stringer  timbers  by  cast  iron  wash- 
ers. On  the  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  and  West  Shore  roads  these  splicing 
planks  extend  an  inch  or  two  below  the  bottoms  of  the  stringers  and  are 
notched  over  the  cap.  In  addition  to  this  the  West  Shore  road  secures 
each  stringer  timber  to  the  cap  by  a  drift  bolt.  It  is  well  to  note  in  passing 
that  iron  spools  or  washers,  being  non-retentive  of  moisture,  are  superior 


BRIDGE  FLOORS  847 

to  wood  blocks  for  spacing  pieces.  Corbels  are  used  to  some  extent  with 
stringers.  The  width  of  the  corbel  is  made  the  same  as  that  of  the  string- 
er, the  depth  12  or  14  ins.  and  the  length  about  4  ft.  The  corbel  affords 
the  stringer  a  larger  bearing  surface  than  it  would  get  if  it  rested  directly 
upon  the  cap,  and  for  this  reason  there  is  possible  a  longer  use  of  the 
stringer  after  decay  starts  at  the  end  than  would  be  the  case  without 
it.  It  also  stiffens  the  stringer  and  in  effect  reduces  the  span.  It  is 
used  mostly  where  the  span  exceeds  16  ft.  It  is  said  that  in  spans  of 
18  to  20  ft.  the  use  of  the  corbel  will  decrease  the  deflection  from  25  to 
30  per  cent.  In  iron  trestles  the  longitudinal  girders  or  stringers  are 
sometimes  headed  against  and  riveted  to  the  webs  of  the  columns.  In 
some  cases  where  such  a  connection  is  made  with  a  column  that  stands 
at  a  batter,  the  column  is  bent  just  below  the  junction  with  the  stringer, 
to  bring  the  top  part  vertical. 

As  the  primary  office  of  the  bridge  floor  is  the  proper  distribution  of 
the  load  upon  the  trusses,  girders  or  trestle  bents,  the  foregoing  methods 
of  arranging  floor  beams  and  stringers  may  be  considered  applicable  to 
bridges  of  all  classes,  regardless  of  the  character  of  the  immediate  support 
for  the  track  rails.  With  respect  to  the  immediate  support  for  the  track, 
bridge  floors  may  be  divided  into  two  classes :  open  floors,  where  the  rails 
are  carried  upon  timber  cross  ties  supported  upon  stringers  or  upon  the 
top  chords  or  flanges  of  the  spans;  and  solid  floors,  where  the  ties  are  un- 
derlaid by  a  tight  floor  of  some  kind,  the  rails  resting  directly  upon  the 
floor  covering  or  upon  ties,  with  or  without  an  intervening  layer  of  bal- 
last. The  type  of  floor  in  most  general  use  is  the  open  floor,  which  will 
be  considered  first.  « 

Bridge  Ties. — The  size  of  tie  required  for  a  bridge  floor  depends 
iipon  the  manner  in  which  the  tie  is  supported.  If  the  tie  is  supported 
by  stringers  directly  under  the  rails,  or  nearly  so,  it  supports  the  rail 
without  appreciable  bending  moment,  and  other  than  this  its  duty  is 
merely  to  hold  the  rails  to  gage  and  in  line.  Under  such  requirements 
a  tie  of  ordinary  size  is  sufficient,  and  the  common  sizes  are  6x8,  7x8 
and  8x8  ins.,  the  first  and  last  mentioned  being  the  most  common.  If, 
however,  the  tie  is  called  upon  to  act  as  a  beam  it  must  be  proportioned 
for  the  span,  and  in  some  cases  a  large  piece  of  timber  may  be  required. 
There  is  also  the  important  difference  that  ties  supported  by  stringers 
•directly  under  the  rails  may  safely  remain  in  the  track  as  long  as  they 
are  sound  enough  to  hold  the  spikes  well,  whereas  if  the  stringers  come 
outside  the  rails  the  renewing  of  the  ties  must  be  looked  after  more  care- 
fully and  the  life  of  the  tie  is  legitimately  shortened.  Twelve  feet  is  a 
•common  length  for  a  bridge  tie  supported  upon  stringers.  They  are 
frequently  used  as  short  as  9  ft.  but  it  is  desirable  that  they  should  be 
long  enough  to  permit  setting  jacks  and  laying  blocking  in  case  a  derailed 
•car  should  come  to  a  stop  on  the  bridge.  On  double-track  bridge  floors 
a  long  tie  (22J  to  24  ft.)  running  under  both  tracks  is  sometimes  used, 
but  this  arrangement  meets  with  the  objection  that  in  renewing  ties  both 
tracks  must  be  disturbed  simultaneously.  It  is  therefore  considered  better 
practice  to  use  independent  sets  of  ties  for  the  two  tracks.  Ties  12  ft. 
long  will  usually  close  the  gap  between  the  tracks  on  a  double-track 
bridge.  On  trestles  the  ties  should  extend  out  far  enough  to  cover  the 
•caps,  so  that  in  case  a  derailed  car  should  fall  off  the  trestle  it  will  not 
strike  a-  cap  and  knock  out  a  bent.  White  oak,  yellow  pine  and  fir  are 
the  woods  most  used  in  this  counfay  for  bridge  ties  and  floor  timbers. 

The  ties  in  a  bridge  floor  must  be  made  secure  against  being  moved 
out  of  line  and  also  against  being  spread  apart  or  "bunched"  under  de- 


848 


MISCELLANEOUS 


railed  wheels.  The  proper  alignment  of  the  ties  may  be  maintained  by 
dapping  them  over  the  stringer  or  by  drift-bolting  a  portion  of  the  ties 
to  the  stringer,  if  the  latter  be  wood;  or  by  securing  them  to  the  stringer 
with  hook  bolts  (Engraving  B,  Fig.  435),  if  the  stringer  be  of  iron  or  steel. 
Bolts  and  nuts  are  also  commonly  used  for  securing  ties  to  wooden  string- 
ers. It  is,  also  quite  largely  the  practice,  where  the  stringers  come  directly 
under  the  rails,  or  nearly  so,  to  lay  the  ties  on  flat,  except  every  third  or 
fourth  tie,  which  is  turned  edgewise  and  dapped  over  the  stringer  to 
bring  its  top  level  with  the  other  ties;  and  sometimes  ties  of  extra  depth 
are  provided  for  this  purpose,  in  case  all  of  the  ties  are  laid  on  edge. 
Another  method  somewhat  in  vogue  with  ties  laid  upon  built  girders 
is  to  notch  each  tie  over  a  projection  of  the  web  plate  through  the  up- 
per flange  of  the  girder,  as  shown  in  Engraving  Z),  Eig.  435,  and  En- 
graving 5,  Fig.  436.  For  holding  the  ties  in  line  it  is  usually  thought 
to  be  sufficient  to  dap  them  over  the  stringers  or  girders  -J  in., 
but  in  certain  localities  the  use  of  bolts  or  hook  bolts  in  addition  is  recom- 
mended as  a  means  of  preventing  the  ties  from  being  blown  off  the  bridge 
by  heavy  wind  or  lifte~d  off  by  high  water.  A  long  "deck  bolt"  passed 
through  the  cap  and  a  tie,  on  the  center  line  of  the  track,  at  each  bent, 
is  sometimes  used.  Ties  laid  upon  plate  girders  may  be  brought  to  an 


Fig.  437. — Cross  Section  of  Floor  at  Hand  Car  Refuge, 

Boone  Viaduct,  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry. 

even  bearing  for  the  rail  by  notching  deeper  into  those  which  come  at 
the  middle  portion  of  the  span,  to  allow  for  the  extra  thickness  of  cover 
plates.  In  order  to  provide  a  smooth  bearing  surface  for  the  ties — that 
is,  one  -without  rivet  heads — and  to  avoid  the  necessity  for  dapping  the 
ties  to  allow  for  varying  thickness  of  the  girder  flange,  it  is  now  quite 
extensively  the  practice  to  dispense  with  cover  plates  altogether  for  the 
top  flange  of  plate  girders.  The  necessary  strength  is  then  provided  by 
a  "double  flange,"  consisting  of  two  lines  of  angles  on  each  side  of  the 
web,  with  perhapr  side  plates  besides.  The  plate  girders  shown  sectionally 
in  Fig.  437  are  built  this  way. 

Ties  are  made  secure  against  bunching  under  derailed  wheels  by 
spacing  at  close  intervals  and  dapping  the  guard  timbers  1  to  1J  ins.  over 
them,  so  as  to  have  a  joggle  or  blocking  between  each  two  ties.  The  clear 
spacing  between  ties  is  made  as  little  as  4  ins.  in  some  cases,  but  more 
generally  about  6  ins.  A  space  as  small  as  4  ins.  is  liable  to  catch  a  work- 
man's boot  and  it  leaves  a  weak  joggle  on  the  guard  timber  for  holding 
the  ties  to  their  spacings.  The  guard  timber  is  bolted  to  every  third  or 
fourth  tie  (in  rare  cases  to  every  tie),  preferably  over  the  side  stringer,  in 
case  such  is  used.  A  long  bolt  can  then  be  passed  through  the  guard  tim- 
ber^ tie  and  stringer.  In  order  to  prevent  the  bolt  from  splitting  the 
tie  it  is  the  practice  with  some  to  let  the  tie  project  4  to  6  ins.  beyond 
the  outside  of  the  guard  timber.  For  fastening  guard  timbers  to  the 


BRIDGE    FLOORS  849 

ties  both  bolts  and  lag  screws  are  used,  but  in  oak  timber  it  is  found  that 
the  thread  of  lag  screws  is  rapidly  eaten  away,  so  that  the  bolt  and  nut 
proves  to  be  a  much  more  reliable  fastening  for  such  timber.  In  yellow 
pine  timber,  however,  such  is  not  the  case,  and  lag  screws  are  frequently 
removed  and  used  the  second  time.  The  best  practice  seems  to  favor  put- 
ting the  bolts  into  the  timber  from  underneath,  so  that  the  nut  comes 
on  the  upper  side,  in  plain  view,  and  where  it  can  be  readily  attended 
to  in  case  it  should  work  loose.  With  nuts  put  on  above  the  timber, 
however,  the  hole  through  the  wood  cannot  be  so  well  protected  from 
water  as  when  the  nut  is  put  on  from  below.  To  prevent  the  head  of  a 
lag  screw  or  bolt  from  projecting  above  the  timber  it  is  sometimes  counter- 
sunk into  the  timber  by  the  use  of  a  cup-shaped  washer.  To  prevent  the 
bolt  from  dropping  out,  in  case  the  nut  on  the  upper  end  should  work  off, 
some  make  it  a  practice  to  bend  the  bolt  slightly  before  it  is  driven  into 
position.  This  trouble  is  overcome,  however,  by  the  use  of  a  slotted 
washer.  This  is  a  cast  washer  of  the  ordinary  form  with  a  slot  extending 
radially  from  one  side  of  the  hole,  so  that  after  the  nut  has  been  screwed 
home  a  nail  can  be  driven  through  the  slot  and  against  the  side  of  the 
nut,  thus  serving  as  an  efficient  nut  lock. 

Guard  timbers  are  usually  spliced  over  a  tie  with  a  scarf  or  half-and- 
half  joint,  with  at  least  a  6-in.  lap,  as  shown  by  Engraving  D,  Fig.  435 ;  or 
sometimes  the  two  pieces  are  butted  together  squarely  and  bolted  through 
adjacent  ties,  as  shown  in  Engraving  B,  Fig.  434.  In  usual  practice 
the  pieces  of  the  guard  timber  are  made  to  break  joints  with  the  string- 
ers— that  is,  the  middle  of  the  stick  comes  over  the  bent  or  floor  beam 
and  the  pieces  are  halved  together  at  the  middle  of  the  panel.  Another 
idea  is  to  have  the  joints  in  the  guard  timbers  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
floor  come  staggered.  Guard  timbers  vary  in  size  from  6x8  ins.  to  12x12 
ins.,  the  smaller  size  being  most  frequently  in  use.  A  f-in.  bolt  is  the 
size  commonly  used.  The  hight  or  projection  of  the  guard  timber  above 
the  level  of  the  top  of  rail  must  be  governed  by  the  reach  of  the  snow 
plows,  in  case  the  timber  comes  within  clearing  distance.  The  guard  tim- 
ber is  sometimes  placed  within  9  ins.  of  the  outside  of  rail,  but  more  fre- 
quently the  distance  is  much  greater.  The  question  as  to  the  proper  dis- 
tance between  guard  timber  and  rail  is  taken  up  in  connection  with  the 
subject  of  bridge  guard  rails. 

On  bridges  of  considerable  length  a  string  of  planks  or  boards  should 
be  spiked  to  the  ties  for  a  footway.  Trackmen  and  other  employees  must 
travel  the  bridge  and  the  public  will,  and  it  is  well  therefore  to  make 
the  walking  safe.  The  walk  is  especially  convenient  for  flagmen  running 
to  or  from  their  trains,  and  it  is  most  serviceable  when  the  ties  are 
covered  with  frozen  sleet.  If  it  is  feared  that  stock  might  reach  the  bridge 
and  use  the  walk,  it  should  be  omitted  for 'some  distance  from  the  end  of 
the  bridge.  On  a  double-track  floor  the  walk  comes  between  the  tracks. 
On  long  trestles  refuge  platforms  large  enough  to  receive  a  hand  car 
should  be  provided  every  1000  ft.,  or  £  mile  at  the  farthest.  Such  plat- 
forms may  be  built  by  planking  over  long  bridge  ties  extending  out  past 
the  guard  timber,  over  a  bent,  and  bracketed  against  the  bent.  Figure  437 
shows  the  general  arrangement  of  hand  car  refuges  on  the  Boone  Viaduct 
of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.  This  viaduct  is  2685  ft.  long  and 
185  ft.  high  at  the  highest  point,  and  on  each  side  of  the  viaduct  there 
are  four  refuge  platforms  at  an  average  distance  of  537  ft.  apart,  arranged 
"with  a  substantial  railing,  as  shown.  The  brace  which  appears  in  the  fig- 
ure is  for  the  support  of  the  bridge  railing,  which  is  necessarily  broken  at 
the  platforms. 


850 


MISCELLANEOUS 


If  the  track  on  the  bridge  is  curved  the  running  rails  should  be  spiked 
to  every  tie;  but  on  straight  line  there  is  no  necessity  for  spiking  more 
than  half  of  the  ties ;  i.  e.,  alternate  ties.  To  get  the  rails  in  proper  align- 
ment they  should  not  be  permanently  spiked  until  after  the  guard  tim- 
bers have  been  laid  and  bolted  complete.  As  the  grain  of  bridge  ties 
does  not  always  run  parallel  with  the  sawed  faces,  they  should  be  bored 
for  the  spikes  with  a  f  or  V10-in.  auger,  to  prevent  splitting.  No  splice 
bars  should  be  slot-spiked  on  bridge  ties,  because  the  ties  cannot  be  moved 
by  creeping  rails  and  are  therefore  liable  to  be  split  by  pressure  against 
the  spikes. 

Tie  plates  are  quite  extensively  used  on  bridge  ties,  particularly  where 
the  latter  are  of  pine  timber,  and  hard  pine  is  now  one  of  the  standard 
timbers  for  bridge  ties.  They  are  also  used  on  oak  ties  in  some  cases 
where  the  traffic  is  particularly  heavy  or  where  the  bridge  is  on  a  curve. 
In  point  of  economy  it  may  in  many  instances  be  found  advisable  to  use 
plates  on  bridge  ties  where  they  may  not  be  needed  on  the  adjoining  grade 
ties.  The  first  cost  of  the  former  exceeds  that  of  the  latter,  and  the  cost 
of  renewal  is  also  higher. 

E!nd  Construction. — The  point  at  which  the  most  trouble  usually  arises 
in  maintaining  track  to  surface  at  bridges  is  at  the  line  which  technically 
divides  the  bridge  and  the  track  departments,  namely,  at  the  abutment  or 
the  end  bent.  If  the  abutment  be  of  stone  or  other  firm  foundation,  the  sur- 
face of  the  track  approaching  it  must  be  well  maintained,  because  a  rough 
spot  at  such  a  place  is  more  severe  as  a  cause  of  jarring  trains  than  else- 
where, owing  to  the  different  •sustaining  properties  of  the  two  materials 


Fig.  438. 

lying  adjacent  to  each  other;  and  if  the  abutment  lies  askew  to  the  direc- 
tion of  the  track  the  jarring  due  to  uneven  ^surface  becomes  much  aggra- 
vated. If  the  end  of  the  bridge  be  on  timber,  as  at  the  end  of  a  pile  or 
framed-bent  trestle,  the  effect  of  a  low  place  in  the  track  approaching  the 
structure  will  be  to  create  a  heavy  pounding  force  as  the  passing  wheels 
suddenly  mount  the  higher  track  at  the  proper  level.  Such  pounding  will 
settle  the  end  bent  if  it  be  not  very  firmly  supported.  The  importance  of 
a  bent  of  the  full  sustaining  power  at  this  point  is  therefore  apparent. 
A  fault  too  frequently  met  with  is  the  want  of  some  inclosure  to  hold  the 
roadbed  and  ballast  from  being  washed  or  crowded  away  from  the  end 
of  the  bridge,  thus  weakening  the  support  for  the  track  where  it  is  most 
needed.  But  good  end  construction  will  not  avail  if  the  track  immediate- 
ly adjoining  is  not  kept  in  good  surface,  neither  can  good  surface  be  main- 
tained where  there  is  poor  end  construction.  The  question  of  maintain- 
ing smooth  track  at  the  ends  of  bridges,  therefore,  involves  matters  which 
concern  both  the  bridge  and  the  track  departments. 

With  trestle  bridges  adjoining  an  embankment  the  earth  usually 
slopes  away  for  some  distance  under  the  trestle,  or  past  the  first  two  or 
three  bents.  A  substantial  bulkhead  must  therefore  be  provided  to  retain 
the  ballast  and  roadbed  at  the  point  where  the  bridge  floor  joins  the  grade. 
Such  a  bulkhead  is  usually  formed  by  spiking  3  or  4-in.  planks  to  wing 


BRIDGE   FLOORS  851 

piles  driven  some  distance  out  from  the  bent  and  slightly  in  rear  of  the 
line  of  piles  in  the  bent.  As  it  is  desirable  that  an  air  space  of  3  or  4  ins. 
should  be  maintained  behind  the  cap  and  at  the  ends  of  the  stringers, 
the  bulkhead  is  separated  from  the  end  bent  by  furring  strips  spiked  to 
the  backs  of  the  bent  piles  below  the  cap.  The  bulkhead  should  begin 
about  2  ins.  below  the  base  of  rail  and  extend  well  into  the  bank,  below  the 
tops  of  the  piles,  so  there  will  be  no  liability  that  material  will  be  washed 
from  under  the  bulkhead  in  time  of  high  water  or  from  the  wash  of 
surface  drainage  during  a  heavy  storm.  The  outer  edge  of  the  bulkhead 
should  conform  to  the  slope  of  the  embankment,  and  a  brace  is  usually 
run  along  each  sloping  edge,  from  top  to  bottom,  and  to  this  the  ends  of 
the  bulkhead  planks  are  spiked.  To  re-enforce  the  end  bent  against  the 
pressure  of  the  earth  at  the  back  of  the  bulkhead,  struts  are  run  from  the 
cap  to  the  second  bent,  preferably  to  the  ground  line.  Where  the  em- 
bankment joins  a  waterway  and  is  liable  to  scour,  a  winged  bulkhead, 
extending  into  the  solid  earth  beneath  the  embankment,  is  made  by  spik- 
ing planks  to  the  back  side  of  wing  piles  set  to  give  the  face  of  the  em- 
bankment a  flare.  In  low  bulkheads  4-in.  sheet  piling  is  sometimes  sub- 
stituted for  horizontal  planking. 


Fig.  439. — Terrace  Retaining  Walls,  Tennessee  Central  Ry. 

Where  trestles  are  built  over  steep  slopes  considerable  trouble  is  fre- 
quently experienced  in  maintaining  the  footings.  On  newly  made  embank- 
ments the  footings,  unless  very  carefully  prepared,  will  settle,  and  even 
when  built  on  the  natural  ground  the  excavations  for  the  foundations  of 
the  bents  may  leave  the  slopes  between  them  so  steep  that  they  will  not 
stand.  A  plan  that  has  sometimes  been  followed  with  good  satisfaction, 
both  on  steep  natural  surfaces  and  on  new  embankments,  is  to  terrace 
the  end  slope  in  a  manner  to  reduce  the  general  inclination  and  permit  the 
slopes  between  the  foundations  to  be  built  to  the  angle  of  repose  of  the 
material.  A  diagram  of  such  construction  is  shown  in  Fig.  438,  in  which 
the  original  slope  is  indicated  by  the  broken  line.  In  building  such  ter- 
races the  work  of  excavation  is  started  at  the  top  and  the  surplus  mate- 
rial is  cast  over  the  ends  and  sides  and  worked  toward  the  foot  of  the 
embankment.  In  planning  work  of  this  kind  it  is  desirable  to  make  the 
general  slope  easy  enough  to  permit  berms  or  footings  3J  or  4  ft.  wide, 


852 


MISCELLANEOUS 


and  still  retain  the  natural  slope  of  the  material  between  the  bents.  Where 
this  cannot  be  done  it  is  sometimes  the  practice  to  face  up  the  slope  with 
a  stepped  dry  rubble  wall,  to  retain  the  loose  filling  and  afford  footings 
for  the  trestle  sills.  Some  extensive  dry  walls  of  this  kind  (Fig.  439) 
were  built  in  the  construction  of  the  Tennessee  Central  Ry.,  the  general 
slope  over  the  walls  being  1-J  to  1.  If  the  embankment  or  slope  is  composed 
•of  material  like  clay,  with  a  tendency  to  slide,  it  is  generally  considered 
that  the  wisest  plan  to  follow  is  to  avoid  excavating  into  the  slope  at  all, 
but  to  build  piers  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  slope,  to  grade,  or  a  pier 
at  the  bottom  and  a  pile  foundation  at  the  top,  and  bridge  the  space 
between  top  and  toe  of  the  slope  with  a  single  span.  In  locating  a  line 
through  country  where  the  topography  is  favorable  to  the  scheme,  some 
engineers  aim  to  close  the  gaps  at  the  ravines  either  wholly  by  embank- 
ment or  wholly  by  trestle,  so  that  the  problem  of  building  the  latter  over 
the  slopes  of  newly  made  embankments  does  not  arise. 


* 
i-*- 


Fig.  440. — Arrangement  of  Parapets  and  Cast  Iron  Bulkhead,  C.,  B.  &  Q.  Ry. 

On  new  embankments  adjoining  steel  bridges  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Quincy  By.  uses  temporary  spans  supported  upon  piling  driven  into 
the  bank.  In  order  to  avoid  the  construction  of  heavy  abutments  with 
wing  walls  to  retain  high  embankments,  the  standard  practice  on  this  road 
is  to  place  piers  at  the  banks  of  the  stream,  with  shore  spans  of  plate 
girders  supported  temporarily  at  the  bank  ends  upon  timber  blocking  laid 
upon  a  foundation  of  piling.  This  pile  foundation  is  located  part  way 
up  the  end  slope  of  the  embankment,  and  the  piles  are  driven  through  the 
filling  into  the  solid  earth  below  the  original  surface.  At  the  ends  of 
the  plate-girder  shore  spans  temporary  I-beam  spans  16  or  17  ft.  long  are 
used,  the  bank  end  of  each  being  supported  upon  a  pile  bent  driven  into  the 
top  of  the  embankment.  After  the  embankment  has  settled  a  masonry 
abutment  is  built  at  the  end  of  the  plate-girder  shore  span,  the  short  I- 
beam  span  is  removed  and  the  embankment  is  filled  in  behind'  the  new  ma- 
sonry. 

It  is  always  important  that  the  ballast  under  the  first  grade  tie  be 
retained  in  some  substantial  manner,  and  at  the  ends  of  bridges  resting 
upon  masonry  the  proper  arrangement  of  the  parapet  requires  careful 
attention.  One  method  is  to  pkce  a  stick  of  timber,  called  a  wall  plate, 
on  the  parapet  to  support  the  rail,  as  shown  in  the  Wabash  bridge  floor, 
Engraving  E,  Fig.  435.  The  objection  to  this  practice  is  that  the  ballast 
lies  against  the  timber,  causing  it  to  rot  out  quickly,  and,  besides,  if  the 
timber  is  not  held  rigidly  in  place  by  some  means  it  will  keep  working 
its  way  over  the  edge  of  the  parapet  and  permitting  the  ballast  behind  it 
to  give  way  and  settle  under  the  adjacent  ties.  On  the  Boston  &  Maine 
R.  R.  the  parapet  stone  at  the  top  is  narrowed  down  to  about  8  ins,  in 


BRIDGE   FLOORS 


853 


width  and  extends  within  1 J  ins.  of  the  base  of  rail,  so  that  the  space  be- 
tween the  last  bridge  tie  and  the  first  grade  tie  need  not  be  uncommonly 
wide.  This  parapet  (Engraving  A,  Figs.  434  and  435)  serves  to  retain 
the  roadbed  and  hold  the  ballast  from  being  shoved  out  of  place  by  the 
grade  ties,  so  that  the  bridge  floor  and  the  track  on  the  grade  are  separat- 
ed  by  a  distinct  line  without  the  intervention  of  anything  which  can 
decay  or  which  is  liable  to  be  disturbed.  In  through  bridges  the  end 
floor  beam  is  usually  dispensed  with  and  the  stringers  supported  upon  the 
masonry  direct.  In  some  cases  this  arrangement  permits  of  a  closer  spac- 
ing between  the  last  bridge  tie  and  the  first  tie  on  the  ballast. 

For  masonry  abutments  cast  iron  bulkheads  are  used  to  good  advant- 
age, being  durable  and  narrow,  thus  permitting  close  spacing  between 
the  last  bridge  tie  and  the  first  tie  on  the  ballast.  The  standard  bulkhead 
of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey.  is  a  cast  iron  plate  21  ins.  high 
and  f  in.  thick,  bolted  to  brackets  made  fast  in  the  masonry  on  the  land 
side  of  the  plate.  On  the  backing,  in  rear  of  the  bridge  seats  (Fig.  440), 
there  are  two  parapets  of  masonry  4J  ft.  long  and  1  ft.  9  ins.  high,  serv- 
ing as  enclosures  at  the  ends  of  the  bulkhead.  The  space  between  these 
parapets  is  10  ft.  in  the  clear  and  the  bulkhead  is  made  to  fit  into  this 
space.  The  plate  or  face  of  the  bulkhead  is  in  two  sections,  each  5  ft. 
long,  bolted  to  brackets  at  the  ends  of  the  bulkhead  and  to  a  third  bracket 
in  common,  at  the  middle.  The  brackets  are  secured  to  the  masonry  by 
1-in.  stone  bolts.,  two  being  used  on  each  bracket,  or  six  for  the  bulk- 
head. The  plate  is  ribbed,  bottom  and  top,  the  bottom  rib  being  4J  ins. 
wide  and  the  top  rib,  forming  the  top  edge  of  the  bulkhead,  3|  ins.  wide,. 


Fig.  441. — End  Construction  for  Skew  Bridges. 

thus  occupying  but  little  room  between  the  ties,  so  that  a  suitably  nar- 
row spacing  may  be  had,  as  above  noted.  The  top  rib  comes  2  ins.  below 
the  base  of  rail,  so  that  a  tie  may  be  laid  as  close  to  the  bulkhead  as  is 
desirable.  At  double-track  bridges  the  arrangement  is  simply  duplicated, 
two  bulkheads  being  arranged  with  a  common  parapet  between  them. 
Figure  208  also  shows  a  sectional  view  of  this  bulkhead. 

At  the  ends  of  skew  bridges  the  stringers  should  be  arranged  to  meet 
the  roadbed  squarely  (Engraving  B,  Fig.  441)..  The  necessary  support  for 
the  end  of  the  extended  stringer  is  usually  afforded  by  a  buttress  at  the 
back  side  of  the  masonry  pier  or  abutment.  Where  this  cannot  be  had,  or 
is  not  provided,  one  of  the  stringers  is  sometimes  extended  past  the  mason- 
ry to  meet  the  other  squarely  and  is  rested  upon  a  mud  sill.  A  few  ties 
must  then  be  supported  partly  upon  the  bridge  floor  and  partly  upon  the 
embankment,  and  it  nearly  always  happens  that  the  projecting  stringer 
or  mud  sill  must  be  raised  and  blocked  up  occasionally  to  bring  the  track 
to  surface;  and  besides,  either  piece  of  timber  will  rot  out  rapidly.  The 
practice  of  ending  the  bridge  floor  at  a  skew  and  fanning  out  the  ties  on 
the  roadbed  (Engraving  A,  Fig.  441)  to  meet  it  is  never  satisfactory,. 


85-1:  MISCELLANEOUS 

since  on  one, side  of  the  track  the  ends  of  the  ties  must  be  spaced  too  close 
for  efficient  tamping  and  on  the  bridge  floor  the  ties  must  be  placed  either 
askew  to  the  rails  or  the  last  three  or  four  ties  must  be  cut  short  and 
joined  into  the  wall  plate  (Engraving  A),  thus  supporting  only  one  of  the 
rails.  If  the  bridge  ties  are  laid  parallel  to  the  parapet,  or  askew  to  the 
rails,  both  ends  of  the  tie  do  not  receive  the  load  at  the  same  time,  and 
as  a  result  the  ties  tend  to  jump  and  wear  out  rapidly.  Since  in  passing 
from  ballasted  track  to  a  bridge  floor  there  is  a  change  in  rigidity  of  sup- 
port, both  wheels  of  an  axle  should  pass  the  dividing  line  simultaneously, 
and  hence  the  end  of  the  bridge  floor  should  be  squared  up  with  the  track. 
In  skew  trestles  the  end  bent  can  be  built  square  or  a  square  bent  may 
be  built  immediately  in  rear  of  it  to  support  the  ends  of  the  floor  stringers. 
When  a  skew  bridge  is  rebuilt  upon  old  abutments  the  additional  mason- 
ry necessary  for  supporting  the  ends  of  the  floor  stringers  to  bring  them 
square  may  be  laid  upon  the  old  bank  by  digging  down  and  giving  the 
new  masonry  a  base  of  suitable  size. 


Fig.  442. — "T"  Type  of  Bridge  Abutment  (Dismal  Creek,  III.  Cent.  R.  R.)- 

With  the  "T"  abutment  style  of* end  construction,  examples  of  which, 
may  be  seen  on  a  number  of  roads,  wing  walls  for  retaining  the  embank- 
ment are  dispensed  with  and  the  track  adjacent  to  the  bridge  floor  is 
very  fkmly  supported.  This  type  of  abutment  consists  of  a  narrow  ma- 
sonry pier  (Fig.  442)  longitudinal  with  the  track,  extending  back  full 
depth  into  the  embankment,  from  toe  to  top  of  the  end  slope,  which  lies 
at  the  natural  angle  of  repose,  so  that  no  retaining  wall  is  needed.  The 
construction  of  such  abutments  is  usually  in  connection  with  deck  spans, 
the  bridge  seats  being  arranged  upon  a  cross  wall  at  the  end  of  the  abut- 
ment pier,  as  shown  in  the  figure — hence  the  term  "T-abutment."  High 
abutment  piers  of  this  kind  have  sometimes  been  built  as  "narrow  as  7 
ft.  thick,  except  at  the  top,  which  is  corbeled  out  to  a  width  of  12  ft.  or 
more  to  support  and  retain  the  ballast  for  the  track. 

The  "T"  abutment  shown  in  the  Fig.  442  is  9  ft,  thick,  and  to  replace 
the  three  top  courses  of  stone,  which,  had  begun  to  disintegrate  after  long 
service,  the  whole  top  was  remodeled  by  building  a  concrete  coping  to  re- 
tain the  ballast,  on  plans  shown  by  Fig.  443.  In  beginning  the  work  the 
ballast  was  removed  from  the  top  of  the  old  masonry  and  the  track  was 
temporarily  supported  on  timber  stringers.  The  three  top  courses  of  the 
old  masonry  were  then  removed  and  the  concrete  coping  was  deposited 
in  sections  6  ft.  long.  To  firmly  bind  the  sections  together,  two  old  rails  were 
embedded  longitudinally  in  the  concrete,  as  shown.  The  top  of  the  con- 
crete coping  is  finished  out  to  retain  18  ins.  of  ballast  under  the  bottoms 


BRIDGE  FLOORS 


855 


of  the  ties.  To  afford  drainage  the  concrete  bed  is  crowned  3  ins.  in  the 
center,  and  4-in.  tile  drains  projecting  one  inch  from  the  face  of  the  ma- 
sonry serve  to  carry  away  the  water  collected.  The  concrete  coping  pro- 
tects the  body  of  the  pier  against  further  injury  from  seepage,  and  the 
corbeling  of  concrete  protects  the  face  of  the  masonry  from  dripping 
water.  This  style  of  coping  has  also  been  applied  on  this  road  to  new  "T*9 
abutments  built  of  concrete  from  the  bottom  up,  to  take  the  place  of  tres- 
tle approaches  to  some  of  the  bridges  rebuilt. 

As  bearing  upon  some  of  the  questions  hitherto  discussed,  reference 
may  be  made  to  the  recommendations  of  a  committee  report  to  the  Asso- 
ciation of  Railway  Superintendents  of  Bridges  and  Buildings  in  1897, 
as  follows:  "(1)  Ties  12  ft.  long,  spaced  6  ins.  apart  in  the  clear,  sup- 
ported directly  under  the  rails  and  near  the  ends;  (2)  suitable  inside 
guard  rails  and  spacers  at  ends  of  ties;  (3)  squaring  the  floor  at  the  ends 
of  skew  bridges;  (4)  connecting  bridge  floor  with  approach  by  the  method 
shown  [Engraving  A,  Fig.  435] ;  (5)  making  the  floor  independent  for 
each  of  the  two  tracks  of  a  double-track  bridge."  The  last  recommenda- 
tion (5)  refers  to  the  use  of  two  sets  of  ties  for  the  two  tracks,  the  ends 
of  both  sets  at  the  dividing  line  being  supported  in  common  upon  a  single 
stringer  placed  midway  between  the  tracks  and  serving  as  a  side  stringer 
for  both  sets  of  ties.  The  ends  of  the  two  sets  of  ties  meeting  upon  this 
middle  stringer  are  covered  by  a  single  guard  timber  Jag-screwed  to  the 
lies  of  both  sets. 


/Q'.0: J 


Fig.  443. — Cross  Section  of  "T"  Abutment  and  Concrete  Coping,  III.  Cent.  R.  R. 

As  the  bents  of  trestle  bridges  will  settle  occasionally,  the  floors 
of  such  bridge^  have  to  be  surfaced  to  keep  the  track  in  smooth  condition. 
Evidently  the  readiest  method  of  doing  such  work  is  to  raise  and  block  up 
the  stringers,  and  on  pile  bents  no  other  convenient  method  is  available. 
On  the  Savannah,  Florida  &  Western  Ky.  (Atlantic  Coast  Line)  a  double 
cap  is  used,  one  over  the  other.  In  case  of  settlement  the  surfacing  is  done 
between  these  caps.  The  upper  cap  is  raised  by  driving  a  wedge  between 
the  two  and  the  shim  used  runs  the  length  of  the  cap  and  is  nailed  in 
place.  If  the  bent  has  settled  unevenly  at  the  two  sides,  however,  such 
method  of  surfacing  will  not  bring  the  track  back  into  line.  It  frequently 
happens  that  the  slight  settling  of  one  side  of  a  trestle  bent  will  throw 
the  track  out  of  line  without  dropping  it  much  out  of  surface,  especially 
if  the  bent  be  a  high  one;  for  it  is  easily  seen  that  a  small  settlement  at 
one  side  of  a  high  bent  must  throw  over  the  top  much  faster  than  the 
track  will  settle.  If  the  bent  be  a  framed  one  the  simplest  remedy  is  to 
jack  up  the  end  of  the  sill  at  the  settled  side  of  the  bent  and  block  it 
to  place,  when  it  will  usually  be  found  that  the  track  will  return  to  its 
proper  alignment  and  surface.  In  the  case  of  uneven  settlement  in  a 
bridge  pier  the  stringer  would  have  to  be  moved  sidewise.  in  addition  to 


856  MISCELLANEOUS 

the  work  of  blocking,  in  order  to  bring  the  track  into  both  line  and  sur- 
face; or,  in  cases,  perhaps,  the  track  could  be  put  in  line  more  easily  by 
pulling  the  spikes  from  the  rails  and  respiking  them  to  proper  alignment. 
The  most  frequent  source  of  trouble  in  this  direction  is  found  with  bridge 
floors  supported  at  the  ends  upon  timber  or  cribbed  foundations,  for  such 
are  especially  subject  to  settlement.  Such  settlement  is  all  the  more  aug- 
mented if  the  end  of  the  bridge  comes  at  a  high  fill,  because  the  settling 
of  the  fill  leaves  the  end  of  the  bridge  high;  and  a  train  meeting  the  end 
of  the  bridge  must  be  suddenly  boosted,  as  it  were,  the  reaction  from 
which  comes  upon  the  end  support  in  the  nature  of  a  tremendous  blow. 
This  state  of  things  can  be  helped  a  good  deal  by  easing  off  gradually  the  fall 
in  the  track  from  a  point  some  distance  clear  of  the  end  of  the  bridge.  Owing 
to  the  tendency  of  track  at  the  ends  of  bridges  to  get  into  rough  surface 
it  is  a  good  plan  to  use  60-ft.  rails  at  such  places,  so  as  to  remove  the 
first  joint  on  the  grade  to  a  good  distance  from  the  end  of  the  bridge  floor. 

Such  work  as  raising  stringers  at  ends  of  bridges  and  lining  track 
on  bridges  is  ordinarily  done  by  a  bridge  gang,  but  in  case  the  bridge  men 
are  slow  in  getting  around  the  section  crew  should  look  to  it;  and  then, 
whenever  the  end  of  the  bridge  floor  is  raised,  the  track  for  some  distance 
on  the  fill  beyond  must  generally  be  raised  also,  so  that  the  section  crew 
is  needed  in  any  event.  No  slope  should  be  permitted  in  a  bridge  floor  at 
the  end,  to  compromise  with  a  settled  embankment.  The  end  bent  in  a 
pile  trestle  is  sometimes  given  an  extra  number  of  piles — say  six,  alto- 
gether, if  the  regular  number  in  the  other  bents  is  four —  in  order  that 
it  may  better  withstand  the  hammering  from  the  trains  at  this  point. 
The  piles  in  an  end  bent  should,  if  possible,  be  long  enough  to  reach  down 
through  the  embankment  and  drive  to  a  firm  bearing  in  the  solid  ground 
beneath.  Where  the  embankment  is  new  it  is  sometimes  the  practice  to 
extend  the  floor  of  the  trestle  temporarily  over  the  embankment  one  span 
beyond  the  end  bent  and  rest  it  upon  mud  sills,  the  extra  span  to  be  taken 
out  after  settlement  has  ceased.  The  wall  plate  supporting  the  rails 
over  a  masonry  abutment  is  sometimes  blocked  up  at  the  ends,  to  give 
elasticity  and  cushion  the  blow  due  to  the  sudden  transition  from  earth  to- 
masonry  support. 

Curve  Elevation  on  Bridges. — Where  a  bridge  is  located  on  a  curve 
or  on  the  run-off  of  a  simple  curve  there  arises  the  question  of  the  method 
of  elevating  the  outer  rail.  Among  bridge  men  there  is  a  wide  range 
of  opinion  on  the  best  method  to  pursue,  owing  to  which,  and  to  the 
different  styles  of  bridge  floor  supports,  a  number  of  methods  are  in  service,, 
as  follows:  (1)  By  shimming  under  the  outer  rail,  upon  the  tie;  (2)  by 
the  use  of  tapered  or  wedge-shaped  ties;  (3)  by  shimming  or  blocking 
under  the  ties:  (4)  by  a  cushion  tie;  (5)  by  raising  the  outer  stringer; 
(6)  by  increasing  the  depth  of  the  outer  stringer;  (7)  by  tilting  the  tres- 
tle bent  or  pair  of  girders;  (8)  by  inclining  the  cap. 

Shimming  under  the  outer  rail  is  done  by  spiking  a  piece  of  plank 
to  the  top  of  the  tie.  The  shim  is  placed  longitudinally  with  the  tie  and 
is  made  long  enough  to  carry  the  guard  rail.  This  method  is  open  to  the 
objection  that  the  track  spike  loses  some  of  its  holding  power  and  the 
shims  are  liable  to  be  split  or  badly  cut  up  by  derailed  wheels,  thus  leaving 
the  track  in  dangerous  condition.  By  this  method  also  the  rails  do  not 
stand  on  the  same  plane  and  there  is  an  improper  inclination  of  the  rails 
to  the  wheels,  which  leads  to  irregular  wear.  Wedge-shaped  or  taper- 
sawed  ties  answer  quite  well  for  a  slight  amount  of  elevation  in  the  outer 
rail,  but  an  elevation  of  4  or  5  ins.  requires  a  very  deep  stick  at  one  end, 
thus  calling  for  large  timber,  which  in  some  localities  is  scarce.  Extra 


BRIDGE    FLOORS  857 

labor  is  required  in  sawing  the  ties,,  and  unless  the  timber  is  large  enough 
to  furnish  two  ties  in  one  stick  there  is  considerable  waste  of  material; 
so  that,  either  from  waste  of  material  or  from  the  usual  practice  of  mill 
men,  who,,  in  computing  the  amount  of  lumber  in  the  tie.,  assume  the  tie 
to  run  its  whole  length  at  the  size  of  the  larger  end,  tapered  ties  are 
much  more  expensive  than  common  ties.  There  is  also  the  further  objec- 
tion that  in  notching  the  ties  for  use  at  the  middle  portion  of  a  long  plate 
girder,  the  material  which  must  be  cut  out  to  allow  for  the  extra  thick- 
ness of  cover  plate  must  necessarily  weaken  the  tie  at  the  small  end  and 
leave  it  in  danger  of  breaking  off  in  case  of  derailment.  There  also  results 
some  expense  and  tendency  to  confusion,  from  having  to  keep  on  hand  a 
stock  of  ties  sawed  at  differing  tapers  to  suit  the  different  bridges  on  the 
line. 

Elevation  of  the  outer  rail  by  shimming  or  blocking  under  the  ties 
may  be  accomplished  in  three  ways.  A  tapered  block  may  be  used  between 
the  tie  and  the  outer  girder  or  stringer,  the  block  being  fastened  to  the 
tie  by  bolts  or  lag  screws  and  the  tie  dapped  over  the  block  and  the  inner 
stringer.  In  dapping  the  tie  over  the  inner  stringer  the  notch  in  the 
tie  must  be  cut  to  a  bevel,  owing  to  the  inclination  of  the  tie  to  the  top 
surface  of  the  stringer,  and  on  a  plate  girder  with  a  number  of  cover 
plates  at  the  center  the  additional  depth  of  cutting  required  seriously  weak- 
ens the  tie  for  service  against  derailment ;  and  if  the  grain  of  the  wood  does 
not  run  with  the  tie  the  tie  will  usually  split  off  at  the  end,  starting  from  the 
shoulder  of  the  dap.  The  most  approved  method  is  by  the  use  of  two 
blocks  of  different  thickness  under  each  tie,  or  one  over  each  girder  or 
stringer.  The  tie  is  dapped  over  the  blocks  an  inch  or  half  inch  and  the 
blocks  are  dapped  over  the  stringers  or  girders,  so  that  any  extra  cutting, 
to  allow  for  extra  heavy  cover  plates  at  the  middle  of  the  span,  is  made 
in  the  blocks  and  not  in  the  ties.  The  method  of  shimming  under,  the 
ties  is  done  by  building  upon  the  outer  girder  or  stringer  by  laying  a 
longitudinal  timber  or  plank. 

A  cushion  tie  is  in  reality  a  long,  tapering  shim  extending  under 
both  rails.  It  is  made  the  same  width  as  the  tie,  or  preferably  an 
inch  wider,  so  as  to  project  a  half  inch  over  the  tie  on  each  side  and 
prevent  water  from  getting  between  the  two.  It  is  about  3  ins.  thick 
at  the  smaller  end  and  is  secured  to  the  tie  by  means  of  bolts  or 
lag  screws.  The  objections  against  the  cushion  tie  are  that,  being  thin 
at  the  small  end,  it  is  easily  warped  out  of  shape  by  the  sun  or  split  by  the 
spikes;  and,  as  usually  made,  the  horizontal  joint  between  it  and  the  tie 
holds  water  which  rapidly  rots  out  both  the  tie  and  its  cushion  covering. 
The  shallow  cushion  piece  is  also  somewhat  insecure  against  being  torn 
out  by  derailed  wheels. 

The  elevation  of  the  outer  rail  by  raising  the  outer  stringer  may  be 
accomplished  either  by  a  cushion  cap  or  blocking,  or  by  corbeling  the 
stringer.  A  cushion  cap  is  a  stick  of  timber  tapered  to  the  desired  inclina- 
tion of  the  rails  and  drift-bolted  to  the  top  of  the  main  cap,  under  the 
stringers.  In  order  to  hold  the  stringers  in^  line  the  cushion  cap  is  dapped 
under  the  stringers.  The  principal  objections  to  this  method  are  that  the 
dap 'under  the  stringer,  and  the  joint  between  the  cushion  cap  and  main 
cap  will  hold  water  to  rapidly  rot  out  the  timber ;  and  the  stringers  do  not 
stand  vertically  on  edge.  A  similar  method  that  is  in  practice  to  some 
extent  is  to  use  a  tapering  block  under  the  outer  stringer  and  then  adz 
down  the  top  of  the  cap  to  an  inclination  in  the  same  plane,  for  the  inner 
stringer.  Another  method,  that  is  seldom  if  ever  employed,  is  to  lower  the 
inner  stringer  by  notching  the  cap.  On  the  Savannah,  Florida  &  West- 


858  MISCELLANEOUS 

em  Ky.,  where  a  double  cap  is  used,  elevation  is  obtained,  by  placing  blocks 
between  the  two  caps.  The  use  of  a  corbel  under  the  outer  stringer  gives 
results  similar  to  the  use  of  blocking  under  the  tie  and  seems  to  find  favor. 
Where  the  corbel  method  is  standard  it  is  generally  used  under  both  inner 
arid  outer  stringers,  the  outer  one  being  enough  thicker  than  the  inner 
one  to  give  the  proper  inclination  for  the  ties.  Wherever  side  or  jack 
stringers  are  in  use  it  would  seem  that  the  most  desirable  way  to  obtain 
the  elevation  would  be  by  some  method  having  to  do  with  the  support  for 
the  stringers,  so  that  the  tops  of  all  the  stringers  could  be  placed  in  the 
same  plane.  The  elevation  may  be  built  in  the  stringers  or  girders  by 
increasing  the  depth  of  the  outer  stringer  or  girder.  The  objection  to  this 
method  is  that  the  ties  must  be  dapped  at  a  bevel,  and  in  case  of  girders 
having  several  cover  plates  in  the  middle  of  the  span,  the  increased  amount 
of  dapping  made  necessary  cuts  deeply  into  the  tie  and  seriously  weakens 
it  for  withstanding  derailment. 

The  next  method  to  be  considered  consists  in  tilting  the  trestle  bents 
or  the  pair  of  stringers  or  girders  supporting  the  ties.  A  trestle  bent 
may  be  tilted  by  raising  and  blocking  the  end  of  the  sill.  This  tilting  of 
the  bent  inclines  the  cap  and  gives  inclination  to  the  track.  The  objec- 
tion to  this  method  is  that  the  middle  or  "track"  posts  (which  otherwise 
would  be  plumb  posts)  are  inclined,  and  with  slowly-moving  trains,  which 
do  not  develop  much  centrifugal  force,  the  load  does  not  act  through  the 
axis  of  the  trestle,  with  the  result  that  an  undue  proportion  of  the  load 
is  thrown  upon  the  posts  under  the  inner  rail,  with  three  of  the  posts  act- 
ing as  batter  posts  and  leaning  toward  the  inside  of  the  curve,  with  only 
the  inside  post  to  oppose  this  action,  and  that  with  its  batter  reduced.  As 
a  result  the  bracing  must  stand  a  heavy  racking  stress.  The  seriousness  of 
the  latter  objection  disappears  to  some  extent  where  the  middle  posts  of 
the  bent  are  set  at  a  batter  instead  of  vertical.  The  same  objections  apply 
to  a  leaning  bent  on  a  horizontal  sill ;  that  is,  a  bent  built  by  framing  the 
outer  posts  longer  but  with  the  axis  of  the  system  of  posts  inclined.  The 
method  of  obtaining  elevation  in  the  outer  rail  by  tilting  up  the  pair  of 
stringers  or  girders  under  the  rails,  by  blocking  under  the  outer  girder,  is 
objectionable  from  the  fact  that  at  slow  speed  the  load  acts  vertically  on 
the  tilted  girder,  thus  introducing  a  sidewise  component  for  which  the 
girder  was  not  designed. 

The  last  mentioned  arrangement  (8)  for  obtaining  curve  elevation 
on  trestles,  namely  by  inclining  the  cap,  is  much  in  favor  and  is  exten- 
sively practiced.  In  applying  this  method  to  framed  bents  the  sill  is  laid 
horizontal  and  the  posts  stand  in  the  usual  manner,  the  cap  being  inclined 
by  lengthening  the  posts  on  the  outer  side.  If  the  bent  is  more  than  one 
deck  high,  only  the  top  deck  or  top  story  is  framed  with  an  inclined  cap. 
In  pile  bents  the  piles  are  cut  off  at  the  proper  hight  to  receive  the  cap 
at  the  desired  inclination,  the  cap  being  sometimes  framed  on  to  the  piles 
and  sometimes  dapped  over  and  drift-bolted  to  them.  It  is  to  be  noticed 
that  by  this  method  of  inclining  the  track  the  elevation  of  the  curve  can- 
not be  changed  without  resorting  to  one  of  the  other  methods  above  men- 
tioned. 

The  stringers  for  supporting  curved  track  on  bridges  or  trestles  are 
sometimes  sprung  to  the  curve.  In  one  instance  which  might  be  cited  as 
an  example,  a  five-deck  trestle  77  ft.  high  was  located  on  a  6-deg.  curve. 
The  length  of  span  was  15  ft.  c.  to  c.  of  bents,  and  the  stringers,  three  in 
number  for  each  side  of  the  track,  were  8x16  ins.  in  size  and  30  ft.  long, 
laid  to  break  joints  over  the  caps  and  sprung  to  the  curve.  To  strengthen  a 
curved  trestle  against  heavy  stresses  from  centrifugal  force  the  bents 
should  be  securely  cross  braced. 


BRIDGE    FLOOES  859 

Bridge  Guard  Rails. — A  question  of  first  importance  in  the  design 
of  a  bridge  floor  is  the  arrangement  of  the  guard  rails.  If  a  derailed  truck 
gets  badly  slewed  on  a  bridge  there  is  much  danger  of  a  serious  wreck, 
both  of  the  train  and  the  bridge,  especially  a  through  bridge  or  one  on 
which  the  trains  run  between  the  trusses.  It  is  highly  desirable,  then, 
that  means  be  provided  to  restrain  the  derailed  wheels  and  keep  the  truck 
as  nearly  parallel  with  the  track  as  is  possible  while  passing  over  the  bridge 
floor.  The  proper  position  for  bridge  guard  rails  is  inside  the  track  and 
not  outside,  for  this  reason:  When  all  the  wheels  of  a  truck  leave  the 
rails  and  swing  askew  to  the  track,  the  wheels  on  the  front  axle  almost 
always  take  the  lead  in  guiding  the  truck,  and  of  these  two  wheels  the  one 
running  in  the  track  takes  the  advance.  If  inside  guard  rails  be  in  use 
the  wheel  which  must  run  against  the  guard  rail  is  the  one  in  the  advance ; 
moreover,  the  side  of  the  wheel  which  brings  up  against  the  guard  rail  is  the 
inside,  the  portion  of  the  wheel  in  contact  with  the  guard  rail  being  the 
guard  side  of  the  flange.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  guard  rails  are  placed 
outside  the  track  there  is  no  guard  rail  in  position  for  the  leading  wheel 
to  meet,  and  its  mate,  the  lagging  wheel,  which  is  outside  the  track,  brings 
up  against  the  guard  rail.  It  is  then  to  be  noticed  that  with  outside  guard 
rails  the  portion  of  vthe  wheel  which  comes  in  contact  with  the  guard  rail 
when  the  truck  is  slewed  is  the  outside  of  the  wheel  or  the  corner  of  the 
tread.  Now  it  must  be  clear  that  any  obstruction  to  the  leading  wheel 
has  a  tendency  to  swing  the  truck  in  line  with  the  track ;  but  if  the  lagging 
wheel  meets  with  obstruction  the  action  is  directly  the  reverse.,  the  ten- 
dency being  to  slew  the  truck  all  the  more.  An  inside  guard  rail  retards 
the  leading  wheel  of  the  front  axle,  which  makes  contact  by  a  rounded 
edge  (back  side  of  the  flange),  so  that  the  tendency  of  the  wheel  is  to 
sheer  off;  moreover,  the  wheel  is  guarded  the  full  depth  of  the  rail.  An 
outside  guard  rail  retards  the  lagging  wheel  of  the  front  pair,  which, 
meeting  the  guard  rail  with  the  sharp  corner  of  the  tread,  has  a  ten- 
dency to  cut  in  and  climb  over;  and  all  the  more  so  because  the  wheel, 
being  lifted  to  a  hight  equal  to  the  depth  of  the  flange  (or  the  ten- 
dency being  such),  cannot  be  guarded  so  deeply.  The  action  with  in- 
side guard  rails  is  therefore  to  assist  the  derailed  truck  to  swing  back 
parallel  with  the  track,  whereas  the  effect  o<f  outside  guard  rails  is  to  do 
the  reverse. 

The  guard  which  meets  all  requirements  most  satisfactorily  is  an  ordi- 
nary rail  placed  inside  each  running  rail,  about  8  ins.  in  the  clear.  The 
usual  arrangement  is  to  spike  such  guard  rails  to  the  ties  (alternate  ties) 
in  the  ordinary  manner,  and  when  such  is  the  case  the  rails  should  be 
spliced  on  the  service  side  with  fish  plates,  putting  the  bolt  through  from 
the  service  side,  so  that  the  nuts  cannot  interfere  with,  or  be  reached  by, 
the  wheels  in  case  of  derailment.  Old  rails  worn  out  in  service  are  as 
good  as  any  for  this  purpose,  but  a  rail  should  not  be  used  which  presents 
a  slivered  or  ragged  head  to  the  service  side,  because  derailed  wheels  are 
liable  to  bite  into  the  roughened  edge  and  mount  the  rail.  Preferably 
the  guard  rails  should  be  the  same  hight  as  the  running  rails,  but  rails  of 
ordinary  section,  even  if  not  quite  as  high  as  the  main  rails,  are  satis- 
factory. In  order  to  present  a  smooth  service  side,  without  spikes  or  bolt 
heads  to  interfere  with  derailed  wheels,  it  is  the  practice  on  some  roads 
to  splice  the  rails  together  and  turn  them  on  side,  using  the  flange  of  the 
rail  as  the  service  side  of  the  guard.  One  method  of  holding  the  guard 
rail  in  this  position  is  to  bolt  it  to  cast  iron  chairs,  which  in  turn  are 
bolted  to  the  ties.  On  the  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  Ey.  the  guard  rails 
are  turned  on  side  and  laid  directly  upon  the  ties,  being  fastened  bv  bolts 
passing  through  the  web  of  the  rail  and  the  tie. 


860  MISCELLANEOUS 

•As  a  wheel  will  readily  bite  into  and  mount  a.  low  timber  there  is  notr 
room  to  put  effective  timber  guards  inside  the  rails,  unless  the  timber  has- 
metal  protection  on  the  service  side.  Such  protection  is  sometimes 
afforded  by  facing  the  service  side  of  the  timber  with  a  flat  bar  of  iron 
laid  with  the  top  edge  flush  with  the  upper  corner  of  the  timber.  A 
better  arrangement  is  to  face  the  service  corner  of  the  timber  with  an 
angle  iron.  Angle  irons  are  sometimes  used  for  inside  guards  in  lieu 
of  rails,  the  horizontal  leg  of  the  angle  extending  inward,  toward  the 
middle  of  the  track,  and  bolted  to  the  ties.  In  some  cases  the  vertical 
leg  of  the  angle  is  backed  by  a  timber  laid  on  flat  over  the  horizontal  leg 
and  bolted  to  the  ties  through  the  portion  which  overlaps  the  horizontal 
leg.  In  other  cases  the  horizontal  leg  of  the  angle  is  turned  toward  the 
running  rail,  as  in  Fig.  437,  so  as  to  form  the  bottom  of  a  channel  for 
the  derailed  wheels,  the  angle  then  being  bolted  to  the  timber  backing 
through  the  vertical  leg.  Inside  guard  rails  are  all  the  better  if  they 
extend  as  high  as  the  running  rails,  but  they  should  not  extend  higher. 
A  suitable  size  of  timber  for  an  inside  guard  would  then  be  5  x  8  or 
6x8  ins.,  the  stick  laid  on  flat  and-  dapped  over  the  ties.  The  floor  of 
the  Boone  viaduct,  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.  (Fig.  437),  con- 
sists of  yellow  pine  ties  12  ft.  long  and  8  ins.  square  in  section,  laid  directly 
upon  the  plate  girders  and  spaced  12  ins.  c.  to  c.  On  each  side  of  each 
rail  there  is  spiked  a  4xlO-in.  plank,  those  in  the  track  being  faced  on  the 
service  side  with  a  6x4J-in.  angle  iron.  At  the  ends  of  the  ties  there  is- 
a  10xl2-in.  yellow  pine  timber  guard  laid  on  edge  and  bolted  to  the  ties. 
On  the  outside  of  the  bridge  these  timbers  are  broken  at  the  hand-car 
refuge  platforms,  so  that  they  do  not  appear  in  the  figure.  On  roads 
where  snow  plows  are  used  timber  guards  that  are  much  higher  than  the 
rail  cannot,  for  obvious  reasons,  be  laid  near  the  latter.  Where  such  con- 
ditions exist  it  is  therefore  possible  to  hold  derailed  wheels  nearer  to  the- 
running  rails  with  inside  guard  rails  than  with  outside  ones. 

In  general  practice  inside  guard  rails  are  extended  from  60  to  150 
ft.  beyond  the  end  of  the  bridge  and  gradually  deflected  to  meet  in  the 
middle  of  the  track.  The  ends  of  the  rails  are  usually  made  to  abut 
against  a  "terminal  or  point  piece,  which  sometimes  consists  of  a  cast 
block  running  to  a  point,  and  sometimes  an  old  frog  point  is  spliced  to 
the  guard  rails.  To  prevent  anything  from  catching  upon  the  terminal 
piece  the  point  is  beveled  down  or  turned  down  into  the  ballast  between 
two  ties.  On  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.  the  two  rails 
run  together  and  turn  down  into  the  ballast  between  two  ties,  being^ 
bolted  together  at  the  ends  through  a  cast  filler  block.  If  the  approach 
to  the  bridge  be  on  a  curve  the  safest  plan  is  to  extend  the  guard  rails 
all  the  way  around  it  before  bringing  them  to  a  point ;  or  to  run  them  to  a 
point,  say  60  ft.  ahead  of  the  bridge,  and  then  lay  a  single  rail  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  track  the  rest  of  the  way  around  the  curve.  The  purpose  of  de- 
flecting the  guard  rails  to  the  middle  of  the  track  is,  of  course,  to  catch 
derailed  wheels  and  gradually  guide  them  close  to  the  running  rails,  and  into 
line  with  the  track.  In  order  that  the  guard  rail  may  ha.ve  sufficient 
•support  or  backing  to  properly  perform  its  function,  the  inside  of  the 
rail  throughout  its  curved  portion  should  be  well  braced.  Concerning 
the  efficacy  of  this  arrangement  for  general  service  there  is  some  differ- 
ence of  opinion.  In  almost  all  cases  where  the  derailed  wheels  are  not 
far  from  the  running  rails  the  arrangement  accomplishes  its  purpose, 
although  one  occasionally  hears  of  an  instance  where  the  wheels  refuse 
to  be  constrained  and  jump  over  the  guard  rail.  Such  is  quite  likely  to 
be  the  x^ase  where  the  derailed  wheels  on  one  side  are  running  off  the- 


BRIDGE   FLOORS  861 

ties,  as  it  would  be  easier  for  the  wheels  on  the  ties  to  mount  the  guard 
rail  than  it  would  be  for  the  guard  rail  to  draw  the  other  wheels  back 
onto  the  ties.  One  can  readily  understand  how  such  a  result  might 
•obtain  where  the  ballast  is  not  filled  in  against  the  ends  of  the  ties.  For 
this  reason  it  would  seem  that  the  use  of  a  set  of  long  ties,  or  switch 
ties,  extending  the  length  of  the  deflection  in  the  guard  rails  would  be  an 
important  aid  in  bringing  derailed  wheels  into  position  to  travel  safely 
over  the  bridge,  and  a  third  guard  rail,  laid  in  the  middle  of  the  track, 
might  come  into  play  in  any  case  where  the  wheel  jumps  over  the  deflected 
guard  rail. 

In  remote  cases  derailed  wheels  are  diverted  by  more  than  half  the 
track  gage,  and  then  the  deflection  of  the  inside  guard  rails  works  a  result 
-exactly  the  opposite  of  that  intended,  for  if  the  inside  wheels  catch  the 
.guard  rails  past  the  center  of  the  track  the  truck  will  be  thrown  still 
farther  away,  and  cases  of  this  kind  are  on  record  where  the  car  has  been 
thrown  into  the  end  post  of  the  bridge,  knocking  it  down  and  wrecking 
the  bridge.  To  avoid  such  consequences  it  has  been  proposed  that  snub- 
bing posts  in  the  form  of  a  cluster  of  piles  be  erected  in  advance  of  and 
in  line  with  the  bridge  post,  to  break  up  any  cars  which  are  so  badly  out 
•of  line  as  to  strike  the  bridge  post,  and  thus  wreck  the  train  before  the 
bridge  is  reached.  At  a  number  of  through  bridges  on  the  Grand  Trunk 
Ry.  there  is  a  wall  of  cut  stone  masomy  about  3  ft.  thick,  6  ft.  high  and 
30  ft.  long,  in  front  of  and  in  line  with  each  truss  to  protect  it  from 
injury  by  derailed  cars.  Another  plan  in  practice  is  the  use  of  a  pair  of 
flared  guard  rails  placed  outside  the  running  rails  just  in  advance  of  the 
.-guard  point,  so  as  to  catch  the  truck  and  deflect  it  into  position  to  take 
the  right  side  of  the  inside  guard  rails.  These  outside  advance  guard 
rails  are  laid  upon  switch  ties  and  braced,  the  leaving  ends  (opposite 
the  guard  point)  being  about  8  ins.  clear  of  the  running  rails,  and.  then 
flaring  to  a  distance  of  about  5  ft.  from  the  running  rails  at  the  entering 
end.  Engraving  E,  Fig.  444,  shows  the  arrangement,  except  that  tim- 
bers are  used  for  guard  pieces  instead  of  rails.  The  device  illustrated  is 
known  as  the  Childe-La timer  bridge  guard.  The  guard  timbers  flare  out 
to  a  distance  of  7  ft.  from  the  center  of  the  track  or  to  a  distance  apart  which 
corresponds  to  the  distance  between  the  bridge  trusses.  The  large  posts  set 
in  the  ground  to  back  up  the  ends  of  the  flaring  timbers  are  16x16  ins.,  12  ft. 
long,  the  top  standing  4  ft.  above  top  of  rail.  When  timbers  are  used  for 
these  flaring  guard  pieces  the  upper  corner  on  the  service  side  of  each  should 
be  sheathed  with  an  angle  iron  to  prevent  derailed  wheels  from  biting  into 
It.  These  timbers  should  not  be  smaller  than  10x10  or  12x12  ins.  From 
the  leaving  end  of  the  advance  guards  there  should  be  outside  guard  rails 
parallel  with  the  running  rails,  extending  toward  the  bridge,  to  prevent 
the  wheels  from  dropping  off  the  ties  until  they  reach  a  point  where  the 
•deflected  inside  guards  come  close  enough  to  the  running  rails  to  hold 
them  on. 

The  fact  that  derailed  wheels  will  sometimes  take  the  wrong  side  of 
guard  rails  deflected  to  the  center  of  the  track  has  induced  some  to  aban- 
don the  practice  of  deflecting  the  rails  at  all,  but  to  lay  them  parallel 
with  the  running  rails  their  whole  length.  Such  is  the  practice  on  the 
Michigan  Central  R.  R.,  and  in  addition  a  third  inside  guard  rail  is 
laid  in  the  middle  of  the  track.  Each  guard  rail  is  turned  down  into 
the  ballast,  at  each  end,  so  as  not  to  catch  anything  loose  hanging  from 
the  cars.  The  idea  which  here  obtains  is  that  the  safest  plan  is  not 
to  attempt  to  change  the  position  of  the  derailed  truck  from  that  in  which 
it  first  strikes  the  guard  rails,  and  that  any  arrangement  which  will 


862  MISCELLANEOUS 

prevent  it  from  swinging  into  a  worse  position  while  crossing  the  bridge 
is  a  sufficient  protection.  The  middle  guard  rail  serves  to  keep  the  inside 
wheels  from  getting  past  the  middle  of  the  track  while  on  the  bridge, 
but  if  they  are  already  past  the  middle  of  the  track  before  it  reaches 
the  bridge  the  guard  rails  do  not  operate  to  make  the  condition  of  things 
worse,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  where  the  guard  rails  are  deflected  to 
the  middle  of  the  track,  as  above  explained.  It  may  be  well  to  remark 
that  on  through  bridges  with  trusses  standing  widely  apart  this  prin- 
ciple is  undoubtedly  the  safest  to  follow  out  in  practice;  but  on  narrow 
bridges  the  advantage  is  with  the  two-line  pointed  guard,  for  if  the  derailed 
wheels  have  passed  the  center  line  of  the  track  the  car  would  strike  a  truss 
in  any  case,  as  also  it  might  with  the  three-line  guard  if  the  wheels  have 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  reached  the  center  line;  but  in  that  case  two-lines  of 
guard  rails  converging  to  the  center  might  draw  the  derailed  car  out  of 
reach  of  the  truss.  On  deck  bridges  the  advantage  would  seem  to  lie  with 
the  three-line  guard,  without  question,  and  a  peculiar  advantage  in  any 
case  is  that  the  three  lines  of  rails  may  serve  to  carry  badly  slewed  wheels, 
broken  trucks,  sliding  car  bodies,  etc.,  clear  of  the  ties,  with  less  liability 
of  bunching  the  latter  than  would  be  the  case  where  the  middle  of  the- 
track  is  open. 

The  three-line  straight  bridge  guard  in  use  on  the  Michigan  Central 
E.  E.  was  designed  by  Mr.  0.  P.  Jordan,  formerly  roadmaster  with 
that  road,  and  is  known  by  his  name.  It  consists'  of  three  lines  of 
rails  equally  spaced  between  the  main  rails  and  parallel  to  the  same 
throughout,  The  turned-down  ends  are  inserted  through  a  i-in.  iron  or 
steel  plate  covering  the  space  between  the  main  rails  and  spiked  to  the 
ties.  As  first  constructed,  there  was  a  rail  on  the  under  side  of  the  ties 
(making  four  rails  in  all)  bolted  through  and  through  with  the  middle 
guard  rail,  but  this  under  rail  is  no  longer  used.  Some  other  roads 
which  use  the  Jordan  bridge  guard •  are  the  Lake  Erie  &  Detroit  Biver 
By.,  and  the  Toronto,  Hamilton  &  Buffalo  Ey.  At  one  time  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.  used  a  bridge  guard  designed  on  a  similar 
principle.  It  consisted  of  two  T-rails,  laid  10  ins.  inside  the  main  rails, 
and  a  5x6-in.  oak  timber  laid  on  flat  in  the  middle  of  the  track  and 
dapped  over  the  ties  1  in.  The  top  of  this  timber  was  capped  with  a 
6-in.  channel  iron  inverted  and  bolted  through  and  through  at  every 
fourth  tie.  The  center  guard  ended  at  the  ends  of  the  bridge  and  was 
beveled  down  to  prevent  anything  dragging  under  a  train  from  catching,, 
but  the  rail  guards  extended  150  ft.  beyond  the  ends  of  the  bridge. 
Besides-  the  three  guards  in  the  track  there  were  the  usual  timber  guards 
near  the  ends  of  the  ties.  In  course  of  time  the  use  of  the  center  tim- 
ber guard  was  abandoned.  A  noteworthy  feature  c-f  bridge  floor  design 
that  is  standard  with  this  road,  as  touching  the  subject  now  in  view,  is 
to  have  no  bolt  heads  or  other  projections  where  they  will  catch  derailed 
wheels  or  parts  of  a  car  or  its  running  gear  that  may  be  dragging. 

It  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  dispense  with  guard  rails  inside 
the  track  and  depend  upon  guard  timbers  outside  the  rails.  When  such- 
is  the  case  the  guards  should  be  placed  close  enough  to  the  rail — say 
8  or  10  ins.  from  the  rail  in  the  clear — to  serve  as  well  as  possible  the- 
purpose  of  a  guard  rail  and  prevent  derailed  trucks  from  becoming  badly 
slewed  in  the  track.  If  ties  as  long  as  12  ft.  are  used  the  timber  guard 
dapped  over  the  ties  near  their  ends,  to  keep  them  from  bunching,  is- 
not  close  enough  to  the  rail  to  be  of  service  in  holding  derailed  wheels 
on  the  floor,  since  the  truck  is  already  slewed  so  badly  by  the  time  the- 
wheel  strikes  the  guard  timber  that  it  cannot  be  turned  back  into  line- 


BRIDGE    FLOORS  863 

with  the  track,  and  consequently  trouble  is  likely  to  ensue.  Hence, 
if  guard  timbers  are  to  be  depended  upon  to  hold  the  wheels  on  the  floor 
they  should  be  placed  close  to  the  rails,  and  beyond  the  ends  of  the  bridge 
the  timbers  should  be  gradually  flared  out  a  sufficient  distance  from  the 
rail  to  catch  badly  derailed  trucks  and  deflect  them  into  line  with  the 
track.  These  flaring  guard  ends  should  be  laid  upon  switch  ties  placed 
in  the  track  on  the  approach  to  the  bridge  floor.  Owing  to  the  tendency 
of  derailed  wheels  to  bite  into  timber,  a  low  timber  guard  outside  the 
rails,  without  inside  guard  rails,  becomes  an  element  of  danger  and 
actually  worse  than  no  guard  at  all  in  case  of  derailment,  because  of  its 
action  in  retarding  the  wrong  corner  of  the  derailed  truck  and  the  lia- 
bility of  the  wheel  to  mount  it.  For  this  reason  the  upper  corner  on  the 
service  side  of  the  guard  timber  should  be  faced  with  an  angle  iron. 
If  such  protection  is  not  provided  the  timber  guard  should  never  be  less 
than  8  ins.  high  above  the  ties,  but  it  is  best  to  provide  the  metal  protec- 
tion for  timber  of  any  size.  On  some  bridges  of  the  Boston  &  Albany 
K.  K.  10xl2-in.  hard  pine  guard  timbers  set  2J  ft.  from  the  rails  are 
used,  without  inside  guard  rails.  At  the  end  of  the  bridge  there  is  a 
flared  approach  consisting  of  rails  laid  to  turn  derailed  wheels  inside  the 
line  of  guard  timbers.  The  bridge  guard  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Ky.  con- 
sists of  a  T-rail  laid  outside  each  main  rail,  at  a  distance  of  12  or  15 
ins.,  and  well  flared  out  beyond  the  ends  of  the  bridge.  Guard  timbers 
should  be  securely  bolted  to  every,  third  or  fourth  tie,  but  if  they  are 
not  dapped  over  the  ties  they  should  be  bolted  to  every  tie.  If  inside 
guard  rails  are  used  the  outside  guard  timber  is  not  needed,  and  it  should 
then  be  placed  so  far  from  the  rail  that  derailed  wheels  cannot  reach 
it  so  long  as  they  are  held  by  the  inside  guard  rails.  At  this  distance 
from  the  rail  it  can  perform  its  true  function  equally  well,  which  is  to 
•keep  the  ties  properly  spaced  and  prevent  them  from  spreading  and 
bunching  in  event  of  a  derailment,  A  piece  of  timber  of  square  cross 
section  is  preferable  to  an  oblong  section  for  guard  rails,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  a  choice  of  four  sides  is  had  for  either  the  line  side  or  the  upper  face 
of  the  timber. 

In  connection  with  inside  guard  rails  a  replacing  device  is  some- 
times used.  The  arrangement  consists  in  laying  the  guard  rails  close 
inside  the  running  rails  and  placing  an  inclined  plane  or  "elevating 
casting"  each  side  of  each  running  rail  at  the  point  where  the  flared 
opening  at  the  heel  of  the  deflected  portion  of  the  guard  rails  draws  to 
a  close.  The  inclined  planes  are  cast  blocks,  similar  to  the  filler  blocks 
of  a  frog,  and  each  running  rail  with  its  guard  rail  and  the  incline  castings 
are  bolted  together  through  and  through,  like  a  bolted  frog.  The  incline 
castings  gradually  bring  the  wheels  up  to  a  hight  even  with  top  of  rail, 
where  they  are  constrained  by  the  guard  to  take  the  rails  again.  One  of  the 
best  known  rerailing  devices  is  the  Latimer  bridge  guard,  shown  as  Engrav- 
ing Z>,  Fig.  444.  The  Childe-Latimer  bridge  j^uard,  shown  as  Engraving  E, 
is  a  later  improvement.  In  addition  to  the  rerailing  device  and  inside 
guard  rails  deflected  to  a  point  piece  in  the  middle  of  the  track  there  are 
outside  flare  guards  in  advance  of  the  guard  point,  to  steer  derailed  wheels 
to  the  right  side  of  the  guard  point,  as  already  explained. 

While  some  claim  much  for  a  rerailing  device  at  the  end  of  a, 
bridge  others  think  that  it  may  not  be  needed,  and  in  cases  may  actually 
make  matters  all  the  worse  for  the  derailed  truck.  Thus,  for  instance, 
it  is  claimed  that  a  set  of  wheels  which  can  be  brought  over  by  the  guard 
rail  and  held  until  they  reach  the  replacer  will,  in  all  probability,  cross 
the  bridge  in  safety,  because  the  guard  rail  must  do  its  important  work 


864 


MISCELLANEOUS 


before  the  replacer  is  reached;  i.  e.,  it  must  get  the  truck  swung  pretty 
well  in  line  with  the  track.  Now  many  think  that  when  this  much  has 
been  accomplished  the  chances  of  further  trouble  on  the  bridge  are  so 
slight  that  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  attempt  to  better  the  situation 
by  taking  further  risk;  for  it  must  be  admitted  that  to  attempt  to  replace 
wheels  on  the  rails  at  high  speed  with  any  form  of  rerailing  device 
is  doing  it  at  the  hazard  of  jumping  the  truck  into  a  worse  position 
than  it  had  before.  At  high  speed  the  truck  would  necessarily  be  swung 
with  considerable  momentum;  and  when  the  wheels  have  been  raised  out 
of  the.  rut  between  the  running  rail  and  guard  rail,  it  is  difficult  to  tell 
how  far  the  truck  might  swing.  It  does  look  a  little  like  a  case  of  not 
"leaving  good  enough  alone."  Such  replacing  devices  when  used  should 
not  be  on  the  bridge,  as  the  shock  which  might  come  upon  the  structure 
should  the  device  fail  to  replace  the  wheels  on  the  rails  might  cause  dan- 
gerous stresses.  It  would  be  better  to  place  it  two  or  three  rail  lengths 
in  advance  of  the  bridge. 


n  n  n  n  n  n  n  n 


UUUUUUULJU 
D 

rvr 

SIDE  VIEW  Of  CAR  HEPLACER. 


Fig.  444. — Latimer  (D)  and  Childe-Latimer  (E)  Bridge  Guards. 

Wherever  the  supports,  of  an  overhead  structure  stand  at  the  side  of 
a  track,  as  at  crossings  on  separated  grades,  they  should  be  protected 
against  dislodgment  by  derailed  cars.  This  may  be  done  by  laying 
guard  rails  in  the  track  as  on  a  bridge  floor.  Such  guard  rails  are 
usually  run  to  a  point  in  the  middle  of  the  track,  50  or  100  ft.  in  advance 
of  the  columns  or  other  supports,  after  the  ordinary  manner  with  bridge 
floor  guards,  but  if  the  supports  to  be  protected  stand  on  only  one  side 
of  the  track,  only  one  guard  rail  is  usually  laid,  that  being,  of  course, 
near  the  rail  that  is  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  track  from  the  object  to 
be  protected.  In  addition  to  the  guard  rail  protection  it  is  customary 
to  build  a  masonry  pier  parallel  to  the  track  to  surround  the  supporting 
columns  to  a  hight  of  4  ft.  or  more.  Such  piers  or  walls  usually  perform 
no  service  in  supporting  the  overhead  structure,  being  placed  simply  to 
encompass  the  column  supports  and  fill  intervening  space  in  a  manner 
to  guard  the  supporting  columns  against  shock  or  displacement  by 
derailed  cars.  In  some  of  the  track  elevation  subways  in  Chicago  con- 
crete protection  walls  are  built  around  the  columns  supporting  the  over- 
head bridges.  An  example  of  such  construction  on  the  Chicago  &  Wes- 
tern Indiana  E,  R.  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  445.  The  foundation  for  the 
wall  is  4  ft.  4^  ins.  wide  and  14  ins.  deep,  extending  to  a  level  2  ins. 
below  that  of  top  of  tie.  The  wall  built  thereon  is  3J  ft,  thick  at  the 
base,  tapering  to  a  thickness  of  1  ft.  9  ins.  at  a  hight  of  4  ft.  1J  ins.  above 


BRIDGE    FLOORS  865 

the  base,  above  which  the  wall  has  a  uniform  thickness  of  1  ft.  9  ins. 
The  hight  of  the  wall  above  the  foundation  is  10  ft  The  ends  of  the  wait 
are  prow-shaped,  the  top  receding  7  ft.  from  the  bottom,  on  the  extreme 
edge,  which  is  6  ins.  wide.  Some  of  the  protection  walls  in  this  subway  are 
243  ft.  long  and  are  provided  with  arched  retreats  through  the  wall  at  four 
different  places,  the  opening  being  3  ft.  wide  and  5-J  ft.  high. 

Fire  Protection. — As  wooden  bridges  are  liable  to  take  fire  from 
passing  trains  or  from  fires  which  spread  over  the  right  of  way,  the 
question  of  providing  means  for  fighting  such  fires,  or  for  protecting 
tiie  structure  against  taking  fire  from  trains,  readily  suggests  itself.  At 
wooden  bridges  or  trestles  it  is  custom ary  to  place  barrels  of  water  for 
service  in  case  of  fire,  and  at  iron  bridges  at  least  one  barrel  is  needed 
to  protect  the  bridge  floor.  The  barrels  at  the  ends  of  bridges  are  usually 
sunk  into  the  embankment,  to  insure  that  they  will  not  be  tipped  over  by 
mischievous  persons.  To  prevent  freezing  during  winter  the  water  is 
salted.  Where  the  weather  becomes  only  moderately  cold  two  buckets 
of  salt  to  each  barrel  is  sufficient,  but  in  some  parts  of  the  Northwest 
where  extremely  cold  weather  is  prolonged,  one  third  to  a  half  barrel  of 


Fig.  445. — Concrete  Protection  Walls,  for  Bridge  Supports,  C.  &  W.  I.  R.  R. 

salt  is  used  to  each  barrel  of  water,  and  even  then  the  water  on  top  will 
sometimes  freeze  into  slush.  On  some  roads  a  stick  of  wood  is  stood 
upright  in  the  center  of  the  barrel,  projecting  a  few  inches  above  the  top, 
to  prevent  the  barrel  from  bursting  in  case  the  water  freezes  into  ice, 
but  plenty  of  salt  will  usually  keep  the  water  in  condition  for  use. 
In  practice  it  is  found  to  be  necessary  to  renew  the  salt  every  fall,  and, 
as  might  be  expected,  the  use  of  salt  requires  frequent  renewing  of  the 
iron  hoops  on  the  barrels.  The  barrels  should  be  provided  with  heavy 
covers  chained  to  the  side,  and  a  water  bucket  should  be  sunk  in  each" 
barrel  for  use  in  case  of  fire.  Whenever  water  is  added  to  the  barrels 
the  condition  of  these  buckets  should  be  examined,  for  a  coal  oil  can  or 
tin  pail  with  the  bottom  eaten  out  with  rust  or  a  wooden  bucket  with 
the  hoops  eaten  off  is  a  poor  weapon  for  fighting  fire.  On  long  bridges 
or  trestles  it  is  customary  to  have  water  barrels  stationed  at  frequent 
intervals,  usually  on  the  trestle  caps  or  on  a  platform  extending  beyond  the 
ends  of  the  ties.  The  section  men  are  required  to  keep  these  barrels 
filled,  so  that  they  will  not  be  checked  by  the  sun  and  become  leaky. 
At  bridges  where  water  is  not  handy  the  water  barrels,  if  numerous, 


866 


MISCELLANEOUS 


should  be  filled  periodically  by  hose  from  a  tank  car  or  from  the  tender 
•of  the  work  train,,  as  the  cost  of  trucking  water  by  the  section  crew  is 
too  great. 

Concerning  systems  of  watching  wooden  bridges  against  fire  there 
is  no  generally  uniform  practice.  On  some  roads  no  regular  bridge 
watchmen  are  employed  and,,  'aside  from  the  chance  that  the  section  crews 
may  pass  over  the  bridges  once  or  twice  a  day,  they  receive  no  particular 
attention.  In  other  cases  watchmen  are  employed  during  the  dry  season 
of  the  year  to  pass  over  each  bridge  after  the  passage  of  a  train,  keeping 
close  watch  for  fire.  In  case  there  are  a  number  of  wooden  bridges  within 
a  distance  of  a  few  miles  the  watchman  is  given  a  velocipede  hand  car 
and  is  required  to  look  after  all  of  the  bridges  within  the  limits  of  the 
beat  he  is  able  to  ride  over  between  trains^  within  a  reasonable  time  after 
the  passage  of  the  trains.  In  watching  bridges  the  watchman  should 
not  pass  the  bridge  sooner  than  15  minutes  after  the  passage  of  a  train, 
since  fire  starting  from  sparks  might  smolder  or  not  get  sufficiently 


End  View  of  Troughs 


Troughs  * ?2  Golv  f  Iron,  pointed  both  sides 

Noikd  in  place  H,rh  tf>/0 -IU' barbed  *irt  nails  /'/i"of>orr. 

_^i — m — i— i ,-, i— i 0- 


Trap  door  in  decking  orer  eac/i  ser 
of  rods  3Bds  in  upper  &  2  in  tow 
covering,  rasrened  wirh  jcrexfS 

"Fig.  446. — Covering  for  Howe  Truss          Fig.  446A— Kitselman   Woven   Wire 
Deck  Bridges,  C.,  M.  &  St  .P.  Ry.  Fence  Machine. 

started  to  attract  notice  until  after  a  few  minutes  from  the  time  it  begins. 
In  other  cases  important  wooden  bridges,  particularly  long  ones,  are 
placed  in  charge  of  a  watchman  who  patrols  the  bridge  after  the  passage 
of  each  trainj  at  all  times  of  the  year.  Oak  bridge  ties  are  not  liable 
to  take  fire  except  during  extremely  dry  weather,  and  even  then  it  is  sel- 
dom that  the  fire  will  spread  and  burn  the  tie  to  the  danger  point.  Never- 
theless it  is  a  good  plan  to  have  water  barrels  at  all  bridges — whether  of 
wood  or  of  iron — if  there  are  wooden  ties  in  an  open  floor. 

It  is  quite  frequently  the  case  that  means  for  protecting  wooden 
bridges  from  fire  are  provided  in  the  construction  of  the  bridge  floor. 
One  method  is  to  cover  the  ties  with  galvanized  sheet  iron,  making  a 
close  fit  with  the  rails  by  upturning  the  edges  of  the  sheets.  Another 
method  quite  extensively  in  use  on  wooden  trestle  bridges  is  to  cover 
the  stringers  and  caps  with  galvanized  sheet  iron.  Such  protection  keeps 
the  fire  from  the  vital  parts  of  the  floor  and  protects  the  parts  covered, 
even  though  fire  may  burn  some  of  the  ties.  On  the  Louisville  &  Nash- 
ville R.  R.  the  galvanized  iron  used  is  No.  20  Birmingham  gage  and  is  put 
on  the  caps  in  strips  25  ins.  wide  and  7  ft.  9  ins.  long.  The  strips  over- 
lap 6  ins.  and  are  riveted  together  with  flat-head,  soft  iron,  tinned  rivets 
Vio  in.  in  diameter  and  f  in.  long,  placed  in  the  center  of  the  lap,  2J  ins. 


BRIDGE    FLOORS  867 

^apart.  Each  set  of  stringers  is  made  up  of  three  7xl4-in.  pieces  and  is 
covered  with  strips  of  galvanized  iron  33  ins.  wide.  In  either  case  the 
iron  is  turned  down  5  ins.  over  each  edge  of  the  timber,,  at  an  angle  of 
45  deg.,  so  that  anything  which  falls  upon  the  stringers  or  caps,  when 
it  slides  off,  will  fall  clear  of  the  trestle  bent.  Such  a  covering  also 
protects  the  timber  from  the  weather  "and  is  sometimes  applied  to  the 
upper  chord  pieces  of  wooden  trusses.  The  Southern  Pacific  wooden 
deck  truss  shown  as  Engraving  B,  Fig.  434-,  is  so  protected.  The  top  of 
the  top  chord,  under  the  floor  beams,  is  covered  with  No.  24  galvanized 
iron  turned  down  3  ins.  over  the  edge  of  the  timber  and  tackea.. 

In  the  case  of  a  wooden  truss  deck  bridge  adequate  protection  from 
lire  cannot  be  had  without  covering  the  structure.  One  method  in  prac- 
tice on  some  of  the  southern  roads  is  to  fit  planks  between  the  ties,  form- 
ing troughs,  and  then  to  close  the  ends  of  the  troughs  by  fitting  pieces 
of  boards  between  the  ties.  The  space  between  the  ties,  and  for  a  depth 
•of  about  an  inch  over  the  tops  of  the  ties,  is  then  filled  with  gravel  or  sand. 
Gravel  is  said  to  answer  /the  purpose  best,  because  it  does  not  wash  out 
through  the  cracks  between  the  tie  and  the  plank.  The  use  of  gravel 
or  sand  has  the  effect  of  rotting  out  the  ties  much  sooner  than  would 
be  the  case  with  ties  in  an  open  floor.  On  the  Boston  &  Maine  E.  E. 
wooden  deck  trusses  are  tightly  roofed  over  with  two  layers  of  f-in.  boards 
laid  at  a  pitch  of  1  in.  to  the  foot,  as  shown  by  Engraving  A,  Fig.  434. 
The  floor  beams  are  laid  directly  upon  the  top  chord  and,  being  spaced 
only  2  ft,  7|-  ins.  centers,  heavy  stringers  are  not  needed.  The  roof 
boards  are  butted  at  the  ridge  and  covered  with  a  strip  of  galvanized 
iron  18  ins.  wide,  The  ties  are  "saddled"  or  cut  out  on  the  under  side 
so  as  to  fit  over  the  peak  of  the  roof.  The  tie  remains  4  ins.  thick  in 
ihe  middle,  which  is  supported  by  a  ridge  stringer  6x12  ins.  in  section. 
'The  roof  boards  are  painted  and  sanded  as  a  protection  against  fire. 
By  another  method,  in  service  on  the  Philadelphia  &  Eeading  Ey:,  the 
ties  or  the  stringers  are  not  disturbed.  The  stringers  are  covered  with 
sheet  metal,  which  is  turned  down  over  the  edge  of  the  piece,  and  roof 
"boards  are  butted  against  the  stringer,  near  its  upper  comers,  so  that  the 
sheet  metal  covering  laps  the  joint.  Outside  the  stringers  the  roof  boards 
slope  beyond  the  floor  beams  and  between  the  stringers  the  roof  boards 
form  a  valley.  A  covering  for  Howe  truss  deck  bridges  that  is  used 
on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.  consists  of  roof  boards  outside 
"the  stringers  and  galvanized  sheet  iron  troughs  between  the  ties.  The 
•details  are  explained  by  the  legends  in  Fig.  446. 

Of  late  years  considerable  attention  has  been  given  to  the  question 
•of  protecting  iron  bridges  from  corrosion  by  the  brine  which  drips  from 
refrigerator  cars.  The  increasing  amount  of  traffic  in  such  cars  has 
-enforced  upon  bridge  men  a  problem  requiring  serious  study,  and  the 
only  solution  seems  to  lie  in  completely  covering  the  bridge.  On  the 
Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ey.  the  stringers  and  chord 
pieces  of  iron  deck  bridges  are  protected  from  brine  by  painted  beveled 
blocks,  fitted  closely  between  the  ties,  so  as  to  cover  the  parts  exposed. 

Bridge  Floors  Over  Streets. — The  elevation  of  tracks  over  streets  in 
cities  has  developed  a  number  of  special  designs  for  solid  bridge  floors. 
The  conditions  imposed  usually  require  that  the  bridge  floor  shall  be 
tight,  to  prevent  anything  dropping  from  the  cars  into  the  street,  and 
the  desire  to  reduce  to  the  lowest  practicable  limit  the  hight  of  the 
•embankment  filling,  considered  in  connection  with  the  headway  require- 
ments, calls  for  a  shallow  floor.  The  track  in  such  cases  is  usually  carried 
'by  through  plate  girders,  and  a  very  common  type  of  floor  is  had  by 


868 


MISCELLANEOUS 


using  I-beams  for  floor  beams,  between  the  girders,  resting  them  either 
directly  upon  the  lower  flange  of  the  girder,  or  upon  hangers  attached  to 
the  web  plate;  then  covering  the  I-beams  with  floor  plates  or  with  longi- 
tudinal rail  plates,  to  which  the  rail  is  secured  by  means  of  bolts  and 
clips.  The  guard  rails  usually  consist  of  angle  irons  riveted  to  place> 
and  the  floor  plate  is  tarred  and  graveled,  so  as  to  shed  water.  The  Chi- 
cago, Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey.  floor  for  street  viaducts  is  formed  upon 
15-in.  I-beams  spaced  1411/32  ins.  apart  from  center  to  center,  and  resting 
directly  upon  the  lower  flange  of  plate  girders  spaced  13  ft.  apart.  The 
I-beams  are  covered  with  a  5/16-in.  floor  plate  and  the  rails  are  secured  by 
bolts  and  clips  to  longitudinal  rail  plates  20  ins.  wide  and  J  in.  thick 
riveted  directly  to  the.  I-beams.  A  5x3Jx|-in.  angle  iron  is  riveted  to 
the  rail  plate,  9  ins.  clear  of  the  rail,  on  either  side,  to  serve  as  a  guard 


it 1 9  n"  C.hC.  SMngers 

•  t'4" — *i 

.Insulation. 


ricor  Reams:  Wr't  Inn.    Tot  PI  7"x  Va' s/i/FtJ/tr outset p!s. 
Clmnneh  10'x  22**  + 


Fig.  447. — Floor  for  Street  Viaduct,  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry. 

rail.  The  floor  of  street  viaducts  on  the  St.  Charles  Air  Line  is  made 
of  12-in.  I-beams  spaced  12  ins.  centers,  and  covered  with  a  f-in.  plate. 
The  rails  are  carried  on  special  short  plates  laid  on  the  floor  plate,  and 
a  Z-bar  is  riveted  to  the  floor  plate,  each  side  of  each  rail,  to  serve  as  a 
guard  rail.  The  plates  under  the  rails  vary  in  thickness  from  -J  in.  at 
the  center  of  span  to  -J  in.  at  the  end  of  the  bridge,  half  of  the  camber 
being  taken  out  by  these  plates.  The  floor  plate  is  not  laid  directly 
upon  the  I-beams  but  upon  filler  plates  or  strips  3  to  5  ins.  wide,  vary- 
ing from  a  thickness  of  f  in.  in  the  middle  of  the  track  to  f  in.  under 
the  rails  and  nothing  at  the  plate  girder,  so  that  the  floor  has  a  trans- 
verse slope  each  way  from  the  middle  of  the  track  and  a  longitudinal 
slope  each  way  from  the  middle  of  the  span.  The  floor  beams  (12-in. 
I-beams)  are  attached  to  the  web  plate  by  hangers  and  are  suspended 
above  and  just  clear  of  the  lower  flange  of  the  girder. 

The  standard  floor  for  street  viaducts  on  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island! 
&  Pacific  Ey.  has  12-in.  I-beams  attached  to  oblique  hangers,  so  that  the 


BRIDGE   FLOORS  869 

bottom  of  the  beam  is  even  with  the  bottom  of  the  girder.  The  hanger 
plate  is  9  ins.  wide  and  -J  in.  thick  and  stands  at  an  angle  of  45  deg., 
being  bracketed  against  the  web  plate  and  across  the  edge  of  the  lower 
flange  of  the  girder.  The  I-beams  are  spaced  137/16  ins.  center  to  center 
and  covered  with  a  5/16-in.  floor  plate.  Longitudinal  rail  plates  f  in.  thick 
are  laid  upon  the  floor  plate,  to  which  the  rail  is  secured  by  -'oics  and 
clips,  the  bolts  reaching  through  the  floor  plate.  A  6x4x|-in.  angle  iron 
laid  on  flat  and  riveted  to  the  rail  plate  outside  each  rail,  9  ins.  in  the 
clear,  serves  as  a  guard  rail.  The  floor  plate  is  tarred  and  covered  with 
finely  crushed  screened  rock,  and  then  with  a  layer  of  gravel  about  3 
ins.  deep,  to  deaden  the  sound  of  trains  passing  over  the  bridge.  On 
viaducts  over  other  roads  or  where  the  subway  does  not  carry  street 
traffic  the  floor  plate  is  omitted  and  the  floor  remains  open,  the  rail 
plate  in  that  case  coming  directly  upon  the  floor  beams.  The  floor  sys- 
tem for  street  viaducts  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  is  built 
upon  12-in.  45-lb.  I-beams  spaced  15  ins.  centers.  The  I-beams  rest 
directly  upon  the  bottom  flange  of  the  plate  girders  and  are  riveted 
thereto.  On  tangent  the  plate  girders  are  spaced  13  ft.  centers.  The 
I-beams  are  covered  with  a  5/i6-in.  floor  plate  and  the  rails  are  carried 
in  10-in.  channels  laid  upon  the  floor  plate.  The  bearing  for  the  rail  is  a 
cushion  of  oak  timber  If  ins.  thick,  laid  in  the  channel  and  covered  by 
a  ;|-in.  steel  plate  upon  which  the  rail  bears  directly.  The  rail  is  secured 
by  |-in.  U-bolts  and  clips  at  intervals  of  30  ins.,  the  legs  of  the  U-bolt 
extending  through  floor  plate,  channel,  the  oak  cushion  and  its  cover 
plate.  The  U-bolt  straddles  a  cast  saddle  block  bearing  against  the  under 
side  of  the  floor  plate.  On  curves  the  superelevation  of  the  outer  rail 
is  obtained  by  increasing  the  thickness  of  the  cushion  timber  in  the 
channel.  The  application  of  a  coating  of  asphalt  composition  to  the 
floor  plate  of  these  bridges,  to  protect  it  against  corrosion  from,  salt  water 
drippings  from  refrigerator  cars,  did  not  prove  a  successful  experiment 
The  difficulty  with  the  asphalt  was  that  it  cracked  and  peeled  off,  leaving 
the  metal  unprotected. 

The  standard  floor  for  street  viaducts  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Ry.  is  shown  in  Fig.  -147.  The  floor  beams  are  built  of  two  10-in.  chan- 
nels spaced  -J  in.  apart,  with  top  and  bottom  plates.  The  floor  beams 
are  spaced  5  ft.  apart  and  are  connected  with  the  girder  by  gusset  platen 
which  project  2  ft.  and  go  between  the  channels  of  the  floor  beams. 
There  is  a  filling  piece  between  the  channels,  extending  from  gusset  to 
gusset,  thus  giving  a  thick  web.  The  bottom  of  the  floor  beam  comes 
even  with  the  bottom  of,  and  stands  entirely  clear  of,  the  lower  flange 
of  the  plate  girder;  and,  being  riveted  to  the  gusset  plate,  the  load  is 
carried  directly  to  the  web  plate  of  the  girder.  The  track  stringers  are 
made  of  two  Z-bars  riveted  to  a  16fx5/]6-in.  plate,  forming  a  channel, 
into  which  is  fitted  an  oak  block  16  ins.  wide  and  6  to  7  ins.  thick,  form- 
ing a  cushion  for  the  rail,  the  arrangement  being  similar  to  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  device,  above  described,  except  that  in  the  latter 
case  the  channel  rests  upon  the  top  of  the  floor  beam  instead  of  butting 
against  it  as  in  this  case.  There  is  a  camber  of  one  inch  in  the  girders, 
for  drainage,  and  the  variation  in  the  thickness  of  the  block  levels  the  rail. 
A  5-in.  angle  iron  is  riveted  to  the  top  of  the  Z-bar  channel,  on  each 
side  of  the  rail,  to  strengthen  the  channel  and  to  act  as  a  guard  rail. 
The  cushion  block  is  covered  with  a  rail  plate  and  the  rail  is  secured 
by  clips  and  bolts,  the  latter  reaching  through  cushion  block  and  bottom 
plate,  as  shown.  The  rail  is  carried  just  clear  of  the  floor  beams.  The 
floor  beams  are  covered  with  a  5/16-in.  plate,  which  is  stiffened  with 


870 


MISCELLANEOUS 


2^x2Jx5/16-in.  angles  on  the  under  side.  The  floor  plate  is  then  covered 
with  a  coat  of  gravel  roofing  to  protect  the  metal.  The  purpose  of  the- 
cushion  block  in  the  bridge  floors  here  mentioned  is  to  deaden  the  sound 
of  trains  passing  over  the  bridge. 

In  some  cases  a  solid  floor  is  secured  by  the  substitution  of  buckled 
plates  for  I-beams.  Thus,  some  of  the  bridge  floors  on  the  Chicago,. 
Eock  Island  &  Pacific  Ey.  were  built  up  of  plates  and  angles  into  a  con- 
tinuous corrugated  surface  with  rectangular  troughs  running  crosswise 
the  track,  suspended  directly  from  the  web  plate  of  the  girders  by  hangers. 
The  rails  are  attached  by  bolts  and  clips  to  longitudinal  rail  plates  18  ins. 
wide  and  -J  in.  thick  resting  directly  upon  the  ridges  between  the  troughs. 
Inside  guard  rails  (T-rails)  are  secured  to  the  rail  plate  and  a  4x3£x£-in. 
angle  iron  is  laid  outside  the  running  rail  a,nd  secured  to  the  rail  plate. 
The  buckled  plate  floor  of  the  Illinois  Central  E.  E.  is  shown  in  Fig.  448. 
It  is  formed  of  channels  having  a  5xJ-in.  base  and  4Jxf-in.  legs,  alter- 


oooooo  ooooooooo 


Fig.  448. — Buckled  Plate  Bridge  Floor,  Illinois  Central  R.  R. 

nately  inverted  and  riveted,  together,  forming  a  corrugated  surface  »J 
ins.  deep.  The  channels  rest  upon  a  shelf  angle  riveted  to  the  girder 
over  the  vertical  leg  of  the  bottom  flange  angle,  as  shown.  The  floor  for 
girders  spaced  13  ft.  centers  is  shown  as  Engraving  A,  Engraving  B 
being  a  section  of  the  floor  parallel  to  the  track.  The  ties  are  5x8  ins. 
x  10  ft.  long,  laid  upon  the  ridges  between  the  trougns,  and  are  held 
in  place  by  5x8-in.  guard  timbers.  It  was  first  the  practice  to  place 
the  ties  in  the  troughs,  the  tie  being  small  enough  to  fit  into  the  trough 
and  high  enough  to  support  the  rail  just  clear  of  the  top  of  the  trough. 
Later  it  was  intended  to  raise  the  tie  about  1J  inri-  an(i  fill  the  space 
around  the  tie  with  asphaltic  concrete.  In  order  to  obtain  access  to  the 
troughs  for  cleaning  and  painting,  however,  it  was  finally  decided  to  place 
the  ties  on  the  ridges  between  the  troughs,  as  shown.  Engraving-  C  shows 
the  form  of  floor  where  the  girders  are  15  ft.  apart  and  Engraving  D 


BRIDGE   FLOORS  871 

is  a  section  of  this  floor  parallel  to  the  track.  Two  -8J-in.  deck  beams  are 
riveted  to  the  ridges  between  the  troughs  and  spaced  sufficiently  far  apart 
to  receive  an  oak  timber  cushion  for  the  rail.  The  cushion  is  supported  by 
the  lower  flanges  of  the  deck  beams  and  the  rail  is  secured  by  bolts  and 
clips.  On  the  Chicago.  Madison  &  Northern  line  of  the  Illinois  Central 
R.  R,  a  buckled  plate  floor  is  used  having  troughs  12  ins.  deep.  The  track 
ties  are  6  ins.  thick  and  10J  ins.  wide  and  are  laid  in  the  troughs  and  .sup- 
ported upon  shelf  angles  placed  along  the  sides  of  the  trough  about  7  ins. 
from  the  bottom,  so  that  the  tie  projects  1  in.  above  the  top  of  the  trough. 
Guard  timbers,  10x12  ins.  or  12x12  ins.,  are  dapped  over  the  ends  of  the 
ties  and  bolted  to  them,  thus  forming  a  very  substantial  floor  on  which 
the  ties  cannot  be  bunched. 

Ballasted  Bridge  Floors. — The  most  improved  type  of  bridge  floor 
is  the  ballasted  floor,  or  the  fiballasted-top"  bridge,  as  it  is  sometimes  called. 
The  advantages  in  this  type  of  floor  construction  are  conceded  by  both 
bridge  engineers  and  trackmen.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  bridge 
men,  the  trains  pass  over  the  ballasted  floor  without  so  much  shock  to 
the  bridge  as  is  the  case  when  the  track  is  laid  upon  stringers,  owing  to 
the  ability  of  the  ballast  to  take  up  or  receive  the  vibration  from  the 
trains.  The  weight  of  the  ballast  also  increases  the  percentage  of  dead 
to  live  load,  thus  decreasing  the  deflection  and  vibration  in  the  bridge 
structure  proper.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  trackman  there  is  every- 
thing in  favor  of  the  ballasted  floor,  both  in  regard  to  the  question  of 
safety  and  to  facility  of  maintaining  the  track  in  serviceable  condition. 
A  derailed  truck  will  travel  as  safely  over  such  a  floor  as  at  any  point 
on  the  grade;  and  as  continuity  of  roadbed  conditions  is  preserved  over 
the  bridge,  the  work  of  maintaining  the  track  in  surface  and  alignment 
is  nowise  different  from  ordinary  methods  in  practice  for  raising  track 
and  throwing  it  to  line  upon  the  roadbed.  The  ,ballasted  floor  is  an  out- 
growth of  the  long-time  practice  of  covering  open  culverts  with  timbers  or 
old  rails  and  filling  in  over  such  covering  with  ballast  to  support  the 
track,  thus  doing  away  with  many  of  the  objectionable  features  of  such 
openings. 

The  latest  improvement  in  ballasted  floors  consists  of  a  solid  metal 
covering  over  the  stringers,  floor  beams,  or  girders,  overlaid  with  ballast 
to  support  the  track.  The  ballasted  floor  for  deck  bridges  on  the  Mich- 
igan Central  R.  R.  is  formed  by  laying  I-beams  about  12  ins.  apart 
directly  upon  the  upper  chord  or  upper  flange  and  covering  the  I-beams 
with  a  floor  plate.  The  floor  plate  is  covered  with  a  layer  of  asphaltum 
and  weep  holes  are  left  at  intervals  for  drainage.  A  curb  consisting  of 
a  3Jx7-in.  angle  iron  on  end  is  riveted  to  the  side  edges  of  the  floor  to 
retain  the  ballast.  The  ballast  (gravel)  is  placed  upon  the  asphaltum 
covering  of  the  floor  plate  and  the  track  is  surfaced  in  the  ordinary  man- 
ner. On  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Ry.  old  rails  laid  workwise  side  by  side 
are  used  for  the  flooring  of  plate-girder  deck  bridges.  The  rails  are 
spaced  6  ins.  apart  centers,  the  rivets  in  the  top  flanges  of  the  girders 
being  spaced  to  come  between  the  rails,  the  openings  being  left  to  drain 
the  water  out  of  the  ballast,  which  is  broken  stone.  On  double-track 
bridges  the  pieces  of  rails  in  the  floor  are  23  ft.  5  ins.  long,  extending  the 
whole  width  of  the  bridge.  The  rails  are  secured  to  the  bridge  laterally 
by  an  angle  iron  at  their  ends  which  is  bolted  to  a  side  extension  of  the 
top  cover  plate  of  each  girder.  This  extension  projects  out  15  ins.1  beyond 
the  web  plate,  and  the  angle  iron  against  which  the  rails  abut  is  secured 
to  it  with  f-in.  bolts.  To  retain  the  ballast  and  finish  up  the  side  of  the 
bridge  floor  a  fxlO-in.  plate  standing  edgewise  is  riveted  to  each  outside 
angle  iron. 


872  MISCELLANEOUS 

More  frequently  the  covering  for  the  ballasted  bridge  floor  consists 
of  buckled  plates  made  by  uniting  channels,  plates,  angle  bars,  or  Z-bars 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  the  corrugated  surface.  A  number  of  such 
forms  are  shown  in  Fig.  449.  Engraving  A  shows  diagrammatically  a 
section  of  floor  with  troughs  having  flaring  sides,  or  of  trapezoidal  sec- 
tion, being  formed  of  channels  alternately  inverted.  This  type  of  con- 
struction, known  as  the  "Lindsay"  floor,  is  in  use  on  the  Illinois  Central 
E.  E.,  as  already  noted.  Engraving  B  shows  the  Francis  &  Dawley  floor, 
in  use  on  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  E.  E.,  particularly  as  a 
floor  for  street  viaducts  in  Providence,  B,  !._,  and  Boston,  Mass.  The 
bottom  of  the  trough  is  formed  of  channels,  the  sides  of  angle  bars  and 
the  ridge  is  united  by  a  plate.  The  advantage  of  this  form  of  construc- 
tion is  that  the  cap  plate  provides  a  means  of  spacing  the  troughs  exactly 
to  any  desired  distance  center  to  center.  The  depth  may  also  be  varied 
easily  by  varying  the  length  of  the  angle  leg.  Engraving  E  shows  a 
trough  of  similar  shape  formed  by  Z-bars  and  plates.  Engravings  D  and 
F  show  sections  of  floors  with  troughs  of  rectangular  section,  the  former 
being  composed  of  plates  and  angle  bars  and  the  latter  of  channels  and 
plates.  If  the  ties  are  to  be  placed  in  the  troughs  the  top  angle  bars  in  D 
and  the  top  channels  in  F  should  be  placed  inside  the  vertical  plates  of 
the  ridges,  but  where  ballast  is  to  be  used  the  arrangement  is  best  as 


/\/\/ 


LRJ  XVA-  L_R_T 


Fig.  449. — Forms  of  Buckled  Plate  for  Bridge  Floors. 

shown,  with  the  angles  or  channels  capping  the  joints  in  the  corners,  to 
keep  out  water.  In  D,  however,  the  top  plates  of  the  ridges  might  perhaps 
better  be  placed  over  the  angle  legs,  as  in  Sketch  B,  the  arrangement 
otherwise  remaining  as  shown.  Engraving  C  shows  a  section  of  floor 
with  triangular-shaped  troughs,  being  formed  of  angle  bars  and  plates. 
This  type  of  floor  is  in  service  on  the  Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago 
Ey.,  in  street  viaducts  in  Chicago.  As  made  on  that  road  the  top  angle 
comes  between  the  plates  instead  of  capping  them.  Crushed  stone  bal- 
last is  used  and  the  base  of  rail  is  6-|  ins.  above  the  apex  between  the 
troughs.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  noise  of  trains  passing  over  these 
bridges  is  not  nearly  as  loud  as  the  rumble  that  is  heard  from  the  solid 
plate  or  buckled  floors  where  the  rails  are  supported  directly  upon  the 
metal. 

Troughs  with  flat  bottoms  may  be  supported  directly  upon  the  flanges 
of  the  bridge  girders,  either  at  the  ends  of  the  trough  or  at  intermediate 
points,  but  triangular  flooring  (Engraving  C)  is  sustained  at  the  ends  of 
the  troughs  by  angle  lugs  riveted  to  the  web  plate  of  the  girder.  Forms 
A,  B,  C  and  F  are  without  seam  or  rivets  in  the  bottom  of  the  floor,  so 
that  tight  riveting  or  calking  to  prevent  leakage  is  not  required.  The 
joints  are  also  better  protected  against  corrosion.  Drainage  is  usually 
provided  by  a  weep  hole  in  the  bottom  of  each  trough  near  each  end, 
which  drips  into  a  gutter  consisting  of  a  channel  running  longitudinally 
under  the  floor,  being  suspended  from  hangers  riveted  to  the  troughs. 


BRIDGE    FLOORS 


873 


These  gutters  empty  into  down  spouts  leading  to  the  pavement  gutters 
or  to  the  sewers. 

The  protection  of  steel  plate  in  ballasted  bridge  floors  from  rapid 
corrosion  is  attended  with  considerable  difficulty,  as  periodically  the  bal- 
last must  be  dug  out  to  uncover  the  metal  for  repainting  or  recoating. 
Consideration  of  this  fact  has  resulted  in  the  use  of  creosoted  timber 
flooring  for  steel  bridges  on  some  roads.  On  ^ome  of  the  plate-girder 
bridges  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Ey.  the  floor  for  retaining  the  ballast 
consists  of  6x8-in.  creosoted  timber  laid  on  flat,  side  by  side,  across  the 
top  flanges  of  the  girders.  The  ballast  is  6  ins.  deep  under  the  ties. 
In  order  to  carry  the  bed  of  ballast  unbroken  over  the  ends  of  the  deck 
girder  bridges,  the  abutment  parapet  is  built  up  even  with  the  top  of 
the  girder  and  the  opening  between  the  end  of  the  girder  and  the  parapet 
is  bridged  over  by  a  metal  plate.  For  drainage  purposes  some  of  the 
plate-girder  bridges  stand  on  a  grade  of  1  per  cent,  the  difference  of  ele- 
vation in  the  ends  of  the  bridge  being  evened  up  in  the  track  by  the 
difference  in  the  depth  of  the  ballast.  On  track-elevation  viaducts  where 
a  shallow  floor  is  required  the  creosoted  flooring  is  only  3J  ins.  thick. 
The  floor  of  the  track-elevation  bridges  over  street  subways  that  is  used 
by  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  consists  of  12-in.  55-lb  I-beams 
resting  directly  upon  the  bottom  flanges  of  the  plate  girders,  and  spaced 
16  ins.  centers,  covered  with  creosoted  planks  laid  longitudinally  with 
the  bridge.  The  planks  are  dressed  to  a  thickness  of  2J  ins.  and  are 
tongued  and  grooved.  At  the  sides  of  the  floor  the  planks,  covering  a 
width  of  about  18  ins.,,  are  laid  to  slope  toward  the  center  of  the  bridge. 
On  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  old  bridge  floor  beams 
IGij-  ins.  deep,  covered  with  4-in.  plank,  have  been  used  in  ballasted-top 
culverts  of  13 J  ft.  span. 


HOUSTON  i  TEX 'AS  CENTRAL  ffY  SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  RYt 

Fig.  450.— Ballasted-Top  Wooden  Trestles. 

Ballasted  floors  are  also  quite  commonly  in  use  on  wooden  trestles. 
The  stringers  may  be  planked  over,  as  in  the  Houston  &  Texas  Central 
ballasted  floor,  shown  in  Fig.  450,  or.  the  stringers  may  be  laid  touching 
side  by  side,  as  in  the  Southern  Pacific  ballasted  floor,  shown  in  the  same 
figure.  In  the  floor  of  the  Houston  &  Texas  Central  Ey.  there  are  eight 
7xl4-in  stringers  28  ft.  long,  laid  to  break  joints  across  the  14-ft.  spans 
of  the  trestle.  Across  the  stringers  are  placed  2xl2-in.  x  14-ft.  flooring 
planks,  along  the  outer  edges  of  which  are  bolted  4x6-in.  x  28-ft.  curb 
pieces  to  confine  the  ballast.  The  track  construction  is  ordinary  and  9 
iiis.  of  gravel  ballast  is  used  underneath  the  ties.  The  tops  of  the  ties, 
between  the  rails,  are  covered  with  ballast,  as  a  means  of  protection 
against  fire.  In  building  new  trestles  creosoted  lumber  is  used,  both  for 
the  substructure  and  the  superstructure,  and,  as  such,  it  is  regarded  as 
very  durable.  It  is  found  that  expenses  for  repairs  and  renewals  to 
trestles  fall  off  very  perceptibly  as  soon  as  the  flooring  and  ballast  are  put 


874 


MISCELLANEOUS 


on,  and  increased  security  is  afforded  the  structure  against  catching  fire- 
from  engines.  The  planks  and  stringers  are  separably  removable  and 
the  track  is  worked  by  the  regular  section  forces  in  the  usual  manner.  In 
the  floor  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  the  depth  of  stringer  varies  with  the 
span,  running  from  a  depth  of  6  ins.  for  a  culvert  span  of  4  ft.,  to  12  ins. 
for  a  clear  span  of  14  ft.  The  piles  are  so  driven  that  their  center  lines 
if  prolonged  would  meet  at  a  common  point  vertically  over  the  center  of 
the  track,  25  ft.  above  top  of  rail. 


BRIDGE    FLOOES  875^ 

The  ballasted  floor  for  timber  trestles  on  the  Louisville  &  Nashville 
B.  R.  has  six  stringers.,  each  of  which  is  made  up  of  two  3xl6-in.  pieces 
dressed  on  one  edge  to  exact  depth  and  spiked  together.  The  timber  is 
creosoted,  and  the  idea  in  building  the  stringer  of  two  pieces  is  that  they 
will  take  the  chemical  treatment  more  thoroughly  than  a  solid  6xl6-in. 
stick.  The  stringer  pieces  are  two  panels  long  and  are  laid  to  break  joints 
and  to  lap  by  on  the  caps,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  451.  By  this  arrange- 
ment it  is  unnecessary  to  cut  sticks  at  the  ends  that  might  be  too  long 
if  required  to  meet  on  the  caps.  It  is  objectionable  to  cutjtimber  or  to 
mortise  it  for  framing  after  it  has  been  creosoted.  Each  stringer  piece  is 
held  at  the  center  by  a  long  bolt  passing  through  the  floor  and  cap.  The 
floor  can  be  strengthened  by  putting  in  additional  stringers  without  dis- 
turbing the  ballast  or  existing  stringers.  Creosoted  yellow  pine  trestles 
constructed  on  these  plans  were  in  sound  condition  after  24:  years  of  ser- 
vice, and  apparently  good  for  a  much  longer  life,  having,  since  they  were 
built,  been  strengthened  by  additional  stringers  in  the  manner  stated, 
to  enable  them  to  carry  heavier  rolling  stock. 

Elevated  Railway  Floors. — As  an  elevated  railway  is  essentially  a 
trestle  the  type  of  floor  for  such  bears  a  general  resemblance  to  the  floors 
of  ordinary  railway  trestles.  The  floor  in  general  use  has  plate-girder - 
or  lattice-girder  stringers  spaced  5  to  6  ft.  centers  and  headed  into 
the  bents.  The  ties  are  laid  directly  upon  the  stringers  and  secured 
thereto  by  hook  bolts.  A  guard  timber,  usually  about  6x6  ins.,  is  placed 
inside  each  rail,  about  4  ins.  'clear  of  the  gage  line,  and  a  6x8-in.  guard 
timber,  laid  on  edge,  is  placed  outside  each  rail  about  8  ins.  in  the  clear. 
Some  of  the  elevated  railways  in  New  York  Imve  the  inside  guard  timbers 
protected  on  the  upper  corner  by  a  strip  of  iron.  It  is  usually  considered, 
however,. that  where  a  timber  guard  stands  close  to  the  rail  metal  protec- 
tion is  not  needed,  as  a  wheel  cannot  bite  into  timber  unless  it  can  -strike 
it  or  meet  it  at  a  considerable  angle.  On  elevated  roads  there  is  hardly 
room  between  the  main  rails  and  the  guard  timbers  for  the  wheels  to  slew 
around  to  do  this.  The  superelevation  on  curves,  which  rarely  exceeds 
3  ins.,  owing  to  the  slow  speed,  is  obtained  by  taper  ties.  The  inside- 
guard  timbers  are  omitted  on  curves,  and  an  inside  T-rail  guard  is  bolted 
to  the  inner  rail  of  the  curve,  with  cast  separator  blocks,  maintaining  a 
flangeway  of  about  24-  ins.  It  is  usual,  also,  to  back  up  the  running  rails 
and  guard  rail  with  braces.  The  track  construction  of  the  Union  Ele- 
vated Ey.  in  Brooklyn  has  stringers  or  girders  spaced  6  ft.  apart.  The 
ties  are's  ft,  3  ins.  long  and  7  ins.  deep.  The  outer  guard  timber  is  7x8 
ins.  in  section,  laid  on  edge,  with  the  inner  side  11  ins.  from  the  gage  line 
of  the  rail.  The  inner  guard  is  6x6  ins.,  spaced  6  ins.  clear  of  the  rail. 
The  floor  is  secured  to  the  stringers  by  hook  bolts  passing  through  the 
outer  guard  timber  and  tie.  In  the  old  system  of  track  construction 
on  this  road  the  outer  guard  timber  was  6x8  ins.  in  section,  spaced  6-J 
ins.  from  the  gage  line  of  the  rail  and  the  inner  guard  timber  was  spaced 
3.!>  ins.  clear  of  the  gage  line.  The  floor  of  the  Northwestern  and  Loop 
Elevated  railways  in  Chicago  has  6x8-in.  ties  8  ft,  long  laid  directly 
upon  girders  spaced  5  ft.  centers.  The  ties  are  laid  on  -flat  and  spaced 
14  ins.  centers,  and  hook  bolts  are  used.  The  inner  guard  timber  is 
0x6  ins.,  laid  4  ins.  clear  of  the  gage  line  of  the  rail  and  the  outer  guard 
timber  is  6x8  ins.  in  section,  laid  on  edge  and  spaced  9f  ins.  from  the  gage 
line  of  the  rail.  Thus  the  wheel  runs  between  two  timbers,  in  a  rut 
which  is  13|  ins.  wide.  The  conductor  rail  is  laid  20  J-  ins.  from  the  gage 
1'ne  of  the  running  rail,  on  one  side  of  each  track,in  the  midway,  and  is 
lag-screwed  to  an  insulating  block  which  stands  1  in.  clear  of  the  outer- 


876  MISCELLANEOUS 

guard  timber.  The  space  between  the  tracks  is  covered  with  four  planks  8 
ins.  wide,  laid  1  in.  apart,  to  serve  as  a  walk.  On  the  Boston  Elevated 
Ry.  the  outer  guard  timbers  (6x9  ins.,  laid  on  edge  and  dapped  over  the 
ties)  stand  10J  ins.  from  the  gage  line  of  the  rail,  which  is  of  85-lb.  Am. 
Soc.  C.  E.  section  The  inside  guard  timbers  (6x6  ins.)  stand  4  ins.  clear 
of  the  gage  line.  The  near  side  of  the  head  of  the  conductor  rail  stands 
19  ins.  from  the  gage  line  and  the  top  of  this  rail  is  11-|  ins.  above  top 
of  tie.  The  conductor  rails  for  both  tracks  are  in  the  midway.,  with  the 
feeder  box,  covered  by  a  walk  34  ins.  wide,  between  them.  On  sharp 
curves  a  100-lb.  T-rail  is  used  for  a  guard  rail,  being  considerably  higher 
than  the  85-lb.  traction  rail.  Vulcanized  yellow  pine  ties  and  tie  plates 
are  generally  used  in  the  floors  of  elevated  railways. 

154.  Snow  Fence. — In  districts  where  the  snowfall  is  not  deep  the 
principal  difficulty  with  snow,  if  at  all,  is  from  drifting  into  the  cuts, 
shallow  cuts,  as  a  rule,  giving  the  most  trouble.  The  cuts  subject  to  drift- 
ing are  those  which  lie  across  the  direction  of  the  wind,  the  snow  which  is 
carried  being  dropped  into  the  eddy  formed  by  the  wind  blowing  over  tha 
top  of  the  cut.  A  snow  fence  is  an  obstruction  erected  for  piling  up  drift- 
ing snow,  and  it  is  used  principally  at  cuts.  If  ground  room  is  to  be  had 
it  is  placed  across  the  direction  of  the  prevailing  winds,  a  sufficient  dis- 
tance back  from  the  cut,  on  the  windward  side,  to  prevent  the  accumulated 
snowbank  from  extending  into  the  cut.  Where  hard  winds  frequently 
blow  from  different  quarters  during  the  winter  season  it  is  sometimes  neces- 
sary to  have  snow  fence  on  both  sides  of  the  cut.  The  drifting  snow  is 
piled  up  on  both  sides  of  the  fence.  As  the  fence  checks  the  velocity  of  the 
wind  and  turns  it  on  an  upward  course  it  lets  go  of  some  of  its  entrained 
snow  on  the  windward  side,  and  that  which  is  carried  over  drops  into  the 
eddy  on  the  lee  side  or  track  side.  As  this  side  of  the  fence  is  shielded 
from  the  wind  it  is  usually  the  case  that  the  larger  drift  is  formed  on  thai 
side.  On  the  windward  side  snow  banks  that  slope  1  in  5  to  1  in  3, 
according  to  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  are  ordinary,  while  on  the  leeward 
side  slopes  of  1  in  17  to  1  in  8  are  ordinary.  As  a  general  thing,  deep 
cuts  through  mounds  which  rise  abruptly  need  no  protection,  because  after 
'the  wind  blows  the  side  of  the  hill  bare  but  little  snow  -will  be  carried 
to  or  over  the  cut.  The  force  of  the  wind  usually  splits  and  the  snow  from 
the  surrounding  level  is  carried  mostly  around  such  a  hill  instead  of 
over  the  top  of  it;  and,  from  the  upward  currents  caused  by  the  hill,  the 
snow  which  is  blown  over  is  usually  carried  high  in  the  air,  out  of  reach  of 
the  cut.  But  when  the  ground  is  level  or  gently  sloping  back  from  the 
cut  for  some  distance,  the  snow  which  comes  drifting  hugs  the  ground 
closely  and  drops  readily  into  the  cut. 

Stationary  Fence. — The  most  common  form  of  snow  fence  is  an  ordin- 
ary board  fence,  the  boards  in  some  cases  being  nailed  to  the  posts  hori- 
zontally, while  in  other  cases  the  boards  are  placed  upright  and  nailed  to 
scantlings  stretched  between  the  posts.  So  far  as  results  are  concerned 
the  merits  of  the  two  kinds  are  about  equal.  In  cultivated  or  settled 
districts,  where  the  right  of  way  must  be  fenced  at  the  place,  the  fence 
is  usually  made  to  serve  both  purposes — both  a  snow  fence  and  a  line  fence. 
In  this  case  the  fence  must  be  substantially  built,  and  in  any  case  the 
posts  should  be  firmly  set  in  the  ground.  If  used  only  for  snow,  however, 
the  posts  need  not  be  set  nearer  than  15  ft.  3  ins.  for  16-ft.  boards.  The 
boards  should  be  nailed  on  the  windward  side  of  the  posts,  overlapping, 
so  that  they  may  be  easily  taken  off  in  case  the  fence  is  to  be  moved.  In 
order  to  make  it  difficult  for  tramps  and  other  persons  to  tear  off  boards 
the  middle  post  of  each  panel  is  sometimes  set  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 


sxow  FENCE  877 

boards  from  the  end  posts.  Fence  boards  1x6  ins.  in  size  are  commonly 
used,,  spaced  1-J  to  G  ins.  apart,  and  in  some  cases  the  boards  are  nailed  on 
touching,  so  as  to  make  the  fence  tight.  Although  it  is  not  necessary  to  make 
a  tight  fence  in  order  to  pile  up  the  snow,  it  is,  in  one  way,  at  least,  the 
most  effective.  Where  the  fence  is  made  tight,  eddy  currents  form  on  the 
windward  side,  and  the  snow  will  not  pile  up  against  it  until  the  bank 
reaches  the  hight  of  the  fence.  The  tight  fence  is  therefore  not  so  soon  bur- 
ied in  the  snow  or  drifted  under.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the  bottom  board 
should  touch  the  ground ;  in  fact,  as  a  measure  of  fire  protection  it  should  be 
placed  about  1  ft.  above  the  ground.  If  the  first  snowfall  does  not  fill  the 
gap  the  obstruction  which  the  top  boards  offer  to  the  wind  will  cause  the 
snow  to  form  a  heap  in  the  becalmed  zone  behind  the  fence,  and  accumula- 
tions to  the  front  slope  of  this  heap  will  gradually  reach  the  lower  board.  In 
some  cases  the  men  fill  this  gap  by  throwing  snow  there  before  drifting 
begins. 

As  with  line  fence,  so  in  building  snow  fence,  there  are,  to  be  found 
here  and  there  in  practice,  a  considerable  number  of  ways  of  making  up; 
the  panels  and  bracing  the  same.  At  some  of  its  badly  exposed  cuts  the 
Intercolonial  Ky.  builds  a  fence  12  ft.  high  with  upright  boards  touching 
edge  to  edge.  Trial  with  boards  spaced  1  in.  apart  and  2  ins.  apart  was 
not  as  satisfactory  as  the  plan  of  putting  them  on  close  together.  The 
round  cedar  posts  stand  8J  ft.  apart  centers  and  8-J  ft.  high,  and  rest 
upon  round  cedar  sills  8  ins.  in  diam.  and  12  ft.  long  placed  crosswise 
the  direction  of  the  fence  and  secured  at  the  ends  by  stakes  driven  into  the 
ground  and  by  heaps  of  stones.  The  post  is  boxed  into  the  side  of  the  sill 
at  the  center,  and  spiked,  and  is  knee-braced  by  two  3x5-in.  x  10-ft.  flat- 
tened cedar  pieces  let  into  the  sides  of  the  post  and  sill  1^  ins.  and  spiked. 
The  1-in.  spruce  boards  are  nailed  to  three  3x5-in.  flattened  cedar  girts  let 
into  the  posts  and  spaced  3J  ft.  apart  centers,  the  bottom  one  being  12  or 
15  ins.  from  the  ground.  Another  style  of  snow  fence  that  is  built  for  a 
fixed  position,  though  not  frequently  found,  is  a  stake  and  rider  structure 
of  poles  or  split  rails.  The  fence  is  built  by  driving  two  stakes  into  the 
ground  to  cross  each  other,  X-style,  about  4  ft.  from  the  ground.  Into 
the  crotch  of  these  stakes  a  leaning  pole  or  rail  16  to  20  ft.  long  is.  laid, 
with  one  end  resting  upon  the  ground.  About  4  ft.  from  the  first  set  of 
crossed  stakes  another  set  is  driven  to  straddle  the  incline  pole  or  rail 
and  into  this  second  crotch  another  pole  is  laid,  inclined  like  the  first  and 
lying  over  it.  The  fence  is  extended  by  repeating  the  process.  In  lieu 
of  poles,  slabs  from  a  saw  mill,  if  available,  serve  the  purpose  even  better. 
In  Europe  wire  netting  is  sometimes  used  for  snow  fence.  The  posts  are 
set  permanently  and  the  netting  is  put  up  at  the  beginning  of  each  winter 
and  taken  down  in  the  spring. 

One  of  the  most  permanent  forms  of  snow  fence  construction  is  a  stone 
wall.  In  Europe  stone  wall  snow  fences  are  used  to  a  considerable  extent, 
being  built  to  replace  wooden  fences  as  soon  as  experience  has  shown  their 
proper  position.  On  the  Italian  Meridional  Ey.  substantial  stone  walls  13 
ft.  high  and  6  ft.  11  ins.  wide  on  base,  the  sides  battered  1  in  5,  are  doing 
service  as  snow  fence.  Walls  9  ft.  10  ins.  high  and  lower  are  laid  up  dry 
with  rubble  stones,  with  a  rounded  concrete  cap  19.6  ins.  wide  and.  11.8  ins. 
deep.  Walls  higher  than  this  are  of  dry-laid  rubble  except  for  a  binding 
course  of  concrete  11.8  ins.  thick,  extending  through  the  wall  at  the  middle 
point  of  its  hight,  and  a  concrete  cap  of  the  dimensions  stated.  On  some 
of  the  Hungarian  railways  there  are  stone  wall  snow  fences  16  J  ft.  high 
placed  131  ft.  from  the  edge  of  the  cut.  In  this  country  stone  walls  are 
occasionally  built  for  snow  fences.  The  Union  Pacific  E.  E.  has  dry  rub- 
ble stone  snow  fence,  about  5  ft.  high,  in  a  number  of  places. 


^878  MISCELLANEOUS 

On  the  Cape  Cod  division  of  the  New  York,  Xew  Haven  &  Hartford 
E.  E.  a  stockade  snow  fence  is  made  by  setting  old  ties  on  end,  in  a  ditch. 
2  ft.  deep.  By  banking  up  at  the  ground  line  when  the  ties  begin  to  rot 
•off,  the  fence  can  be  made  to  last  12  to  14  years,  with  good  satisfaction. 
In  this  locality,  where  the  ground  is  generally  sand}r,  a  day's  labor  will  dig 
the  ditch  and  put  up  about  25  ft.  of  this  old-tie  snow  fence.  The  Minne- 
apolis, St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ey.  and 'some  other  roads  make  use 
of  the  same  kind  of  snow  fence. 

The  effective  hight  of  a  snow  fence  is  the  hight  of  the  structure  above 
the  ground  less  the  depth  of  the  fall  of  snow.  The  required  hight  therefore 
depends  upon  the  ordinary  depth  of  snowfall,  for  one  thing,  and  upon  the 
lay  of  the  land  for  another.  The  hight  of  snow  fence  in  service  varies 
from  4J  ft.,  the  ordinary  hight  of  right-of-way  fence,  to  12  or  14  ft.  where 
the  drifting  is  bad.  A  hight  of  7  or  8  ft.  is  ordinary.  In  any  case  the 
posts  of  snow  fence  should  be  longer  than  ordinary  fence  posts,  so  that  addi- 
tions to  the  hight  of  the  fence  may  be  made  by  nailing  on  more  boards,  if 
necessary.  The  direction  of  the  fence  should  be  somewhat  across  the  path 
of  the  prevailing  winds  during  winter  time.  In  case,,  then,  the  wind  strikes 
the  cut  at  a  slight  angle,  the  fence,  to  be  most  effective,  should  be  broken 
up  into  sections  placed  some  distance  apart,  but  parallel,  and  overlapping 
slightly  when  seen,  from  the  direction  of  the  wind.  At  the  end  of  the  cut 
the  fence  should  be  extended  beyond  and  turned  toward  the  track,  so  as  to 
.guard  the  mouth  of  the  cut  against  a  quartering  wind. 


Fig.  453. — Standard  Snow  Fence,  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 

The  distance  the  fence  should  be  placed  from  the  cut  depends  upon 
local  conditions,  but  usually  60  or  75  ft.,  or  about  15  ft.  away  for  every 
foot  in  hight  of  fence.  It  is  well  when  placing  snow  fence  at  a  cut  for  the 
first  time  to  use  a  temporary  or  portable  structure,  or  to  build  the  fence 
only  temporarily,  nailing  the  boards  to  the  posts  rather  loosely.  After 
observing  carefully  the  way  the  snow  drifts  for  a  few  winters,  it  is  possible 
that  the  fence  may  then  be  placed  to  better  advantage,  when  it  may  be  built 
permanently.  If  the  fence  is  too  near  the  cut  the  leeward  snow  bank  will 
extend  into  the  cut,  and  may  cause  the  snow  to  drift  deeper  than  it  would 
without  any  fence  at  all;  because  in  that  case  the  cut  would  simply  drift 
full,  while  with  a  snow  fence  too  near,  it  might  drift  level  with  the  top 
of  the  snow  bank  on  the  lee  side  of  the  fence.  If  the  fence  is  too  far  away 
the  current  of  wind  deflected  upward  at  the  fence  will  drop  before  it  reaches 
the  cut,  and  whatever  snow  it  carries  will  fall  into  the  cut.  The  proper 
hight  of  the  fence,  as  well  as  its  distance  from  the  cut  and  its  direction, 
is  also  best  determined  experimentally,  from  observation  extending  over 


SNOW  FENCE  879 

•several  winters.  Fence  that  must  be  built  too  close  to  a  cut  for  the  best 
results  should  be  higher  and  tighter  than  one  that  can  be  placed  to  best 
advantage. 

With  a  view  to  the  expediency  of  changing  the  direction  of  snow  fence 
or  its  distance  from  the  cut  after  experience  with  the  local  conditions  may 
have  shown  such  a  change  to  be  necessary,  many  roads  have  adopted  a  style 
of  construction  which  admits  of  removal  at  only  slight  expense  for  labor 
and  without  doing  material  damage  to  the  fence.  Such  fences  are  usually 
built  in  separate  leaning  panels  with  back  braces  in  lieu  of  posts.  An 
-example  of  such  construction  is  the  standard  snow  fence  of  the  Union 
Pacific  R.  R.,  shown  in  Fig.  453.  It  is  about  7  ft.  high  and  consists  of 
•diagonally  braced  panels  of  Ix6-in.  boards,  each  leaning  against  three  back 
braces  (2x6  ins.),  with  three  boards  at  the  top  nailed  to  the  projecting  ends 
of  the  back  braces  and  leaning  to  windward.  The  panel  posts  and  back 
braces  are  bolted  together  at  the  top  and  tied  at  the  bottom  by  a  plank 
bolted  on,  and  spiked  to  stakes  driven  firmly  into  the  ground.  If  the 
fence  is  placed  when  the  ground  is  frozen  the  legs  may  be  fastened  with  wire 
staples  to  drift  bolts  used  as  stakes.  Where  the  wind  blows  unusually  hard 
the  fence  is  weighted  down  by  piling  stones  upon  the  tie  pieces.  The  pur- 


Fig.  454. — Portable  Snow  Fence,  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R. 

pose  of  the  top  projection  to  windward  is  to  give  the  snow  a  back  flurry 
-and  heap  it  up  in  front  of  the  fence  as  much  as  possible.  In  setting  up 
these  fences  on  some  roads  it  is  the  practice  to  leave  2-ft.  spaces  between 
the  panels,  thus  to  some  extent  economizing  in  the  use  of  lumber. 

Portable  Snow  Fence. — In  regions  of  heavy  snowfall  and  long  con- 
tinued winds  a  single  line  of  snow  fence  is  not  usually  found  to  be  sufficient, 
for  as  soon  as  the  snow  bank  which  forms  between  the  fence  and  track 
becomes  as  high  as  the  fence,  the  fence  then  ceases  to  be  of  service.  Where 
the  winds  have  a  good  sweep  it  is  frequently  the  case,  therefore,  that  two  or 
more  lines  of  fence  are  needed,  the  second  line  being  parallel  with  the  first 
and  generally  about  100  ft.  farther  away  from  the  cut.  If  the  land  bound- 
ing the  right  of  way  is  waste  land  the  second  line  of  fence  is  usually 
made  permanent,  like  the  first,  but  if  the  land  is  cultivated  a  portable 
i'ence,  in  panel  sections,  is  usually  brought  into  service  and  put  up  tem- 
porarily during  the  winter.  Again,  the  right  of  way  on  some  roads  is 
not  wide  enough  to  permit  the  building  of  even  one  permanent  snow  fence 
at  a  desirable  distance  from  the  cut  to  be  protected,  and  in  such  cases  it 
is  usual  to  rely  upon  portable  fences  set  up  on  private  property  tem- 
porarily during  the  winter  season.  A  common  form  of  portable  panel 
is  made  by  nailing  Ix6-in.  boards  16  ft.  long  to  2x4-in.  xS-ft.  scantlings, 
at  each  end  and  at  the  middle.  The  panel  is  held  to  position  by  2x4-in. 
braces  leaning  against  the  panel  posts  and  spiked  or  bolted  to  stakes 


880  MISCELLANEOUS 

driven  into  the  ground.     As  the  panels  have  to  be  handled  over  a  good  deal 
they  ought  to  be  strengthened  with  battens  at  the  ends  and  middle. 

A  form  of  fence  for  portable  use  or  for  use  permanently  on  rocky 
ground,  where  the  expense  for  digging  post  holes  would  be  a  matter  of  some 
consideration,  is  shown  in  Fig.  454.  This  fence  is  simple  in  construction 
and  is  used  on  a  number  of  roads.  It  consists  of  separate  panels  formed 
by  spiking  inch  boards  to  2x4-in.,  2x6-in.  or  4x4-in.  scantlings,  for  end 
pieces  and  stiffeners.  Alternate  panels  are  then  placed  so  as  to  lean  against 
each  other,  or  to  and  from  the  wind,  in  the  manner  shown.  The  end  piece* 
of  adjacent  panels  are  crossed  at  the  tops  and  bolted  together  and  tied  by 
a  strip  spiked  across  the  legs  at  the  bottom.  The  two  end  panels  are  main- 
tained in  position  by  a  brace  piece  bolted  to  the  top  of  the  end  piece  and 
tied  across  the  bottom  by  a  strip,  as  in  the  case  of  the  intermediate 
panels.  On  some  roads  a  back  brace  is  also  used  at  the  middle  of  each 
panel.  To  take  the  fence  down  it  is  only  necessary  to  knock  loose  the 
tie  pieces  spiked  to  the  bottoms  of  the  legs  and  unbolt  the  end  pieces  at  the 
top.  Another  scheme  for  a  portable  snow  fence,  that  has  been  used  on  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ky.,  is  to  build  separate  panels  of  boards  and  wire 
them  fast  to  the  posts  of  the  wire  fences  during  the  winter  season. 

The  Pittsburg  &  Western  Ey.  (Baltimore  &  Ohio  E.  E,  system)  builds 
portable  panels  by  nailing  boards  to  A-frames  made  from  two  old  bridge 
ties.  These  are  united  at  the  top  with  a  bolt  and  tied  across  the  bottom  by 
nailing  on  a  strip  5  ft.  long.  At  one  time  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 
E.  E.  used  a  portable  snow  fence  made  entirely  of  Ix6-in.  fence  boards. 
The  panels  were  16  ft.  long  and  seven  boards  high,  spaced  1  in.,  2  ins.  and 
3  ins.  apart,  with  battens  8  ins.  from  the  ends  of  the  panel  and  a  bracing 
cleat  running  between  diagonally  opposite  corners  on  each  side  of  the  paneL 
At  each  panel  point  in  the  fence  the  two  panels  were  headed  into  and  hung 
upon  a  braced  standard  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  fence.  This  standard 
consisted  of  two  upright  boards  4  ft.  8  ins.  long  and  3  ins.  apart,  nailed  at 
the  bottom  to  the  middle  of  a  horizontal  board  8  ft.  long,  and  knee-braced 
to  the  ends  of  the  same.  In  setting  up  the  fence  the  ends  of  two  adjacent 
panels  were  inserted  between  the  two  upright  pieces  of  the  supporting* 
standard,  lapping  by  each  other,  the  bottom  board  of  the  panel  and  the  one 
next  the  top  being  cut  off  at  the  batten  where  they  came  in  the  way  of  the 
horizontal  piece  of  the  standard  and  the  top  ends  of  the  knee  braces  where 
they  were  spiked  across  the  two  upright  pieces  of  the  standard.  Each 
panel  was  supported  at  the  under  edge  of  the  top  board,  resting  upon  the 
two  knee  braces  where  they  crossed  the  3-in.  space  between  the  upright 
pieces,  6  ins.  from  the  top  of  the  standard;  and  at  the  under  edge  of  the- 
board  next  the  bottom,  resting  upon  the  horizontal  piece  of  the  standard. 
When  portable  fence  is  removed  from  the  fields  in  the  spring  it  should 
be  carefully  piled  or  stood  up  in  a  leaning  position,  and  to  protect  it  from 
fire  the  grass  should  be  kept  from  growing  around  the  piles  or  stacks.  In 
dry  regions  a  layer  of  dirt  is  sometimes  spread  over  the  top  of  the  pile  of 
panels  to  protect  against  fire. 

The  number  of  lines  of  snow  fence  required  depends  upon  the  quantity 
of  the  snow,  for  the  second  fence  (from  the  cut)  serves  to  catch  and  hold 
snow  which  would  be  sure  to  drift  against  the  first  fence.  At  some  points 
on  the  Union  Pacific  E.  E.  the  snow  fences  are  as  many  as  five  and  six* 
lines  deep,  one  in  advance  of  the  other,  at  distances  of  75  to  200  ft.  apart. 
In  several  places  on  this  road  snow  fence  is  placed  at  a  much  lower  level 
than  the  track.  At  one  point  there  are  three  lines  of  snow  fence  on  a 
steep  side  hill,  lower  than  the  track,  which  is  in  a  side-hill  cut.  Such 
protection  is  necessary  where  the  sweep  of  the  prevailing  winds  up  these 
side  hills  is  sufficient  to  carry  snow  up  into  the  cuts. 


SNOW  FENCE  881 

The  same  result  that  may  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  two  or  more  lines 
of  snow  fence  may  be  accomplished  by  using  portable  fence  on  top  of  the 
snow  bank  formed  at  one  fence,  or  even  by  the  use  of  a  portable  fence  alone. 
As  soon  as  the  accumulation  of  snow  attains  a  hight  level  with  the  top  of 
the  fence  the  practical  utility  of  the  latter  ceases,  and  the  furrow  in  which 
the  fence  stands,  between  the  windward  and  leeward  drifts,  becomes  rapidly 
filled  up.  Before  the  fence  becomes  buried,  however,  it  is  taken  up  and 
placed  upon  the  summit  of  the  leeward  drift,  when  it  again  becomes  effec- 
tive. By  transferring  the  fence  to  the  top  of  the  new  leeward  drift  each 
time  that  the  drifts  each  side  of  the  same  cease  to  increase  in  hight  or 
volume,  the  repetition  of  the  process  will  in  time  form  a  bank  SO'  high  that 
the  wind  will  be  carried  past  the  cut  before  falling  to  the  surface  level. 
It  is  also  frequently  the  practice,  where  repeated  storms  have  filled  the 
fences,  to  build  walls  of  snow  as  substitutes  for  portable  fences,  the  snow 
being  taken  from  the  track  side  of  the  wall  and  heaped  up  to  a  hight  of 
4  ft.  or  more.  In  a  hard  wind  snow  walls,  unless  protected  in  some  man- 
ner, will  be  blown  away.  Such  protection  may  be  arranged  by  topping  out 
the  wall  with  a  fence  board  nailed  to  two  stakes  driven  into  the  snow. 
Snow  walls  will  sometimes  endure  several  days  of  thawing  weather  after 
the  surface  snow  has  melted  away,  and  remain  to  do  service  in  the  next 
storm.  A  good  deal  of  labor  is  required  to  build  them,  however,  and  they 
should  be  regarded  only  as  an  expedient,  when  portable  fence  is  not 
quickly  available.  In  some  parts  of  Europe  where  land  is  more  closely 
utilized  than  in  this  country,  the  width  of  the  right  of  way  is  very  narrow 
and  the  permanent  snow  fence  must  be  built  at  the  edge  of  the  cut.  In  a 
case  of  this  kind  the  whole  of  the  drift  has  to  be  put  on  the  windward  side 
of  the  fence.  Such  is  the  case  with  some  of  the  snow  fences  on  the  Paris, 
Lyons  &  Mediterranean  Ky.,  in  France,,  and  in  some  instances  portable 
fence  is  relied  upon  altogether.  Before  the  snow  starts  drifting  a  wall  of 
snow  is  built  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  track,  the  snow  being  taken 
from  an  excavation  on  the  track  side  of  the  wall.  As  soon  as  a  drift  has 
formed  in  front  of  this  obstruction  a  wooden  screen  about  5  ft.  high  is 
planted  on  top  of  the  drift  by  driving  boards  endwise  into  the  snow. 
When  a  new  drift  is  formed  as  high  as  the  top  of  the  screen  the  boards  are 
pulled  up  and  set  upon  the  summit  of  the  new  drift,  the  operation  being 
repeated  as  often  as  the  screen  is  drifted  full.  A  temporary  fence  may 
also  be  built  by  laying  up  a  wall  of  old  ties,  rail  fence  fashion,  and  such 
a  scheme  is  frequently  resorted  to  where  lumber  is  not  on  hand.  This 
fence  can  be  put  up  quickly  by  the  section  men,  and  by  picking  out  the 
soundest  of  the  ties  it  may  be  made  to  last  two  or  three  winters.  On 
rocky  ground,  where  stakes  cannot  be  driven  the  old-fashioned  rail  fence  or 
worm  fence  can  be  used. 

Hedge  Fence. — If  the  nature  of  the  soil  and  other  conditions  are  favor- 
able it  is  a  good  plan  to  set  out  along  snow  fence  a  hedge  of  evergreens, 
stub  pines,  or  of  such  indigenous  trees  as  grow  bushy  near  the  ground. 
Common  balsam  or  cedar  is  good,  where  it  will  grow  and  thrive.  By  the 
time  the  board  fence  is  decayed  the  trees  will  generally  have  grown  suf- 
ficiently high  to  form  a  most  efficient  snow  fence,  which  will  need  110 
repairs  except,  perhaps,  an  occasional  trimming.  In  some  localities  where 
there  has  been  difficulty  in  getting  plants  to  grow,  willows  have  been  found 
to  be  the  best.  For  the  purpose  of  a  snow  fence  it  is  generally  recommended 
that  the  hedge  should  be  planted  in  three  or  four  rows  about  8  ft.  apart, 
the  trees  in  one  row  staggered  with  those  of  the  next  row.  The  row  nearest 
the  cut  should  be  at  such  distance  as  has  been  found  proper  for  structural 
snow  fence. 


882  MISCELLANEOUS 

Comparatively  speaking,  hedge  snow  fence  has  received  but  scant  atten- 
tion in  this  country.  Only  a  few  roads  have  tried  them,  and  on  some  of 
these  the  experiments  have  been  disappointing.  According  to  some  author- 
ities these  failures  have  been  due  to  a  wrong  adaptation  in  some  respect, 
such  as  the  selection  of  a  plant  not  suitable  to  the  soil  or  for  the  purpose 
of  a  snow  fence,  or  to  a  wrong  method  of  cultivation,  or  lack  of  watchful- 
ness in  trimming  and  protecting  from  fire.  Along  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee 
&  St.  Paul  Ky.  in  southern  Wisconsin  cedar  hedges  planted  on  the  right-of- 
way  line  at  many  of  the  cuts  have  attained  a  hight  of  12  to  16  ft.  Some 
of  these  hedges  have  been  permitted  to  grow  too  high,  and  the  foliage  is  so 
sparse  near  the  ground  that  low  board  fences  are  necessary  to  prevent  the 
winds  from  carrying  the  snow  under.  For  the  decoration  of  its  station 
grounds  and  for  snow  fences  at  cuts  and  at  other  places  where  drifting  snow 
might  be  bothersome  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.  has  made  extensive 
use  of  the  shrub  California  privet  (Ligustrurn  ovalifolium) .  These  plants 
are  raised  in  the  company^  own  nursery  and  set  out  when  two  years  old, 
about  10  ins.  apart.  The  first  year  they  are  not  trimmed  any  further  than 
that  which  they  receive  at  the  time  of  planting,  but  the  next  year  they  are 
trimmed  in  January  or  February,  again  in  July,  and  again  in  the  winter. 
The  trimming  is  easily  performed,  as  the  wood  is  not  hard  like  the  Osage 
orange,  which  is  used  quite  generally  for  hedge  fence.  As  a  hedge  plant 
thexprivet  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  as  the  leaves  remain  until  late  in 
the  winter  and  it  is  an  early  thriver.  It  is  trimmed  to  a  hight  of  6  or  8  ft. 
the  growth  is  dense  from  the  ground  up,  and  its  effect  on  the  landscape  i? 
decidedly  beautifying.  For  some  time  about  30,000  of  these  shrubs  were 
raised  every  year  for  planting  permanently  in  exposed  places  for  snow 
breaks. 

The  most  extensive  use  of  hedges  and  tree  plantations  for  snow  fence 
has  been  in  Russia,  where  such  means  of  protection  was  adopted  as  early  as 
1865.  On  the  Moscow-Mjni-Novgorod  Ry.,  particularly,  this  kind  of  snow 
fence  has  been  systematically  experimented  with  and  studied,  and  the 
results  achieved  have  been  highly  satisfactory.  In  the  north,  northwest  and 
western  districts  the  trees  planted  are  mainly  coniferous — firs  and  pines — 
but  occasionally  white  firs  mixed  with  birch  in  the  proportion  of  one  ta 
four.  On  16  lines  of  railway,  trees  of  these  kinds  are  being  cultivated,  and 
on  only  three  of  these  lines  (which  are  in  the  south  and  center  of  Russia, 
where  it  is  difficult  to  acclimatize  conifers)  have  the  results  been  unsatis- 
factory. With  these  exceptions  coniferous  trees,  if  planted  at  the  proper 
distance  from  the  track,  give  the  desired  protection.  On  the  road  named 
(where  the  right  of  way  is  350  ft.  wide)  the  trees  are  set  on  the  boundary 
line,  175  ft.  from  the  track.  In  the  majority  of  cases  the  fences  are  formed 
of  two  or  three  rows  of  trees,  but  frequently  there  is  only  one  row,  and 
sometimes  as  many  as  six  and  even  ten  rows.  As  a  general  thing  these  plan- 
tations begin  to  be  useful  after  seven  to  ten  years  of  growth.  Saplings 
transplanted  from  nurseries  have  given  better  results  than  those  taken  direct 
from  the  forest. 

The  culture  of  the  conifers  is  usually  undertaken  by  the  railways  them- 
selves, a  small  nursery  being  attached  to  each  roadmaster's  district.  It  is 
rarely  the  case  that  large  nursery  grounds  are  maintained  or  that  special 
services  are  called  in  to  supervise  the  cultivation  of  the  saplings,  or  that 
trees  are  purchased  from  outside.  The  aim  is  to  have  the  nurseries  so  widely 
distributed  that  the  plants  needed  at  any  point  need  not  be  longer  than  24 
hours  in  transit.  In  the  majority  of  cases  the  firs  appear  to  be  the  most 
suitable  species,  but  in  some  parts  white  Siberian  or  Polish  pines  are  pre- 
ferred, and  in  sandy  soil  the  pines  flourish  best.  The  priming  of  the  con- 


SXOW  FENCE  DOO 

ifers  is  commenced  when  they  have  attained  a  hight  of  about  28  ins.,  being 
usually  attended  to  in  the  autumn.  The  purpose  of  this  early  pruning  is 
principally  to  keep  the  trees  at  a  uniform  hight  and  to  thicken  the  branches 
and  develop  the  foliage  close  to  the  ground.  As  the  trees  increase  in  size 
the  front. of  the  fence  is  trimmed  to  slope  toward  the  bottom,  like  the  side 
of  a  battered  wall.  Where  the  snow  drifts  are  usually  of  moderate  size  the 
trees  are  trimmed  to  a  hight  of  about  4J  ft.,  but  for  heavy  duty  the  hight 
is  not  less  than  9  or  10  ft.,  while  on  some  lines  the  trees  are  allowed  to  grow 
to  full  hight,  as  in  the  forest.  The  cost  of  a  mile  of  fence  set  with  conifers 
ranges  from  $40  to  $275,  according  to  the  number  of  lines  of  trees  and  the 
conditions  peculiar  to  the  location. 

On  the  steppes  of  central  and  southern  Kussia,  where  conifers  do  not 
thrive,  the  experiments  with  leafy  trees  for  snow  breaks  have  been  very 
numerous  and  frequently  have  been  carried  out  on  an  important  scale.  In 
these  trials  the  degree  of  success  has  not  been  uniformly  so  good  as  in  the 
experience  with  conifers  in  the  Xorth  and  West.  Black  and  tartar  maple, 
elm,  ash,  hawthorn,  willow,  osier,  sorrel  thorn,  mulberry  and  red  alder  are 
some  of  the  trees  used.  As  the  trees  during  the  winter  are  leafless  and  open 
they  fill  up  with  snow,  and  if  close  to  the  track  afford  no  protection.  In 
any  case  a  large  number  of  rows  of  trees  is  required  to  stop  the  snow,  var- 
ious authorities  putting  it  at  15  to  32  rows,  set  close  together  and  a  good 
distance  from  the  track,  the  first  row  to  be  not  nearer  than  70  to  100  ft,, 
according  to  the  local  topography.  Where  the  number  of  rows  is  com- 
paratively small  the  best  results  are  obtained  by  alternating  the  rows  of 
trees  with  rows  of  bushes,  always  having  bushes  in  the  outside  rows.  White, 
yellow  and  German  acacia,  wild  olive  and  honeysuckle  are  some  of  the 
bushes  employed.  On  the  St.  Petersburg- Warsaw  line  a  combination  of 
willow  and  birch  is  fairly  satisfactory,  but  they  aiford  less  protection  than 
conifers.  On  other  lines  10  rows  of  white  acacia,  in  one  instance,  and  20 
rows  of  red  alder,  in  another,  have  also  proven  satisfactory.  On  the  Hun- 
garian State  railways  three  rows  of  wild  roses,  the  plants  staggered  in 
the  different  rows  and  trimmed  to  a  hight  of  6J  ft.,  have  given  good  pro- 
tection, and  acacias  have  done  fairly  well. 

In  shallow  cuts  of  3  or  4  ft.  or  less  depth  it  sometimes  pays  better  to 
grade  down  the  banks  than  to  build  and  maintain  snow  fences.  By  run- 
ning the  slope  back  60  or  70  ft.  on  each  side  of  the  track,  or  even  1  in  10 
for  the  heavier  work,  the  wind  will  drop  and  blow  the  cut  clear.  If  there 
are  hollows  near  such  cuts  the  work  may  be  cheaply  done  with  plow  and 
scraper.  Material  near  the  track  may  be  loaded  and  used  to  fill  in  bridges 
or  be  wasted  on  embankments.  Snow  fence  is  sometimes  made  by  heaping 
up  earth,  and  if  the  material  may  be  had  by  excavating  for  a  slope  ditch  it 
would  seem  that  the  plan  ought  to  pay.  The  Union  Pacific  "R.  E.  has  fol- 
lowed quite  extensively  the  plan  of  grading  back  shallow  cuts  on  easy 
slopes  and  piling  the  dirt  up  at  the  proper  distance  to  form  snow  breaks. 
In  other  instances  dirt  or  rock  taken  from  deeper  cuts  that  have  been 
excavated  to  ordinary  lines  has  been  disposed  of  in  the  same  manner.  Some 
of  the  roads  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Mississippi  valley  have  used  sod 
walls  4  or  5  ft.  high  for  snow  fence. 

In  a  fiat  country  some  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  hight  of  the 
track  above  the  surrounding  level.  As  long  as  the  rails  are  higher  than  the 
snow  on  the  ground  immediately  to  the  windward  the  track  will  be  blown 
clear  while  snow  is  drifting,  but  as  soon  as  the  depth  of  the  snow  exceeds 
the  hight  of  the  rails  above  the  general  level  the  track  is  then  virtually  ir 
a  cut,  which  will  drift  level  full  in  short  order  as  soon  as  the  wind  starts 
blowing:  and  a  depth  of  a  few  inches  of  fine,  closely  compacted  drifted  snow 


884  MISCELLANEOUS 

is  a  greater  hindrance  to  traction  than  several  times  that  depth  of  snow 
which  falls  in  place.  On  prairie  land  where  hard  snow  storms  are  to  be 
expected  the  hight  of  the  roadbed  should  therefore  be  such  that  the  rails 
will  stand  above  snow  of  the  ordinary  depth  on  the  surrounding  level 
For  sake  of  illustration,  suppose  that  on  the  plains  in  some  certain  locality 
the  depth  of  snow  to  be  -expected  with  more  or  less  regularity  is  2J  ft.  on 
the  level.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  assume  that  snow  of  that  depth 
would  .fall  during  one  storm.  Allowing  5  ins.  for  depth  of  rail,,  7  ins.  for 
depth  of  tie  and  8  ins.  for  depth^  of  ballast,  we  get  20  ins.  from  sub-grade  to 
top  of  rail,  leaving  10  ins.  as  the  hight  of  the  embankment  which  is  neces- 
sary to  put  top  of  rail  even  with  the  top  of  the  layer  of  snow.  In  such  a 
case  it  ought  to  be  more  than  10  ins. — say  15  or  16  ins. — so  as  to  allow 
for  snow  thrown  to  the  side  of  the  rail  by  engine  pilots  and  snow  flangers. 
As  already  explained,  the  speed  of  snow  plows  on  open  track  should  be 
such  that  the  snow  will  be  thrown  well  clear  of  the  shoulders  and  not  heaped 
up  at  the  side  of  the  track.  A  ridge  of  snow  at  the  side  of  the  track  is 
just  as  detrimental  in  the  way  of  stopping  drifted  snow  as  though  the 
track  stood  in  an  earth  cut  of  the  same  depth. 

In  Eussia,  where  there  is  much  level  country  and  where  the  accumula- 
tions of  snow  during  the  long  winters  are  a  serious  difficulty  to  contend 
with,  this  question  of  providing  against  snow  drifts  over  slightly  elevated 
embankments  was  long  ago  investigated  in  a  thorough  manner  and  settled 
by  government  authority.  In  the  schedule  of  conditions  for  the  construc- 
tion of  new  lines,  as  laid  down  by  the  ministry  of  ways  of  communication, 
is  a  stipulation  requiring  that  the  hight  of  embankments  in  places  exposed 
to  snow  accumulations  shall  not  be  less  than  25.2  ins.  (0.3  sagene),  except 
when  passing  from  cuttings  to  embankments.  With  the  usual  allowances 
for  ballast  this  requirement  places  the  rail  head  3  ft.  2  ins.  to  3J  ft.  above 
the  ground  level,  but  on  some  of  the  railways  where  the  fall  of  snow  is 
excessive  the  managements,  from  their  own  choice,  prefer  to  make  the 
embankments  even  higher  than  the  government  requirements,  in  order  to 
obtain  desired  protection  from  drifting  snow. 

Certain  abnormal  conditions  of  location  or  of  the  winds  have  in  cases 
suggested  the  trial  of  odd  arrangements  in  snow  fence.  When  the  direction 
of  a  wind  is  straight  through  a  cut  it  will  blow  the  track  clear,  but  when 
it  strikes  at  a  small  angle  the  formation  of  long  drifts  diagonally  across 
the  track  may  sometimes  occur.  One  can  imagine  how  the  winds  might 
pick  up  enough  snow  between  the  track  and  the  fence  to  form  drifts  of 
good  size  once  it  is  blown  down  into  the  cut,  or  the  wind  might  veer  so 
far  from  the  prevailing  direction  as  to  blow  between  diagonal  fences  set 
to  overlap  in  the  path  of  the  prevailing  winds.  Again,  when  snow-bearing 
wind  blows  into  a  curved  cut  the  change  of  direction  may  reduce  the 
velocity  and  cause  it  to  drop  its  snow  in  the  artificial  calm  to  windward, 
forming  long  and  narrow  drifts  on  the  track.  And  then,  the  direction  of  a 
cut  may  be  such  that  the  prevailing  winds  come  at  a  small  angle,  and  if 
they  change  around  considerably  some  of  the  snow  behind  the  fences  may 
be  blown  into  the  cut.  On  the  Concord  and  White  Mountains  divisions  of 
the  Boston  &  Maine  E.  E.  wing  fences  have  been  tried  in  some  of  the  cuts 
to  meet  such  conditions.  At  certain  points  where  the  track  runs  due  north 
and  south,  or  nearly  so,  the  prevailing  winds  (northeast)  blow  into  the 
cuts  in  a  quartering  direction.  A  few  days  after  a  storm  has  cleared  off 
the  wind  may  veer  into  the  other  quarter  (northwest)  and  blow  into  the 
cut  from  the  opposite  side.  The  arrangement  for  protecting  such  cuts  con- 
sists in  running  short  wing  fences  or  panels  down  the  slopes  of  the  cut, 
as  far  as  the  ditch,  at  an  angle  of  about  45  deg.  with  the  track.  The 


SXOW  FENCE  885- 

panels  of  wing  fence  are  separated  by  intervals  of  60  to  90  ft.,  and  arc 
piaced  alternately  on  either  side  of  the  track,  the  idea  being  that  when  dis- 
posed in  this  manner  they  stand  at  right  angles  to  a  quartering  wind  blow- 
ing from  either  side  of  the  cut.  These  fences,  although  tried  for  a  long 
time,  have  been  rather  disappointing.  When  the  wind  blows  in  certain 
directions  long  bars  of  hard  snow  2  to  4  ft.  deep  will  form  on  the  track, 
running  from  the  panels  of  fence  like  windrows,  so  to  speak.  Sometimes- 
these  drifts  are  almost  as  solidly  compacted  as  ice  and  it  is  a  hard  pull 
for  engines  to  get  through.  These  fences,  which  are  often  referred  to  in 
discussions  on  snow  fence,  were  illustrated  in  the  Railway  and  Engineering. 
Review  of  Nov.  4,  1899. 

As  any  obstruction  which  will  form  a  calm  in  the  wind  currents  will 
cause  the  formation  of  a  snow  drift,  it  is  seen  that  buildings  and  other 
structures  to  the  windward  may  cause  the  track  to  be  obstructed  in  much 
the  same  manner  that  drifts  are  deposited  behind  snow  fence.  The  follow- 
ing instructions  issued  in  anticipation  of  trouble  arising  in  this  way  are 
found  among  the  rules  for  location  and  construction  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Ry. :  "In  regions  swept  by  strong  winds,  where  the  snowfall  is  liable  to  be 
great  and  drifting  to  occur,  all  structures  will  be  put  on  that  side  of  the 
track  opposite  the  prevailing  winds.  Usually  this  will  be  the  southerly  side, 
and  station  buildings,  water  stations,  switch  stands,  and  every  kind  of 
structure  that  can  cause  the  formation  of  drifts,  will  be  put  on  that  side. 
Sidings  and  spur  tracks  should  be  put  on  the  same  side,  where  practicable." 
On  some  other  roads  track  and  bridge  men  and  other  employees  are  in- 
structed to  pile  no  ties,  timbers  or  other  material  on  the  windward  side  of 
the  track  so  close  that  drifts  formed  behind  the  piles  might  extend  to  the- 
track. 

There  are  some  situations  other  than  those  mentioned  hitherto  which 
require  protection  by  snow  fence,  such  as  turntable  pits  at  exposed  points, 
and  round  about  the  mouth  of  a  tunnel,  to  prevent  snow  from  blocking 
the  entrance  or  the  cut  leading  up  to  it.  At  the  east  end  of  the  Aspen  tun- 
nel, on  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.,  there  are  three  lines  of  snow  fence  running 
around  the  side  of  the  mountain,  above  the  entrance  to  the  tunnel.  In 
desert  regions,  such  as  are  found  in  the  southwestern  part  of  this  country, 
the  sand  drifts  and  forms  into  heaps  in  a  manner  very  similar  to  that  of 
drifting  snow,  but  is  more  dangerous  to  train  operation,  and  fences  have 
to  be  built  to  keep  the  track  from  being  covered  by  sand.  Such  fence  is 
built  on  the  same  principle  as  a  snow  fence.  On  some  roads  running  near 
the  seashore  the  same  conditions  prevail.  Along  some  portions  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  Ry.  drifting  sand  gives  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  in 
such  places  a,  line  of  shrubs  is  planted,  wherever  they  can  be  made  to  grow 
A?  a  further  protection  a  strip  of  wild  oats  is  sown  along  both  sides  of  the 
track.  The  Southern  Pacific  Co.  has  a  special  standard  section  for  roadbed 
requiring  protection  against  damage  by  sand  storms.  The  track  is-  filled 
in  with  sand  to  a  level  1  in.  above  the  tops  of  the  ties  and  in  cuttings  this 
level  is  extended  out  4  ft.  beyond  the  ends  of  the  ties.  On  embankment 
the  shoulder  is  filled  up  to  the  same  level  and  carried  out  3  ft  8i  ins.  from 
the  rail.  For  the  protection  of  slopes,  to  keep  the  sand  from  blowing 
away,  rock,  heavy  subsoil  or  brush  with  butts  well  embedded  and  branches 
about  flush  with  the  face  of  the  slope,  is  used.  Where  stone  of  the  proper  size 
can  be  obtained  they  are  placed  on  lines  3  ft.  8^  ins.  from  the  rails,  on 
embankments.  The  use  of  a  layer  of  cinders  or  of  clayey  soil,  and  the 
planting  of  Bermuda  grass  and  other  vegetation  for  the  protection  of  sand 
slopes  from  the  wind  are  elsewhere  referred  to. 


886 


MISCELLANEOUS 


155.  Snow  Sheds. — In  mountain  regions  where  the  snowfall  is  heavy 
and  deep  drifts  and  snow  slips  are  liable  to  occur,  such  as  in  deep  cuts  and 
along  side-hill  slopes,  the  track  must  be  protected  by  snow  sheds.  Such 
structures  are  formed  over  the  track  by  framed  bents  of  heavy  timbers  cov- 
ered with  planks  on  top  and  at  the  sides.  On  side^hill  where  snow  slides  are 
liable  to  occur  the  up-hill  side  of  the  shed  is  built  to  form  part  of  a  slope 
extending  from  the  hillside  over  the  top  of  the  shed.  In  case  unusual  trou- 
ble is  looked  for  in  this  direction  the  space  behind  the  shed  is  filled  in  with 
a  heavy  masonry  wall  (Fig.  457)  or  rock  cribbing  and  the  crib  is  covered 
with  timber  or  earth  filling,  to  form  a  firm  slope  on  the  up-hill  side  of  the 
shed.  In  some  cases  the  bents  are  anchored  to  the  rock  with  long  tie  rods. 
In  addition  to  this  heavy  V-shaped  or  diagonal  stone-filled  cribs  are  some- 
times constructed  higher  up  on  the  mountain  side,  to  split  the  slide  or  to 
turn  it  aside. 


Fig.  455.  Fig.  456.  Fig.  457. 

Types  of  Snow  Sheds,  Central  Pacific  R.  R.  (S.  P.  Co.). 

On  the  Central  Pacific  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  there  are  36 
miles  of  snow  sheds.  Of  this  ?8.49  miles  of  shed  is  continuous,  being 
broken  only  over  bridges.  Sheds  of  the  latest  design  measure  on  the  inside 
20  ft.  high  from  top  of  rail  and  16  ft.  across  from  post  to  post.  The  bents 
are  constructed  of  8xlO-in.  posts,  8xl6-in.  beams  and  5xlO-in.  braces.  The 
bents  are  placed  6  to  8  ft.  apart,  'according  to  the  quantity  of  snow,  which 
in  some  places  frequently  lies  25  ft.  deep.  The  roof  planking  is  3  and  4  ins. 
thick  and  the  side  boards  H  and  2  ins.  thick.  In  the  latest  structures  the 
roofing  is  redwood  and  the  remaining  lumber  mountain  pine.  Figures  455 
to  458,  inclusive,  illustrate  types  of  construction,  Fig.  456  showing  the 
arrangement  where  there  is  a  side-track.  To  admit  light  and  air  a  narrow 
opening  is  left  in  the  side  planking  near  the  top,  as  indicated  in  Figs.  457 
and  458.  Figure  459  shows  types  of  strong  crib  construction  that  are  used 
on  the  Denver  &  Eio  Grande  R.  E.  At  a  place  on  the  Southern  Pacific 
road  in  northern  California  a  shed  was  at  one  time  constructed  in  a  trou- 
blesome side  cutting  to  carry  sliding  earth  and  rock  over  the  track. 

The  Canadian  Pacific  Ey.  is  another  line  that  encounters  very  deep 
snow.  At  Hector,  in  the  Kicking  Horse  River  pass,  near  the  summit  of 


Fig.  458.— Snow  Shed,  Cent.  Pac.  R.  R.     Fig.  459.— Snow  Shed,  D.  &  R.  G.  R.  R. 


SXOW   SHEDS 


887 


LEVEL  FALL  SHED 


> 

P 

1 

ftff/'/way         Track 

*0 

F/re  Break    Op&v'ng 

Original 'Slope 


Fig.  460. — Types  of  Snow  Sheds,  Canadian  Pacific  Ry. 

the  road  in  the  Rocky  mountains,  snow  falls  in  every  month  during  some 
years.  Records  kept  by  the  watchman  at  this  point  for  a  number  of  years 
show  an  average  annual  snowfall  of  27  ft.  4  ins.,  the  minimum  being  23 
ft.  and  the  maximum  fall  during  any  year  41  ft.  In  the  Selkirk  range,  to 
the  west,  the  snowfall  is  even  more  remarkable,,  the  average  for  a  numbei 
of  years  at  the  station  at  Glacier  House,  B.  C.,  being  31  ft.,  and  in  a  single 
year  43  ft.  8J  ins.  In  the  Rocky  mountains  the  snow  is  generally  handled 
with  rotary  plows,  without  serious  difficulty,  but  in  the  Selkirks,  where 
avalanches  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  bringing  down  immense  masses  of 
snow  mingled  with  rocks,  mud,  tree  trunks  and  other  debris,  machinery  is 
powerless  to  keep  the  road  open  and  many  miles  of  snow  sheds  are  neces- 
sary. Points  that  are  not  liable  to  be  covered  by  avalanches  or  deep  drifts 
are  left  unprotected  and  are  kept  open  by  the  rotaries. 

Types  of  snow-shed  construction  on  this  road  are  illustrated  in  Fig. 
460.  The  so-called  "level-fall"  shed  is  placed  at  points  where  the  road  must 
be  protected  from  drifts  but  where  avalanches  are  not  expected.  The 
"typical"  shed  is  built  at  points  along  the  sides  of  valleys  where  ava- 
lanches can  come  from  one  direction  only.  The  "valley7'  shed  is  employed 
in  the  bottoms  of  valleys  where  avalanches  may  descend  from  either  side. 
In  narrow  valleys  avalanches  do  not  always  stop  in  the  bottom,  but  fre- 
quently sweep  some  distance  up  the  opposite  side,  doing  damage  from  an 
unexpected  direction.  Cases  are  on  record  where  laborers  on  the  track 
have  been  killed  by  not  heeding  an  avalanche  sweeping  down  the  opposite 
side  of  a  valley  which  they  supposed  was  so  far  below  that  the  avalanche 
could  never  get  up  to  them.  In  the  heaviest  work  the  bents  are  built  of 
12x1 5-in.  Oregon  pine  timbers  securely  braced  and  drift-bolted  together,  and 
are  spaced  about  5  ft,  centers.  Wherever  the  lay  of  the  land  is  favorable,  the 
ground  above  the  shed  is  cleared  and  graded  up,  with  the  object  of  giving 
the  avalanche  an  upward  turn  and  shoot  it  across  the  track  without  strik- 
ing the  shed  with  full  force.  Glance  and  split  fences,  built  as  cribworks 
of  logs,  are  also  used,  in  places,  along  the  mountain  side,  to  turn  the  ava- 
lanches into  ravines,  where  they  will  pass  under  the  track,  or  to  split  up 


888  MISCELLANEOUS 

the  avalanche  and  break  its  force.  Avalanches  of  dry  snow  descend  with 
great  velocity  (greater  than  that  of  wet  snow)  and  the  currents  of  air  set 
up  by  the  swift  motion  of  the  huge  mass  often  do  more  damage  to  railroad 
property  than  the  avalanche  itself,  as  they  may  extend  over  a  wide  area. 
These  currents  are  locally  known  as  "snow  flurries/'  and  are  sometimes 
attended  with  the  force  of  a  cyclone,  snapping  off  the  trunks  of  full-grown 
trees.  These  "flurries"  have  been  known  to  sweep  away  bridges  which; 
were  not  touched  by  the  avalanche  of  snow  passing  underneath.  One  bridge 
on  this  road  was  swept  away  six  times  in  this  manner,  and  was  finally  re- 
placed by  a  masonry  arch,  which  has  been  able  to  stand  firm. 

To  guard  snow  sheds  against  fire  several  systematic  measures  have  been 
adopted.  Where  it  is  necessary  to  protect  a  long  stretch  of  track  it  is  the 
practice  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Ry.  to  break  the  shed  into  comparatively 
short  sections,  with  open  spaces  of  200  ft.  between  them.  To  protect  these 
openings  V-shaped  "split  fences"  of  heavy  crib  work  (Fig.  460)  are  built 
on  the  hillside  above,  to  deflect  the  avalanche  to  the  right  and  left  and 
cause  it  to  pass  over  the  sheds.  These  open  spaces  also  serve  as  ventilation 
openings,  to  quickly  clear  the  sheds  of  smoke,  which  in  winter,  when  all 
the  small  openings  are  covered  with  snow.,  would  otherwise  be  slow  to 
escape.  At  some  of  the  sheds  there  are  also  systems  of  piping  with  hose 
attachments,  or  sluices,  leading  water  from  high  streams  above  the  tops  of 
the  sheds,  where  the  watchman  can  use  it  in  case  of  fire.  At  many  places 
there  is  an  extra  or  "open-air"  track  outside  the  shed  to  carry  the  traffic  in 
summer,  the  object  being  to  reduce  the  fire  risk,  avoid  the  smoke  and  give 
passengers  the  benefit  of  the  mountain  scenery.  The  Central  Pacific  line 
has  special  trains  equipped  with  water  tanks,  fire  pumps,  hose,  etc.,  for 
fighting  fire  in  the  snow  sheds.  These  trains  are  held  in  readiness,  with 
crews  ready  to  go  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  worst  fires  to  contend  with 
are  forest  fires,  which  sometimes  burn  down  long  stretches  of  shed  im 
spite  of  all  efforts  of  the  fire  crews.  Another  means  of  fire  protection  in 
the  construction  of  the  shed  itself  is  to  side  up  the  structure  at  intervals 
with  galvanized  iron  in  place  of  planking. 

Some  of  the  European  railways,  particularly  the  Arlberg  line  of  the 
Austrian  State  Ry.,  have  gone  to  great  expense  to  protect  the  track  against 
avalanches.  One  method  is  to  erect  a  series  of  walls  or  piers  of  various 
kinds  on  the  slopes  above  the  line,  to  reduce  the  speed  of  moving  bodies  of 
snow,  break  them  up  and  divert  them  into  separate  portions,  which  checks 
their  momentum  and  scatters  the  tremendous  force  of  the  original  mass. 
The  Arlberg  line  builds  thick  cemented  stone  walls  in  some  places,  and  in 
other  cases  a  double  line  of  old  rails  is  driven  into  the  ground  and  filled  in 
between  with  logs  and  poles.  The  two  rows-  of  rails  stand  3  ft.  apart  and 
the  rails,  which  are  3  ft.  apart  in  each  row,  stand  7  ft.  out  of  the  ground. 
Rock-filled  log  cribs  are  also  used,  as  in  this  country.  It  has  been  found 
that  the  most  effective  way  of  preventing  danger  from  avalanches  is  to 
place  the  means  of  protection  where  the  avalanches  are  formed,  and  the 
most  satisfactory  method  is  to  set  out  trees  on  the  slopes  to  prevent  the 
snow  from  getting  started.  The  Arlberg  line  has  not  only  taken  up  the  work 
of  planting  trees  on  an  extensive  scale,  but  has  also  adopted  the  policy  of 
acquiring  existing  forest  and  wooded  slopes-  along  the  line,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent removal  of  the  timber  prematurely.  The  old  timber  is  cut  down 
and  used  in  protective  works  and  young  trees  are  planted  to  take  its  place. 
In  reafforesting  slopes  where  the  timber  has  been  felled  irrationally,  both 
pines  and  deciduous  trees  are  planted.  At  some  points  on  the  Hungarian 
State  Railways  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  extend  the  arches  of  tunnels 
for  some  distance  into  the  approach  cuts,  in  order  to  protect  them  from  deep 


FIRE   GUARDS 


889 


snowfalls  and  sliding  snow.  These  arches  are  of  masonry  construction,  of 
the  same  curvature  as  the  tunnel  lining,  and  by  filling  over  the  top  with 
stones  they  are  made  strong  enough  to  withstand  sliding  earth  and  rock. 

Where  a  snow  slide  crosses  open  track  it  will  fill  up  the  side-hill  cut- 
ting occupied  by  the  track  and  pack  it  very  hard  with  snow,  rocks,  tree 
trunks  and  other  debris  which  a  snow  plow  cannot  clear  away.  In  some 
cases  snow  slides  have  been  known  to  fill  up  one  side  of  a  valley,  covering 
the  track  with. such  a  large  pile  of  debris  that  it  was  necessary  to  build  a 
detour  track  to  get  the  traffic  past.  An  avalanche  at  Ophir,  Colo.,  on  the 
liio  Grande  Southern  R.  R.,  Feb.  20  1897,  cut  over  10  acres  of  timber  10 
ins.  to  2  ft.  in  diameter  and  struck  the  depot,  which  was  built  of  strongly 


Fig.  460  A.— Avalanche  at  Ophir,  Colo.,  Rio  Grande  Southern  R.  R. 

framed  bridge  timber.  One  end  of  the  building  was  carried  completely 
away  and  the  remainder  was  shoved  15  ft.  and  buried  up  in  a  mass  of  snow 
rocks,  trees,  etc.,  six  large  tree  trunks  being  driven  entirely  through  it. 
Four  loaded  box  cars  were  carried  600  ft.  from  the  track.  The  avalanche 
traveled  1^  miles  from  the  top  of  the  mountain,  nearly  a  third  of  the  dis- 
tance being  through  timber.  It  took  30  men  and  four  locomotives  38  hours 
to  dig  the  track  out  and  pull  timber  and  rocks  out  of  the  way.  Figure 
460 A  shows  one  of  the  engines  pulling  trees  off  the  track. 

156.  Fire  Guards. — Destructive  fires  started  by  sparks  from  loco- 
motives often  run  over  large  areas,  especially  through  the  stubble  of  grain 
fields  in  the  prairie  states.  It  is  therefore  incumbent  upon  the  railway 
companies  to  take  some  means  for  guarding  the  abutting  property  from 
fire,  as  far  as  possible,  wherever  the  conditions  are  threatening.  A  fire 
guard  is  m'ade  by  plowing  several  furrows,  usually  four  or  five,  parallel 
with  the  track,  at  such  a  distance  from  the  track  that  sparks  will  not  be 
blown  beyond  them,  generally  from  100  to  150  ft.,  but  sometimes  200  ft. 
This  distance  ordinarily  brings  them  off  the  right  of  way ;  but  as  they  are 
made  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  living  along  the  line  no  well-disposed 
person  objects  to  the  use  of  his  land  for  such  purpose.  It  is  a  good  plan  to 
burn  over  the  ground  between  these  furrows  and  the  track.  When  no  wind 
is  blowing  or,  better,  when  a  light  quartering  wind  is  blowing  toward  the 


£90  MISCELLANEOUS 

track,  the  section  crew  should  set  fire  to  and  burn,  off  the  windward  side, 
keeping  watch  near  the  furrows  and  the  track.  Wind  will  carry  the  fire 
along  quite  rapidly,  and,  coming  from  almost  any  direction,  will  usually 
favor  either  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  track.  If  it  is  blowing  parallel  with 
the  track  and  not  too  hard,  both  sides  may  be  burned  at  the  same  time 
If  no  wind  at  all  is  blowing  fires  may  be  kept  going  at  several  places,  so 
as  to  get  over  the  ground  more  rapidly.  In  places  where  much  anxiety 
is  felt  regarding  fires  a  second  line  of  furrows  is  made  beyond  the  first  and 
the  ground  burned  over  between  them.  The  ground  between  the  first  line 
of  furrows  and  the  track  need  not  then  be  burned  over.  The  plowing  of  fire- 
guard furrows  is  frequently  let  by  contract,  and  continuous  furrows  as 
long  as  70  miles  have  been  plowed,  a  sixrhorse  team  making  about  25  mile? 
per  day  with  one  furrow  in  hard  prairie  soil.  It  will  usually  take  less  time 
to  watch  and  burn  over  the  dry  grass,  etc.,  around  wooden  bridges  and 
other  track  structures  than  will  be  spent  in  running  to  put  out  fires  every 
time  they  get  started. 

157.  Bumping  Posts. — Obstructions  to  prevent  cars  from  being 
pushed  off  the  ends  of  spur  or  stub  tracks  are  of  two  kinds:  viz.,  wheel 
stops  and  bumping  posts.  Too  frequently,  such  devices  are  badly  used,  and 
often  the  damage  caused  by  their  presence  is  much  greater-  than  would  be 
the  cost  of  pulling  a  car  onto  the  track  occasionally.  Nevertheless,  to  pro- 
vide for  conditions  which  sometimes  make  it  a  necessity,  such,  for  instance, 
as  when  there  is  a  failure  of  brakes  to  act  (when  there  is  such  a  failure  in 
fact),  slippery  rails,  grade  in  the  track  either  way,  mischievous  boys,  etc., 
it  should  be  used.  The  logical  idea  is  that  the  post  should  come  into  service 
only  in  event  of  the  failure  of  a  brake  chain  or  through  some  other  un- 
certainty, and  that  it  should  not  be  put  to  "general  use,"  as  is  frequently 
the  case.  In  a  spur  where  the  track  is  level  and  there  is  room  beyond  the 
end  of  the  track  it  is  not  worth  while  to  go  to  much  expense  in  putting  in  a 
bumping  post,  because  there  is  not  really  any  need  of  it;  and  the  stronger 
the  bumping  post  is  made  on  such  track  the  harder  will  some  juvenile  train- 
man send  cars  against  it  and  try  to  knock  it  out,  just  for  amusement.  There 
is  not  quite  so  much  sport  in  pushing  or  running  a  car  off  the  end  of  a  spur 
track  as  there  is  in  sending  it  against  a  bumping  post,  and  as  a  usual  thing 
trainmen  are  more  careful  in  handling  cars  on  tracks  without  bumping 
posts  than  they  are  where  bumping  posts  are  provided.  Where  there  is  room 
beyond  the  end  of  the  track,  so  that  no  particular  damage  will  be  done  by 
cars  which  may  be  run  off  the  end  of  it,  it  is  largely  the  practice  to  dispense 
.with  bumping  posts.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  work  of  hauling  the  cars 
on  again  it  is  the  practice  with  some  roads  to  spread  the  rails  apart,  about 
a  foot  wider  than  the  gage,  at  the  end  of  the  track,,  and  to  lay  a  plank  in- 
side the  flaring  end  of  each  rail  to  receive  the  wheel  as  it  drops  from  the 
rails.  In.  pulling  the  car  ahead  the  convergence  of  the  flaring  rails  serves 
to  bring  the  wheels  readily  onto  the  track  again.  Where  cars  have  to  be 
thrown  up  grade  into  a  spur,  by  a  "flying  switch/'  a  bumping  post  is  needed, 
because  the  car  must  be  given  a  good  start  and  it  is  not  always  so  easy  to 
judge  of  the  proper  speed  required.  Where  the  grade  of  the  spur  descends 
from  the  main  track  there  is  no  necessity  for  throwing  cars  into  it  at  much 
speed,  but  to  provide  against  the  contingency  of  the  brakes  being  let  off 
standing  cars  there  should  be  some  kind  of  stop  to  hold  them ;  likewise,  when 
coupling  cars  on  such  a  spur,  sometimes  the  starting  of  a  car  cannot  well  be 
avoided. 

About  the  best  all-round  stop  for  out  of  doors,  where  there  is  plenty 
of  room,  is  to  cover  the  last  15  or  20  ft.  of  the  track  to  a  depth  of  2  ft. 
with  cinders,  gravel  or  sand.  Cinders  is  the  best  material,  because  it  does 


BUMPING  POSTS 


891 


not  freeze  hard  in  winter.  This  arrangement  will  stop  cars  at  considerable 
speed,  it  is  easy  on  the  cars  and  is  comparatively  inexpensive.  The  stand- 
ard car  stop  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  is  a  heap  of  earth  or  sand  re- 
tained on  three  sides  by  a  plank  box  10  ft.  square  and  22  ins.  high.  This 
box  is  open  on  the  side  where  the  track  enters,  and  is  formed  by  spiking 
3-in.  plank  of  durable  timber  to  the  inside  of  6x8-in.  posts  5  ft.  long,  set 
at  the  corners  of  the  box.  The  rails  extend  about  half  way  through  the 
heap.  This  is  the  type  of  buffer  used  for  permanent  spurs  at  principal 
stations.  At  points  where  something  better  looking  is  required  there  is  a 
heap  of  earth  or  cinders  walled  in  on  sides  and  rear  with  concrete.  The 
stop  shown  in  Fig.  461  is  12  ft.  wide  over  side  walls,  and  11  ft.  long.  The 
walls  are  9  ins.  thick  and  the  heap  of  earth,  which  in  this  case  happens 
to  be  adobe  sand,  is  3  ft.  high  above  top  of  rail.  The  standard  buffer  fot 
temporary  spurs  and  for  use  at  unimportant  stations  is  a  truncated  pyra- 
mid of  earth  15  ft.  square  on  base,  5  ft.  square  on  top  and  3  ft.  high,  the 
track  running  into  the  -heap  about  5  ft.  The  earth  buffer  of  the  Chicago' 
&  Northwestern  By.  is  a  heap  of  cinders  or  dirt  a  rail's  length  beyond  the 
end  of  the  track.  Between  the  end  of  the  track  and  the  heap  there  is  a 


Fig.  461. — Earth  Car  Stop,  Southern  Pacific  Co. 

bed  of  cross  ties  laid  touching  side  by  side,  and  on  these  ties  there  are  two 
guard  rails  about  5J  ft.  apart,  or  just  far  enough  outside  the  line  of  the 
traffic  rails  to  let  the  wheels  drop  off  at  the  end.  When  a  car  is  pushed  off 
the  end  of  the  track  the  wheels  go  bumping  over  the  ties  for  a  distance  of 
30  ft.  before  reaching  the  dirt  heap,  and  the  guard  rails  prevent  the  truck 
from  slewing;  they  also  serve  to  hold  it  in  line  when  the  car  is  being  hauled 
on  the  stub  ends  of  the  rails  again.  On  some  roads  a  large  stick  of  timber 
is  set  in  the  ground  at  the  end  of  the  track,  for  a  bumping  post,  and  the 
back  side  of  this  post  is  planked  up  to  retain  a  long  heap  of  earth  thrown 
up  as  a  backing  for  the  post. 

Ordinary  wheel  stops  or  chocks  are  not  supposed  to  be  hit  hard,  and 
are  used  only  as  a  sort  of  reminder  that  the  end  of  the  track  is  there.  One 
form  is  a  casting  bolted  or  clamped  to  the  rail  head.  In  another  form 
the  ends  of  the  last  rails  of  the  spur  are  bent  upward  for  a  foot  or  so  at 
about  the  same  curve  as  the  wheel  tread;  in  another,  the  ends  of  the  rails 
are  bent  upward  squarely  and  a  12xl2-in.  stick  of  timber  is  put  across  in 
front  of  the  bent-up  ends  and  bolted  down  to  the  rails  with  U-bolts,  for 
the  wheels  to  strike  against.  In  still  another  style  the  end  of  each  rail 


892 


MISCELLANEOUS 


is  curved  upward  12  or  15  ins.  high  and  backed  by  a  stick  of  timber  or 
braced  piece  footing  into  a  longitudinal  timber  under  the  ties.  A  very  sim- 
ple wheel  stop  is  made  by  laying  a  piece  of  6x8-in.  timber  across  the  rails 
and  backing  it  up  by  two  posts  driven  or  set  in  the  ground,  at  either  side 
of  the  track,  the  top  of  the  posts  projecting  out  of  the  ground  just  high 
enough  to  hold  the  cross  timber.  In  order  to  prevent  the  timber  from  being 
carried  away  it  is  chained  to  the  posts. 


Fig.  462.— Ellis  Bumping  Post. 

About  the  simplest  form  of  bumping  post  is  a  heavy  vertical  post  set 
in  the  track  and  braced  at  the  back  with  a  stick  of  timber.  A  contrivance 
of  this  kind  is  sometimes  made  by  setting  a  bunch  of  ties,  two  wide  and  two 
deep,  in  the  ground  about  4  ft.,  and  bracing  them  with  two  leaning  ties 
footed  against  a  tie  placed  crosswise  to  them  in  the  ground.  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  such  a  piece  of  construction  will  not  stand  a  very  heavy  jar, 
and  in  reality  it  is  only  an  excuse  for  a  bumping  post.  A  very  substantial 
bumping  post  is  made  by  driving  a  group  of  piles  into  the  ground  at  the 
end  of  the  track,  to  serve  as  a  backing  for  the  buffer  block.  Tough  oak 
piles  are  hard  to  break  off,  and,  being  somewhat  springy,  are  hard  to  knock 
out  in  ordinary  usage.  In  bumping  posts  of  this  style  in  service  on  the 
Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago  Ey.,  four  piles  are  used.  The  piles  are 
driven  two  abreast,  in  two  rows  about  a  foot  apart,  with  a  stick  of  12xl2-in. 
timber  between  the  two  rows  at  the  hight  of  the  buffer  block,  the  whole 
being  bolted  through  and  through. 

An  improved  bumper  of  the  "framed"  type  is  made  by  framing  the 
post  into  the  middle  of  a  heavy  longitudinal  sill,  buried  about  2  ft,  under 
the  track.  The  vertical  post  is  secured  against  being  lifted  off  the  sill  by 


BUMPING  POSTS  893 

a  heavy  strap  passing  under  the  sill,  and,  in  addition  to  a  leaning  timber 
at  the  back  of  the  post,  footing  into  the  sill  and  serving  as  a  brace,  there 
is  a  heavy  bolt  or  stay  rod  passed  through  the  brace  timber  just  in  rear  of 
the  vertical  post,  thus  holding  the  brace  timber  down  to  the  sill.  More 
commonly  a  pair  of  such  frames  is  used,  being  placed  parallel  and  about  2  ft. 
apart,  center  to  center.  A  cross  timber  is  placed  in  front  of  the  two  verti- 
cal posts  for  a  buffer  block  or  deadwood  support,  and  the  buffer  block  is 
sometimes  backed  by  a  set  of  car  springs  and  faced  with  heavy  steel  plate. 
The  sills  abut  against  a  cross  timber  buried  in  the  ground  to  serve  as  a 
backing  piece.  The  sills  are  usually  made  of  12xl2-in.  timber,  the  vertical 
post  of  12xl6-in.  timber  and  the  brace  piece  of  12xlG-in.  timber.  Bumping 
posts  of  framed  timbers  are  somewhat  expensive  and,  of  course,  rot  out 
quite  rapidly.  Although  they  were  formerly  in  service  on  a  large  number 
of  roads  bumping  posts  made  so  largely  of  timber  are  gradually  going  out 
of  use. 

The  type  of  bumping  post  which  now  seems  to  meet  with  most  favor 
is  some  form  of  construction  which  is  anchored  to  the  track  rails,  so  that 
a  blow  against  the  post  is  largely  transmitted  to  the  rails  in  a  manner  to 
put  them  in  tensile  stress.  The  different  styles  of  posts  designed  on  this 
principle  are  almost  too  numerous  to  mention.  The  original  post  of  this 
type  and  one  of  the  simplest,  and  perhaps  best  known,  is  the  Ellis  bumping 
post,  shown  as  Fig.  462.  A  heavy  oak  post  (A)  is  set  in  the  ground,  or 
stood  upon  a  plank  platform  resting  upon  masonry  or  a  bed  of  ties,  and 
,  this  post  is  secured  in  an  upright  position  by  bending  both  track  rails 
upward  at  an  angle  of  about  35  deg.  and  inward,  so  as  to  embrace  the  post 
at  about  the  hight  of  the  buffer  block.  A/heavy  casting  B,  resting  upon 
the  top  of  another  post  C,  serves  as  a  backing  for  the  stop  post  A,  directly 
behind  the  buffer  block.  Both  rails  are  securely  bolted  to  this  casting  by 
large  bolts  which  pass  through  all  three.  A  strut  E  with  clamps  D  is  placed 
between  the  rails  at  the  point  where  they  bend  upward,  so  as  to  prevent 
them  from  being  drawn  together  when  under  tensile  stress.  At  the  same 
point  the  rails  are  held  down  by  anchor  rods  secured  to  a  buried  timber, 
which,  in  addition  to  the  weight  of  the  car,  makes  the  rails  quite  secure 
against  being  lifted.  In  applying  this  bumping  post  to  a  trestle  the  anchor 
rods  are  secured  to  the  track  stringers.  The  bumping  post  shown  has  a 
spring  buffer  and  is  for  passenger  cars.  The  post  for  freight  cars  has  sim- 
ply the  buffer  block  or  deadwood  faced  with  a  heavy  striking  plate.  The 
•end  rails  of  the  track  which  bend  up  around  an  Ellis  post  should  be  full 
length,  so  as  to  put  the  splices  as  far  back  as  possible.  With  short  end  rails 
these  splices  or  the  bolts  in  the  same  are  liable  to  break  and  let  the  joint 
pull  apart  when  a  car  strikes  the  post.  As  used  at  some  points  on  the 
'Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ry.  the  splice  at  the  joint  with  each  bent 
end  rail  and  at  the  next  joint  back —  that  is,  at  the  last  two  joints  on  each 
side  of  the  track — is  reinforced  by  pieces  of  rail  6  ft.  long  used  as  splice 
"bars.  They  are  placed  outside  the  ordinary  6-bolt  splice  bars  and  bolted  to 
the  rail  at  each  end  by  three  J-in.  bolts  through  filler  blocks.  An  interesting 
application  of  this  bumping  post  is  where  a  stub  track  runs,  against  a  wall, 
like  the  wall  of  a  building,  and  it  is  desired  to  save  every  possible  foot  of 
space.  In  a  case  of  this  kind  the  stop  post  (A)  is  cut  short  and  stood  in 
an  opening  in  the  wall,  and  the  block  which  supports  the  back  casting  (C) 
is  placed  on  the  other  side  of  the  wall.  This  arrangement  brings  the  strik- 
ing face  of  the  post  even  with  the  face  of  the  wall. 

A  bumping  post  in  extensive  use  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R., 
known  a*  the  "Triangular"  post,  is  formed  by  bending  both  track  rails 
straight  up  at  an  angle  of  about  45  deg.,  so  as  to  form  a  backing  for  a 


894  MISCELLANEOUS 

heavy  stick  of  timber  placed  crosswise  the  track  at  the  bight  of  a  drawbar. 
The  backs  of  the  rails  so  bent  up  are  braced  by  short  pieces  of  rail  bent  at 
about  the  same  slant  and  footing  into  timbers  running  longitudinally  under 
the  track  and  extending  in  rear  of  the  bumping  post.  At  the  point  where 
each  track  rail  turns  upwrard  it  is  anchored  to  the  longitudinal  timber  un- 
derneath., and  a  timber  is  placed  across  the  rails  to  serve  as  a  wheel  stop.  In 
other  forms  of  bumping  posts  of  the  general  type  now  being  considered  the 
track  rails  are  not  disturbed.  The  simplest  form  of  bumping  post  em- 
ploying this  feature  is  had  by  setting  a  heavy  post  in  the  ground  and  stay- 
ing its  top  by  heavy  rods  bolted  to  the  webs  of  the  rails  some  7  or  8  ft.  in 
advance  of  the  post.  At  the  upper  end  the  rods  engage  with  a  heavy  plate 
which  backs  up  the  post.  In  some  cases  the  buffer  consists  of  a  block 
backed  up  by  rubber  or  car  springs  and  in  other  cases  it  consists  of  a  swing 
post  hinged  to  the  main  post  at  the  ground  and  backed  by  springs  at  the 
top.  A  bumping  post  that  is  extensively  used  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Ry. 
has  an  oak  post  standing  on  each  rail,  with  a  cross  beam  between  the  two 
at  proper  hight  for  the  buffer.  The  center  of  this  beam  is  braced  by  three 
diverging  oak  struts  footing  against  a  timber  laid  across  the  rails  in  rear 
of  the  upright  posts.  The  foot  of  each  upright  post  supporting  the  bumper 
beam,  and  each  end  of  the  cross  timber  on  the  rails,  is  backed  by  a  casting 
clamped  to  the  rail. 


Fig.  463.— Economy  Bumping   Post.         Fig.  464. — Haley  Bumping  Post. 

The  most  numerous  class  of  bumping  posts  are  anchored  to  the  rails  by 
some  form  of  tie  rods,  in  front,  and  braced  at  the  back  by  struts  footing 
into  the  rails  by  some  bolted  or  clamped  connection.  The  Economy,  the 
Fairbanks-Morse  and  Gibralter  bumpers  are  of  this  description.  "  The 
Economy  bumper,  in  use  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.,  is 
shown  as  Fig.  463.  Two  heavy  oak  struts  are  bolted  at  their  base  to  the 
track  rails  and  brought  together  at  their  upper  ends  against  the  back  of 
the  buffer  block.  These  strut  timbers  stand  at  an  inclination  of  about  4.> 
deg.  and  are  secured  in  position  by  heavy  tie  rods  anchored  to  ties  or  long 
timbers  buried  up  beneath  the  track.  Between  the  anchor  timbers  and  the 
rails  there  are  timber  struts  which  serve  to  utilize  the  weight  of  the  track 
and  the  load  upon  it  to  prevent  the  lifting  of  the  anchored  timbers.  At 
the  points  where  the  tie  rods  straddle  the  rails  there  are  cast  bearing  pieces 
bolted  to  the  rail,  with  lugs  in  position  to  prevent  the  straightening  out  of 
the  tie  rods.  The  Fairbanks-Morse  bumping  post  consists  of  a  12xl2-in. 
post  set  deeply  in  the  ground,  in  the  middle  of  the  track,  and  through  bolted! 
between  two  ties  spaced  10  ins.  apart  and  let  into  the  post  1  in.  on  each 
side,  this  post  being  anchored  to  the  rails  in  front  and  braced  to  them  at 
the  back.  The  anchor  rods  are  Hx4-in.  iron  straps  bolted  to  the  web  of 
the  rail  on  the  outside  and  passed  back  of  the  post.  The  back  braces  con- 


BUMPIXG  POSTS  895 

sist  of  two  pieces  of  old  rail  bent  up  to  bear  against  the  back  of  the  post 
at  the  top  and  bent  at  their  feet  to  bolt  against  the  track  rails  through 
filler  blocks.  At  the  feet  of  the  back  braces  there  is  a  stub  switch  rod  to  pre- 
vent the  rails  from  being  spread  apart  by  outward  pressure  from. the  back 
braces,  and  there  is  another  switch  rod  on  the  rails  at  the  anchor  rod  con- 
nection, to  act  as  a  strut  and  hold  the  rails  against  being  pulled  together. 
The  buffer  consists  of  a  set  of  ordinary  car  springs  backed  by  the  post  and 
faced  with  a  heavy  striking  plate.  The  Gibraltar  bumping  post  consists  of 
a  bumping  head  backed  by  two  brace  rails  running  straight  back  and  in- 
clined at  an  angle  of  45  deg.  with  the  horizontal.  These  brace  rails  run 
down  to  a  base  plate,  to  which  they  are  riveted,  to  make  connection  with  the 
end  rails  of  the  track,  which  are  bent  inward  and  riveted  to  the  same  base 
plate,  which  lies  on  a  tie  in  the  center  of  the  track.  To  prevent  the  bump- 
ing head  from  rising  when  it  is  struck  there  is  a  heavy  U-bolt  passing 
through  the  head  and  secured  to  a  long  piece  of  inverted  rail  laid  under  the 
ties.  This  inverted  rail  extends  from  underneath  the  base  plate,  in  the  rear, 
to  a  point  in  advance  of  the  position  of  a  car  truck  when  the  car  is  run  up 
to  the  post.  To  hold  the  bumping  head  central  there  are  two  stay  rods 
anchored  to  the  rails  in  advance  of  the  bumper  head.  The  Cox  bumping 
post,  designed  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Cox,  chief  engineer  of  the  Chicago  Junction 
Ey.,  is  built  slightly  out  of  center  with  the  track,  to  bring  the  center  line 


Fig.  465. — Haskell  Bumping  Post. 

of  the  post  to  coincide  with  the  striking  part  of  the  M.  C.  B.  coupler  head, 
which  is  not  central  with  the  track.  The  post  is  a  15-in.  I-beam  with  web 
transverse  to  the  track,  standing  upon  a  base  plate  which  is  placed  upon  a  tie, 
and  If-in.  anchor  rods  run  down  to  a  cross  timber  buried  6  ft.  below  the 
rail,  as  in  Fig.  463.  At  the  point  where  the  anchor  rods  pass  vertically 
downward  they  are  attached  to  the  webs  of  the  rails,  on  the  outside,  as  in 
Fig.  463,  and  at  this  point  the  rails  are  cross-tied  by  a  4x6-in.  angle  iron 
strut.  The  striking  plate  stands  even  with  this  strut  and  is  backed 
against  the  post  by  a  12xl2-in.  oak  timber  3  ft.  long  supported  upon  angle 
iron  braces  footing  into  the  angle  iron  cross  tie.  The  track  cross  ties 
rest  upon  a  set  of  longitudinal  timbers,  and  under  these  there  is  blocking  run- 
ning down  upon  the  anchor  timber  to  prevent  it  from  being  pulled  up  by 
stress  on  the  anchor  rods. 

The  Haley  bumping  post  (Fig.  464)  is  made  entirely  of  metal  and 
consists  essentially  of  two  heavy,  flanged  A-frames  with  their  feet  bolted 
to  the  track  rails  and  the  tops  inclined  together  and  carrying  a  coiled 
spring  buffer.  The  legs  of  the  frame  are  of  cast  steel,  the  feet  straddle  the 
ties  and  are  shaped  to  fit  the  contour  of  the  rails.  A  similarly  shaped 
clamping  plate  is  placed  on  the  inner  side  of  the  rail  and  secured  to  the 
main  frame  by  means  of  three  bolts  above  the  rail  and  two  beneath.  At- 
tached to  the  lower  bolts  in  the  forward  legs  there  are  anchor  rods  secured 


896  MISCELLANEOUS 

to  a  piece  of  rail  buried  beneath  a  bed  of  ties  4  or  5  ft.  under  the  track. 
Between  the  tops  of  the  side  frames  there  are  two  transverse  webs,  through 
which  the  buffer  rod  or  plunger  passes.  The  buffer  acts  against  two  double 
coiled  springs,  one  being  placed  back  of  the  buffer  head  and  the  other  be- 
tween the  transverse  webs.  The  space  between  the  side  frames  permits  the 
pilot  of  an  engine  to  pass  between  them,  so  that  the  pilot  drawhead  may  en- 
gage Avith  the  buffer.  The  plunger  is  set  off  the  center  of  the  post,  so  as  to 
receive  a  straight  blow  from  coupler  knuckles.  The  Haskell  bumping  post, 
dev-ised  by  Mr.  B.  Haskell,  superintendent  of  motive  power  of  the  Pere 
Marquette  K.  K.,  is  made  principally  of  old  rails  and  is  bolted  to  the  end 
of  the  track  rails,-  as  shown  in  Fig.  465.  A  single  rail  is  bent  into  a  loop, 
for  a  base,  the  rear  corners  of  which  support  the  diverging  braces  of  the 
buffer.  The  front  ends  of  the  base  rail  are  turned  downward  into  the  earth 
and  the  extreme  ends  are  bent  up  to  engage  an  anchor  timber.  The  buffer 
consists  of  a  pocket  and  cap  holding  the  buffing  springs. 


Fig.  466. — Concrete  Bumping  Post,  C.,  R.  I.  &  P.  Ry. 

At  the  ends  of  stub  tracks  in  the  freight  yard  of  the  Chicago,  Kock 
Island  &  Pacific  Ky.,  between  Forty-second  and  Forty-third  streets,  Chi- 
cago, there  are  some  bumping  posts  of  monolithic  concrete  masonry.  Es- 
sentially, each  bumping  post  consists  of  a  concrete  pier  10  ft.  long,  4J  ft. 
wide,  at  the  deadwood,  and  9  ft.  deep,  reaching  4  ft.  below  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  The  sides  of  the  pier  have  a  slight  batter.  Just  in  front  of  the 
pier  the  rails  are  united  by  a  switch  rod.  The  pier  is  faced  with  4-in. 
planks  standing  vertically  and  bolted  to  the  masonry,  so  that  the  shock 
from  cars  is  distributed  over  the  whole  surface.  The  deadwood  consists  of 
an  oak  timber  faced  with  iron  plate  and  bolted  to  the  pier  through  the 
facing  plank  with  two  large  bolts.  Each  rear  corner  of  the  pier  is  pro- 
tected against  damage  from  wagon  wheels  by  a  fender  consisting  of  a  piece 
of  rail  standing  in  the  ground  and  leaning  toward  the  pier.  Eespecting 
the  rail  connection  with  the  pier  there  are  three  different  plans.  In  one 
style  the  rails  stop  short  and  are  in  no  way  connected  with  the  concrete 
mas?.  ]n  another  style  the  track  rails  extend  into  the  pier,  being  bent  in- 


BUMPING  POSTS 


897 


ward  on  the  level  of  the  track  to  meet  in  the  interior  of  the  mass  of  con- 
crete. In  the  third  style  of  construction  (Fig.  466)  the  track  rails  strad- 
dle the  front  end  of  the  pier  and  are  bent  both  inward  and  upward,  like  the 
rails  of  an  Ellis  bumping  post,  running  into  the  concrete  until  they  nearly 
meet,  where  they  are  held  together  by  cross  rods,  so  as  to  take  firm  hold  of 
the  pier.  These  "posts/'  cost  $50  each,  complete  in  place  (which  was  $25 
less  than  the  purchase  price  and  cost  of  erecting  appro  vable  posts  of 
patented  designs  then  on  the  market),  and  those  to  which  the  rails  are  at- 
tached have  given  satisfactory  service.  The  one  built  independent  of  the 
rails  rises  at  the  front  end  when  bumped  hard,  and  the  dirt  jarred  under  it 
must  be  dug  out  occasionally  to  let  it  down.  The  one  with  the  rails  bent 
inward  but  not  upward  has  stood  well.  One  of  those  built  with  the  rails 
bent  both  inward  and  upward  withstood  the  shock  of  a  25-car  train  thrown 
against  it  so  hard  that  a  car-load  of  large  dimension  stones  was  unloaded 
over  the  top  of  the  pier  and  the  car  broken  in  two  and  doubled  up.  The  pier 
was  cracked  diagonally  from  bottom  to  top,  following  the  line  of  the  bent- 
up  rails,  but  was  not  moved  out  of  serviceable  position. 


Fig.  467. — Standard  Bumper  for  Ore  Docks,  Duluth  &  Iron  Range  R.  R. 

For  absorbing  the  shock  of  striking  cars,  so  that  the  full  force  will  not 
act  suddenly  on  the  post,  rubber  springs  and  spiral  springs  are  employed, 
as  already  explained.  What  is  perhaps  the  most  complete  arrangement  of 
this  kind  is  the  Webb  hydraulic  buffer,  used  on  the  London  &  Northwestern 
Ry.,  in  .England.  This  consists  of  a  pair  of  braced  posts  backing  up  hy- 
draulic cushion  cylinders  or  dashpots  which  bring  the  striking  car  to  rest 
without  recoil.  Each  of  the  two  buffer  heads  is  backed  by  a  piston  working 
within  a  9-in.  cylinder  2  ft,  long  perforated  with  thirty  ^-in.'  holes  and  en- 
closed by  an  outer  tight  casing  with  a  IJ-in.  annular  space  between  them. 
Connecting  with  this  annular  space  there  is  a  vessel  or  well  partially  filled 
with  a  mixture  of  petroleum,  soap  and  water,  which  is  forced  up  into  the 
annular  space  and  inner  cylinder  by  air  pressure  at  45  Ibs.,  whenever  the 
buffer  is  in  normal  position.  As  the  piston  is  pushed  in,  the  liquid  escapes 
from  the  inner  cylinder  into  the  annular  space  and  into  the  well  against  the 
air  pressure,  but  with  constantly  increasing  resistance,  owing  to  the  dimin- 
ishing number  of  escape  holes  ahead  of  the  piston.  Under  constant  use  the 
full  pressure  ean'be  maintained  about  six  months  without  attention.  When 
the  pressure  decreases  it  is  restored  by  means'  of  a  hand  pump. 

Not  every  type  of  bumping  post  in  extensive  use  is  applicable  to  track 
on  trestles  or  other  elevated  structures,  and  hence  there  %  are  a  number  of 
special  designs  for  such  service.  Figure  46?  shows  the  plans  of  a  standard 
bumper  in  use  on  ore  docks  of  the  Duluth  &  Iron  Range  R.  R.  The  bumper 


898 


MISCELLANEOUS 


proper  consists  of  five  heavy  timbers  in  two  layers — three  12xl2-in.  pieces 
in  the  bottom  and  two  12xl4-in.  pieces  in  the  top  layer — placed  crosswise 
the  stringers  and  anchored  to  the  same  with  long  bolts  and  brace  rods. 
Against  these  timbers  the  rails  are  curved  upward  to  a  radius  of  23  ins., 
and  just  in  advance  of  them  a  10xl2-in.  timber  chock,  on  edge,  is  notched 
over  each  rail  and  bolted  fast  to  the  stringers.  This  chock  serves  to  stop 
the  car  or  to  retard  its  motion  when  jumped  by  the  leading  pair  of  wheels., 
and  it  is  placed  at  such  a  distance  from  the  bumper  proper  that  the  second 
pair  of  wheels  meets  the  chock  at  about  the  same  time  that  the  leading 
pair  meets  the  bumper.  The  bumper  and  chock  timbers  extend  continuously 
across  ihe  double  track  running  over  the  ore  pockets. 


Fig.  468.— Car  Stop  on  Trestle,  Fig.  469.— Granite  Mile  Post, 

Union  Pacific  R.  R.  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R. 

Figure  468  shows  a  form  of  car  stop  used  on  trestles  of  coaling  sta- 
tions at  several  places  on  the  Union  Pacific  E,  E.  The  end  of  the  track  is 
upturned  at  an  angle  of  about  45  deg.  and  supported  by  a  timber  framing 
at  the  back.  This  backing  consists  of  a  low  bent,  on  which  is  laid  leaning 
stringers  to  support  the  track,  the  bent  being  stayed  by  long  bolts  running 
forward  to  the  cap  of  the  second  trestle  bent  from  the  end,  and  from  this 
cap  long  bolts  are  rim  to  the  cap  of  the  third  trestle  bent.  The  ground 
bents  near  the  end  of  the  trestle  are  then  braced  together  and  also  by 
leaning  timbers  run  to  the  ground.  The  leaning  stringers  are  notched 
over  a  cross  beam  securely  bolted  to  the  horizontal  track  stringers.  This 
short  and  steep  incline  is  supposed  to  be  sufficient  to  stop  a  car  running 
against  it  at  any  speed  to  be  expected  in  such  a  place.  The  bumping  post 
for  the  end  of  coaling  trestles  on  the  Southern  Ey.  is  braced  up  from  the 
ground  by  long  timbers,  to  relieve  the  trestle  of  longitudinal  stress  when 
the  bumper  is  struck  by  cars. 

158.  Sign  Boards. — Sign  boards  and  sign  posts  should  be  arranged 
according  to  some  system.  Those  used  for  different  purposes  should  vary 
distinctly  in  shape,  so  that  a  glance  at  one,  even  after  dark,  will  instantly 
reveal  what  it  stands  for.  Thus,  for  example,  the  board  or  panel  on  a  post 
used  for  one  purpose  might  be  round;  that  for  another,  square  or  rectangu- 
lar; another,  diamond-shaped,  and  so  on.  Everything  should  be  plain  and 


SIGN  BOARDS  899 

•distinct,  without  attempt  at  ornamentation,  and  the  signs  should  be 
worded  as  briefly  as  may  be  consistent  with  properly  conveying  the  meaning. 
Running  signs  should  be  placed  near  the  track,  no  part  being  nearer  the 
rail  than  7  ft.,  however.  The  minimum  distance  on  some  roads  is  10  ft. 
from  the  rail.  AVTiere  two  or  more  would  come  at  about  the  same  place  they 
should  be  moved  a  little  way  apart,  keeping  within  limits  prescribed  by  law 
for  the  locality.  The  posts  should  always  be  long  enough  to  set  firmly  in 
the  ground.  In  districts  where  the  snowfall  is  deep  the  hight  of  the  post 
•above  the  ground  must  be  governed  somewhat  accordingly.  Brush  should 
4it  all  times  be  kept  clear  of  sign  boards  and  clear  of  the  ground  over  which 
it  is  necessary  to  look  in  order  to  see  the  sign  from  the  trains  at  the  proper 
"distance. 

Mile  posts  are  usually  10x10  ins.xS  or  9  ft.,  set  3  ft.  in  the  ground. 
They  are  usually  painted  white,  with  the  numbers  put  on  plainly,  in  black, 
and  sometimes  also  the  initial  of  the  city  or  terminal  point  from  which  the 
distance  is  reckoned.  The  distances  from  two  terminals  are  sometimes  placed 
•on  the  same  mile  post,  but  usually  on  opposite  sides,  and  each  on  that  side 
which  faces  in  the  direction  of  the  place;  so  that  one  looking  ahead  from  a 
train  will  see  the  distance  to  the  point  from  which  he  is  traveling.  In  cases, 
however,  the  two  distances  are  placed  on  adjacent  sides  of  the  post  and  the 
post  is  turned  cornerwise  to  the  direction  of  the  track,  sd  that  both  inscrip- 
tions may  be  seen  simultaneously,  as  one  approaches  the  post.  The  Grand 
Trunk  Ry.  has  mile  posts  of  triangular  section,  set  with  .the  back  side 
parallel  with  the  track.  The  distances  to  the  terminals  are  painted  on  the 
two  faces  of  the  post  which  stand  oblique  to  the  track.  This  arrangement 
is  convenient  for  passengers.  The  top  of  the  post  is  sharpened,  to  shed 
rain.  If  more  than  one  distance  is  given  on  the  same  mile  post  the  initial 
of  the  place  should  appear  with  each  distance.  It  is,  however,  a  matter  of 
some  convenience  to  mark  on  each  mile  post  the  distance  to  the  nearest 
station,  in  both  directions,  in  which  case,  to  avoid  confusion  with  the  term- 
iralR,  the  initial  of  the  station  should  be  omitted  and  the  number  indicating 
the  distance  should  be  in  small  figures  placed  low-down  on  the  post,  and  on 
the  side  of  the  post  facing  from  the  station.  The  Michigan  Central  R.  R. 
uses  minor  posts  set  at  the  half-mile  and  quarter-mile  points. 

In  line  with, permanent  or  more  durable  construction,  stone  mile  posts 
tire  used  quite  extensively,  being  in  some  cases  a  stone  of  square  cross  section, 
and  in  other  cases  a  slab,  roughly  dressed,  with  smoothly  dressed  faces  for 
lettering.  The  Lehigh  Valley  R.  R.  uses  a  flagstone  20  ins.  wide,  3J  ins, 
thick,  and  64  ft.  long,  set  3  ft,  in  the  ground.  A  16-in.  patch  at  the  top 
is  painted  white,  with  black  letters,  and  the  remainder  of  the  post  is 
painted  black.  The  stone 'mile  post  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R.  is  of 
granite,  12  ins.  square  in  section,  84-  ft.  long,  set  4  ft.  in  the  ground.  The 
fide  faces,  occupying  24J  ins.  of  the  top  part  of  the  post,  are  bush-ham- 
mered, while  the  remaining  surface  of  the  post  is  uncut.  Distances  are 
painted  on  the  post  with  black  letters  and  figures  5  ins.  high  on  a  white  field. 
f)n  mile  posts  which  divide  sections  there  is  a  face  6  ins.  high,  1J  ft.  from 
the  ground,  on  the  side  toward  the  track,  with  painted  figures  3  ins.  high. 
Thus,  the  post  shown  as  Fig.  469  is  6  miles  from  Boston  and  109  miles 
from  Portland,  and  stands  on  the  dividing  line  between  Sections  13 
and  14.  The  post  at  the  ground  line  is  kept  free  from  grass  and  other  vege- 
table growth  by  a  heap  of  cobble  stones  4  ft.  in  diameter. 

The  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  R.  R.  is  using  mile  posts  made  of  con- 
crete. These  posts  are  8x8  ins.  x8  ft,  long,  set  3|  ft.  in  the  ground.  The 
concrete  mixture  consists  of  1  part  cement,  1  part  sand  and  2  parts  of 
crushed  stone.  Near  the  top  of  the  post  there  is  a  letter  panel  14  ins.  high, 


000  MISCELLANEOUS 

molded  black,  being  colored  with  lampblack  mixed  in  with  the  concrete, 
which  is  separated  from  the,  other  concrete  by  strips  of  wood  placed  in  the 
molding  "form.  The  letters  and  figures  are  molded  in  on  this  black  panel, 
and  after  the  concrete  has  set  they  are  painted  white.  The  weight  of  each 
post  is  498  Ibs.,  and  the  total  cost,  including  labor  and  materials,  is  S3 
cents. 

Iron,  in  the  shape  of  old  boiler  flues,  is  used  a  good  deal  for  sign  posts, 
including  mile  posts.  On  part  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  E.  system  the  mile 
posts  are  made  by  riveting  a  piece  of  old  boiler  plate  15  ins.  square  to  the 
flattened  end  of  an  old  boiler  tube  8  ft.  long  set  3  ft.  in  the  ground.  The 
plate  is  fastened  to  the  tube  at  one  corner,  so  that  its  diagonals  stand 
vertical  and  horizontal.  The  lower  part  of  the  tube  is  fastened  with  staples 
to  a  piece  of  tie  3  ft,  long,  standing  vertically  at  the  side  of  the  tube  and 
buried,  to  give  the  post  stability  in  the  ground.  On  some  roads  the  mileage 
is  marked  on  boards  nailed  to  the  telegraph  poles.  Such  is  the  system  on 
the  Southern  Pacific  road,  where  the  "mile  boards"  are  nailed  to  the  nearest 
telegraph  pole,  10  ft.  above  ground  and  facing  the  track.  On  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.  the  exact  mile  points  are' marked  by  posts  4  ins. 
square  driven  into  the  ground  just  outside  the  ends  of  the  ties.  The  number 
of  the  mile  is  painted  on  the  post  and  also  in  large  figures  upon  a  steel 
plate  that  is  fastened  to  the  nearest  telegraph  pole.  As  these  wooden  posts 
need  renewing  they  are  replaced  by  a  piece  of  old  boiler  flue  3  ft,  10  ins. 
long  set  2J  ft.  in  the  ground.  The  top  part  of  the  flue  for  a  length  of  12 
ins.  is  flattened  together  and  figures  f  in.  high  are  stamped  into  the  metal 
fully  Y-6  in.  deep.  Curve  posts  are  made  of  the  same  material,  the  same 
size  and  marked  in  the  same  way.  Above  the  ground  line  these  posts  are 
painted  white. 

Whistling  posts  for  stations  are  usually  marked  "W"  and  "S."  one 
above  the  other,  and  the  post  is  placed  ^  mile  or  one  mile  from  the  station  ; 
in  other  instances  a  station  whistle  board  is  used,  having  the  name  of  the 
station  painted  thereon.  Whistling  posts  for  highway  crossings,  marked 
UW"  and  "X"  are  usually  placed  £  mile  from  the  crossing,  the  distance 
being  fixed  by  state  law.  Whistling  posts  are  set  on  the  engineer's  side  and 
ring  posts  (marke^  "E")  usually  on  the  fireman's  side,  at  some  distance 
from  the  crossing  required  by  law — usually  J  mile.  The  most  ordinary 
style  of  whistle  post  is  shown  in  Figure  276.  On  the  Southern  Ey.  the 
standard  whistle  post  for  highway  crossings  is  a  cast  iron  post  of +- shaped 
section,  flattening  into  a  plate  at  the  top.  The  post  is  painted  white,  with 
two  long  cross  bars  and  two  short  ones,  in  black,  on  the  plate,  to  represent 
the  whistle  signal,  thus : ,•  reading  down  the  post. 

A  convenient  sign  for  the  public  at  highway  crossings  consists  of  two 
crossed  boards  having  the  words  "Eailroad  Crossing"  on  one  board,  and 
"Look  Out  for  Cars"  on  the  other.  An  open  frame-work  of  diamond  shape, 
with  these  words  distributed  around  the  four  sides,  is  also  a  very  common 
form  of  sign  for  highway  crossings.  On  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Sotuth- 
crn  Ey.  the  highway  crossing  sign  board  consists  of  a  diamond  frame  of 
IxlO-in.  boards  sandwiched  between  two  pieces  of  2|x7-in.  oak  plank, 
which  constitute,  the  post)  part  of  the  sign.  This  sign  should  be  set  facing 
the  direction  of  the  wagon  road,  at  some  conspicuous  place  near  the  track, 
but  out  of  reach  of  vehicles  loaded  with  bulky  things  like  hay,  etc.  The 
usual  distance  from  the  track  is  15  to  25  ft.  Both  sides  of  the  board  are 
lettered,  so  that,  ordinarily,  one  sign  board  serves  for  both  directions.  Where 
there  are  a  number  of  tracks  at  the  crossing  or.  wherever  one  board  cannot 
be  seen  to  good  advantage  from  both  directions,  there  should  then  be  a  sign 
on  both  sides  of  the  track;  in  which  case  the  lettering  can  be  omitted  from- 


SIGN  BOARDS  901 

the  track  side  of  each  board.  Another  warning  that  is  placed  on  the  cross- 
ing sign  boards  of  some  roads  is :  ."Danger !  Stop,  Look  and  Listen." 

Other  sign  boards  in  ordinary  use  along  the  track  not  already  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  previous  subjects,  are  "Stop,"  "Slow"  (generally 
used  in  connection  with  every  "Stop"  sign),  "'Yard  Limit,"  "Dump  Ashes," 
" Water  Tank.  .  .Mile  Ahead,"  section  limit  posts,  warning  signs  for  private 
crossings;  sign  boards  to  mark  the  limits  of  towns  and  cities,  county  and 
state  boundary  lines,  right-of-way  boundaries ;  bridge  number  signs,  flanger 
boards,  rail  record  posts,  rail  monuments  for  marking  the  ownership  of 
tracks,  "No  Thoroughfare"  and  "Do  Not  Trespass"  signs ;  and  station  signs 
at  points  where  there  is  no  depot,  such  usually  being  lettered  on  both  sides 
and  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  track.  A  common  form  of  board  for  a 
stop  or  slow  sign  is  a  cast  iron  plate  of  oval  form  i  or  f  in.  thick,  bolted  to 
a  post.  The  letters  are  raised  -J  in.  and  cast  integral  with  the  plate,  and 
there  is  a  -J-in.  rib  at  the  border.  The  slow  and  stop  signs  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania E.  K.  are  semaphore  arms  fixed  to  posts,  the  arm  being  let  into 
the  post  and  nailed  fast.  The  slow  board  has  the  conventional  fish-tail  end 
and  is  painted  green,  with  white  letters ;  the  stop  board  is  painted  red,  with 
white  letters.  The  stop  sign  at  a  drawbridge  is  usually  placed  200  ft.  from 
the  end  of  the  span,  and  at  railroad  crossings  or  junction  points,  400  ft.  from 
the  crossing,  the  exact  distance,  however,  being  generally,  regulated  by  law. 
In  addition  there  is  usually  a  slow  board  or  cautionary  sign  placed  one  mile 
from  the  crossing,  junction  or  drawbridge,  lettered  "E.  E.  Crossing  One 
Mile,"  the  word  "Junction"  or  "Drawbridge"  being  substituted  as  the  case 
may  require.  Slow  and  stop  boards  carry  lanterns  or  lamps  at  night,  the 
color  corresponding,  of  course,  to  the  signification  of  the  sign. 

Eight-of-way  boundary  posts  are  frequently  made  by  cutting  up  the 
sound  portions  of  old  telegraph  poles,  painting  white  and  setting  every 
500  ft.  along  the  line,  or  at  more  frequent  intervals,  in  case  there  are  -jogs 
or  corners  in  the  line.  As  permanency  is  one  of  the  principal  require- 
ments of  such  posts  a  piece  of  rail  is  undoubtedly  more  suitable  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  such  is  in  use  on  some  roads.  The  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans  & 
Texas  Pacific  Ey.  has  a  short  post  with  a  circular  cast  iron  plate  painted 
black,  with  letters  and  figures  stenciled  in  white,  to  give  the  location, 
name  of  manufacturer  and  the  age  of  rails.  The  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Ey.  uses  a  rail  monument  for  marking  the  ownership  of  tracks.  The 
piece  of  rail  is  4  ft.  long,  set. 3  ft.  in  the  ground,  with  the  name  of  the 
company  owning  the  tracks  stamped  in  the  head  and  base  of  the  rail.  A 
"Close  Sand  Valve"  post  is  sometimes  placed  200  ft.  from  interlocking 
switches  or  detector  bars,  to  proteqt  such  apparatus  from  sand. 

On  some  roads  it  is  the  practice  to  number  the  curves,  beginning  at 
one  end  of  each  division.  On  the  Buffalo,  Eochester  &  Pittsburg  Ey.  a 
triangular  sign  board  is  placed  on  a  telegraph  pole  at  each  curve,  giving 
the  number  of  the  curve  and  its  degree  of  curvature.  It  is  usual  to  put  the 
number  and  degree  of  curve  on  stakes  or  monuments  opposite  the  beginning 
and  ending  of  every  curve;  and  if  the  curve  is  spiraled,  the  number  of  the 
curve  is  placed  on  stakes  where  the  spiral  joins  the  tangent,  and  stakes 
showing  both  the  number  of  the  curve  and  the  degree  of  curvature  are 
placed  at  the  ends  of  the  circular  curve;  on  compound  curves,  curve  posts 
are  placed  at  each  point  where  the  curvature  changes — i.  e.,  at  each  P.  C.  C. 
Such  posts  or  stakes  are  usually  set  at  the  edge  of  the  ballast,  on  the  shoul- 
der. The  amount  of  superelevation  for  the  curve,  when  marked  at  the 
curve,  is  usually  placed  on  the  back  side  of  the  stakes  showing  the  number 
of  the  curve  and  the  degree.  On  double  track,  where  the  two  tracks  have 
different  elevations,  elevation  stakes  are  set  outside  each  track;  otherwise, 


902  MISCELLANEOUS 

one  set  of 'stakes  outside  the  outer  track  is  usually  sufficient.  On  some  road* 
a  stake  marked  "E  0"  (Elevation  zero)  is  placed  at  the  point  on  tangent 
where  the  elevation  runs  out,  and  another  stake  marked  with  the  full  ele- 
vation, as  UE  4,"  is  placed  where  full  elevation  is  to  be  given.  The  numbers 
on  wooden  curve  stakes  or  posts  are  frequently  burned  in  with  metal  dies.. 
The  Southern  Pacific  Co.  uses  creosoted  stakes.  Curve  monuments  are 
treated  in  Chapter  V,  §  48,  but  it  may  be  well  enough  to  repeat  here  that 
a  post  that  is  very  commonly  used  for  this  purpose  is  a  piece  of  rail  about 
5  ft.  long  split  up  the  web  at  the  bottom  and  having  the  two  parts  bent 
outward  to  resist  pulling  up. 

The  prevailing  colors  for  sign  boards  are  a  white  ground  with  black 
letters,  with  a  black  border^  if  a  border  is  used.  Occasionally,  however,  the 
ground  is  made  black  with  white  letters;  and  to  obtain  distinctness  without 
changing  the  shape  of  the  board  it  is  sometimes  the  practice  to  use  white 
letters  on  a  red  or  green  background.  The  shape  of  sign  boards  and  the 
details  of  design,  such  as  the  hight  of  post,  the  size  of  board  or  panel,  the 
method  of  attaching  the  board  to  the  post,  etc.,  vary  somewhat  on  different 
rdads,  but  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  go  into  particulars.  The  Cincinnati, 
New  Orleans  &  Texas  Pacific  Ey,  is  one  of  the  roads  on  which  the  sign 
boards  for  the  various  purposes  vary  quite  widely  in  design.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey.  might  be  cited  as  one  of  the 
roads  on  which  the  designs  of  the  various  standard  track  signs  vary  but  lit- 
tle. The  highway  crossing  whistle,  station  whistle,  flanger,  sand  valve,  de- 
rail, section,  rail  record,  and  clearance  signs  of  this  road  are  peeled  cedar 
posts  without  boards  or  panels,  with  black  lettering  on  a  white  patch  near 
the  top  of  the  post.  All  sign  boards  or  panels  are  rectangular  in  form, 
with  the  exception  of  the  highway  crossing  sign,  which  has  crossed  pine 
boards,  6  ft,  2J  ins.  long,  10  ins.  wide  and  If  ins.  thick,  gained  into  oppo- 
site sides  of  a  16-ft.  peeled  cedar  post  set  4  ft.  in  the  ground,  the  tips  of 
the  crossed  boards,  which  stand  at  an  angle  of  about  30  deg.  with  the  hori- 
zontal, coming  even  with  the  top  of  the  post.  The  boards  are  painted  white 
on  both  sides,  with  black  letters  8  ins.  high,  one  board  reading  "Eailroad" 
and  the  other  "Crossing,"  while  the  post  is  faced  on  two  sides  and  painted 
white  with  black  letters,  "Look  Out  for  the  Cars,"  reading  down  the  post. 
The  state  line  post  is  oak,  8x8  ins.  x9  ft,,  set  3  ft.  in  the  ground  and 
painted  white  with  black  letters.  The  mile  post  is  oak/ 6x8  ins.  x!2  ft. 
long,  set  4£  ft.  in  the  ground  and  placed  on  the  "right-hand  side  of  the 
track  looking  from  Mile  Post  1."  In  locations  where  there  is  not  sufficient 
room  for  a  horizontal  sign  the  stop  and  slow  signs  are  painted  on  peeled 
cedar  posts  without  boards  or  panels.  In  nearly  every  case  the  post  ancf 
back  of  sign  are  painted  with  mineral  paint  and  the  signs  are  painted  white, 
with  black  letters.  All  running  signs  are  placed  on  the  right-hand  side  of 
the  track,  and  all  other  signs  except  mile  posts  are  placed  on  the  north  or 
west  side.  The  nearest  point  on  any  sign  must  not  be  nearer  the  rail 
than  7  ft 

On  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  and  the  Pittsburg,  Ft. 
Wayne  &  Chicago  roads  every  fifth  telegraph  pole  is  numbered,  for  con- 
venience of  locating  the  bridges  and  other  structures  more  closely  than 
can  be  done  with  mile  posts.  The  system  also  serves  as  a  convenient  means 
for  locating  defective  places  in  the  track,  the  scenes  of  accidents,  the  starting 
and  ending  points  of  new  rail  laid,  etc.  The  section  foremen  in  making  their 
reports  use  the  pole  numbers  to  locate  the  places  where  work  is  done,  TliQ 
numbering  starts  at  the  division  points.  The  Lehigh  Valley  and  some 
other  roads  also  have  in  practice  the  system  of  numbering  the  telegraph 
poles.  Mail  cranes,  bridge  signs,  telltales  or  bridge  warnings  and  station 


SIGNALS 

signs  are  customarily  looked  after  by  the  bridge  and  buildings  department, 
and  signal  posts  and  sign  boards  used  in  connection  with  interlocking 
switches  and  signals  by  the  signal  department. 

Sign  boards  and  posts  should  be  maintained  in  a  plumb  position.  A 
post  which  has  become  leaned  over  naturally  appears  like  something  which 
has  gone  out  of  use.  As  soon  as  the  use  for  a  sign  board  or  post  has  ceased 
it  should  be  removed :  along  a  railroad  there  should  be  no  signs  posted  which 
have  no  significance.  A  coat  of  fresh  paint  occasionally  adds  to  the  im- 
pressiveness  of  a  sign;  and  a  pile  of  cobble  stones  or  rock  ballast  placed 
around  the  post,  where  it  enters  the  ground,  will  protect  it  from  fire  and 
from  decay  which  starts  from  contact  with  vegetable  growth.  The  matter 
of  keeping  sign  boards  brightly  painted  is  of  considerable  importance,  and 
the  expense  is  no  small  item.  To  a  small  extent  enameled  steel  signs  are 
being  used.  The  enameling  is  done  in  the  colors  desired,  and  on  either 
sheet  or  plate  metal  or  cast  iron.  It  is  said  that  such  signs  or  signals  will 
stand  for  many  years  without  rusting  or  tarnishing,  the  only  care  required 
being  to  wipe  the  dust  oft'  them  occasionally.  The  conspicuousness  of  sign 
boards  invites  target  practice, ,  and  in  localities  where  huntsmen  are  numer- 
ous wooden  signs  soon  become  shattered  by  gun  shots.  In  such  places  it  is 
expedient  to  use  sign  boards  of  boiler  plate  or  cast  iron,  the  letters  being 
stenciled  on,  in  the  former  case,  and  raised  and  cast  in  with  the  plate  in  the 
latter,  if  the  reading  of  the  sign  is  to  be  permanent.  Wooden  panels  may  be 
kept  from  splitting  by  nailing  battens  at  the  back  with  clinched  nails. 

As  a  means  of  prolonging  decay  in  wooden  posts  or  telegraph  poles 
it  is  quite  largely  the  practice  to  dip  the  portion  of  the  post  which  is  to  set 
in  the  ground,  into  hot  coal  tar  or  pitch.  It  is  well  known  that  the  part  of 
the  post  which  decays  first  and  most  rapidly  is  a  narrow  ring  at  the  ground 
line.  A  recently  devised  means  of  protecting  timber  against  decay  at  this 
point  is  to  encircle  the  post  with  a  length  of  sewer  pipe  2  or  3  ins.  -larger 
in  diameter  than  the  post  and  have  it  project  about  2  ins.  above  the  ground 
line.  The  space  between  the  pipe  casing  and  the  post  is  then  filled  with  as- 
phalt or  clean  gravel  and  tar  or  pitch  poured  in  hot,  so  as  to  fill  any  checks 
or  seasoning  cracks  in  the  post.  The  space  thus  filled  forms  a  water-tight 
packing  around  the  post.  In  setting  new  poles  or  posts  a  solid  section 
of  pipe  can  be  used,  by  slipping  it  over  the 'end  of  the  pole,  but  for  poles  al- 
ready set  a  section  of  pipe  in  two  parts  is  provided,  the  edges  of  the  two 
parts  being  tongued  and  grooved,  so  as  to  fit  tightly  together  and  make  a 
good  joint.  The  tops  of  sign  posts  should  be  pointed  or  slanted,  so  as  to 
shed  water.  As  a  means  of  resisting  fire  and  decay  iron  posts  are  coming 
into  use  to  a  considerable  extent,  as  already  stated  in  some  particular.  Old 
boiler  tubes,  painted  with  some  kind  of  preservative  coating,  are  used  for 
posts,  and  the  sign  is  painted  on  a  cast  plate  or  sheet  metal  target  riveted 
to  the  post.  The  Mathews  post,  in  use  on  the  Pennsylvania,  the  Missouri 
Pacific,  the  Wabash  and  other  roads,  consists  of  a  steel  T-bar  secured  to  a 
length  of  sewer  pipe  by  braces  and  a  collar  on  the  pipe,  and  set  in  the 
ground.  The  piece  of  pipe  is  filled  with  concrete  or  tamped  with  earth,  as 
in  the  case  with  fence  posts  of  similar  construction,  shown  in  Fig.  427.  The 
standard  track  signs  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  R.  R.  have 
posts  of  old  rails  and  panels  of  3/10-in.  steel  plate.  For  a  hight  of  4  ft, 
above  ground  the  post  is  painted  black,  and  above  that  white.  The  posts  for 
various  signs  are  12  to  15  ft,  long,  of  which  4J  to  5  ft.  is  set  in  the  ground 
Around  each  post  there  is  a  cobble  stone  paving  5  ins.  high  and  2  to  3  ft.  in 
diameter. 

159.  Signals, — Section  foremen  should  understand  thoroughly  the 
established  system  of  flag,  lantern,  hand,  torpedo  and  whistle  signals  on 


904  MISCELLANEOUS 

their  road  for  the  operation  of  trains.  Red  flags  and  torpedoes  should  be 
carried  on  the  hand  car  at  all  times,,  and  during  short  days  in  winter  a  red 
lantern  also.  The  flags  should  be  attached  to  short  sticks  and,  to  keep  them 
dry  and  clean,  they  should  be  carried  in  a  galvanized  sheet  iron  tube  or  in 
a  box  arranged  upon  or  under  the  hand  car.  Torpedoes  must  be  kept  dry, 
and  may  best  be  carried  in  a  tin  can  having  a  tight  cover;  a  baking-powder 
box  is  the  thing.  The  schedule  of  the  trains,  both  passenger  and  freight, 
should  be  thoroughly  learned,  particularly  so  far  as  pertains  to  the  time 
when  each  train  is  due  on  the  section  or  at  the  first  ^station  in  the  direction 
from  which  the  train  approaches.  Foremen  should  carry  reliable  watches, 
which  they  should  frequently  compare  with  the  standard  time  of  the  com- 
pany, as  kept  in  telegraph  stations  or  as  carried  by  trainmen.  If  the  fore- 
man starts  out  at  or  passes  a  telegraph  station  at  any  time  during  the  day 
be  vshould  get  from  the  operator  information  regarding  any  irregularity  in 
the  running  of  the  scheduled  trains  or  what  irregular  trains  are  running, 
if  any,  and  about  what  time  he  may  expect  them.  It  is  also  well  to  know 
in  advance  the  number  of  sections  boarded  for  each  train. 

Trackmen  should  never  take  up  a  rail  or  engage  in  any  work  which 
would  be  equally  as  dangerous  to  the  passage  of  trains,  without  first  put- 
ting out  flagmen  or  red  flags  in  both  directions,  if  on  single  track,  or 
against  trains  running  on  the  track  affected,  in  case  of  double  track.  The 
question  of  sending  flagmen  both  ways  for  one  track  of  a  double-track 
road  is  usually  covered  by  the  rules  of  the  company.  "Anything  that 
interferes  with  the  safe  passage  of  trains  at  full  speed  is  an  obstruction, 
and  must  not  be  undertaken  without  proper  protection,"  is  a  rule  gen- 
erally followed.  Loaded  push  cars  on  main  track  are  considered  obstruc- 
tions to  be  protected  by  danger  signals,  although  on  some  roads  the  rules 
permit  their  use  in  day  time  where  there  is  a  tangent  of  at  least  ^  mile, 
without  signals.  As  the  engineers  of  special  trains  are  supposed  to  be 
looking  out  for  such  things  permission  of  this  kind  is  not  inconsistent  with 
good  practice,  but  loaded  push  cars  should  not  be  used  at  night,  or  run 
around  curves  or  be  allowed  to  stand  upon  them,  where  the  view  is  ob- 
structed, without  signal  protection.  No  blasting  should  be  done  near 
the  track  without  first  sending  stop  signals  in  both  directions.  In  doing 
work  which  disturbs  or  obstructs  the.  track  it  should  always  be  taken  for 
granted  that  a  train  will  come  before  the  work  is  completed,  and  unless 
the  rules  of  the  company  state  differently,  the  danger  signal  should  be 
sent,  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  which  distance  would  be  measured  by  count- 
ing 24  telegraph  poles  or  132  rails  of  30  ft.  length.  If  the  train  must 
approach  over  a  down  grade  the  flagman  should  go  farther;  if  over  an  up 
grade  of  one  per  cent,  or  more,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  is  far  enough.  If  any 
of  these  distances  bring  the  signaling  point  on  a  curve,  and  a  tangent 
can  be  reached  by  going  a  little  farther,  then  the  flagman  should  go  on 
as  far  as  the  tangent.  Except  in  cases  of  emergency  no  work  that  will 
obstruct  the  track  should  be  undertaken  during  heavy  fogs  or  snow  storms. 

It  is  always  best,  where  i-he  force  is  large  enough,  to  have  a  man 
stay  with  a  stop  signal  until  the  work  is  done;  but  it  is  very  expedient 
that  he  should  remain,  in  any  case,  if  the  signal  cannot  be  seen  from  the 
point  where  the  work  is  going  on,  or  during  stormy,  windy  or  foggy 
weather,  or  at  night,  or  where  children  might  be  expected  to  be  playing 
near  the  signal.  The  rules  of  many  roads  require  that  a  man  musk 
always  remain  with  a  danger  signal.  The  man  who  stays  out  with  a  danger 
signal  should  be  instructed  to  remain  at  his  post  and  stop  all  trains;  and 
under  no  circumstances  to  leave  his  post  until  he  is  called  in;  and  also 
to  be  sure  that  he  recognizes  the  right  party  calling  him  before  leaving. 


SIGNALS  905 

A  misunderstanding  might  arise  by  mistaking  the  accidental  gesture  or 
yell  of  some  one  not  purposely  intending  to  call  him.  Some  companies 
require  that  flagmen  must  be  sent  both  ways  to  guard  an  obstruction  on 
one  track  only  of  a  double  track,  the  same  as  though  the  road  was  single 
track.  When  it  is  found  necessary  to  run  trains  in  both  directions  over 
one  track  of  a  double-track  road,  and  the  change  is  made  under  such  cir- 
cumstances that  it  might  not  be  anticipated  by  the  trackmen,  if  the  first 
few  trains  sent  in  the  contrary  direction  are  required  to  run  at  reduced 
speed  and  blow  the  whistle  frequently  (as  they  should  do),  then  under 
all  ordinary  circumstances  there  would  be  no  need  of  sending  flagmen 
both  ways.  Trains  running  in  the  wrong  direction  on  any  track  ought  to 
carry  red  flags  or  red  lanterns  in  front.  Work  trains  should  run  on  the 
contrary  track  as  little  as  possible,  and  then  only  from  the  nearest  crossover 
to  the  point  to  be  reached.  Of  course,  within  yard  limits  foremen  know 
what  to  expect;  but  in  any  event  where  the  expediency  of  sending  a  flag- 
man might  be  in  doubt  it  would  be  well  to  use  the  torpedo  signal. 

A  "stop"  signal  is  a  red  flag  displayed  by  day  or  a  red  light  by  night. 
The  mere  presence  of  the  signal  on  or  near  the  track  is  all  that  is  required, 
but  if  there  is  a  man  with  it,  it  is  best  to  swing  it  gently  across  the  track ; 
but  any  kind  of  light  swung  across  the  track,  or  a  hand,  hat,  or  other 
object  waved  violently  on  the  track,  by  any  person,  is  a  signal  to  stop. 
The  explosion  of  one  torpedo  is  a  signal  to  stop  immediately;  the  ex- 
plosion of  two  torpedoes  is  a  signal  to  reduce  speed  immediately  and  look 
out  for  something  ahead.  When  used  by  itself  the  stop  torpedo  signal  is 
placed  at  the  same  distance  from  the  danger  point  as  the  stop  flag  or  stop 
lantern  signal  would  be.  The  torpedo  signal  of  caution"  (two  torpedoes) 
is  sometimec  used  by  trackmen  and  placed  J  or  -J  mile  beyond  the  stop  sig- 
nal, to  call  the  attention  of  the  trainmen  before  the  stop  signal  is  reached. 
When  used  by  the  flagman  of  a  train  the  caution  torpedo  signal  is.  not 
taken  up  when  he  is  called  "in,  but  is  allowed  to  remain,  so  as  to  protect 
the  train  during  the  interval  elapsing  from  the  time  the  flagman  is  called 
until  the  train  gets  started.  When  used  by  trackmen  the  torpedoes  should 
be  taken  up  when  the  flagman  is  called  in.  Torpedoes  should  be  used  in 
addition  to  flags  or  lights  whenever,  by  reason  of  fog,  storm  or  other  un- 
favorable condition,  there  is  a  doubt  that  the  flag  or  light  may,  not  be  seen, 
or  whenever  a  stop  signal  is  left  without  an  attendant.  But  some  roads 
require  the  use  of  the  torpedo  signal  in  all  cases  as  an  extra  precaution 
taken  under  the  supposition  that  no  one  on  the  approaching  train  might 
be  looking  ahead  at  the  critical  time.  It  should  be  placed  at  such  a  dis- 
tance beyond  the  flag  or  lantern,  that  when  exploded,  the  flag  or  lantern 
may  be  seen  from  the  engine  or  head  end  of  the  train,  but  not  closer  than 
150  ft.  When  two  torpedoes  are  used  they  should  be  placed  60  ft.  apart. 
Torpedoes  for  signals  should  be  placed  on  the  engineer's  side,  as  the 
train  approaches,  but  on  third-rail  track  they  should  be  placed  on  that 
rail  which  is  used  by  trains  of  either  gage.  A  -man  left  with  a  stop  signal 
should,  at  the  approach  of  the  train,  wave  the  flag  or  lantern  across  the 
track  until  answered  by  whistle.  If  for  any  reason  a  torpedo  signal  can- 
not be  given,  and  the  flagman  cannot  draw  the  attention  of  any  one  on 
the  engine,  a  handful  of  gravel  tossed  so  as  to  strike  the  front  of  the  cab 
will  seldom  fail  to  make  known  "what's  up."  Or  if  there  is  not  time  to 
do  this  he  should  try  to  throw  a  rock,  club,  a  boot,  or  anything  he  can  get 
hold  of,  through  a  window  of  the  rear  coach  or  caboose.  There  are,  plenty 
of  old  railroaders  who  have  been  in  position  to  appreciate  the  force  of 
this  monition.  A  red  or  stop  flag  left  standing  should  be  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  track,  spread  out  between  two  sticks  quite  firmly  stuck  into 


906  MISCELLANEOUS ' 

the  ground,  so  as  to  be  well  displayed;  a  red  lantern,  if  left  alone  (which 
is  not  good  practice),  should  be  placed  just  outside  the  rail  on  the  engi- 
neer's  side.  Flagmen  sent  to  stop  trains  should  be  instructed  to  not  per- 
mit the  engineer  to  proceed  until  the  exact  location  of  the  danger  point 
is  clearly  understood  by  the  latter,  so  that  no  misunderstanding  may  arise 
in  case  a  second  crew  should  be  working  between  the  flagman  and  the 
clanger  point. 

In  connection  with  danger  signals  it  may  be  interesting  to  mention 
that  some  roads  have  rules  forbidding  trackmen  to  wear  red  shirts  as 
outer  garments,  as  there  have  been  instances  where  such  have  been  mis- 
taken for  stop  signals.  In  the  same  connection,  also,  attention  may  be 
called  to  the  contingency  when  trackmen  are  caught  without  lantern  or 
torpedoes,  after  dark,  and  occasion  arises  for  stopping  a  train.  In  such 
event  a  switch  lamp,  if  tor  be  had,  may  be  taken  down  and  put  into  service, 
or  a  piece  of  waste  may  be  lighted  and  waved  on  a  stick.  A  red  flag- 
pinned  around  a  white  lantern  will  show  a  red  light;  and  if  the  lantern  at 
hand  is  poor  and  it  is  feared  that  it  may  be  put  out  by  being  waved,  such 
an  arrangement  is  sometimes  resorted  to. 

A  "slow"  signal  (green  flag  or  lantern)  should  be  set  up  in  a  clear 
space  outside  the  track,  on  the  engineer's  side,  just  far  enough  away  ta 
clear  passing  trains.  A  half  mile  is  the  usual  distance  for  placing  out  a 
slow  signal.  In  connection  with  a  slow  signal  protecting  a  point  at  which 
no  one  is  working,  it  is  usual  to  place  a  white  flag  or  lantern — that  is 
a  "clear"  signal — to  designate  the  point  from  which  the  train  may  pro- 
ceed at  full  speed.  At  night  it  is  well  to  use  both  the  flag  and  the  lantern, 
as  then  the  flag,  which,  being  white,  is  conspicuous,  readily  explains  what 
the  lantern  is  for.  If  a  crew  starts  in  to  work  between  a  slow  signal  and 
the  point  which  the  signal  is  protecting,  another  slow  signal  should  be 
placed  some  little  distance  away,  between  this  crew  and  the  danger  point, 
to  indicate,  to  an  approaching  train  that  the  danger  point  is  farther  along. 
If  a  slow  signal  is  to  remain  at  the  same  point  for  any  considerable  length 
of  time  it  is  a  good  plan  to  set  a.  post  and  attach  the  flag  stick  to  it  hor- 
izontally, so  that  the  ilag  may  hang  downward,  free  and  clear.  A  track 
nut  tied  to  each  loose  corner  or  a  piece  of  telegraph  ware  sewed  into  the- 
edges  of  the  cloth  will  prevent  the  furling  of  the  flag  by  the  wind.  A  sim- 
ple and  convenient  flag  and  lantern  holder  in  portable  form  may  consist  of  a 
piece  of  l^-in.  gas  pipe  5  or  6  ft.  long,  pointed  at  one  end,  for  sticking 
into  the  ground,  and  fitted  at  the  other  end  with  an  ordinary  T-coupling 
screwed  on  to  hold  the  flag  stick  in  a  horizontal  position.  A  piece  of  tele- 
graph wire  is  bent  around  the  "T"  and  formed  into  a  hook  for  holding  a 
lantern. 

The  fusee  is  a  time-interval  signal  used  principally  for  the  protec- 
tion of  trains,  at  night  or  during  heavy  fogs  or  heavy  snow  storms.  It 
consists  of  a  pasteboard  tube  weighted  and  spiked  at  the  lower  end  and 
filled  with  a  slow-burning  composition  which  will  maintain  ignition  in  a 
heavy  wind  or  in  snow  or  in  rain.  It  burns  with  a  brilliant  colored  light, 
illuminating  the  whole  region  roundabout,  and  is  made  to  burn  out  in  a 
definite  time — five,  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  according  to  the  interval  de- 
sired. It  is  stuck  into  a  tie  or  into  the  ground  and  lighted  (and  some- 
times lighted  and  thrown  from  a  train)  and  no  train  is  supposed  to  run 
by  it  until  it  has  burned  out.  An  improved  form  burns  a  series  of  col- 
ored lights.  The  first,  being  red,  say,  will  burn  five  minutes ;  the  second 
green  or  blue,  burns  five  minutes  longer ;  and  the  third,  white,  finishes  out 
the  remainder  of  the  interval.  An  engineer  following  the  train  from 
which  this  fusee  has  been  thrown  is  thus  enabled  to  tell  verv  nearly  the 


SIGNALS  907 

time  which  has  elapsed  since  the  train  ahead  departed,  and  may  govern 
his  movements  accordingly.  The  fusee  may  thus  be  substituted  for  the 
cautionary  torpedo  signal  (two  torpedoes)  left  by  a  flagman  to  protect  his 
train  while  he  is  running  in,,  after  being  called.  Permission  should  be- 
granted  section  foremen  to  carry  and  use  fusees,  upon  occasion.  On 
crooked  roads  section  crews  are  sometimes  held  out  on  the  track  until  well 
into  the  night,  waiting  for  delayed  trains  and  fearing  to  venture  forth 
with  the  hand  car,  especially  if  there  is  a  bridge  to  cross.  If  caught  with- 
out a  lantern  it  is  impracticable  to  flag  the  car  in,  and  such,  a  method  of 
running  is  slow  and  laborious  (for  the  flagman)  at  any  time.  Torpedoes- 
left  upon  the  track  in  such  a  case  would  be  in  service  until  exploded  and 
would  then  needlessly  bother  the  engineer,  unless  the  train  came  along  soon* 
after  they  were  placed.  A  10-minute  fusee  would  enable  the  car  to  get 
over  a  good  distance,  under  protection,  and  the  chances  would  be  that  in 
many  or  most  instances  the  train  would  not  arrive  before  the  signal  had 
burned  out. 

Trackmen  should  never  hesitate  to  stop  or  slow  up  a  train  of  any 
class,  whenever  in  their  judgment  there  is  danger  ahead  of  it,  or  about 
to  be;  as  in  the  case  of  a  threatening  slide,  for  instance.  Some  are  too 
timid  in  this  respect;  and  while  flagging  a  train  some  trackmen  have  been 
known  to  lose  their  presence  of  mind  as  completely  as  does  an  ordinary 
man  when  called  upon  to  speak  before  a  public  audience.  Any  engineer 
or  trainman  who  will  abuse  a  trackman  for  holding  a  train,  for  any  reason- 
able cause,  ought  to  be  reported  to,  and  be  dealt  with  by,  the  superin- 
tendent. Except  in  case  of  emergency,  however,  trackmen  should  avoid 
undertaking  any  piece  of  work  which  they  cannot  expect  to  have  completed 
for  the  safe  passage  of  regular  trains  before  such  trains  are  due.  On 
most  roads  section  foremen  are  required  to  have  the  track  clear  10 
minutes  before  train  time.  As  for  irregular  trains,  it  is  to  be  expected 
that  they  must  be  held  occasionally,  if  trackmen  have  not  been  notified 
of  their  coming;  but  here  is  where  "tall  swearing"  is  too  frequently  in- 
dulged in. 

Before  appointing  any. man  as  section  foreman  the  roadmaster  should 
examine  him  thoroughly  and  be  satisfied  that  he  understands  clearly  how 
to  signal  trains  on  this  road.  The  section  foreman  should  thoroughly 
instruct  his  men  regarding  signals,  and  entrust  them  only  to  those  who  are 
careful  and  reliable.  The  men  oldest  in  point  of  service  are  usually 
the  ones  to  rely  upon,  because  of  their  experience ;  and  also  because  careless 
or  irresponsible  men  are  not,  or,  at  least,  ought  not  to  be,  retained  long  in- 
the  crew.  Trackmen  should  not  disturb  torpedoes,  fusees,  or  other  sig- 
nals found  placed  along  the  track,  but  they  should  always  endeavor  to- 
ascertain  the  cause  for  their  having  been  placed  there.  Torpedoes  unex- 
pectedly knocked  off  the  rail  or  exploded  by  the  hand  car  should  be  re- 
placed. This  rule  makes  it  necessary  for  section  men  to  carry  torpedoes 
on  the  hand  car. 

On  almost  all  roads  there  is  a  signal  used  between  trainmen  and  sec- 
tion hands  for  the  purpose  of  getting  information  regarding  the  time 
between  trains  supposed  to  be  running  close  together  in  the  same  direction, 
as,  for  instance,  the  different  sections  of  a  train.  Although  such  signal  is 
not  usually  authorized  by  the  company,  it  often  serves  a  useful  purpose, 
nevertheless ;  and  as  railway  men  will  use  it  anyway,  I  shall  say  a  few 
words  regarding  the  same,  by.  way  of  correcting  some  wrong  ways  of  .giving 
it;  for  misunderstanding  sometimes  results  from  making  it  improperly. 
A  trainman  desiring  information  of  a  trackman  whom  he  is  passing,  after 
an  inquiring  look  or  gesture,  holds  out  both  hands  in  front  of  the  body, 


908  MISCELLANEOUS 

one  hand  over  the  other,  the  palms  together.  If  the  section  man  answers 
by  holding  both  hands  out  a  little  way  apart,  one  over  the  other,  it  indi- 
cates to  the  trainman  that  the  train  ahead  passed  but  a  short  time  previously ; 
if  the  hands  are  extended  far  apart,  one  above  the  other,  it  is  supposed  to 
indicate  that  the  train  ahead  passed  a  long  time  previously  for  that  class 
of  train.  The  same  signals,  when  given  by  a  trainman,  in  answer  to  an 
inquiry  from  a  trackman,  indicate  to  the  trackman  that  the  train  following 
is  known  to  be  near  or  far,  as  the  case  may  be.  If  the  difference  in  time  is 
as  much  as  10  minutes,  but  less  than  20,  the  person,  after  giving  a  signal 
that  the  trains  are  close,  holds  up  both  hands  with  all  the  fingers  extended. 
A  shaking  of  the  head  by  the  person  answering  indicates  that  he  is  either  in 
doubt  or  else  does  not  know.  In  giving  the  signal  it  is  important  that  one 
hand  should  be  held  vertically  above  the  other,  instead  of  extended  apart 
horizontally,  on  account  of  the  latter  being  the  customary  sign  of  recogni- 
tion or  ffhello,"  among  many  people,  especially  among  railroaders. 

Trackmen  and  trainmen  should  not  be  too  free  in  motioning  one 
another ;  for  when  such  matters  become  habitual  it  might,  in  case  of  need, 
be  difficult  to  tell  whether  or  not  only  a  jest  was  intended;  and  tomfoolery 
should  have  no  place  around  the  railroad.  It  is  all  right,  and  often  very 
convenient,  to  interchange  signals  when  each  party  understands  the  other; 
but  trainmen  should  put  little  confidence  in  information  gained  from 
men  whom  they  do  not  recognize  as  trackmen,  or  whom  they  do  not  know; 
and  then,  only  when  they  act  as  though  they  understand  what  they  are 
doing.  Trackmen  wishing  to  hail  trainmen  for  information  should  not 
bother  the  engineer  if,  while  the  train  is  approaching,  they  see  they  can 
catch  the  eye  of  the  fireman,  a  brakeman,  or  the  conductor,  perchance 
stationed  somewhere  out  on  the  train.  The  foreman  or  trackman  who 
gives  the  signals  should  stand  aside  from  the  rest  of  the  crew,  near  the 
track,  and  he  should  not  talk  or  yell  while  signaling  with  his  hands.  Men 
just  coming  from  other  roads  should  be  careful  how  they  use  signals  fa- 
miliar to  their  experience  on  the  road  from  which  'thtJy  came,  lest  in  the 
new  place  these  same  signals  have  different  meanings. 

While  a  train  of  any  class  is  passing,  all  trackmen  should  habitually 
quit  work,  straighten  their  backs  and  take  special  notice  of  the  locomotive, 
with  reference  to  signals  carried,  and  look  for  a  signal  from  any  part 
of  the  train.  Too  often  men  get  into  the  habit  of  jumping  into  some  kind 
of  perfunctory  work  "while  the  trains  are  passing,"  keeping  one  eye  on 
the  train  and  taking  note  of  nothing  on  it  except  the  presence  or  absence 
of  the  roadmaster  or  some  other  ffbig  boss."  After  a  train  has  passed,  the 
foreman  is  not  always  sure  that  he  made  careful  observation  of  the  loco- 
motive for  signals  carried,  especially  if  he  was  looking  for  a  note  to  be 
dropped ;  and  if  he  then  wishes  to  put  his  car  on  the  track,  it  is  important 
to  have  the  corrob oration  of  his  men  as  to  whether  signals  were;  carried  for 
a  second  section.  If  the  men  are  permitted  a  minute's  breathing  spell 
while  trains  are  passing  they  will  usually  take  interest  in  observing  the 
signals  carried  by  the  locomotive  or  anything  unusual  about  the  train.  Tf 
anything  is  wrong  with  the  running  gear  they  should  signal  the  trainmen 
to  stop.  On  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  E.  R.  section  foremen,  track-walkers 
and  other  watchmen,  pumpers  and  fuel  keepers  at  pumping  and  fuel  sta- 
tions where  there  is  no  telegraph  office,  are  instructed  to  assist  in  keeping 
trains  the  proper  distance  apart.  When  on  duty  they  are  expected  to  dis- 
play a^ green  signal  when  passenger  trains  are  closer  than  ten  minutes  apart 
or  freight  trains  closer  than  seven  minutes  apart.  These  signals,  unless 
waved  violently,  are  not  intended  to  stop  trains,  but  to  notify  the  engineer 
that  he  is  running  too  close. 


SLIDES  909 

The  roadmaster's  office,  when  sending  out  new  train  schedules,  as 
changes  in  the  same  are  made  from  time  to  time,  should  recall  and  destroy 
all  the  old  ones,  thus  making  sure  that  they  will  be  no  longer  used  by  the 
employees  through  mistake  or  oversight.  On  some  roads  a  blank  form  is 
supplied  to  each  foreman  or  other  employee  to  whom  a  train  schedule  is 
sent,  on  which  he  acknowledges  receipt  of  the  schedule,  stating  the  time 
he  understands  it  is  to  take  effect. 

160.  Slides. — Slides  are  most  liable  to  occur  in  the  spring,  just  after 
or  during  the  breaking  up  of  winter,  when  the  ground  is  loosened  up  by 
the  departure  of  the  frost.  Whenever  there  is  the  least  likelihood  that  a 
slide  can  reach  the  track  at  any  place  the  train  dispatcher  should  be  noti- 
fied and  trains  should  be  given  orders  to  run  slow 'by  that  point.  Slow  sig- 
nals should  be  set  at  the  proper  distance,  and  in  addition  a  watchman 
should  patrol  the  track  just  ahead  of  every  train,  carrying  a  shovel,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  remove  any  slight  obstruction.  A  "speeder"  or  railroad 
velocipede  is  a  convenient  aid  for  a  watchman  in  case  he  has  to  look  after 
slides  separated  some  distance,  as  with  such  means  of  locomotion  he  can 
get  over  a  good  stretch  of  track  in  a  short  time.  It  is  important,  neverthe- 
less, that  trains  should  be  run  under  control,  because  a  slide  is  just  as  lia- 
ble, and  perhaps  more  liable,  to  come  down  while  a  train  is  passing  as  at 
any  other  time.  This  time  of  the  year  is  when  a  foreman' should  be  par- 
ticularly on  the  alert,  and  the  best  service*  he  can  render  is  to  keep  his 
eyes  open  and  take  precaution.  If  there  conies  a  sudden  change  in  the 
weather  and  a  thaw  is  about  to  start,  he  should  drop  what  work  he  can, 
or  get  out  of  bed,  if  it  be  at  night,  and  send  reliable  men  over  those 
parts  of  the  track  where  there  is  any  probability  of  trouble,  going  himself 
to  the  point  where  he  has  reason  to  think  the  greatest  danger  is. 

Small  slides  of  material  so  soft  that  it  will  not  lie  on  the  slope  of  the 
bank,  but  which  will  accumulate  at  the  bottom  sufficiently  to  fill  the  ditch 
and  pile  up  against  the  rail,  are  bothersome,  because  every  shovelful  taken 
away  only  makes  room  for  more  to  follow.  When  the  ditch  gets  filled 
water  is  held,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  soften  the  foot  of  the  bank,  which 
will  then  have  a  tendency  to  slide  out  and  cover  the  track.  If  the  ditch 
is  at  the  foot  of  a  high  clay  bank  it  is  imDortant  to  keep  it  open,  because* 
then  the  water  from  above  may  pass  off  without  soaking  through  or  into 
the  foot  of  the  bank,  and  if  the  foot  can  be  kent  from  softening  too  much,, 
the  top,  at  the  worst,  can  only  slide  over  it  and  adjust  itself  to  a  suitable 
slope.  The  best  way  to  keep  a  ditch  open  under  such  conditions  is  to  take 
measures  before  it  is  filled.  One  method  which  may  be  followed  is  to 
drive  stakes  at  the  back  side  of  the  ditch,  jabbing  or  picking  the  holes 
through  the  frost,  as  well  as  may  be :  and  if  the  stakes  can  not  be  set  firmly 
enough  to  hold,  the  top  of  the  stake  may  be  braced  with  a  leaning  piece 
footing  against  the  end  of  a  tie.  Behind  these  stakes  plank  or  old  ties 
may  be  piled,  one  on  top  of  the  other,  to  hold  the  loose  material  which 
slides  down  the  slope  of  the  bank.  This  piling  up  of  the  soft  material 
gives  to  it  an  easier  slope  than  that  of  the  original  bank,  so  that  the  ten- 
dency of  the  surface  to  slide  is  decreased  and  at  the  same  time,  while  the 
sliding  pressure  is  held  by  the  stakes  and  braces  at  the  bottom,  the  plastic 
material  so  held  only  serves  to  weight  down  the  bottom  of  the  slope  the 
more  firmly.  In  this  way  it  is  usually  an  easy  matter  to  take  care  of 
what  loose  material  comes  over  the  top  of  the  abutment  and  to  keep  the 
ditch  open.  Any  clay  bank  may  be  expected  to  give  trouble  so  long  as 
its  foot  of  slope  is  allowed  to  soak  in  standing  water,  and  there  is  no  use 
in  clearing  away  slides  with  the  expectation  that  the  bank  will  finally 
take  a  slope  and  cease  to  give  trouble ;  as  long  as  the  foot  of  slope  remains 


910  MISCELLANEOUS 

unstable  the  onward  movement  of  mud  will  be  endless.  If,  however,  the 
ditch  can  be  kept  open  and  the  foot  of  the  bank  from  sliding,  there  is  some 
hope  of  bringing  the  trouble  to  an  end.  Another  method  of  taking  care 
of  thin  mud  and  keeping  the  ditch  open  is  to  clean  out  the  ditch  and  cover 
it  over  with  planks,  allowing  free  passage  for  the  water  below.  Old  ties 
may  be  used  as  cross  pieces  and  the  planks  may  be  laid  close  together, 
parallel  with  the  track.  The  planks  make  a  good  bed  to  shovel  upon,  thus 
facilitating  the  removal  of  the  mud,  and  the  foot  of  slope  is  enabled  to  drain 
itself  out,  Sawed  ties  or  old  bridge  timbers  laid  side  by  side  across  the 
ditch  are  also  used  in  such  places. 

In  springy  cuts  where  the  banks  are  of  soft  material  some  means  of  un- 
der drainage  will  serve  to  keep  the  slope  surfaces  dry  and  prevent  small  slides 
or  "sloughing  off."  As  elseAvhere  stated,  tile  drains  laid  diagonally  down 
the  slopes,  at  intervals,  are  sometimes  used  in  places  like  this.  Another 
plan  is  to  lay  blind  drains  of  loose  rock  in  the  slopes  at  right  angles  to 
the  track.  These  drains  are  sometimes  made  as  large  as  3  ft.  wide  and 

4  ft.  deep.    They  carry  off  the  water  and  act  as  buttresses  for  the  support 
of  the  slope. 

Where  heavier  slides  are  threatening  or  have  previously  occurred,  it 
may  pay  to  drive  a  row  of  piles  along  the  back  side  of  the  ditch  or  at  the 
toe  of  the  slope  and  back  them  up  with  planks  or  with  a  wall  of  old  ties. 
This  is  a  means  of  protection  frequently  employed.  One  of  the  most 
valuable  lessons  of  track  engineering  is  to  see  the  need  of  adopting  meas- 
ures to  avoid  a  repetition  of  trouble  that  occurred  some  year  previous. 
In  through  clay  cuts  on  some  parts  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  By.,  in  the 
Selkirk  mountains,  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  drive  rows  of  piles  at 

5  ft.  centers  at  the  back  side  of  the  ditch  on  both  sides  of  the  track.    To 
prevent  these  piles  from  being  crowded  toward  the  track  by  the  pressure 
of  the  sliding  bank,  the  two  rows  are  braced  apart  by  log  struts  passing 
under  the  track.     Eight  feet  outside  each  row  at  the  ditch  line  there  is 
another  row  of  piles  driven  at  3  ft.  centers  and  braced  against  the  first  row. 
These  outside  rows  are  backed  by  a  wall  of  logs  and  the  space  behind  is 
filled  in  with  gravel,  to  facilitate  drainage. 

One  way  to  quickly  clear  away  a  slide,  if  the  surroundings  are  favor- 
able, is  to  tie  sticks  of  dynamite  together  and  shoot  them  off.  Large 
quantities  of  mud  can  be  thrown  out  in  this  way,  but  the  scheme  works 
best  where  the  explosives  may  be  placed  behind  rocks  or  stumps  that  are 
mixed  in  with  the  soft  material.  A  large  rock  may  be  broken  up  by  placing 
a  charge  of  dynamite  on  top  of  it,  covering  the  charge  with  dirt  or  mud 
or  with  a  smaller  rock  and  then  firing  the  charge.  The  material  of  slides 
has  also  been  removed  by  hydraulic  operations.  At  a  point  on  the 
Southern  Pacific  road  in  northern  California,  in  1890,  a  slide  300  ft. 
high  and  containing  9000  cu.  yds.  of  earth  and  slaty  rock  was  removed 
from  a  cut  in  nine,  days  in  this  manner.  The  water  was  conducted  to  the 
site  of  operations  through  a  12-in.  lap-welded  pipe  laid  in  30-ft.  sections. 
Twelve  pumps  with  a  combined  discharge  capacity  of  3300  gals,  per  min. 
were  used,  taking  steam  from  the  boilers  of  four  locomotives  on  side-track 
The  nozzle  employed  was  3  to  4  ins.  in  diam.,  according  to  the  character  of 
the  material.  The  average  discharge  of  water  under  a  pressure  of  45  to  50 
Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  was  2000  gals,  per  min.,  and  the  material  was  carried  off  in 
a  sluiceway.  The  operating  force  consisted  of  30  laborers  besides  eight  fire- 
men, machinists,  pump  repairers  and  experts  to  handle  the  hydraulic  jets,  at 
a  total  expense  of  $200  per  day^  including  fuel,  making  the  expense  about 
20  cents  per  yard  of  material  removed. 

About  the  quickest  way  to  get  trains  past  a  big  slide,  where  ^there  is 


WASHOUTS  911 

room,  is  to  lay  a  new  piece  of  track  around  it,  close  to  the  material  which, 
has  slidden  down,  and  then  cut  the  old  track,  throw  it  over  and  connect  it 
to  the  ends  of  the  new  piece.  If  the  arrangement  is  to  be  only  temporary 
-and  trains  are  to  run  at  reduced  speed  past  the  slide,  no  great  pains  need 
be  taken  with  the  curves  or  with  the  surface  of  the  stretch  of  new  track. 
There  is  an  advantage  in  this  arrangement,  in  that  the  work  train,,  by 
using  the  track  between  the  regular  trains,  may  be  employed  in  getting  the 
material  out  of  the  w^ay.  The  track  may  oe  moved  over  as  the  slide  is 
cleaned  up,  until  the  old  track  is  uncovered.  In  some  cases  where  a  detour 
track  is  laid  at  a  slide  it  pays  to  put  the  run-around  in  good  surface  and 
alignment  and  to  wait  awhile  before  attempting  to  clear  away  the  slide. 
The  material  can  be  easier  handled  if  allowed  to  dry  out  some,  and  as  n. 
rule  not  so  much  material  will  slide  down, if  that  which  came  first  is  al- 
lowed to  lie  until  the  ground  settles  a  little.  After  the  material  has  dried 
•out  it  will  usually  pay  to  handle  it  with  a  steam  shovel. 

A  cause  of  numerous  accidents  to  train  operation  is  falling  rocks, 
which,  like  slides,  are  most  liable  to  come  down  at  the  breaking  up  of 
winter.  Thawing  ground  and  hard  rains  will  sometimes  cause  large  rocks 
on  steep  mountain  slopes  to  let  loose  and  tumble  onto  the  track  with  great 
force.  The  action  of  frost,  the  softening  of  rock  by  disintegration  and 
the  expansion  of  ice  in  crevices  will  also  dislodge  large  masses  from  ledges 
or  from  the  shattered  sides  of  blasted  rock  cuts  from  which  the  loose  pieces 
have  not  been  carefully  examined  and  removed  at  the  time  of  construction. 
The  sides  of  mountains  and  hills  which  rise  at  a  steep  incline  from  the  track 
should  be  thoroughly  hunted  over  for  hanging  rocks  and  loose  boulders 
that  are  liable  to  roll  down  upon  the  track  during  some  spell  of  bad  weath- 
er. To  protect  the  rails  from  damage  when  large  rocks  are  blasted  from  or 
rolled  down  a  mountain  side,  the  track  may  be  covered  with  old  ties  piled 
up  to  form  an  incline  over  the  ditch  on  the  hill  side ;  or  the  rails  in  the  path 
of  the  descending  rock  may  be  temporarily  taken  up  during  some  favor- 
able interval  between  trains,  which  would  usually  be  found  on  Sunday. 
Near  Crawford's  Notch,  on  the  Maine  Central  R.  E.,  a  large  rock  on  a 
steep  rocky  slope  has  been  chained  fast  to  prevent  it  from  rolling  down 
upon  the  track. 

161.  Washouts. — Washouts,  often  less  expected  than  slides,  occur 
in  times  of  high  water,  caused  by  sudden  thawing,  continued  rains^  or 
^loud-bursts.  A  man  on  the  ground  can  usually  foretell  a  washout  some 
time  before  it  takes  place,  by  the  action  of  the  rising  water  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  things  in  general.  It  is  of  utmost  importance,  then,  that  dur- 
ing the  severest  rain  storms  the  foreman  and  his  men  should  be  out- 
patrolling  the  track  with  the  hand  car,  leaving  a  man  supplied  with  signals 
to  guard  each  place  which  seems  to  be  threatened,  and  continuing  the  in- 
spection until  it  covers  the  entire  section.  Should  the  track  become  im- 
passable for  trains  the  foreman  will  of  course  protect  them  with  signals 
and  then  promptly  notify  the  roadmaster  and  the  trainmaster  of  the 
nature  and  the  extent  of  the  obstruction.  Where  proper  vigilance  is 
exercised  by  the  track  forces  it  is  seldom  that  trains  need  be  in  danger  of 
running  into  washouts,  and  great  damage  to  the  track  can  oftentimes  be 
avoided.  There  have  been  instances  almost  without  number  when,  if 
some  man  equipped  with  a  shovel  had  happened  along  at  any  time  during 
an  interval  of  three  or  four  hours,  he  could  in  a  few  minutes  have  turned 
the  course  of  the  water  which  later  caused  a  bad  washout.  Trestles,  bridge 
abutments  and  approaches;  the  roadbed  at  culverts,  opposite  old  water 
courses  down  side-hill  and  along  parallel  streams  (especially  small  streams) 
are  the  points  most  liable  to  damage  by  high  water.  '  At  trestles  or  cul- 


912  MISCELLANEOUS 

verts  over  streams  in  which  ice  or  flood  trash  is  running  men  should  be 
stationed  with  long  poles  to  push  obstructions  clear  of  the  bents  or  open- 
ings. 

At  the  time  of  each  flood  foremen  should  take  measurements  from 
top  of  rail  to  the  extreme  high-water  level  and  report  the  same  to  the 
roadmaster,  with  the  number  of  the  bridge  or  opening.  Records  of  this 
kind  should  be  kept  in  the  roadmaster's  office  for  future  reference,  being- 
useful  when  the  size  of  bridge  or  culvert  openings  must  be  decided  upon. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  make  a  permanent  high- water  mark  at  each  opening, 
by  driving  a  spike  or  chiseling  a  mark  on  the  abutment  masonry.  At  tres- 
tle bridges  it  is  also  useful  to  make  float  observations  of  the  velocity  of  the 
stream,  so  as  to  obtain  data  for  determining  the  volume  of  water  passing, 
which  may  be  needed  at  some  future  time  when  it  is  desired  to  fill  in 
the  trestle  and  contract  the  waterway.  It  is  just  as  important  to  get 
such  data  at  small  streams  as  at  large  ones,  and  perhaps  even  more  so. 

In  time  of  high  water  foremen  should  be  vigilant  to  stop  the  progress 
of  the  water  when  it  begins  to  cut  the  banks  or  the  roadbed.  Ditch  water 
which  starts  to  gully  out  or  cut  deeper  should  be  particularly  watched. 
A  push  car  is  a  handy  thing  to  have  on  hand  at  such  times.  A  truck-load 
of  material  thrown  into  the  right  place  at  the  right  time  may  avert  much 
damage.  Tendency  to  cave  or  form  gullies  may  be  checked  by  the  use 
of  brush  or  old  ties,  or  by  throwing  in  riprap  stone  or  bags  of  sand.  When 
the  water  rises  high  and  threatens  to  wash  across  the  track  and  under- 
mine it,  the  ballast  may  be  protected  by  laying  bags  of  sand  on  the  up- 
stream side,  or  planks  may  be  placed  along  the  edge  of  the  ballast  and 
.secured  to  stakes  to  stop  the  wash  of  a  side  current.  Where  water  of  lim- 
ited quantity  is  backed  up  against  the  track  and  threatens  to  rise  over 
the  top  of  rail  it  is  well  to  spread  the  ties  here  and  there  and  dig  trenches 
to  let  it  through,  selecting  places  where  the  current  is  least  likely  to  do  dam- 
age. Backwater  in  which  there  is  but  little  or  no  current  may  still  do  a 
great  deal  of  damage  if  the  wind  begins  to  blow  and  dash  waves  against 
an  embankment  or  the  ballast.  Means  of  protection  above  mentioned 
(sand  bags  or  plank)  may  be  employed  in  such  places,  and  hay,  straw  or 
brush  is  sometimes  thrown  on  the  water  to  break  the  force  of  the  waves. 

WTien  bridges  or  trestles  have  been  carried  away  the  rebuilding  of 
the  structures  falls,  of  course,  to  the  bridge  department;  and  also  when 
embankments  are  washed  out  for  considerable  distances  or  deep  gullies  ar^ 
scooped  out  under  the  track,  the  bridge  department  is  usually  called  upon 
to  build  temporary  trestles,  by  driving  piles  or  erecting  framed  bents,  leav- 
ing the  filling  to  be  done  afterwards.  In  such  event  the  track  department 
assists  the  bridge  department  by  loading  material,  and  on  roads  subject 
to  washouts  the  roadmasters  are  provided  with  lists  showing  the  number 
and  size  of  the  various  pieces  of  timber  required  to  build  a  span  of  trestle 
and  lay  the  bridge  floor  thereon,  so  that  when  the  roadmaster  is  called 
upon  to  load  material  it  is  only  necessary  to  telegraph  the  number  of 
bents  or  spans  of  trestle  to  be  built.  A  pile  driver  having  a  20-ft.  exten- 
sion, and  capable  of  turning  completely  around  on  the  car,  so  as  to  drive 
at  any  angle  and  straight  in  front  without  reference  to  the  direction  in 
which  the  car  is  headed,  is  recommended  as  the  best  machine  for  use  in 
emergencies  of  this  kind.  The  pile  driver  and  the  bridge  outfit  should  be 
kept  in  good  repair  at  all  times  and  a  supply  of  piles  should  be  kept  in 
stock  whether  there  is  work  of  this  kind  in  sight  or  not.  A  pile-driver 
gang  of  10  men,  driving  four  piles  to  the  bent,  can  complete  5  to  10  pan- 
els of  bridge  work  in  10  hours  of  daylight  and  3  to  5  panels  at  night,  ac- 
cording to  the  conditions  encountered.  This  estimate  includes  the  bridge 


WASHOUTS  913 

floor.  Where  the  washout  is  a  long  one  it  is  usual  to  put  two  pile  drivers  into 
service,,  working  from  both  ends  of  the  washout,  or  if  only  one  machine 
is  available  and  the  work  must  be  done  in  a  hurry,  a  pile  driver  is  worked 
at  one  end  and  the  work  of  erecting  framed  bents  is  carried  on  from  the 
other. 

Another  way  of  quickly  throwing  a  bridge  across  a  gap  is  by  cribbing 
with  logs,  old  timbers  or  new  ties,  spanning  shallow  streams,  if  necessary, 
with  stringers  laid  upon  cribbed  piers.  Where  the  current  is  swift  the 
piers  may  be  sunk  and  held  in  position  by  loading  the  crib  with  rocks, 
railroad  iron  or  by  sacks  filled  with  sand  or  earth.  The  cribbing  should 
be  kept  level  as  it  is  built  up,  selecting  ties  of  equal  thickness  for  the  same 
course..  Where  it  becomes  necessary  to  make  the  crib  or  pier  wider  than 
the  length  of  a  tie  a  stronger  structure  may  be  had  by  building  two  piers 
together  than  by  building  the  two  separately.  By  laying  two  ties  in  each 
tier  and  forming  the  crib  of  several  tiers  each  way,  all  built  or  bound  to- 
gether, a  pier  may  be  built  up  30  ft.,  or  even  higher,  quite  substantially. 
If  the  bottom  is  soft  the  crib  should  be  started  on  a  floor  of  ties  or  tim- 
bers. Crib  construction  of  considerable  length  or  hight  requires  a  good 
many  ties,  but  with  a  train-load  of  ties  on  the  spot  a  bridge  can  be  put 
down  in  a  hurry.  On  such  occasions  the  work- train  force  is  usually  in- 
creased by  all  section  men  available,  and  if  there  is  not  opportunity  for 
all  of  the  men  to  work  at  the  seat  of  trouble,  part  of  them  can  be  sent  to 
load  material.  If  there  is  not  deep  water  to  contend  with  and  plenty  of 
ties  are  on  hand,  a  bridge  can  be  built  by  cribbing  more  rapidly  than  by 
driving  piles,  since  a  larger  number  of  men  can  be  set  to  work.  Sawed 
ties  are  best  for  this  purpose.  If  the  company's  supply  of  ties  is  scattered 
along  the  road,  the  roadmaster  should  in  such  cases  telegraph  the  track 
forces  nearest  them  to  begin  loading  without  delay,  using  flat  cars,  box  cars, 
or  any  other  available  empty  cars,  or  cars  that  can  be  quickly  unloaded,  if 
necessary.  It  should  be  the  understanding  that  if  the  foreman  is  pressed 
with  damaged  track  about  that  time  he  may  send  a  trusted  man  oif  the  sec- 
tion to  hire  extra  help  and  load  the  ties.  The  track  department  of  a  rail- 
road ought  to  be  so  well  organized  that  when  things  have  to  move  all  the 
roadmaster  need  do  is  to  wire  general  instructions.  If,  however,  the  sec- 
tion foremen  are  customarily  withheld  from  the  exercise  of  authority  in 
small  matters  somewhat  aside  from  routine  work,  depending  upon  the 
roadmaster  for  instructions  in  full,  the  roadmaster  in  times  of  emergency 
will  always  have  his  hands  full  attending  to  details,  and  he  will  be  greatly 
hampered  in  his  attention  to  the  work  of  chief  importance. 

Where  an  embankment  has  been  side-washed,  leaving  some  portion  of 
the  original  embankment  with  the  track  overhanging,  which  is  frequently 
the  case  where  there  are  streams  parallel  with  the  track,  there  are  several 
method?  of  putting  the  track  into  condition  to  carry  the  trains  temporarily. 
One  method  is  to  level  down  the  remaining  portion  of  the  bank,  so  as  to 
fill  the  space  washed  out.  The  track  is  thus  let  down  to  a  lower  level.,  in 
a  sag,  and  is  later  raised  by  degrees  by  unloading  material  at  the  side  of 
the  track,  raising  the  track  and  placing  the  material  thereunder,  after  the 
manner  of  ballasting.  Another  method  is  to  throw  the  track  over  far 
enough,  to  obtain  a  bearing  the  whole  length  of  the  ties  and  then  to  fill 
in  the  space  washed  out  by  dumping  material  from  one  side  of  the  train, 
throwing  the  track  back  toward  its  original  location  as  fast  as  the  fill  is 
made.  This  arrangement  of  throwing  the  track  to  one  side  is  known  as 
a  "'shoofly/'  and  where  there  is  a  sufficient  width  of  undisturbed  bank,  it 
is  undoubtedly  the  best  plan  to  follow.  If  the  undisturbed  portion  of 
the  bank  is  not  wide  enough  at  the  top  to  support  the  ties  their  whole 


914  MISCELLANEOUS 

length  it  may  work  well  to  throw  the  track  over  and  level  down  the  bank 
deep  enough  to  secure  the  proper  width.  Another  method  is  to  leave  the 
track  where  it  is  and  support  the  overhanging  side  by  trestling.  The  string- 
ers are  placed  upon  caps  which  are  supported  on  one  side  by  the  bank  and 
on  the  other  side  by  piles  or  posts  driven  or  set  in  the  space  where  the 
bank  has  been  washed  away.  Where  a  post  is  used  to  support  the  outer 
end  of  the  cap  and  the  bank  is  not  deep,  it  is  usual  to  lay  a  longitudinal 
sill  under  the  outside  rail  and  set  a  plumb  post,  placing  the  cap  on  the 
post  and  digging  out  the  bank  so  as  to  project  the  cap  through  for  support 
on  that  side.  Stringers  are  then  placed  under  the  outer  rail,  resting  upon 
the  cap,  so  that  the  embankment  carries  the  track  on  one  side  and  the 
stringer  on  the  other.  If  the  embankment  or  space  washed  out  \s  deep, 
a  short  sill  is  laid,  running  into  the  bank,  and  both  a  plumb  post  and  bat- 
ter post  are  set  and  sway-braced  to  the  cap.  By  this  method  the  track  is 
carried  at  grade,  on  the  old  alignment,  and  the  space  washed  out  is  later 
filled  in  with  material  brought  by  the  work  train.  Where  there  is  reason 
to  fear  that  the  portion  of  the  bank  which  remains  standing  may  not  be 
able  to  support  that  side  of  the  track  it  is  well  to  reinforce  the  track  ties 


Fig.    470. — Surfacing    Track    over   Shallow    Washouts. 

with  switch  ties  12  to  16  ft.  long,  placed  4  to  6  ft,  apart  between 
the  track  ties,  one  end  of  the  switch  tie  resting  upon  the  stringers  and 
the  other  end  upon  a  bed  of  track  ties  out  on  the  embankment,  there- 
by securing  support  for  the  track  in  case  the  bank'  underneath  the 
track  should  cave  or  slide  away.  Where  the  top  of  an  embankment  has 
been  washed  off  for  a  depth  not  exceeding  3  or  4  ft.  the  track  surface 
may  be  evened  up  by  cribbing  and  blocking  with  old  ties,  as  illustrated  in 
Fig.  470,  utilizing  pieces  of  plank  and  boards  for  shims. 

For  a  very  complete  treatment  of  the  subject  of  handling  washouts 
with  bridge  forces,  including  the  equipment  of  machinery,  a  list  of  the 
tools  needed,  the  organization  of  the  crew  and  the  plan  and  procedure  of 
the  operations,  the  reader  is  referred  to  two  reports  on  "Methods  and 
Special  Appliances  Used  for  Building  Temporary  Trestles  over  Wash- 
outs and  Burnouts,"  made  to  the  Association  of  Eailway  Superintendents 
of  Bridges  and  Buildings  in  the  year  1895  by  Mr.  K.  M.  Peck,  of  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  Ky.,  and  Mr.  George  J.  Bishop,  superintendent  of  bridges 
and  buildings  for  the  Chicago,  Bock  Island  &  Pacific  Ey.  In  order  to 
show  the  practical  application  of  methods  of  repairing  track  and  bridges 
in  time  of  washouts  it  may  prove  instructive  to  relate  briefly  the  particu- 


WASHOUTS  915 

lars  of  a  general  washout  oil  the  St  Paul  &  Duluth  11.  R.,  in  1897,  and  the 
methods  of  work  pursued  in  restoring  the  line  to  condition  for  temporary 
operation.  A  more  complete  account,  with  illustrations  of  interesting 
scenes  at  various  points  where  damage  was  done,  may  be  found  in  the 
Railway  and  Engineering  Review  of  Sept.  11,  1897. 

On  the  morning  of  July  3,  about  3  o'clock,  an  unusually  severe  rain 
storm  extended  along  the  line  of  the  road  from  Hinckley  (76  miles  north 
of  St.  Paul)  to  Duluth,  centering  in  a  cloud-burst  at  Mahtowa  Station  (43 
miles  north  of  Hinckley).  The  sudden  and  unprecedented  downpour  of 
water  resulted  in  the  Kettle  river  and  its  tributary  stream,  the  Moose  river, 
overflowing  their  banks  and  rising  higher  than  any  previous  record  had 
shown,  and  the  culverts  and  other  waterways  through  embankments,  which 
had  proven  to  be  of  ample  capacity  during  20  years  of  service,  failed  utter- 
ly to  carry  the  large  amount  of  surface  water  which  flowed  to  them.  At 
Rutledge  (18  miles  north  of  Hinckley)  embankments,  15  ft.  high,  serv- 
ing as  approaches  to  a  bridge  of  125  ft.  span  crossing  the  Kettle  river, 
were  completely  washed  away,  and  at  a  point  four  miles  farther  north  the 
earth  approach  to  the  bridge  over  Willow  river  was  washed  out  for  a 
distance  of  200  ft.  Eight  miles  farther  north  four  bents  of  a  trestle  over 
Moose  river  were  carried  out.  From  this  point  north  for  6  miles  there 
was  not  a  continuous  mile  of  track  that  was  passable.  Stretch  after  stretch 
of  gravel  embankments  12  and  15  ft.  high  were  washed  out,  leaving  rails 
and  ties  suspended  over  gaps  200  to  300  ft.  in  length.  At  Barnum,  37 
miles  north  of  Hinckley,  a  40-ft.  through  girder  bridge  over  Moose  river 
was  carried  away  and  the  earth  approaches  for  300  ft.  in  length  were 
washed  out.  From  Barnum  north  to  Duluth  (39  miles)  there  were  some 
50  more  washouts,  varying  in  length  from  10  to  300  ft.  and  from  2  to  40 
ft.  in  depth. 

As  soon  as  the  first  reports  were  received,  all  the  track  and  bridge 
forces  available  were  mobilized  in  the  vicinity  of  Mahtowa  and  work  trains 
with  material,  men  and  pile  driver  were  started  north  from  St.  Paul,  get- 
ting 15  miles  north  of  Rutledge  by  noon  of  July  3,  the  day  of  the  storm. 
Two  hours  afterward  the  approaches  at  Rutledge  went  out,  so  that  the 
trains  were  cut  off  from  supplies,  both  north  and  south,  and  the  work  pro- 
ceeded slowly  and  with  great  difficulty.  The  following  methods  were 
adopted  for  putting  the  track  in  temporary  repair:  In  all  washouts  of  3 
ft.  or  Jess  depth  ties,  largely  old  ones  picked  up  on  the  right  of  way,  were 
laid  under  the  track  ties,  two  or  three  wide  and  a  sufficient  number  in 
depth  to  make  the  necessary  hight,  plank  being  used  to  shim  between  the 
top  layer  and  the  track  ties.  Where  the  washouts  were  deeper  than  2  ft., 
and  up  to  4  ft.,  two  12xl2-in.  timbers  were  placed  at  right  angles  to  the 
track,  12  ins.  apart;  upon  these  were  placed  short  blocks  parallel  with 
the  track,  and  on  these  12xl2-in.  caps,  upon  which  stringers  were  placed, 
these  bents  being  spaced  about  12  ft.  centers.  In  washouts  of  more  than  4 
ft.  and  up  to  16  or  18  ft.  depth,  piers  of  heavy  timbers  and  ties  were 
built,  12  ft.  apart,  and  stringers  placed  upon  these  carried  the  track. 
These  piers  were  constructed  with  a  base  of  not  less  than  12  ft.  width,  and 
wider  than  that  where  the  hight  required  it.  The  first  course  of  timber 
or  ties  was  laid  parallel  to  the  rails  and  the  next  at  right  angles,  and  so  on 
up,  the  several  courses  being  drift-bolted  together.  No  attempt  was  made 
to  put  the  track  on  its  original  grade  across  the  deep  washouts :  in  such 
places  the  track  on  the  embankments  at  each  end  was  dropped  down  !o 
make  an  easy  run-off. 

It  was  found  that  this  class  of  work  could  be  carried  on  rapidly.  It 
required  no  dimension  work  or  time  to  measure  and  frame  timber,  as  would 


916  MISCELLANEOUS 

have  been  necessary  in  the  construction  of  timber  trestles.  Many  of  these 
piers  were  built  in  running  water  2  ft.  deep.  Piling  was  used  only  to  cross 
swift  running  or  deep  water  and  in  the  washouts  of  20  ft.  depth  or  more. 
Gunny  sacks  filled  with  sand  or  earth  were  found  to  be  effective  in  stop- 
ping and  preventing  the  water  from  cutting  into  the  embankments  around 
culverts  and  abutments,  and  were  used  with  success.  On  Thursday  the 
8th,,  at  6  a.  m.,  the  temporary  repairs  had  been  completed  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  bridge  over  the  Kettle  river,  where  traffic  had  to  be  transferred 
pending  the  erection  of  a  temporary,  pier  of  piles  to  support  one  end  of 
the  bridge,  the  masonry  pier  at  that  end  having  been  undermined,  when 
it  settled,  letting  the  span  down  18  ins.  and  throwing  it  out  of  line.  All 
of  the  temporary  repairs  were  made  with  timber,  no  earth  being  handled 
except  in  leveling  off  for  the  timber  foundations.  As  soon  as  the  line  was 
opened  for  traffic  a  steam  shovel  was  started  to  work  excavating  material  fo 
fill  around  the  many  temporary  structures,  the  caps  and  stringers  being 
removed  as  the  holes  were  filled  up. 

Bank  Protection. — A  railway  which  follows  the  course  of  a  stream 
requires  careful  watching  in  time  of  high  water,  particularly  where  the  road- 
bed slope  extends  to  or  into  the  stream.  Where  the  stream  bends  toward 
the  track  in  such  places,  or  wherever  the  embankment  slope  is. washed  by 
the  full  force  of  the  current,  protective  works  are  usually  necessary  to 
prevent  the  flood  water  from  cutting  away  the  earthwork  and  washing  out 
the  track.  Protection  is  likewise  required  in  many  places  on  the  slopes  of 
embankment  approaches  to  bridges  at  stream  crossings,  where  the  current 
at  time  of  high  water  may  strike  behind  the  abutment  with  considerable 
force.  The  most  substantial  protection  in  all  such  places  is  a  paved  slope 
or  slope  wall  starting  on  the  hard  bed  of  the  stream  or  below  the  shifting 
material  of  the  bottom.  The  Lehigh  Valley  R.  R.,  where  it  follows  the 
Susquehanna  River,  between  Pittston  and  Sayre,  Pa.,  is  protected  by  a 
good  many  miles  of  very  substantial  construction  of  this  class.  This  wall 
was  built  by  the  state  to  protect  the  Pennsylvania  &  New  York  canal,  and 
the  railroad  was  built  on  the  tow  path  of  the  canal.  Paved  slope  wall  is, 
however,  very  expensive,  and  is  seldom  built  these  days.  The  means  most 
largely  used  to  protect  embankments  against  the  abrasion  of  stream  cur- 
rents, the  wash  of  lakes,  etc.,  is  riprap,  which  is  loose  rock  dumped  or 
thrown  over  the  slope  to  a  depth  varying  from  a  mere  covering  to  several 
feet,  according  to  the  force  of  the  current.  On  bottom  which  is  not  sub- 
ject to  deep  scouring  little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  the  foundation  for 
riprap,  except,  perhaps,  to  gradually  increase  the  thickness  of  the  deposit 
toward  the  bottom  of  the  slope,  because  if  the  water  begins  to  cut  under 
the  toe  or  bottom  the  loose  rock  from  above  will  tumble  into  the  hole  and 
stop  the  process.  The  effectiveness  of  riprap  increases  with  length  of  slope 
or  decrease  in  the  inclination,  and  in  recognition  of  this  principle,  speci- 
fications usually  require  that  wherever  the  current  may  strike  against  the 
bank  the  latter  shall  be  graded  to  a  slope  at  least  as  easy  as  2  to  1 ;  or  if 
the  embankment  has  been  finished  to  a  steeper  slope,  the  riprap  shall  be  so 
placed  that  its  upper  slope  shall  be  2  to  1.  In  this  same  connection  it  is 
pertinent  to  remark  that  the  resistance  of  an  unprotected  earth  embankment 
to  the  action  of  flowing  water  improves  with  length  of  slope;  this  for  the 
simple  reason  that  where  the  material  stands  fully  up  to  the  natural  angle 
of  repose  the  slightest  cutting  action  of  the  water  will  start  the  bank  to  cav- 
ing, which  loosens  up  the  material  so  that  the  water  makes  short  work  with 
it;  whereas,  if  the  slope  is  easy  the  scouring  action  may  go  deep  and  far  be- 
fore the  bank  will  begin  to  fall  of  its  own  weight,  In  turning  a  stream  into  a 
new  channel  the  embankment  across  the  old  water  course  should  be  sloped 


WASHOUTS  9  IT1 

off  at  least  2  to  1  on  the  stream  side  and  well  tramped  down  by  team  work. 

Hand-laid  riprap  is  work  in  which  some  of  the  stones  are  placed  by 
hand,  in  order  to  make  the  covering  a  uniform  thickness  or  to  make  the 
slope  uniform;  The  necessity  for  hand  work  increases  with  the  size  of  the 
stones.  Some  roads  specify  that  riprap  shall  consist  of  stones  generally 
as  large  as  two  men  can  handle,  but  much  larger  stones  are  frequently 
used  as  part  of  the  material.  Large  pieces  of  rock  should  lie  next  the  earth 
slope,  and  the  foundation  is  usually  started  by  digging  a  V-shaped  trench 
to  hold  the  stones  at  the  foot  of  slope.  If  dumped  over  the  bank  too  pro- 
miscuously many  of  the  larger  rocks  will  roll  away  from  the  slope  or  stand 
out  where  they  will  be  easily  dislodged  by  floating  ice  or  drifting  logs 
and  trees.  The  best  protection  is  obtained  where  the  largest  stones  are  in 
the  bottom  of  the  course,  with  the  small  stones  chinked  in  between.  It  also 
effects  a  saving  of  material  to  pay  some  attention  to  the  distribution  of  the 
stones  over  the  slope.  Where  the  slope  is  exposed  to  ice  jams  it  is  com- 
monly the  practice  to  throw  in  brush  with  the  stones,  to  bind  the  riprap 
together.  The  butts  are  placed  outward  and  downward  in  the  stream. 
"Where  the  current  is  too  direct  or  too  strong  for  heavy  riprap  to  stand,  as 
is  frequently  the  case  along  rapid  mountain  streams,  wing  dams,  rock- 
filled  cribs  or  piles  backed  up  by  a  wall  of  logs  and  trailing  brush  are 
commonly  used  to  protect  the  banks  from  wash.  Stone  cribs  are  usually 
built  up  of  logs  or  old  bridge  timbers  notched  into  each  other  at  the  corn- 
ers and  drift-bolted.  At  intervals  of  8  to  12  ft.,  according  to  the  size  of 
the  logs  and  the  force  of  the  current,  the  outside  Avails  are  tied  together 
by  cross  partitions  of  logs  notched  in  between  and  drift-bolted  to  the 
longitudinal  timbers.  The  empty  crib  is  then  filled  with  loose  rock,  and  if 
it  lies  parallel  with  the  bank  the  space  behind  is  filled  in  with  riprap.  If 
it  is  not  built  up  to  the  high-water  mark  it  is  made  to  serve  as  the  founda- 
tion for  a  riprap  slope.  In  the  bend  of  a  stream  where  the  current  strikes 
hard  against  the  bank  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  build  wing  dams  or 
stone  cribs  extending  diagonally  into  the  stream,  to  turn  the  course  of  the 
water  away  from  the  shore.  In  such  cases  the  bank  behind  the  cribs  is 
protected  with  riprap,  and  to  prevent  the  water  from  cutting  around  the 
shore  end  of  the  crib  the  bank  at  that  point  is  heavily  riprapped  or  paved. 

In  order  to  withstand  a  heavy  current,  stone  cribbing  must  have  a 
good  foundation,  and  such  cannot  be  obtained  on  a  sand  or  mud  bottom. 
When  built  on  such  material  the  crib  is  liable  to  be  undercut  and  roll  into- 
the  stream.  A  good  substitute  on  soft  bottom  is  a  bulkhead  of  piles  driven 
4  to  ?'  ft.  apart  and  walled  up  behind  with  alternate  layers  of  logs  and 
brush,  backed  up  with  stone.  The  brush  should  be  of  large  size,  like  the 
limbs  of  trees  or  small  trees  3  or  4  ins.  in  diameter  at  the  butt.  These 
butt  ends  should  be  laid  trailing  to  the  current  and  project  4  or  5  ft. 
from  the  log  wall,  to  guard  the  piles  against  driftwood  and  ice.  The  tops 
or  branches  lie  in  the  space  behind  the  log  wall,  which  should  be  filled 
with  stones  as  fast  t:s  the  logs  or  large  poles  and  the  brush  are  laid  up. 
To  withstand  the  action  of  waves  on  a  lake  or  ocean  front,  a  type  of  pier 
construction  consisting  of  two  rows  of  piles  with  the  space  between  filled 
in  with  stone,  is  commonly  used.  The  piles  are  usually  driven  close  to- 
gether, but  sometimes  2  to  3  ft.  apart  and  walled  up  behind  with  timber. 
Along  a  stream,  however,  where  there  is  a  bank  immediately  behind  the 
bulkhead,  one  row  of  piles  with  back  filling  is  generally  found  to  be  suf- 
ficient. 

On  gravel  or  rock  bottom  the  toe  of  riprapping  will  take  care  of  itself,, 
as  already  stated,  but  where  there  is  some  doubt  about  the  stability  of  the 
foundation  in  the  stream  it  is  a  good  plan  to  cover  the  bottom  with  a  layer 


918  MISCELLANEOUS 

of  brush  12  or  18  ins.  thick  and  1  to  2  rods  wide,  and  start  the  foot  of  the 
riprap  slope  on  it.  On  the  deep  sandy  bottoms  of  some  of  the  rivers  of 
the  Mississippi  valley,  however,  ordinary  construction  of  this  kind  will 
not  stand.  These  streams,  and  notably  the  Missouri  river,  among  others, 
are  continually  changing  their  channels  in  many  places,  cutting  away 
the  banks  on  the  outer  side  of  the  bends  and  forming  sand  bars  next  the 
bank  on  the  inner  side.  During  high  water  such  changes  take  place  very 
rapidly.  The  banks  of  the  river,  which  are  usually  sand  and  silt,  stand 
vertically  12  to  20  ft.  in  hight,  and  when  a  rise  occurs  in  the  river  the 
scour  at*  the  foot  of  the  bank  undermines  it  and  it  caves  into  the  river  in 
slices  of  5  to  10  ft.  width.  The  saturation  of  the  bank  in  nearness  to  the 
river  is  also  another  cause  of  failure,  for  if  there  be  a  stratum  of  quick- 
sand it  will  run  out  when  the  water  falls  and  cause  the  caving  of  an  addi- 
tional width  of  bank.  Such  caving  of  the  banks  is  a  constant  menace  to 
railway  roadbed  located  in  nearness  thereto,  and  measures  have  to  be  taken 


Fig.  471.— Weaving  Mattress  for  Bank  Protection,  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  Ry. 

to  protect  the  banks  in  order  to  save  the  roadbed  from  washout.  The  most 
successful  protection  as  yet  adopted  is  the  use  of  woven  brush  matresses, 
this  being  the  standard  form  of  protection  used  by  the  Missouri  Eiver 
Commission.  Among  other  roads,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry. 
has  done  considerable  work  of  this  character.  The  protective  structure 
consists  of  young  willow  and  cottonwood  saplings  about  15  ft,  long  and  1J 
or  2  ins.  diameter  at  the  butt,  woven  into  a  mattress  about  12  ins.  thick 
and  usually  70  to  90  ft.  wide.  The  willows  are  cut  along  the  river  shore, 
where  they  grow  very  thickty,  in  places,  and  hence  long  and  straight,  with 
but  few  branches.  In  preparation  for  the  work  a  row  of  piles  is  driven 
along  the  river  bank,  a  little  below  low  water  mark  and  10  or  12  ft.  apart. 
These  piles  serve  as  an  anchorage  for  the  mattress,  which  is  woven  on  a 
flat  boat  (Fig.  471),  on  a  triangular  frame.  The  mattress  is  woven 
around  the  piles  as  the  work  proceeds  and  is  slipped  into  the  river  by 
dropping  the  boat  down  stream.  In  weaving  the  mattress  a  wire  cable  of 
|  in.  diameter  is  woven  in  across  the  mat,  opposite  each  pile,  to  which 
the  cable  is  tied.  Cables  are  also  woven  into  the  mat  lengthwise,  about 


AVASHOUTS 


919 


10  ft.  apart,  and  at  each  intersection  of  the  cross  cables  the  two  are  fast- 
ened together,  pulled  up  through  the  mat  and  made  fast  to  a  toggle  con- 
sisting of  a  stick  of  cord-wood.  After  about  200  ft.  of  the  mattress  is 
woven,  depending  upon  the  depth  of  the  water,,  the  work  of  sinking  it  is 
begun,  which  is  accomplished  by  wiring  a  row  of  large  stones  to  the  outer 
edge,  and  then  following  down  stream  with  a  boat-load  of  stones  and 
dropping  them  upon  the  mattress.  The  stones  used  weigh  from  20  to  60 
Ibs.  each.  After  the  mattress  has  been  sunk  the  bank  of  the  river  is 
graded  down  to  a  slope  of  2  horizontal  to  1  vertical.  This  work  is  usually 
done  by  the  use  of  a  hydraulic  jet  operated  from  a  pump  on  a  flat-boat. 
After  the  grading  is  completed  the  bank  is  covered  with  riprap  to  a  depth 
of  about  18  ins.  Figure  472  shows  the  completed  revetment,  and  from 
the  appearance  of  the  trees  in  the  background  the  reader  will  recognize 
the  same  stretch  of  river  bank  that  is  shown  in  Fig.  471,  when  the  work 
was  started. 


m-x:.^  ->;:-,  "•••*. 

|i:      |g 


Fig.  472.— Revetment  Work  by  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  Ry.     (Progress  View  in  Fig.  471). 

The  Chicago  &  Alton  Ky.  has  done  a  considerable  amount  of  revet- 
ment work  of  similar  construction  on  the  Missouri  river,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Cambridge,  Mo.  At  this  place  the  first  thing  done  was  to  grade  doAvn 
the  bank  hydraulically  to  a  slope  of  2  to  1  befaveen  the  limits  of  2  ft. 
above  standard  high  water  and  3  ft.  below  standard  low  Avater.  At  this 
place  the  mattress  was  woven  of  AvilloAV  brush  1  to  2  ins.  in  diameter  at 
the  butt  and  15  to  25  ft.  in  length.  The  mattress  is  12  ins.  thick  and  86  ft. 
wide,  and  the  inner  edge  extends  to  a  contour  line  3  ft.  above  standard  low 
water  and  is  tied  at  intervals  of  16  ft.  8  ins.  to  dead  men  planted  in  the  bank 
8  jft.  back  from  the  top  of  slope.  The  mattress  was  woven  with  five  lines  of 
-J-in.  galvanized  wire  cable  running  longitudinally,  each  line  consisting  of  two 
parts — one  cable  under  the  mattress  and  one  on  top;  and  at  intervals 
of  16  ft.  8  ins.  there  are  transverse  cables  running  both  under  and  over 
the  mattress,  these  being  the  cables  that  are  run  to  the  dead  men.  While 
the  mattress  was  being  woven  these  crossed  cables  Avere  held  together  at 
their  intersections  by  wooden  boxes  12  ins.  square  and  4  ft.  long,  open  top 
and  bottom  and  slotted  at  the  corners,  and  after  the  brush  had  been  Avoven 


920  MISCELLANEOUS 

around  them  the  slack  of  the  cables  was  pulled  up  with  a  set  of  block* 
and  falls  and  the  crossed  cables  were  fastened  together  with  iron  clips. 
The  stones  for  sinking  the  mattress  to  the  bed  of  the  river  weigh  100  to 
200  Ibs  each,  but  as  far  as  3  ft.  below  standard  low  water  the  interstices 
of  the  mattress  were  filled  with  spawls.  The  slope  of  the  bank  from  low- 
water  mark  to  a  contour  2  ft.  above  standard  high  water  was  then  shin- 
gie~paved  with  one-man  stone,  which  were  generally  delivered  on  wheel- 
barrows from  a  barge  tied  up  alongside.  The  work  of  "paving/"  so- 
called,  was  started  at  the  top  of  the:  slope  and  proceeded  toward  the  water. 
In  this  way  the  stones  lean  against  one  another  up  hill,  and  thus  slope 
away  from  the  \vater,,  which  is  considered  a  more  effective  arrangement 
than  where  they  slope  toward  the  water,  as  is  the  case  with  paving  that  is 
started  from  the  bottom  of  a  slope.  One  paver  with  enough  wheelers  to 
keep  him  employed  (usually  seven)  completed  1300  to  1400  sq.  ft.  of 
paving  per  day.  After  the  paving  was  completed  the  crevices  were  filled 
and  the  top  covered  with  a  layer  of  spawls  or  crushed  stone  2  ins.  deep. 
In  this  work  a  mattress  force  of  33  men  completed  an  average  of  90  lineal 
ft.  of  mattress  each  day  of  ten  hours.  The  force  consisted  of  one  fore- 
man, 10  weavers,  10  brush  passers,  three  laborers  carrying  the  supply  of 
brush  from  the  barge,  five  laborers  handling  the  cables,  three  laborers  sink- 
ing dead  men,  and  a  water  boy.  The  average  cost  of  all  work,  including 
both  labor  and  material  for  the  mattress  and  the  paving,  was  $746.62  per 
100  ft.  of  bank  protected. 

Eevetment  work  constructed  as  above  described  is  found  to  be  effect- 
ive on  the  Missouri  river,  although  failures  have  occurred  where  the  cur- 
rent has  flowed  directly  against  the  bank  and  proper  care  has  not  been 
taken  to  keep  the  slope  patched  up  as  damage  has  occurred.  As  the  mat- 
tress never  decays  under  water  the  protection  of  the  bank  against  under- 
mining is  permanent.  The  problem  of  checking  the  cutting  action  of  the 
stream  is  therefore  that  of  keeping  the  upper  part  of  the  bank  covered, 
which  can  be  done  by  additions  of  stone  from  time  to  time. 

162.  Change  of  Line. — The  engineering  department  of  a  road  is 
sometimes  called  upon  to  improve  stretches  of  the  line  by  cutting  down  the 
grades,  straightening  out  or  eliminating  curves  here  and  there,  or  perhaps 
by  moving  the  track  out  from  the  foot  of  a  troublesome  slide.  Work  of 
this  nature  arises  most  frequently  on  lines  hastily  built  through  hilly  or 
mountainous  country,  where  the  development  of  traffic  or  a  demand  for 
increased  speed  of  trains  and  heavier  train  loads  in  later  years  makes  it. 
incumbent  or  desirable  to  improve  those  portions  of  the  road  most  dif- 
ficult to*  operate  or  maintain.  Methods  of  raising  or  lowering  track  in 
place  are  considered  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  track  elevation  and 
depression,  further  along  in  this  chapter,  the  object  here  being  to  take  up 
methods  of  work  involved  in  change  of  alignment. 

•Where  the  new  roadbed  is  some  distance  from  the  old  one  it  is  custo- 
mary to  lay  a  piece  of  new  track  upon  the  new  location  and  connect  with 
the  old  track  at  the  ends  by  cutting  the  old  track  and  throwing  it  to  the- 
new  alignment,  when  the  time  comes  to  make  the  change.  If,  however, 
the  new  location  is  near  the  old  one  and  there  is  no  serious  obstruction 
between  the  two,  the  track  may  be  moved  over  bodily  to  the  new  location, 
with  less  work  than  would  be  required  to  build  it  with  new  material  or  to- 
take  up  and  relay  the  old  material.  If  the  work  is  done  in  the  right  way, 
track  handled  in  this  manner  need  not  be  permanently  impaired.  In 
getting  ready  to  move  such  a  piece  of  track  the  ballast  should  be  removed 
from  between  the  ties  as  far  as  the  shifted  track  is  not  thrown  entirely 
off  its  bed,  but  not  farther  As  such  work  offers  a  good  opportunity  for 


CHANGE   OF   LIXE  921 

renewing  the  unsound  ties,  the  spikes  in  all  the  worthless  ties  should  be 
drawn  before  the  shifting  movement  begins,  thus  leaving  them  lie  in .  their 
beds  and  avoiding  the  handling  of  useless  material.  The  sub-grade  on  the 
new  location  should  be  dressed  off  evenly,  and  if  close  by  the  old  track  it 
should  be  covered  with  ballast  to  such  a  depth  that  after  the  track  is 
moved  it  will  not  require  raising  more  than  an  inch  or  two  to  put  it  to 
final  surface.  Such  preparation  can  be  easily  made  if  grade  stakes  are 
set  to  give  the  surface. 

If  the  track  is  strongly  embedded  it  should  be  lifted  with  a  jack  or 
lever  before  attempting  to  throw  it;  or  it  may  be  broken  loose  by  having 
the  men  pry  iip  the  ends  of  the  ties  with  their  bars.  A  gang  of  at  least  12 
men  is  required  to  move  a  piece  of  track  any  considerable  distance,  and  15 
or  20  men  are  none  too  many.  There  should  be  bars  for  all  "of  the  men. 
The  practice  of  doubling  up  on  the  bars  is  hard  on  the  bars  and  fatiguing 
on  the  men:  the  men  discommode  one  another,  they  cannot  exert  their 
strength  fully  and  easily,  and  much  time  is  lost  in  getting  ready  for  ac- 
tion, for  one  man  must  first  plant  the  bar  and  then  wait  for  his  partner  to 
get  his  feet  adjusted  between  the  ties  and  take  hold.  (The  same  objections 
apply  to  the  practice  of  doubling  the  men  on  the  bars  when  lining  track 
in  ordinary  maintenance  repairs).  In  order  to  make  desirable  progress 
on  a  big  job  it  is  necessary  to  have  two  or  more  gangs  of  men  throwing 
on  the  track  at  the  same  time,  one  gang  following  up  the  other.  In  any 
case  the  track  must  be  thrown  by  hitches,  and  it  should  be  thrown  each 
time  as  far  as  it  will  go  without  binding  or  springing  back— usually  not 
more  than  2  ft.,  but  depending  to  some  extent  on  the  number  of  men 
throwing  on  it  and  the  manner  in  which  they  are  distributed  along  it. 
If  the  track  to  be  moved  is  straight  and  disconnected  at  both  ends,  the 
work  of  throwing  may  begin  at  either  end;  if  connected  at  one  end  the 
throwing  should  first  begin  at  that  end.  If  the  track  is  curved  and  .is  to 
be  moved  toward  the  outside  of  the  curve,  the  throwing  should  begin  at 
the  disconnected  end  and  progress  toward  the  connected  end ;  if  the  track 
is  to  be  thrown  toward  the  inside  of  the  curve  the  throwing  should  begin 
at  the  connected  end.  In  the  last  case  it  will  help  to  keep  the  track  from 
binding  if  the  disconnected  end  is  first  thrown  outward  temporarily  for 
some  distance  back  from  the  end — that  is,  as  though  to  straighten  the 
track — in  order  that  the  middle  portion  may  be  more  easily  got  even  with 
the  end.  Where  quite  a  long  stretch  of  track  is  to  be  moved,  it  is  best 
to  let  it  remain  connected  at  the  ends  and  cut  it  loose  in  the  middle,  drop- 
ping a  rail,  or  whatever  length  is  necessar^v,  -in  case  the  newly  located  line 
is  shorter  than  the  old  one. 

The  length,  of  rail  necessary  to  make  the  connection  after  the  track  is 
thrown  to  the  new  alignment  may  be  determined  by  calculation  or  by 
careful  measurement  with  a  steel  tape.  The  best  way  to  take  this  meas- 
urement is  to  set  stakes  on  the  line  of  the  rails  in  the  new  position,  using 
the  surveyor's  stakes  on  center  line  for  a  guide,  and  then  take  a  measure- 
ment on  the  line  of  each  rail  separately.  Unless  the  work  is  rushing, 
however,  it-  is  not  worth  while  to  bother  about  the  connection  until  after 
the  track  is  moved  over,  for  it  is  a  matter  of  but  a  few  minutes  to  cut  two 
pieces  of  rail  to  fit  the  opening;  and  the  bolt  holes  at  the  joints  may  be 
drilled  at  any  time  after  the  connection  is  made.  When  cutting  pieces 
of  rail  to  make  the  connection,  allowance  should  be  made  for  closed  joints, 
and  joints  pulled  apart  too  widely,  which  will  afterward  need  to  be 
adjusted  to  proper  opening.  In  case  the  excess  of  misadjustment  is  in 
joints  pulled  widely  apart,  it  is  only  necessary  to  drive  the  rails  together 
far  enough  back  to  make  room  for  the  connecting  pieces,  leaving  the 


922 


MISCELLANEOUS 


adjustment  of  the  joints  over  the  whole  stretch  to  be"  made  at  any  time5 
after  the  connection  is  made.      A  good  way  to  open  the  joints  on  a  curve 
that  is  being  lined  in  is  to  throw  it  a  few  inches  past  the  center  stakes 
in  the  rough  lining,  and  then  by  moving  it  back  to  the  stakes  at  the  last, 
the  track  will  stretch  and  pull  the  joints  apart.       It  is  just  as  well,  also, 
to  connect  up  temporarily  with  a  pair  of  switch  points  and  adjust  the 
jails   to   their   proper   expansion   openings   before   cutting   pieces   to   fill 
the  gaps.       A  great  deal  of  work  of  the  kind  here  considered  must  be 
•done  in  gravel  pits  in  order  to  move  the  track  into  the  bank,  after  a  cut- 
ting has  been  taken  by  a  steam  shovel  or  by  a  crew  of  men  leading  by 
liand,  but  in  such  places  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  to  much  pains  with  the 
-work,  and  the  element  of  time  is  not  so  important  as  when:  moving  main 
.track. 

Jn   handling   track   in  the  manner   described   the   ties   must   swing 
.- around  askew  to  the  rails,  first  one  way  and  then  the  other,  ami  by  tile- 


Fig.  472  A.— Throwing  Track  with  a  Lidgerwood  Unloader;    Before  Pulling. 


Fig.  472  B — Throwing  Track  with  a  Lidgerwood  Unloader;   After  Pulling. 


CHANGE   OF   LINE  923 

time  the  track  has  been  moved  into  its  new  position  the  ties  will  be  out 
of  square  and  need  respacing;  which  can  be  easily  done  by  two  men 
working  together,  one  on  each  side  of  the  track,  tapping  the  ties  to 
proper  position  with  hammers.  In  order  to  keep  the  ties  properly 
spaced  while  track  is  being  moved  in  short  sections  bodily  (without  bend- 
ing), it  is  the  practice  with  some  to  spike  inch  boards  to  the  ties,  parallel 
with,  and  outside  of,  the  rails,  but  such  an  arrangement  takes  more  time 
than  is  really  gained,  for  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  tap  the  ties  to  their 
proper  position  with  hammers  after  the  track  is  thrown  to  its  place. 
Where  ballast  is  laid  on  the  sub-grade  before  the  track  is  thrown  over,  the 
track  will  usually  be  in  condition  to  let  trains  pass  slowly  as  soon  as  it 
is  thrown  approximately  to  line  and  connected,  and  the  ties  straightened, 
without  doing  any  surfacing.  Before  the  ties  are  ballasted  they  should 
all  be  placed  squarely  across  the  track,  held  up  with  bars  and  the  spikes 
tightened  down  to  the  rail  flange.  On  busy  roads  such  pieces  of  work, 
if  on  main  track,  are  usually  done  on  Sunday.  The  train  dispatcher 
should  always  be  notified  of  the  change,  and  trains  should  receive  orders 
to  slow  up  at  the  place  until  the  track  is  safe  for  full  speed.  Slow  flags 
or  lanterns  should  be  kept  out  until  the  track  is  in  good  running  order. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of  transposing  rails  on  curves  mention 
was  made  of  the  practice  of  hauling  strings  of  rails  over  the  ties  with 
a  locomotive.  The  same  method  may  be  employed  to  haul  a  section  of 
track  endwise  to  a  new  position.  The  piece  of  track  to  be  transported 
should  be  cut  into  sections  as  long  as  the  locomotive  can  pull  and  then 
should  be  moved  sidewise  and  thrown  upon  the  track  on  which  the  loco- 
motive is  hauling.  Attachment  may  be  made  by  hooking  a  switch  rope 
into  a  chain  looped  around  both  rails  a  little  distance  back  from  the  end, 
with  a  strut  placed  between  the  rails  to  prevent  them  from  being  pulled 
together.  The  section  of  track  is  then  hauled  along  on  the  rails;  behind 
the  locomotive,  until  it  is  opposite  the  point  where  it  is  to  be  used,  when 
it  may  be  moved  sidewise  off  the  track  and  thrown  over  to  the  new  posi- 
tion. If  only -one  section  is  to  be  hauled  over  the  same  track,  the  rails 
may  be  lubricated  behind  the  locomotive.  The  occasion  for  work  of  this 
kind  is  sometimes  met  with  in  yards,  and  sometimes  a  switch  lead  or  turn- 
out is  hauled  in  the  same  way.  If  the  section  of  track  or  the  turnout 
must  be  dragged  over  the  ground,  as  for  instance  when  hauling  from  a 
direction  sidewise  to  the  track,  through  a  snatch  block,  a  skidway  of 
rails  should  be  laid  and  lubricated  with  car  oil.  In  order  to  prevent 
the  ties  from  catching  on  the  ends  of  the  rails,  the  leaving  end  of  each 
rail  should  be  blocked  an  inch  or  two  higher  than  the  entering  end  of  the 
next  rail  ahead.  In  some  cases  where  track  has  been  moved  up  or  down 
a  steep  bank  it  was  first  cut  into  sections  of  four  to  six  rail  lengths  each 
and  one  section  was  shifted  at  a  time,  over  a  skidway  of  rails,  laying  two 
skids  for  each  rail  length  and  hauling  the  section  with  switch  ropes, 
through  snatch  blocks,  or  with  block  and  tackle  by  the  men.  To  stiffen 
the  rails  that  are  used  for  skids  they  are  sometimes  spiked  to  old  trestle 
stringers. 

For  shifting  track  laterally  to  a  lower  level,  in  grade  reduction  work, 
the  Grand  Trunk  Western  Ey.  has  used  a  Lidgerwood  unloader  and  cable, 
pulling  down  about  100  ft.  of  track  at  a  time.  '  In  rear  of  the  unloader  car  a 
flat  car  is  coupled,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  car  from  the  track 
to  be  moved  a  snatch  block  is  chained  to  a  stake  pocket  to  take  the  side 
pull  of  the  cable  attached  to  the  track.  To  prevent  kinking  the  rail 
where  the  cable  is  attached  a  piece  of  old  rail  about  10  ft.  long  is  laid  on 
the  gage  side  of  the  near  rail  of  the  track  to  be  pulled,  and  the  cable 


924 


MISCELLANEOUS 


is  hooked  around  both.  Figure  472A  shows  the  cable  attached  and  ready 
to  pull,  and  Fig.  472B  shows  the  same  piece  of  track  pulled  down  the 
bank.  The  track  id  usually  moved  in  two  hitches  of  7  or  8  ft.  laterally 
at  a  time.  After  pulling  the  track  into  the  position  shown,  all  the 
way  through  the  cut,  the  unloader  is  then  backed  up  and  the  track  is 
pulled  over  to  a  level  bearing  and  to  its  proper  distance  from  the  other 
track.  The  pulling  can  be  regulated  so  closely  that  at  this  second  move- 
ment the  track  is  aligned  sufficiently  straight  for  the  work  trains,  without 
the  use  of  bars.  This  work  of  pulling  track  with  an  unloader  is  done 
very  quickly,  and  at  much  less  expense  than  by  moving  it  with  a  gang 
of  men  throwing  with  bars.  In  fact,  it  is  rather  a  difficult  piece  of  work- 
to  throw  track  over  the  edge  of  a  bank  with  bars,  for  after  the  ties  begin 
to  project  over  the  slope  the  rail  stands  so  high  above  the  ground  that  the 
men  cannot  get  a  purchase  with  their  bars.  To  throw  a  mile  of  track 
laterally  and  to  a  lower  grade  by  hand  labor  requires  the  services  of  a 
large  gang  of  men  for  a  whole  day,  and  the  average  expense  on  this  road 
has  been  about  $175  per  mile.  By  using  the  unloader  the  track  was 
shifted  to  place  at  an  average  cost  of  $43  per  mile,  the  ordinary  distance 
being  15  ft.  laterally  and  an  average  of  10  ft.  vertically.  The  time 
required  to  do  the  work  in  this  manner  averages  7J  hours.  The  expense 
stated  covers  the  use  of  the  unloader,  a  locomotive  and  crew,  four  laborers 
and  one  foreman. 


Fig.  473. — The  Creese  Track  Thrower. 

On  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  roads  a 
machine  has  been  used  for  throwing  track  in  a  general  change  of  align- 
ment, which  employs  the  tractive  force  of  a  locomotive.  The  locomo- 
tive is  coupled  to  a  car  provided  with  devices  which  exert  a  side  thrust 
against  the  rail  and  shove  the  track  out  of  alignment  as  the  car  is 
moved  along,  the  operation  resembling  in  some  respects  the  trick  of  a 
snake  when  he  crawls  into  a  hole  and  closes  the  hole  behind  himself.  The 
contrivance  is  known  as  the  Creese  track  mover,  being  named  after  the 
inventor,  Mr.  D.  C.  Creese,  formerly  a  carpenter  foreman  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania E.  R.  The  throwing  arrangement  consists  in  a  ?tout  pole  32 
ft.  long,  known  as  the  '"bull  pole,"  attached  to  a  casting  at  the  corner  of 
a  flat  car  and  extending  longitudinally  in  the  track  to  exert  pressure 
against  the  head  of  the  rail  through  a  15-in.  pulley  at  the  end  called  the 


POLICING  925 

• 

'"throwing  wheel."  The  general  arrangement  of  the  parts  is  shown  in 
Fig.  473.  This  pole  is  braced  about  midway  by  a  timber  strut  and 
stayed  at  the  end  by  a  IJ-in.  "hog  rod,"  adjustable  by  means  of  a  ratchet 
pulling  jack.  Both  the  hog  rod  and  bracing  strut  are  attached  to  the 
opposite  corner  of  the  car  from  the  bull  pole  connection,  and  the  positions 
of  the  bull  pole  and  its  braces  are  reversible,  making  it  possible  to  throw 
the  track  to  either  side,  as  desired.  Before  starting  to  throw  track  the 
•ballast  is  removed  from  the  ends  of  the  ties,  but  not  from  between 
them,  and  a  small  section  of  the  track  is  moved  with  bars  in  the  usual 
manner.  After  this  is  done  the  pole  is  adjusted  so  as  to  crowd  against 
the  rail  in  its  new  position,  and  as  the  car  is  pulled  forward  or  pushed 
backward  by  a  locomotive  the  track  is  crowded  over  to  its  new  position. 
At  the  rear  end  of  the  car  there  are  two  screw  jacks,  hinged  to  the  deck- 
ing, in  position  to  be  swung  over  between  the  end  sill  and  the  engine 
tender.  Before  starting  to  move  track  these  jacks  are  screwed  up,  so  as 
lo  stiffen  the  car  against  the  tender.  The  car  is  also  heavily  loaded  on 
either  side  with  old  rails,  to  give  it  stability.  At  the  service  end  of  the  car 
-a  pulley  is  fixed  at  the  top  of  a  "gin  pole"  9  ft.  high,  over  which  is 
passed  a  wire  cable,  worked  by  a  crab  on  the  gin  pole,  for  raising  the  bull 
pole  clear  of  the  track  when  it  is  not  in  use. 

On  one  occasion  on  the  B.  &  0.  S.  W.  R.  R.  a  mile  of  track  was  thrown 
a  lateral  distance  of  3  ft.  with  this  car  in  three  hours.  The  maximum 
movement  was  20  ins.,  the  car  being  hauled  over  the  track  two  times  at 
•some  points  and  three  times  at  others.  The  co^t  of  labor  for  the  four 
men,  for  the  engine  and  the  crew  operating  it,  was  $17.50.  On  another 
•occasion  2500  ft.  of  track  was  moved  sidewise  11  ft.  The  minimum 
throw  was  6  ins.,  the  maximum  throw  38  ins.  at  one  time,  and  the  track 
•was  moved  over  without  taking  out  the  ballast  except  at  the  ends  of  the 
ties.  The  time  required  to  throw  this  length  of  track  was  four  hours, 
and  the  cost,  including  the  labor  of  four  men,  the  engine  and  crew,  was 
•$16.00. 

163.  Policing. — Broken  spikes,  splice  bars  and  bolts;  castings,  etc. 
•dropped  from  trains;  and  other  like  material,  should  not  be  allowed  to 
accumulate  along  the  track,  but  should  be  picked  up  clean  and  carried 
to  a  scrap  pile  near  the  tool  house.  The  best  time  to  attend  to  such  work 
is  daily;  for  if  a  certain  day  is  set  for  it  each  month  it  will  either  be  for- 
gotten or  some  other  work  will  be  on  hand.  In  yards  lumps  of  coal, 
pieces  of  car  equipment,  track  material,  etc.,  should  be  cleaned  up  each 
day,  so  that  the  yard  may  be  kept  clear  and  remove  as  far  as  possible  from 
trainmen  the  danger  of  stumbling  when  getting  on  and  off  trains  or  when 
coupling  or  uncoupling  cars.  Whenever  brake  shoes,  coupler  parts  or 
other  pieces  of  car  iron,  or  car  doors,  are  seen  lying  in  or  near  the  track 
in  going  to  work  in  the  morning,  the  section  crew  should  start  early 
enough  to  have  time  to  pick  up  such  scrap  material  when  homeward  bound 
in  the  evening.  Foremen  should  get  the  men  into  the  habit  of  carrying 
to  the  hand  car  bits  of  iron  and  other  scrap  which  may  be  found  wherever 
work  is  "being  done.  A  good  time  to  pick  up  scrap  geneially  is  during 
the  winter,  when  the  ground  is  bare,  or  in  the  spring,  before  the  grass 
starts.  At  this  time  the  right  of  way  should  be  thoroughly  cleared  of 
rail  pieces  of  iron,  old  ties,  large  stones,  lumps  of  coal  and  any  other 
loose  things  which  will  hinder  the  mowing  later  in  the  season.  A 
systematic  way  to  do  this  is  to  divide  the  section  crew  each  side  of  the 
track  and  walk  over  the  right  of  way,  clearing  everything  out  of  the  way 
•as  the  line  advances,  at  the  same  time  keeping  the  push  car  along  to  carry 
the  scrap.  Scrap  which  falls  upon  the  track  should  be  carried  to  small 


926  MISCELLANEOUS 

• 

piles  by  the  track-walkers.  Freight  dropped  from  cars  should  be  taken 
to  the  nearest  station  and  delivered  to  the  agent,  or  shipped  as  marked, 
if  there  is  no  agent  at  a  near  station.  At  intervals  of  60  or  90  days  the 
scrap  piles  at  the  tool  houses  should  be  cleaned  up  and  carried  off  by 
the  work  train  or  loaded  onto  a  scrap  car  hauled  by  a  local  freight  train. 
Work  of  the  character  here  considered  is  commonly  known  as  "policing." 
It  includes  a  good  deal  of  work  not  directly  concerned  in  track  surface 
or  alignment  or  the  safety  of  trains,  but  which  nevertheless  contributes 
toward  general  convenience  and  serves  to  preserve  good  order  and  a  neat 
appearance  in  things  generally  along  the  line.  Most  of  the  duties  com- 
ing under  this  description  are  elsewhere  referred  to,  under  one  heading 
or  another,  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  particularize  to  any  great  extent 
here. 

Material  lying  along  the  track,  such  as  lumber,  ties,  bridge  timbers, 
etc.,  should  be  nicely  piled,  and  proper  clearance  should  be  maintained, 
allowing  no  material  to  remain  within  7  ft.  of  the  rail  on  main  track. 
The  rules  of  some  companies  require  a  clearance  of  8  ft.,  and  some  even 
10  ft.  from  the  rail,  on  main  track,  and  as  much  as  6  or  7  ft.  on  side- 
tracks :  on  a  few  roads  it  is  as  small  as  6  ft.  for  main  track.  The  max- 
imum out-to-out  width  of  cars  is  about  10  ft.  (the  width  of  some  furni- 
ture and  Pullman  cars  will  exceed  this  measurement  by  2  or  3  ins.),  so 
that  the  side  of  the  car  projects  about  2J  ft.  outside  the  track  rail.  To 
prevent  injury  to  brakemen  hanging  from  the  sides  of  cars  a  clearance  of 
7  ft.  is  required.  The  rule  requiring  as  much  as  6  ft.  clearance  at 
loading  tracks  is  continually  transgressed  and  seldom  strictly  enforced. 
Such  a  rule  puts  shippers  to  great  inconvenience,  sometimes,  and  sec- 
tion foremen — who  are  supposed  to  see  that  the  rule  is  complied  with — 
must  sometimes  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  to  little  or  no  purpose  trying 
to  get  shippers  to  observe  the  rule.  If  the  required  clearance  on  load- 
ing tracks  was  made  4  ft.  there  would  still  be  18  ins.  of  clear  space  outside 
of  the  widest  car,  and  undoubtedly  the  rule  would  be  more  generally 
respected  and  heeded  by  shippers  than  a  rule  requiring  clearance  of 
6  or  7  ft.  Trainmen  fully  well  understand  that  careless  shippers  will 
sometimes  pile  material  dangerously  near  a  loading  track,  despite  the 
vigilance  of  the  most  alert  section  foreman,  and  therefore  know  what  to 
expect  in  such  places.  In  many  cases  the  rules  of  the  railway  company 
are  so  unreasonable  that  shippers  disregard  them  altogether  and  become 
very  careless. 

Section  foremen  are^required  to  keep  close  watch  for  any  encroach- 
ment on  the  company's  right  of  way  and  to  prevent  adjoining  landholders 
from  erecting  fences  or  buildings,  altering  ditches,  obstructing  culverts,, 
piling  material,  building  roads  across  the  company's  property  or  in  any 
manner  occupying  the  right  of  way  without  permission  from  the  road- 
master  or  other  official.  Foremen  should  not  permit  fence  wires  or 
boards  to  be  fastened  to  trestle  posts  or  piles  at  waterways,  as  such  will 
catch  driftwood  in  time  of  flood,  and  might  cause  a  washout.  The  piling 
of  lumber,  the  erection  of  billboards,  high  board  fences  and  like  obstruc- 
tions, and  the  planting  of  hedges,  in  the  vicinity  of  grade  highway 
crossings  where  they  obstruct  the  view  along  the  track,  are  a  menace  to 
highway  travel  and  to  train  operation  which  should  not  only  be  forbidden 
on  railway  property  but  discouraged  as  much  as  possible  on  private  land. 
In  some  locations  it  might  pay  railway  companies  to  purchase  lots  and 
tear  down  buildings  if  by  so  doing  a  crossing  watchman  could  be  dis- 
pensed with.  All  trees,  sound  or  unsound,  liable  to  fall  upon  the  track 
during  storms  should  be  cut  down,  whether  on  the  right  of  way  or  private- 


POLICING  927 

land.  If  permission  to  fell  the  trees  cannot  be  obtained  from  the 
owners  the  foreman  should  consult  the  roadmaster.  In  some  states  rail- 
road companies  are  permitted  by  law  to  condemn  trees  outside  the  right 
of  way  which  endanger  the  track.  It  goes  without  saying  that  limbs  of 
trees  which  obstruct  trains  or  scratch  paint  from  the  cars  should  be 
trimmed  or  cut  off.  Foremen  should  promptly  remove  flood  trash  from 
bridge  piers  and  abutments  or  trestle  bents,  and  examine  occasionally  the 
sources  of  supply  for  water  tanks  or  stations,,  clearing  out  accumulated 
leaves  or  drift  of  any  kind  tending  to  stop  the  intake.  Culverts  which 
have  become  partly  filled  should  be  cleaned  out.  Thick  ice  around  bridge 
piling  or  small  piers  and  abutments  should  be  cut  loose  when  thawing 
weather  sets  in. 

Although  the  work  of  policing  is  important  it  is  just  as  important 
that  discrimination  be  exercised  as  to  the  amount  of  time  devoted  to  it. 
Some  men  in  authority  are  foolishly  particular  about  the  appearance  of 
the  track  and  seemingly  ignorant  about  its  real  condition.  On  some 
of  the  most  prosperous  roads  it  may  be  well  enough  to  spend  time  in 
cutting  sod  lines,  scraping  the  ballast  to  a  line  on  the  shoulder  and  other 
fuss-work  of  like  character,  but  on  most  roads  the  expenses  of  the  track 
department  are  too  closely  scrutinized  by  the  higher  authorities  to  justify 
any  such  extravagance,  and  only  such  policing  should  be  done  as  will 
serve  some  useful  purpose,  as  already  pointed  out.  Roadmasters  should 
not  fail  to  appreciate  the  foreman  who  keeps  his  track  in  smooth  condi- 
tion, even  should  his  landscape  gardening  fall  somewhat  below  standard, 
for  there  are  trackmen  who  will  spend  time  at  cutting  grass,  picking  stones 
and  smoothing  off  the  ballast  when  they  should  be  surfacing  the  rails. 
As  with  useful  men  in  all  walks  of  life,  the  efficient  trackman  will  not 
waste  time  on  mere  appearances. 

The  track  forces  should  not  be  called  upon  to  do  puttering  work 
around  stations,  such  as  making  and  attending  to  flower  beds,  mowing 
and  watering  lawns,  scrubbing  floors,  cleaning  outhouses,  etc.  Trackmen 
set  at  such  work  usually  feel  as  though  they  ought  to  make  the  job  last 
as  long  as  possible,  and  agents  or  operators  in  charge  at  stations  are  not 
liable  to  discourage  such  inclination  so  long  as  the  men  will  hang  around 
( either  at  the  stove  or  in  the  shade)  and  make  themselves  hand5r  at  doing 
chores.  The  readiness  with  which  the  foreman  is  generally  expected 
to  comply  with  requests  to  assist  the  agent  might  leaJ.  an  outsider  to 
think  that  track  work  proper  is,  after  Ul,  the  matter  of  secondary  con- 
sideration. It  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  track  department  to  clean  up 
the  tracks  around  stations  and  loading  platforms,  but  not  the  sweep- 
ings from  the  station.  On  any  well  regulated  road  the  agent  who  would 
sweep  dirt  and  rubbish  upon  the  track  would  be  expected  to  clean  up  his 
own  muss.  As  for  attending  to  the  menial  duties  of  the  station  agent 
no  such  practice  should  be  permitted  by  the  roadmaster.  If  clean 
floors  and  well-kept  lawns  at  stations  are  advantageous  to  the  transporta- 
tion department,  then  that  department  should  furnish  its  own  labor  to  do 
such  work,  or  authorize  the  agent  to  hire  the  necessary  labor.  On  some 
roads  the  work  required  to  maintain  station  buildings  and  grounds  in 
neat  appearance  is  performed  by  a  floating  gang  of  gardeners  specially 
equipped  for  such  service.  Such  a  system  is  to  be  commended,  for  the 
practice  of  drawing  men  from  the  section  for  every  odd  piece  of  work 
performed  on  the  company's  property  seriously  handicaps  the  foreman 
in  his  appointed  work.  It  may  safely  be  stated  that  trackmen  in  general 
are  required  to  do  too  much  work  which  does  not  count  on  the  track. 
Such  work  as  the  handling  of  heavy  freight,  assistance  in  car  repairing, 


09g  MISCELLANEOUS 

setting  telegraph  poles,  stringing  wires — and  a  good  deal  of  it,  too — • 
often  comes  during  that  season  of  the  year  when  track  work  of  the  greatest 
importance  is  pressing.  If,  then,  under  such  circumstances  the  track 
gets  down  the  roadmaster  should  not  judge  too  harshly  of  the  foreman. 
From"  all  such  work,  as  far  as  possible,  the  section  forces  should  be 
excused;  but  if  no  other  source  can  be  called  upon  the  foreman  should  be 
permitted  to  hire  extra  help  afterward  to  make  up  for  the  time  lost  to 
the  section;  but  even  such  an  arrangement  will  not  fully  recompense 
the  inconvenience  of  working  the  section  short-handed  at  frequent  intervals. 

Aside  from  the  plan  of  keeping  the  right  of  way  in  tidy  condition  as 
it  is  found,  it  will  frequently  work  an  advantage  to  improve  the  land- 
scape. Much  of  the  right  of  way  that  is  turned  over  by  the  construction 
department  is  cut  up  with  borrow  pits  and  heaped  with  material  wasted 
from  cuts.  A  comparatively  small  amount  of  extra  plowing  and  scrap- 
ing, sometimes,  will  level  down  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  high  places, 
fill  up  unsightly  hollows  or  round  off  abrupt  changes  in  the  surface,  all 
to  even  better  purpose  than  pleasing  appearance.  Elsewhere  in  this 
volume  (under  "Mowing,"  §  91)  an  instance  is  cited  of  the  scheme  of 
plowing,  harrowing  and  seeding  right  of  way,  to  put  it  into  condition  for 
machine  mowing,  at  greatly  reduced  expense  compared  with  hand  labor. 
The  substitution  of  a  crop  of  grass  for  unsightly  patches  of  weeds  not 
only  improves  the  looks  of  things  but  is  an  inducement  for  neighboring 
farmers  to  do  the  mowing  without  expense  to  the  railway  company.  The 
sodding  of  slopes  in  cuts  and  on  embankments  is  frequently  a  much 
needed  protection  to  the  earthwork. 

The  planting  of  trees  along  right  of  way  for  ornament  has  been 
occasionally  proposed  but  seldom  carried  out.  At  least  one  case  that  is 
worthy  of  mention,  however,  is  to  be  found  along  the  "Old  Koad" 
(Michigan  division)  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.,  west 
of  Adrian,  Mich.  In  1865  and  1866  European  larches  to  the  number 
of  16,000  and  20,000  chestnut  trees  were  set  out  on  this  route,  along 
both  sides  of  the  right  of  way,  near  the  fences,  about  50  ft.  apart.  The 
two  kinds  of  trees  were  set  generally  alternating,  a  larch  and  then  a 
chestnut.  One  object  in  this  scheme  was  to  stimulate  the  farmers  to 
plant,  but  it  appears  that  the  example  set  by  the  railway  company  had 
but  little  influence.  Most  of  these  trees  have  thrived  well.  They  have 
been  trimmed  to  a  stubby  growth  and  have  attained  a  good  diameter, 
but  many  of  the  trees  which  have  died  out  have  not  been  replaced,  which 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  practical  results  of  the  undertaking  have 
perhaps  not  reached  expectations. 

164.  Repairing  Telegraph  Wires.— Telegraph  lines  along  rail- 
ways are  constructed  and  maintained  either  by  the  telegraph  companies 
or  by  a  special  department  of  the  railway  company,  and  it  is  not  intended 
here  to  enter  into  the  subject  of  line  construction  and  repair  any  further 
than  to  consider  a  few  points  with  which  the  track  department  is  most 
intimately  concerned.  Where  the  width  of  the  right  of  way  will  permit, 
telegraph  poles  should  be  set  so  far  from  the  track  that  they  will  not  be 
liable  to  fall  upon  it  in  case  they  get  broken  off  or  pulled  over  during 
storms;  this  means  a  distance  somewhat  farther  than  the  length  of  the 
pole  out  of  the  ground.  The  poles  should  be  set  to  a  good  depth  and 
the  earth  should  be  well  tamped  around  them.  A  general  rule  for  poles 
under  30  ft.  long  is  to  plant  them  one  fifth  of  their  length  in  the  ground. 
The  rules  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.  require  that  in  earth  exca- 
vation 25-ft.  poles  shall  be  set  5  ft.  deep,  30  and  35-ft.  poles  5£  ft.  deep, 
the  depth  increasing  6  ins.  for  each  additional  5  ft.  up  to  a  pole  60  ft. 


REPAIRING    TELEGRAPH    WIRES  929 

long,  which  shall  be  set  to  a  depth  of  8  ft.  In  rock  25  and  30-ft.  poles 
are  set  4  and  4J  ft.  deep,  respectively.  In  soft  material  one-fourth  part 
of  coarse  gravel  or  crushed  rock  is  sometimes  mixed  with  the  dirt  or  sand 
to  be  filled  in  around  the  pole.  Tools  used  in  excavating  holes  for  fence 
posts  and  telegraph  poles  are  shown  in  Fig.  419.  Engraving  C  shows  a 
combined  crow  and  digging  bar,  usually  made  in  two  sizes :  octagon.  1  in. 
in  diam.,  7  ft.  long,  weighing  17  Ibs.;  and  1-J-in.  octagon  8  ft.  long, 
weighing  28  Ibs.  Engraving  G  shows  a  combined  digging  and  tamping 
bar  made  of  either  round  or  octagon  steel,  the  size  1  in.  in  diam.  and  7 
ft.  long  weighing  19  Ibs.,  and  the  size  1-J  in.  in  diam.  and  8  ft.  long 
weighing  30  Ibs.  Spoons  for  excavating  holes  for  telegraph  poles  have 
6-ft.,  7-ft.  and  8-ft.  handles,  according  to  the  general  depth  to  which 
the  poles  are  set.  Engravings  B  and  D  show  one  style  of  blade  and 
Engravings  F  and  H  another,  the  blade  in  tha  latter  case  being  oval, 
8JxlO  ins.  Tamping  bars  are  made  8  ft.  long,  with  either  wooden  or 
iron  pipe  handles,  that  shown  as  Engraving  A  having  an  ash  handle  shod 
with  an  iron  tamping  head. 

The  usual  number  of  telegraph  poles  to  the  mile  varies  from  32  to 
35,  for  an  ordinary  load  of  wires  on  straight  line,  to  40  poles  on  curves. 
The  minimum  length  for  ielegraph  poles  has  generally  been  25  ft.,  but 
20-ft.  poles  are  being  used  to  a  considerable  extent  where  not  more  than 
two  cross  arms  are  carried,  as  they  are  cheaper,  are  not  subject  to  so  much, 
wind  pressure  and  carry  the  stress  from  the  wires  better.  In  using  poles 
of  good  length,  however,  there  is  the  advantage  that  they  may  be  cut  off 
at  the  ground  and  reset  when  the  buried  part  becomes  decayed.  It  is 
desirable  to  keep  the  tops  of  the  poles  to  an  even  grade,  as  nearly  as  may 
be  practicable,  and  in  order  to  do  this  some  of  the  poles  may  be  set  a  little 
deeper  than  others,  using  poles  of  extra  length  in  the  depressions.  It 
is  undesirable  to  have  abrupt  changes  in  the  elevation  of  the  line,  for  if 
an  insulator  pulls  off  or  a  tie  wire  breaks  on  the  high  pole  the  falling  wire 
is  likely  to  sag  to  the  ground.  Where  there  is  a  change  in  the  hight  of 
the  poles  or  a  sudden  change  in  the  topography  it  is  well  to  make  the 
difference  in  elevation  gradually,  by  grading  up  or  down,  about  2  ft.  to 
the  pole.  On  curves  the  poles  should  be  set  up  against  the  lateral  stress 
of  the  wires  sufficiently  to  prevent  being  pulled  past  the  vertical  position. 
Where  there  is  a  large  number  of  wires  in  a  curved  line  the  lateral  pull  is 
usually  counteracted  either  by  bracing  the  poles  with  leaning  posts  or 
by  setting  the  poles  to  rake  or  lean  outward  to  the  curve  of  the  line. 
Poles  that  carry  a  good  many  wires  around  a  sharp  curve  are  sometimes 
raked  15  deg.  or  more,  and  on  soft  ground  they  are  frequently  guyed  or 
braced  besides.  Where  the  line  turns  a  corner  or  a  considerable  angle 
the  pole  should  be  braced  or  guyed.  Wherever  the  line  crosses  the  track 
the.  poles  should  be  deeply  set  and  well  braced.  On  side  hill  the  poles, 
if  practicable,  showM  be  set  on  the  down-hill  side;"  otherwise  they  are 
liable  to  be  carried  toward  the  track  by  land  slides  or  snow  slides,  by 
falling  rocks,  or  by  gravity,  in  case  they  become  broken  off  or  pulled  over 
in  time  of  storms.  In  districts  where  the  heavy  storms  come  always 
or  nearly  always  from  the  same  direction  the  poles  should  be  set  on  the 
leeward  side  of  the  track,  or  the  side  "away  from  the  wind;"  otherwise, 
and  no  serious  objections  to  the  contrary,  they  are  set  on  the  side  on  which 
most  of  the  stations  stand,  so  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  carry  the 
line  over  the  track. 

Although  linemen  are  employed  to  look  after  the  telegraph  lines 
of  railways,  yet  it  often  happens  that  they  cannot  reach  a  break  in  the 
wires  for  some  hours  after  it  occurs;  and  as  it  is  indispensable  that  the 


930  MISCELLANEOUS 

service  of  the  wires  be  maintained  as  continuously  a,s  possible  the  section 
men  should  temporarily  connect  the  wires  whenever  they  find  them  parted. 
Lines  running  through  woods  are  especially  troublesome,  owing  to  falling 
trees;  but  poles  are  struck  by  lightning,  occasionally  and  frozen  sleet  or 
high  winds  will  break  down  the  wires  and  break  off  or  pull  down  poles  car- 
rying a  heavy  load  of  wires.  In  order  to  get  the  wire  in  working  order  it 
is  only  necessary  to  connect  it  and  keep  it  oft'  the  ground.  This  can  be 
done  by  pulling  it  so  taut  that  it  will  hold  itself  up,  or  by  stringing  it 
along  a  fence  or  propping  it  on  crotched  sticks.  An  extra  piece  of  wire 
is  needed  to  tie  a  broken  wire  together,  and,  as  a  coil  of  wire  is  rather 
bulky  and  bothersome  to  carry  every  day  on  the  hand  car,  coils  of  repair 
wire  should  be  cached  in  places  along  the  track,  about  a  mile  apart,  known 
to  all  the  hands;  say  near  each  mile  post.  When  broken  wires  are  found 
an  endeavor  should  be  made  to  connect  each  wire  of  the  line  and  to  keep 
the  sagging  wires  apart.  As  soon  as  the  wires  are  found  down,  a  piece 
should  be  cut  from  one  of  the  wires  to  tie  up  the  rest,  and  while  doing 
this  two  or  three  men  may  be  sent  with  the  hand  car  for  wire  to  connect 
the  line  from  which  the  piece  was  borrowed.  In  connecting  wires  tem- 
porarily on  a  curve  they  should  be  placed  on  the  outside  of  the  curve,  so 
as  to  pull  against  the  poles;  otherwise,  if  they  pull  loose  from  their  fas- 
tenings they  might  swing  over  to  the  track.  The  railway  company's 
division  wire — that  is,  the  one  used  by  the  train  dispatcher — should  be 
known  to  the  section  men,  and  this  wire,  if  down,  should  always  receive 
first  attention.  No  extra  tools  are  needed  for  this  work,  as  the  wire  has 
only  to  come  in  contact,  and  if  twisted  together  with  the  hands  it  answers 
all  purposes  temporarily.  For  cutting  the  wire  there  will  usually  be  a 
file  on  the  hand  car,  or  certainly  a  track  chisel.  Draw  the  wire  across 
the  edge  of  the  chisel  and  strike  the  wire  with  a  hammer,  when  it  may 
be  easily  snapped  in  two.  If  no  tools  are  at  hand  the  wire  should  be 
twisted  in  two  with  the  hands,  so  as  to  get  at  least  one  wire  connected  as 
soon  as  possible.  After  the  wires  are  tied  up  the  foreman  should  report 
the  matter  to  headquarters  as  early  as  possible,  stating1  the  pole  number, 
or  just  where  the  break  exists,  the  number  of  poles  broken  or  to  be 
plumbed,  and  the  number  of  insulators  and  cross  arms  broken,  if  any.  If 
the  wires  are  crossed,  or  in  contact,  and  cannot  be  reached,  the  matter 
should  be  reported  immediately  to  the  nearest  telegraph  office. 

Section  foremen  are  usually  instructed  to  trim  trees  which  stand  near 
telegraph  lines,  to  prevent  the  branches  from  touching  the  wires  when 
hard  winds  are  blowing,  and  to  inspect  the  line  carefully  after  storms. 
Should  section  men  or  others  sent  to  look  for  a  break  in  the  wires  between 
two  stations  not  find  it  on,  their  section,  they  should  either  notify  the  men 
of  the  next  section  or  else  go  on  until  the  break  is  found,  or  until  meeting 
repair  men  sent  from  the  opposite  direction.  Wherever  it  is  necessary 
to  trim  trees  that  stand  on  private  property,  such  as  shade  trees  or  fruit 
trees,  the  aim  should  be  to  do  the  work  in  the  spring,  before  the  foliage 
starts,  as  permission  can  be  most  easily  obtained  at  that  time. 

165.  Disposition  of  Old  Ties.— -As  an  average  for  the  whole  coun- 
try, about  400  old  ties  per  mile  are  taken  out  of  the  track  each'  year  after 
the  first  five  or  six  years  from  the  time  the  track  is  built.  About  the  best 
way  to  dispose  of  them  on  high  fills  is  to  let  them  slide  endwise  down 
'the  slope  until  they  find  a  resting  place.  There  they  will  be  out  of  the 
way,  will  help  hold  the  slope  from  sliding  down,  and,  after  rotting,  will 
encourage  the  growth  of  brush,  blackberry  vines,  and  other  vegetation, 
which  is  desirable  on  high  fills  or  on  steep  side  hill  to  hold  the  banks 
from  being  washed  by  rain?.  But  in  other  places  they  are  only  in  the 


DISPOSITION  OF  OLD  TIES  931 

•way  and  must  be  disposed  of  at  least  cost,  or  to  profit,  when  they  can  be 
put  to  some  use.  In  summer,  while  busy  renewing  ties,  section  men  have 
'but  little  time  to  bother-  with  old  ties,  except  that  they  ought  always  to 
•be  trucked  out  of  cuts  within  a  day  or  so  of  the  time  they  are  removed 
from  the  track,  and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  take  time  at  the  end  of  each  day's 
work  to  throw  old  ties  into  piles  at  convenient  distances  apart.  Such 
clearing  up  adds  much  to  the  appearance  of  things,  and  where  there  is 
grass  or  weeds  it  facilitates  mowing  to  have  the  old  ties  picked  up.  In 
"this  shape  they  are  easiest  disposed  of. 

In  some  localities  old  ties  are  eagerly  sought  for  fuel,  and  people 
will  often  render  some  service  in  exchange  for  them.  Of  course  the  sec- 
tion men  ought  to  have  such  things  gratis.  The  foreman  should  require 
that  all  people  who  haul  away  old  ties  shall  take  them  as  they  come,  rotten 
••ones  with  the  rest,  so  that  no  further  attention  on  his  part  need  be  paid 
to  cleaning  up:  Old  cedar  ties  or  ties  of  other  soft  timber  badly  rail  cut, 
:but  otherwise  sound,  are  sometimes  relaid  in  side-tracks,  staggered,  so  that 
the  cut  portion  does  not  come  under  the  rail.  Such  old  ties  also  make 
good  fence  posts."  Redwood  ties  cut  out  in  the  tracks  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  Co.,  in  California,  have  been  sold  for  15  cents  each  for  this  pur- 
pose. Old  ties  may  be  used  for  cribbing  or  walling  up  the  foot  of 
side-hill  or  embankment  slopes.  If  the  embankment  is  composed  of  gravel 
or  other  loose  material  a  wall  at  the  foot  of  the  slope  aids  much  in  keep- 
ing the  material  from  rolling  down,  or  from  being  washed  down  by  rains. 
'Old  ties  can  often  be  used  to  good  advantage  at  washouts,  as  elsewhere 
explained,  and  wherever  the  condition  of  things  is  such  that  repair 
material  is  frequently  in  demand,  a  supply  of  them  should  be  kept  on 
hand  at  all  times,  at  points  convenient  for  loading.  It  is  desirable  to 
pile  such  material  in  places  where  it  can  be  burned  when  it  becomes 
'too  much  decayed  for  service. 

Old  ties  may  also  be  used  for  building  temporary  loading  platforms 
at  side-tracks,  for  blocking  freight  on  cars,  at  freight  stations,  for  fuel 
at  pumping  stations  and  for  locomotive  kindling.  Such  fuel  'does  not 
produce  as  much  heat  as  cord  wood,  but  it  costs  the  company  nothing 
except  the  cutting,  and  where  wood  is  scarce  and  coal  dear  it  undoubtedly 
pays  to  utilize  old  ties  in  this  way.  At  Alliance,  Ohio,  the  Pennsylvania 
Co.  has  a  shearing  machine  for  cutting  and  splitting  o^d  ties  and  other 
old  timber  into  locomotive  kindling.  The  machine  shears  the  wood  into 
blocks  of  any  desired  length,  at  the  same  time  splitting  the  block  into 
proper  sizes  for  use.  The  capacity  is  about  1.0  cords  of  wood  per  hcur. 
The  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ry.  also  has,  at  its  Western  Avenue 
shops,  in  Chicago,  a  bulldozer  machine  for  the  same  purpose.  The  ma- 
chine has  a  vertical  knife  for  cutting  off  and  a  horizontal  one  for  splitting, 
~and  makes  about  eight  strokes  per  minute.  The  power  required  to  drive 
it  is  15  h.  p.  Two  men  handle  the  ties  at  the  machine,  but  when 
they  are  taken  from  a  flat  car  an  extra  man  is  required  to  unload,  and 
•ordinarily  two  men  remove  the  wood  in  wheelbarrows  and  pile  it  up. 
'The  total  cost  for  unloading,  cutting,  splitting  and  piling  is  37^  cents 
i per  cord,  as  against  784  cents  per  cord  when  the  ties  were  cut  up  with  a 
fcircular  saw  and  split  with  a  pneumatic  machine.  At  one  time  the 
(••engineering  department  in  charge  of  the  Toledo  division  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Lines  West  gathered  statistics  on  the  work  of  handling  and  cutting 
nip  old  ties  for  locomotive  kindling,  to  make  a  comparison  with  the  cost 
•of  cord  wood,  which,  in  that  locality,  was  quite  "cheap."  The  report 
showed  a  slight  difference  in  cost  in  favor  of  the  old  ties. 

By  winter  time  old  ties  which  have  been  piled  during  the  summer 


932  MISCELLANEOUS 

or  fall  will  have  become  dry  enough  to  burn,  and  all  which  cannot  serve 
some  useful  purpose  should  be  so  disposed  of.  For  kindling,  a  quantity 
of  old  waste  may  be  picked  up  along  the  track  and  soaked  with  car  oil  or 
kerosene.  Then  during  some  forenoon  when  the  wind  is  not  blowing 
hard,  preferably  in  damp  weather  or  when  the  ground  is  covered  with 
snow,  the  section  men  may  go  along  and  set  fire  to  the  heaps,  placing 
a  bunch  of  the  oily  waste  in  the  bottom  of  each  pile,  at  the  windward  end. 
An  ax  should  be.  carried  along  to  split  off  a  little  kindling  where  such  is 
necessary  to  get  the  fire  started.  Then  during  the  rest  of  the  day  the- 
crew  should  be  so  divided  that  the  men  can  come  along  about  an  hour 
apart  to  poke  up  the  fire  and  throw  together  such  piles  as  have  fallen 
apart;  thus  done,  there  will  usually  be  but  little  left  of  the  old  ties  by  the 
time  the  fire  dies  out.  In  this  way  the  "picnic'*  of  burning  old  ties  need 
not  last  a  week,  as  it  often  djoes  where  the  whole  crew  is  allowed  to  walk 
around  together  among  a  few  piles,  to  visit  and  play  with  the  fire.  Of 
course  due  precaution  and  watchfulness  must  be  exercised  in  setting  fire 
to  certain  piles  where  the  wind  is  liable  to  carry  fire  and  damage  fence 
or  other  property.  Wherever  convenient,  in  piling  old  ties,  the  pile- 
should  be  made  around  a  stump  or  old  log  on  the  right  of  way,  so  that  both 
may  be  burned  at  the  same  time.  After  old  ties  have  been  burned  the 
ash  heaps  should  be  poked  over  for  spikes  and  stubs.  When  burning 
old  ties  it  is  a  good  plan  to  put  all  the  old  spikes  on  hand  in  the  fire.  In 
this  way  the  grease  and  scaly  rust  are  removed  and  cracks  in  defective- 
spikes  are  shown  up. 

166.  Taking  Up  Track. — The  work  of  taking  up  abandoned  track 
should  be  done  according  to  some  system,  for,  on  general  principles,, 
every  piece  of  material  lost  requires  that  the  railway  company  must,  in 
time,  buy  a  piece  to  replace  it.  All  the  spikes  should  be  pulled  and  put 
into  boxes  or  kegs,  and  stubs  of  spikes,  in  ties  sound  enough  to  be  used 
again,  should  be  driven  down.  It  is  well  to  pull  all  the  spikes  before  the 
rails  are  taken  up,  because  if  the  spikes  start  hard  the  tie,  without  the- 
weight  of  the  rail  to  hold  it  down,  may  not  lie  firmly  enough  in  its  beef 
to  admit  of  pulling  the  spike.  The  men  should  try  to  pull  the  spikes 
without  bending  them  unnecessarily.  Each  pair  of  splices  should  be 
coupled  together  loosely  with  the  same  bolts  that  were  used  in  them  while 
in  service,  so  that  the  bolts  will  not  be  lost.  It  is  not  worth  the  while 
to  spend  much  time  on  nuts  securely  rusted  fast  to  the  bolts,  because  in 
many  cases  the  bolt  will  twist  in  two  before  the  nut  will  loosen.  If  the 
nut  refuses  to  turn  after  exerting  a  reasonable  amount  of  strength  on  itr 
time  will  be  saved  by  knocking  it  off  with  a  hammer.  Where  the  track 
has  not  been  much  used  the  bolts  are  likely  to  be  found  somewhat  rusted r 
and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  squirt  a  little  car  oil  on  the  thread  of  the  bolt 
outside  the  nut;  this  will  save  time  both  in  taking  off  the  nut  and  in  put- 
ting it  on  again.  If  the  bolt  sticks  fast  it  should  not  be  driven  out,  as  such 
treatment  may  injure  the  thread,  but  the  splices  should  be  struck  a,  side 
blow  with  a  hammer,  when  usually  both  splices  and  all  the  bolts  will  come 
loose. 

In  taking  up  a  piece  of  track  of  any  considerable  length,  where  the 
material  must  be  loaded  on  cars  from  behind,  there  is  more  work  than  one 
might  at  first  think.  There  must  be  a  crew  large  enough  to  lift  a  rail  and 
shove  it  onto  the  car — say  at  least  10  men — and  then,  since  much  time 
would  be  lost  if  the  men  were  to  stop  work  to  shove  the  car  ahead  a  rail 
or  two  at  a  time,  it  is  cheaper  to  have  a  team  to  haul  the  car.  An 
untrained  team  is  sometimes  not  able  to  start  a  flat  car  after  it  is  half 
loaded  with  rails,  and  must  have  the  assistance  of  the  crew,  one  or  two  of 


TAKING  UP  TRACK  933 

the  men  using  pinch,  bars  on  the  wheels.  Under  such  circumstances 
it  is  best,  when  the  car  is  once  started,  to  haul  it  about  10  rail  lengths 
before  stopping,  and  then  to  use  the  team  to  drag  the  rails  forward  to 
the  car  for  the  men  to  load,  beginning  at  the  rear  and  hauling  away  as 
fast  as  the  spikes  are  pulled  and  the  splices  taken  off,  so  that  as  soon  as 
the  men  are  ready  to  load  they  will  not  have  to  wait  on  the  team.  If  the 
ties  are  to  be  loaded  two  cars  will  be  required,  unless  the  disposition 
of  the  material  will  admit  of  piling  the  ties  on  top  of  the  rails  on  each 
car.  Three  improvised  stone  sleds  are  a  good  means  of  conveyance. 
Part  of  the  men  may  loosen  the  ties  and  load  the  sleds,  and  the  other  part 
load  them  onto  the  car,  while  the  team  hauls  the  empty  and  loaded  sleds 
back  and  forth.  The  spikes,  splices  and  bolts 'should  be  loaded  on  the 
same  cars  with  the  rails  from  which  they  were  taken.  A  pair  of 
splices  coupled  with  bolts  through  two  holes  next  one  end,  dropped  strad- 
dle the  side  of  a  stake  pocket,  serves  well  for  a  car  stake  to  hold  the  rails 
on  the  flat  car.  Pieces  of  rail  too  short  to  reach  past  three  stakes  should 
not  be  put  on  the  outside  of  the  car,  lest  the  jarring  of  the  car  may  cause 
them  to  shift  endwise  and  fall  off,  between  stakes.  The  foreman  in  charge 
should  take  note  of  the  number  of  pieces  of  material  put  on  each  car.  On 
a  certain  piece  of  work  a  gang  of  10  men,  with  a  team,  took  up  and  loaded 
1200  ft.  of  track  (2400  ft.  of  rails)  without  the  ties  per  day  of  10  hours. 
This  figure  is  an  average  for  the  work  of  several  weeks.  The  ties  remained 
in  place  undisturbed  and  the  rails  and  fastenings  had  to  be  loaded  on  cars 
hauled  over  the  track  which  was  being  taken  up,  as  the  work  progressed. 
The  conditions  were  somewhat  unfavorable,  the  claw  bars  being  poor  and 
the  track  slightly  up  grade,  so  that  the  men  had  to  assist  the  team  in 
moving  the  cars  after  they  became  half  loaded. 

Where  the  grade  of  the  track  is  ascending  appreciably  a  team  and  10 
men  cannot  move  loaded  cars  to  any  advantage.  In  such  case  a  work  train 
is  needed  and,  of  course,  it  then  pays  to  work  a  crew  of  good  size.  As  it  is 
both  undesirable  and  costly  to  have  to  carry  rails  very  far  by  hand,  and 
as  there  would  be  insufficient  room  for  a  large  crew  to  work  when  hauling 
the  cars  only  a  rail's  length  or  two  at  a  time,  the  most  rapid  method  of 
taking  up  track  with  a  work  train  and  crew  is  about  as  follows :  Pull  the 
•  spikes  from  the  rails,  both  sides,  for  300  or  400  ft.  at  a  stretch,  without 
removing  the  bolts.  Then  throw  each  string  of  rails  off  the  ties,  cutting 
loose  at  the  joint  where  the  spike-pulling  was  dropped.  By  means  of 
chain  attach  the  two  strings  of  rails  to  stake  pockets  at  each  side  of  the 
hind  car,  hooking  the  chain  up  short  enough  to  hold  the  end  of  the  rail 
off  the  ground.  Then  pull  ahead  with  the  train,  dragging  the  rails  along 
on  the  shoulders  until  the  rear  rail  is  opposite  or  past  the  end  of  the  undis- 
turbed track.  Before  pulling  on  the  rails  see  that  they  are  turned  so  that 
the  nuts  will  not  drag  underneath.  The  whole  string  can  be  overturned 
easily  by  lifting  simultaneously  with  several  claw  bars,  catching  the  flange 
of  the  rail  between  the  claws  of  the  bar.  While  part  of  the  men  are  taking 
off  bolts  the  train  can  be  backed  up  and  the  rest  of  the  men  can  load  the 
ties,  which  should  be  hauled  ahead  to  the  cars  by  team.  -Then,  after  the 
ties  are  loaded,  the  men  should  mass  on  the  rails  and  pitch  them  on 
broadside  as  the  flat  car  is  hauled  along  opposite  the  spot  where  each  rail 
is  lying. 

At  one  time  the  Flint  &  Pere  Marquette  E.  R.  (now  Pere  Marquette 
E.  R.)  had  a  piece  of  track  to  take  up,  and  to  avoid  legal  complications 
did  it  on  Sunday.  No  spikes  or  bolts  were  loosened,  nor  wras  the  dirt,  which 
covered  the  ties  badly  in  many  cuts  and  at  log  railways,  removed  before 
the  appointed  day.  In  eight  hours,  between  8:20  a.  m.  and  5  p.  m.,  one 


934  MISCELLANEOUS 

gang  of  230  men  took  up  and  put  over  the  end  of  the  train  the  rails  (56- 
Ib.)  on  6i  miles  of  track  and  two  side-tracks.  All  frogs.,  switches,  spikes, 
bolts  and  splices  were  picked  up  clean  and  loaded,  No  machinery  was 
used,  except  some  hastily  constructed  rollers  on  the  cars  and  at  the  end 
to  run  the  rails  over. 

In  the  work  of  improving  the  grades  on  the  Wyoming  division  of  the 
Union  Pacific  R.  R.,  during  the  years  1899  and  1900,  the  company  built 
158  miles  of  new  track  on  cut-off  lines,  saving  30.47  miles  in  distance  and 
abandoning  most  of  the  old  track.  At  the  same  time  grades  of  68  ft.,  75 
ft.  and  98  ft.  to  the  mile  were  reduced  to  a  maximum  of  43.3  ft.  per  mile, 
compensated  (For  a  full  account  of  this  work,  see  the  Railway  and  Engi- 
neering Review  for  Feb.  9,  March  16,  Aug.  10  and  17,  1901).  In  loading 
the  material  taken  up  on  the  abandoned  tracks  two  methods  were  employed,. 
one  of  them  being  novel  and  ingenious.  On  part  of  the  track  taken  up 
the  rails,  ties,  etc.  were  carried  back  from  the  rear  of  the  train  to  the  care 
on  which  they  were  loaded  by  means  of  a  Roberts  track-laying  machine 
operated  in  back*  motion  (for  description  of  this  machine  see  §  30  and 
Fig.  35).  The  only  modification  necessary  to  adapt  the  machine  to*  the 
work  was  to  put  live  rollers  on  the  tie  extension  of  the  "pioneer"  car,  which 
brought  up  the  rear  of  the  train.  The  train,  in  order  from  rear  to  frontr 
consisted  of  pioneer  car,  two  rail  cars,  locomotive,  four  tie  cars,  one  box 
car  and  a  caboose.  Ahead  of  the  train  there  was  a  gang  of  12  to  20  men 
pulling  spikes  and  removing  splice  bolts.  All  bolts  except  one  were  taken 
from  each  splice,  and  on  tangent  where  the  ties  were  in  good  condition 
the  spikes  were  drawn  from  all  ties  except  two  under  each  rail.  On 
the  train  and  in  the  rear  of  it  there  was  a  gang  of  42  to  44  men,  distributed 
for  the  work  as  follows :  Two  men  removing  splices,  12  men  pulling  re- 
maining spikes  and  lifting  rails,  2  men  gathering  and  carrying  spikes,  12 
men  taking  up  ties,  4  to  6  men  handling  rails  on  the  cars,  10  men  hand- 
Jing  ties  on  the  cars.  Working  in  this  manner,  the  rails  and  ties  had  only 
to  be  lifted  from  the  roadbed  and  placed  on  the  rollways  of  the  machine, 
which  carried  them  forward  to  the  cars  whereon  they  were  loaded.  At 
the  first  side-track  back  of  the  point  where  the  track  was  being  taken  up 
a  gang  was  kept  busy  transferring  rails  and  ties  from  the  flat  cars  loaded 
by  the  machine,  to  stock,  gondola  and  box  cars,  for  shipment.  Here  all  * 
the  ties  were  sorted  into  three  grades:  (1)  good  for  main  line;  (2)  good 
for  side-track;  (3)  good  for  contractors'  use  in  temporary  lines  on  earth- 
work haul  with  light  locomotives.  The  rails  were  sorted  into  three  classes : 
(1)  for  relaying  in  main  line  and  for  use  in  important  sidings;  (2)  for 
use  in  ordinary  sidings;  and  (3)  scrap.  This  transfer  gang  was  also 
drawn  upon  for  extra  men  needed  at  the  front.  When  the  work  progressed 
continuously  6000  ft.  of  track  could  be  taken  up  and  loaded  per  day,  but 
as  cast  iron  pipe  in  culverts,  telegraph  poles,  good  timber  from  pile  and 
framed  trestles,  and  frequently  fence  posts  and  buildings,  were  loaded  up 
and  hauled  away,  the  average  daily  progress  was  less  than  4000  ft.  of  track 
taken  up  and  loaded,  including  other  material,  as  stated. 

Although  this  method  of  handling  the  material  was  exceedingly  con- 
venient, and  the  only  practicable  one  for  rapid  handling  in  localities 
where  cuts  and  fills  were  numerous,  yet  on  the  plains,  where  teams  could 
be  used  alongside  the  track,  the  latter  was  the  more  economical.  As  much 
of  the  track  on  the  old  location  followed  the  surface  closely  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  opportunity  to  use  teams  to  advantage.  The  drawback  with 
the  machine  loading  was  the  necessity  (for  convenience  of  transportation) 
of  transferring  the  rails  and  ties  from  the  flat  cars  on  which  they  were  first 
loaded,  to  other  cars :  but  for  this  the  machine  method  would  have  been  the 


.  PURCHASING  AND  HANDLING  TIES  935 

more  economical  in  all  cases.  As  it  was,  the  ties  were  hauled  back  by  teams 
and  loaded  directly  into  box  cars,  sorting  them  as  they  were  loaded.  This 
gang  had  a  flat  ear  at  the  rear  rigged  with  an  extension  over  the  center 
of  the  track,  which  carried  a  concave  dolly  about  2  ft.  above  top  of  rail, 
forming  an  incline  on  which  the  rails  could  be  shoved  up.  Ahead  of  this 
car  were  the  rail  cars  with  dollies  through  the  center,  by  which  means  the 
rails  were  sorted  and  shipped  without  transfer.  Ahead  of  the  rail  cars 
were  box  cars  for  ties,  then  the  engine  and  the  caboose. 

167.  Purchasing  and  Handling  Ties. — Ties  bought  at  points 
along  the  road  are  usually  delivered  at  side-tracks  and  piled  up  at  the 
owner's  risk  until  counted  and  accepted  by  the  railway  company.  The  piles 
should  be  made  not  nearer  the  track  than  6  or  8  ft.,  according  to  the  com- 
pany's established  rule  for  clearance  in  matters  of  this  kind,  and  generally 
not  farther  from  the  track  than  25  ft.  The  most  convenient  way  of  piling 
is  to  throw  the  ties  together  loosely,  as  cordwood  is  piled,  about  4  ft.  high, 
in  piles  not  too  long,  leaving  a  space  occasionally  for  walking  through. 
This  is  about  the  way  men  will  habitually  pile  them,  because  in  such  shape 
they  are  more  conveniently  handled  over  than  when  piled  in  square  piles. 
For  convenience  in  loading  cars  the  ties  should  preferably  be  piled  on 
ground  not  lower  than  the  track.  It  is  important  to  have  the  ties  in  the 
piles  lie  endwise  to  the  direction  of  the  prevailing  winds,  and  off  the 
ground,  so  as  to  get  the  best  possible  circulation  of  air  for  seasoning  the 
timber  quickly  and  for  drying  out  the  pile  rapidly  after  rain  storms.  The 
best  way  to  secure  this  arrangement  is  to  lay  in  place  for  each  pile  two  rows 
of  old  ties  for  a  foundation.  It  is  best  to  use  old  ties  for  these  bottom 
rows,  because  they  will  not  be  taken  up  when  the  new  ties  are  loaded,  but 
will  remain  to  invite  later  parties  to  pile  their  ties  in  the  same  place,  thus 
securing  an  arrangement  to  suit  the  company  without  exacting  any  special 
requirements.  Each  kind  of  timber  should  be  piled  by  itself.  The  fore- 
going covers  about  all  the  rules  for  piling  ties  that  can  be  successfully 
exacted  from  the  persons  who  have  them  to  sell.  After  the  ties  have  been 
handled  over,  inspected  and  counted,  or  while  doing  so,  they  should  then  be 
piled  in  the  best  manner  for  seasoning. 

It  is  generally  understood  that  ties  season  best  when  piled  in  square 
piles.  One  way  of  arranging  them  in  such  piles  is  in  courses  alternately 
parallel  with  and  perpendicular  to  the  line  of  the  track.  Ties  sawed-  on 
four  faces  should  be  spaced  an  inch  or  two  apart  in  each  course,  and  the 
outside  ties  in  each  course  may  be  turned  on  edge,  so  as  io  make  an  air 
space  both  over  and  under  the  intermediate  ties  of  every  course.  This 
method  applies  to  ties  sawed  on  four  faces  but  not  to  pole  ties.  The  best 
way  to  pile  pole  ties,  and  in  fact  all  ties,  for  that  matter,  is  in  layers  of  two 
one  way,  parallel  with  the  prevailing  winds,  and  eight  the  other  way. 
Pole  ties  may  be  laid  touching  in  each  course  or  layer,  but  ties  that  are 
squared  up  on  the  sides  should  be  separated  by  a  little  space,  to  allow 
for  free  circulation  of  air  and  evaporation.  This  method  of  piling  is  not 
so  compact  as  the  other  and  the  winds  have  a  better  chance  to  blow 
through  it.  For  convenience  of  handling,  the  piles  should  not  be  more 
than  ten  layers  high,  and  the  ties  in  the  top  layer  should  be  laid  close  and 
sloping,  so  as  to  shed  water.  For  convenience  of  inspection  the  piles 
should  be  separated  by  some  little  distance,  and  for  fire  protection  and  to 
make  room  for  teams  the  rows  of  piles  should  be  widely  separated.  Ties 
which  have  been  floated  down  streams  or  which  have  lain  in  water  for  a  con- 
siderable time  should  be  stacked  in  a  vertical  position,  to  allow  the  water 
to  drain  out  properly.  Creosoted  ties  are  more  inflammable  than  the 
natural  timber  and  should  be  piled  well  clear  of  buildings.  In  the  dry 


936 


MISCELLANEOUS 


regions  of  the  West  the  top  layer  of  tie  piles  along  the  right  of  way  is 
covered  with  dirt,  to  protect  them  from  catching  fire  from  locomotive 
cinders. 

Ties  are  generally  bought  according  to  specifications,  and  are  counted  by 
a  tie  inspector  in  the  service  of  the  railway  company.  He  is  supposed  to 
see  both  faces  of  each  tie  its  whole  length,  as  the  tie  is  rolled  over  before  him 
and  the  party  making  the  sale,  and  to  pass  upon  the  fitness  of  the  tie  as 
to  size  and  quality.  Ties  smaller  than  the  standard  adopted  by  the  com- 
pany are  thrown  out  as  culls,  and,  if  sound  and  not  too  small,  are  generally 
taken  at  a  reduction — usually  at  half  price.  But  it  is  not  customary  to 
accept  a  quantity  of  culls  exceeding  in  number  some  certain  fixed  per- 
centage of  the  whole  number  received.  The  railway  company,  drawing 
from  its  experience  from  year  to  year,  determines  upon  what  proportion 
of  its  ties  in  culls  can  be  utilized  in  side-tracks.  The  acceptance  of  a  rea- 
sonable number  of  culls  is  also  in  line  with  proper  economy  of  timber, 
and  should  have  some  influence  toward  delaying  a  general  advance  in 
prices,  as  in  this  way  much  timber  is  utilized  that  might  otherwise  go  to 
waste.  After  being  sorted  over  the  number  in  each  pile  should  be  counted 
carefully,  marking  the  end  of  each  tie  with  white  chalk  as  it  is  counted. 
Both  ends  of  each  tie  as  it  lies  in  the  pile  should  then  be  spotted  with  white 
lead  paint,  to  preclude  any  liability  that  the  company  will  buy  the  same 
tie  again,  some  time.  First-class  ties  may  be  daubed  with  a  single  spot 
on  the  end  and  second-class  ties  with  two  spots.  If  two  or  more  tie  inspec- 
tors are  employed  on  the  same  line  they  use  paints  of  different  color,  white 
and  red  being  preferred.  After  the  ties  have  been  counted  the  inspector 
gives  the  owner  a  receipt  or  voucher  for  the  ties  accepted,  and  at  the  same 
time  makes  out  a  report  of  the  same  which  he  forwards  to  headquarters 
that  night.  Really  this  report  should  be  a  duplicate,  in  facsimile,  of  the 


Fig.  474.— Incline  of  Tie  Hoist  for  Ohio  River  R.  R.,  Ceredo,  W.  Va. 


PURCHASING  AND  HANDLING  TIES  937 

voucher  given  the  owner  of  the  ties,  for  which  purpose  a  pocket  duplicate 
or  carbon  copy  book  arranged  with  half  the  sheets  perforated,  so  that  they 
may  be  torn  out.  comes  handy  for  the  inspector's  use.  When  large  quanti- 
ties of  ties  are  bought  at  a  distance 'they  should  by  all  means  be  made  to 
pass  inspection  before  being  shipped.  When  purchasing  sawed  ties  from 
saw  mills,  where  the  ties  are  loaded  as  they  come  from  the  saw,  the  inspec- 
tor is  usually  required  to  be  on  the  car,  to  see  and  pass  upon  each  tie  as  it 
arrives.  Unsound  timber  is  much  more  generally  found  among  sawed  ties 
than  among  ordinary  hewn  ties,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  they  are  usually 
made  from  larger  trees. 

Switch  ties  should,  if  anything,  receive  closer  examination  than  cross 
ties  of  ordinary  length,  on  account  of  the  higher  price  paid  for  them  and 
the  desire  that  the  timber  should  be  of  the  soundest  quality.  It  is  not  al- 
ways possible  to  get  from  the  same  party  ties  of  proper  lengths  to  make 
complete  sets  of  switch  ties,  and  such  as  can  be  had  are  therefore  paid  for 
by  the  foot,  stipulating  that  not  more  than  a  certain  percentage  of  the 
whole  will  be  accepted  in  any  one  length.  It  is  not  always  customary 
with  people  selling  switch  ties  to  square  up  the  ends  until  after  the  ties 
are  inspected  by  the  railway  company,  because  the  length  which  each 
piece  will  make  may  be  affected  by  checks  and  other  imperfections,  which 
the  inspector  is  supposed  to  look  out  for.  It  is  usual  for  the  owner  to 
have  men  on  hand  with  a  crosscut  saw  ready  to  cut  off  each  stick  for  all  it 
will  make,  as  allowed  by  the  inspector. 

Where  the  railway  company's  full  supply  of  ties  can  generally  be  had 
along  its  own  line  it  should  be  stated  in  advertising  for  ties  that  none  will 
be  accepted  from  any  person  who  has  not  previously  made  known  to  the 
company  the  approximate  number  of  ties  he  would  like  to  furnish,  and  who 
has  not  received  the  company's  assent  thereto.  With  this  understanding 
there  need  be  no  danger  of  having  more  ties  hauled  into  the  yards  than  the 
company  cares  to  buy,  as  has  been  known  to  happen,  sometimes,  during  occa- 
sional years  of  "hard  times."  Throughout  the  eastern  or  Atlantic  states  tie? 
are  usually  hauled  out  to  the  track  during  the  winter  months  and  loaded 
onto  ears  and  hauled  away  during  the  spring;  But  when  ties  are  to  remain 
in  the  yard  for  some  time  the  piles,  after  being  counted,  should  be  rear- 
ranged in  a  manner  to  promote  thorough  seasoning  and  to  diminish  the  risk 
from  fire. 

The  tie  inspector  should  be  possessed  of  many  good  qualities.  He 
should  be  a  man  of  experience,  having  good  knowledge  and  judgment. of 
the  kinds  of  timber  suitable  for  ties.  He  must  also  ,have  the  personal 
qualities  of  quick  decision,  firmness  and  moral  courage  to  a  high  degree. 
Upon  his  decisions  hangs  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money  for 
the  better  or  worse  of  the  company's  interests.  He  should  be  strictly  hon- 
est, and  of  good  address ;  but  above  all  he  should,  be  a  total  abstainer  from 
intoxicating  drinks,  for,  no  matter  how  honest  his  purpose  may  be,  if  he 
will  accept  a  "friendly"  (?)  drink  now  and  then  there  will  be  lacking  no 
effort  on  the  part  of  some  persons  to  get  him  into  careless  moods  at  con- 
venient times.  By  checking  reports  of  ties  taken  out  of  the  yards  with 
reports  of  purchases  made  by  the  inspector,  it  is  possible  to  know  pretty 
certainly  whether  the  inspector's  figures  have  been  accurately  made.  If, 
therefore,  he  turns  over  to  the  company  ties  of  a  general  good  quality, 
and  there  stands  against  him.  nothing  worse  than  such  reports  as  might 
be  expected  from  interested  parties,  the  railway  authorities  should  not  be 
too  ready  to  receive  intimations  made  about  his  unfitness  for  the  place.  A 
man  in  such  a  position;  has  sometimes  a  hard  road  to  travel,  and  unless  he 
is  very  agreeable  and  possessed  of  a  good  deal  of  tact  he  may  not  be  able 
to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  evervbodv. 


938 


MISCELLANEOUS 


In  some  quarters  ties  are  brought  to  convenient  loading  points  by 
rafting,  or  by  "driving"  them  loosely  in  streams  and  catching  them  at  the- 
desired  point  with  a  boom.  At  some  such  places  hoisting  plants  are  in- 
stalled to  convey  the  ties  from  the  stream  tor  the  cars.  As  an  instance,  the 
Ohio  Kiver  E.  E.  receives  a  large  portion  of  its  tie  supply  at  Ceredo,  W. 
Va..  on  the  Kanawha  river.  The  ties  are  floated  down  the  river  and  held 
in  a  boom  under  the  railroad  bridge,  where  they  are  taken  off  the  hands  of 
the  tie  men.  To  transport  these  ties  to  the  company's  cars  with  facility 
and  economy  there  is  a  plant  for  hoisting  the  ties  up  the  steep  bank  and  to 
convey  them  along  a  platform  extending  between  two  side-tracks,  from 
which  the  ties  are  put  aboard  the  cars.  The  hoisting  mechanism  is  a  con- 
veyor constructed  with  an  endless  roller  chain  carrying  sharp  spurs  at 
intervals  and  running  in  a  shallow  trough.  It  consists  of  two  sections, 
the  first  extending  from  the  river  to  the  top  of  the  bank  (Fig.  474),  a  dis- 
tance of  about  125  ft. :  and  the  second,  from  the  upper  end  of  the  first,  a 


Fig.  475. — Loading  Platform  of  Ceredo  Tie  Hoist,  Ohio  River  R.  R. 

distance  of  250  ft.  on  the  level  and  between  the  tracks,  as  illustrated  in 
Fig.  475.  The  fflot  of  the  incline  hoist  extends  into  the  water  a  sufficient 
distance  to  admit  of  the  floating  ties  being  poled  onto  the  moving  .chain. 
At  either  side  of  the  chain  runway  there  is  a  platform  sloping  toward, 
and  projecting  partly  over,  the  cars,  so  that  the  ties  are  loaded  onto  the 
cars  with  but  little  effort.  The  chain  runway  is  lined  with  strap  iron  to- 
reduce  the  friction.  The  chain  is  usually  run  at  a  speed  of  about  100  ft. 
per  minute,  and  is  strong  enough  to  carry  a  solid  string  of  ties  continually. 
It  can,  however,  be  speeded  up  to  150  ft.  per  miaute,  so  that  a  capacity 
for  carrying  800  or  900  ties  per  hour  is  possible.  The  power  plant  consists 
of  a  boiler  and  engine  of  20  horse  power.  The  Hocking  Valley  Ey.,  the 
Charleston,  Clendennin  &  Sutton  E.  E.  and  the  Kanawha  &  Michigan  Ey. 
either  have  or  have  had  similar  plants.. 

168.     Tie  Preservation. — The  increasing  cost  of  timber,  consequent 

upon  the  rapid  destruction  of  the  forests,  has  turned  the  attention  of  some 

railway  companies   toward  timber  preserving  methods.     It  is   estimated 

J02)  that  upwards  of  97  million  ties  are  used  annually  for  renewals  in: 


TIE  PRESERVATION  939 

the  railway  tracks  of  the  United  States,  and  8  to  14  million  more  in 
new  construction,  and  it  is  generally  believed  that  consumption  will  soon 
overtake  and  exceed  the  supply  of  the  diminishing  forests.  It  has 
been  proposed  that  to  meet  the  situation  railway  companies  should  under- 
take tie  cultivation  by  setting  out  forests  of  rapidly  growing  timber;  or  to 
decrease  the  annual  demand,  either  by  the  use  of  metal  ties  or  by  preserv- 
ing the  timber  by  chemical  treatment,  or  perhaps  by  both.  The  possibili- 
ties in  tie  cultivation  have  yet  to  be  demonstrated,  and  although  but  rela- 
tively little  has  been  done  in  timber  preservation,  in  this  country,  yet  the 
industry  is  considered  as  having  progressed  beyond  the  experimental  stage. 
sSuch  progress  is  not  true  of  the  metal  tie,  for,  so  far  as  American  railways 
are  concerned,  it  can  hardly  be  considered  that  experimentation  with  metal 
ties  has  commenced  with  any  degree  of  earnestness.  Whatever  tendency 
there  is  toward  economy  in  the  use  of  tie  timber  is  therefore  principally 
and  almost  entirely  in  the  direction  of  chemical  treatment. 

Economy  of  Treated  Ties. — Increase  in  the  life  of  ties,  obtainable 
within  proper  limits  of  expenditure,  should  operate  to  reduce  the  cost  of 
track  repairs  in  several  wa)rs.  In  the  first  place,  the  number  of  ties  re- 
quired for  renewals  within  a  considerable  period  is  decreased  in  exact  pro- 
portion to  the  increase  in  length  of  life;  which  carries  with  it,  of  course, 
a  relative  saving  in  labor  for  removing  decayed  ties.  This  saving  is  obvious- 
ly greatest  where  the  work  of  getting  ties  out  of  track,  in  renewals,  is 
especially  difficult  and  expensive,  so  that  the  logical  procedure  in  begin-- 
iiing  the  use  of  treated  ties  is  to  first  lay  them  under  road  crossings,  in 
front  of  station  platforms  and  in  the  middle  or  intermediate  tracks  of 
three  and  four-track  lines,  or  wherever  the  main  track  is  flanked  on  either 
side  by  a  side-track.  Since  the  renewing  of  ties  always  disturbs  the  sur- 
face of  the  track  and  impairs  the  bed  more  or  less,  it  is  readily  seen  that 
the  cost  of  surfacing  ought  to  decrease  with  increase  in  the  life  of  the  tie. 
More  than  this,  many  varieties  of  the  cheaper  woods  'are  by  preservative- 
processes  rendered  available  for  tie  timber  where  otherwise  the  life  of  the- 
same  would  be  too  short  for  profitable  use.  This  principle  applies  more 
especially  to  some  of  the  soft  woods  requiring  tie  plates  for  the  best  re- 
sults. 

The  money  value  of  these  advantages  is  readily  calculable  with  close 
approximation  except  in  the  matter  of  decreased  disturbance  to  track  sur- 
face. It  is  difficult  to  satisfactorily  get  at  the  ultimate  cost  of  breaking  up- 
the  embedment  of  ties  in  making  renewals,  but  any  trackman  knows  that 
it  is  an  important  item  of  maintenance  expense.  In  renewing  ties  it  is 
not  practicable  to  at  once  get  the  new  ties  to  take  their  proper  share  of 
the  rail  support.  If  the  new  tie  is  placed  without  dressing  down  the  bed 
of  the  old  tie  the  chances  are  that  it  will  stand  too  high  for  some  time, 
thus  forming  a  "hump"  in  the  track  surface  until  the  tie  settles  into  the 
bed  or  until  the  rails  cut  into  the  tie  to  their  proper  level.  If  the  bed  of 
the  old  tie  is  dressed  down  it  usually  happens  that  the  new  tie  will  settle 
below  the  point  where  it  can  share  in  the  rail  support  equally  with 
the  adjacent  ties,  thus  throwing  undue  load  upon  the  adjacent  ties  and 
eventually  causing  all  to  settle  and  impair  the  track  surface.  Again,  in  ex- 
cavating the  ballast  to  renew  a  tie  the  filling  between  the  ties  at  that  point 
is  loosened  up,  thus  impairing  the  surface  drainage  for  the  remainder  of 
the  season,  so  that  during  heavy  showers  or  long-continued  rain  storms 
a  disproportionate  amount  of  water  passes  into  the  ballast  and  roadbed 
at  such  points.  The  ill  effects  resulting  from  such  a  condition  are  most 
readily  perceptible  in  dirt-ballasted  track,  but  in  track  well  ballasted  with 
better  material,  and  well  drained,  it  is  no;t  an  unfamiliar  sight  in  wet 


940  MISCELLANEOUS 

weather  to  find  the  ties  "churning"  at  points  where  renewals  have^een 
made  the  same  season.  The  fact  that  disturbance  of  filling  and  embed- 
ment in  tie  renewals  is  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  roughened  track 
surface  can  be  well  established,  but  is  perhaps  not  so  forcibly  apparent 
to  all  as  it  might  be.  That  the  degree  of  roughness  in  track  surface  pro- 
duced by  breaking  up  twice  any  assumed  number  of  tie  embedments  per  rail 
length  is  more  than  double  that  produced  by  disturbing  only  the  given 
number,  is  too  obvious  to  require  detailed  explanation. 

So  firmly  am  I  convinced  on  these  points  that  I  would  state  my 
views  of  tie  preservation  economy  in  this  way:  Any  preservative  process 
which  will  double  the  natural  life  of  the  tie  at  a  total  cost  for  handling 
and  treatment  not  exceeding  the  cost  of  the  untreated  tie — that  is,  doubling 
the  life  at  an  ultimate  cost  for  the  tie  which  is  not  more  than  double  the 
first  cost — is  a  paying  proposition  for  any  railway  company.  To  double 
the  life  of  the  tie  at  an  additional  cost  equal  to  first  cost  increases  some- 
what the  direct  money  cost  of  the  tie  per  annum,  owing  to  interest  on 
the  extra  investment,  but  against  the  interest  charge  there  stands  to  the 
credit  of  the  treated  tie  a  decrease  of  half  the  expense  of  tie  renewing, 
besides  whatever  saving  accrues  from  the  less  frequent  disturbance  of  tie 
embedment. 

Let  us  take  an  example:  Suppose  that  a  pine  tie  costing  30  cents 
will  last  five  years,  and  that  by  treating  it  at  an  additional  cost  (for 
handling,  chemicals  used,  interest,  depreciation  of  plant,  etc.)  of  30 
cents  the  tie  can  be  made  to  last  10  years.  Looked  at  comparatively,  the 
cost  of  the  untreated  tie  will  be  30  cents,  plus  10  cents  for  putting  it  in 
the  track,  or  40  cents  for  five  years'  service,  which  is  an  average  of  8 
cents  per  year.  The  cost  of  10  years'  service  for  the  treated  tie  will  be  60 
cents,  plus  10  cents  for  putting  it  in  the  track,  or  70  cents,  which  is  an 
average  of  7  cents  per  year — to  which  must  be  added  a  yearly  interest 
charge  on  the  additional  investment  of  30  cents.  At  4  per  cent  this 
charge  would  be  1.2  cents,  or  a  total  average  yearly  cost  for  the  treated 
tie  of  8.2  cents,  as  against  8  cents  for  the  untreated  tie.  Figured  on  this 
basis,  0.2  cent  per  tie  per  year,  or  a  yearly  cost  of  $5.60  to '$6. 00  per  mile 
of  track,  is  the  price  paid  to  avoid  disturbing  the  embedment  of  all  the 
ties  once  in  10  years.  Expressed 'in  another  way,  the  advantage  which 
accrues  to  stability  of  tie  embedmtent  and  track  surface  by  reducing  the 
average  tie  renewals  from  one-fifth  to  one-tenth  of  the  whole  number  each 
year,  is  secured  at  a  yearly  cost  of  five  days'  labor  per  mile  of  track. 

That  such  is  a  favorable  showing  from  the  standpoint  of  economy, 
no  one  who  understands  how  the  conditions  of  rail  support  are  affected 
by  disturbing  the  embedment  of  the  ties  will  be  likely  to  dispute,  but- 
a  simple  calculation  will  remove  any  doubt.  The  average  life  of  untreat- 
ed ties  of  all  kinds  is  about  6-J  years,  so  that,  on  the  average,  something 
like  440  ties  are  removed  from  each  mile  of  track  each  year.  Assuming 
that  chemical  treatment  will  double  the  life  of  the  ties — which,  further 
along,  is  shown  to  be  a  fair  estimate — the  use  of  this  agency  will  reduce 
the  annual  number  of  removals  by  220.  The  cost  of  bar-tamping  ties  in 
gravel  ballast,  including  digging  out  and  filling  in  again,  ranges  from 
2£  to  6  cents  each,  according  to  the  price  of  wages  ($1.10  to  $1.50  per 
day)  and  various  conditions  of  the  work,  such  as  hight  of  lift  or  depth 
of  open  space  under  the  ties,  amount  of  material  removed  in  opening  out 
the  ties  for  tamping,  interference  from  trains,  size  and  quality  of  the 
gravel  etc. ;  but  the  average  of  a  number  of  carefully  kept  records  is  3.7 
cents.  In  general  practice  new  ties  put  into  the  track  during  renewals 
are  either  raised  high  and  shovel  tamped,  or  are  bar  tamped,  at  the  time 


TIE   PRESERVATION  941 

they  are  laid,  and  a  few  days  later  they  receive  another  tamping  with 
bars.  On  a  large  number  of  roads,  however,  perhaps  the  majority  of 
heavy-traffic  roads,  it  is  considered  necessary,  in  order  to  restore  the 
original  conditions  of  embedment,  to  give  all  new  ties  two  extra  tampings 
during  the  season  of  renewal.  Where  they  do  not  receive  this  amount 
of  extra  work  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  track  surface  will  suffer 
in  consequence.  The  advantage  in  reducing  the  number  of  tie  renewals 
by  220  per  mile  per  year  is  therefore  an  actual  saving  of  from  $8.14  to 
$16.28  of  money  that  would  otherwise  be  expended  in  tamping  the  new 
ties  up  to  a  proper  bearing  under  the  rails.  This  saving  stands  against 
the  $5.60  or  $6.00  representing,  as  above, -''the  extra  cost  of  treated  over 
untreated  ties,  but  the  actual  economy  may  be  in  much  greater  proportion, 
even  if  not  calculable  in  dollars  and  cents,  for  there  is  no  telling  how 
much  of  the  general  work  of  track  surfacing  may  be  due  to  the  settlement 
of  old  ties  that  are  overburdened  through  lack  of  support  from  new  ties 
lying  adjacent.  It  is  a  matter  of  only  ordinary  experience  to  find  new 
ties  hanging  by  the  spike  heads,  and  particularly  is  this  liable  to  be  the 
case  if  there  is  a  good  deal  of  rain  shortly  after  the  ties  have  been  placed. 
There  are  certain  other  indefinite  advantages  with  the  tie  of  long  life, 
such  as  reduced  wear  and  tear  on  rolling  stock,  due  to  the  better  average 
surface  which  results  from  the  less  frequent  disturbance  of  the 'ballast. 

Figured  on  the  basis  of  a  different  financial  system  the  showing  is 
all  the  more  favorable  to  the  treated  tie.  The  annual  interest  charge  at 
4  per  cent  on  the  amount  necessary  to  purchase  the  untreated  tie  and  place 
it  in  the  track  (40  cents)  is  1.6  cents;  and  an  outlay  of  7.4  cents  at  the 
end  of  each  year,  if  invested  in  a  sinking  fund,  is  sufficient  to  replace 
the  tie  in  the  track  at  the  end  of  five  years.  The  annual  cost  of  the  un- 
treated tie  is  then  1.6+7.4=9  cents.  In  the  case  of  the  treated  tie  the 
annual  interest  charge  on  the  cost  of  placing  it  in  the  track  (70  Cents) 
is  2.8  cents,  and  the  annual  outlay  toward  a  sinking  fund  sufficient  to 
replace  the  tie  in  the  track  at  the  expiration  of  10  years  is  5.8  cents.  The 
annual  cost  of  the  treated  tie  is  thus  seen  to  be  2.8+5.8  cents =8. 6  cents, 
or  0.4  cent  in  favor  of  the  treated  tie.  Figured  on  either  basis,  higher 
first  cost  of  tie,  higher  rate  of  interest  or  longer  life  for  the  untreated 
tie  gives  a  less  favorable  showing  for  the  treated  tie.  Thus,  at  a  first 
cost  of  40  cents,  interest  5  per  cent  and  a  life  of  6  and  12  years,  respec- 
tively, for  the  untreated  and  the  treated  ties,  the  treated  tie  would  cost 
0.3  cent  more  yearly  than  the  untreated  tie;  and  at  a  first  cost  of  50 
cents  for  the  tie,  interest  5  per  cent  and  life  of  6  and  12  years,  the  differ- 
ence in  favor  of  the  untreated  tie  is  0.59  cent  yearly — figured  on  the 
basis  of  borrowing 'the  money  to  purchase  the  tie  and  to  replace  it  by  a 
sinking  fund,  in  each  case.  From  the  standpoint  of  actual  outlay,  the 
economy  is  therefore  greater  the  shorter  the  life  of  the  untreated  tie. 
Another  way  of  looking  at  the  question  is  to  compare  the  ultimate  costs 
of  both  kinds  of  ties  for  a  term  of  years,  adding  compound  interest.  The 
total  cost  for  an  untreated  tie  costing  40  cents  placed  in  the  track  and 
renewed  at  the  end  of  5  years,  compound  interest  at  4  per  cent,  is  $1.079 
at  the  end  of  10  years;  and  the  total  cost  of  the  treated  tie  costing  70 
cents  placed  in  the  track,  interest  compounded  at  the  same  rate,  is  $1.036 
at  the  end  of  10  years. 

The  foregoing  discussion  will  serve  to  outline  somewhat  roughly  the 
possibilities  of  tie  preservation  methods  at  an  assumed  increase  of  life 
of  100  per  cent  and  a  cost  of  treatment  which  is  relatively  high — an  ex- 
treme case,  so  to  speak.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  much  better  results  than 
anything  above  calculated  upon  have  been  and  are  being  obtained,  so  that 


942  MISCELLANEOUS 

in  general  cases  there  can  be  no  doubt  regarding  the  question  of  economy. 
This  much  further  may  be  said  regarding  the  general  economy  of  tie  pre- 
servation :  Decrease  in  consumption  of  timber,  due  to  increased  life  of 
preservative  methods,  ought  to  tend  toward  cheapening  the  first  cost  of 
ties,  or  at  any  rate  to  reduce  the  first  cost  to  a  figure  far  below  what  it 
would  be  were  no  efforts  put  forth  to  economize  in  the  use  of  timber.  A 
large  percentage  of  the  ties  used  are  made  from  young  timber,  and  by 
continuaHy  cutting  out  the  younger  trees  'for  ties  the  growth  of  timber 
for  other  purposes  is  greatly  hindered.  If  by  preservative  processes  the 
life  of  the  tie  can  be  doubled,  not  only  will  the  effect  be  to  decrease  in 
inverse  ratio  the  rate  of  timber  depletion,  but  also  the  saving  of  that 
much  standing  timber  will  enable  the  supply  to  more  nearly  keep  pace 
with  the  demand.  It  must  be  apparent  that  the  influence  of  such  a  saving 
on  the  timber  supply  of  the  country  ought  to  be  very  great.  The  immed- 
iate result  to  the  railway  companies  of  such  improved  methods  in  the 
use  of  timber  should  be  a  two-fold  economy,  in  that  (besides  the  dimin- 
ished consumption)  by  drawing  less  upon  the  timber  supply  the  price  of 
timber  must  inevitably  be  cheaper  than  it  would  be  if  the  original  rate 
of  consumption  was  maintained. 

Decay  of  Timber. — The  natural  decay  of  timber  is  caused  by  fungi, 
a  vegetable  growth  consisting  of  innumerable  microscopic  plants,  which 
consume  the  starchy  matter  in  the  wood  and  dissolve  certain  parts  of 
the  material  which  constitutes  the  cell  walls  or  fiber.  The  fungi  include 
a  large  group  of  a  low  order  of  leafless,  colorless  plants,  the  mycelia  or 
thread-like  sprouts  of  which  penetrate  the  interior  of  the  wood  structure 
and  excrete  "a  ferment  which  dissolves  certain  constituents  of  the  wood 
fiber  to  produce  the  food  supply  for  the  plant.  The  familiar  punk  and 
toadstools  seen  on  trees  and  dead  timber  are  the  fruit  of  these  fungi,  and 
give  off  the  minute  germs  or  spores.  The  conditions  essential  to  the 
germination  and  growth  of  these  fungus  threads  are  moisture,  heat  and 
the  presence  of  air  or  oxygen.  Eegarding  the  condition  last  named  it  is 
generally  known  that  timber  which  is  .continually  submerged  does  not 
decay.  Investigations  for  the  Forestry  Division  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  show  that  wood  containing  less  than  ten  per  cent  of  mois- 
ture is  not  subject  to  decay.  In  respect  to  heat  the  fungoid  growth  re- 
quires moderate  warmth,  40  to  120  deg.  F.  being  the  practical  limits,  and 
about  80  to  85  deg.  the  most  favorable  temperature.  In  a  freezing  tem- 
perature the  fungi  cease  their  activity  and  do  not  multiply,  which  ac- 
counts for  the  longer  life  of  railway  ties  in  cold  climates.  If,  however, 
ihe  temperature  be  raised  to  150  deg.  the  fungi  die,  and  in  such  temper- 
ature the  wood,  for  the  time  being,  is  disinfected  or  sterilized.  Thus  it 
is  that  with  many  kinds  of  timber,  if  kept  dry,  the  development  of  the 
fungi  is  extremely  slow  or  absent  entirely,  for  long  periods,  thereby  insur- 
ing long  life  for  the  timber.  But  the  condition  most  favorable  to  the 
growth  and  activity  of  the  fungi  is  the  fermentation  of  the  sap.  The  sap 
of  timber  consists  of  water  holding  in  solution  quantities  of  sugar,  albu- 
men, starch,  gums,  oils,  resins,  acids,  etc.  When  wood  seasons  the  water 
in  the  sap  evaporates,  leaving  the  sugar,  albumen  etc.,  distributed 
through  the  pores  of  the  wood  in  the  solid  condition.  Of  the  substances 
named  the  most  putrefiable  is  albumen,  which  is  readily  soluble  in  water. 
When  moisture  is  taken  into  the  wood  the  albumen  goes  into  solution  and 
sets  up  fermentation,  induced  by  germs  of  fungi  contained  in  the  sap 
or  in  the  knots  of  decayed  limbs  that  have  been  closed  over  by  the  growth 
of  the  tree.  If.  however,  the  albumen  is  once  coagulated  it  is  afterward 
soluble  only  at  high  temperature  and  high  pressure.  The  object  aimed 


TIE   PRESERVATION  943 

-at  in  timber  preserving  processes  is,  therefore,  to  either  coagulate  the 
albumen  or  to  remove  the  sap  and  replace  it  with  some  sterilizing  agent. 

The  coagulation  of  the  raw  albumen  may  be  effected  by  simply  heat- 
ing the  timber,  and  such  treatment  is  really  all  there  is  of  one  method  of 
timber  preservation,  referred  to  further  along.  The  simplest  process 
for  removing  the  sap  is  to  soak  the  timber  in  water,  preferably  running 
water,  for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  This  process  is  known  as  "wa- 
ter seasoning/'  the  theory  being  that  the  sap  is  diluted  and  gradually  dis- 
placed— that  is,  removed  by  solution.  This  action  is,  of  .course,  much 
accelerated  by  boiling  or  steeping  the  timber,  but  so  far  as  actual  practice 
i?  concerned  neither  method  is  employed  to  any  considerable  extent.  A 
few  experiments  in  "water  seasoning"  are  said  to  have  demonstrated  the 
value  of  such  treatment,  and  it  is  generally  conceded,  or  at  least  generally 
supposed,  that  rafted  lumber  is  more  durable  than  lumber  which  has  not 
been  submerged  in  water.  The  method  of  removing  the  sap  resorted  to 
in  general  practice  is  to  steam  the  timber  in  a  closed  retort,  the  conse- 
quent expansion  of  the  cell  walls  driving  out  a  portion  of  the  liquid 
within  the  timber^  and  then  to  subject  the  timber  to  a  vacuum,  which 
causes  it  to  expel  the  remaining  portion.  But  while  it  is  evident  that  the 
total  or  partial  removal  of  the  sap  from  the  wood  greatly  retards'  deca}r. 
it  is  known  that  it  only  delays  the  progress  of  decay,  for  germs  will  enter 
the  cells  and  propagate,  in  the  presence  of  moisture,  even  if  all  the  sap 
has  been  removed.  To  effectively  preserve  timber  it  therefore  becomes 
necessary  not  only  to  remove  the  sap,  but  to  sterilize  the  fiber  against 
fungus  growth  by  impregnating  it  with  an  antiseptic.  The  antiseptics 
most  commonly  used  in  this  country  are  in  the  form  of  a  vegetable  oil 
or  a  metallic  salt  in  solution,  forced  through  the  pores  of  the  wood.  The 
antiseptic  would  be  proof  against  organic  life,  even  if  injected  in  the 
presence  of  the  sap,  providing  thorough  penetration  could  be  had,  -but  if 
the  sap  is  not  removed  the  entrance  of  any  preserving  solution  through 
the  cells  of  the  wood  is  resisted  by  it,  so  that  only  shallow  penetration  into 
"the  wood  can  be  had,  thus  leaving  the  interior  still  liable  to  decay. 

Although  many  processes  of  preserving  timber  have  been  experiment- 
ed with,  in  this  and  other  countries,  only  four  or  five  method?  of  treat- 
ment or  combinations  of  the  same  have  assumed  commercial  importance. 
The  four  principal  methods  are:  (1)  the  vulcanizing  process,  (2)  creo- 
.soting,  (3)  burnettizing,  and  (4)  kyanizing.  In  Europe  a  fifth  process, 
namely  boucherizing,  or  impregnating  with  sulphate  of  copper,  has  been 
used  to  some  extent,  and  a  combination  process  known  as  the  zinc-creo- 
sote treatment  is  also  being  used.  Of  these  four  processes  only  two  have 
yet  come  to  be  recognized  as  practicable  or  profitable  for  extensive  use, 
namely,  creosoting  and  burnettizing.  The  former  process,  which  con- 
sists in  removing  the  sap  from  the  wood  and  injecting  into  it  creosote  or 
dead  oil  of  tar,  is  the  more  effective  of  the  two,  but  the  latter  is  the  cheap- 
er. It  differs  essentially  from  the  former  only  in  the  liquid  injected,  which 
is  the  chloride  of  zinc  (Zn  C12).  Owing  to  the  cheaper  cost  burnettizing 
lias  come  to  be  much  more  extensively  used  in  this  country  for  tie  preser- 
vation than  creosoting,  while  for  pile  timber  creosoting  is  used  to  the 
•exclusion  of  the  other,  since  under  water  zinc  chloride  is  soon  washed  out. 
Oeosote  is  also  considered  protection  against  sea  worms,  at  least  for  a 
time,  while  burnettizing  is  not,  although  it  is  thought  that  if  the  chloride 
solution  could  be  held  in  the  timber  it  would  be  effective  for  this  purpose; 
and  a  method  intended  to  accomplish  the  retention  is  referred  to  further 
along. 


944  MISCELLANEOUS 

Vulcanizing. — Vulcanizing,  which  is  sometimes  called  the  "roasting" 
process,  consists  in  subjecting  the  timber  to  heat  under  pressure.  It  was 
invented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Haskin,  and  is  sometimes  also  called  "Raskin's 
process."  The  timber  is  run  into  a  retort  or  long  cylinder,  which  is  then 
closed,  and  the  first  operation  is  to  remove  surplus  moisture  from  the  outside 
of  the  timber,  due  to  casual  exposure  to  rain  or  snow ;  but  no  attempt  is 
made  to  expel  the  sap  from  the  wood.  The  heat  for  this  purpose  is  ob- 
tained by  turning  steam  into  a  series  of  pipes.  The  air  is  first  com- 
pressed to  a  pressure  of  150  to  200  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  and  then  passed  through 
a  water  separator,  to  remove  the  moisture,  after  which  it  is  pumped 
through  tubes  heated  by  live  steam  and  thence  through  a  pipe  system 
heated  over  a  coke  furnace,  whereby  its  temperature  is  raised  to  400 
or  500  F.  It  is  then  delivered  to  the  timber  treating  cylinders  and 
kept  in  constant  circulation  by  sending  it  in  cycles  through  a  circulating 
pump.  The  duration  of  this  heating  process  is  about  eight  hours.  The 
cost  of  treating  pine  lumber  is  $8  to  $10  per  1000  ft.  B.  M.,  and  something 
more  for  hard  wood.  The  cost  of  treating  6x8-in.x8  ft.  pine  ties  is  about 
25  cents  each.  The  process  in  this  country  has  been  worked  by  the  New 
York  Wood  Vulcanizing  Co.,  with  a  plant  in  New  York  City.  In  this 
plant  there  were  four  treating  cylinders  6  ft.  in  diameter  and  105  ft. 
long.  In  London,  England,  there  is  a  plant  worked  by  the  Haskin  Wood 
Vulcanizing  Co. 

The  principal  use  of  vulcanized  wood  in  this  country  is  for  ties, 
guard  timbers  and  planking  in  the  floors  of  elevated  railways.  The  Man- 
hattan Elevated  Ey.,  in  New  York:  the  Union  Elevated  Ry.,  in  Brooklyn 
and  the  Northwestern  Elevated  R.  R.  in  Chicago,  are  some  of  the  roads  using 
it.  The  timber  that  is  generally  used  is  southern  yellow  pine.  Vulcanized 
ties  and  guard  rails  of  this  wood  on  the  Manhattan  Elevated, Ry.,  in  New 
York,  have  stood  service  longer  than  17  years,  but  they  showed  signs 
of  deterioration  at-  that  length  of  time.  The  life  of  untreated  ties  of  the 
same  kind  of  timber  in  the  same  service  was  six  years. 

The  theory  which  is  urged  in  support  of  the  vulcanizing  process  is 
that  the  heat  coagulates  the  albumen  and  the  distillation  of  the  sap  trans- 
forms that  liquid  into  various  wood-preserving  compounds,  such  as  acids, 
wood  creosote,  etc.,  which  are  prevented  from  escaping  from  the  wood  by 
the  pressure  under  which  the  treatment  takes  place.  These  substances 
finally  solidify  and  seal  up  the  pores  of  the  wood.  The  pressure  serves  also 
to  keep  the  wood  from  checking.  The  wood  is  therefore  supposed  to 
be  impregnated  with  its  own  chemical  products,  or,  as  a  German  authority 
has  said,  "fried  in  its  own  fat."  An  analysis  of  a  vulcanized  oak  tie,  made 
at  Columbia  College  some  years  ago,  found  that  it  contained  11.91  per 
cent  of  substances  traceable  to  the  action  of  high  temperature  on  wood, 
including  oils,  turpentines,  carbolic  acid  and  resinous  acids.  Yellow  pine 
timber  treated  by  this  process  is  said  to  have  shown  greater  strength 
than  before  treatment.  This  view  is  supported  by  tests  made  at  the  Stev- 
ens Institute,  of  Technology,  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  in  1884  (See  Railway  Re- 
view, Feb.  21,  1891,  page  123).  This  effect  is  due  probably  to  the'large 
amount  of  vegetable  oil  or  pitch  which,  after  distillation  at  the  high  tem- 
perature, solidifies  and  acts  as  a  sort  of  filler  between  the  fibers.  On  the 
other  hand  the  claim  that  vulcanizing  timber  increases  its  strength  is 
denied  by  some  who  profess  to  have  made  careful  tests.  One  fault  found 
with  the  process  is  that,  however  valuable  may  be  the  transformed  liquid 
as  an  antiseptic,  it  is  too  thinly  distributed  throughout  the  timber  to  be 
highly  effective;  and  another  is  that  wood  creosote,  which  is  one  of  the 
important  results  of  the  process,  is  not  an  effective  preservative  of  timber. 


TIE   PRESERVATION  945 

Creosoting. — Creosoting,  as  already  stated,  consists  in  impregnating 
the  wood  with  a  product  obtained  from  the  distillation  of  either  wood  or 
coal  tar,  called  creosote.  The  coal-tar  product  is  properly  known  as  "dead 
oil  of  coal  tar"  and,  strictly  speaking,  is  not  creosote,  for  creosote  is  a 
vegetable  product  and  is  not  found  in  coal  tar.  Dead  oil  of  coal  tar  COD 
tains  a  good  deal  of  carbolic  acid,  and  as  creosote  proper  and  carbolic  acid 
resemble  each  other  very  much  in  smell,  the  two  products  are  confounded 
•by  the  commercial  use  of  the  same  term  for  both.  Among  English-speak- 
ing engineers  it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  refer  to  the  two  kinds 
of  material  as  "coal-tar  creosote"  and  "wood  creosote."  German  experts 
usually  observe  the  distinction  and  do  not  associate  the  term  creosote  with 
dead  oil.  Coal  tar  creosote  distils  at  a  temperature  of  480  deg.  F.,  con- 
tains naphthalene  as  its  principal  antiseptic  element  and  is  insoluble  in 
water.  Wood  creosote  is  obtained  from  the  destructive  distillation  of 
pine  timber  and  contains  parainne  as  the  principal  antiseptic.  Another 
important  antiseptic  property  of  both  is  due  to  the  large  percentage  of 
-carbolic  acid  contained.  Dead  oil  is  heavier  than  water,  weighing  about  8.8 
Ibs.  per  gallon,  and  before  exposure  it  is  colorless.  The  napthalene  con- 
tained in  dead  oil  melts  at  a  temperature  of  174  deg.  F.,  and  when  once 
liquefied  and  entered  within  the  wood  cells  it  solidifies  and  becomes  per- 
manently fixed.  Its  specific  gravity  at  the  boiling  point  (212  to  220  F.) 
is  0.9778. 

Creosoting  is  done  in  two  different  ways.  In  the  Blythe  process  there 
are  three  stages:  seasoning,  extraction  of  sap  and  moisture,  and  the  in- 
jection of  oil.  The  ties,  if  not  well  seasoned,  are  sometimes  kiln  dried,  so 
as  to  evaporate  all  moisture  possible.  They  are  then  placed  in  large  cyl- 
inders, to  which  live  steam  is  admitted  and  held  for  several  hours.  The 
object  of  steaming  is  to  liquefy  the  portions  of  the  sap  which  have  solidi- 
fied during  the  process  of  seasoning.  After  the  steam  is  let  off  the  air 
is  exhausted  and  a  partial  vacuum  is  maintained  for  a  time,  the  result 
•of  which  is  that  the  moisture  and  the  liquids  formed  by  the  steam  in  the 
interior  of  the  timber  are  expelled  and  the  delicate  enclosures  of  the 
sap  cells  are  broken  down,  clearing  the  way  for  ingress  of  the  oil.  While 
the  vacuum  is  held  heat  is  maintained  by  steam  coils,  to  prevent  the  va- 
pors from  condensing  and  remaining  in  the  timber.  After  the  products 
of  this  treatment  are  drawn  off  the  cylinder  is  then  filled  with  the  hot 
oil  at  about  175  deg.  and  held  under  pressure  until  the  desired  absorption 
has  been  obtained.  In  the  Bethell  process  of  treatment  the  oil  is  applied 
by  pressure  in  the  same  manner  but  without  previous  steaming. 

The  details  of  the  process  as  carried  out  at  the  works  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  Co.,  at  Houston,  Tex.,  are  about  as  follows:  The  timber  is  run 
into  a  retort,  which  is  then  closed,  and  a  vacuum  of  22  to  24  ins.  is  set 
up  and  held  about  10  minutes.  Live  steam  is  then  turned  in,  destroying 
the  vacuum  and  raising  the  temperature  of  the  timber,  and  after  15  or  20 
minutes  another  vacuum  is  pumped  to  open  the  pores  of  the  wood.  After 
holding  the  vacuum  for  15  or  20  minutes  live  steam  is  again  turned  on 
and  the  pressure  held  for  6  to  8  hours,  care  being  taken  not  to  permit  the 
temperature  to  exceed  250  deg.  F.  After  blowing  off  the  steam  a  vacuum 
of  24  to  26  ins.  is  again  set  up,  the  timber  and  retort  meanwhile  being 
held  at  a  temperature  of  225  deg.  by  a  heating  process.  This  (third) 
vacuum  is  maintained  from  four  to  six  hours^,  after  which  the  expelled 
liquids  are  drawn  off  and  the  cylinders  are  filled  with  creosote  oil  at  a 
temperature  of  about  170  deg  (to  make  it  sufficiently  fluid  to  enter  the 
wood),  when  the  pumps  are  again  started  and  the  pressure  is  raised  to  80 
or  100  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  and  maintained  from  one  to  two  hours,  according 


946  MISCELLANEOUS 

to  the  quality  of  the  timber.  The  average  time  of  treatment  is  from  IS- 
to  20  hours  and  the  average  absorption  1.2  gallons  or  about  10J  Ibs.  of 
creosote  per  cubic  foot.  The  average  cost  of  treatment  has  been  as  low 
as  $10.23  per  1000  ft.  B.  M.,  for  a  year's  work.  Of  this  amount  $8.26  rep- 
resented the  cost  of  the  creosote  oil,  $1.23  the  cost  for  labor,  59  cents  the 
cost  of  the  fuel  and  15  cents  the  maintenance  of  the  plant.  At  the  works 
of  the  Norfolk  Creosoting  Co.,  -Norfolk,  Va.,  the  timber  is  first  subjected 
to  the  action  of  live  steam  for  five  to  seven  hours  at  a  pressure  of  35  to  55 
Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  the  temperature  not  to  exceed  275  deg.  F.  unless  the  tim- 
ber is  water  soaked,  in  which  case  it  may  be  permitted  to  reach  285  F. 
for  the  first  half  of  the  period.  At  the  expiration  of  the  steaming  the 
chamber  is  emptied  of  sap  and  water  and  a  vacuum  of  at  least  20  ins. 
is  set  up  and  maintained  at  a  temperature  of  100  to  130  F.  for  a  period  of 
from  five  to  eight  hours,  or  until  the  discharge  from  the  vacuum  pump 
indicates,  by  absence  of  odor  and  taste,  that  the  timber  has  ceased  to  expel 
sap.  The  chamber  is  again  emptied  of  sap  and  water  and  the  oil  is  ad- 
mitted and  pumped  to  such  a  pressure  as  will  cause  the  absorption  of  the 
desired  quantity  per  cubic  foot  or  the  desired  depth  of  penetration  into 
round  timber,  as  computed  from  the  readings  of  the  measuring  gages. 

Creosoting  is  conceded  to  be  the  most  effective  of  all  timber  treating 
processes.  It  is  the  process  almost  universally  used  in  France,  and  in 
England  it  is  more  extensively  used  than  any  other.  Creosoted  beech 
ties  on  the  Northern  Ey.  of  France  have  an  average  life  of  27  years  in 
main  track,  and  then  the  best  of  the  ties  removed  in  renewing  out  of 
face  are  used  in  side-tracks  seven  or  eight  years  longer.  On  the  Houston 
&  Texas  Central  E.  E.  70  per  cent  of  a  number  of  loblolly  pine  pole  ties 
(natural  life  six  years)  laid  in  the  Houston  yard  in  1874  were  still  in 
service  after  26  years,  the  ties  which  had  been  taken  out  having  been 
removed  on  account  of  rail  cutting.  Of  3000  creosoted  ties  of  the  same 
kind  of  timber  placed  in  the  track  on  the  Houston  prairie  in  1880,  71.6 
per  cent  were  still  in  the  track  after  17  years,  although  many  of  them 
were  more  or  less  badly  rail  cut.  By  protecting  these  with  tie  plates 
nearly  all  were  still  in  service  after  22  years.  In  this  track  the  gravel 
ballast  was  filled  in  to  completely  cover  the  ties.  These  ties  were  treated 
with  imported  material,  and  the  results  have  been  more  satisfactory  than 
those  obtainable  from  the  use  of  domestic  creosote. 

As  to  the  relative  merits  of  dead  oil  and  wood  creosote,  the  former  is 
much  the  more  efficient  as  an  antiseptic  and  is  always  preferred  in  first- 
class  work.  Wood  creosote  is  cheaper  than  dead  oil  and  less  dense.  The 
weight  of  authority  seems  to  establish  that  wood  creosote  is  soluble  in  wa- 
ter and  that  paraffine,  its  principal  constituent,  is  not  an  effective  preser- 
vative of  timber.  It  is  usually  specified  that  to  exert  the  best  antiseptic 
qualities,  dead  oil  should  contain  no  .water  or  ammonia,  or  ingredients 
soluble  in  water;  that  it  must  be  free  from  tar;  that  it  should  be  com- 
pletely liquid  at  100  deg.  F.  According  to  German  authorities,  the  oils 
found  to  be  most  desirable  in  oil  of  tar  are  those  which  boil  at  medium 
temperatures,  as  those  which  boil  at  low  temperatures  are  too  volatile  for 
retention,  and  also  too  costly  for  the  purpose,  while  those  which  boil  at 
the  higher  temperatures  are  too  heavy  for  effective  .penetration.  The- 
latter  contain  too  much  solid  matter,  or  substances  which  harden  upon 
the  penetration  of  the  solution  into  the  cooler  parts  of  the  interior  of  the- 
tie,  thus  obstructing  the  pores  of  the  wood  before  its  impregnation  is- 
complete.  It  therefore  becomes  important  to  remove  from  the  creosote 
both  the  lightest  and  the  heaviest  oils,  in  order  to  retain  the  medium  ones. 
The  weight  of  the  oil  at  59  F.  may  not  be  less  than  8.69  Ibs.  per  gallon, 


TIE   PRESERVATION"  947 

and  not  above  9.15  Ibs.  per  gallon;  that  is,  its  specific  gravity  must  lie 
between  1.045  and  1.10.  Some  of  the  German  railway  specifications 
require  that  it  must  not  con-tain  to  exceed  one  per  cent  of  lightly  volatile 
oils  which  boil  at  a  temperature  lower  than  257  F.  Of  the  remaining  con- 
stituents at  least  75  per  cent  of  the  oils  shall  boil  between  455  and  752  F. 
Twenty-four  per  cent  at  the  most  may  boil  at  temperatures  between  302 
and  455  F. 

Eespecting  the  chief  antiseptic  property  of  creosote,  experts  are  not 
entirely  in  agreement.  The  Germans  seem  to  lay  great  stress  upon  the 
component  carbolic  acid  in  dead  oil;  in  fact  "oil  of  tar  containing  car- 
bolic acid"  is  the  term  in  common  usage  to  denote  the  article  of  most 
approved  quality.  The  specifications  of  the  Prussian  State  Kailways  re- 
quire that  at  least  10  per  cent  of  the  constituents  of  oil  of  tar  must  be 
oils  of  the  carbolic  acid  type,  dissolving  in  caustic  soda  lye  of  1.15  specfic 
gravity.  The  constituent  naphthalene  of  coal-tar  creosote  is  seldom  con- 
tained in  quantities  less  than  5  per  cent,  and  sometimes  as  large  as  10 
per  cent  and  over,  in  the  original  tar,  according  to  the  graduation  of  the 
temperature  in  the  production  of  the  tar.  According  to  the  German  view 
the  antiseptic  property  of  naphthalene  resides  in  the  fact  that  after  the 
ties  have  become  cooled  it  crystalizes  and  contributes  toward  the  obstruc- 
tion of  the  cells,  thus  preventing  the  escape  of  the  volatile  parts  of  the 
creosote  and  the  entrance  of  moisture  and  fungi.  If  present  in  consid- 
erable quantity,  however,  it  may  prevent  the  entrance  into  the  cells  of 
ihe  wood  of  the  heavy  oils  of  the  creosote',  and  for  this  reason  it  is  desired 
that  the  oil  of  tar  shall  be  "as  free  as  possible  from  naphthalene,"  and 
that,  in  any  event,  it  be  excluded  to  the  point  where  none  shall  be  pre- 
cipitated at  a  temperature  of  59  F.  If  such  condition  is  not  obtained 
the  naphthalene  will  affect  the  fluidity  of  the  creosote  at  this  tempera- 
ture. On  the  other  hand  some  American  authorities  regard  the  naphtha- 
lene compounds,  which  occur  in  commercial  dead  oil  of  coal  tar  to  the 
extent  of  from  30  to  60  per  cent,  by  weight,  as  among  the  most  effective 
constituents  of  the  antiseptic,  and  consider  that  carbolic  acid  is  unstable 
and  too  volatile  at  ordinary  temperatures  to  be  so  classed.  Naphthalene 
is  insoluble  in  cold  weather,  only  slightly  so  in  hot  water,  and  at  normal 
temperatures  is  only  slightly  volatile.  The  pyridine  and  the  quinoline 
series  and  anthracene  are  other  insoluble  and  non-volatile  compounds  that 
are  classed  among  the  most  important  antiseptic  constituents.  By  way 
of  contrast,  the  specification  for  creosoted  timber  of  the  Norfolk  Creo- 
soting  Co.  requires  that  the  dead  oil  of  coal  tar  must  be  fluid  at  118  deg. 
F.,  the  limits  of  the  specific  gravity  are  1.015  and  1.05,  the  yield  of  naph- 
thalene at  a  temperature  of  410  to  470  deg.  F.  must  be  40  to  60  per  cent 
by  volume,  and  the  dead  oil  must  not  contain  more  than  5  per  cent  of  car- 
bolic acid.  The  specifications  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  require  that 
the  material  must  be  completely  liquid  at  100  deg.  F.  and  contain  20  to  30- 
per  cent  of  naphthalene. 

The  quantity  of  creosote  injected  is  usually  10  to  12  Ibs.  per  cubic 
foot  for  pine  ties  and  16  to  24  Ibs.  per  cu.  ft.  for  pine  pile  timber.  Beech 
will  readily  take  in  15  Ibs.  per  cu.  ft.,  but  oak  under  similar  conditions 
absorbs  only  about  4|-  Ibs.  per  cu  ft.  In-  England  Baltic  pine  ties  5x10 
ins.xS  ft.  11  ins.  long  are  injected  with  28  to  30  Ibs.  of  creosote,  at  a 
cost  of  25  to  30  cents  each,  and  last  about  16  years  under  heavy  traffic. 
In  France  beech  and  other  ties  of  the  most  perishable  woods  are  injected 
with  60  Ibs.  of  creosote,  *at  a  cost  of  about  65  cents  per  tie,  and  last  25 
to  30  years.  In  the  United  States  the  creosoting  process  has,  on  account 
of  its  high  cost,  been  applied  to  tie  treatment  but  very  little,  although 


'948  MISCELLANEOUS 

for  piling  and  timbers  used  in  wharves,  piers  and  other  structures  subject 
to  destruction  by  marine  life  it  has  been  used  extensively.  On  bridge  tim- 
bers creosote  is  sometimes  applied  with  a  brush,  three  applications  being 
made.  The  penetration  is  said  to  be  sufficient  to  preserve  the  outer  por- 
tion of  the  timber  and  equalize  the  life  of  all  parts.  For  instance,  where 
timber  joins  timber  the  fiber  about  the  joint  decays  much  sooner  than 
parts  of  the  timber  not  in  contact.  In  some  cases  the  caps  and  sills  of 
trestle  bents  are  preserved,  while  the  posts  are  not,  since  the  horizontal 
members  are  the  most  difficult  of  removal  in  making  repairs. 

Bumettizing. — The  process  most  extensively  employed  for  treating 
ties  in  this  country  has  been  the  zinc  chloride  or  burnettizing  process,  so 
named  from  Sir  William  Burnett^  the  inventor.  The  first  roads  to  take 
it  up  were  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  (in  1885)  ;  the  Union 
Pacific  and  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  &  Pacific  (in  1886)  ;  and  the 
Southern  Pacific  (in  1887).  The  process  consists  in  subjecting  the 
ties  alternately  to  live  steam  and  vacuum,  to  liquefy  and  extract  the 
sap,  and  then  to  fill  the  treating  cylinder  with  the  zinc  chloride  solu- 
tion and  apply  pressure  to  force  it  into  the  wood.  The  zinc-tannin  or 
Wellhouse  process  is  the  same  with  the  addition  of  glue  and  tannin,  ex- 
plained more  in  detail  further  along.  The  first  plant  built  in  this  country 
for  working  the  zinc  chloride  process  was  that  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  & 
Santa  Fe  By.,  at  Las  Vegas,  N.  M.,  in  1885.  This  plant  was  at  first 
•equipped  with  two  retorts  6  ft.  in  diam.  and  106  ft.  long,  and  in  1896 
the  plant  was  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  a  third  retort.  This  plant 
operates  on  mountain  pine  ties  costing  about  30  cents  each.  The  cost  of 
treatment  by  the  zinc-tannin  process  has  varied,  during  the  years  since 
the  plant  was  built,  from  15  to  11.8  cents  per  tie — for  chemicals,  fuel, 
labor  and  ordinary  repairs  to  plant,  interest  and  depreciation  not  included. 
The  amount  of  dry  chloride  injected  has  varied,  in  the  different  years, 
from  0.28  to  0.47  Ib.  per  cubic  foot  of  timber.  On  the  Union  Pacific  E.  E. 
ti  plant  was  erected  at  Laramie,  Wyo.,  in  1886,  which  was  operated  about 
two  years,  the  product  of  the  works  being  242,000  ties  treated  by  the  zinc- 
tannin  process.  This  plant  had  two  retorts.  It  was  closed  during  a 
period  of  financial  Stringency  and  later  burned  down  and  was  not  rebuilt. 
The  plant  of  the  Chicago  Tie  Preserving  Co.,  in  Chicago,  was  built  in 
1886,  being  equipped  at  first  with  two  retorts.  A  third  retort  was  added 
in  1891  and  a  fourth  in  1894.  This  plant  has  been  operated  mainly  on 
ties  used  by  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  &  Pacific  Ey.  The  process  worked 
has  been  the  zinc-tannin,  at  a  contract  price  of  about  16  cents  per  tie,  and 
the  ties  treated  have  been  principally  hemlock,  with  some  tamarack. 

A  plant  for  the  Houston  &  Texas  Central  E.  E.  was  constructed  at 
Houston,  Tex.,  in  1887,  and  for  some  years  ties  were  burnettized  at  this 
plant  for  the  Southern  Pacific  road.  In  1891  the  Southern  Pacific  Co. 
built  a  plant  of  its  own  near  Houston,  equipped  with  two  cylinders,  each 
G  ft.  in  diam.  and  112  ft.  long,  and  another  5  ft,  diam.  and  109  ft.  long, 
open  at  both  ends,  with  narrow-gage  tracks  running  entirely  through  the 
cylinders.  At  one  end  of  the  cylinders  there  is  a  yard  containing  untreated 
material  and  at  the  other  end  a  yard  in  which  the  ties  are  piled  after  being 
put  through  the  preserving  process.  In  both  yards  there  are  steam  traveling 
derricks.  The  kinds  of  wood  treated  are  long-leaf  and  short-leaf  yellow  pine, 
from  eastern  Texas  and  western  Louisiana,  the  natural  life  when  used  as 
ties  being  only  three  to  four  years.  For  preserving  ties  the  chloride  of  zinc 
process  is  used  and  for  bridge  ties,  timbers  and  piles  the  timber  is  creo- 
soted.  This  company  has  also  a  portable  plant,  built  in  1894,  for  the 
Pacific  system  of  the  road,  which  is  operated  alternately  in  California  and 


TIE   PRESERVATION  949^ 

Oregon,  being  moved  from  point  to  point  and  set  up  on  side-tracks  speci- 
ally prepared,  it  being  cheaper  to  move  the  plant  than  to  transport  the 
ties  several  hundred  miles  to  and  from  a  stationary  one.  This  outfit  is 
equipped  with  two  cylindrical  retorts  6  ft.  diam.  and  114  ft.  long,  mounted 
on  car  trucks  and  provided  with  the  necessary  auxiliaries,  such  as  boilers 
for  steaming',  air  pumps,  solution  tanks,  etc.;  which  are  mounted  on  flat 
cars,  the  combined  outfit  forming  a  train  of  about  eight  cars.  The  ar- 
rangements for  setting  up  the  plant  are  so  well  planned  that  the  expense 
of  handling  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  two  cylindrical  retorts  are 
run  end  foremost  against  a  raised  platform,  so  that  ties  can  be  run  into 
and  out  of  them  on  small  trucks  using  a  track  inside  the  retort.  About 
2500  ties,  in  five  charges,  can  be  treated  in  24  hours.  California  moun- 
tain pine  and  spruce,  and  Oregon  fir  are  the  timbers  treated.  The  plant 
is  also  adaptive  to  creosoting  either  ties  or  long  pile  timbers,  without  any 
change  in  apparatus.  The  entire  cost  for  materials,  fuel,  labor  for  operat- 
ing and  ordinary  repairs  to  plant,  for  burnettizing  with  this  plant  has 
been  as  low  as  8  cents  each  for  soft-wood  ties  7x8  ins.xS  ft.  A  reasonable- 
estimate  of  the  interest  charge  and  an  allowance  for  depreciation  of  equip- 
ment would  probably  have  raised  the  cost  to  10  cents  per  tie.  The  cost 
for  burnettizing  6x8-in.x8-ft,  yellow  pine  ties  at  the  Houston  plant  has 
been  as  low  as  6.44  cents  per  tie,  for  a  years  work.  The  items  of  this 
cost  were  as  follows:  zinc  chloride,  2.54  cents;  fuel,  1.04  cents;  labor, 
2.63  cents;  maintenance  0.23  cent. 

After  the  treating  of  ties  was  started  in  this  country,  in  1885,  prog- 
ress in  the  development  of  the  industry  during  the  12  succeeding  years 
was  slow,  the  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.,  the  C.,  K.  I.  &  P.  and  the  Southern  Pacific 
being  the  only  roads  to  take  up  the  work  on  a  considerable  scale;  but  in 
the  five-year  period  beginning  with  1897  the  number  of  plants  was  largely 
increased,  being  built  either  for,  or  to  be  used  for,  the  following  roads,, 
at  the  places  named :  The  Gulf,  Colorado  &  Santa  Fe  Ey.,  at  Somerville, 
Tex. ;  a  second  plant  for  the  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  Ey.,  at  Bellemont,  Ariz. ;  the 
Burlington  &  Missouri  Eiver  E.  E.,  at  Edgemont,  S.  Dak.,  later  removed 
to  Sheridan,  Wyo.;  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  E.  E.,  portable  plant; 
the  Great  Northern  Ey.,  at  Kalispell,  Mont.;  the  Missouri,  Kansas  & 
Texas  Ey.,  at  Greenville,  Tex. ;  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  &  Texas  Ey.,  at 
Alamogordo.  JST.  Mex.;  the  Union  Pacific  E,  E.,  portable  plant;  the  Ore- 
gon  Short  Line  E.  E,,  portable  plant;  the  Illinois  Central  E.  E.,  at  Car- 
bondale,  111.;  the  Mexican  Central  Ey.,  at  Aguascalientes,  Mex.  At  the 
works  of  the  Internationa]  Creosoting  and  Construction  Co.,  in  Beaumont, 
Tex.,  ties  have  been  treated  by  the  Wellhouse  process  for  the  Mexican 
Central  and  the  Hutchinson  &  Southern  (A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  system)  roads. 
It  is  thus  seen  that  west  of  Chicago  the  tie  preserving  business  has  become 
well  established.  The  Southern  Pacific,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa 
Fe,  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  Eiver  and  the  Illinois  Central  roads  use- 
the  straight  burnettizing  or  zinc  chloride  process  and  the  other  roads 
named  use  the  Wellhouse  or  zinc-tannin  process.  The  engineers  wha 
have  been  most  prominently  connected  with  the  development  of  the  Bur- 
nett and  Wellhouse  processes  in  this  country  are  the  late  Joseph  P.  Card,. 
Mr.  Octave  Chanute  and  Samuel  M.  Eowe. 

One  of  the  largest  tie  treating  plants  in  this  country  is  that  of  the 
Texas  Tie  &  Lumber  Preserving  Co.,  on  the  Gulf,  Colorado  &  Santa  Fe 
Ey.,  at  Somerville,  Tex.  This  plant  was  erected  in  1897,  with  four  re- 
torts, and  later  the  capacity  was  increased  by  two  additional  retorts  and  a 
chloride  solution  tank.  The  plant  was  built  for  treating  ties,  piling  and 
other  structural  timber,  and  comprises  all  of  the  appliances  essential  for 


950 


MISCELLANEOUS 


burnettizing  and  creosoting.  On  general  principles  the  machinery  and 
its  arrangement  are  the  same  as  in  other  plants  constructed  for  the  same 
purpose,  the  similarit}7  in  all  respects  being  close  except  in  some  minor 
details,  so  that  a  description  of  this  plant  and  its  operation  will  answer 


TIE    PRESERVATION 


951 


for  a  typical  case.  Figure  477  shows  the  layout  of  the  plant  as  first  con- 
structed, there  being  a  cylinder  house,  116x42  ft.,  containing  four  treating 
•cylinders  or  retorts  109  ft.  long  and  6  ft.  diam.  Of  the  six  cylinders  which 
the  plant  now  has  two  are  fitted  with  apparatus  necessary  to  creosote. 
The  two  extra  cylinders  lie  adjacent  to  the  four  shown,  in  an  addition  to 
the  cylinder  house,  the  only  rearrangement  of  the  layout  being  to  throw 
the  main  side-track  farther  out  from  the  cylinder  house.  Adjoining  the 
cylinder  house  is  the  pump  house,  containing  the  pumps,  air  compressors 
and  valves  admitting  liquids  to  the  retorts.  For  storing  the  zinc  chloride 
and  tannin  solutions  there  are  three  wood  tanks  30  ft.  diam.  and  20  ft. 
high,  and  for  storing  creosote  there  is  an  iron  tank  30  ft.  diam.  and  18  ft. 
high.  There  is  a  general  storehouse  50x32  ft.,  a  zinc  chloride  storehouse 
50x32  ft.,  and  a  building  18x28  ft.  containing  vats  for  mixing  the  chlor- 
ide solution. 


Fig.  478. — Interior  of  Cylinder  House  Showing  Retorts. 

The  retorts  or  treating  cylinders  (Fig.  478)  are  made  of  7/16-in. 
steel  plates  in  sections  4  ft.  3  ins.  long  overlapping  one  another  2-J  ins. 
Each  retort  has  a  top  dome  for  admitting  compressed  air  and  a  bottom 
dome  for  the  admission  of  steam  and  liquids  and  for  drawing  off  the 
liquids.  Each  'retort  is  supported  at  intervals  of  8  ft.  If  ins.  (at  the 
centers  of  alternate  sheets)  on  oak  saddles  resting  on  rollers,  so  as  to  give 
with*  change  in  length  of  the  retort  due  to  variation  of  temperature.  Be- 
tween the  ends  of  each  pair  of  retorts  there  is  a  12xl2-in.  gate  post,  and 
to  these  posts  are  hinged  the  heads  for  closing  the  retorts,  weighing  about 
3000  Ibs.  each.  The  head  is  closed  down  and  locked  by  24  bars  which  rad- 
iate from  the  center  and  operate  over  fulcrums  bearing  on  the  outer  rim 
of  the  head.  The  outer  end  of  each  of  these  clamp  bars  is  held  down  by 
a  sfaybolt  attached  to  a  cast  iron  flange  riveted  to  the  cylinder  shell  to 
serve  as  a  seat  for  the  head,  and  the  inner  end  is  attached  to  a  plate  backed 
by  a  large  nut  turning  on  a  3f-in.  screw,  the  head  of  which  bears  against 
the  inside  face  of  the  retort  head.  This  nut  is  turned  by  six  spider  arms, 
•except  for  the  last  few  turns  in  screwing  down  the  head,  when  a  large 


952 


MISCELLANEOUS 


lever  or  wrench  is  employed  to  tighten  it  hard  against  its  seat.  In  Fig, 
479,  which  is  a  general  view  of  the  plant,  one  of  these  levers  is  shown 
in  position  on  a  cylinder  head,  and  the  head  of  the  cylinder  farthest  to  the 
right  is  shown  swung  open. 

The  ties  are  unloaded  from  cars  run  alongside  the  loading  platform,. 


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TIE   PRESERVATION 


953 


and  transferred  to  the  tram  cars  or  trucks  used  in  charging.  From  25  to 
35  ties  are  bound  on  each  truck,  in  a  cylindrical  bunch,  by  chains,  with 
sticks  placed  between  the  layers  to  give  free  circulation  of  the  liquids. 
The  trucks  for  each  charge  are  run  together  in  trains  without  coupling,  so 


I. 

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o 


954  MISCELLANEOUS 

as  to  economize  room.  A  train  is  run  in  and  out  of  a  retort  by  means 
of  a  cable  attached  to  the  hind  car,  which  pushes  those  in  front.  The  cable 
is  hauled  by  a  shifting  engine  with  a  winding  drum.  One  of  these  engines 
is  located  near  the  cylinder  house,  as  seen  in  Figs.  477  and  479,  and  the 
other  (not  shown)  is  at  the  side  of  the  loading  platform,  448  ft.  in  rear 
of  the  one  shown.  The  engine  near  the  cylinder  house  is  used  for  shift- 
ing charges  into  and  out  of  retorts  1  and  2  (numbered  from  the  pump 
house),  and  that  in  the  rear  for  shifting  charges  for  retorts  3  and  4  and 
to  handle  all  trains  hauled  onto  the  platform.  In  order  to  haul  a  train 
or  charge  into  a  retort  the  cable  must  b"e  passed  around  a  pulley  at  the 
rear  end  of  the  retort,  shown  in  Fig.  477  by.  a  conventional  sign ;  in  Fig. 
478  the  cable  so  used  is  seen  lying  stretched  out  on  the  floor.  Figure  479 
shows  at  the  left  a  train  of  ties  just  taken  out  of  retort  No.  4,  and  at  the 
right  a  train  ready  to  be  run  into  the  same  cylinder.  The  weight  of  a 
retort  fully  charged  is  129  tons,  of  which  38  tons  is  the  empty  retort  and 
91  tons  the  charge.  The  latter  is  made  up  of  13  cars  weighing  in  the 
aggregate  5.2  tons,  the  ties  or  timbers  generally  weighing  about  35  tons, 
and  the  solution  about  51  tons. 

The  gage  of  the  tram  tracks  is  24i  ins.,  and  where  standard  gage 
tracks  coincide  with  the  train  lines  a  third  rail  is  laid.  The  ties  shipped 
from  the  plant  are  run  upon  a  loading  platform  between  two  standard- 
gage  side-tracks.  This  platform  is  450  ft.  long  from  the  top  of  the  incline, 
but  only  one  end  of  it  appears  in  Fig.  477.  Figure  481  shows  this  plat- 
form in  relation  to  the  tie  yard  and  the  various  side-tracks  and  tram 
tracks. 

In  some  tie  preserving  plants  the  first  thing  in  order  in  the  process 
is  to  set  up  a  vacuum  of  22  to  24  ins.  and  maintain  it  for  about  10  min- 
utes, to  remove  the  air  from  the  timber  and  open  up  the  pores.  The  live 
steam  is  then  turned  in  without  breaking  the  vacuum.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  treating  process  at  the  Somerville  plant  live  steam  is  admitted  a? 
soon  as  the  retort  is  closed,  a  3-in.  drain  pipe  being  left  open  until  all 
of  the  cold  air  is  expelled;  and  after  that  is  closed  a  1-in.  drain  is  left 
open  while  the  steaming  continues,  to  carry  off  the  condensation  and  the 
sap  which  flows  from  the  ties.  The  steam  is  held  at  a  pressure  of  30  to 
45  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  from  two  to  six  hours,  depending  upon  the  size  of  the 
timber  and  its  condition  with  respect  to  seasoning.  Large  timbers  and 
piling  require  a  longer  time  to  heat  through  than  small  sizes.  The  more 
dense  the  timber  the  longer  the  time  necessary  to  heat  the  fiber  at  the 
center.  The  heat  of  the  steam  serves  to  vaporize  the  liquid  sap  in  ;the 
timber,  liquefy  some  constituents  of  the  sap  which  may  have  become 
solidified,  and  possibly  to  solidify  some  of  the  albumen,  which  coagulates 
at  167  deg.  F.  The  steam  is  finally  blown  off,  either  into  the  atmosphere 
or  into  a  coil  in  the  creosote  tank,  in  case  creosote  is  being  used.  With- 
out permitting  the  retort  to  cool,  a  vacuum  of  about  24  ins.,  or  as  near 
to  that  as  can  be,  is  pumped.  This  vacuum  is  obtained  by  the  aid  of  sur- 
face condensers,  such  assistance  to  the  pumps  obviating  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  a  vacuum  in  the  presence  of  vapor.  The  vacuum  enables  the 
timber  to  expel  the  sap  and  other  liquefied  matters,  which  collect  at  the 
bottom  of  the  retort  and  are  drained  off  through  the  bottom  dome  in 
process  of  pumping  the  vacuum.  The  vacuum  pump  is  started  as  soon 
as  the  steam  has  been  blown  off  sufficiently  "to  permit  the  pump  to  show 
any  gage,"  in  order  that  the  vapor  and  air  in  the  sap  cells  may  begin  their 
movement  out  of  the  timber.  "If  the  retort  is  allowed  to  cool/'  says  the 
manager  of  the  plant,  "the  timber  has  a  tendency  to  contract  and  the 
cells  fill  with  air,  making  the  work  of  'emptying5  the  timber  more  difficult. 


TIE   PRESERVATION  955 

AVe  find  that  in  doing  this  we  do  not  have  to  drain  our  cylinders  after 
the  vacuum,  as  they  are  perfectly  dry  at  that  time/'  Without  breaking 
the  vacuum  the  zinc  chloride  and  glue  solution  is  admitted,  and  as  soon 
xts  the  cylinder  is  full  the  pressure  pumps  are  started.  The  pressure  is 
worked  hydraulically,  by  the  solution  pumps,  and  held  at  105  Ibs.  per  sq. 
in.  for  1J  hours.  It  is  found,  however,  that  almost  all  of  the  solution 
enters  the  timber  while  the  pressure  is  being  attained.  In  the  experience 
at  this  plant  the  best  results  are  obtained  when  the  solution  is  brought  to 
a  temperature  of  about  120  deg.,  as  a  cold  bath  on  hot  timber  does  not 
aid  absorption.  The  timber  is  allowed  to  take  up  all  the  solution  it  will. 
If  the  amount  of  pure  chloride  absorbed  is  found  to  be  too  great  the 
strength  of  the  solution  for  subsequent  charges  is  weakened.  The  tim- 
ber treated,  is  principally  southern  sap  pine,  or  what  is  known  as  loblolly, 
a  small  part  being  long-leaf  pine;  and  it  is  allowed  to  absorb  .35  to 
,45  Ib.  of  the  pure  zinc  chloride  per  cubic  foot.  After  the  surplus  chlor- 
ide solution  ,has  been  forced  back  into  the  storage  tank  a  solution  of  one 
half  of  1  per  cent  tannin  in  water  is  introduced  and  kept'  up  one  hour 
under  a  pressure  of  80  to  100  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  After  the  tannin  solution 
has  been  forced  out  the  retort  is  opened  and  the  ties  are  run  out.  The 
liquids  enter  the  retort  by  gravity  and  are  forced  out  by  compressed 
air.  As  soon  as  a  charge  is  taken  out  another  stands  loaded  ready 
to  be  taken  in.  The  length  of  the  run  varies,  of  course,  with  the  con- 
dition of  the  timber,  but  is  usually  eight  to  ten  hours,  and  the  capacity 
of  the  plant  is  6000  to  9000  ties  treated  per  day.  The  number  of  men 
employed  is  130.  The  aim  is  to  have  all  the  timber  thoroughly  seasoned 
before  treatment.  The  process  of  injecting  creosote  into  piling  or  other 
timber  is  similar  to  that  of  burnettizing,  12  to  15  Ibs.  of  creosote  being 
used  per  cubic  foot. 

Zinc  chloride  is  a  product  resulting  from  the  treatment  of  metallic 
zinc  with  hydrochloric  acid  (H  01).  It  is  not  manufactured  at  the  plant, 
however,  but  is  bought  in  the  "fused"  or  crystal  state  in  sheet  iron  drums, 
each  containing  1000  Ibs.  of  the  salt.  At  the  plant  it  is  dissolved  in  water 
in  the  vats  to  a  solution  of  about  1.6  to  2  per  cent  strength  and  with  it 
is  mixed  dissolved  glue  in  the  proportion  of  about  one  half  of  1  per  cent 
by  weight.  In  some  other  plants  the  glue  is  kept  separate  from  the  zinc 
chloride  solution  and  is  not  introduced  into  the  retort  until  after  the 
chloride  solution  has  been  injected  and  the  surplus  drawn  off.  In  this 
plant  it  has  been  found  more  satisfactory  to  mix  the  glue  with  the  chloride 
solution,  but  arrangements  have  been  made  to  keep  the  two  separate  in 
case  it  should  be  so  desired.  The  creosote  is  unloaded  from  barrels  (if 
imported  from  England)  and  tank  cars  and  run  into  an  underground 
tank  16  ft.  diam.  by  6  ft.  high.  Here  it  is  heated  by  coils  and  pumped 
into  the  large  tank,  wliere  it  is  again  heated  by  coils  to  150  to  175  deg.  F. 
before  it  is  run  into  the  retorts.  As  creosote  partially  solidifies  at  ordi- 
nary temperatures,  it  must  be  heated  in  order  to  be  handled,  and  for  this 
reason  it  must  be  steamed  by  hose  to  about  the  consistency  of  molasses 
before  it  can  be  drawn  from  the  barrels  or  tank  cars. 

A  modern  feature  in  this  plant  is  the  arrangement  of  the  valves  con- 
trolling the  flow  of  liquids  into  and  out  of  the  retorts  and  tanks  and  the 
admission  of  compressed  air  to  the  retorts.  In  plants  constructed  previ- 
ously to  this  one  these  valves  were  placed  at  the  tanks  and  retorts,  thus 
necessitating  considerable  running  back  and  forth  to  open  and  shut  valves. 
In  this  case  all  valves  necessary  for  the  operation  of  the  plant  are  located 
in  the  pump  room  within  easy  reach  of  the  engineer.  Figure  482  is  an 
interior  view  of  this  room.  At  the  left  of  the  room  stand  the  pressure 


956  MISCELLANEOUS 

pumps,  four  in  number,  and  just  beyond  are  the  valves  which  govern  the 
admission  of  steam  into  the  retorts.  Near  the  center  of  the  room,  appear- 
ing something  like  brake  shafts  on  freight  cars,-  are  the  stems  of  valves 
beneath  the  floor  which  govern  the  admission  of  solutions  into  the  retorts. 
Just  back  of  these  there  is  an  engine  and  dynamo  for  lighting  purposes. 
To  the  left  of  the  engine  stands  the  air  compressor,  while  behind  it  is 
the  hot  well  carrying  the  condensers,  to  the  right  of  which  stands  the 
vacuum  pump,  not  shown  in  the  view.  One  engineer  attends  to  all  the 
movements.  As  the  plant  is  operated  continuously,  both  day  and  night 
(except  12  hours  on  Sunday),  there  are  three  engineers  working  eight 
hours  each.  The  steam  enters  the  bottom  dome  and  is  carried  to  the  ends 
of  the  retort  along  the  bottom,  through  coils  which  pass  back  and  forth 
three  times  before  the  steam  isi  finally  exhausted  into  the  open  space.  The 
bottom  of  the  retort  is  in  this  way  heated  in  advance  of  the  top,  and  no- 
trouble  from  strained  sheets  is  experienced  when,  as  is  sometimes  the  case 
after  a  rotort.  has  been  left  open  for  a  time,  the  bottom  becomes  covered 
with  ice. 


Fig.  482. — Compressor  and  Valve  Room  in  Pump  House. 

The  portable  tie  treating  plant  in.  service  on  the  Chicago  &  Eastern 
Illinois  E.  K.  was  built  by  and  is  owned  by  the  Chicago  Tie  Preserving  Co. 
The  plant  has  one  retort  6  ft.  diam.  and  117  ft.  long,  in  two  sections, 
united  at  the  middle  by  a  bolted  flange  joint.  Each  58^-ft.  section  i? 
mounted  on  a  pair  of  freight-car  trucks,  for  transportation.  As  auxiliaries 
the  plant  has  eight  vertical  cylindrical  steel  tanks  94-  ft.  diam.  and  9-|  ft. 
high,  for  storage  purposes:  a  steel  measuring  tank  8  ft.  long.  5  ft.  wide 
and  8  ft.  high;  the  necessary  air  and  water  pumps,  condenser  and  boilers, 
of  which  there  are  two  of  50  h.  p.  each.  There  are  five  wooden  storage 
tanks  each  9J  ft.  diam.  and  9J  ft.  high,  two  lead-lined  vats  for  making 
the  zinc  chloride,  two  tubs  for  mixing  gelatine  (glue)  and  for  tannin. 
There  is  a  platform  320  ft.  long  and  22  ft.  wide,  provided  with  a  six-ton 
scale,  and  45  retort  cars.  The  capacity  of  the  plant  is  about  1000  ties 
per  day.  The  ties  treated  at  this  plant  are  of  water  oak,  red  oak,  yellow 
oak  and  black  oak.  having  an  average  natural  life  of  only  four  years 
when  usecl  for  tie  timber.  The  portable  plants  of  the  Union  Pacific  and 
Oregon  Short  Line  roads  are  similarly  constructed. 


TIE   PRESERVATION 


957 


Fig.  482  A. — Angler  Tie  Loader;   View  on  the  Platform. 


Fig.  482  B. — Angier  Tie  Loader;  View  in  the  Car. 

The  weight  added  to  ties  by  preservative  treatment  increases  mater- 
ially the  labor  of  handling  them.,  and  to  reduce  as  far  as  possible  the 
fatigue  on  the  men  and  to  expedite  the  loading  of  treated  ties  into  box 
•cars,  Mr.  F.  J.  Angier,  superintendent  of  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  Eiver 
p]ant  at  Sheridan,  Wyo.,  designed  a  portable  trolley  arrangement  that  is 
set  up  on  the  loading  platform  to  extend  over  and  across  the  loaded  tie- 
treating  trucks.  The  device  is  used  also  at  the  Kalispell  works  of  the 
Great  Northern  Ey.  It  consists  of  a  light  trestle  leg  or  A-prop  7  or  8  ft. 
high,  set  up  on  the  platform,  and  a  double-rail  trolley  track  running  into 
the  car  door  and  branching  toward  each  end  of  the  car.  Inside  the  car 
this  track  is  supported  on  hangers  clamped  to  the  carlines  and  hung  from 
the  door  rail.  For  carrying  the  ties  there  are  two  L-shaped  stirrups,  each 
swung  from  a  trolley  wheel  by  a  piece  of  chain.  Each  tie  handled  is 
placed  on  the  stirrup,  at  a  balance,  and  steadied  by  the  workman  as  it  is 
run  to  place  in  the  car.  As  the  outer  end  of  the  trolley  track  is  several 
inches  higher  than  it  is  in  the  car  the  loaded  trolley  is  moved  with  but 


958  MISCELLANEOUS 

little  or  no  pushing.  As  the  pile  of  ties  gets  lower  on  the  truck  the  chain 
is  let  out  on  the  trolley  hook  to  adjust  the  hight  of  the  stirrup  and  save 
lifting  the  ties.  The  loader  is  operated  by  six  men,  working  at  both  ends 
of  the  car  at  the  same  time.  The  truck  from  the  treating  cylinders,  hold- 
ing 30  to  40  ties,  is  run  upon  the  loading  platform  opposite  the  door  of 
the  car  to  be  loaded  and  under  the  trolley  track  temporarily  set  up,  as- 
seen  in  Fi£.  482 A.  Two  men  lift  the  ties  from  the  tram  car  to  the  car- 
riers. Two  men — one  for  each  carrier — push  the  ties  into  the  cars,  and 
two  other  men  assist  the  carriers  to  unload  and  pile  the  ties  up  in  place. 
The  sequence  of  operation  is  readily  understood  by  reference  to  Figs. 
482A  and  482B.  A  tram  truck  carrying  30  to.  40  ties  is  unloaded  and 
the  ties  are  stacked  up  in  the  car  in  an  average  time  of  five  minutes. 
When  rushed,  a  car  of  30  ties  has  been  unloaded  and  piled  up  in  the  car 
in  1  minute  and  50  seconds.  The  treated  ties  weigh  200  Ibs.  and  more 
each,  and  when  the  ties  were  loaded  entirely  by  hand  the  work  required 
two  men  to  a  tie.  With  the  loader  six  men  easily  handle  3000  ties  in  1Q 
hours.  The  same  work  required  10  men  before  the  loader  was  put  into 
service.  The  machine  is  quickly  transferred  from  one  car  to  another, 
taking  but  two  or  three  minutes'  time. 

Regarding  the  strength  of  solution  most  suitable  for  the  treatment 
there  is  some  difference  of  opinion.  The  most  general  practice  seems  to 
favor  a  solution  having  a  strength  of  1.4  to  2  per  cent,  securing  an 
absorption  of  one  third  to  four  tenths  of  the  volume  of  the  timber, 
or  approximately  ^  to  f  of  one  per  cent,  by  weight,  or,  more- 
exactly,  £  to  4  Ib.  per  cubic  foot,  of  the  pure  chloride,  for  the  softer 
varieties  of  timber,  such  as  pine.  At  the  Houston  plant  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  Co.  the  strength  of  the  solution  is  1.6  per  cent,  and  6x8-in.x8-ft. 
yellow  pine  ties  absorb  4^  gals,  of  the  solution  or  0.50  to  0.55  per  ceot, 
by  weight,  of  the  dry  chloride  salt.  While  there  are  many  who  believe 
that  a  stronger  solution  than  stated  will  injure  the  fiber  of  the  wood,  or 
that  the  hygroscopic  effect  of  the  excess  of  salt  will  keep  the  timber  con- 
tinually moist,  the  Chicago  Tie  Preserving  Co.  uses  a  solution  as  strong  as 
3.7  to  3.9  per  cent,  securing  an  absorption  of  solution  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  inject  J  Ib.  of  the  dry  chloride  per  cubic  foot,  and  no  detrimental  effect? 
are  reported.  In  Germany  a  solution  of  1.9  to  2.6  per  cent  strength 
is  considered  standard  practice.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some  author- 
ities who  have  had  long  experience  with  burnettizing  that  the  matter  of 
greatest  importance  is  the  thorough  absorption  of  the  solution  by  the 
timber^  and  that  if  such  is  obtained,  a  solution  as  strong  as  l|  per 
cent  will  give  results  practically  as  good  as  will  a  stronger  solution.  The 
zinc  chloride,  of  itself,  should  be  entirely  free  from  acid,  and  before  apply- 
ing it  to  the  timber  it  should  be  thoroughly  stirred  or  "agitated"  in  the 
solution  tanks,  so  that  the  salts  will  be  evenly  dissolved  in  the  water.  This 
is  usually  done  by  admitting  compressed  air  through  a  system  of  smalt 
pipes  called  the  "puddler."  Failure  to  properly  mix  the  solution  mijrht 
result  in  treating  some  of  the  ties  with  water,  or  very  weak  solution,  and 
others  with  a  solution  that  is  too  strong.  To  take  up  any  free  acid  that 
may  exist  in  the  solution  zinc  blocks  are  placed  in  the  mixing  vats  and 
solution  tanks.  In  steaming  the  timber  it  is  generally  considered  bad 
practice  to  use  a  pressure  exceeding  20  Ib?.  per  sq.  in.,  such  pressure  cor- 
responding to  a  temperature  of  260  deg.  F.  Some  think  the  temperature 
should  be  restricted  to  240  deg.,  corresponding  to  a  pressure  of  10  Ibs. 
per  sq.  in.,  or  to  250  deg.  at  the  outside.  The  effect  of  overheating  i*  to 
make  the  fibers  brittle,  and  the  tie?  will  fail  by  "shivering"  under  rail 
pressure.  In  practice  this  manner  of  failure  and  the  cause  thereof  are/ 
quite  well  understood. 


TIE    PRESERVATION  959 

The  amount  of  absorption  in  any  charge  of  ties  or  timber  may  be 
obtained  from  the  gage  readings  of  the  solution  tank  before  and  after 
treatment.  The  gage  readings  of  the  solution  tank  before  and  after  filling 
the  empty  retort,  and  again  with  the  empty  trucks  and  wire  cable  inside 
(both  obtained  once  for  all),  and  the  readings  before  and  after  forcing 
back  the  surplus  solution,  give  all  the  data  necessary  to  obtain  the  dis- 
placement or  volume  of  any  charge  of  timber;  or,  if  the  pieces  are  of 
regular  size  and  shape,  it  may  be  obtained  roughly  by  computation.  At 
some  plants  it  is  the  practice  to  take  the  solution  from  a  special,  accur- 
ately gaged  measuring  tank,  instead  of  from  the  main  tanks,  as  soon  as 
the  pressure  pump  is  started,  and  then  continue  the  pumping  until  a 
predetermined  amount  of  the  solution  has  been  absorbed  by  the  timber. 
The  portable  plant  in  service  on  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  R.  R. 
is  so  arranged  that  each  truck-load  of  ties  may  be  .weighed  separately, 
before  and  after  treatment,  as  the  truck  is  being  switched  to  and  from 
the  retort.  If  any  load  is  found  to  have  taken  less  solution  than  the 
amount  determined  upon,  that  truck  is  switched  out  of  the  train  and 
treated  again.  Of  course,  the  quantity  of  solution  absorbed  by  a  single 
truck-load  can  only  be  estimated,  and  that  in  a  general  way,  by  comparing 
the  weight  with  that  of  other  truck-loads,  for  it  is  impossible  to  find  how 
much  sap  and  water  has  been  withdrawn  by  the  steaming  and  vacuum 
processes. 

In  climate  of  ordinary  rainfall  or  heavier  it  is  found  that  metallic 
salts  of  any  kind,  being  soluble  in  water,  are  washed  or  leached  from  the 
ties,  thus  removing  the  preservative  agent.  The  Wellhouse  process,  used 
in  connection  with  burnettizing,  as  already  noted,  consists  in  injecting 
into  the  tie  with,  or  after,  the  zinc  solution,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  dis- 
solved glue  to  close  the  pores,  and  afterward  to  inject  an  extract  of  hem- 
lock bark  known  as  tannin.  The  tannin  is  supposed  to  change  the  glue  to 
a  tough,  insoluble,  leathery  substance  which  will  occupy  the  interior  of 
the  tie  to  the  exclusion  of  moisture,  and  thus  prevent  the  leaching  out 
of  the  antiseptic  materials.  The  cost  of  adding  the  glue  and  tannin  to 
the  zinc  chloride  process  is  about  two  cents  per  tie.  Regarding  the  prac- 
tical economy  of  the  Wellhouse  or  "zinc-tannin"  process,  conclusive  data 
seem  to  be  wanting.  The  Southern  Pacific  Co.  and  the  Burlington  & 
Missouri  River  R.  R.  obtain  satisfactory  results  with  the  zinc  chloride 
process  without  the  addition  of  the  glue  or  tannin.  The  life  of  the  ties 
used  on  both  these  roads,  however,  is  favored  by  a  very  dry  climate,  so 
that,  on  the  real  merits  of  the  question,  the  practice  in  these  cases  is  not 
decisive.  The  constant  exposure  of  the  ties  to  a  damp  atmosphere  and 
wet  ballast  is  thought  to  have  a  worse  effect  on  the  stability  of  the  anti- 
septics than  hard  rain  storms  at  occasional  intervals.  The  method  of 
applying  the  glue  is  also  taken  into  consideration  by  students  of  the  pro- 
cess. At  some  plants,  as  already  noted,  the  chloride  solution  and  glue  are 
mixed  together  and  forced  into  the  timber  together,  after  which  the  tannin 
solution  is  injected  to  set  the  glue.  In  other  plants  the  zinc  chloride,  glue, 
and  tannin  are  injected  separately,  it  being  believed  that  the  fluidity  of 
the  chloride  is  impaired  by  the  presence  of  the  glue,  and  that  a  much 
better  penetration  is  had  by  applying  the  solutions  separately.  It  is  also 
thought  that  by  mixing  the  chloride  and  the  glue  the  latter  may  not 
become  so  thoroughly  fixed  by  the  tannin,  and  that  organic  decomposition 
of  the  glue  may  result.  On  the  other  hand,,  by  attempting  to  force  the 
glue  into  a  tie  already  fully  impregnated  with  the  chloride  solution,  it  is 
doubtful  if  deep  penetration  can  be  had  for  the  glue.  Ties  treated  by  the 
Wellhouse  process  require  more  time  for  seasoning  than  when  treated  by 


960  MISCELLANEOUS 

the  zinc  chloride  process  proper,  which  would  seem  to  prove  that  the  treat- 
ment has  some  influence  on  the  passage  of  moisture  through  the  wood. 

Eegarding  the  life  of  ties  treated  by  the  zinc  chloride  process,  in  this 
country,  it  does  not  appear  that  such  carefully  kept  records  as  will  deter- 
mine the  length  of  service,  in  all  cases,  and  under  all  conditions  in  which 
the  treated  ties  have  been  used  on  various  roads,  are  available.  In  a  gen- 
eral way.  however,  there  is  sufficient  data  of  a  positive  nature  to  satis- 
factorily determine  the  life  of  special  lots  of  ties  treated  by  this  process. 
The  ties  used  on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  By.,  in  Colorado,  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona  are  mountain  pine,  of  coarse-grained,  knotty  inferior 
timber,  the  only  kind  of  timber  available  except  at  excessive  cost.  The 
life  of  these  ties  untreated  is  four  to  five  years.  All  of  the  ties  used  in 
renewals  since  1885  have  been  the  native  pine  treated  ties.  On  the  Rio 
Grande  division,  where  the  rainfall  is  light,  the  average  life  of  the  treated 
ties  is  12  years,  and  the  average  for  seven  divisions  of  the  road,  for  a 
series  of  years,  has  been  11  years  and  a  fraction,  or  2J  to  3  times  the 
natural  life  of  the  tie.  Of  the  ties  treated  in  1885,  22.6  per  cent  were  in 
service  after  15  years,  and  a  considerable  number  were  still  in  the  track 
after  17  years  of  service,  with  the  prospect  that  a  few  would  last  as  long 
as  20  years.  From  1885  to  1889  this  road  used  the  Wellhouse  process; 
from  1889  to  1893  the  burnettizing  process;  from  1893  to  1900  the  Well- 
house  process  again,  changing  back  to  the  burnettizing  or  plain  zinc 
chloride  process  in  1900.  During  the  first  15  years  of  operation  the  plant 
at  Las  Yegas  had  treated  upward  of  3}  million  ties. 

On  the  Pacific  system  of  the  Southern  Pacific  road  the  distribution 
of  the  timber  supply  is  such  that  about  three  quarters  of  the  mileage  can 
be  tied  with  redwood  and  other  timber  but  little  subject  to  decay.  The 
remaining  25  per  cent  of  the  ties  are  of  mountain  pine  and  other  quickly 
perishable  woods  which  it  is  the  policy  of  the  company  to  burnettize,  and 
the  proportion  of  treated  ties  is  being  gradually  increased  with  that  end 
in  view,  having  reached  21.7  per  cent  in  1901.  In  1901  there  were  in  the 
tracks  of  both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  systems  of  this  road  6,577,884 
treated  ties,  of  which  82,574  were  creosoted  and  the  remainder  burnett- 
ized.  This  number  constituted  24.6  per  cent  of  all  the  ties  in  service. 
The  average  life  of  the  treated  ties  laid  on  this  road  in  1887  was  7.89  years 
and  of  those  laid  in  1888,  9.73  years,  but  experience  has  shown  that  these 
ties  were  overheated  during  treatment,  and  indications  seem  favorable  to 
a  better  showing  for  the  ties  treated  subsequently.  The  average  life  of 
burnettized  ties  (principally  hemlock,  with  a  few  tamarack)  on  the  Chi- 
cago, Bock  Island  &  Pacific  By.-  has  been  11£  years  for  the  lines  west  of 
the  Missouri  river  and  10 J  years  for  the  line?  east  of  the  river.  Of  21,850 
treated  ties  laid  west  of  the  river  2610  were  in  service  after  15  years,  but 
1664  were  taken  out  during  the  following  year.  On  certain  sections  of  the 
road  28.9  per  cent  of  the  treated  hemlocks  were  still  in  service  after  12 
years  and  on  other  sections  58.8  per  cent  were  in  service  after  12  years. 

From  the,  foregoing  records  it  thus  appears  that  inferior  or  short- 
lived timber  can,  by  the  application  of  the  zinc  chloride  or  zinc-tannin 
processes  be  made  to  last  two  to  three  times  the  natural  life.  In  order  to 
account  for  the  decay  of  treated  timber  the  authorities  explain  that  in 
course  of  time  the  salts  or  other  substances  injected  either  undergo  a 
change  or  disappear  by  leaching  out.  It  is  supposed  that  decay  will  take 
place  even  in  the  presence  of  antiseptics,  after  the  quantity  of  the  same 
in  the  timber  has  fallen  below  some  definite  limit.  The  early  decay  of  a 
few  ties  among  a  lot  which  generally  endure  long  service  may  be  accounted 
for  in  several  ways.  It  is  only  ordinary  experience  to  find  in  a  quantity 


TIE    PRESERVATION  961 

of  ties  of  the  same  kind  of  timber  some  which  are  less  thoroughly  seasoned 
than  is  supposed,  and  in  consequence  of  different  conditions  of  growth  some 
sticks  of  timber  are  closer  grained  than  others  of  'the  same  species.  For 
one  cause  or  another  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  a  few  ties  in  a  lot  other- 
wise good  are  so  refractory  to  the  standard  treatment  that  an  insufficient 
quantity  of  the  antiseptic  is  absorbed  to  thoroughly  sterilize  the  timber. 
And  then,  it  will  frequently  occur  that  a  tie  in  the  incipient  stage  of  decay 
will  pass  inspection  with  the  defect  undiscovered.  One  point  on  which 
experience  is  conclusive  is  that  the  best  results  are  obtained  in  the  arid 
regions.  There  is  a  general  belief  that  both  the  zinc  chloride  and  zinc- 
tannin  processes  harden  timber.  Neither  of  these  processes  corrodes  the 
spikes  to  an  appreciable  extent. 

The  Zinc-Creosote  Process. — As  creosote  is  the  best  timber  preserv- 
ative and  zinc  chloride  only  less  effective  but  much  cheaper,  the  plan  of 
combining  the  two  with  a  view  to  obtain  a  result  superior  to  the  possibilities 
of  a  zinc  solution  alone,  at  medium  cost,  finds  a  good  deal  of  encourage- 
ment, and  on  some  of  the  German  railways  it  has  been  practiced  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  On  the  Prussian  State  Railways  the  ties  are  impreg- 
nated with  an  emulsion  of  zinc  chloride  and  creosote,  the  latter  being  in 
sufficient  quantity  to  effect  a  distribution  of  1^  Ibs.  per  cubic  foot  of  tim- 
ber, while  the  chloride  of  zinc  is  present  in  the  usual  amount.  The  results 
of  this  treatment  are  said  to  be  superior  to  those  obtained  with  zinc  chlor- 
ide alone,  and  the  use  of  the  process  in  Germany  is  growing.  It  i£  said 
that  by  this  treatment  pine  and  beech  ties  are  made  to  last  15  to  18  years,  or 
generally  about  25  per  cent  longer  than  when  treated  with  zinc  chloride 
alone.  The  additional  cost,  over  ordinary  burriettizing,  is  about  4  cents  per 
tie.  The  process  as  worked  in  Europe  was  invented  by  and  has  been  promot- 
ed by  Mr.  Julius  Rutgers,  of  Berlin.  The  creosote  or  dead  oil  of  coal  tar 
required  in  this  work  must  be  light  in  specific  gravity  (1.020  to  1.055  at 
59  cleg.  F.).  in  order  to  mix  readily  with  the  zinc  solution,  and  the  propor- 
tion of  acids  of  the  carbolic  acid  type  i?  exceedingly  high,  being  20  to  25 
per  cent.  The  carbolic  acid  contained  in  the  creosote  is  the  only  com- 
ponent of  the  latter  which  is.  soluble  in  chloride  of  zinc.  As,  however,  the 
two  materials  have  nearly  equal  specific  gravities  they  readily  form  a 
thorough  mechanical  mixture. 

As  such  creosote  is  high-priced  there  has  been  some  experimenting 
with  zinc  chloride  and  ordinary  coal  tar  creosote  applied  in  separate  injec- 
tions. This  is  known  as  the  Allardyce  process,  and  as  worked  at  the  plant 
of  the  International  Creosoting  &  Construction  Co.,  at  Beaumont.  Tex., 
it  consists  of  an  injection  of  a  2-per  cent  solution  of  chloride  of  zinc,  in 
quantity  equivalent  to  about  12  Ibs.  per  cu.  ft.  of  timber,  followed  by  a 
second  injection  of  3  Ibs.  of  dead  oil  of  coal  tar  to  the  cubic  foot.  The 
purpose  of  the  comparatively  light  application  of  creosote  is  to  form  a 
water-proof  coating  or  shell  to  close  the  pores  of  the  wood  and  prevent 
the  escape  of  the  zinc  salts.  The  first  railroad  in  this  country  to  experi- 
ment with  the  zinc-creosote  process  was  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois, 
in  1902,  the  work  being  done  with  the  portable  plant  of  the  Chicago  Tie 
Preserving  Co.  In  that  instance  15,000  ties,  mainly  red  oak,  black  oak 
and  water  oak.  with,  however,  some  sycamore  and  other  inferior  woods, 
were  treated.  The  solution  was  mixed  and  injected  to  get  -J  Ib.  of  zinc 
chloride  (dry  salt)  and  1.1  Ibs.  of  creosote  into  the  timber,  per  cubic  foot, 
Tests  showed  that  both  the  zinc  chloride  and  the  creosote  oil  penetrated 
the  heart  of  the  timber.  White  and  yellow  oak  ties  did  not  take  the  treat- 
ment as  well  as  the  other  varieties  npmed.  The  cost  of  the  process  was 
G  cents  per  tie  more  than  that  of  treating  with  zinc  chloride  alone.  Fur- 


962  MISCELLANEOUS 

Iher  details  of  this  double  process,  as  worked  in  Europe,  and  of  experience 
with  the  same,  are  given  in  §  6,  Supplementary  Notes. 

Kyanizing. — In  the  kyanizing  process  the  timber  is  boiled  or  "steeped" 
in  a  solution  of  bichloride  of  mercury  (Hg  C12),  commonly  known  as  cor- 
rosive sublimate.  This  is  the  strongest  antiseptic  among  metallic  salts. 
To  properly  impregnate  timber  as  large  as  railway  ties  requires  a  treat- 
ment lasting  eight  or  ten  days.  The  solution  is  an  active  poison  and  the 
material  must  be  handled  carefully.  Where  this  process  is  used  in  Ger- 
many the  surface  of  the  timber  is  washed  with  hot  water  after  treatment, 
to  prevent  poisoning  cattle  or  other  animals  which  might  lick  the  efflor- 
escence from  the  ties.  The  process  was  invented  by  John  Howard  Kyan, 
and  was  applied  in  England  as  early  as  1832.  In  this  country  it  was  used 
by  the  Northern  Central  and  the  Boston  &  Maine  roads  for  treating  tiee- 
at  an  early  day.  The  latter  road  used  kyanized  hemlock  ties  for  about 
ten  years,  beginning  in  1882.  The  strength  of  the  solution  was  one  part 
.  of  the  bichloride  to  100  parts  of  water,  by  weight.  The  cost  of  treatment 
was  5-J  cents  per  tie  and  the  results  are  said  to  have  been  satisfactory. 
The  eventual  increase  in  the  price  of  hemlock  ties  and  the  introduction 
of  cedar  ties  at  low  cost  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  process. 

In  Lowell,  Mass.,  the  Locks  and  Canals  Co.  has  maintained  a  kyanizing 
plant  since  1848.  Except  for  an  interruption  of  12  years,  1850  to  1862, 
the  work  of  treating  timber  has  been  carried  on  pretty  steadily.  At  this 
plant  the  steeping  is  performed  in  wooden  tanks  50x7^ft.x4r  ft.  deep. 
Formerly  this  company  (the  corporation  controlling  the  water  power  of 
the  Merrimac  river)  treated  large  quantities  of  timber  for  its  numerous 
bridges,  and  a  good  deal  of  lumber  for  buildings,  fences  and  the  basement 
floors  of  mills  in  the  city.  It  is  said  that  in  and  about  the  old  mills  and 
public  works  of  the  city  there  have  been  found  many  examples  of  kyanized 
pine  and  spruce  lumber  practically  sound  after  standing  in  the  ground  or 
being  otherwise  exposed  to  the  elements  for  more  than  50  years.  In 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  there  are  kyanizing  works  built  by  the  Eastern  E.  E. 
(now  part  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  E.  E.)  which  have  granite  masonry 
treating  tanks  60x9J  ft.x6  ft.  deep,  laid  up  in  cement  and  coated  with 
coal  tar.  The  capacity  of  these  tanks  is  150,000  ft.,  B.  M.,  of  lumber. 
At  these  works,  during  the  years  1882  to  1892,  the  Eastern  E.  E.  kyanized 
about  800,000  hemlock  and  tamarack  ties,  which  were  put  into  the  tracks 
all  the  way  from  Boston  to  Portland  and  also  on  the  branch  lines.  Some 
of  the  kyanized  hemlock  ties  put  into  the  tracks  of  the  Portsmouth  & 
Dover  E.  E.  (now  B.  &  M.  E.  E.)  in  1882  were  still  in  service  after  20 
years,  the  timber  being  in  sound  condition  but  badly  rail  cut  and  prac- 
tically worn  out.  At  this  plant  and  the  one  in  Lowell  (both  operated  by 
Otis  Allen  &  Son)  750,000  to  1,000,000  ft.  of  lumber,  mostly  spruce,  is 
kyanized  each  year.  The  price  for  treatment  has  in  some  years  been  $8 
per  1000  ft.  B.  M.  A  good  many  ties  for  street  railways  have  also  been 
treated  during  late  years.  The  process  consists  in  filling  the  tank  with 
the  ties  or  lumber  and  barring  it  down,  and  then  pumping  in  the  solution 
(with  wooden  pumps,  on  account  of  the  corrosive  effect  of  the  solution  on 
iron).  The  wood  is  allowed  to  soak  in  the  solution  one  day  for  every  inch 
in  thickness  of  the  same.  Sawed  ties  or  lumber  are  separated  by  laths 
between  the  courses,  to  give  room  for  circulation,  but  such  are  not  used 
with  hewn  ties.  In  Europe  the  kyanizing  process  is  worked  by  four  com- 
panies. 

Boucherizing. — In  the  Boucherie  process  the  timber  is  impregnated 
with  a  solution  of  one  pound  of  sulphate  of  copper  (Cu  S04)  to  100  Ibs. 
of  water.  The  process  is  used  to  some  extent  in  Europe,  and  while  the 


TIE    PRESERVATION  963 

results  are  satisfactory,  as  far  as  increase  in  the  life  of  the  tie  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  found  that  the  rails  and  spikes  are  attacked  and  seriously 
corroded  by  sulphuric  acid  set  free.  The  process  as  originally  invented  by 
Boucherie,  in  1841,  consists  in  injecting  the  solution  into  the  timber  by 
hydrostatic  pressure.  After  the  tree  has  been  felled  and  cut  into  logs  or 
into  lengths  for  ties,  each  piece,  with  the  bark  still  on,  is  tilted  up  and  a 
solution  of  copper  sulphate  is  applied  by  fitting  a  capsule  -tightly  over  the 
-end  of  the  log,  to  which  is  communicated  a  pipe  containing  the  solution, 
which  is  long  enough  when  standing  upright  to  give  the  required  pressure. 
The  pressure  is  applied  for  a  variable  time,  depending  upon  the  absorptive 
properties  of  the  wood,  being  about  48  hours  for  beech  and  100  hours  for 
oak.  The  impregnating  solution  expels  the  vegetable  sap,  which  flows  off 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  log,  the  process  being  completed  when  the  exuding 
sap  contains  a  f  part  of  the  solution.  Impregnation  with  copper  sulphate 
is  used  on  the  Southern  Ey.  of  France,  on  the  Bavarian  State  railways, 
and  on  the  Austrian  Southern  Ey.  As  applied  on  the  last-named  road 
the  impregnation  is  effected  in  ordinary  pressure  cylinders  instead  of  by 
the  original  Boucherie  method.  Beech  ties,  which  rot  in  two  to  three 
years  when  untreated,  last  about  12  years  when  impregnated  with  copper 
sulphate. 

Various  Processes. — The  Thilmany  process  consists  in  an  injection 
of  either  sulphate  of  copper  or  sulphate  of  zinc,  with  a  second  injection 
of  chloride  of  barium.  According  to  the  theory  of  the  process  a  chemical 
change  takes  place,  the  chloride  of  barium  being  changed  to  an  insoluble 
salt  which  prevents  the  soluble  copper  or  zinc  salt  from  washing  out.  Ties 
treated  by  this  process  were  at  one  time  used  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton,  the 
Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern,  the  Erie  and  the  Wabash  roads,  but 
the  results,  so  far  as  reported,  are  said  to  have  been  unsatisfactory. 

The  Hasselmann  process  is  a  chemical  treatment  intended  to  produce 
both  a  preservative  and  a  hardening  effect  on  the  timber.  The  object 
aimed  at  is  to  effect  a  combination  of  the  salts  injected,  to  form  insoluble 
products,  and  also  to  produce  to  some  extent  a  chemical  combination  with 
the  cellulose  of  the  wood  fiber.  The  process  (or  rather  two  processes  under 
the  same  name)  is  applied  in  two  different  ways,  one  being  a  double  boil- 
ing treatment  and  the  other  a  single  boiling.  The  former  consists  in  boil- 
ing the  wood  in  a  solution  of  the  sulphates  of  copper,  iron  and  alumina 
(the  copper  and  iron  sulphates  being  crystallized  together  in  the  propor- 
tion of  20  parts  of  copper  to  80  parts  of  iron),  after  which  the  wood  is 
boiled  a  second  time  in  a  solution  of  chloride  of  lime  and  milk  of  lime 
(whitewash).  The  timber  is  run  into  a  large  cylinder  or  retort,  which  is 
then  sealed,  and  immediately  a  partial  vacuum  is  pumped,  when  a  solution 
of  cuprous  sulphate  of  iron  (7  per  cent)  and  sulphate  of  aluminum  (3  per 
•cent)  is  run  into  the  cylinder  and  afterwards  heated  by  steam  to  a  tem- 
perature of  212  to  284  deg.  F.,  the  pressure  at  the  same  time  being  grad- 
ually raised  to  about  40  or  45  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  The  boiling  of  the  timber  in 
this  solution  is  kept  up  for  two  or  three  hours,  when  the  timber  is  taken 
.out  of  the  cylinder  and  permitted  to  stand  for  some  time,  to  effect  the 
-completion  of  the  chemical  action.  Meantime,  the  first  solution  is  used 
(over  and  over)  on  seven  or  eight  different  charges  of  timber — that  is, 
before  the  first  charge  of  timber  is  boiled  in  the  second  solution.  The  sec- 
ond boiling  of  the  timber  takes  place  under  the  same  conditions  as  be- 
iore,  the  solution  consisting  of  chloride  of  lime  (1  in  50)  and  milk  of 
lime  (1  in  40).  The  theory  is  that  the  first  boiling  destroys  the  germs 
of  fermentation  and  induces  to  some  extent  the  chemical  union  of  the 
preservative  with  the  fiber  of  the  wood,  in  addition  to  the  formation 


964  MISCELLANEOUS 

of  insoluble  products,,  as  above  stated.  The  second  boiling  is  supposed 
to  harden  the  wood  and  render  it  a  non-absorbent  of  moisture.  The 
whole  process,  in  two  intervals,,  requires  about  six  hours.  The  single- 
boiling  treatment  consists  in  boiling  the  wood  in  a  solution  of  the  sulphates 
of  copper,  iron  and  alumina  a"nd  "kainit,"  a  salt  mined  at  Stassfurt,  Ger- 
many, consisting  chiefly  of  sulphate  of  potassa  and  magnesia  and  chloride 
of  magnesia.  It  is  claimed  that  this  treatment  compares  favorably  with 
other  methods  of  timber  preservation  commonly  in  use,  and  so  far  as  the 
hardening  effect  is  concerned  it  is  represented  to  be  far  superior.  It  is 
said  that  fir  and  beech  ties  become  almost  as  hard  as  oak.  An  important 
advantage  claimed  for  the  process  is  that  green  timber  can  be  treated,  the 
unseasoned  condition  of  the  wood  conducing  to  a  more  thorough  impregna- 
tion of  the  salts.  The  process  has  been  used  to  a  considerable  extent  by 
the  Bavarian  State  Eailways  for  treating  ties.  In  this  country  the  process 
is  worked  by  the  Barschall  Impregnating  Co.,  New  York,  with  a  plant  at 
Perth  Ambov,  N.  J. 

The  creo-resinate  process,  which  is  worked  by  the  United  States  Wood 
Preserving  Co.,  New  York,  consists  in  first  vulcanizing  the  timber  and 
then  impregnating  it  with  a  solution  of  38  parts,  by  weight,  of  coal-tar 
creosote,  60  parts  of  melted  resin  and  2  parts  of  formaldehyde,  followed 
by  an  application  of  milk  of  lime  to  solidify  the  resin  and  creosote  oil. 
One  writer  has  styled  the  results  of  the  process  as  "vulcanized  wood  with 
an  antiseptic  shell."  The  process  is  intended  as  an  improvement  of  creo- 
soting,  with  the  following  claims  for  advantages:  The  vulcanizing  of  the 
wood  sterilizes  it  throughout,  which  cannot  be  done  by  straight  creosoting 
except  at  high  cost,  and  even  then  it  is  difficult  to  penetrate  the  heart  of 
the  timber;  the  solution  is  cheaper  than  creosote;  the  resin  renders  the 
mixture  water-proof  and  protects  the  sterilized  interior  against  the  en- 
trance of  fungi  spores;  the  formaldehyde  strengthens  the  antiseptic  prop- 
erties of  the  compound  and  restores  what  is  lost  in  this  respect  by  the 
adulteration  of  the  creosote.  In  applying  the  treatment  the  timber  is  run 
into  a  retort,  when  the  door  is  closed  -and  the  temperature  is  raised  to  215 
deg.  P.  without  pressure,  requiring  about  one  hour,  and  this  temperature 
is  held  for  another  hour  without  pressure,  the  purpose  being  to  evaporate 
the  moisture.  The  temperature  is  then  gradually  raised  under  an  increas- 
ing pressure,  to  avoid  injury  to  the  fiber,  until,  in  the  course  of  two  hours, 
the  heat  reaches  285  or  290  deg.  F.  and  the  pressure  90  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  and 
both  are  held  at  this  for  one  hour.  For  another  hour  the  cylinder  is  allowed 
to  cool  down  gradually  to  250  deg.  and  the  pressure  to  reduce  to  40  Ibs. 
The  pressure  and  heat  are  then  reduced  and  a  vacuum  of  26  ins.  is  applied, 
under  which  the  mixture,  at  a  temperature  of  175  to  200  deg.,  is  run  in 
and  put  under  a  pressure  of  200  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  by  hydraulic  means,  and 
held  at  this  until  the  desired  quantity  of  solution  is  absorbed.  The  liquid 
is  then  drawn  off  and  the  timber  is  run  into  another  cylinder,  where  the 
milk  of  lime  is  applied  at  a  temperature  of  about  150  deg.  and  at  a 
pressure  of  200  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  for  a  half  hour.  The  treating  solution 
weighs  8.9  Ibs.  per  gal.,  and  at  300  deg.  the  specific  gravity  is  1.068.- 

There  are  a  number  of  patented  preservative  solutions  on  the  market, 
represented  as  having  stood  the  test  of  years  of  service,  and  for  which 
various  claims  are  made.  Among  the  best  known  of  such  solutions  are 
wocxliline  and  carbolineum  avenarius,  the  basic  principle  of  each  being 
creosote.  The  latter  material  is  a  mixture  of  creosote  and  chlorine  gas. 
The  chief  claim  for  these  solutions  is  that  their  application  requires  only 
the  soaking  of  the  ties  or  timber  in  the  heated  solution  for  a  short  time, 
it  not  being  necessary  that  a  deep  penetration  should  be  had.  This  sim- 


TIE    PRESERVATION  965 

plifies  very  much  the  method  of  application,  over  those  heretofore  named. 
The  amount  of  material  absorbed  is  comparatively  small,  and  the  first 
cost  of  apparatus  very  much  reduced,  as  compared  with  methods  requiring 
the  extraction  of  the  sap.  ATI  ordinary  vat  open  to  the  air,  with  steam 
coils  for  heating  the  solution  and  a  crane  for  lifting  bunches  of  ties  in 
and  out,  constitute  about  all  the  necessary  outfit  for  applying  the  solution 
to  the  timber.  Either  solution  is  also  applied,  sometimes,  with  a  brush 
and  used  as  a  paint.  The  Pennsylvania  B.  B.  has  used  considerable  quanti-  , 
ties  of  woodiline  for  tie  treatment,  and  on  the  Alabama  Midland  branch 
of  the  Plant  System  carbolineum  avenarius  has  been  applied  to  ties  to 
some  extent.  As  patented  solutions  have  not  yet  come  into  extensive  use, 
and  as  in  some  cases  their  constituent  parts  are  kept  secret,  an  impartial 
discussion  of  their  merits  is  not  easily  undertaken.  It  is  at  least  fair  to 
say  that  general  experience  has  not  yet  proven  such  simple  processes  as 
efficacious  as  the  more  thorough  methods  of  treatment  involving  the  ex- 
traction of  the  sap. 

There  are  a  few  other  tie  preserving  processes  and  materials  that  have 
been  experimented  with  in  a  small  way.  In  1902  the  Gulf,  Colorado  & 
Santa  Fe  By,  began  experimenting  with  crude  petroleum.  The  process 
employed  consisted  in  merely  soaking  the  ties  24  hours  in  an  open  vat  con- 
taining the  oil,  which  came  from  Beaumont  wells.  Untreated  long-leaf 
pine  ties,  average  weight  1344  Ibs.,  absorbed  an  average  of  5.67  Ibs.  of 
oil  per  tie.  Ties  of  the  same  kind  of  timber  previously  treated  with  a 
2-per  cent  solution  of  zinc  chloride,  average  weight  186  Ibs.,  absorbed  an 
average  of  3.49  Ibs.  of  oil  per  tie.  Untreated  loblolly  pine  ties,  average 
weight  124  Ibs.,  absorbed  an  average  of  4.24  Ibs.  of  oil  each,  and  the  same 
kind  of  timber  previously  treated  with  a  2-per  cent  solution  of  zinc 
chloride,  average  weight  170J  Ibs.,  took  up  an  average  of  3.15  Ibs.  of  oil 
per  tie.  All  the  ties  were  hewn,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  untreated 
loblolly,  had  been  thoroughly  seasoned  before  soaking  in  the  petroleum ; 
the  loblolly  had  not  been  as  well  seasoned  as  the  others.  The  treated  ties 
were  allowed  to  dry  out  before  soaking  in  the  oil.  These  ties  were  laid 
in  an  experimental  section  of  track  on  the  Montgomery  branch,  with  a 
miscellaneous  lot  of  other  ties  treated  with  various  processes,  and  are  again 
referred  to  further  along.  On  bridge  t'ies  paint,  applied  in  the  ordinary 
way,  has  been  used  by  a  few  roads  with  results  reported  to  be  quite  satis- 
factory. It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  say  that  ties  that  are  to  be  painted 
should  first  be  thoroughly  seasoned.  Long-leaf  yellow  pine  ties  painted 
with  two  coats  of  red  oxide  of  iron  and  linseed  oil,  all  daps  being  painted 
before  the  ties  were  placed,  were  in  sound  condition  after  12  years  of 
service,  but  had  then  to  be  renewed  because  of  rail  cutting  under  heavy 
traffic. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  various  kinds  of  timber,  not  hitherto 
pointed  out.  that  are  being  treated  and  used  for  ties  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  The  timbers  available  to  the  plant  of  the  Great  Northern 
By.,  at  Kalispell,  Mont.,  are  fir,  "bull  pine"  and  large  quantities  of  tama- 
rack, some  portion  of  which  is  locally  known  as  "mountain  tamarack." 
The  timbers  treated  at  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  By.  plant,  at  Green- 
ville, Tex.,  are  Texas  pine,  some  post  oak  and  large  quantities  of  sweet 
gum.  The  last-named  timber  is  in  qualit}^  something  of  the  nature  of 
poplar,  and  in  the  untreated  condition  is  entirely  worthless  for  any  pur- 
poses of  construction.  When  treated,  however,  it  renders  good  service  for 
ties  and  bridge  timber.  Some  bridge  guard  rails  of  this  timber  treated 
by  the  Wellhouse  process  have  stood  service  longer  than  17  years.  The 
timber  treated  by  the  Aver  &  Lord  Tie  Co.,  at  Carbondale,  111.  (zinc 


966  MISCELLANEOUS 

chloride  process),  is  red  oak  and  black  oak.  The  Atchison,  Topeka  & 
Santa  Fe  Ry.  has  experimented  with  treated  cottonwood  in  a  small  way. 
These  ties  began  to  fail  after  nine  years  of  service.  At  the  end  of  11  years 
56  per  cent  have  been  removed  and  at  the  end  of  15  years  86  per  cent  had 
been  removed.  Treated  Colorado  pine  ties  began  to  fail  slowly  after  six 
years,  but  after  10  years  66  per  cent  were  still  in  service  and  after  15 
years  62  per  cent  were  still  in  the  track.  In  1901  the  Pennsylvania  Co. 
had  16,716  beech  ties  treated  by  the  Wellhouse  process,  and  during  the 
years  1898  to  1901  the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ey. 
had  86,956  beech  ties  treated  by  the  same  process.  In  an  experiment  with 
86  treated  Norway  pine  ties  on  the  Duluth  &  Iron  Eange  R.  R.,  92  per 
cent  were  still  in  service  after  11  years. 

In  order  to  determine  the  relative  merits  of  various  kinds  of  timber 
preservatives  and  processes,  as  well  as  the  relative  durabilities  of  different 
kinds  of  timber  treated  by  the  same  process,  the  tie  committee  of  the 
American  Railway  Engineering  and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association,  in 
co-operation  with  a  number  of  railroads  and  timber-treating  establish- 
ments and  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  began,  in  No- 
vember, 1901,  a  practical  experiment.  With  a  view  to  hasten  the  results 
of  the  test  as  much  as  possible  a  region  was  selected  in  southern  Texas 
where  the  climate  is  favorable  to  very  rapid  decay,  the  annual  rainfall 
and  average  temperature  being  high.  The  place  is  on  the  Montgomery 
branch  of  the  Gulf,  Colorado  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.,  near  Waukegan,  Tex.,  where- 
untreated  pine  ties  have  generally  decayed  in  12  to  14  months  and  bur- 
nettized  ties  in  two  to  four  years.  This  experiment  was  started  with  5850 
ties  of  the  following  kinds  of  wood :  long-leaf,  short-leaf  and  loblolly  pine ; 
white,  black,  red,  Spanish  and  turkey  oak;  willow  oak,  hemlock,  beech 
and  tamarack.  Each  kind  of  wood,  generally  in  lots  of  50  or  100  ties  each, 
was  treated  with  five  or  more  of  the  following  processes:  zinc  chloride 
(burnettizing),  zinc-tannin  (Wellhouse),  zinc-creosote  (Allardyce),  writh 
both  American  and  English  oils;  Hasselmann,  crude  petroleum,  zinc 
chloride  and  crude  petroleum  combined,  and  spiritine.  In  addition  to  this, 
one  lot  of  ties  of  each  kind  of  timber  was  laid  untreated,  and  one  lot  of 
100  red-heart  pine  ties  was  treated  with  the  Hasselmann  process.  The- 
ties  were  allowed  to  season  several  months  before  laying,  and  each  was 
marked  with  three  zinc-coated  wire  record  nails  stamped  to  show  the  date,, 
the  kind  of  timber  and  the  kind  of  treatment,  In  the  middle  of  the  track 
the  ballast  was  dressed  to  cover  the  tops  of  the  ties. 

Experience  has  taught  that  only  sound  timber  should  be  treated,  and 
that  most  kinds  of  timber  should  be  thoroughly  seasoned  before  treatment 
and  again  after  treatment  or  before  the  ties  are  put  into  service.  Unsound 
wood  will  absorb  a  larger  quantity  of  solution  than  that  in  sound  condition, 
and  if  decay  has  commenced  before  treatment  it  cannot  be  stopped.  In 
Europe  the  tie-treating  contractors  exact  a  discount  of  5  per  cent  from 
the  guarantee  to  cover  "sick"  ties,  the  hidden  defects  in  which  cannot  be- 
discovered  by  the  usual  inspection.  Ties  treated  with  the  bark  on  absorb 
an  excessive  amount  of  solution,  greatly  increasing  the  cost  and  giving 
poor  service.  A  few  varieties  of  timber  seem  to  take  treatment  best  when 
in  the  green  condition,  while  most  kinds  will  absorb  the  solution  more 
satisfactorily  after  thorough  seasoning.  At  the  works  of  the  Chicago  Tie 
Preserving  Co.  it  has  been  found  that  hemlock  ties  improve  in  receptivity 
by  seasoning,  absorbing  more  of  the  solution  after  seasoning  than  when 
first  received.  It  has  also  been  found  that  more  sap  can  be  extracted  from 
a  partially  seasoned  hemlock  tie  than  from  one  freshly  cut.  To  account 
for  this  fact  it  is  supposed  that  when  the  tie  is  full  of  "sap  it  is  impossible- 


TIE   PRESERVATION  967 

to  heat  the  interior  sufficiently  to  convert  the  watery  portion  of  the  sap 
into  steam.  Hemlock  ties  cut  in  summer  absorb  less  than  ties  of  the  same 
timber  cut  in  winter.  On  the  other  hand,  Oregon  fir  is  said  to  receive 
treatment  better  when  green  than  dry,  the  phenomenon  being  explained 
on  the  theory  that  the  resin  in  the  wood  solidifies  upon  seasoning,  forming 
obstructions  to  the  penetration  of  the  solution.  Timber  treated  without 
seasoning  usually  requires  extra  work,  such  as  prolongation  of  the  steam- 
ing and  vacuum  and  increase  of  pressure  and  of  the  time  of  applying  the 
same,  in  order  to  inject  the  desired  quantity  of  solution.  Nevertheless,  at 
some  of  the  American  plants  but  little  heed  is  paid  to  the  matter  of  season- 
ing before  treatment.  At  the  Houston  plant  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co. 
it  has  been  the  practice  to  treat  yellow  pine  ties  felled  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year  and  without  regard  to  seasoning.  Ties  that  have  been  floated 
down  streams  lose  more  or  less  of  their  sap  and  absorb  the  treating  solution , 
more  readily  than  ties  that  have  not  been  in  the  water. 

Wood  thoroughly  seasoned  in  the  air  still  contains  from  16  to  20  per 
cent  of  water,  and  when  air-dried  wood  is  exposed  for  a  considerable  time 
to  a  temperature  as  high  as  277  deg.  F.  the  quantity  of  water  is  reduced 
75  or  80  per  cent.  A  cubic  foot  of  air-dried  white  oak  weighs  about  53.3 
Ibs.  and  contains  8.5  Ibs.  (16  per  cent)  of  water  and  44.8  Ibs.  of  fiber. 
The  fiber  occupies  about  50  per  cent  of  the  space,  the  sap  about  10  per 
cent,  and  the  air  which  fills  the  cells  not  occupied  by  the  sap,  about  40  per 
cent.  The  specific  gravity  of  wood  fiber  in  all  kinds  of  timber  is  about 
1.5,  the  variation  in  weight  and  density  of  different  kinds  of  timber  being 
accounted  for  by  the  relative  amount  of  space  occupied  by  the  cells.  Oak 
and  the  harder  woods,  being  closer  grained,  absorb  less  solution  in  any 
process  of  treatment  and  are  more  difficult  of  penetration,  requiring  usu- 
ally a  much  longer  period  for  the  injection  of  the  liquid.  In  this  country 
chemical  treatment  of  white  oak  ties  has  not  been  practiced  to  any  con- 
siderable extent,  and  as  cedar  is  very  durable,  so  far  as  rot  is  concerned, 
it  is  not  classed  among  the  timbers  admitting  of  economical  results  from 
chemical  treatment.  The  timbers  selected  for  treatment  are  in  general 
the  open-grained,  porous  and  sappy  varieties  of  wood,  or  those  which 
absorb  liquids  most  readily.  The  amount  of  solution  actually  absorbed, 
however,  is  sometimes  quite  variable  in  the  same  kind  of  timber.  Thus, 
at  the  works  of  the  Chicago  Tie  Preserving  Co.  hemlock  ties  cut  in  the 
same  place,  seasoned  in  the  same  way  and  treated  in  the  same  charge,  have 
been  known  to  absorb  as  low  as  13  per  cent  and  as  high  as  80  per  cent,  in 
weight,  of  the  solution. 

It  is  general]y  conceded  that  after  treatment,  ties  of  any  kind  of  tim- 
ber, treated  with  any  of  the  processes,  should  be  loosely  piled  and  thor- 
oughly seasoned  before  they  are  put  into  the  track.  In  the  case  with 
burnettized  ties  the  zinc  salt  is  soluble  and  the  water  injected  with  the 
chloride  should  evaporate  before  the  tie  is  inserted  in  the  track,  leaving 
only  the  salt  in  the  wood;  or,  if  treated  by. the  zinc-tannin  process,  the 
leathery  pellicles  formed  by  the  glue  and  tannin  should  have  time  to  dry 
and  harden  before  the  tie  is  exposed  to  moisture.  Otherwise  the  moisture 
in  the' soil  or  ballast  will  begin  at  once  to  leach  out  the  zinc  salt.  In  order 
that  the  penetration  may  be  thorough  where  decay  is  most  liable  to  start 
some  think  it  advisable  to  bore  the  spike  holes  in  the  tie  before  treating 
and  also  to  do  whatever  adzing  or  spotting  is  necessary  at  the  rail  seats. 
At  the  old  Laramie  plant  of  the  Union  Pacific  "R.  R.  the  ties,  previous  to 
treating,  were  run  through  a  special  machine  which  cut  them  to  a  uniform 
length,  spotted  them  for  the  rail  seats  and  bored  the  spike  holes.  Another 


968 


MISCELLANEOUS 


advantage  in  boring  for  spikes  is  that  they  can  be  driven  without  crushing 
the  fibers  of  the  wood. 

In  order  to  secure  satisfactory  records  of  the  life  of  treated  ties  they 
should  be  marked  in  some  ineffaceable  manner.  A  means  employed  in 
Germany  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in  this  country  is  to  drive  into  each 
tie  a  galvanized  nail  with  the  year  of  preparation  stamped  on  the  head. 
The  date  of  treatment  may  also  be  stamped  into  the  tie,  but  of  course  is 
liable  to  become  effaced  by  the  decay  of  the  timber.  In  France  two  dating 
nails  are  used — one  at  the  works,  when  the  tie  is  treated,  and  another  when 
it  is  laid  in  the  track. 


Ma/f  LanjtotfnH  Serf for? 
-7'Lono 


Section  at  RailSeat 


Section  a  f  Middle 

"T/£ 


THE 


Fig.  483. — American  Types  of  Steel  Ties. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  experience  with  chemically  treated  ties  in 
Europe  has  been  larger  and  longer  than  it  has  in  this  country,  the  par- 
ticulars and  general  results  of  the  practice  there  are  both  interesting  and 
instructive  for  comparison  with  our  own  practice.  An  account  of  this 
work  in  Europe  is  given  in  Supplementary  Notes,  §  6.  The  subject  of 
tree  planting  by  railway  companies,  as  a  source  of  supply  for  tie  timber, 
is  treated  as  §  7  of  Supplementary  Notes. 

169.  Metal  Ties. — On  the  whole,  American  railroad  managers  have 
been  slow  to  seek  economy  in  the  use  of  ties.  The  chief  explanation  for 
this  apparent  indifference  is  that  .our  forest  areas  have  been  widely  dis- 
tributed, and  in  most  parts  of  the  country  an  abundant  supply  of  timber 
has  been  available  at  low  grice.  Notwithstanding  that  this  supply  has 
been  rapidly  vanishing,  yet  in  many  quarters  where  the  local  forests  have 
become  nearly  or  quite  exhausted  of  tie  timber,  cheap  freight  rates, 
frequently  owing  to  convenience  of  water  transportation,  have  made  it 
possible  to  supply  the  demand  from  distant  sources  previously  not  drawn 
upon,  and  at  a  cost  which  has  been  satisfactory.  On  this  account  it  is 
easy  to  sec  why  experiments  with  substitutes  for  wooden  ties  have  not 
been  a  pressing  necessity.  As  to  the  use  of  metal  ties  in  this  country  there 


METAL   TIES  969 

is  scarcely  no  report,  for  all  that  has  been  done  has  been  strictly  experi- 
mental in  character,  and  that  on  a  scale  that  is  quite  insignificant.  On 
this  point  it  will  suffice  to  explain  that  all  the  experimental  work  under- 
taken with  metal  ties  in  this  country  up  to  the  year  1902  comprised  a 
combined  length  of  less  than  five  miles  of  track  laid  with  such  ties.  From 
the  present  outlook  it  would  seem  that  the  same  tendency  will  prevail  for 
some  time  to  come,  whatever  the  ultimate  result  may  be,  since  the  atten- 
tion which  is  being  devoted  to  frugality  in  the  use  of  tie  timber  seems  to 
be  leading  largely  in  the  direction  of  tie  preservation. 

Although  the  patents  issued  on  metal  ties  in  this  country  may  be  num- 
bered by  hundreds,  only  a  very  few  types  have  succeeded  to  a  trial  of  any 
consequence,  and  an  account  of  the  trials  on  two  or  three  roads  will  bring 
out  practically  all  that  has  been  learned  about  the  use  of  metal  ties  in 
this  country.  "  In  1889  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  K.  laid 
721  steel  ties  under  80-lb.  rails  on  a  stretch  of  1576  ft.  of  stone-ballasted 
main  track,  at  Garrison's,  N.  Y.  These  ties  were  of  the  Hartford  type, 
shown  in  Fig.  483.  This  tie,  as  will  be  seen,  was  an  inverted  trough  8  ft. 
long,  the  ends  being  closed  by  curving  the  tie  downward  about  6  ins.  With 
the  exception  of  the  curved  ends  the  tie  was  straight.  The  width  of  the 
tie  face  was  8  ins.  and  the  depth  2|  ins.,  the  side  flanges  spreading  to  a 
width  of  10J  ins.  at  the  lower  edges.  The  thickness  of  metal  in  the  face 
or  "top  table,"  as  it  is  called,  was  5/16  in.  and  in  the  flange?,  f  in.  The 
tie  was  of  rolled  Bessemer  steel  and  there  was  a  channel  or  groove  2^  ins. 
wide  and  f  in.  deep  along  the  middle  of  the  top  table  for  the  entire  length 
of  the  tie.  The  weight  of  the  tie,  including  fastenings,  was  150  Ibs.  Be- 
fore laying  the  ties  they  were  treated  with  a  coating  of  asphaltum  composi- 
tion applied  at  a  temperature  of  300  deg.  F.  The  fastenings  for  the  rail 
consisted  of  wedge-shaped  clips  placed  in  the  channel,  and  bent  bolts  J  in. 
in  diameter,  passed  up  through  the  tie  from  below.  In  order  to  facilitate 
adjustment  of  the  gage  the  clip  was  slotted  for  the  bolt  and  the  bolt  was 
screwed  down  up  on  the  inclined  face  of  the  clip,  holding  the  rail  firmly 
so  long  as  the  bolt  remained  tight.  The  bolts  had  the  Harvey  "grip" 
thread  and  no  washer  or  special  nut  lock  was  used.  At  joints  the^  angle 
bars  (6-bolt,  40  ins.  long)  were  notched  to  allow  the  clips  to  engage  the 
rail  flange.  The  ties,  including  the  fastenings,  cost  $3.11  each.  The 
ballast  on  which  these  ties  were  laid  was  24  ins.  deep,  consisting  of  a  6-in. 
bottom  course  of  stones  4  to  6  ins.  in  diameter  and  an  18-in.  course  of 
rock  broken  to  pass  a  2-in.  ring.  In  the  filling  of  the  track  the  bal- 
last was  brought  level  with  the  tops  of  the  ties  and  the  ballast  line  was 
6J  ft.  from  the  rail.  The  results  with  this  tie  were  not  entirely  sat- 
isfactory. Although  it  made  a  good  shewing  so  far  as  durability  was 
concerned,  it  was  found  difficult  to  throw  the  track  in  line  and  the  expense 
of  keeping  the  track'  in  surface  was  about  twice  the  cost  of  the  same  main- 
tenance item  in  an  equal  length  of  track  laid  on  wooden  ties.  The  tendency 
of  the  ballast  was  to  work  away  from  the  tie  .at  the  ends,  loosening  the  tie 
and  causing  it  and  the  fastenings  to  rattle  while  trains  were  passing, 
These  ties  were  removed  in  1899,  after  10  years  of  service  under  about  50 
trains  per  day. 

In  1896  "this  company  laid  3375  ft.  of  track  with  1350  steel  ties  at 
110th  St.,  New  York  City.  The  design  of  these  ties  was  a  modification 
of  the  Hartford  pattern,  as  shown  at  the  right  in  Fig.  483.  The  tie  was 
pressed  from  a  Bessemer  steel  (0.10  per  cent  carbon)  plate  £  in.  thick,  and 
resembled  an  ox  yoke  in  shape.  The  length  was  7  ft.  10  ins.  The  ends 
were  turned  down  and  the  middle  portion  curved  downward  3  ins.  to  a 
radius  of  3  ft.  10  ins.  The  width  of  the  tie  face  at  the  middle  was  6  ins. 


970  MISCELLANEOUS 

and  at  the  rail  seat  7  ins.  The  bottom  width  at  the  middle  was  8f  ins. 
and  at  the  rail  seat  10  ins.  The  depth  of  the  tie  at  the  middle  was  3J  ins., 
and  at  the  rail  seat  2%  ins.  The  rail  was  fastened  with  wedge-shaped  clips 
and  £-in.  bolts,  as  in  the  original  design.  The  weight  of  the  tie,  including 
fastenings,  was  100  Ibs.  and  the  cost  was  $2.50.  In  filling  the  track  the 
curved  portion  at  the  middle  of  the  tie  was  covered  with  ballast.  These 
ties  gave  less  satisfaction  than  those  of  the  older  design  in  use  at  Garri- 
son's, being  hard  to  throw  in  line  and  less  able  to  stand  the  crushing  weight 
of  trains,  in  consequence  of  which  they  failed  by  crushing  under  the  rail 
and  by  breaking  in  the  middle.  They  were  removed  in  1899,  after  being 
in  service  three  years  under  a  traffic  of  250  trains  per  day. 

The  "Standard"  tie,  shown  at  the  upper  rigrkt  hand  in  Fig.  483,  was 
of  plain  channel  section,  stamped  from  a  steel  plate  J-  in.  thick,  and  was 
laid  open  side  up.  The  side  flanges  of  the  channel  were  vertical  and  3J 
ins.  deep,  and  the  ends  of  the  tie  were  open.  The  tie  was  7'  ft.  long  and 
7  ins.  wide,  except  in  the  case  of  joint  ties.,  which  were  10  ins.  wide.  As- 
will  be  seen  in  the  illustration,  a  portion  of  the  bottom  of  the  channel  at 
the  middle  of  the  tie  was  cut  out,  leaving  an  open  space.  The  part  cut 
out  was  4J  ins.  wide  and  24  ins.  long,  but  the  bottom  was  actually  cut  loose 
for  a  length  of  33  ins.,  so  that  a  flap-like  piece  4-J  ins.  long  remained  at 
each  end  of  the  opening  and  was  bent  upward  at  an  angle  of  45  deg.,  so  as  to 
offer  resistance  to  lateral  motion,  the  tie  being  filled  with  ballast.  The 
rail  was  supported  upon  a  block  of  creosoted  oak  wood  fitted  into  the 
channel.  This  block  was  2|  ins.  deep  and  sustained  its  load  endwise  the- 
grain.  The  rail  was  supported  entirely  by  the  block,  the  sides  of  the  tit- 
being  cut  away  to  a  depth  of  J  in.  (thus  weakening  the  tie  at  the  point  of 
greatest  bending  moment)  to  make  room  for  the  rail  flange.  The  fasten- 
ing for  each  rail  consisted  of  two  Z-shaped  clamps,  the  upper  clasp  of 
each  clamp  engaging  with  the  rail  flange  and  the  two  claws  forming  the 
lower  projection  of  the  clamp  engaging  the  bottom  of  the  tie  through 
holes.  On  intermediate  ties  the  clamps  were  held  to  their  engagement 
with  the  rail  by  one  f-in.  bolt  passing  horizontally  through  the  clamps 
and  the  wooden  block,  while  at  joint  ties  two  bolts  were  used.  The  in- 
termediate ties  weighed  82  Ibs.  and  cost  $2.50  each;  the  joint  ties  weighed 
105  Ibs.  each  and  cost  $3.50. 

In  October,  1889,  a  stretch  of  1000  ft.  of  main  track  on  the  Chicago 
&  Western  Indiana  E.  E.,  at  69th  street,  Chicago,  was  laid  with  "Stand- 
ard" ties  spaced  23J  ins.  centers.  The  ties  were  ballasted  with  gravel; 
the  joints  were  spliced  with  plain  fish  plates  (angle  bars  could  not  be- 
used  owing  to  the  interference  between  the  horizontal  leg  of  the  bar  and 
the  tie  clamp)  ;  the  rails  were  laid  with  square  joints,  supported.  The 
traffic  over  these  ties  was  heavy,  amounting  to  about  80  trains  per  day, 
all  in  one  direction.  After  some  five  or  six  years  of  service  it  was  found 
necessary  to  replace  the  ties  at  the  joints  with  wooden  ones,  but  the  inter- 
mediate ties  remained  in  the  track  until  the  spring  of  1899,  when  all  were 
removed.  The  condition  of  the  ties  at  the  time  of  removal  would  lead 
one  to  think  that  they  had  reached  the  full  limit  of  their  usefulness.  They 
were  badly  corroded,  the  flanges  in  some  cases  being  reduced  to  the  thick- 
ness of  a  knife  blade,  and  many  of  the  ties  were  cracked  or  broken  at  the- 
rail  seat.  The  oak  blocking  at  the  rail  seat  was  in  much  better  condition 
than  the  metal  portion  of  the  tie,  being  practically  as  sound  as  new  timber. 

The  Standard  tie  was  tried  on  several  other  roads  but  in  no  case 
did  it  remain  as  long  in  service  as  on  the  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  E.  E. 
In  1890  about  f  mile  of  track  on  the  Delaware  &  Hudson  E.  E.,  near 
Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  was  laid  with  these  ties,  but  they  were  found' 


METAL  TIES  971 

to  be  unsatisfactory  and  were  taken  out  after  a  year's  service.  The  bal- 
last in  which  the  ties  were  laid  was  fine  gravel,  and  the  difficulty  seems 
to  have  been  in  keeping  the  track  to  surface.  The  Long  Island  E.  R. 
laid  500  Standard  steel  ties,  16  ties  to  a  rail  length  of  30  ft.,  and  these 
ties  remained  in  service  three  years  under  a  traffic  of  130  trains  per  day, 
except  the  joint  ties,  which  were  removed  at  the  end  of  18  months  and 
replaced  with  wooden  ties.  It  was  found  difficult  to  keep  the  track  in  line 
on  curves  and  the  use  of  fish  plates  at  the  joints,  instead  of  angle  bars, 
made  it  difficult  to  hold  the  joints  to  surface.  During  the  three  years 
in  which  these  ties  were  in  service  the  cost  of  maintenance  ex- 
ceeded the  usual  cost  of  maintenance  for  track  laid  on  wooden  ties  by 
about  30  per  cent.  Another  experiment  with  the  Standard  tie  was  tried 
on  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.,  f  mile  of  main  track  in  Philadelphia 
being  laid  with  these  ties  in  the  summer  of  1891.  The  track  was  laid 
with  80-lb.  rails,  in  slag  ballast,  and  the  traffic  averaged  about  260  trains 
per  day.  It  was  found  that  the  ties  worked  up  and  down  in  the  ballast, 
and  it  became  difficult  to  keep  the  track  in  line  and  surface. 

In  the  designing  of  all  or  nearly  all  the  metal  ties  which  have  been 
experimented  with  to  any  extent,  economy  of  material  has  been  the  prin- 
cipal aim  rather  than  the  production  of  a  tie  properly  shaped  for  the  con- 
ditions which  it  must  meet  in  service.  This  statement  is  made  with  the 
full  understanding  that  thousands  of  miles  of  track  laid  with  metal  tie« 
are  now  in  service  in  foreign  countries.,  with  evident  satisfaction.  The 
type  of  tie  which  appears  to  meet  with  most  favor  abroad  is  a  tie  of  trough 
section,  laid  open  side  downward,  and  not  departing  widely  in  principle 
from  the  Hartford  tie,  which  was  tried  on  the  New  York  Central  R.  R. 
Notwithstanding  this  fact  it  is  doubtful  if  any  tie  of  this  pattern  can  sat- 
isfactorily fulfill  the  maintenance  requirements  of  the  railroads  of  this 
country,  considering  the  weight  of  our  rolling  stock  and  the  climatic  con- 
ditions prevailing.  In  attempting  to  distribute  a  minimum  quantity  of 
metal  to  obtain  the  required  stiffness,  the  tie  of  trough  section  seems  to 
respond  most  readily  to  this  one  requirement.,  but  it  is  the  worst  possible 
form  of  tie  for  the  operations  of  track  surfacing.  Granting  that  the  tie 
will  eventually  settle  itself  into  the  ballast  until  a  compact  bed  is  formed, 
the  difficulty  is  found  in  tamping  such  a  tie  with  any  degree  of  facility 
and  effectiveness  when  low  portions  of  the  track  must  be  raised  and  sur- 
faced.. Suppose  that,  a  tie  is  raised  an  inch  or  such  matter  and  the  bal- 
last is  to  be  tamped  up  to  hold  the  tie.  As  it  would  be  impossible  to  force 
the  ballast  into  the  crescent-shaped  cavity  next  the  tie  surface,  with  either 
a  tamping  bar,  tamping  pick,  or  any  other  tool  known  to  the  occupation 
of  a  trackman/ it  becomes  necessary  to  break  up  the  core  of  material  fill- 
ing the  entire  cavity  on  the  under  side  of  the  tie,  thereby  destroying  its 
compactness,  which  is  the  essential  quality  required  to  hold  the  tie  in  its 
raised  position.  AVhile  it  is  true  that  in  the  use  of  the  tamping  pick  in 
stone  ballast,  in  a  small  lift,  it  becomes  necessary  to  break  up  the  old  bed 
to  some  extent  in  order  to  tamp  the  tie,  nevertheless  such  disturbance 
does  not  extend  to  any  considerable  depth  into  the  ballast,  and  the  force 
of  the  pick  is  exerted  against  a  layer  of  material  in  immediate  contact 
with  the  bottom  face  of  the  tie — which  cannot  be  the  case  in  tamping  a 
tie  of  trough  section.  During  the  latter  part  of  1900  the  Bessemer  &- 
Lake  Erie  R.  R.  laid  1500  steel  ties  in  main  track. near  Osgood,  Pa.  These 
are  of  inverted  trough  section  with  flaring  sides.  The  top  face  is  5  ins. 
wide  and  the  sides  3-J  ins.  deep.  The  ties  weigh  208  Ibs.  each.  Fully  real- 
izing the  difficulty  of  properly  tamping  them  with  the  customary  tools, 
use  has  been  made  of  air-blast  apparatus,  consisting  of  a  No.  3  Root  blow- 


972 


MISCELLANEOUS 


er  clamped  to  the  rail  and  turned  by  two  hand  cranks.  The  ballast  is 
slag  and  tamping  is  done  by  raising  the  ties  and  blowing  pulverized  or 
finely  broken  slag  under  them.  Figure  483A  shows  a  stretch  of  this 
steel-tied  track,  with  the  air-blast  machine  in  position  for  service.  Some 
details  of  the  design  and  operation  of  air  tamping  machinery  are  given  in 
§  85.  The  use  of  the  same  with  wooden  ties,  where  the  conditions  are 
most  favorable  to  its  operation,  has  been  only  experimental. 

The  tie  of  ideal  shape,  and,  in  fact,  the  only  one  which  can  properly 
perform  the  functions  of  a  tie,  is  one  having  a  flat  bottom  easily  accessi- 
ble for  tamping,  and  the  under  face  of  the  tie1  should  be  straight.  If  the 
tie  dips  in  the  middle  a  cavity  is  formed  in  the  ballast  to  collect  and  hold 
water,  to  be  churned  by  the  trains;  and  whether  the  middle  of  the  tie  be 
curved  downward  or  upward,  the  uneven  bed  must  form  a  serious  obstruc- 
tion to  the  work  of  throwing  the  track  to  its  proper  alignment  from  time 
to  time.  To  do  good  service  a  tie  should  also  have  depth,  for  if  there  be 
not  a  considerable  depth  of  filling  between  the  ties  the  layer  of  ballast  im- 
mediately adjoining  the  bottom  face  of  the  tie,  especially  after  the  tie 


Fig.  483A — Air  Blast  Apparatus  for  Tamping  Track,  B.  &  L.  E.  R.  R. 

has  been  newly  tamped,  is  easily  shaken  out  of  place  by  the  action  of 
moving  trains.  Depth  of  tie  is  also  required  in  order  to  obtain  the  neces- 
sary stiffness,  but  the  scheme  of  deepening  the  tie  and  forming  it  of 
thicker  metal  calls,  of  course,  for  more  material,  and  the  additional 
metal  required  may  encroach  upon  the  margin  of  cost  which  decides  the 
economy  of  the  metal  tie.  It  is  perhaps  but  a  truism  to  propose  that  a 
metal  tie  with  a  flat,  straight  bottom  face  and  with  depth  and  stiffness 
equivalent  to  these  features  of  the  wooden  tie,  would  serve  as  well  as  the 
wooden  tie  for  a  track  support;  and  such  requirements  will  probably  have 
to  be  met  before  the  metal  tie  can  successfully  cope  with  the  conditions 
which  obtain  on  American  railroads.  That  the  tie  should  contain  but  few 
parts  and  be  so  designed  that  it  can  be  produced  with  but  little  hand  labor 
goes  almost  without  saying. 

Of  the  commercial  shapes  the  T-bar  and  the  I-beam  seem  best  adapted 
to  the  requirements  of  a  metal  tie,  as  the  desired  stiffness  can  be  obtained 
with  a  moderate  weight  of  metal  and  the  bottom  face  of  the  tie  is  of  the 
right  shape  to  properly  support  the  track  and  admit  of  tamping  by  prac- 


METAL   TIES  973 

ticable  means.  The  Bid  well  steel  tie  is  designed  as  an  inverted  T-section, 
to  be  rolled  from  soft  steel,  with  a  base  8  ins.  wide  and  f  in.  thick  and  a 
vertical  leg  of  the  same  thickness  and  4  ins.  high.  The  support  for  the 
rail  consist?  of  a  plate  bent  into  the  shape  of  a  "IT"  and  inverted  over 
the  vertical  leg  and  riveted  to  the  bottom  leg.  The  vertical  leg  of  the 
tie  is  notched  for  the  rail  seat,  and  the  fastening  consists  of  a  lip  in  the  top 
edge  of  this  leg,  for  one  side  of  the  rail  flange,  and  a  clasp  attached  to 
the  vertical  leg,  on  the  other  side.  A  section  of  track  in  the  Kansas  City 
yards  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Ky.  was  laid  Avith  these  ties  in  1897,  the 
T-shape  being  formed  by  riveting  together  two  angle  bars.  "  The  Chester 
steel  tie,  laid  experimentally  on  the  Huntingdon  &  Broad  Top  Mountain 
R.  R.,  at  Huntingdon,  Pa.,  in  1899.  consists  of  three  separable  parts,  being 
composed  of  an  inverted  steel  T-bar  6  ft.  long,  reinforced  by  a  section  of 
inverted  trough  placed  transversely  at  either  end  to  afford  extra  bearing 
and  support  for  the  rail.  The  horizontal  leg  or  bottom  of  the  T-bar  is 
4  ins.  wide  and  the  vertical  leg  3  ins.  high,  the  latter  being  mortised  for 
rail  seats  at  the  proper  gage,  while  the  trough-shaped  base  pieces  are 
slotted  to  hold  firmly  to  the  T-bar  and  in  a  manner  to  form  the  rail  seat ; 
or,  in  other  words,  the  T-bar  extends  through  a  slot  in  each  leg  of  the 
inverted-trough  base  pieces.  Each  base  piece  has  two  lugs  struck  up  to 
engage  and  clamp  the  inner  flange  of  the  rail,  and  the  mortise  or  notch 
in  the  vertical  leg  of  the  T-bar  is  cut  under  so  as  to  form  a  hook  or  pro- 
jecting clip  to  clamp  the  outer  flange  of  the  rail.  This  notching  of  the 
T-bar  prevents  the  rail  from  being  crowded  out  of  gage,  either  outward  or 
inward.  The  rails  are  thus  attached  to  the  ties  without  a  bolt,  wedge, 
clip,  pin  or  other  loose  fastening.  The  thickness  of  metal  in  the  T-bar  is 
f-in.  and  each  base  piece  is  10  ins.  Ions:  and  10  ins.  wide,  with  depending 
flanges  5  ins.  deep,  the  thickness  of  the  metal  being  f  in.  The  weight 
of  the  T-bar  is  53  Ibs.  and  the  total  weight  of  the  tie  ia  90  Ibs..  The 
Bidwell  steel  tie  was  illustrated  and  described  in  the  Railway  and  Engi- 
neering Review  of  March  25,  1899,  and  the  Chester  steel  tie  in  the  issue 
of  Dec.  30,  1899,  where  further  details  are  to  be  found. 

The  I-beam  principle  of  steel  tie  design  has  been  applied  by  Roadmas- 
ter  C.  Buhrer,  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ry.  The  original 
idea  with  Mr.  Buhrer  was  to  utilize  scrap  material  exclusively  by  rerolling 
old  rails,  the  head  of  the  rail  to  be  spread  out  into  a  flange  8  ins.  wide, 
to  form  the  bottom  face  of  a  tie  somewhat  shallower  than  the  original  rail 
section.  Facilities  for  rerolling  rails  in  this  manner  were  not,  however, 
in  commercial  use,  and  some  question  was  raised  as  to  whether  such  a 
shape  could  be  cheaply  rolled.  When  it  came  to  the  question  of  providing 
ties  for  an  experiment,  the  quantity  not  being  large  enough  to  induce  .the 
mill  people  to  roll  them  to  shape  out  of  old  rails,  the  bottom  face  of 
the  tie  was  formed  by  riveting  a  steel  plate  to  the  head  of  the  old  rail. 
The  tie  was  then  inverted,  the  base  of  the  old  rail  serving  as  the  top  face 
of  the  tie.  The  fastening  devised  was  simple  and  secure,  consisting  of 
ordinary  clips  held  by  bolts  passed  through  the  upper  flange  from  below. 
To  assist  in.  holding  the  tie  in  alignment,  or  from  shifting  longitudinally 
on  its  bed,  depressions  were  made  in  the  lower  flange,  under  each  rail  seat. 
In  the  spring  of  1901  a  stretch  of  300  ft.  of  track  was  laid  with  ties  8J  ft. 
long  made  in  this  manner.  The  location  is  on  a  curve  about  2J  miles  east 
of  Sandusky,  0.,  where  all  the  trains  run  at  a  high  rate  of  speed.  The  tie* 
were  made  of  65-lb.  scrap  steel  rails  and  were  laid  at  2  ft.  centers  to  re-- 
place wooden  ties  7  ins.  thick.  The  steel  ties  being  only  4-J  ins.  deep,  the 
work  of  tamping  the  new  bed  was  carefully  done,  but  after  that  no  particu- 
lar attention  was  given  to  them.  These  ties  have  held  the  rails  in  good 


974  MISCELLANEOUS 

gage,  alignment  and  surface,  and,  so  far  as  service  is  concerned,  they  have 
given  excellent  satisfaction.  Being  shallower,  they  are  tamped  with  less 
labor  in  digging  out  the  ballast  than  is  required  for  wooden  ties,  and  as  the 
bottom  face  is  wide  and  flat  the  work  of  tamping  has  been  just  as  efficient 
in  holding  the  surface  as  it  is  with  wooden  ties.  These  ties  admit  of 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  much  flexibility  of  use  as  wooden  ties.  They  can 
be  put  into  the  track  as  cheaply  as  wooden  ties,  and  they  can  be  used 
promiscuously  to  replace  decayed  wooden  ones,  tie  for  tie,  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  wooden  ties  are  placed  in  renewals.  It  is  not  necessary  to  lay 
them  out  of  face.  On  these  ties  a  rail  can  be  exchanged  or  the  rails  can 
be  shimmed  in  winter,  as  readily  as  on  wooden  ties. 

Tf  the  cost  of  ties  made  by  utilizing  the  material  of  worn-out  rails 
could  be  kept  within  an  economical  limit  the  proposition  would  certainly 
be  enticing.  The  weight  of  this  tie  is  one  of  the  chief  points  of  criticism. 
If  made  8  ft.  long,  from  an  old  65-lb.  rail,  the  weight  would  be  about 
160  ibs.  Of  course  it  is  to  be  considered  that  the  scrap  value  of  the  tie 
-when  worn  out  and  removed  from  the  track  would  be  an  important  item. 
The  quantity  of  metal  then  available  would  be  the  original  weight  less 
only  that  lost  by  corrosion.  Taking  one  year  with  another,  the  value  of 
scrap  rails  to  a  railway  company  is  quite  variable.  In  past  years  there 
have  been  times  when  160  Ibs.  of  scrap  rail  metal  would  not  net  the  rail- 
way company  more  than  80  cents.  At  4  per  cent  the  annual  interest 
charge  on  the  material  in  each  tie,  at  this  value,  would  be  only  3.2  cents, 
which  would  be  quite  reasonable,  but  the  average  price  of  scrap  rail  steel 
is  higher  than  the  figure  stated,  and  in  making  cost  comparisons  with  ties 
of  different  design  or  of  lighter  weight  the  expense  of  transporting  the 
material  to  and  from  the  mills,  the  cost  of  rerolling,  and  the  final  loss  by 
corrosion  in  the  track  (which  might  be  little  or  much,  according  to  the 
character  of  the  soil  or  of  the  ballast)  should  be  taken  into  consideration. 
Without  actually  attempting  to  reroll  the  old  rails  into  ties,  estimates  on 
that  item  would,  of  course,  be  only  speculative.  The  excellent  service 
which  the  experimental  steel  ties  have  given  on  the  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  Ey. 
suggests  that  the  design  is  worthy  of  careful  investigation.  It  might  be 
that  old  rails  of  considerably  lighter  weight  than  65  Ibs.  per  yd.  could 
be  worked  over  into  ties  of  sufficient  strength,  or  it  might  be  found  that 
the  ties  could  be  rolled  direct  from  new  metal  at  an  economical  figure. 

Composite  Steel  and  Concrete  Ties. — The  cheap  cost  of  concrete  and 
its  durability  have  been  taken  into  account  in  the  study  of  substitutes  for 
wooden  ties;  and  experiments  with  this  material  have  been  undertaken 
on  several  roads.  The  general  idea  is  that  the  concrete  should  be  rein- 
forced with  a  steel  member  or  framework  of  some  kind,  more  especially 
to  prevent  breakage  from  center  binding  or  heaving,  and  to  hold  the  mate- 
rial together  in  case  of  fracture  or  breakage,  thus  securing  the  gage.  So 
far  as  direct  compressive  stress  is  concerned  the  concrete  is  regarded  to 
be  reliable.  About  the  first  experiment  in  this  direction  was  made  in 
Chicago,  with  some  ties  designed  by  Mr.  J.  J  Harrell  and  put  into  the 
main  track  of  the  Pittsburgh  Ft,  Wayne  &  Chicago  Ey.,  hear  the  Union 
station,  in  the  summer  of  1899.  The  design  consisted  of  concrete  molded 
around  a  truss  of  1-in.  rods,  put  together  on  the  style  of  a  trussed  pipe 
brake  beam.  The  ties  were  7  ft.  4  ins.  long,  8J  ins.  deep  under  the  rails, 
10  ins.  wide  on  bottom  under  the  rail  seats  and  6  ins.  wide  on  bottom 
•under  the  middle  portion  of  the  tie.  The  ties  were  30  in  number  laid  under 
85-lb.  rails  in  broken  stone  ballast,  on  a  curve  of  6J  deg.  The  traffic  over  the 
ties  was  very  heavy,  consisting  of  the  east-bound  passenger  trains  of 
the  road  named  and  all  the  west-bound  passenger  trains  of  the  Chicago, 


METAL   TIES  975 

-Burlington  &  Quincy  and  the  Chicago  &  Alton  roads.  Although  it  be- 
•came  apparent  quite  early  that  the  life  of  these  ties  would  be  short,  tney 
nevertheless  outdid  the  expectations  of  some  by  lasting  17  months  before 
they  were  removed  from  the  track,  and  the  experiment  was  instructive. 
-Some  two  or  three  of  the  ties  broke  in  two  in  the  middle,  the  appearance* 
indicating  that  they  had  become  center-bound  and  were  unable  to  stand 
up  under  the  loads.  The  greatest  difficulty,  however,  was  with  the  fasten- 
ings, which  consisted  of  bolts  set  in  the  concrete,  with  ordinary  clips  for 
holding  the  base  of  the  rail.  These  bolts  became  loose  in  the  concrete 
.and  the  side  thrust  and  working  of  the  rail  shattered  the  material  under 
the  rail  seats,  which  consisted  of  a  steel  plate  embedded  in  the  concrete. 

Encouraged  by  this  experience  Mr.  Harrell  redesigned  the  tie  on 
improved  lines.  In  the  later  pattern  the  metallic  core  or  frame  con- 
sists of  a  steel  web  plate  J  in.  thick,  7  ins.  deep  and  7  ft.  8  ins.  long.  The 
upper  corner  of  each  end  of  this  plate  is  slitted  and  lopped  over  each  way. 
The  plate  is  also  perforated  at  frequent  intervals  by  punching  out  square 
holes  and  bending  over  the  tongue  of  metal,  to  give  the  frame  a  firm  hold 
in  the  concrete.  The  bearing  for  the  rail  consists  of  a  plate  5  ins.  wide, 
14  ins.  long  and  f  in.  thick,  resting  upon  the  top  of  the  steel  web  and  upon 
the  concrete.  The  fastening  for  each  rail  consists  of  a  pair  of  straps 
riveted  to  the  web  plate  and  projecting  up  through  the  tie  plate  or  rail 
seat.  The  rail  is  held  to  the  plate  by  spring  links  which  straddle  the  straps 
and  are  held  in  place  by  common  track  spikes  run  through  slots  in  the 
straps  after  springing  the  links  down  with  a  bar.  The  tie  is  8  ft.  long, 
over  all,  and  8f  ins.  deep.  Each  end  of  the  tie,  for  about  one-third  of  its 
length,  is  9  ins.  wide  on  bottom  and  5  ins.  wide  on  top.  The  middle 
third  of  the  tie  is  5  ins.  thick,  and  the  bottom  corners  of  this  portion  are 
rounded,  to  restrict  the  bearing  surface  and  prevent  center-binding.  The 
tie  weighs  about  300  Ibs.,  of  which  55  Ibs.  is  metal.  The  concrete  is  made 
of  crushed  limestone  and  Portland  cement  in  a  very  wet  mixture.  The 
proportion  of  the  materials  is  the  result  of  a  good  deal  of  experimenting, 
and  it  differs  materially  from  that  of  concrete  for  ordinary  building  con- 
struction, in  that  no  sand  is  used.  The  stone  for  the  mixture  is  "crusher 
run"  of  -J  in.  size  and  smaller,  no  attempt  being  made  to  separate 
the  dust,  which  was  found  to  produce  a  stronger  concrete  than  could  bo 
made  by  the  use  of  sand.  Some  of  these  ties  are  laid  in  a  side-track  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Lines,  at  Hegewisch,  111. 

In  1901  the  Pere  Marquette  E.  R.  began  experimenting  with  a  com- 
posite tie  of  concrete  and  steel  construction  designed  by  Mr.  Geo.  H.  Kim- 
ball,  chief  engineer  of  the  road.  The  tie  consists  of  two  bearing  blocks 
of  concrete  each  3  ft.  long  and  shaped  like  a  pole  tie.  Each  of  these  blocks 
is  7  ins.  deep  and  the  face  is  9  ins.  wide.  Each  pair  of  concrete  blocks  is 
joined  by  two  3-in.  channels  placed  2  ins.  apart,  back  to  back,  and  molded 
in  'with  the  concrete.  The  general  arrangement  and  details  are  illustrated 
in  Fig.  484.  The  bearing  of  the  rail  is  taken  by  a  4x9-in.  white  oak  cush- 
ion block  18  ins.  long.  This  block  is  secured  to  the  concrete  base  by  -J-in. 
square  bolts  molded  into  the  concrete  block  and  jointed  at  the  top  surface 
thereof  by  means  of  a  screw  socket.  The  top  head  of  the  bolt  is  counter- 
sunk into  the  wood  and  the  space  around  the  same  is  filled  with  pitch,  to 
exclude  water.  The  wooden  blocks  are  treated  with  carbolineum.  To 
these  blocks  the  rail  is  spiked  in  the  usual  manner,  but  the  use  of  clips, 
as  shown  at  the  left  of  the  middle  engraving,  has  been  considered.  In 
places  where  a  wooden  block  is  used  that  is  thinner  than  the  length  of  the 
spike,  elm  plugs  are  molded  into  the  concrete  block  and  bored  for  the 
spikes.  Against  the  outside  end  of  each  oak  block  there  is  a  concrete 


976 


MISCELLANEOUS 


shoulder,  to  prevent  spreading  of  the  gage  should  the  block  become  loose. 
The  method  of  connecting  the  anchor  bolts  to  the  channels  is  made  clear 
in  the  sectional  view.  The  pin  for  this  connection  projects  into  the  con- 
crete about  one  inch  from  the  side  of  the  channel,  thus  giving  the  channel 
a  secure  hold  in  the  masonry.  The  exposed  surface  of  the  channels,  be- 
tween the  concrete  blocks,  is  protected  by  two  coats  of  Portland  cement 
mortar  spread  on  thin,  and  to  further  protect  the  steel  from  corrosive 
action  the  space  between  the  channels  is  filled  with  concrete.  The  concrete 
in  the  bearing  blocks  consists  of  two  parts  of  Portland  cement,  one  part 
sand  and  three  parts  of  f-in.  screened  gravel.  The  blocks  are  molded  to 
the  ends  of  the  channels  under  a  pressure  of  10  Ibs.  per  square  inch.  The 
weight  of  the  tie  is  about  452  Ibs.,  including  68  Ibs.  of  metal,  374  Ibs.  of 
concrete  and  10  Ibs..  of  wood  block,  and  the  cost  was  $1.46  each,  including 
50  cents  for  concrete  and  labor  of  molding.  In  1902  three  quarters  of  a 
mile  of  track  in  Jefferson  St.,  Bay  City,  Mich.,  was  laid  with  ties  of  this 
design  without  the  channel  bars.  The  Pere  Marquette  R.  R.  enters  Bay 
City  by  this  route,  and  as  the  street  is  paved,  special  construction  of  a 
permanent  character  was  desirable.  The  ties  were  laid  in  cement  mortar 
upon  a  bed  of  concrete  9  ins.  deep,  being  set  to  a  true  grade  with  an  engi- 
neer's level,  and  after  the  track  had  been  put  to  surface  the  space  between 
the  ties  up  to  the  level  of  base  of  rail,  was  filled  in  with  concrete.  On 
this  was  placed  a  1-in.  bedding  for  the  paving  blocks.  As  the  concrete 
ties  or  (properly  speaking)  supporting  blocks  abut  against  the  foundation 
of  the  pavement,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  become  separated  or  spread 
farther  apart,  and  the  steel  channels  were  therefore  omitted.  The  oak 
cushion  blocks  were  the  only  perishable  material  used,  and  they  are  re- 
newable. 


Fig.  484.— Kimball  Composite  Steel  and  Concrete  Tie,  Pere  Marquette  R.  R. 


METAL   TIES  977 

Another  idea  applied  in  composite  tie  construction  is  to  place  a  stiff 
•steel  member  in  the  top  of  the  tie,  to  take  the  bearing  of  the  rails  and 
hold  the  fastenings.  The  body  of  the  tie  then  consists  of  concrete  molded 
to  the  under  part  of  this  top  member.  This  design  is  the  invention  of 
Eoadmaster  C.  Buhrer,  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  By.,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1902  a  number  of  ties  so  constructed  were  laid  in  the  main 
track  of  that  road,  near  Sandusky,  0.  These  ties  were  made  by  molding 
a  concrete  body  or  base  to  the  head  of  an  inverted  piece  of  old  65-lb.  rail, 
but  for  economy  of  metal  a  lighter  rail  might  be  used,  or  an  I-beam  or 
other  shape  of  lighter  section  might  be  found  to  answer  the  purpose.  The 
first  ties  put  into  service  are  5J  ins.  deep  and  8  ins.  wide  on  the  under 
face,  except  at  the  central  portion,  which  is  narrower,  so  as  to  avoid  full 
bearing  and  liability  to  center-binding.  The  fastenings  consist  of  bolts 
and  clips  applied  to  the  upturned  base  of  the  rail,  as  is  done  with  the 
Buhrer  steel  tie.  Buhrer  composite  ties  of  later  design  are  6^  ins.  deep 
and  8  ins.  wide  on  the  bottom  face.  Trial  sections  of  main  track  have  been 
laid  with  these  ties  on  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.,  near 
Sandusky,  Ohio;  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.,  at  Milwaukee;  on 
the  Lakeside  &  Marblehead  E.  E.,  at  Danbury,  Ohio,  and  on  other  roads. 

The  Adriatic  Ey.,  in  Italy,  is  using  a  number  of  concrete-steel  ties, 
the  cross  section  of  which  is  like  a  triangle  with  the  corners  cut  off.  The 
ties  are  8.53  ft.  long,  the  bottom  width  is  7.87  ins.,  and  at  the  rail  seats 
the  top  face  widens  out  to  the  full  bottom  width.  The  concrete  consists 
of  a  mixture  of  cement  and  sand  in  the  proportion  of  121  to  165.  The 
reinforcement  consists  of  28  round  steel  rods  running  straight  through  the 
tie  longitudinally.  The  aggregate  cross-sectional  area  of  these  rods  is 
3  sq.  ins.,  and  they  are  distributed  (as  seen  sectionally)  in  two  horizontal 
rows,  near  the  bottom  face  of  the  tie,  and  in  three  rows  vertically  along 
the  middle  part  of  the  tie;  in  other  words,  the  general  shape  of  the. rein- 
forcement is  like  an  inverted  "T."  Each  tie  weighs  287  Ibs.,  including  88 
Ibs.  of  metal,  and  the  cost  ranged  from  $2.16  to  $2.40. 

One  question  which  arises  in  connection  with  the  use  of;  concrete 
for  tie  material  is  the  effect  of  derailments.  It  is  not  an  uncommon 
occurrence  for  the  wheels  of  freight  cars  to  become  derailed  and  run  over 
the  ties  for  several  miles  before  the  accident  is  discovered.  In  such 
cases  wooden  ties,  although  cut  by  the  wheel  flanges,  are  not  usually  ren- 
dered unfit  for  service,  but  the  ties  get  severely  bumped,  and  it  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  ties  with  exposed  concrete  in  the  top  face  would  not  be 
shattered  or  broken  up  by  such  rough  treatment.  In  the  Buhrer  composite 
tie  the  top  face  of  steel  seems  well  designed  to  protect  the  concrete  in  case 
of  derailment. 

Although  it  seems  unlikely  that  the  day  for  the  general  introduction 
of  metal  ties  in  this  country  is  near  at  hand,  yet  industrial  conditions  are 
continually  changing,  and  the  possibilities  in  the  field  certainly  suggest 
the  wisdom  of  careful  study  and  experimentation  along  such  lines.  One 
serious  obstacle  to  the  general  use  of  an  all-metal  tie  would  be  found 
in  the  difficulty  of  insulating  the  rails  for  the  track  circuits  of  automatic 
electric  block  signals,  which  have  been  extensively  adopted  on  American 
railroads.  In  such  signal  systems  track  circuits  are  much  preferred  to 
wire  circuits.  Possibly  some  means  of  overcoming  this  difficulty  could 
be  found,  and  the  problem  invites  careful  study.  The  solution  might  be 
found  to  satisfaction  in  some  form  of  composite  tie.  The  Kimball  tie  of 
the  Pere  Marquette  E.  E.  (Fig.  484)  insulates  the  rails.  The  experience 
with  metal  ties  in  foreign  countries,  in  some  of  which  they  have  been  used 
extensively,  is  treated  at  some  length  in  §  8,  Supplementary  Notes. 


<>7S  MISCELLANEOUS 

170.  Lag  Screws  vs.  Spikes. — Every  now  and  then  some  ingenious 
man,  casting  about  for  opportunity  to  work  an  improvement  in  track 
construction,  hits  upon  the  track  spike  and  finds  something  to  say  con- 
demnatory of  its  use.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  the  shortcomings  of  the 
spike  as  a  track  fastening,  such  as  they  are,  were  discovered  as  long  as  a 
generation  ago,  or  longer,  and  at  an  early  date  numerous  attempts  were 
made  to  substitute  a  better  form  of  fastening.  The  result  of  it  all  has 
been  that  the  old-fashioned  hook-headed  spike  still  remains  practically 
the  universal  form  of  rail  fastening  for  wooden  ties,  at  least  in  this  coun- 
try; and.  judging  from  the  degree  of  satisfaction  which  it  gives,  the  field 
for  track  improvements  would  appear  to  be  wider  in  other  directions. 
It  is  quite  safe  to  say  that  if  among  track  devices  there  be  one  that  is  re- 
markable for  its  simplicity,  cheapness,  durability,  convenience  of  appli- 
cation and  general  efficiency,  which  has  served  its  purpose  from  the  first* 
and  is  still  fully  meeting  that  purpose,  it  is  the  track  spike. 

The  principal  objections  urged  against  the  use  of  the  spike  are  two? 
namely:  that  it  has  less  adhesion  to  the  tie  than  some  proposed  forms  of 
fastening,  and  in  time  is  worked  up  from  the  rail  flange  by  the  undula- 
tions in  the  rail;  and  that  in  process  of  driving  it  crushes  the  fibers  of 
the  timber  immediately  surrounding  it,  which  operates  not  only  to  destroy 
to  some  extent  the  adhesive  qualities  of  the  fiber,  but  also  weakens  the 
fiber  against  the  lateral  displacement  of  the  spike,  thus  tending  to  permit 
spreading  of  the  rails.  It  is  worth  while  to  analyze  these  objections  and 
try  to  discern  their  real  importance,  for  much  needless  anxiety  and  study 
arises  from  exaggerated  ideas  of  the  service  required  of  a  track  spike  and 
the  conditions  under  which  it  is  applied. 

In  the  first  place,  the  principal  duty  of  a  track  spike  is  not  adhesion 
to  the  tie,  but  to  hold  against  lateral  displacement — the  tenacity  with 
which  the  spike  resists  pulling  from  the  tie  is  relatively  of  small  import- 
ance. On  tangents  the  duty  required  of  the  spikes  is  mainly  to  establish 
the  alignment  of  the  rails,  and  not  so  much  to  maintain  it,  for  if  such 
track  be  kept  in  fair  surface  there  is  little  or  no  tendency  for  the  rails  to 
spread,  and  the  spike  is  not  subjected  to  lateral  pressure  of  any  account. 
Elsewhere  in  this  volume  it  is  pointed  out  that,  so  far  as  the  safety  of  the 
track  is  concerned,  under  normal  conditions,  it  wouM  not  matter  if  two- 
thirds  or  three-quarters  of  the  spikes  on  tangents  were  pulled  from  the 
ties.  On  curves,  however,  the  duty  of  the  spikes  in  maintaining  the 
alignment  is  of  prime  importance,  for  they  must  hold  the  rail  against 
lateral  displacement  by  side  pressure  from  the  wheels  and  the  centrifugal 
force  of  the  cars  that  is  due  to  speed.  Still  this  duty,  important  as  it  is,  i* 
imposed  by  only  the  one  tendency  to  lateral  displacement.  The  familiar  sup- 
position that  the  spikes  must  resist  an  overturning  tendency  in  the  rails  is 
not  warranted  by  the  facts.  If  such  was  the  condition  imposed  the  spike 
would  indeed  be  a  poor  form  of  fastening  to  prevent  the  overturning  of 
the  rail. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  canting  of  the  inside  rail  of  curves  is  of 
frequent  occurrence  it  is  elsewhere  explained  that  such  tendency  arises 
from  the  crosswise  skidding  of  the  wheel  tread  on  the  top  of  the  rail,  tend- 
ing of  course  to  overturn  the  rail,  but  being  entirely  too  small  a  force  to 
lift  the  inner  corner  of  the  rail  flange.  The  resultant  of  the  forces  acting 
upon  the  rail  always  passes  well  within  the  rail  base,  and  whatever  tend- 
ency there  is  to  overturn  the  rail  is  too  small  in  comparison  with  the 
weight  acting  vertically  downward  to  cause  the  lifting  of  one  side  of  the 
rail  flange.  The  result  which  the  overturning  tendency  actually  docs  ac- 
complish is  an  unequal  distribution  of  the  weight  on  the  rail  base,  which. 


LAG    SCREWS    VS.    SPIKES  979 

of  course,  acts  more  severely  on  the  fiber  under  the  side  having  the  pre- 
ponderance of  weight,,  so  that  the  compression  of  the  fiber  on  that  side  is 
greater,  and  under  certain  conditions  already  made  clear  the  rail  gradually 
assumes  a  canting  position,  which  is  augmented  with  time.  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  it  is  the  unequal  wear  or  depression  of  the  wood 
fiber  which  permits  the  tilting  of  the  rail,  and  such  action  would  take 
place  just  as  rapidly  with  any  other  form  of  fastening,  no  matter  how 
firmly  the  rail  could  be  united  with  the  tie.  That  it  does  take  place  with- 
out any  apparent  resistance  from  the  spikes  is  therefore  no  .indication 
that  the  spikes  do  not  fully  perform  their  duty.  The  gist  of  the  matter 
is  that  on  curves  which  are  properly  elevated  the  resultant  of  the  forces 
on  each  rail  passes  through  the  center  of  the  rail  base,  or  very  near  to  it, 
and  under  no  conditions  obtainable  in  ordinary  practice  is  there  an  uplift 
on  the  inner  side  of  either  rail.  The  adhesion  of  the  spike  against  an  up- 
ward pull  is  therefore  of  no  practical  consequence,  so  far  as  concerns  the 
point  discussed.  Ignorance  of,  or  indifference  to,  this  fact  accounts  for 
the  sometimes  needless  practice  of  plugging  the  holes  of  spikes  pulled  and 
redriven  in  the  same  holes  on  the  original  line,  as  in  renewing  rails  with 
same  width  of  base.  Some  even  go  so  far  as  to  plug  the  old  hole  and  set 
the  spike  in  a  new  position,  to  obtain  better  adhesion,  which  is  not  re- 
quired. If  the  alignment  or  gage  of  the  rail  is  not  to  be  changed  by  the 
spikes,  it  is  better  practice  to  redrive  the  spikes  in  the  old  holes  without 
plugging,  for  while  the  adhesion  is  not  so  great  as  with  a  spike  driven  in  a 
plugged  hole  or  in  undisturbed  fiber,  the  lateral  resistance  to  the  spike  is 
not  impaired  by  pulling,  if  it  is  properly  done. 

The  uplift  of  the  rail  in  its  undulations  is  resisted  by  the  spike, 
and  it  must  be  admitted  that  to  fully  perform  this  duty  the  adhesion  is 
not  quite  sufficient.  Gradually  the  spike  becomes  lifted,  even  in  ties  of 
the  hardest  woods,  especially  after  the  tie  has  become  somewhat  deter- 
iorated, until  the  head  of  the  spike  will  scrutinies  stand  J  in.  or  more 
clear  of  the  rail  flange.  In  ties  sound  enough  to  remain  in  the  track, 
however,  it  is  not  usually  the  case  that  the  lifting  of  the  spikes  becomes 
excessive.  While  there  are  those  who  claim  that  the  rail  should  have 
free  play  vertically  to  the  extent  of  its  undulations  from  wheel  loads,  so 
as  to  prevent  the  lifting  of  the  ties  from  their  beds,  it  is  doubtful  if  the 
supposed  benefits  from  such  practice  can  be  substantiated.  It  must  be  con- 
sidered that  unless  the  rails  are  firmly  anchored  to  the  ties  the  amplitude 
of  the  undulations  will  be  increased,  which  will  facilitate  creeping  of  the 
rails  in  two  ways,  namely,  by  accelerating  their  creeping  action,  and  by  re- 
moving an  obstruction  thereto,  for  if  the  spikes  are  kept  tightly  driven  the 
ties  will  powerfully  resist  the  creeping  of  the  rails.  To  hold  the  spikes  to 
their  work  it  is  necessary  to  go  over  the  track  at  least  once  a  year  and 
drive  down  a  large  portion  of  thenx,  which  is,  of  course,  a  matter  of  some 
expense.  It  should  not  be  understood,  however,  that  such  work  becomes 
a  pressing  necessity. 

It  now  remains  to  refer  to  some  of  the  devices  which  have  been  con- 
trived or  introduced  with  a  view  to  hold  the  rail  firmly  to  the  tie.  The 
Bush  interlocking  bolts  were  devised  and  experimented  with  as  early  as 
1882,  on  a  number  of  roads,  but  have  never  come  into  extensive  use.  These 
bolts  are  shown  as  Fig.  490.  They  are  inserted  into  holes  bored  in  the 
tie  at  an  angle  of  about  45  deg.,  and  in  such  directions  that  their  center 
lines  nearly  intersect  in  the  interior  of  the  tie,  underneath  the  rail.  The 
boring  is  done  by  means  of  a  machine  clamped  to  the  rail,  and  the  proper 
position  and  angle  of  the  holes  are  fixed  by  the  set  of  the  bits.  The  lower 
portion  of  each  bolt  is  notched  out,  to  provide  for  the  reception  of  the 


980 


MISCELLANEOUS 


other  bolt,,  so  that  when  crossed  and  drawn  home  the  bolts  interlock.  As 
it  appears  in  the  figure,  to  show  the  manner  of  interlocking,,  the  right- 
hand  bolt  has  not  been  drawn  entirely  home.  One  of  the  bolts  must  be 
turned  after  it  has  been  driven  across  the  other  bolt,  and  by  tightening 
down  the  nuts  on  the  beveled  clips  the  shoulder  on  each  bolt  pulls  against 
a  like  part  of  the  other.  To  remove  the  bolts  the  nut  on  the  right-hand 
bolt  is  slackened  and  the  bolt  is  driven  in,  to  permit  the  withdrawal  of  the 
left-hand  bolt,  when  the  other  can  be  freely  withdrawn.  The  first  cost 
of  such  a  device  is  a  considerable  item,  and  it  does  not  take  a  practical 
trackman  long  to  discover  that  it  is  far  from  being  a  perfect  track  fasten- 
ing, if  indeed  it  amounts  to  any  improvement  at  all  over  the  track  spike. 
While  it  is  true  that  it  ought  to  be  capable  of  holding  the  rail  very  firmly 
to  the  tie,  still  any  cutting  of  the  rail  into  the  tie  removes  the  rail  flange 
from  the  gripe  of  the  clips,  which  cannot  be  made  to  follow  up  the  reces- 
sion of  the  rail  without  removing  the  clips  and  adzing  the  tie.  Experience 
with  track  bolts  also  teaches  that  a  nut  placed  upon  a  vibrating  body,  like 
a  rail,  is  a  difficult  device  to  maintain  in  proper  adjustment,  so  that,  all 
things  considered,  a  great  deal  of  labor  would  be  required  to  maintain  the 
rail  in  close  union  with  the  ties  with  a  fastening  of  this  class. 


F«g-  490.  Fig.  490  A. 

.A  simpler  form  of  fastening  which  has  been  proposed,  and  tried  to  a 
limited  extent  on  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  K.  K.  and  on 
some  of  the  elevated  railway  tracks,  consists  in  the  use  of  clips  and  lag 
screws,  on  the  arrangement  shown  in  Fig.  491.  Holes  are  bored  in  the  tie 
at  the  proper  slant  and  the  lag  screws  are  turned  down  upon  the  beveled 
clips.  Each  clip  has  a  shoulder  to  oppose  the  lateral  thrust  of  the  rail 
flange,  and  the  clip  is  slotted  to  permit  a  lateral  movement  of  J  in.  in 
either  direction,  to  provide  for  adjustment  of  the  gage  without  resetting 
the  screw.  It  is  clear  that  the  first  cost  and  the  cost  of  application  of 
such  devices  would  be  greatly  in  excess  of  the  cost  of  spikes,  with  no  pros- 
pect of  permanent  results  superior  to  those  obtainable  by  the  use  of  spikes. 
It  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  any  cutting  of  the  rail  into  the  tie1  would  destroy 
the  integrity  of  the  fastening,  and  should  the  rail  cut  into  the  tie  a  depth 
equal  to  the  thickness  of  the  edge  of  the  flange,  the  clip  then  presents  no 
backing  against  the  rail,  and  on  curves  the  rail  would  cut  under  the  clip 
and  spread,  as  shown  in  Fig.  492,  unless  such  cutting  action  of  the  rail 
was  closely  followed  up  by  adzing  the  ties  and  resetting  the  clips.  In  this 
respect,  therefore,  the  clip  and  lag  screw  device  is  inferior,  in  point  of 
safety,  to  the  spike,  because  the  spike  always  maintains  a  backing  for  the 
rail  flange.  Unless  used  in  connection  with  a  tie  plate  it  is  difficult  to 


LAG   SCREWS   VS.    SPIKES  981 

see  how  any  advantage  could  accrue  from  the  use  of  clips  and  lag  screws. 
While  it  is  generally  considered  that  the  track  spike  is  not  a  perfect 
fastening  it  may  he  said  without  reserve  that  it  answers  the  purpose  better 
than  any  other  device  yet  produced.  It  is  the  least  expensive,  and  it  may 
he  applied  and  withdrawn  with  less  labor  than  is  required  with  any  other 
form  of  fastening.  It  consists  of  but  a  single  part  and  it  cannot  get  loose 
and  rattle.  If  on  sharp  curves  or  on  curves  with  soft-wood  ties  the  spike, 
or  resort  to  double  spiking,  be  not  equal  to  the  lateral  thrust  of  the  rail, 
the  situation  cannot  be  misleading  to  any  competent  trackman,  and  such 
devices  as  rail  braces  or  tie  plates  may  be  brought  to  the  aid  of  the  spikes. 
Considered  by  itself  the  lag  screw,  as  a  track  fastening,  is  hardly  super- 
ior to  the  common  spike,  for  while  it  has  greater  adhesion  in  the  timber,  tests 
have  shown  that  it  meets  with  less  resistance  to  lateral  displacement  from 
the  wood  fiber  than  a  spike  of  square  cross  section  presenting  the  same 
projectional  area  against  the  fiber.  The  results  of  some  tests  made  in  the 
Pittsburg  testing  laboratory,  as  published  in  the  Eailroad  Gazette  of  Oct. 
15,  1897,  show  that  in  pine  wood  a  screw  with  sectional  area  of  0.45  sq. 
in.  met  with  67  per  cent,  and  in  oak  wood  96  per  cent,  of  the  lateral  re- 
sistance offered  to  a  spike  having  a  sectional  area  of  0.37  sq.  in. ;  in  cedar 
the  lateral  resistance  to  the  screw  was  only  58  per  cent  of  that  offered  to 
the  spike.  In  European  practice  lag  screws  are  very  commonly  used  as 
track  fastenings,  in  substitution  for  spikes,  but  it  is  quite  commonly  un- 
derstood there  that  a  fastening  of  square  cross  section  offers  more  re- 
sistance to  displacement  of  the  wood  fiber  endwise  the  grain  than  a  fasten- 
ing of  circular,  cross  section.  Accordingly,  it  is  very  largely  the  practice 
on  European  roads  to  use  screws  for  gage-side  fastenings  and  spikes  for 
outside  fastenings,  at  the  latter  afford  better  security  against  spreading 
of  the  rail. 


Fig.  491.  Fig.  492. 

Although  the  adhesion  of  the  spike  in  the  timber  has  been  shown  to 
be  of  relatively  small  importance,  it  may  nevertheless  be  of  some  interest 
to  state  briefly  the  results  of  some  tests  published  in  the  journal  of  the 
Engineering  Society  of  the  University  of  Iowa,  in  September,  1891.  It 
was  found  that  the  force  required  to  draw  spikes  was  somewhat  variable, 
even  with  the  same  spikes  in  the  same  tie,  due  quite  probably  to  variability 
in  the  density  of  the  fiber  in  different  parts  of  the  wood.  Discovery  was  also 
made  of  the  fact,  already  very  well  known  to  any  trackman  or  other  person 
who  has  handled  a  claw  bar,  that  while  pulling  a  spike  the  adhesion  in  the 
wood  decreases  very  rapidly  after  the  spike  has  been  started.  In  20  tests 
with  common  track  spikes  newly  driven  4f  ins.  deep  into  a  seasoned  Mis- 
souri white  oak  tie,  the  average  resistance  to  starting  was  5514  Ibs.  The 
spike  used  for  experiment  was  5J  ins.  long,  and  9/16  in.  square,  in  section, 
with  a  point  f  in.  long.  In  nine  tests  with  spikes  driven  into  the  same  tie 
in  a  4 -in.  bored  hole  the  average  resistance  to  starting  was  found  to  be 
4936  Ibs.  Compared  with  tests  on  an  unseasoned  white  oak  tie  the  results 
are  quite  interesting.  In  tests  with  seven  spikes  driven  into  this  tie  the 
average  force  required  to  start  the  spike  was  4706  Ibs.,  but  when  driven- 


982  MISCELLANEOUS 

into  a  -i-in.  bored  hole  the  average  resistance  to  starting  was  6140  Ibs.  The 
average  force  required  to  start  spikes  from  unseasoned  white  cedar  ties 
was  1140  Ibs.,  and  the  average  force  required  to  start  spikes  driven  into  a 
•£-in.  bored  hole  in  the  same  tie  was  1400  Ibs.  The  force  required  to  start 
a  f-in.  lag  screw  set  in  a  -J-in.  bored  hole  in  a  seasoned  white  oak  tie  to  a 
depth  of  4|  ins.,  was  8037  Ibs. ;  a  9/16-in.  lag  screw  set  in  a  7/1G-in.  bored 
hole  3  ins.  resisted  starting  with  a  force  of  6480  Ibs.  A  f-in.  lag  screw 
set  in  a  J-in.  bored  hole  in  a  yellow  pine  tie  to  a  depth  of  4  ins.  resisted 
starting  with  a  force  of  3800  Ibs.;  and  a  f-in.  screw  set  in  a  |-in.  bored 
ho]e  in  a  white  cedar  unseasoned  tie  to  a  depth  of  4  ins.  resisted  starting 
with  a  force  of  3405  Ibs.  While  the  number  of  tests  performed  and  the 
number  of  pieces  of  timber  selected  for  the  tests  were  not  sufficient  to 
determine  results  which  can  be  accepted  as  general,  the  results  do  give 
some  idea  of  the  relative  holding  powers  of  spikes  and  lag  screws. 

It  is  generally  recognized  that  in  driving  the  common  spike  having 
a  blunt  wedge-shaped  point  the  fiber  of  the  wood  immediately  surround- 
ing it  is  injured  to  some  extent,  especially  the  fiber  of  soft-wood  ties. 
While  this  injury  to  the  fiber  decreases  somewhat  the  tenacity  with  which 
it  holds  the  spike,  as  is  shown  by  the  above  reports  on  tests  with  cedar 
ties,  the  most  serious  objection  is  found  in  the  impairment  of  the  fiber 
respecting  decreased  resistance  to  the  lateral  thrust  of  the  spike,  and  in 
the  greater  rapidity  with  which  such  fiber  will  decay  by  rot;  the  fiber  is 
also  less  able  to  support  the  spike  in  case  it  should  be  pulled  and  driven 
the  second  time,  and  the  crushed  fiber  is  in  that  part  of  the  tie  where  the 
greatest  pressure  from  the  rail  occurs.  The  difficulty  may  be  overcome  by 
boring  holes  for  the  spikes,  somewhat  smaller  in  diameter  than  the  thick- 
ness of  the  spike.  Whether  or  not  such  preparation  would  in  all  cases  in- 
crease the  adhesion  of  the  spike,  it  is  known  that  it  would  greatly  improve 
the  resistance  of  the  spike  to  the  lateral  thrust  of  the  rail,  which  is  the  prin- 
cipal duty  of  the  spike,  as  already  pointed  out.  In  Europe  the  boring  of 
ties  for  the  spikes  has  been  extensively  practiced.  Out  of  44  European 
railways  replying  to  an  inquiry  from  the  International  Railway  Congress 
in  1889.  26  reported  that  they  were  boring  holes  for  the  spikes. 

There  should  be  less  difficulty  in  boring  ties  for  spikes  than  is  com- 
monly supposed,  in  this  country,  and  the  extra  expense  should  be  incon- 
siderable. On  divisions  where  the  gage  is  not  widened  on  curves  the  holes 
could  be  bored  by  machinery,  in  the  yards,  as  the  ties  are  being  loaded 
for  distribution.  There  need  be  no  trouble  about  the  joint  ties,  because  a 
certain  proportion  of  the  ties — more  than  enough  to  cover  the  number  re- 
quired for  the  joints — could  be  left  blank,  to  be  bored  by  hand  as  they  are 
placed  in  the  track.  Where  tie  plates  are  to  be  used  it  is  only  necessary  that 
tho  holes  should  be  staggered  and  gaged  to  correspond  to  the  punching  of 
the  plates,  which  could  easily  be  regulated  by  boring  through  templets,  which 
would  be  required  in  any  case,  in  order  to  readily  locate  the  holes  at  the 
proper  gage  distance  for  the  two  rails.  In  boring  holes  where  tie  plates 
are  to  be  used  a  machine,  either  hand  or  power  driven,  could  be  arranged 
to  bore  both  holes  for  each  plate  simultaneously,  the  bits  being  set  to  cor- 
respond to  the  relative  position  of  the  holes  in  the  plate.  In  order  to 
embed  the  plates  properly  they  might  be  made  to  follow  drift  pins  fitting 
the  spike  holes  loosely.  On  roads  where  the  gage  is  spread  on  curves  the 
boring  can,  best  be  done  on  the  ground,  as  the  ties  are  placed  in  the  track, 
using  templets  made  for  the  particular  gage  desired.  In  this  way  the  gage 
of  the  rails  can  be  controlled  with  better  accuracy  than  is  the  case  with 
ordinary  methods  of  widening  it.  Those  who  have  experimented  with 
spikes  driven  in  bored  holes  recommend  boring  the  hole  1/16  in.  smaller  in 


EFFECTS  OF  BAD  COUNTERBALANCING  983 

diameter  than  the  thickness  of  the  spike,  and  not  deeper  than  the  length 
of  the  spike  exclusive  of  the  head  and  the  portion  tapered  for  the  point. 
It  would  also  probably  pay  to  fill  the  holes,  at  the  time  they  are  bored, 
with  some  liquid  wood  preserver,  thus  rendering  that  part  of  the  tie  im- 
mune to  water,  fungi,  bacteria  or  other  agencies  of  decay. 

171.  Effects  of  Bad  Counterbalancing. — It  is  generally  under- 
stood that  the  wear  and  tear  to  track  caused  by  locomotives  is  in  much 
greater  proportion  than  the  ratio  of  their  weight  to  that  of  the  trains  they 
pull.  While  the  inequality  of  detrimental  effects  is  not  due  entirely  to  the 
relative  magnitude  of  the  locomotive  wheel  loads,  yet  extent  of  loading  is 
one  of  the  important  considerations  in  the  case.  To  start  with,  then,  it 
will  be  well  enough  to  look  at  the  wheel  loads  or  static  wheel  pressures  of 
some  of  the  heaviest  locomotives  and  cars  in  service.  One-hundred-ton  lo- 
comotives are  no  longer  phenomenal.  Consolidation  road  engines  weigh- 
ing 115,  125  and  even  133.9  tons,  without  the  tender,  are  numerous;  en- 
gines exceeding  100  tons  in  weight  are  in  service  on  a  good  many  roads. 
Average  loads  of  12  to  13  tons  per  driver  are  quite  common,  and  they  have 
even  reached  14  tons  (Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie  R.  K.  consolidation  engines). 
The  average  driving-wheel  loads  of  a  large  number  of  locomotives  built 
during  the  years  1900  to  1902,  inclusive,  for  30  representative  railroads, 
were  as  follows:  for  4-driver  locomotives,  11.1  tons  per  driver;  for  6-driver 
locomotives,  10.7  tons  per  driver;  8-driver  locomotives,  10.4  tons  per 
driver.  The  weight  of  some  freight  cars  of  110,000  Ibs.  capacity,  loaded, 
is  76  or  77  tons,  making  a  wheel  load  of  about  9J  tons.  The  wheel  load 
of  heavy  coaches,  sleeping  and  dining  cars  is  about  4 J  tons.  The  average 
wheel  load  of  freight  cars,  is,  however,  much  smaller  than  the  maximum, 
because  a  large  percentage  of  the  freight  cars  in  transit  are  hauled  empty 
or  loaded  under  the  full  capacity.  In  consideration  of  this  fact  it  cannot 
be  far  from  general  practice  to  put  the  average  car  wheel  load  at  5  .tons 
and  the  average  driving-wheel  load  at  10  tons,  observing  that  driver  loads 
remain  constantly  the  same.  Thus,  to  begin  with,  the  average  static  load- 
ing of  locomotive  drivers  must  operate  with  much  greater  severity  on  track 
surface  than  the  average  static  car  wheel  load.  The  average  static  driver 
load  is,  however,  no  safe  measure  of  the  actual  pressure  of  that  wheel  on  the 
rail  at  speed,  for  reasons  now  to  be  considered. 

While  a  locomotive  is  using  steam  the  distribution  of  its  weight  on 
the  wheels  is  constantly  undergoing  change.  When  the  engine  is  working 
forward  the  oblique  push  and  pull  of  the  main  rod  acts  downward  on  the 
crank  pin  and  upward  against  the  guide  bars,  on  both  the  up  and  down 
strokes,  increasing  the  rail  pressure  of  the  main  wheel  and  tending  to 
lift  the  forward  end  of  the  frame  from  the  truck  and  transfer  some  part 
of  its  load  to  the  drivers:  and  this  changing  or  shifting  tendency  is  re- 
mitted at  the  end  of  each  stroke  of  the  piston.  When  the  engine  is  work- 
ing backward  the  same  action  of  the  main  rods  tends  to  pull  the  front  of 
the  engine  more  heavily  down  upon  the  front. truck  and  reduce  the  rail 
pressure  of  the  main  wheels.  Thus  from  front  to  rear  of  engine,  while 
working  steam,  there  are  rapidly  acting  forces  which  operate  to  throw  the 
leading  of  the  front  truck  and  drivers  out  of  the  normal  distribution  or 
balance,  and  so  administer  abnormal  pressures  upon  the  rails.  While  the 
actual  fluctuation  of  loading  on  the  drivers  and  truck  wheels  due  to  this 
behavior  of  the  engine  has  not  been  definitely  determined  in  any  case,  the 
matter  has  been  studied  to  some  extent  in  connection  with  the  subject  of 
rail  stresses,  and  the  distribution  of  the  loading  is  considered  to  be  quite 
variable. 

There  is,  however,  another  source  of  impairment  to  the  track,  origi- 


984  MISCELLANEOUS 

nating  from  the  action  of  the  moving  parts  of  a  locomotive,  concerning" 
the  relative  magnitude  of  which  but  little  doubt  can  exist,  for  in  extreme 
cases,  under  conditions  to  be  discussed,  great  and  positive  injury  is  done  to 
the  track — and  that  is  the  action  of  the  locomotive  counterbalance.  The 
necessity  for  balancing  locomotive  drivers  to  counteract  the  centrifugal 
forces  produced  by  the  rotation  of  the  crank  pins  and  side  rods  is  plain. 
So  far  as  these  revolving  parts  are  concerned  there  is  no  difficulty  in  put- 
ting the  drivers  in  perfect  balance,  except  for  a  certain  "nosing"  effect  due 
to  the  counterbalance  in  the  wheel  and  the  revolving  parts  not  being  in  the 
same  plane,  which  has  some  tendency  to  turn  the  engine  sidewise.  In  or- 
der to  overcome  a  certain  shaking  effect  on  the  engine  frame  due  to  the 
movement  of  the  reciprocating  parts,  known  as  "plunging,"  it  is  necessary 
to  place  additional  balance  metal  in  the  wheels,  or  an  amount  in  excess  of 
that  required  for  the  revolving  parts.  The  centrifugal  force  of  this  ex- 
cess balance  is  counteracted  by  the  reciprocating  parts  only  in  the  horizon- 
tal direction,  thus  leaving  the  wheels  out  of  balance  vertically.  Such  a 
condition  exists  in  practically  all  well  built  locomotives.  The  effect  of 
this  overbalancing  is  a  tendency  in  the  wheel  to  revolve  not  about  its  geo- 
metrical center  (the  center  of  the  axle),  but  about  its  center  of  gravity,  or,, 
providing  the  centrifugal  force  is  sufficient  to  overcome  the  inertia  of  the 
wheel,  there  is  set  up  what  might  be  called  a  wabbling  motion  in  the  wheel. 
Such  wabbling  motion  actually  will  take  place  with  any  ordinary  locomo- 
tive driver  at  sufficient  speed,  causing  it  to  lift  from  the  rail  at  one 
point  in  each  revolution  and  exert  a  very  great  blow  or  pressure  on  the  rail 
at  another  point  of  the  same  revolution.  The  problem  at  hand  in  counter- 
balancing any  locomotive  is  therefore  to  fully  balance  the  wheels  for  all 
revolving  parts  and  use  as  little  additional  balance  for  the  reciprocating 
parts  as  will  serve  to  overcome  disagreeable  motions  of  the  engine  and  re- 
lieve the  frame  and  working  parts  of  undue  stresses  when  running  at  the 
maximum  speed  for  the  service  in  which  the  locomotive  is  intended.  In 
other  words,  it  is  impossible  to  completely  balance  all  the  moving  parts  of 
a  locomotive  of  ordinary  design.  If  only  the  revolving  parts  are  balanced 
the  engine  will  be  out  of  balance  horizontally,  and  if  the  reciprocating 
parts  are  fully  balanced  the  engine  will  be  badly  out  of  balance  vertically. 
Again,  the  revolving  parts  at  any  certain  speed  have  a  constant  velocity,. 
whereas  the  velocity  of  the  reciprocating  parts  is  necessarily  variable  in 
every  stroke.  Out  of  such  considerations  it  is  necessary  to  compromise. 
The  effect  of  the  overbalance  vertically  is  stated  above.  The  effect  of  the 
unbalanced  reciprocating  weight  is  a  tendency  at  one  quarter  of  the  revo- 
lution to  push  one  side  of  the  engine  forward  and  at  the  next  quarter  the 
opposite  side ;  and  at  the  third  and  fourth  quarters  the  racking  stresses  are 
respectively  backwards. 

In  actual  practice  only  one  half  to  two  thirds  of  the  weight  of  the 
reciprocating  parts  is  balanced  in  the  driving  wheels.  The  parts  consid- 
ered as  having  a  reciprocating  motion  are  the  piston,  piston  rod,  crosshead 
and  the  front  end  of  the  main  rod,  the  rear  end  of  the  main  rod  being 
considered  to  have  a  revolving  motion.  A  rule  favorably  reported  upon  at 
the  annual  convention  of  the  American  Eailway  Master  Mechanics'  Asso- 
ciation, in  1897,  and  which  seems  to  have  been  followed  quite  extensively 
in  general  practice,  requires  the  balancing  of  the  drivers  on  each  side  for 
the  weight  of  the  reciprocating  parts  on  that  side  less  one  four-hundredth 
of  the  total  weight  of  the  engine.  This  portion  of  the  counterbalance  is- 
to  be  distributed  equally  among  all  the  driving  wheels  on  one  side,  adding 
the  weight  of  the  revolving  parts  for  each  wheel  separately.  This  rule- 
takes  into  account  the  weight  of  the  engine  and  assumes  that  a  heavy  en- 


EFFECTS  OF  BAD  COUNTERBALANCING  985 

gine  can  stand  more  unbalanced  reciprocating  weight  without  detriment  to 
its  smoothness  of  working  than  a  lighter  one.  Undoubtedly  the  design  of  the 
engine  has  also  some  influence  on  the  matter  of  counterbalancing,  as  it  is 
generally  supposed  that  an  engine  with  a  given  proportion  of  weight  on  the 
front  truck  will  stand  more  unbalanced  weight  in  the  reciprocating  parts 
without  disagreeable  motion  or  injury  to  the  engine  than  one  with  less 
weight  on  the  front  truck.  The  length  of  the  driving  wheel  base  very  likely 
has  an  important  influence,  also;  the  shorter  the  base  the  more  readily 
would  the  machine  be  expected  to  plunge.  Thus  in  some  cases  it  has 
been  reported  that  with  eight-wheel  engines  in  fast  passenger  service  a  larg- 
er proportion  of  the  total  weight  of  the  engine  than  one  four-hundredth  has 
been  taken  as  the  allowable  unbalanced  weight  of  reciprocating  parts  on  each 
side,  and  that  an  increase  in  the  unbalanced  weight  can  be  made  in  pro- 
portion to  the  length  of  the  engine.  At  a  speed  of  the  engine  in  miles  per 
hour  equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  drivers  in  inches  the  increase  and  de- 
crease of  the  wheel  pressure,  on  the  rail  in  each  revolution,  due  to  the  over- 
balancing of  the  wheel  for  the  reciprocating  parts,  has  been  found  by  cal- 
culation to  be  38.4  times  the  weight  of  the  excess  balance.  In  order  there- 
fore that  the  wheel  shall  not'  leave  the  rail  at  the  speed  indicated,  the  por- 
tion of  the  counterbalance  allowed  for  the  reciprocating  parts  must  not 
exceed  the  static  pressure  of  the  wheel  on  the  rail  divided  by  38.4;  and  to 
insure  safety  such  increase  or  decrease  of  pressure  should  be  kept  within 
an  amount  equal  to  the  static  pressure  of  the  wheel  on  the  rail. 

It  does  seem  like  expecting  a  good  deal  of  track  to  take  for  granted 
that  it  will  stand  any  wheel  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  it  just  so  long 
as  the  wheel  does  not  lift  and  drop  upon  the  rail  at  each  revolution,  for 
very  heavy  rail  pressures  (approximating  to  double  the  static  pressure  of 
the  wheel)  may  obtain  before  actual  lifting  takes  place.  It  seems  as 
though  the  matter  should  receive  very  careful  attention  at  the  hands  of 
both  the  mechanical  and  track  departments,  for  the  increase  of  rail  pres- 
sure from  overbalanced  wheels,  even  at  moderate  speed,  must  exert  a  con- 
siderable effect  upon  track  surface.  The  amount  of  overbalance  should 
therefore  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  possible  limits  consistent  with  satisfac- 
tory running  of  the  engine  and  allowable  stresses  in  the  parts. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  pull  and  thrust  of  the  main  rod  when  the 
engine  is  working  forward  increases  the  rail  pressure  of  the  main  wheel. 
This  increase  of  pressure  acts  with  the  increase  of  pressure  due  to  the 
overbalance  of  the  wheel,  and  against  the  lifting  force  due  to  such  overbal- 
ance ;  which  is  to  say  that  while  the  counterbalance  is  passing  below  the 
center  of  the  wheel  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  overbalance  acting  down- 
ward at  that  time  is  increased  by  the  downward  component  of  the  pull  of 
the  main  rod,  while  during  the  passage  of  the  counterbalance  above  the  cen- 
ter of  the  wheel  the  centrifugal  force  acting  vertically  as  tho.ugh  to  lift 
the  wheel  is  counteracted  by  the  amount  of  the  downward  component  from 
the  thrust  of  the  main  rod.  Thus  it  happens  that,  so  far  as  the  main  wheel 
is  concerned,  while  the  engine  is  working  forward,  the  decrease  of  wheel 
pressure  on  the  rail  due  to  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  overbalance  must 
exceed  the  static  pressure  of  that  wheel  by  the  downward  component  of  the 
main  rod  pull  before  the  wheel  can  lift;  while  as  regards  the  increase  of 
rail  pressure  at  the  downward  throw  of  the  counterbalance,  the  maximum 
pressure  which  takes  place  in  the  same  revolution  when  the  decrease  of 
pressure  is  just  sufficient  to  lift  the  wheel  from  the  rail,  cannot  be  less  than 
twice  the  static  pressure  of  the  wheel  plus  the  vertical  component  from  the 
thrust  of  the  main  rod.  When  the  engine  is  working  backward  the  reverse 
obtains:  that  is,  the  vertical  component  of  stress  from  the  main  rod  is 


986  MISCELLANEOUS 

downward  against  the  guide  bars  and  upward  against  the  crank  pin,  on  both 
the  up  and  down  strokes,  and  such  lifting  force  on  the  crank  pin  operates 
to  diminish  the  increase  of  pressure  due  to  the  centrifugal  force  of  the 
overbalance,  and  to  augment  the  decrease  of  pressure  due  to  such  force; 
so  that  the  action  of  the  overbalance  can  pound  the  track  with  less  severity 
while  passing  below  the  center  of  the  wheel,  but  the  wheel  is  able  to  lift 
from  the  track  at  a  less  speed  than  when  the  engine  is  running  forward. 
Such  considerations  would  make  it  appear  that  in  the  distribution  of  the 
counterbalance  among  the  drivers  on  each  side  of  the  engine  the  main 
wheel  should  receive  less  than  its  proportionate  amount  of  that  part  of  the 
balance  inserted  for  the  reciprocating  parts. 


Fig.  493. — Rails  Damaged  by  High-Speed  Running,  Mo.  Pac.  Ry. 

This  brief  exposition  of  some  of  the  forces  exerted  upon  the  track,  as 
developed  from  locomotive  operation,  must  show  that  all  of  the  shocks  or 
rail  pressures  which  actually  take  place  are  very  complicated  of  determina- 
tion, if  not  practically  indeterminate,  for  evidently  there  are  many  kinds 
of  pressures  acting  simultaneously.  Instances  of  damage  to  track  by  the 
action  of  excess  counterbalance  at  high  speed  have  been  of  more  or  less  fre- 
quent occurrence  and  are  sure  to  take  place  where  locomotives  exceed  the 
speed  for  which  they  are  balanced.  Some  details  regarding  damage  of  this 
kind  will  serve  to  indicate  the  magnitude  of  the  forces  acting.  Figures 
493  and  494  are  views  reproduced  from  photographs  of  track  damaged  at 
one  time  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Ey.,  near  Jefferson  City,  Mo.  On  this 
occasion  the  rails  on  three  miles  and  2780  ft.  of  track  were  badly  kinked 
and  had  to  be  removed  from  the  track.  The  rails  on  2190  ft.  of  track  were 
of  75-lb.  section,  and  on  three  miles  and  590  ft.  of  track  they  were  of 
63-lb.  section.  The  engine  was  of  the  consolidation  type  with  drivers 
(eight)  44  ins.  in  diameter.,  the  weight  on  the  drivers  being  45  tons.  At 
the  time  the  damage  occurred  the  engine  was  not  pulling  a  train,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  been  running  between  45  and  50  miles  per  hour.  The 
rails  were  sharply  kinked  at  intervals  corresponding  to  the  driving  wheel 
circumference,  the  kink  in  all  cases  being  vertically  downward  and  inward 
toward  the  center  of  the  track,  as  indicated  by  the  loose  rail  in  Fig..  494, 
which  was  removed  from  the  inside  of  the  curve  and  placed  in  the  middle 
of  the  track  for  the  purpose  of  photographing.  The  two  views  show  that 
the  damage  was  inflicted  alike  upon  curves  and  tangents,  and  the  view  of 


EFFECTS  OF  BAD  COUNTERBALANCING 


987 


the  straight  line  forcibly  reminds  one  that  the  stresses  which  must  have 
acted  upon  the  bridge  shown  were  undoubtedly  in  excess  of  anything  calcu- 
lated upon  in  the  design  of  its  members.  It  is  somewhat  interesting  to 
notice  that  in  all  cases  of  track  damaged  in  this  manner  the  lateral  bend- 
ing of  the  rail  is  inward,  or  toward  the  middle  of  the  track.  This  phenom- 
enon is  probably  explainable  on  the  fact  that  the  pressure  from  the  wheels 
is  applied  inside  the  middle  line  of  the  rail  head,  thereby  causing  it  to 
swerve  inward  as  the  rail  is  kinked  downward. 

Similar  damage  has  been  observed  to  take  place  in  hauling  "dead" 
locomotives  with  the  side  rods  taken  down,  or  when  running  engines  with 
only  one  side  connected,  even  at  a  moderate  rate  of  speed;  which  is  easily 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  removal  of  the  rods  leaves  the  wheels 
very  heavily  overbalanced,  the  entire  counterbalance  then  being  excessive 
where  the  side  rods  are  removed.  By  way  of  illustration,  a  six-wheel  en- 
gine of  the  Wabash  R.  R.  with  side  rods  disconnected,  in  being  hauled  to 
the  shop  in  a  freight  train,  between  Huntington  and  Andrews,  Ind., 
pounded  the  track  so  heavily  that  772  rails  had  to  be  removed,  10  of  them 
being  broken.  The  engine  which  did  the  damage  had  56-in.  drivers,  and 
the  train  was  running  at  a  speed  of  40  to  45  m.  p.  h.  The  rails  were 
"kinked''  or  surface-bent  at  points  a  uniform  distance  of  about  15  ft.  apart, 
and  the  depressions  were  nearly  all  from  the  outside  of  the  rail  head,  as 
though  the  engine  had  delivered  a  blow  diagonally  downward  and  inward 
to  the  track.  The  weight  of  the  rail  was  63  Ibs.  per  yd.,  and  out  of  the  772 
damaged  rails  600  were  on  one  side  of  the  track,  none  on  this  side  escaping 
punishment;  on  the  other  side  the  indentations  were  scattered,  and  not 
generally  opposite  those  on  the  other  side.  Some  roads  have  a  rule  that  the 
maximum  speed  of  freight  trains  hauling  "dead"  or  disconnected  engines 


Fig.  494.— Rails  Damaged  by  High  Speed  Running,  Mo.  Pac.  Ry. 


988  MISCELLANEOUS 

shall  not  exceed  20  m.  p.  h.  It  is  required  on  a  number  of  roads  that  side- 
rods  must  be  in  position  on  locomotives  while  in  transit,,  the  rule  having 
special  reference  to  new  engines  hauled  in  the  freight  trains. 

It  is  also  to  be  expected  that  an  improper  distribution  of  the  counter- 
balance among  the  drivers  will  lead  to  excessive  pressure  from  the  driver 
most  heavily  overbalanced  under  the  conditions  imposed.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  appears  that  in  nearly  all  cases  where  injury  has  been  done  the  track 
from  counterbalance  effects.,  the  damage  has  come  from  only  one  wheel  on 
each  side  of  the  engine. 

That  a  wheel  carrying  excessive  counterbalance  will  actually  lift  from; 
its  support  at  high  speed  was  proved  by  Professor  W.  F.  M.  Goss  in  some  ex- 
periments conducted  in  the  mechanical  laboratory  at  Purdue  University, 
Lafayette,  Ind.,  in  1893.  The  details  of  these  experiments,  which  are  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  from  the  standpoint  of  the  maintenance  of  way  engi- 
neer, are  stated  in  §  9,  Supplementary  Notes.  . 

In  a  preceding  paragraph  it  is  stated  to  be  impossible  to  completely 
balance  all  the  moving  parts  of  a  locomotive  of  "ordinary  design."  It  is- 
practicable  to  so  design  a  locomotive  that  the  reciprocating  parts  will  be  in 
balance,  and  for  many  years  a  few  mechanical  engineers  have  urged  such 
construction.  With  the  reciprocating  parts  in  balance  no  overbalance  of  the 
driving  wheels  is  necessary.  In  that  case  the  drivers  are  counterbalanced 
for  the  revolving  parts  and  all  of  the  working  parts  are  then  in  balance. 
The  famous  20,000th  locomotive  of  the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works,  com- 
pleted in  February,  1902,  and  prominently  known  in  connection  with  the 
seventieth  anniversary  of  the  operation  of  that  institution,  was  built 
in  this  way.  This  was  a  10-wheel  passenger  engine  for  the  Plant  Sys- 
tem (No.  119).  It  is  a  four-cylinder  compound  machine,  the  two  low- 
pressure  cylinders  being  outside  the  frame,  in  the  usual  place,  and  the  two 
high-pressure  cylinders  between  the  frames  or  between  the  two  low-pressure 
cylinders,  being  cast  with  the  saddle,  so  that  the  axes  of  the  four  cylinders 
are  parallel  and  in  the  same  horizontal  plane.  The  pistons  of  the  outside 
cylinders  are  connected  with  crank  pins  on  the  main  wheels  (which  in  this- 
case  are  the  front  drivers),  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  those  of  the  inside 
or  high-pressure  cylinders  with  cranks  in  the  main  axle.  The  crank  in  the 
axle  and  the  crank  pin  on  the  driver  for  the  corresponding  high  and  low- 
pressure  cylinders  are  set  180  deg.  apart,  so  that  the  two  sets  of  pistons, 
piston  rods  and  cross  heads  on  each  side  of  the  locomotive  simultaneously 
move  in  opposite  directions.  As  the  weights  of  these  reciprocating  parts 
for  the  high  and  low-pressure  cylinders  are  made  nearly  the  same  the  work- 
ing parts  are  almost  perfectly  balanced.  As  each  driving  wheel  is  counter- 
balanced for  its  own  rotating  weight  and  for  no  reciprocating  parts  there 
is  therefore  no  unbalanced  rotating  weight  in  the  wheels.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  -absence  of  the  '"liammerblow"  effect  in  the  running  of  engines  of 
this  class  it  is  doubtful  whether  such  features  of  design  will  come  into- 
general  service  in  this  country,  for  the  crank  axle  has  always  been  objec- 
tionable from  the  American  point  of  view. 

172.  Longer  Rails. — Just  why  30  ft.  came  to  be  so  universally  adopt- 
ed as  the  standard  length  for  track  rails,  in  this  country  is  not  a  matter  of 
record,  but  it  may  readily  be  surmised  that  convenience  of  transportation 
had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it.  For  many  years  the  length  of  ordinary  flat 
cars  was  such  that  a  rail  longer  than  30  ft.  could  not  be  conveniently 
handled  thereon  in  shipment ;  and  it  is  also  probable  that  in  the  early  roll- 
ing mills  a  sufficient  quantity  of  metal  for  making  a  rail  longer  than  30 
ft.  could  not  be  handled  in  a  single  ingot.  However  this  mav  have  been 
such  difficulties  no  longer  survive,  but  30  ft.  remains  the  general  stand- 


LONGER  RAILS  989 

ard  length  of  rail.  The  one  great  advantage  to  be  obtained  in  the  use 
•of  rails  longer  than  30  ft.  is  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  joints.  In  order 
to  eliminate  joints  or  the  effects  of  the  same,  three  lines  of  improvement 
have  been  proposed  and  experimented  with  to  some  extent,  namely:  (1) 
to  rivet  the  rails  together  at  the  joints,  continuously,  without  allowance 
for  expansion;  (2)  to  firmly  unite  the  rails  at  the  joints,  in  stretches  sev- 
eral hundred  feet  in  length,  without  allowance  for  expansion,  by  providing 
slip  joints,  or  devices  to  receive  the  expansion  at  the  ends  of  the  sections ; 
and  (3)  to  increase  the  length  of  the  rail  considerably,  say  50  to  100  per 
-cent. 

Although  it  is  commonly  the  practice  in  street  railway  construction 
to  butt  the  rails  closely  end  to  end,  with  no  allowance  for  expansion,  no 
well  informed  trackman  would  be  guilty  of  suggesting  such  construction 
for  the  ordinary  type  of  track  on  steam  roads.  In  street  car  tracks  all  ex- 
cept the  top  of  the  rail  is  covered  by  the  earth  or  by  the  pavement,  so  that 
on  a  hot  day  the  rail  readily  loses  its  heat  by  conduction.  It  is  further 
to  be  considered  that  the  street  railway  track  is  firmly  held  by  the  earth 
or  pavement  that  is  closely  packed  about  it,  so  much  so  that  it  is  quite  im- 
possible for  the  track  to  be  moved  out  of  line  by  rail  expansion  during  a 
hot  day;  and  the  rail  is  compelled  to  undergo  the  stresses  set  up  by  the 
•expansion  of  the  metal,  without  lengthwise  extension.  On  street  railway 
track  where  the  rail  is  not  closely  protected  by  earth  or  pavement  one  will 
observe  that,  unless  there  is  allowance  for  expansion,  the  rail,  on  very  hot 
•days,  is  thrown  into  slight  kinks,  showing  that  the  metal  is  under  tremen- 
dous stress.  Theoretically  this  stress  is  about  200  Ibs.  per  sectional  square 
inch  of  metal  for  each  Fahrenheit  degree  increase  of  temperature.  As 
the  ties  are  solidly  embedded,  however,  they  cannot  be  moved  out  of  line 
and  the  spikes  are  able  to  hold  the  rail  to  a  safe  general  alignment.  As 
such  conditions  do  not  obtain  to  any  considerable  extent  on  steam 'roads, 
however,  the  practice  of  the  street  railways  is  no  criterion  for  general  prac- 
tice on  steam  roads.  Experienced  trackmen  will  understand  the  danger- 
ous tendency  of  track  on  steam  roads,  especially  on  curves,  where  sufficient 
allowance  for  expansion  (not  to  speak  of  no  allowance  at  all)  for  the 
extreme  temperature  of  hot  weather  is  not  provided  for. 

In  this  connection  mention  may  be  made  of  the  famous  "Noonan" 
experiment,  on  the  Lynchburg  &  Durham  By.  (now  part  of  the  Norfolk 
&  Western  Ey.)  in  1889.  In  June  of  that  year  three  miles  of  track  near 
Glady's  Station,  Va.,  was  laid  according  to  plans  devised  and  patented 
by  a  section  foreman  named  Philip  Noonan.  In  laying  this  track  the 
ends  of  the  rails  (56  Ibs.  per  yd.)  were  brought  into  contact  and  firmly 
united  in  a  continuous  stretch  over  the  whole  section  of  three  miles.  The 
joint  fastening  consisted  of  heavy  fish  plates  f  in.  thick,  drilled  with  round 
holes  to  correspond  to  the  bolt  holes  in  the  rails,  and  secured  by  four  1-in. 
rivets,  driven  hot,  with  the  aid  of  drift  pins  to  tightly  close  the  joints.  This 
splice  proved  to  be  all  that  was  expected  of  it,  for  it  was  found  that  the 
joint  would  not  open  in  the  slightest  amount,  and  in  this  respect  the  rail 
was  practically  continuous.  The  spikes  were  not  driven  home,  the  heads 
remaining  f  in.  clear  of  the  flange,  to  permit  undulations  in  the  rail  with- 
out disturbing  the  spikes  or  the  ties.  At  each  end  of  the  3-mile  section  the 
rails  were  turned  out  and  switch  points  were  laid  to  take  care  of  the  ex- 
pansion. The  track  was  ballasted  with  dirt  and  the  ties  were  covered  with 
earth,  consisting  of  red  clay  and  loam,  extending  to  the  under  side  of  the 
rail  head, -between  the  rails,  and  to  the  top  of  rail  on  the  outside  of  the 
track.  To  prevent  dust,  the  filling  material  on  part  of  this  track  was 
turfed  over,  and  grass  seed  was  sown  over  the  remainder  (unusual  prac- 


990  MISCELLANEOUS 

tice,  indeed).  While  the  riveting  was  in  progress,  and  before  the  track 
had  been  surfaced,  lined  and  buried,  some  trouble  was  had  from  expansion 
of  the  rails,  but  not  afterward. 

It  was  expected  that  this  track  would  remain  "self-surfacing,'7  and 
after  a  test  of  17  months  the  managing  official,  Mr.  K.  T.  Gleaves,  declared 
before  the  Engineers'  Club  of  Philadelphia  that  there  had  not  been  the 
slightest  buckling  of  the  rails  (the  three-mile  section  included  some  curved 
track)  and  that  the  track  had  not  been  surfaced  or  lined  since  it  was  first 
put  in  running  condition.  Engines  weighing  104,000  Ibs.  passed  over  the 
track  at  a  speed  of  50  miles  per  hour.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  track 
was  laid  on  newly-made  roadbed  it  settled  out  of  surface,  to  some  extent, 
but  on  the  whole  the  experiment  was  reported  to  have  been  very  satisfac- 
tory. During  the  same  period  the  expense  for  labor  in  keeping  up  an 
adjoining  three-mile  section  was  $1890.  In  due  course  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  ties  decayed  prematurely,  and  no  report  seems  to  have  been  made 
public  of  the  expense  of  digging  out  and  surfacing  the  track  when  such 
repairs  eventually  became  necessary.  Finally  the  experiment  dropped  out 
of  sight,  and,  so  far  as  has  been  generally  known,  has  not  been  repeated. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  such  construction  is  not  particularly  en- 
ticing to  trackmen :  and  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the  expense  of  filling  the 
track  and  the  vast  amount  of  labor  required  to  remove  the  material  when 
surface  repairs  and  tie  renewals  become  necessary  present  a  forbidding 
aspect. 

An  experiment  of  the  second  kind  above  referred  to  was  begun  on  the 
main  line  of  the  Michigan  Central  E.  R.,  in  the  suburbs  of  Detroit,  Mich., 
in  November,  1894.  At  this  point  four  consecutive  sections  of  experimen- 
tal track,  each  500  ft.  in  length,  were  laid  with  80-lb.  rails  butted  end  to 
end  and  firmly  spliced  together,  without  allowance  for  expansion.  The  rails 
were  spliced  with  six-bolt  44-in.  angle  bars,  in  the  ordinary  manner,  with 
four  additional  1-in.  machine-made  bolts  in  the  middle  of  the  first,  second, 
fourth  and  fifth  spaces  between  the  ordinary  bolts.  Harvey  "grip"  bolts 
were  used,  well  set  up,  and  the  splices  were  made  to  hold  the  rails  so  firmly 
that  no  opening  could  take  place  at  the  joints.  At  each  end  of  the  500-ft. 
stretch  the  rails  were  coupled  by  a  slip  joint  of  special  design,  with  an  out- 
side reinforcement  to  carry  the  wheels.  This  slip  joint  was  designed  to 
provide  for  4J  ins,  of  expansion.  At  the  middle  of  the  500-ft.  section 
two  ties  were  held  to  concrete  anchorage  by  U-shaped  pieces  of  rail  em- 
bedded in  the  concrete  mass  underneath  the  track,  and  the  rails  were  held 
to  the  anchored  ties  by  special  splices  and  lag  screws.  Whatever  expansion 
could  take  place,  therefore,  would  have  to  be  exerted  from  the  middle  of 
the  section  toward  the  slip  joints  at  the  two  ends.  The  actual  expansion 
at  each  slip  joint — that  is,  between  the  middle  points  of  each  two  adjoin- 
ing 500-ft.  sections — between  the  two  extremes  of  temperature,  was  found 
to  be  about  3J  ins.,  so  that  the  expansion  allowance  was  ample,  and  there 
was  no  tendency  to  buckling  of  the  rails.  After  the  experiment  had  been 
in  progress  eight  years  the  track  had  remained  in  good  surface  without 
any  tamping,  except  what  was  done  soon  after  the  rails  were  laid,  to  put 
the  track  in  first-class  condition.  The  results  were  so  satisfactory  that  in 
1901  a  further  experiment  on  a  much  larger  scale  was  begun  on  substan- 
tially the  same  lines.  At  a  point  on  the  Bay  City  division  of  the  road,  a 
few  miles  out  of  Detroit,  a  mile  of  track  was  laid  with  60-ft.  rails  tightly 
spliced  together  in  500-ft  sections,  without  allowance  for  expansion.  Slip 
joints  are  used  between  the  long  sections,  as  at  Detroit,  but  the  method 
of  anchoring  to  prevent  creeping  track  is  somewhat  different,  Tho  rail 
at  the  middle  of  each  500-ft.  section  is  anchored  to  a  piece  of  old  rai) 


LONGER   RAILS  991 

about  15  ft.  long  set  vertically  in  a  mass  of  concrete  deposited  in  a  hole 
excavated  into  the  roadbed.  The  top  of  this  anchor  rail  rests  against,  and 
projects  slightly  above,  the  flange  of  the  track  rail,  fitting  into  a  notch  in 
the  horizontal  leg  of  a  splice  bar.  These  experiments  were  planned  by 
the  late  Chief  Engineer  A.  Torrey. 

Kails  33  ft,  long  are  extensively  used  on  a  good  many  roads,  and  an 
increase  in  the  standard  length  of  rail  to  33  ft.  has  been  recommended  by 
both  the  Roadmasters'  and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association  and  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Engineering  and  Maintenance  of  Way  Association.  Rails 
longer  than  33  ft. — mostly  45-ft.  and  60-ft.  rails — have  been  tried  on 
but  comparatively  few  roads.  The  results  have  been  of  a  varying  charac- 
ter, and  the  experimental  stage  in  the  use  of  such  rails  cannot  yet  be  con- 
sidered to  have  been  passed.  The  objectionable  features  which  have  been 
found  in  the  use  of  rail?  longer  than  33  ft.  may  be  summarized  as  follows*. 

(1)  surface  kinks  in  the  rails  due  to  improper  straightening  at  the  mills; 

(2)  excessive  pounding  at  the  joints,  due  to  the  increased  allowance  for 
expansion;  (3)  the  rails  are  not  as  readily  and  conveniently  transported 
and  as  cheaply  handled  as  are  rails  of  standard  length.     On  the  first  point 
some  mill  men  claim  that,  owing  to  the  heavier  weight  to  be  handled,  and 
other  difficulties,  it  is  impracticable  to  straighten  60-ft.  rails  as  well  as  30 
or  33-ft,  rails,  and  that  the  excessive  gagging  required  by  the  long  rail  in 
liable  to  injure  it.    It  is  claimed  that  the  best  product  is  to  be  expected 
in  rails  not  exceeding  a  length  of  33  ft.    Those  who  dispute  these  claims 
contend -that  some  mills  do  straighten  60-ft.  rails  properly;  that  the  matter 
of  straightening  is  only  a  question  of  mechanical  skill;  and  that  rails  as 
long  as  60  ft.  can  be  straightened  as  well  as  rails  30  ft.  long,  but  necessarily 
at  greater  cost.     Concerning  the  question  of  excessive  pounding  at   the 
joints  of  rails  longer  than  33  ft.  there  is  difference  of  opinion,  as  is  also 
the  case  with  the  matter  of  handling  and  transporting  the  rails. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  R.  R.  began  using  45-ft.  rails  with  miter-cut  or 
skew  ends  about  1890,  and  for  seven  or  eight  years  thejr  were  the  standard 
of  that  road.  They  were  finally  abandoned,  however,  as  the  standard,  and 
the  use  of  30-ft,  rails  was  again  taken  up.  Mr.  A.  Morrison,  at  one  time 
roadmaster  with  the  Lehigh  Valley  R.  R.,  has  stated  that  in  his  experience 
with  45-ft.  rails  he  found  it  was  cheaper  to  handle  and  lay  them  than  30- 
ft.  rails;  that  it  was  cheaper  to  maintain  the  track  with  45-ft.  rails  than 
with  30-ft,  rails,  and  that  it  was  also  easier  to  line  out  kinks  in  the  45-ft. 
rails.  Previous  to  the  time  when  45-ft.  rails  had  been  adopted  it  was 
the  practice  to  curve  30-ft.  rails  for  laying  on  sharp  curves,  but  with  45-ft. 
rails  it  was  found  unnecessary  to  do  this,  even  for  curves  as  sharp  as  10  deg. 
The  45-ft.  rails  were  unloaded  from  the  rear  end  of  the  work  train  by 
means  of  a  15 -ft,  chain,  hook  and  clevis,  the  rail  being  permitted  to  drop 
into  the  middle  of  the  track  as  the  train  was  pulled  ahead,  without  injury 
to  the  rail.  The  rails  were  then  thrown  outside  the  track  by  two  men  with 
bars.  His  only  unfavorable  criticism  of  45-ft.  rails  was  the  wider  space 
necessary  for  expansion  at  the  joints,  for  which  reason  the  joints  could  not 
be  maintained  in  as  good  condition  as  with  30-ft.  rails.  Experience  with 
the  miter-cut  ends  on  this  road  was  also  unsatisfactory,  one  of  the  diffi- 
culties being  that  the  long  corner  of  the  head  overhanging  the  end  of  the 
web  portion  would  break  off.  The  battering  and  flow  of  metal  at  the 
ends  of  miter-cut  rails  is  reported  to  have  been  as  great  as  with  ends 
squarely  cut.  The  Buffalo.  Rochester  &  Pittsburg  Ry.  began  using  45-ft. 
rails  to  a  limited  extent  about  1895,  and  after  an  experience  of  six  year? 
these  rails,  with  both  miter  and  square  ends,  were  reported  to  be  giving  sat- 
isfactory service.  The  only  defect  which  has  been  noticed  with  45-ft. 


992  MISCELLANEOUS 

rails  on  this  road  was  the  imperfect  straightening  found  when  the  rails 
came  from  the  mills.  It  is  thought  that  better  track  has  been  maintained 
at  the  same  expense  as  that  required  for  track  with  30-ft.  rails.  No  trou- 
ble has  been  experienced  with  abnormal  openings  from  creeping  due  to 
change  of  temperature,  and  there  has  been  no  battered  joints. 

In  1891  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  began  experimenting  with  60-ft.  rails 
of  85-lb.  section,  and  after  10  years  this  length  was  "condemned"  as  unsat- 
isfactory. On  straight  track,  where  there  were  no  grades,  a  measurable 
degree  of  satisfaction  was  obtained,  but  on  grades,  where  creeping  was 
troublesome,  these  rails  gave  poor  satisfaction,  even  where  two  and  three 
anti-creeping  fastenings  had  been  applied  to  each  rail,  besides  slot-spiking 
at  the  joints.  The  chief  difficulty  was  that  the  creeping  of  the  rails 
caused  them  to  "bunch,"  and  in  cold  weather  openings  as  wide  as  f  to  £ 
in.  were  commonly  found.  Under  these  conditions  the  receiving  rails  at 
the  joints  were  badly  punished.  Between  the  years  1892  and  1896  the 
Norfolk  &  Western  By.  laid  25  miles  of  track  with  60-ft.,  85-lb.  rails 
with  miter  ends,  and  60  miles  with  the  ends  cut  square.  These  rails  were 
laid  on  the  heaviest  grades  and  on  sections  of  the  road  over  which  the 
heaviest  traffic  passed,  and  gave  good  satisfaction,  the  maintenance  expenses 
being  noticeably  reduced.  On  6-deg  reverse  curves  60-ft.  85-lb.  rails 
carried  91  million  tons  in  74-  years,  when  they  had  to  be  removed  on 
account  of  flange  wear.  The  grades  were  70  ft.  to  the  mile  and  trains 
were  handled  with  pushers.  The  track  was  ballasted  with  furnace  slag 
and  the  rails  were  connected  with  Churchill  joint  splices  23  ins.  long, 
extending  3J  ins.  below  base  of  rail.  It  is  reported  that  no  trouble  arose 
from  battering  of  the  rail  ends  by  reason  of  the  joint  space  allowed  for 
expansion.  The  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  E.  E.,  has  experimented  with  square- 
cut  60-ft.  rails,  weighing  75  Ibs.  per  yard,  and  after  an  experience  of  some 
years  good  satisfaction  was  reported.  A  number  of  other  roads  have 
tried  both  45-ft.  and  60-ft.  rails.  On  the  Philadelphia  &  Beading  By.  45-ft. 
rails  have  been  found  advantageous. 

The  expansion  allowance  required  for  60-ft.  rails  is  double  that  for 
30-ft.  rails,  under  the  same  conditions,  and  for  45-ft.  rails  it  is  in  the  same 
proportion.  The  spacing  for  60-ft,  rails  adopted  by  the  engineering 
department  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  E.  E.  progresses  uniformly  from 
a  tight  joint  at  125  deg.  and  above,  to  an  opening  of  f  in.  at  zero  temper- 
ature. This  allowance,  it  will  be  seen,  is  -|  in.  for  each  25  deg.  below  the 
maximum  temperature,  or  double  the  opening  usually  made  for  rails  of 
30-ft.  length,  which  is  1/1G  in.  for  each  25  deg.  difference  of  temperature. 
In  long  tunnels  there  is  usually  but  little  change  in  the  temperature,  and 
but  little  or  no  open  space  need  be  left  at  the  joints  for  expansion.  •  It 
would  therefore  seem  that  in  such  places  60-ft.  rails  should  be  well  adapted, 
without  any  question.  For  60-ft.  rails  it  has  been  customary  with  the 
mill  people  to  exact  an  extra  charge,  $2  per  ton  being  the  extra  price  paid 
in  some  cases.  With  some  roads  this  extra  charge  has  been  the  reason 
for  discontinuing  the  use  of  "longer"  rails. 

^  In  the  transportation  of  long  rails  it  is  the  practice  with  some  com- 
panies to  lay  them  over  two  flat  or  gondola  cars,  using  bolsters,  and  in 
other  cases  rails  as  long  as  60  ft.  are  loaded  on  alternate  cars,  the  ends 
projecting  equally  past  the  loaded  car,  over  the  idle  cars  adjacent.  In 
every^  case  where  the  same  rail  rests  upon  two  cars  it  is  recommended 
that  holsters  be  used,  in  order  to  prevent  injury  to  the  rails  by  the  side 
and  vertical  motions  of  the  cars.  The  Lake  Terminal  E.  R,  operated 
by  the  Lorain  Steel  Co.,  has  100  long  cars  for  the  transportation  of  60  and 
62-ft,  rails,  built  on  plans  prepared  by  Mr.  P.  H.  Stark,  master  car  builder 


COMPOUND  RAILS  993 

of  the  Cleveland,  Lorain  &  Wheeling  Ry.  The  length  of  these  cars  over 
the  end  sills  is  66  ft.  4  ins.,  the  width  8  ft.  11  ins.  and  the  capacity  80,000 
Ibs.  The  car  is  stiffened  with  eight  under  truss  rods  of  1£  ins.  diameter, 
passing  through  the  end  sills,  and  four  other  under  truss  rods  of  the  same 
diameter  passing  up  through  stirrups  straddling  the  side  plank,  and  thence 
through  the  end  plank.  Passing  through  the  stirrups  straddling  the 
side  planks  in  the  center  of  the  car  are  four  counter  truss  rods  1J  ins.  in 
diam.  passing  down  through  a  wrought  iron  plate  held  across  the  end  of  a 
block  bolted  beneath  the  side  sills  and  abutting  against  the  end  of  the 
needle  beam,.  The  cars  have  a  permanent  6x8-in.  floor  bolster  over  each 
truck,  and  the  cars  are  trussed  to  a  camber  of  4  ins.,  so  that  the  long 
rails  rest  upon  the  bolsters  nearly  level. 

In  unloading  long  rails  from  cars  by  hand,  a  larger  force  is  required 
than  is  the  case  when  handling  30-ft.  rails,  but  the  ordinary  work-train  crew 
is  easily  able  to  do  the  work.  Quite  frequently  60-ft.  rails  have  been  unload- 
ed by  hooking  a  30-ft.  rope  to  the  end  of  the  rail  and  anchoring  it  to  the 
track,  the  rail  then  being  drawn  off  the  car  as  the  train  is  pulled  ahead. 
The  end  of  the  rail  is  then  lowered  from  the  car  to  the  track  by  a  gang  of 
men,  as  the  car  is  pulled  from  under  it,  or  in  some  cases  it  is  allowed  to 
drop  freely  on  the  ties,  the  long  sag  being  so  deep  that  the  rail  drops  with- 
out injury.  Two  men  with  bars  then  throw  the  rail  out  of  the  track.  In 
renewing  rails  the  number  of  tongsmen  required  to  handle  60-ft.  rails  is 
double  the  number  for  30-ft.  rails,  but  only  half  the  number  of  bolters  are 
required.  It  has  been  stated  that,  on  the  whole,  there  is  a  saving  of  fully 
15  per  cent  in  handling  and  laying  60-ft.  rails  as  compared  with  the 
expense  of  handling  and  laying  30-ft.  rails  in  the  same  length  of  track. 
The  cost  of  unloading  and  la}dng  60-ft.  rails  on  the  Norfolk  &  Western 
Ry.  is  reported  to  have  been  20  per  cent  less  than  the  cost  of  handling  30-ft. 
rails  in  like  manner,  for  an  equal  length  of  track. 

In  Germany  the  old  standard  length  for  rails  was  29^  ft.,  and  the 
experience  from  increasing  this  length  seems  to  have  resulted  more  satis- 
factorily than  has  been  the  case  in  this  country.  An  increase  of  33-J 
per  cent  or  to  39  ft.  4  ins.,  seems  to  have  met  with  general  approval.  On 
some  roads  the  standard  length  has  been  increased  to  59  ft. 

173.  Compound  Rails.— The  effort  to  produce  a  continuous  rail  has 
led  to  numerous  proposed  designs  on  the  principle  of  dividing  the  rail 
into  longitudinal  parts  to  be  bolted  or  riveted  together  so  as  to  break  joints. 
An  old  idea,  and  one  which  is  said  to  hav  succeeded  to  actual  trial,  was 
to  roll  the  rail  in  two  parts  separable  vertically  through  the  middle  plane 
of  the  web  and  bolted  or  riveted  together  so  as  to  break  joints,  without 
splices.  If  it  were  not  for  the  necessity  of  allowing  space  for  expansion 
such  a  design  might  have  stood  some  show  of  success,  years  ago,  because  a 
joint  extending  entirely  across  the  rail  could  have  been  avoided;  but  even 
then,  without  splice  bars,  the  rail  at  joints  between  contiguous  sections 
would  have  been  weakened  to  one-half  the  strength  or  stiffness  at  inter- 
mediate portions.  The  necessity  for  expansion  allowance,  however,  for- 
bids a  rigid  union  of  the  parts,  so  that  it  would  not  have  been  possible 
to  get  them  to  act  together,  the  result  of  which  would  have  been  a  shaky 
affair.  At  the  present  time  such  a  design  obtains  no  right  to  consideration, 
even  if  it  was  practicable  to  rivet  the  two  halves  rigidly  together,  because 
if  allowance  for  expansion  could  be  dropped  out  of  consideration  present 
methods  of  cast- welding  or  electrically  welding  rails  could  be  applied 
with  greater  advantage  and  economy. 

With  the  two-fold  object  of  making  the  rail  continuous  and  to  provide 
a  part  which  need  not  be  scrapped  when  tho  head  becomes  worn  out.  it  has 


994 


MISCELLANEOUS 


been  proposed  to  divide  the  rail  into  top  and  bottom  parts.  A  familiar 
design  which  numerous  inventors  have  worked  upon  consists  of  a  rail  head 
of  ordinary  form  (A,  Fig.  495)  with  a  depending  tongue  or  web  portion, 
fitting  into  a  grooved  base;  or,  vice  versa,  a  rail  head  with  a  depending 
grooved  portion,  into  which  is  fitted  a  base  with  an  upwardly  projecting 
tongue  portion.  Some  have  proposed  to  make  the  base  solid  or  in  one  part, 
like  the  Bargion  rails,  laid  experimentally  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.,  at 
Oakland,  Cal.,  in  1890;  while  others,  to  facilitate  rolling  or  to  provide 
increased  bearing  surface  for  the  head,  have  proposed  to  divide  the  base 
into  two  parts  (B  and  0,  Fig.  495).  The  top  and  base  portions  are  then  to 
be  riveted  or  bolted  together  to  break  joints.  In  this  case,  also,  the  neces- 
sity for  expansion  allowance  gives  rise  to  a  fatal  defect  in  the  design,  for 
unless  the  parts  could  be  riveted  to  make  absolutely  rigid  connection,  wheth- 
er the  base  portion  be  solid  or  in  two  parts,  the  different  parts  of  the  rail 
could  not  be  made  to  act  together,  and  there  would  be  simply  the  strength 
and  stiffness  due  to  the  head  and  base  portions  acting  independently.  To 
show  that  such  a  design  is  extremely  faulty  from  other  considerations  it  is 
only  necessary  to  point  out  that  each  part  has  but  one  flanged  portion  and 
each  part  is  considerably  shallower  than  the  depth  of  the  entire  rail,  thus 
greatly  lacking  in  stiffness.  Moreover,  the  holes  provided  for  riveting  or 


Fig.  495. 


Fig.  496.— Rerolled  Rails— Fig.  497. 


bolting  the  parts  together,  being  outside  the  neutral  axis  of  the  section, 
in  each  case,  weaken  those  parts  unduly  and  increase  the  liability  to  fracture 
or  break  at  the  holes.  In  order  to  make  a  rail  of  this  design  as  stiff  and 
reliable  as  the  rail  of  simple  section  in  ordinary  use  would  require  a  base 
portion  so  enormously  heavy  that  interest  on  the  cost  of  extra  metal  would 
more  than  eat  up  any  saving  which  could  be  effected  in  cost  of  maintaining 
track  surface  or  in  the  prolonged  service  of  a  portion  of  the  rail  exempt 
from  the  scrap  pile. 

The  Bargion  rail,  above  referred  to,  had  a  solid  grooved  base  of  soft, 
tough  steel,  of  a  quality  intended  to  withstand  stress  and  shocks,  and  a 
head  with  a  depending  tongue,  made  of  hard  corbonized  steel,  for  wear. 
The  base  or  lower  part  was  first  rolled  open,  in  star  shape,  until  the  last 
pass,  when  the  double  web  was  closed  in  to  the  proper  shape.  From  the 
fact  that  it  was  rolled  in  one  piece  there  were  no  flanges  on  the  top  edges 
of  the  double  web,  as  in  Fig.  495.  The  rail  weighed  138  Ibs.  per  yd., 
of  which  the  base  weighed  75  Ibs.  and  the  head  portion  63  Ibs.  Head  and 
base  were  fastened  together  with  rivets.  The  rail  was  successfully  laid 
on  a  H-deg.  curve.  It  failed  by  cracking  and  breaking  through  the 
rivet  holes.  The  design  of  compound  rail  proposed  by  Mr.  Walter  Katte, 
formerly  chief  engineer  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  E.  B., 
was  similar  to  Fig.  495,  the  difference  consisting  in  an  enlargement  of  the 
tongiio  portion  of  the  head  on  line  with  the  bolts,  the  inside  faces  of  the 


REROLLIXG  RAILS  995 

•double  web  being  grooved  out  to  correspond.  The  Haarmann  compound 
rail  is  described  in  connection  with  Metal  Ties,  §  169. 

174.  Rerolling  Rails. — It  is  familiar  to  the  experience  of  many  rail- 
way men  that  rails  of  inferior  quality  are  rendered  unserviceable  for  main 
track  use  more  from  flowing  and  roughening  of  the  head  than  from  serious 
loss  of  metal.  In  any  case  it  is  not  practicable  to  use  up  more  than  15  or 
20  per  cent  of  the  metal  in  a  rail,  in  wear,  by  the  traffic,  and  it  is  seldom 
that  the  metal  worn  away  in  main-track  service  amounts  to  as  much  as  12 
per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the  rail.  T^he  limit  of  wear  in  main-track 
service  is  £  to  f  in.  in  depth  of  head.  The  rest  goes  to  the  scrap  pile  and, 
taking  one  year  with  another,  will  sell  for  about  40  per  cent  of  the  price 
per  ton  of  new  rail,  after  deducting  freight  charges.  Thus,  on  a  basis 
of  12  per  cent  wear,  about  53  per  cent  of  the  price  paid  for  the  rail  is 
lost  by  depreciation,  the  oxidation  of  rails  usually  being  but  very  little. 
Some  years  ago  it  occurred  to  Mr.  E.  W.  McKenna,  assistant  general  super- 
intendent of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.,  that  the  unworn 
portion  of  rails  commonly  taken  up  in  renewals  contains  sufficient  metal 
for  a  rail  nearly  as  large  in  section  as  that  of  the  original  rail;  and  that 
if  a  cheap  process  of  rerolling  the  worn  rail  could  be  devised,  a  new  rail 
of  but  slight  reduction  in  section  could  be  produced  at  low  cost,  which 
would  work  an  important  economy  in  the  expense  of  rail  renewals.  After 
some  study  of  the  matter  machinery  was  fitted  up  in  the  North  Chicago 
rail  mill  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Co.,  and  in  the  fall  of  1895  trial  orders  for 
rerolled  rails  were  executed  for  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul; 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe;  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy;  Michigan 
Central;  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  roads. 

The  experience  with  these  rails  showed  that  added  serviceability  to  the 
rails  could  be  cheaply  gained  at  the  cost  of  rerolling,  and  in  1897  a  new 
mill  was  built  at  Joliet,  111.,  specially  equipped  for  the  work.  In  this 
mill  there  are  two  furnaces  for  heating  rails,  so  arranged  that  the  rails  can 
foe  charged  in  at  one  end  of  the  furnace  and  drawn  out  at  the  other.  Each 
•furnace  has  a  capacity  for  21  rails,  and  the  time  required  to  heat  the  rails 
to  the  desired  temperature — 1700  deg.  F. — is  about  35  minutes.  At 
this  temperature  the  metal  is  a  bright  cherry  red,  which  is  below  the  decar- 
burization  point.  The  rails  are  withdrawn  from  the  furnace  one  at  a 
time,  and  as  soon  as  seven  have  been  withdrawn  a  new  charge  of  seven 
rails  is  run  in  at  the  other  end  of  the  furnace.  Each  rail  after  being 
taken  from  the  furnace  receives  three  passes  in  the  rolls,  or  one  pass  in 
each  of  three  sets  of  two-high  rolls  in  tandem.  The  first  set,  which  oper- 
ates directly  in  front  of  the  furnace,  and  draws  the  rail  out  of  the  furnace, 
is  known  as  the  "upsetting"  rolls,  and  through  these  the  rail  is  passed  work- 
wise.  The  purpose  of  these  rolls  is  to  compress  the  rail  vertically,  so  as  to 
force  the  head  and  flange,  and  consequently  the  fishing  surfaces,  nearer 
together  and  reduce  all  the  rails  to  a  uniform  hight.  The  rail  then  goes 
to  the  second  set,  known  as  the  "roughing"  or  "forming"  rolls,  which  have 
three  grooves  each  designed  to  receive  definite  forms  of  worn  rail.  From 
the  third  and  last  set  of  rolls,  known  as  the  "finishing"  rolls,  the  rail 
emerges  at  a  temperature  of  about  1400  deg.,  whence  it  is  taken  to  the  hot 
saws,  hot  beds,  straightening  and  drilling  machines,  in  the  usual  way.  The 
average  time  of  the  rolling  process,  from  furnace  to  hot  saws,  is  only  29 
seconds.  The  capacity  of  this  mill  is  400  tons  of  rails  rerolled  in  24 
hour?.  In  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  there  is  another  mill  of  equal  capacity  and 
similarly  operated,  built  in  1898.  At  Tremley  Point,  N".  J.,  there  is  a 
mill  of  (100  tons'  daily  capacity,  built  in  1902. 

Before  the  rails   are  put  into  the  heating  furnace   fins   or  slivers, 


996  MISCELLANEOUS 

resulting  from  flowing  of  the  metal,  are  ground  off  with  an  emery  wheel, 
as  it  is  found  that  the  metal  composing  such  imperfections  is  extremely 
hard,  and  if  rolled  into  the  body  of  the  rail  distinct  cleavage  lines  will 
remain  and  lead  to  slivering  of  the  rail  head  under  traffic.  As  each  rail 
is  drawn  from  the  furnace  it  is  passed  through  a  set  of  revolving  wire 
brushes,  to  remove  scale  before  the  first  pass  through  the  rolls,  and  in 
advance  of  the  last  pass  the  scale  is  removed  by  a  jet  of  steam.  It  is 
found  that  the  chemical  composition  of  the  rails  remains  practically 
unchanged  and  it  is  claimed  (on  'good  grounds)  that  the  rolling  which  the 
metal  receives  at  the  comparatively  low  temperature  actually  improves 
the  wearing  qualities  of  the  rail.  Data  of  rails  in  service  have  verified 
this  claim.  The  loss  of  metal  from  oxidation  in  heating  and  rerolling 
amounts  to  about  1  per  cent,  and  the  entire  loss  from  the  rails,  including 
the  crop  ends,  amounts  to  from  6  to  10  per  cent,  but  usually  7-J  or  8 
per  cent,  in  weight  of  the  metal  rolled — that  is  to  say,  the  number  of 
tons  of  serviceable  rails  returned  from  the  mill  will  fall  7-J  or  8  per 
cent  short  of  the  number  of  tons  of  rail  sent  to  the  mill  to  be  rerolled.  Of 
this  shortage  about  6  per  cent  is  returned  in  crop  ends.  The  charge  for 
rerolling  has  been  $5  to  $6  per  ton. 

Some  of  the  roads  which  have  made  use  of  rerolled  rails  are  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul;  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  and  the  Wabash. 
The  road  first  named  began  using  rerolled  rails  in  main  track  that  were 
Tolled  principally  from  rails  weighing  originally  67  and  75  Ibs.  per  yd. 
The  67-lb.  rails  were  worn  down  to  about  65  or  65^  Ibs.  per  yd.,  and  were 
rerolled  to  a  60-lb.  section,  as  shown  by  the  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  496,  repro- 
duced from  a  full-size  drawing  taken  from  templets  of  the  rails.  The 
full  line  shows  comparatively  the  original  section  of  the  rail,  or  what  it 
was  when  first  laid  in  the  track.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  shape  of  the 
rail  has  been  changed  somewhat  by  the  rerolling  process,  the  web  of  the 
new  rail  having  straight  instead  of  curved  sides,  and  the  sides  of  the  head 
being  vertical  instead  of  sloping.  The  hight  of  section  is  decreased 
slightly,  resulting  in  a  slightly  shallower  and  narrower  head  and  thinner 
and  narrower  flange.  Figure  497  shows  comparatively  the  size  and  shape  of 
section  of  rerolled  rails  weighing  originally  75  Ibs.  per  yd.,  the  dotted  line 
of  course  representing  the  rerolled  rail.  These  rails  had  been  worn  to 
about  72J  Ibs.  per  yd.  and  were  rerolled  to  a  67J-lb.  section.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  all  parts  of  the  rail  are  reduced  somewhat  in  size,  the  head 
being  slightly  shallower  and  narrower,  the  web  and  flange  slightly  thinner. 
It  would  have  been  equally  as  feasible  to  have  retained  the  original  depth 
of  section  by  narrowing  the  head  and  other  parts  to  greater  extent.  In 
both  cases  the  fishing  angle  remains  the  same,  but  the  rerolled  rail  pro- 
vided for1  a  slightly  deeper  angle  bar  of  standard  size.  The  general  prac- 
tice in  laying  rerolled  rails  is  to  use  new  splice  bars,  but,  if  desired,  the 
rail  may  be  rerolled  to  fit  the  old  bars  again.  If  the  rail  is  curve  worn 
the  rerolling  process  will  transfer  metal  from  one  side  of  the  head  to  the 
other,  to  balance  the  section.  In  some  cases  the  rail  has  been  rolled  to  a 
section  J  in.  deeper  than  that  to  which  it  had  been  worn. 

A  desirable  feature  of  the  rerolling  process  is  that  the  loss  in  cross 
section  beyond  what  is  actually  required  to  form  a  new  section  of  maximum 
size  is  gained  in  elongation  of  the  rail.  Thus,  some  of  the  30-ft  rails 
rerolled  for  this  road  were  returned  from  the  mills  32  ft.  in  length,  while 
others  were  cut  off  at  30  ft.  To  give  another  illustration  of  the  result 
of  rerolling,  in  this  respect,  the  net  gain  in  length  in  a  lot  of  16,007 
rails  rerolled  was  7350  ft,,  and  the  reduction  in  section  was  from  an  average 
of  75.27  Ibs.  per  yd.  to  a  uniform  weight  of  67.7  Ibs.  per  yd.  The 


RAIL  TRIMMING  997 

length  at  which  the  rerolled  rails  are  cut  in  the  practice  of  this  road, 
depends  somewhat  on  the  location  of  the  old  bolt  holes.  It  is  not  per- 
mitted to  cut  the  rail  so  that  an  old  bolt  hole  comes  between  the  end  and 
the  first  hole  to  be  drilled,  but  the  rails  may  be  cut  through  an  old  bolt 
hole,  providing  that  not  more  than  half  of  the  old  hole  remains  in  the  end 
of  the  rail.  It  is  also  required  that  no  hole  newly  drilled  shall  meet  one 
of  the  old  holes.!  which  are  made  somewhat  oblong  by  the  rerolling  process. 
The  experience  which  this  road  has  had  with  rerolled  rails  has  been  quite 
satisfactory.  Some  of  .the  rails  rerolled  from  the  original  67-lb.  rails, 
above  referred  to,  laid  in  the  Muskegon  yards  of  the  road  at  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  where  traffic  is  very  heavy,  lasted  better  than  any  other  rails  which 
had  been  in  service  in  that  place.  In  1902  this  company  had  about 
50,000  tons  of  rerolled  rails  in  the  track. 

The  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ky.  began  using  rerolled  rails  in 
1898.  Some  of  the  rails  then  used  weighed  60  Ibs.  per  yd.,  and  were 
rerolled  from  a  rail  the  original  weight  of  which  was  66  Ibs.  per  yd. 
The  larger  quantity,  however,  weighed  65  Ibs.  per  yard  and  were  rolled 
from  rails  which  originally  weighed  71  Ibs.  per  yd.  and  had  been  worn 
down  to  69  or  70  Ibs.  per  yd.  These  rails  had  deteriorated  to  the  point 
where  renewing  became  a  necessity,  and  no  old  rails  were  taken  up  expressly 
for  the  purpose  of  rerolling.  In  1902  the  Coast  Lines  of  this  road  were 
using  307  track  miles  of  rerolled  rail,  and  the  experience  had  been  quite 
satisfactory.  The  rerolled  rails  had  worn  much  better  on  the  curves  than 
the  original  rails.  The  percentage  of  breakage  had  been  a  little  higher 
than  with  new  rails,  but  not  to  an  extent  that  gave  cause  for  alarm.  The 
Wabash  E.  R.  has  used  a  considerable  tonnage  of  rerolled  rails  in  main 
track,  the  first  being  laid  in  1898.  Of  this  rail  part  was  of  63-lb.  original 
section,  rerolled  to  58  Ibs.  per  yd.,  and  more  were  rails  of  70-lb.  original 
section,  most  of  which  had  been  .damaged  by  improperly  counterbalanced 
locomotives  running  at  excessive  speeds.  In  1902  more  than  1300  miles 
of  track  on  various  roads  had  been  laid  with  rerolled  rails. 

175.  Rail  Trimming. — When  iron  rails  were  used  in  main  tracks  the 
battering  at  the  joints  was  so  excessive  that  the  rails  usually  became 
unserviceable  from  this  cause  long  before  the  head  along  the  intermediate 
portion  was  worn  down  sufficiently  far  to  call  for  a  general  renewing  of 
the  rails.  It  was,  therefore,  considered  extravagant  to  scrap  the  rails 
for  this  defect  alone,  and  it  came  to  be  quite  generally  the  practice  to  trim 
the  rails  by  cutting  off  the  battered  portion  at  the  end  and  then  lay  them 
again  in  the  track  in  the  course  of  ordinary  repairs.  Rails  shortened 
in  this  manner  were  continued  in  service  until  the  head  was  worn  down  to 
the  allowable  limit  or  until  the  ends  became  battered  again,  or,  perhaps, 
again  and  again.  The  work  of  cutting  the  rails  was  quite  frequently  perform- 
ed by  the  section  men,  with  hammer  and  chisel,  but  when  large  quantities  of 
battered  rails  had  accumulated  they  were  loaded  up  and  sent  to  the  shops 
to  be  trimmed  and  drilled  for  bolt  holes.  As  steel  rails  and  angle-bar 
splices  came  into  use,  the  battering  of  rails  at  the  ends,  on  any  such  scale 
as  had  been  the  case  with  iron  rails,  ceased  to  be  a  trouble  with  trackmen. 
In  course  of  time,  however,  slight  battering  or  surface  bending  developed 
in  steel  rails  at  the  ends,  in  some  cases,  due  to  one  or  all  of  several  causes, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  flowing  of  the  metal,  owing  to  inferiority 
of  the  product  and  increase  in  weight  of  locomotives  and  car  loading; 
excessive  allowance  for  expansion,  failure  to  keep  the  joint  splices  tightly 
bolted  and  failure  to  keep  the  track  in  proper  surface  at  the  joints.  With 
rails  of  good  quality,  properly  spaced  and  maintained  in  fair  surface,  bat- 
tering of  the  head  at  the  ends  is  seldom  the  case,  but  after  years  of  service 


998 


MISCELLANEOUS 


it  is  quite  common  experience  to  find  the  under  side  of  the  head  consider- 
ably worn  by  the  splice  bans.  Such  is  quite  likely  to  be  the  case  where  thin- 
splice  bars  are  used  or  where  the  duty  of  keeping  the  splices  tightly  bolted 
has  not  received  close  attention.  With  splice-worn  rails  it  is  impossible  to 
secure  a  close  fit,  even  with  new  splice  bars,  so  that  if  this  defect  or  bat- 
tered or  surface-kinked  ends  exists  there  is  no  remedy  except  amputation^ 
if  it  is  expected  to  obtain  further  service  from  the  rails  in  main  track  with 


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economy  in  maintenance  expenses.  As  the  result  of  experience  resort  to 
trimming  the  ends  of  the  rails  has  come  to  be  the  practice  on  a  number  of 
roads.,  particularly  where  rails  are  taken  from  the  main  line  to  be  laid  on 
branch  lines. 

The  Michigan  Central,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  and  some 
other  roads  have  portable  plants  for  trimming  rails,  the  necessary  machin- 
ery for  sawing  and  drilling  the  rails  being  contained  on  a  single  flat  car, 


RAIL  TRIMMING 


999 


with  auxiliary  devices  for  lifting  the  rails  from  the  incoming  cars,  and 
skid  ways  for  assorting  the  rails  after  they  have  been  trimmed.  The  plant 
is  set  up  at  convenient  points  along  the  line,  so  that  the  cost  of  transporting 
the  rails  requiring  treatment  does  not  so  largely  affect  the  economy  of  the 
scheme  as  it  otherwise  would.  The  portable  mills  on  the  two  roads  named 


1000  MISCELLANEOUS 

are  constructed  alike  and  are  operated  in  a.bout  the  same  way.  Figure 
498  shows  the  general  appearance  of  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  mill  and  Fig.  499 
ihe  plan  and  elevation  drawings.  The  car  upon  which  the  machinery 
is  carried  has  a  length  of  46  ft,  and  a  width  over  all  of  10  ft.  The  car 
body  is  constructed  in  a  very  substantial  manner,  the  frame  consisting  of 
XJO-in.  steel  I-beams  and  channels  thoroughly  fitted  and  riveted  together. 
The  car  body  is  carried  upon  two  4-wheel  trucks  of  special  design,  to 
support  the  great  weight,  which,  including  the  car  and  machinery,  is  57 
tons.  The  boiler  is  10  ft.  high,  63  ins.  in  diameter,  with  submerged  flues 
2  ins.  in  diameter.  The  engine  operating  the  machine  is  of  the  horizontal 
type,  of  special  design.  It  has  double  cylinders,  12x14  ins.  each,  and 
jacketed.  The  engine  is  connected  directly  with  a  mortise  gear  48  ins. 
in  diameter,  which  drives  a  cut  steel  pinion  20  ins.  in  diameter,  thereby 
imparting  a  countershaft  speed  of  380  revolutions  per  minute.  Upon 
this  shaft  is  the  band  wheel  driving  the  saw  arbor.  From  the  same 
shaft  a  6  or  8-spindle  drill  is  operated  and,  when  necessary,  the  rail 
straightener.  The  disc  or  saw  used  in  cutting  the  rails  is  42  ins.  in  diam- 
eter and  runs  at  2000  r.  p.  m.  About  150  h  p.  is  required  to  do  the  work 
properly.  At  the  front  side  of  the  car  (the  near  side  in  the  illustrations) 
is  arranged  the  feed  table  for  conveying  the  rail  to  the  saw.  This  table 
is  constructed  of  steel  channels,  the  channel  side  being  placed  upward  and 
supported  on  arms  keyed  to  a  shaft  journaled  near  the  car  floor.  Within 
the  channel  are  rollers  for  shifting  the  rail.  The  feed  table  is  divided 
at  the  saw  into  two  sections,  and  each  section  is  operated  by  an  air  cylinder. 
For  holding  the  rail  securely  while  it  is  being  fed  into  the  saw  there  is  a 
clamping  device  operated  by  an  air. cylinder  provided  with  a  quick  release 
valve,  as  are  also  the  feeding  cylinders  of  the  table.  The  rail  drill  is 
double,  having  three  or  four  spindles  on  each  side,  provided  with  automatic 
or  hand  feed,  as  desired.  These  drills  are  independent  and  are  connected 
by  friction  clutches  to  the  main  countershaft.  Among  the  various  mis- 
cellaneous machines  included  in  the  outfit  is  a  steam  turntable,  upon  which 
the  fail  is  placed  after  one  end  has  been  drilled,  so  that  it  can  be  swung 
around  for  drilling  the  other  end.  There  is  a  double  rail  clip  hoisting 
mechanism  for  transferring  the  rails  from  the  car  to  the  feed  table  and 
systems  of  rail  rollers  for  moving  rails  from  one  position  to  another.  There 
is  a  water  pump  and  tank  for  the  use  of  the  saw  disc  and  for  the  drills. 
The  machinery  of  the  car  is  covered  by  a  cab  extending  over  two-thirds 
of  its  length,  provided  with  swinging  and  sliding  doors,  so  that  all  the 
machinery  may  be  securely  housed  when  not  in  operation,  or  while  in 
transit  from  point  to  point. 

The  machinery  for  handling  rails  to  and  from  the  mill,  as  arranged  on 
the  Michigan  Central  E.  R.,  is  made  clear  in  Fig.  500.  The  mill  is  placed 
on  side-track  between  a  siding  for  receiving  the  incoming  rails,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  a  series  of  skid  ways  or  platforms  for  receiving  the  rails  after 
they  have  passed  the  machine,  on  the  other  hand.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  these  skidways  are  graduated  in  width,  the  purpose  being  to  receive 
the  rails  of  shorter  length  on  the  skidways  toward  the  left.  These  skid- 
ways  hold  about  100  rails  each,  in  one  tier.  Just  beyond  the  skidways 
there  is  a  track  for  the  cars  upon  which  the  outgoing  rails  are  loaded.  The 
operation  of  the  mill  may  be  described  as  follows:  The  car  containing 
rails  to  be  trimmed  is  placed  at  the  front  side  of  the  mill.  To  begin 
with,  the  rail  is  seized  near  its  two  ends  by  the  clips  of  two  pneumatic 
cranes  (Fig.  499)  and  lifted  to  the  feed  table.  After  the  rail  has  been 
securely  clamped  to  the  first  section  of  the  feed  table  it  is  pulled  against 
the  saw,  when  it  is  swung  back  and  run  ahead  past  the  saw  to  the  other 


RAIL  TRIMMING 


1001 


MISCELLANEOUS 

section  of  the  feed  table,  against  a  gage  stub.  In  this  position  the  rail 
is  clamped  and  the  other  end  is  taken  off;  meanwhile  the  first  section  of  the 
table  is  receiving  another  rail.  Both  ends  of  the  rail  being  cut,  it  is 
then  slid  upon  the  storage  space  between  the  feed  table  and  the  first  drill. 
It  is  next  slid  over  to  the  drill  and  drilled.  One  side  of  the  double 
drill  does  the  drilling  at  one  end  of  the  rail,  after  which  the  rail  is  turned 
by  the  elevating  steam  turntable  and  the  other  end  is  drilled  at  the  other 
side  of  the  drilling  machine.  From  the  drills  the  Tail  is  slid  upon  the 
long  line  of  rollers  (Fig.  500)  for  distributing  to  any  of  the  skidways,  its 
length  determining  the  skidway  to  which  it  belongs.  Unless  the  rail  has 
to  be  straightened  this  ends  the  process,  so  far  as  the  mill  is  concerned. 

The  means  for  transferring  the  rails  from  the  skidways  to  the  cars, 
or  in  handling  the  rails  over  for  the  purpose  of  matching,  is  very  con- 
veniently arranged.  As  will  be  seen  in  Figs.  500  and  501,  there  is  an 
overhead  structure  or  bridge,  trussed  over  the  skidways  and  loading  track 
and  trestled  outside  the  track.  The  two  trusses  of  this  bridge  extend  over 
two  skidways  and  are  joined  by  a  semicircular  portion  outside  the  loading 


Fig.  501.— Skidways,  Trolley  and  Air  Hoist. 

track.  On  this  bridge  there  is  a  tramway  carrying  a  trolley,  which  in  turn 
carries  a  cross  beam,  on  each  end  of  which  is  an  air  hoist  for  lifting  the 
rails.  The  trolley  and  hoists  are  operated  by. two  men.  To  the  piston 
of  each  air  hoist  there  is  fastened  a  chain  with  a  rail  clamp  attached, 
for  picking  up  the  rails.  After  handling  the  rails  on  one  of  the  skidways 
the  trolley  is  run  around  the  semicircle  to  the  other  skidway,  as  shown. 
The  two  skidways  opposite  the  mill  are  intended  for  28-ft.  rails,  which 
constitute  the  larger  portion  of  the  rails  which  leave  the  mill.  Eails  of 
odd  lengths  are  run  to  the  other  skidways,  where  they  are  held  until 
enough  accumulate  to  furnish  a  car-load.  On  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  Ey.  no 
rails  are  trimmed  to  a  shorter  length  than  24  ft.  The  force  necessary  to 
handle  the  plant  successfully  is  constituted  as  follows :  One  foreman, 
1  engineer,  1  fireman,  1  sawyer,  2  drillers,  2  rail  handlers  at  drill,  1  cal- 
iperer,  4  chippers,  2  men  to  load  and  1  watchman;  or  a  crew  of  16  men, 
all  told. 

The  overhead  structure  or  tramway  is  arranged  so  that  it  may  be 


KAIL  TRIMMING  100$ 

readily  taken  down  and  shipped  with  the  mill  and  erected  at  a  new  point 
of  operation  with  but  little  trouble.  A  portable  mill  of  later  design  is 
59  ft.  long  and  has  an  additional  double  drill,,  which  dispenses  with  the 
steam  turntable,  so  that  opposite  ends  of  the  rails  can  be  drilled  at  the 
same  time  by  the  two  drills,  thereby  avoiding  the  necessity  of  having  ta 
turn  the  rail,  as  in  the  mill  here  described,  wherein  it  has  been  found  some- 
what difficult  to  make  the  drilling  operations  keep  up  with  the  saw.  In 
very  fast  work  the  rails  are  trimmed  at  tne  rate  of  one  each  minute.  At 
the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  mill  two  trolleys  are  employed — one  over  each  skidway 
opposite  the  mill — and  the  framework  supporting  the  trolleys  is  of  riveted 
steel  trusses  and  columns.  The  Chicago,  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  &  Omaha 
Ey.  has  a  portable  rail  mill  on  a  car  61  ft.  long  over  all  and  10  ft.  4  ins. 
Nwide.  The  equipment  is  similar  to  that  above  described,  but  includes  two 
double  rail  drills  34  ft.  apart  centers.  This  mill  will  trim  and  drill 
450  to  500  rails  in  10  hours. 

The  Michigan  Central  trimming  plant  has  been  more  or  less  in  service 
since  1886  and  has  sawed  several  hundred  miles  of  rail.  After  the  rails 
are  trimmed  they  are  calipered  as  to  depth  of  head,  after  which  they  are 
matched,  numbered  consecutively  and  so  loaded  that  when  the  rails  are 
taken  off  the  cars  the  ends  of  the  same  depth  of  head  will  be  together,  se- 
as to  come  in  abuttal  when  laid.  The  calipering  and  matching  idea 
originated  with  the  late  Mr.  A.  Torrey,  chief  engineer  of  the  road,  and  i<? 
now  recognized  as  a  very  important  feature  of  successfully  handling  trim- 
med rails  for  relaying.  Before  this  was  done  the  variations  in  head 
depth  of  the  rails  as  they  were  laid  by  chance  made  rough  joints,  and  the 
use  of  trimmed  rails  was  not  satisfactory.  Not  more  than  20  per  cent  of 
the  rails  in  any  lot  trimmed  are  found  to  be  equal  in  depth  of  head,  and 
the  difference  in  depth  at  the  two  ends  of  the  same  rail  is  often  consid- 
erable. 

Mr.  Torrey's.  system  of  classifying  the  trimmed  rails  according  to 
depth  of  head  or  hight,  and  in  the  order  of  laying,  is  simple  but  ingenious. 
The  first  thing  that  is  noted  is  the  itinerary  of  the  cars  on  the  loading-out 
track  with  respect  to  the  direction  in  which  they  will  head  when  arriving 
at  their  destination,  the  essential  point  being  whether  or  not  the  rails  in 
transit  will  get  turned  end  for  end  from  the  way  they  are  loaded.  The 
sawing  plant  is  so  arranged  that  it  is  equally  convenient  to  deliver  the  rails, 
after  they  are  drilled,  to  either  of  the  two  skidways  standing  opposite  (see 
Fig.  500).  One  of  the  skidways  is  set  apart  for  rails  to  be  laid  on  one^ 
.side  of  the  track  and  the  other  skidway  for  rails  to  be  laid  on  the  opposite 
tdde.  In  other  words,  if  the  track  in  which  the  rails  are  to  be  laid  lies 
north  and  south,  then  one  of  the  skidways  will  receive  the  rails  for  the 
east  side  of  the  track  and  the  other  skidway  the  rails  for  the  west  side. 
The  rails  are  then  delivered  to  the  skids  so  that  they  will  come  reversed 
side  to  gage  when  laid;  that  is,  the  side  of  the  rail  head  which  stood  to 
gage  when  the  rail  was  first  in  service  will  come  on  the  off  side  when  the 
rail  is  relaid.  As  the  burr  from  the  sawing  is  clipped  from  the  rails 
on  the  skids  they  are  shoved  along  toward  the  loading  track  and  arranged 
side  by  side,  workwise,  and  chalk-marked  consecutively  from  1  to  80.  The 
head  at  both  ends  of  each  rail  is  then  calipered  to  the  nearest  64th  of  an 
inch,  record  of  which  is  taken,  and  then  60  rails  from  each  set  of  skids 
(enough  for  a  car-load)  are  selected  and  renumbered  in  the  order  in  which 
they  match  end  to  end.  They  are  then  loaded  upon  the  cars  in  this  order, 
beginning  with  rail  No.  60.  A  card  is  tacked  upon  the  car  indicating  on 
which  side  of  the  track  the  rails  are  to  be  unloaded,  and  also  indicating 
to  which  car-load  for  the  same  side  of  the  track  this  car  is  the  successor. 


1004 


MISCELLANEOUS 


The  ioreman  who  unloads  and  distributes  the  rai]s  at  their  destination 
sees  that  they  are  taken  off  the  car  in  proper  sequence— that  is,  from  No.  1 
to  No.  60  seriatim,,  or  in  the  reverse  order  from  that  in  which  they  were 
loaded.  The  process  of  loading  and  unloading  the  rails  is  as  simple  as 
winding  up  a  ball  of  yarn  and  then  unwinding  it:  if  the  numbers  are 
regarded  there  is  no  chance  of  getting  the  rails  mixed  up. 

The  system  for  recording  the  depth  of  the  head  at  the  ends  of  the 
rails  and  renumbering  the  rails  in  the  order  in  which  the  ends  match  is  as 
follows :  A  boy  is  given  a  shallow  box  in  which  are  80  sawed  marble  blocks 
f  in.xH  ins.  in  size.  The  marking  on  the  blocks  is  done  with  a  common 
lead  pencil,  and  before  the  boy  begins  work  on  a  new  set  of  rails  he  erases 
all  the  old  pencil  marks  from  the  blocks  and  numbers  them  consecutively 
from  1  to  80,  as  shown  in  Box  "A,"  Fig.  502.  Each  block  represents 
one  of  the  rails  on  the  skidway,  and  the  box  is  used  like  a  map,  the  proper 
edge  signifying  the  east  or  north  end  of  the  rails,  as  the  case  may  be.  As 
the  boy  calipers  the  east  end  of  the  80  rails  he  marks  the  reading  of  the 
instrument  for  each  rail  on  the  east  end  of  the  block  numbered  to  corres- 
pond to  that  rail ;  and  when  he  calipers  the  west  end  of  each  rail  he  likewise 
marks  the  west,  end  of  the  block  which  corresponds  to  that  rail.  When 
both  ends  of  the  rails  have  been  calipered  and  recorded  in  this  manner  the 


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boy  sits  down  and  "plays  dominoes"  with  the  blocks  into  an  empty  box, 
until  he  gets  60  to  match,  as  shown  in  Box  "B,"  Fig.  503.  To  play  the 
"game"  fairly  he  must  evidently  keep  all  the  blocks  lying  in  the  same 
direction,  and  not  try  to  make  them  match  by  turning  any  of  them  end  for 
end.  It  then  remains  only  to  renumber  the  rails  to  identify  them  with 
the  matched  arrangement  in  Box  "B."  This  is  done  by  painting  on  the 
middle  of  each  rail  the  figure  which  represents  the  consecutive  nuirber  of 
the  space  in  which  the  block  corresponding  to  that  rail  is  found :  figure  1 
is  painted  on  the  rail  marked  2  in  chalk,  figure  2  on  the  rail  marked  12  in 
chalk,  figure  3  on  the  rail  marked  50  in  chalk,  and  so  on.  The  rails  are 
then  loaded  in  the  order  of  the  painted  numbers.  The  20  rails  which 
are  not  matched  or  not  loaded  remain  on  the  skids  and  form  part  of  the 
next  set  of  .80.  The  boy  keeps  a  record  of  the  caliper  reading  of  the  tail 
end  of  rail  No.  60  in  each  car-load,  and  in  starting  the  domino  game 
for  the  succeeding  car  loaded  from  the  same  set  of  skids,  he  uses  a  block 
the  head  end  of  which  is  marked  with  the  same  figure.' 

The  calipering  instrument  used  in  this  work  is  shown  as  Fig.  504. 
The  lower  jaw  is  shaped  to  fit  the  fishing  surfaces  on  the  under  side  of  the 
rail  head  and  it  carries  two  set-screws  which  can  be  adjusted  to  hold  the 
caliper  central  with  the  web.  The  readings  of  the  instrument  correspond 


RAIL  TRIMMING 


1005 


to  differences  of  Ye*  inch  in  depth  of  head.  In  using  the  caliper  it  is 
generally  clamped  to  read  0  when  it  fits  the  head  of  an  unworn  rail  of  the 
original  section,  as  then  the  readings  on  the  worn  rails  will  be  the 
smallest  numbers  possible.  Where  the  sawed  rail  is  to  be  used  with  angle-bar 
splices  account  is  taken  of  the  depth  of  head  only,  as  hitherto  described, 
but  if  a  type  of  splice  is  used  which  supports  the  rail  at  the  base,  then  the 
total  depth  of  the  rails  is  caljpered  and  they  are  matched  on  that  basis. 
For  such  work  a  different  caliper  from  the  one  here  described  is  used. 

By  this  plan  of  selection  the  sawed  rails  make  as  smooth  joints  as  new 
rails — some  say  smoother', than  new  rails  rolled  in  mills  where  the  rolls  are 
permitted  to  run  too  long  without  dressing.  The  cost  of  sawing  and  hand- 
ling, including  matching,  averages  about  75  cents  per  gross  ton.  The  prod- 
uct of  the  saw  is  found  to  be  satisfactory  when  laid  with  new  joint  fasten- 
ings, but  not  when  the  old  joint  fastenings  are  applied.  On  this  road  the 
portable  nature  of  the  machine  is  found  to  be  advantageous  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  company  quite  frequently  finds  itself  short  of  equipment  for 
hauling  rails  over  long  distances.  At  one  stand  where  the  Atchison,  To- 
peka  &  Santa  Fe  mill  was  in  operation,  on  the  middle  division  of  the  road, 
it  was  used  in  trimming  6556  tons  of  61-lb.  steel  rail.  The  rail  handled  was 


Fig.  504.— Rail  Head  Caliper,  Michigan  Central  R.  R. 

in  fairly  good  condition  when  taken  out,  notwithstanding  that  it  had  been 
in  the  track  about  18  years.  -  The  rails  were  battered  down  yie  to 
Vie  in-  at  the  ends  and  the  majority  of  them  were  splice  worn  under 
the  head;  in  some  cases  also  there  was  appreciable  wear  on  the  base.  As 
a  usual  thing  only  12  ins.  was  cut  off  each  end,  so  that  most  of  the  trimmed 
rails  which  were  returned  from  the  mill  were  28  ft.  in  length.  The  mill 
was  run  a  total  of  99  days,  during  which  time  it  worked  784  hours,  and  the 
following  is  a  list  of  the  items  chargeable  to  the  expense  of  operation: 
Coal,  289  tons,  $511.69;  cost  of  repairs,  including  material,  waste,  etc., 
$410.83 ;  cost  of  labor  to  operate  the  plant,  $4138.69 ;  total  $5061.21.  The 
average  cost  per  ton  for  sawing,  drilling,  calipering  and  loading  was, 
therefore,  77.2  cents.  About  500  tons  of  crop,  ends  were  obtained  as  a  by- 
product of  the  work,  which  were  sold  for  $3800.  When  the  mill  is  run  at 
its  full  capacity  it  will  cut  rails  for  a  mile  of  track  per  day  and  the  pro- 
ceeds from  the  sale  of  crop  ends  will  nearly  pay  the  cost  of  operation. 

Figure  505  shows  the  end  of  a  rail  selected  as  a  sample  from  a  lot  of 
6000  tons  of  steel  rails  trimmed  and  redrilled  for  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E. 
some  years  ago  at  a  private  mill  in  Wheatland,  Pa.  These  rails  had  been 
in  the  main  track  of  this  line  for  fifteen  years,  the  original  weight  having 
been  70  Ibs.  per  yard.  The  rails  had  lost  about  1/16  in.  in  hight,  pretty 
uniformly.  The  illustration  shows  the  application  of  a  straightedge  to  the 
top  of  the  sample  rail,  disclosing  that  the  rail  end  had  been  bent  or  worn 


1006 


MISCELLANEOUS 


downward  3/J6  in.  The  vertical  white  mark  shows  how  much  of  the  end  had 
to  be  cut  off  to  reach  the  uninjured  portion  of  the  rail.  The  rails  as  orig- 
inally drilled  were  spliced  with  four  bolts,  but  in  drilling  them  after  the 
shortening  process,  three  holes  were  made  in  each  end,  for  a  6-bolt  splice. 
After  trimming  the  rails  they  were  sorted  and  kept  together  in  sizes  within 
a  variation  of  y32  in.  in  hight,  In  the  lot  of  6000  tons  it  was  found  that 
more  than  80  per  cent  of  the  rails  were  of  one  hight.  By  the  arrangement 
at  this  mill,  operated  by  the  Holland^  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  the  mill 
people  took  the  rails  from  the  cars,  sawed,  calipered,  drilled  and  reloaded 
them,  and  disposed  of  the  crop  ends  and  applied  the  proceeds  of  the  same  to 
the  expense  of  sawing.  The  plant  comprised  two  toothed  saws,  42  ins.  in 
diameter,  running  at  a  peripheral  speed  of  about  4  miles  per  minute.  The 
rails  were  sawed  dry — two  rails  at  the  same  time  by  each  saw.  As  a  matter 
of  record  a  rail  was  cut  off  in  8  seconds.  Special  apparatus  had  been  ar- 
ranged for  lifting  the  rails  to  and  from  the 'cars  and  other  parts  of  the 
equipment  were  adapted  equally  well  to  facilitate  the  work. 

The  Norfolk  &  Western  Ry.  has  at  Roanoke,  Va.,  a  stationary  rail- 
sawing  mill,  equipped  with  a  46-in.  friction  saw,  two  three-spindle  drills 
and  a  rail  straightener,  and  a  large  quantity  of  steel  rails  which  have  been 
removed  from  the  main  line  for  the  purpose  of  relaying  the  track  with 
heavier  rails  have  been  trimmed  and  straightened  for  use  in  branch  lines. 
The  time  required  to  cut  off  a  75-lb.  rail  is  from  15  to  20  seconds  and  the 


Fig.  505. 

time  required  for  drilling  three  holes  in  each  end  for  splice  bars  is  from 
30  to  40  seconds.  The  mill  has  a  capacity  for  sawing,  drilling  and  straight- 
ening (such  rails  as  require  straightening)  300  rails  in  10  hours,  and  the 
cost  is  about  12  cents  per  rail.  There  are  rollers  and  skidways  in  rear  of 
the  mill,  on  which  the  rails  are  sorted  and  from  which  they  are  loaded  to 
the  cars.  The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  has  a  stationary  rail 
trimming  plant  at  Savanna,  111.  The  Pennsylvania  R.  R.,  which  has  ac- 
cess to  four  stationary  cold-sawing  plants,  has  used  trimmed  rails  in  its  light- 
traflic  lines  extensively.  On  the  Western  Railway  of  France  the  trimming 
of  rails  with  battered  ends  for  relaying  is  done  by  hand.  The  tool  used  is  a 
hack  saw,  the  blade  of  which  lasts  on  an  average  for  two  cuts.  Usually  the 
rail  is  cropped  14  ins.  at  each  end;  that  is,  the  rail  is  shortened  28  ins. 

176.  Track  Elevation  and  Depression. — Track  elevation  or  depres- 
sion is  generally  understood  to  mean  the  work  of  raising  or  lowering  track 
to  a  new  level  or  grade,  line,  on  the  same  or  practically  the  same  location. 
Either  term  implies  change  of  elevation,  but  the  operations  performed 
may  or  may  not  involve  the  lifting  or  lowering  of  the  old  track:  a  new 
track  is  sometimes  built  at  the  changed  elevation  and  the  old  track  is  then 
abandoned  and  taken  up.  Of  late  years  such  work  has  assumed  considerable 
mportance,  which  will  increase  with  time,  owing  to  the  growing  tendency 
toward  grade  reduction  and  the  abolishment  of  grade  crossings  in  and  about 


TRACK  ELEVATION  AXD  DEPRESSION  1007 

cities  and  in  thickly  populated  districts.  The  work  also  derives  importance 
from  the  engineering  problems  involved,  which  are  usually  of  a  high 
class  and  not  infrequently  very  intricate.  As  a  rule,  the  simplest  prob- 
lems attaching  to  such  work  are  found  in  the  country,  where  there  are  fewer 
highway  crossings  to  deal  with  and  where  train  movements  are  less  fre- 
quent. Aside  from  the  surveying  the  work  in  such  locations  is  largely  of 
the  nature  of  track  work.,  as  a  rule,  while  in  the  cities  it  is  a  combination 
of  track  and  bridge  work,  and  quite  frequently  it  also  involves  the  lowering 
of  sewers  and  gas  and  water  mains  at  the  street  intersections.  While  local 
conditions,  determine  that  the  general  work  of  track  elevation  or  depression 
in  any  case  is  a  special  problem  there  are  many  details  of  the  work,  espe- 
cially with  reference  to  methods  of  handling  the  track,  much  the  same  or 
similar  in  nearly  all  cases,  which  are  worth  considering.  It  is  to  be  re- 
marked that  while  track  elevation  work  is  usually  classed  as  engineering, 
skillful  trackmanship  (which  is  none  the  less  engineering)  is  one  of  the 
essentials  to  the  economical  performance  thereof. 

The  work  of  reducing  grades  on  an  old  location  usually  consists  in 
depressing  the  track  at  summits  and  elevating  it  in  the  hollows,  the  mate- 
rial excavated  from  the  cuts  being  hauled  to  make  the  fills  in  the  hollows. 
In  cases  where  the  quantity  of  excavation  is  not  sufficient  to  do  the  filling 
it  is  customary  to  begin  the  embankments  by  scraping  material  from  the 
side  of  the  right  of  way  with  teams;  or  in  some  cases  the  central  core  of  an 
embankment  is  put  up  by  team  work  and  a  track  is  laid,  from  which  mate- 
rial can  be  dumped  from  cars  to  widen  out  the  earthwork  to  standard  dimen- 
sions. If  borrow  material  must  be  used  to  make  the  fills  it  will  sometimes 
pay  to  purchase  land  on  the  inside  of  some  curve,  in  cut,  and  take  out  the 
material  with  a  steam  shovel,  thus  making  room  to  ease  the  curvature. 
The  facility  with  which  such  operations  can  be  carried  on  while  maintain- 
ing the  traffic  of  the  road  depends  a  good  deal  upon  whether  the  road  is 
single  or  double  track.  Large  quantities  of  excavation  are,  of  course,  best 
handled  with  the  steam  shovel,  unless  the  material  is  rock ;  and  with  the  mas- 
sive machines  of  modern  construction  it  is  frequently  considered  economi- 
cal to  handle  even  that  material  with  steam  shovels,  after  loosening  up 
the  rock  by  blasting.  Where  train  movements  are  frequent,  it  will  usu- 
ally be  found  advisable,  in  deep  cutting  and  high  filling,  to  shift  either 
the  old  track  or  the  new  grade  line  laterally  a  sufficient  distance  to  enable 
the  fill  to  be  made  from  a  temporary  trestle  of  cheap  construction,  so 
that  traffic  on  the  main  line  need  not  be  disturbed.  The  economy  obtained 
by  dumping  the  filling  material  from  a  trestle,  as  compared,  with  the 
method  of  raising  the  track  by  stages  and  supporting  it  with  the  filling 
material,  is  found  partly  in  the  large  saving  of  labor  required  in  handling 
over  the  material;  for  every  time  the  track  is  raised  it  must  be  at  least 
roughly  ballasted  before  trains  can  be  permitted  to  pass.  By  the  latter 
method  there  is  bound  to  be  at  least  some  delay  to  the  trains;  a  great 
deal  of  time  is  lost  to  the  labor  in  waiting  for  trains  to  arrive  and  get 
out  of  the  way;  and  as  far  as  the  construction  of  the  fill  is  concerned,  a 
great  deal  of  labor  goes  for  naught  in  continually  preparing  for  the  pas- 
sage of  trains.  In  dumping  material  from  a  trestle  no  hand  labor  is  re- 
quired' until  it  becomes  necessary  to  dress  out  the  material  at  the  top  of 
'the  fill.  In  work  of  this  kind  carried  out  on  the  Illinois  Central  E.  R. 
between  Fulton,  Ky.,  and  Memphis,  Tenn.,  the  fills  in  various  places  were 
made  from  temporary  trestles,  as  shown  in  Fig.  506,  the  new  grade  line 
being  offset  18  to  50  ft.,  so  that  all  portions  of  the  fill  could  be  constructed 
without  interfering  with  main-line  traffic.  The  top  of  the  trestle  was  3  ft. 
below  the  new  grade  line,  so  that  the  track  in  its  final  position  would  be 


1008  MISCELLANEOUS 


Fig.  506. — Raising  Grade  by  Filling  from  a  Temporary  Trestle, 
clear  of  the  timber-work  of  the  buried  trestle.     The  material  was  handled 
by  ordinary  methods,  being  loaded  in  dump  cars  and  run  out  onto  the  tem- 
porary structure  by  locomotives,  on  narrow-gage  tracks  in  some  instances 
and  on  standard-gage  tracks  in  others. 

In  depressing  a  single  track  on  the  old  location  it  is  most  commonly 
the  practice  to  shift  the  track  laterally  a  sufficient  distance  to  permit  the 
steam  shovel  to  excavate  the  cut,  thus  providing  for  the  traffic  to  pass 
undisturbed,  meantime,  and  then  to  build  a  new  track  through  the  cut  on 
the  new  grade,  connect  with  the  old  track  at  the  ends  of  the  cut,  and 
abandon  the  old  track  over  the  top.  This  was  substantially  the  method 
followed  in  some  very  extensive  work  at  grade  reduction  on  the  Chicago 
Great  Western  Ry.,  near  Holcomb,  111.  The  work  involved  a  change  of 
grade  over  a  distance  of  five  miles,  with  some  deep  earth  and  rock  cutting  at 
a  point  known  as  the  "Holcomb  Cut."  At  this  place  the  grade  was  reduced 
from  1  to  J  of  1  per  cent,  and  by  constructing  overhead  bridges  across  the 
cut  the  company  was  enabled  to  avoid  five  grade  crossings  with  highways. 
The  principal  cut  was  one  mile  in  length,  with  a  maximum  depth  of  45  ft., 
the  average  depth  for  a  distance  of  1000  ft.  being  40  ft.  At  one  end  of  this 
cut  the  main  line  and  some  yard  tracks  had  to  be  moved  over  to  allow 
for  necessary  excavation,  while  at  the  other  end  the  cut  was  excavated  at 
?ome  distance  aside  from  the  old  location.  While  the  cut  was  being  made 
the  trains  used  the  old  track  over  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  the  new  track  was 
not  laid  through  the  cut  until  after  its  completion.  The  bulk  of  the  mate- 
rial taken  out  of  the  cut  was  hauled  in  side-dump  cars  and  used  to  raise  the 
grade  of  the  line  to  the  west  of  the  hill,  the  maximum  haul  being  four 
miles.  This  material  was  handled  with  cars  and  locomotives  of  3 -ft.  gage 
and  the  method  of  elevating  the  track  was  to  widen  out  one  side  of  the 
embankment  at  a  time,  by  unloading  from  the  side-dump  cars,  raising 
that  side  about  5  ft.  above  the  main  line ;  and  then  to  throw  the  main  line 
over  on  the  new  grade,  when  the  other  side  of  the  fill  would  be  widened 
out  and  raised  10  ft.,  or  5  ft,  above  the  main  line  again.  Temporary 
bridges  were  put  in  at  the  highways,  where  necessary.  This  method  of 
procedure  was  repeated  until  the  main  line  was  thrown  to  final  grado, 
when  the  balance  of  the  embankment  was  brought  to  grade  and  the  main 
line  thrown  to  the  center  of  the  roadbed,  which  was  finished  off  24  ft.  wide 
at  sub-grade. 


TRACK  ELEVATION  AND  DEPRESSION 


1009 


Another  method  that  is  commonly  followed  is  to  cut  through  with 
the  steam  shovel  close  beside  the  old  track,  completing  the  slope  of  the 
-cut  on  that  3ide,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  507,  and  then  to  shift  the  track  into 
the  depression  so  made  and  later  cut  out  the  old  bed  and  form  the  slope 
on  the  other  side.  Where  the  traffic  is  light  the  main  line  is  sometimes 
used  for  the  loading  track,  but  if  the  traffic  is  heavy  it  is  usual  to  build  an 
'extra  track  through  the  cut,  either  for  a  loading  track,  as  shown,  or  for 
the  traffic.  In  reducing  the  grades  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Western  Ey.  the 
traffic  through  cuts  that  were  being  lowered  was  provided  for  on  a  "de- 
tour" track  built  at  the  side  of  the  old  main  line,  along  the  foot  of  slope,  or 
"by  digging  into  the  slope  with  pick  and  shovel  a  few  feet  in  some  places 
•where  it  was  necessary  to  make  room.  The  old  track  would  then  be  used 
for  the  loading  track  while  one  side  of  the  cut  was  being  lowered.  By 
blocking  up  under  the  steam  shovel  as  it  progressed  an  excavation  15  ft. 
deep,  in  a  single  cutting,  was  sometimes  made  in  this  way,  the  material  be- 
ing loaded  upon  flaL  cars  standing  on  the  o»d  track,  as  stated.  The  two 
tracks  on  the  upper  bench  would  then  be  thrown  down  into  the  new  excava- 
tion and  the  steam  shovel  would  take  out  the  other  side  of  the  cut, 
the  near  track  being  used  to  load  upon  and  the  off  track  for  traffic.  In 
.some  locations,  however,  a  new  track  was  built  in  the  bottom  of  the  first 
excavation  and  ballasted  up  for  the  traffic,  and  the  old  main  track  thrown 
down  to  load  upon  when  the  steam  shovel  was  ready  to  begin  work  on  the 
other  side.  In  that  case  the  "detour"  track  was  taken  up. 

Some  characteristics  of  steam-shovel  operation  adopted  by  the  St.  Louis 
Southwestern  Ky.  in  deepening  cuts  in  grade  reductions  are  shown  in  Fig. 
508.  The  illustration  shows  the  method  of  taking  out  the  first  cut  in  work 
of  this  character.  The  order  of  procedure  is  to  throw  the  main  track  off 
the  center  as  far  as  possible,  through  the  cut  to  be  lowered,  this  distance 


Fig.  507. — Lowering  Grade  through  a  Cut. 


1010 


MISCELLANEOUS 


usually  averaging  about  6  ft.  The  track  so  moved  is  still  used  as  main 
track  for  passing  the  traffic,  and  at  the  same  time  is  utilized  as  a  loading 
track  in  connection  with  the  steam  shovel.  After  the  first  cut  has  been 
taken  out  traffic  is  diverted  to  the  track  previously  used  by  the  steam 
shovel,  and  the  shovel  is  then  put  to  work  at  taking  down  the  other  side 
of  the  cut;  this  operation  being  repeated  until  the  desired  depth  is  attained. 
In  the  particular  piece  of  work  illustrated  by  the  sketch  a  summit  cut 
having  an  original  depth  of  16  ft.  was  lowered  an  additional  16  ft.  by 
the  steam  shovel,  the  first  cut  being  9  ft.  in  depth,  as  shown.  In  this  case 
the  new  roadbed  was  graded  to  new  centers  to  the  right  of  the  old  line, 
and  the  tangents  on  each  side  were  swung  to  a  connection  with  a  curve 
over  the  summit,  after  the  same  was  thrown  farther  out  to  admit  of  the 
change.  Under  these  conditions  the  material  excavated  from  the  right- 
hand  side  of  the  old  track  was  in  excess  of  that  taken  from  the  left-hand 
side,  as  indicated  by  the  location  of  the  new  slope  line.  The  summit  was 
lowered  the  depth  of  16  ft.  with  three  cuts  of  the  shovel,  traffic  being 
handled  meantime  without  obstruction.  The  excavated  material  was  hauled 
and  dumped  to  raise  the  embankments  over  a  distance  of  three  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  cut.  resulting  in  a  continuous  ascending  and  descending 
gradient  of  26  ft.  to  the  mile  over  a  distance  of  6  miles,  where  a  steeper 
grade  had  previously  existed.  In  some  places  where  work  of  this  char- 
acter was  undertaken  it  was  found  to  be  advantageous  to  make  the  excava- 
tions on  the  inside  of  the  curves  and  widen  the  embankments  on  the  sharp 
existing  curves,  in  order  to  improve  the  general  alignment  without  having 
to  shift  the  track  very  far. 


Center  of  T/vc/r  when  T/jrow 


Fig.  508. — Method  of  Lowering  Cut,  St.  Louis  Southwestern  Ry. 

In  elevating  a  double-track  roadbed  the  inconvenience  to  the  work  in 
caring  for  the  traffic  is  not  so  great  as  with  single  track,  for  one  of  the 
tracks  may  be  abandoned  temporarily,  lifted  3  or  4  ft.,  filled  in  and 
roughly  ballasted,  the  other  track  meanwhile  carrying  the  traffic  for  both 
directions.  The  traffic  may  then  be  shifted  to  the  higher  track  and  the 
lower  track  lifted,  filled  in,  the  bank  widened  out  on  that  side,  and  the 
track  put  in  running  order  at  an  elevation  of  3  or  4  ft.  higher  than  the 
other  track;  and  thus  the  embankment  is  carried  up,  the  traffic  being 
shifted  from  one  track  to  the  other  as  the  work  of  filling  proceeds  from 
side  to  side.  The  service  track  is  sometimes  operated  as  a  single-track 
block  between  semaphore  signals  established  temporarily  beyond  the  extreme 
limits  of  the  stretch  of  work,  operators  being  stationed  at  these  points,  in 
telegraphic  communication  with  each  other  and  with  the  train  dispatcher. 


TKACK  ELEVATION  AND  DEPRESSION  1011 

The  same  arrangement  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  elevation  of  a  single 
track.  Part  of  the  time  the  service  track  is  used  by  the  work  trains, 
from  which  the  material  is  unloaded  and  placed  under  the  raised  track. 
If  a  telegraph  operator  be  stationed  at  the  steam  shovel,  or  if  telephone 
connection  be  had  between  that  point  and  the  nearest  telegraph  station, 
so  that  the  whereabouts  of  the  main-line  trains  can  be  ascertained,  the 
movements  of  the  work  trains  can  be  much  facilitated. 

After  the  filling  has  been  brought  to  the  final  grade  the  tracks  are 
thrown  to  the  permanent  alignment  and  ballasted.  It  is  not.  worth  while 
to  spend  much  time  dressing  off  the  ballast  between  the  rails  and  on  the 
shoulders,  for  on  newly-made  fills  the  track  must  necessarily  settle  quite 
rapidly;  and  not  until  some  time  has  elapsed  is  it  possible  to  maintain 
the  track  to  an  even  surface  at  the  desired  grade.  In  lining  the  track, 
from  time  to  time  as  the  filling  progresses,  ordinary  lining  bars  are  found 
to  be  of  but  little  use,  being  too  narrow  to  obtain  a  firm  hold  in  the 
loose  material;  and  handspikes  are  usually  substituted  as  being  better 
adapted  for  the  purpose.  In  the  track  elevation  work  of  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Ey.  the  handspikes  for  throwing  track  were  neatly 
made  of  oak  6  ft.  long  and  of  a  section  3x3  ins.  square  for  the  first  2  ft. 
in  length  from  the  point,  whence  the  stick  was  rounded  and  tapered  to 
a  size  convenient  for  the  grasp  of  the  hand  at  the  end.  These  hand- 
spikes had  a  crow-bar  or  wedge-shaped  point. 

In  depressing  double  tracks  it  is  usual  to  abandon  one  of  the  tracks 
and  use  it  as  a  loading  track  for  the  steam  shovel.  After  the  first  cut 
has  been  made  this  track  can  be  thrown  into  the  depression  and  serve 
as  the  loading  track  for  a  second  cutting  of  the  steam,  shovel,  under  the 
old  bed.  When  the  final  grade  is  reached  the  track  in  the  depression  can 
be  put  in  shape  for  the  traffic  and  the  steam  shovel  can  be  set  at  cutting 
out  the  remainder  of  the  material  to  be  excavated.  In  depressing  three 
tracks  at  1.2  ft.  centers,  over  a  stretch  of  1J  miles  on  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  By.,  near  Kirkwood,  111.,  the  middle  track  being  a 
passing  track,  the  method  of  doing  the  work  was  to  throw  the  outside 
tracks  outward  to  14  ft.  centers  from  the  middle  track,  and  then  to  cut 
down  between  the  tracks  by  hand  to  a  depth  of  3  ft.  The  middle  track 
was  then  taken  up  and  the  remainder  of  the  excavation  made  with  a 
steam  shovel,  using  one  of  the  tracks  for  traffic  and  the  other  for  loading 
the  material,  until  the  middle  core  was  taken  out,  when  first  one  of 
the  tracks  was  shifted  into  the  excavation  and  put  in  running  order, 
and  then  the  other.  Later  on  excavation  was  made  for  the  third  track, 
the  passing  track  this  time  being  placed  on  the  outside,  so  as  to  enable 
the  straightening  of  the  two  main  tracks. 

Change  of  Grade  in  Cities. — The  elevation  and  depression  of  tracks 
in  cities  has  received  most  attention  in  and  about  Boston,  in  Philadelphia 
and  in  Chicago,  but  especially  in  Chicago,  where  several  hundred  miles 
of  steam  railroad  tracks  have  been  elevated,  resulting  in  the  abolishment 
of  several  hundred  grade  crossings  with  streets.  As  the  work  has  been 
carried  out  in  that  city  the  tracks  pretty  generally  have  been  elevated 
about  10  ft.  and  the  streets  depressed  at  the  subways  to  give  a  clear 
headroom  of  12  ft.,  except  in  subways  carrying  street  car  tracks,  in  which 
case  the  clear  headroom  has  been  made  13 J  ft.  Eetaining  walls  of  stone 
masonry  or  concrete  have  been  used  where  the  width  of  the  right  of  way 
has  not  been  sufficient  for  a  fill  with  natural  slopes.  The  filling  material 
in  nearly  all  cases  has  been  sand,  of  whitish  color,  excavated  from  sand 
dunes  in  Indiana  and  hauled  about  35  miles. 

The   controlling  feature   in  the   work   of   elevating  tracks   in   cities 


1012  MISCELLANEOUS 

is  the  erection  of  the  bridges  (temporary  and  permanent)  at  the  street 
intersections,  which,  in  connection  with  the  frequency  of  the  train  move- 
ments and  the  number  of  tracks  to  be  elevated  on  the  same  roadbed,  are 
the  conditions  which  determine  the  method  of  handling  the  tracks.  In 
nearly  all  cases  the  plan  followed  has  been  to  abandon  part  of  the  tracks 
temporarily  while  they  are  being  elevated,  diverting  the  traffic  to  the 
remaining  tracks,  partly  or  wholly,  or  partly  or  wholly  to  tracks  built 
temporarily  to  carry  the  traffic.  Thus  in  elevating  4J  miles  of  four- 
track  road  on  the  Providence  division  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  & 
Hartford  E.  E.,  in  Boston,  in  1895  and  1896,  strips  of  land  were  pur- 
chased on  each  side  of  the  original  right  of  way  (66  ft.  wide)  and  tem- 
porary tracks  were  laid  thereon  to  carry  part  of  the  traffic.  Over  part 
of  the  way  two  high-level  tracks  were  also  laid,  on  trestle,  to  carry  the 
traffic,  this  trestle  being  so  located  that  it  was  afterwards  filled  in  and 
made  part  of  the  elevated  roadbed.  The  tracks  were  elevated  18  to  20 
ft.  above  the  original  grade  line  without  closing  the  streets  and  without 
interfering  with  the  trains,  which  averaged  206  per  day.  The  two 
westerly  tracks  were  raised  first,  the  retaining  wall  and  the  filling  on  that 
.-side  being  carried  up  simultaneously.  The  abutments  for  the  bridges 
were  built  across  half  of  the  street  at  a  time,  and  the  bridges  were  com- 
pleted and  the  tracks  laid  thereon  and  put  in  running  order,  so  that  trains 
<;ould  be  moved  over  the  two  elevated  tracks  before  taking  the  other  two 
tracks  out  of  service.  Temporary  trestles  were  used  to  make  the 
•approaches  to  the  bridges  on  the  tracks  which  were  being  elevated.  After 
the  two  westerly  tracks  had  been  put  in  running  order  at  the  new  elevation 
the  east  retaining  wall  was  constructed  and  the  two  tracks  on  that  side 
were  taken  out  of  service  and  elevated.  A  similar  method  was  followed 
in  elevating  the  two  tracks  of  the  St.  Charles  Air  Line,  between  Clark 
street  and  Michigan  avenue,  in  Chicago,  in  1898.  The  retaining  wall  on 
the  north  line  of  the  right  of  way  (the  tracks  running  east  and  west) 
was  first  laid,  when  a  trestlework  was  constructed  close  to  the  wall  to 
carry  an  elevated  track.  After  the  traffic  was  diverted  to  this  trestle  the 
retaining  wall  on  the  south  side  of  the  right  of  way  was  constructed, 
and  the  space  between  the  retaining  walls  was  filled  with  slag  from 
gondola  and  side  dump  cars,  first  filling  under  the  trestle  and  then 
widening  out  the  embankment  by  building  an  additional  track  and  dump- 
ing the  material  therefrom.  Before  the  tracks  were  ballasted  the  string- 
ers and  caps  were  removed  from  the  trestlework. 

In  elevating  eight  main-line  tracks  of  the  Illinois  Central  E.  E. 
between  Forty-seventh  and  Seventy-first  streets,  in  Chicago,  in  1892  and 
1893,  the  work  was  begun  on  the  east  side  of  the  company's  right  of  way 
by  t^e  construction  of  a  sand  fill  raised  as  high  as  was  practicable  in  the 
middle  of  the  blocks  between  the  street  crossings,  with  steep  grades  down 
to  the  crossings  of  the  several  streets,  which  had  to  be  kept  open  for  high- 
way travel.  Pile  trestles  were  then  constructed  at  the  street  crossings 
and  one  track  was  carried  over  the  same,  filled  in  and  put  in  running 
order.  In  this  manner  the  filling  was  gradually  widened  out  toward  the 
west  and  the  tracks  elevated,  additional  lines  of  trestle  being  built  across 
the  streets  as  the  tracks  were  raised.  The  work  of  building  the  masonry 
abutments  and  the  erection  of  the  plate-girder  bridges  to  replace  the 
temporary  trestles,  was  an  after  consideration.  In  elevating  the  four 
tracks  operated  jointly  by  the  Chicago,  Eock  Island  &  Pacific  and  the 
Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  roads,  in  Chicago,  two  tracks  were 
elevated  together,  in  stretches  over  four  blocks.  The  method  pursued 
by  these  companies  was  to  lift  the  tracks  gradually,  supporting  them  on 


TRACK  ELEVATION"  AND  DEPRESSION  1013 

blocking  or  cribs  at  the  street  crossings,  until  the  full  elevation  was 
reached,  when  framed  trestle  bents  and  stringers  were  placed  for  the 
support  of  the  track  until  the  abutments  were  built  and  the  plate-girder 
bridges  erected.  In  some  cases  two  of  the  tracks  were  first  elevated  to 
the  full  hight  and  put  in  service  over  bridges  laid  on  abutments  built 
in  halves,  and  in  other  cases  all  of  the  tracks  were  first  raised  to  the  full 
elevation  before  the  abutments  were  built  or  the  bridges  erected. 

In  the  track  elevation  work  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Ry.,  in  Chicago  (four  tracks),  the  tracks  were  lifted  to  the  final  elevation 
in  three  stages,  one  track  at  a  time, but  all  of  the  tracks  more  or  less  together, 
so  that  all  the  tracks  were  brought  to  the  full  elevation  and  supported 
upon  temporary  structures  at  the  streets  before  the  masonry  work  of  the 
abutments  was  commenced.  The  method  followed  was  to  drive  three- 
pile  bents  at  the  streets  before  the  tracks  were  raised.  These  bents 
were  located  to  span  the  abutment  site  at  either  side  of  the  street,  dodge- 
the  sewers,  water  pipes,  etc.,  keeping  within  a  span  length  of  15J  ft.; 
These  piles  were  then  cut  off  at  the  elevation  of  the  base  of  rail,  and? 
at  the  first  lift,  usually  about  4  ft.,  the  track  was  supported  on  two! 
12xl2-in.  caps  (one  on  top  of  the  other),  upon  which  were  laid  the  string- 
ers and  ties.  The  purpose  of  driving  the  piling  for  the  support  of  the 
caps  was  to  permit  excavation  for  the  depression  of  the  street  without 
weakening  the  support  for  the  track.  In  the  second  and  third  stages 
of  lifting  the  track,  jacks  were  used  under  the  uppermost  of  the  two 
caps  and  at  each  stage  the  cap  was  supported  by  12xl2-in.  posts,  until 
the  track  was  raised  to  the  final  hight  and  posts  of  the  proper  length  were 
placed  and  braced  to  form  framed  bents.  The  piles  used  were  second 
hand,  12  to  18  ft.  long,  some  of  which  were  tops  cut  from  piles  driven 
in  the  ordinary  work  of  the  road,  the  only  requirement  being  that  they 
should  be  sound  enough  to  stand  driving  and  last  two  years.  Fir  string- 
ers 8x16  ins.  x32  ft.  long,  were  used,  lapping  by  each  other  on  the 
trestle  caps.  The  posts  were  cut  to  standard  lengths  and  this  timber 
was  used  over  and  over,  continuously,  throughout  all  of  the  track  elevation 
work  of  the  road.  The  cost  of  this  falsework  per  lineal  foot  of  one  track 
was  $2.10,  of  which  $1.30  was  for  labor  and  80  cents  for  loss  and  deteri- 
oration of  timber  and  iron.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  erection  and 
removal  of  the  timber  the  caps  and  sills  were  doweled  to  the  posts 
and  the  brace  planks  were  bolted.  In  this  manner  the  track  elevation 
work  could  progress  independently  of  the  masonry  work  and  the  erection 
of  the  plate-girder  bridges.  The  abutments  in  all  the  bridges  of  this 
work  were  built  of  concrete.  In  elevating  a  two-track  line  of  this  com- 
pany two  temporary  tracks  were  built  at  one  side  of  the  right  of  way  to 
carry  the  traffic  trains  while  the  work  of  elevation  was  in  progress. 

In  elevating  the  four  tracks  of  the  Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago 
By.,  in  Chicago,  two  tracks  were  abandoned  and  raised  at  a  time.  The 
method  pursued  differed  from  the  foregoing,  in  that  the  bridges  at  the 
street  intersections  were  erected,  in  place,  on  timber  bents  before  the 
tracks  were  raised  out  of  the  old  bed  at  the  streets,  although  to  some 
extent  the  tracks  were  raised  in  the  middle  of  the  blocks,  under  traffic. 
On  portions  of  the  line  where  bridges  were  so  close  that  an  appreciable 
elevation  could  not  be  had  by  raising  the  tracks  in  the  middle  of  the 
block  a  cribbing  of  old  ties,  about  8  ft.  high,  was  built  to  permit  the  two 
tracks  which  were  being  elevated  to  be  placed  at  their  full  hight,  the 
purpose  of  the  cribbing  being  to  retain  the  filling  material  which  other- 
wise would  have  encroached  upon  the  clearance  of  the  adjacent  running 
track.  Tie  cribbing  was  also  constructed  to  serve  as  bulkheads  to  retain 


1014 


MISCELLANEOUS 


the  filling  at  the  ends  of  bridges  until  the  abutments  of  the  same  were 
built.  After  two  of  the  tracks  had  been  elevated  and  put  in  running- 
order  over  the  permanent  structures  the  traffic  trains  were  diverted  to 
them  and  bridges  were  put  up  for  the  other  two  tracks,  which  were  then 
elevated.  As  far  as  possible  the  old  ties  forming  the  cribbing  between 
the  two  middle  tracks  were  dug  out  of  the  sand  filling  and  removed  as  the 
third  and  fourth  tracks  were  elevated. 

In  elevating  the  lines  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry.,  in  Chi- 
cago, each  track  elevated  was  first  raised  to  a  summit"1  in  the  middle  of 
the  block.  The  pair  of  girders  for  each  ,( alternate)  track  were  assembled 
at  a  distance,  in  a  yard  specially  fitted  up  with  derricks  for  the  purpose, 
and  brought  to  the  crossing  on  flat  cars,  with  the  floor  riveted  up  in 
position,  complete,  and  the  rails  in  place.  Previous  to  the  arrival  of 
the  bridge-  two  piles  would  be  driven  on  each  side  of  the  track  to  form 


Fig.  509. — Trolley  for  Laying  Stone,  Fig.  509  A. — Cinder  Pit  for  Conveyor 

C.  &  N.  W.  Track  Elevation.  Plant,  III.  Cent.  R.  R. 

a  two-pile  bent  of  9  ft.  clear  span,  or  a  pier  of  four  piles,  for  the  tem- 
porary support  of  each  end  of  the  bridge  while  the  abutments  were  being 
built  underneath.  Each  pile  bent  was  capped  with  two  15-in.  I-beams, 
and  the  bent  spanned  the  site  of  the  abutment.  In  some  ca^es  the  piles 
were  cut  off  to  place  the  bridge  at  an  elevation  of  .7  ft.  and  in  other  cases 
to  place  it  at  the  full  elevation  of  10  or  11  ft.;  and  in  bridges  of  more 
than  one  span  resting  upon  posts  or  columns  the  girders  were  unloaded 
from  the  cars  directly  to  the  posts,  at  the  full  elevation.  Upon  the 
arrival  of  the  bridge  it  was  jacked  up  on  the  cars,  which  were  run  between 
the  pile  supports,  and  let  down  upon  the  I-beam  caps,  and  then  the 
cars  would  be  pulled  from  underneath.  After  landing  the  bridge  on  the 
pile  supports  in  this  manner,  the  track  on  the  approaches  to  the  bridge 
was  raised,  connected  across  the  bridge  and  filled  in,  timber  cribbing 
being  placed  to  retain  the  filling  at  the  abutment  sites  and  at  the  high 
portions  of  the  approach,  at  the  sides.  After  a  number  of  bridges  had 
thus  been  placed  and  the  approaches  built  on  one  of  the  tracks  (of  a 
three-track  line)  or  on  two  of  the  tracks  (of  a  five- track  line)  the  traffic 
was  turned  onto  the  same.  The  work  of  track  elevation  and  of  placing 


TRACK    ELEVATION    AND    DEPRESSION  101-5 

the  bridges  thus  progressed  independently  of  the  masonry  work  of  the 
bridges,  which  was  laid  as  best  to  suit  convenience,  at  some  time  there- 
after. The  track  at  the  middle  of  each  block  remained  in  a  depression, 
not  being  raised  as  high  as  the  bridges  at  the  intersecting  streets  until 
the  remaining  parallel  tracks  were  raised  and  filled  in,  thus  avoiding 
the  necessity  for  cribbing,  which  would  have  been  necessary  had  the 
tracks  been  raised  to  the  full  elevation  throughout  the  entire  distance 
between  the  streets,  since  the  slope  of  the  filling  material  would  have 
extended  beyond  'the  clearance  line  of  the  running  track  adjacent  thereto. 
In  elevating  the  five  tracks  of  the  Galena  division  of  the  road,  three 
tracks,  consecutively  from  one  side,  were  abandoned  and  two  retained 
in  service.  Bridges  were  placed  on  the  first  and  third  tracks  and  the 
intermediate  floor  for  the  second  track  was  riveted  in  and  all  the  filling 
made  for  the  three  tracks  before  traffic  was  turned  over  any  of  them. 
After  traffic  was  turned  onto  the  three  tracks  the  other  two  tracks  were 
abandoned,  when  the  third  pair  of  girders  was  placed  and  the  intermediate 
floor  put  in.  In  elevating  the  three-track  line  on  the  Milwaukee  division, 
the  bridges  were  placed  first  for  one  of  the  outside  tracks,  which  was  ele- 
vated and  put  in  running  order,  when  the  other  outside  track  was  aban- 
doned, the  bridges  put  in,  the  tracks  elevated,  and  the  intermediate  floor 
riveted  in  between  the  bridges  on  the  outside  tracks.  The  stones  for 
laying  the  abutments  under  the  temporarily  supported  bridges  were 
placed  by  a  trolley  running  upon  an  8-in.  I-beam  suspended  from  the 
lower  flange  of  the  girders  to  extend  crosswise  the  bridge  and  over  the 
middle  of  the  abutment  wall.  The  ends  of  this  I-beam,  which  pro- 
jected beyond  the  girders  a  sufficient  distance  to  cover  the  length  of  the 
abutment,  Avere  held  up  by  posts.  The  trolley  arrangement  straddled 
the  web  of  the  I-beam  and  ran  upon  the  bottom  flange.  From  the  trolley 
was  hung  a  Duplex  block  and  fall  which  would  hold  its  load  at  any  point 
to  which  the  same  had  been  hoisted.  Since  the  bridge  seat  casting  was 
about  17  ins.  high,  all  except  the  top  course  of  stone  could  be  lifted  and 
run  to  place  by  this  device,  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  509. 

A  five-track  line  in  Eockwell  St.,  Chicago,  consisting  of  two  tracks 
of  the  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  £  St.  Louis  Ry.  and  three  tracks  of 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ry.,  were  elevated  by  methods  much  the 
same  as  those  followed  in  the  work  of  the  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry.,  just  referred 
to.  To  begin  with,  the  bridges  over  four  streets  were  erected  for  the 
two  tracks  of  the  P.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry.,  the  traffic  meanwhile  being 
diverted  to  the  three  C.  &  N.  W.  tracks.  After  the  filling  had  been 
completed  between  these  four  bridges  and  on  the  approaches  the  traffic 
was  then  handled  over  the  P.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  tracks,  and  bridges 
for  eight  blocks  of  the  C.  &  N.  W.  tracks  were  erected  and  the  track 
elevated  to  them.  Traffic  was  then  diverted  to  the  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry.  over 
these  eight  blocks  and  the  elevation  on  the  P.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  extended 
four  blocks  on  either  end  of  the  four  blocks  .first  elevated,  thus  making 
12  blocks  of  completed  work  on  these  tracks.  After  diverting  the  traffic 
to  these  12  blocks,  the  elevation  on  the  C.  &  N.  W.  tracks  was  then 
extended  eight  blocks  more,  making  16  blocks  in  all.  In  this  way  the 
work  progressed,  using  the  tracks  of  one  company  while  the  work  of 
elevation  was  being  prosecuted  on  the  tracks  of  the  other.  The  average 
force  was  300  men  at  raising  and  filling  in  the  tracks  and  200  men  at 
putting  in  abutments  and  excavating  and  lowering  the  streets  by  con- 
tract, 

Some  very  difficult  engineering  of  a  special  character,  encountered  in 
changing  the  grade  of  tracks  in  the  business  centers  of  cities,  including 


1016 


MISCELLANEOUS 


the  depression  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Beading  Ry.  tracks  in  Pennsylvania 
Ave.,  Philadelphia,  and  the  elevation  and  depression  of  a  network  of 
tracks  at  Sixteenth  and  Clark  streets,  Chicago,  is  described  in  §  10,  Sup- 
plementary Notes. 

The  best  filling  material  for  use  in  track  elevation  is  sand,  for  many 
reasons:  It  is  easily  and  cheaply  handled,  not  only  in  loading  and 
unloading  the  cars,  but  in  putting  it  under  the  track ;  it  does  not  become 
muddy  or  impede  the  progress  of  the  work  during  wet  weather,  nor  is 
its  condition  so  changed  during  rainy  weather  that  it  cannot  be  worked 
to  advantage,  or  so  as  to  endanger  the  stability  of  the  track;  it  serves  as 
a  fair  material  for  ballast  while  the  track  is  being  raised ;  and  it  is  readily 
compacted  under  the  pressure  of  trains  to  form  a  firm  embankment.  In 
cities,  therefore,  where  filling  material  for  track  elevation  must  usually 
be  hauled  from  a  distance,  it  is,  if -available  in  the  locality,  undoubtedly 
the  most  economical  material  to  be  obtained.  The  work  of  depressing 
the  streets  in  subways  under  elevated  tracks  is  usually  performed  with 
teams  and  scrapers,  and  the  material  obtained  from  such  excavation  is 
usually  hauled  around  and  dumped  to  form  part  of  the  filling, material 
for  the  elevated  tracks. 


half  round  Iroa 


Fig.  516. — Track  Tank,  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry. 

Most  of  the  sand  filling  used  in  Chicago  for  track  elevation  work 
has  been  hauled  in  gondola  cars  and  unloaded  over  the  side  of  the  car 
with  hand  labor.  Where  this  has  been  done  the  trains  have  been 
unloaded  from  a  track  adjacent  to  the  one  being  elevated,  which  was 
usually  raised  and  blocked  or  otherwise  supported  at  a  good  hight,  so  that 
the  material  as  it  was  unloaded  from  the  car  was  thrown  to  place  under 
the  track.  In  the  track  elevation  work  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  & 
Pacific,  and  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  roads,  unloading  plows  were 
used  in  at  least  part  of  the  work.  As  dry  sand  in  heavy  winds  is  of 
fugitive  character,  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  has  found  it 
advantageous  to  throw  a  layer  of  loam  about  12  ins.  thick  on  the  slopes 
of  unretained  sand  filling.  Such  material  on  the  slope  is  also  less 
subject  to  washing  down  by  rains  than  is  sand.  The  sand  filling  is 
topped  out  with  gravel  or  broken  stone,  to  serve  as  ballast  for  the  tracks,. 
and  during  the  first  year  after  the  tracks  have  been  elevated  some  atten- 
tion is  required  to  keep  the  tracks  in  fair  surface.  Tracks  elevated  10 
ft.  on  sand  filling,  on  either  retained  or  unretained  embankments,  will 
settle  about  7  ins.  during  the  first  year,  when  the  settlement  of  the 
retained  embankments  practically  ceases.  On  unretained  embankments, 
however,  the  surface  of  track  does  not  remain  in  as  good  condition  as 
it  does  on  embankments  confined  within  retaining  walls,  after  such  settle- 
ment. 

177.  Track  Tanks. — The  track  tank  or  track  "watering  trough" 
is  a  metal  trough  usually  6  or  7  ins.  deep,  19  to  24  ins.  wide  and  about  £ 
mile  long,  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  track.  Water  is  taken  into  loco- 
motive tenderls,  at  speed,  by  means  of  a  hinged  scoop  dropped  into  the 
trough  by  means  of  a  lever  manipulated  by  the  fireman  or  worked  by 


TRACK  TANKS  1017 

compressed  air.  Such  tanks  are  used  on  but  comparatively  few  roads 
in  this  country,  as  the  necessity  for  the  same  arises  only  where  fast  trains 
must  make  long  runs  between  stops.  For  a  usual  thing  only  passenger 
engines  are  equipped  with  scoops  for  taking  water  from  the  track,  but  on 
the  New  York  division  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  K.  E., 
on  the  Canadian  line  of  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  and  on  some  other  roads 
where  it  is  especially  desirable  to  keep  the  freight  trains  moving,  the 
freight  engines  also  take  water  from  the  track.  The  Pennsylvania  E.  E. 
and  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.  have  a  good  many  freight 
engines  equipped  with  water  scoops. 

The  trough  is  usually  built  of  iron  or  steel  plate  3/16  in.  thick  and 
delivered  on  the  ground  in  sections,  to  be  riveted  together  as  they  are 
placed  in  the  track.  The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  By.  has  two 
track  tanks  built  of  cast  iron,  in  sections  6  ft.  long.  The  track  must, 
of  course,  be  level,  and  the  ties  are  dapped  out  1J  or  2  ins.  to  make  room 
for  the  trough  (Engraving  A,  Fig.  516),  the  top  of  which  is  placed  even 
with  top  of  rail.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the  track  should  be  straight. 
At  several  places  on  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  the  track  tanks  are  on  curves. 
The  top  edges  of  the  trough  are  stiffened  by  half-round  irons  and  the 
trough  is  secured  to  the  ties  by  ordinary  track  spikes  driven  to  hook  over 
(as  they  do  the  flange  of  a  rail)  the  horizontal  leg  of  a  small  angle  iron 
riveted  to  the  side  of  the  trough  at  the  top  of  the  tie.  This  arrangement 
permits  the  trough  to  expand  or  contract  without  disturbing  the  spikes. 
The  trough  is  usually  anchored  to  the  ties  at  the  middle,  and  allowed 
to  expand  or  contract  at  the  ends.  At  the  ends  the  bottom  of  the  trough 
slopes  upward  (Engraving  C,  Fig.  516),  'to  lift  the  scoop  out  of  the 
trough  should  the  fireman  fail  to  raise  it  at  the  proper  time;  and  outside 
the  end  of  the  trough  there  is  an  inclined  plane  laid  with  the  intention 
of  protecting  the  end  of  the  trough  from  dragging  parts  of  cars,  or  any- 
thing hanging  lower  than  the  top  of  the  trough.  The  incline  for  lifting 
the  scoop  in  case  of  tardy  attention  on  the  engine  is  usually  made  too 
abrupt,  in  this  country,  and  the  end  of  a  trough  is  occasionally  torn  out 
by  a  train  running  at  high  speed.  A  slope  20  ft.  long  is  perhaps 
none  too  gradual.  It  has  been  recommended  that  a  piece  of  plank  bolted 
to  the  end  of  the  trough  in  lieu  of  a  sloping  end  would  answer  every  pur- 
pose and  in  case  it  was  torn  out  it  could  be  quickly  and  cheaply  renewed. 

Water  is  supplied  the  trough  by  pumping  or  from  a  reservoir,  under 
head.  It  is  usually  brought  to  the  trough  through  a  main  with  branch 
pipes  entering  the  trough  at  intervals,  so  that  it  may  be  filled  quickly 
after  the  water  has  been  scooped  out  by  a  locomotive.  Where  track  tanks 
are  used  on  both  the  tracks  of  a*  double-track  road  the  two  troughs  are 
usually  interconnected  by  pipes  at  frequent  intervals,  so  that  the  supply 
of  water  in  both  troughs  is  made  quickly  available  for  either  track.  Th<5 
usual  arrangement  for  preventing  the  water  from  freezing  in  winter  time 
is  to  pipe  live  steam  from  a  boiler  plant  located  near  the  middle  of  the 
trough  and  admit  it  into  the  trough  at  intervals  of  40  or  50  ft.  To  pre- 
vent trouble  with  pipe  connections  at  points  where  the  trough  is  permitted 
to  expand  or  contract  with  change  of  temperature,  the  connection  is 
usually  made  with  a  piece  of  rubber  hose,  or  with  some  form  of  expansion 
joint  in  the  pipe. 

On  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  E.  E.,  between  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more, the  distance  of  92  miles  is  divided  into  three  stretches  of  approxi- 
mately 31  miles  each,  and  track  tanks  (for  double  track)  are  placed  at  the 
two  intermediate  points.  The  troughs  of  these  tanks  are  each  1200  ft. 
long,  laid  on  sawed  white  oak  ties  8x9  ins.  in  section.  The  inclined 


1018 


MISCELLANEOUS 


planes  outside  and  inside  each  end  of  each  trough  are  each  6  ft.  10  ins. 
long.  The  trough  at  one  of  the  points  referred  to  is  supplied  with  water 
from  a  40,000-gal.  tank  and  at  the  other  point  from  a  30,000-gal.  tank, 
•elevated  28  ft.  above  the  track,  in  both  cases.  Water  enters  the  trough 
through  three  3J-in.  pipes  connecting  with  the  bottom  of  the  trough  at 
its  middle  point  and  at  points  200  ft.  from  the  ends,  these  3^-in.  inlet 
pipes  connecting  with  a  6-in.  main  leading  from  the  pump  house,  to 
which  the  water  is  brought  from'  the  elevated  tank  through  an  8-in.  pipe. 
The  valves  controlling  the  admission  of  water  to  the  trough  are  placed 
in  the  6-in.  pipe  at  the  pump  house,  and  an  attendant  is  on  hand  at  all 
time  to  see  that  the  trough  is  kept  full.  The  time  consumed  in  filling 
the  trough  after  a  locomotive  has  taken  water  is  from  four  to  six  minutes. 
To  prevent  the  water  from  freezing  in  winter  live  steam  is  led  into  the 
side  of  the  trough  at  intervals  of  45  ft.  through  1-in.  pipes  connecting  with 
a  2-in.  pipe  running  midway  between  the  tracks,  which  connects  with  a. 


k  6"^  x  Jifefr  4' apart 


cotofa  ^--^gogf 
(* 

|AL  &%    

j 

T~             —  '  — 

-I        \ 

Y 

I- •*£" n w 

Fig.  517.— Track  Tank,  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R. 

2J-in.  pipe  leading  from  the  steam  dome  of  a  large  boiler  in  the  pump 
house.  To  prevent  condensation  of  the  steam  the  pipes  are  wrapped 
and  boxed,  and  1-in.  check  valves  are  used  to  prevent  back  flow  of  water 
into  the  steam  pipes  when  the  steam  is  turned  off.  The  connection  with 
4Jie  trough  is  made  with  a  nipple  3  ins.  long,  tapped  and  plugged  with  a 
stop  which  has  a  hole  -J  in.  in  diameter  inclined  downward.  The  pressure 
of  steam  necessary  to  prevent  freezing  in  the  coldest  weather  is  about  80 
Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  Full  particulars  regarding  these  tanks,  including  illus- 
trations and  itemized  statements  of  cost  of  construction  and  operation, 
may  be  found  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Association  of  Railway  Superin- 
tendents of  Bridges  and  Buildings,  in  1892,  by  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Andrews, 
supervisor  of  bridges,  buildings  and  water  stations,  on  the  Philadelphia 
division  of  the  road  named. 

In  the  arrangement  for  operating  track  tanks  on  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  R.  R.  there  is,  at  the  end  of  the  trough  nearest  the  approaching 
train,  a  signal  similar  to  a  high  switch  stand,  to  indicate  to  the  fireman 
when  he  may  lower  the  scoop,  and  100  ft.  ahead  of  the  far  end  of  the 


TRACK  TANKS  1019 

trough  there  is  a  similar  signal  placed  to  mark  the  point  where'  the  scoop 
should  be  raised.  The  spout  which  conveys  the  water  taken  up  by  the 
scoop  is  oblong  in  section  and  is  "goose-necked"  into  the  top  of  the  tender, 
«o  that  the  water  enters  the  tender  from  above.  The  scoop  is  usually 
12  or  13  ins.  wide,  and  there  is  a  stop  to  prevent  it  from  dropping  far 
tDough  to  touch  the  bottom  of  the  trough.  In  the  scooping  position 
it  usually  reaches  3  to  5  ins.  below  the  top  of  the  trough.  As  water  may 
be  taken  at  a  speed  of  45  miles  per  hour  trains  are  not  usually  required 
to  slow  down  very  much  in  taking  water  from  track  tanks.  Water 
has  been  taken  from  track  tanks  by  engines  running  70  m.  p.  h. 

In  a  track  tank  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  By.,  at  Wads- 
worth,  111.,  about  half  way  between  Chicago  and  Milwaukee,  it  was  found 
impossible  to  keep  the  trough  free  of  ice  by  the  usual  method  of  conduct- 
ing live  steam  thereinto,  and  this  experience  led  to  the  substitution  of  a 
new  arrangement,  by  which  the  water  is  heated  at  the  pump  house  and 
kept  in  circulation  through  the  trough.  Sectional  drawings  of  this 
trough  are  shown  in  Fig.  516.  The  trough  is  19  ins.  wide  inside  and  7 
ins.  deep,  setting  into  the  ties  2  ins.  The  joint  rivets  in  the  bottom  of 
the  trough  have  countersunk  heads.  Water  enters  each  end  of  the 
trough  through  a  3-in.  pipe,  the  discharge  taking  place  back  of  a  casting 
underneath  the  end  slope,  whence  it  flows  out  into  the  trough  through 
jive  semi-circular  openings  of  1J  ins.  radius,  through  the  bottom  of  the 
casting,  as  shown  in  the  sectional  drawings  C  and  E.  From  both  ends 
of  the  trough  the  water  flows  toward  the  middle,  where  there  is  a  5-in. 
pipe  leading  from  the  bottom  of  the  trough,  through  which  the  water 
is  pumped  and  delivered  into  an  8-in.  pipe  at  the  pump  house,  into  which 
live  steam  is  admitted  from  the  boiler  through  a  1-in.  pipe.  From  this 
8-in.  pipe  the  3-in.  feed  pipes  are  led  to  the  ends  of  the  trough,  as  above 
explained.  Thus,  after  the  trough  is  filled,  the  water  is  kept  in  circula- 
tion through  the  trough  and  to  and  from  the  pump  house,  where  its  tem- 
perature is  raised  in  the  manner  described. 

Owing  to  the  frequent  splashing  of  water  at  track  tanks  the  work 
of  maintaining  the  track  in  even  surface  is  much  more  difficult  than 
at  point?  where  the  conditions  are  only  ordinary.  The  ballast  for  the 
track  at  track  tanks  should  be  broken  rock  of  good  depth  and  the  drain- 
age should  be  well  provided  for.  In  very  cold  weather  the  constant 
attention  of  the  trackmen  is  necessary  to  keep  the  flangeways  from  being 
obstructed  by  ice  formed  by  the  freezing  of  the  water  thrown  out  by  the 
scoops  of  the  locomotives.  The  standard  track  tank  of  the  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  Kiver  E.  R  and  the  arrangement  of  the  drainage  is 
shown  in  Fig.  517.  The  top  of  the  roadbed  and  the  top  of  the  ballast 
are  cobble  paved,  and  between  the  two  tracks  on  which  the  troughs  are  laid 
and  between  the  second  and  third  of  the  four  (main)  tracks  there  are 
blind  ditches  3£  ft.  and  3  ft.  deep,  respectively,  filled  with  6-in.  quarry 
spawls  or  cobblestones.  At  intervals  of  100  ft.  these  .ditches  are. drained 
from  the  bottom  with  6-in.  tile  pipe,  and  every  50  ft.  the  top  surface  of 
the  ditch  is  drained  by  a  4x6-in.  open  box  made  of  creosoted  2-in.  plank 
and  laid  between  the  ties,  as  shown.  The  standard  length  of  the  trough 
is  1400  ft.,  the  width  23f  ins.  and  the  depth  7  ins.,  inside  measurements. 
There  are  two  inlet  boxes  under  the  trough,  each  being  18x12  ins.xS  ft. 
deep,  located  104  ft.  apart,  near  the  middle  of  the  trough.  The  water  is 
fed  through  a  10-in.  main  and  enters  the  boxes  through  6-in.  branches. 
Each  inlet  box  has  a  strainer  made  of  ISTo.  14  wire  woven  to  a  No.  5  mesh. 
In  the  bottom  of  the  trough,  near  the  middle  and  also  near  each  end,  there 
is  a  4-in.  washout  plug  with  a  4-in.  pipe  connection.  The  steam  for  heat- 


1020 


MISCELLANEOUS 


ing,  in  winter,  enters  the  bottom  of  the  trough  through  3/i6-in-  brass 
nozzles  33  ft.  apart.  The  main  steam  pipe  is  3  ins.  diam.,  reduced  by 
sections  to  1J  ins.  at  the  ends,  and  the  branches  leading  to  the  nozzle* 
are  £  in.  diam.  Some  of  the  track  tanks  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan 
Southern  By.  are  2500  ft.  long,  being  of  sufficient  length  to  water  two 
locomotives  running1  as  a  "double-header."  Each  engine  takes  water  while 
running  half  the  length  of  the  trough.  Track  tanks  should  not  be  located 
near  interlockings  or  at  other  points  where  the  train  is  liable  to  be  stopped 
while  taking  water. 

178.  Ash  Pits. — At  terminal  points  it  is  desirable  to  have  sections 
of  track  entering  roundhouses  or  lying  opposite  coaling  pockets  or  water 
stations  built  with  reference  to  the  convenient  removal  of  ashes  and 
cinders  dumped  from  locomotives.  While  the  construction  of  ash  pits 
is  usually  taken  in  charge  by  the  bridge  and  buildings  department  of 
railways/it  is  usual  to  find  the  clearing  of  the  pits  and  the  loading  of  the 
ashes  in  charge  of  the  section  men,  and  unless  the  arrangement  for  such 
work  be  planned  with  a  view  to  convenience  too  much  time  will  be  spent 
on  the  accumulated  ash  heaps.  From  the  trackman's  standpoint  it  is,, 
therefore,  pertinent  to  consider  the  various  types  of  ash  pits,  with  the 


Fig.  518. — Ash  Pit  and  Depressed  Track,  C.,  B.  &  Q.  Ry. 

attending  facilities  for  clearing  away  and  loading  the  ashes,  if  not  the 
details'  of  construction.  It  is  too  frequently  the  case  that  the  ashes  from 
a  considerable  number  of  locomotives  are  dumped  upon  the  ties,  to  be 
shoveled  out  of  the  track  daily  by  one  or  more  nxen  detailed  from  the 
section  crew.  While  such  an  arrangement  may  be  satisfactory  at  water 
tanks  on  main  line,  where  high  speed  is  made,  the  scheme  is  not  an  eco- 
nomical one  for  side-tracks  or  yard  tracks  where  a  number  of  locomotives 
are  taken  care  of,  for  the  ash  heaps  rapidly  accumulate  close  to  the  track 
until  the  hostlers  are  discommoded  in  their  work,  for  lack  of  room; 
and  at  last  it  becomes  necessary  to  clear  away  the  obstruction  in  some 
way,  and  it  is  frequently  done  by  throwing  part  of  the  heap  farther  back. 
In  any  case  the  ashes  have  to  be  handled  at  least  twice  by  the  time  they 
are  loaded  upon  the  cars,  and  where  heaps  are  permitted  to  accumulate 
it  sometimes  happens  that  they  are  rehandled  several  times  before  they 
are  finally  loaded  and  hauled  away. 

To  facilitate  the  removal  of  the  contents  of  the  ash  pans  a  pit  is 
sometimes  constructed  in  the  track,  from  which  the  ashes  are  shoveled 


ASH  PITS  1021 

out  into  heaps  and  afterwards  loaded  onto  cars  standing  upon  a  parallel 
track,  or  run  to  place  over  the  pit;  but,  so  far  as  the  cost  of  handling 
the  ashes  is  concerned,  such  an  arrangement  is  but  little  if  any  better 
than  that  of  dumping  the  ashes  upon  the  ties.  The  only  improvement 
at  all  worthy  of  consideration  is  some  arrangement  whereby  the  ashes 
may  be  loaded  onto  the  cars  at  the  first  handling ;  and  if  they  must 
be  loaded  by  hand,  the  only  satisfactory  arrangement  is  a  depressed  load- 
ing track,  on  which  cars  may  be  kept  standing  to  receive  the  ashes  as 
they  are  thrown  out  of  the  track  or  pit.  An  elevated  dumping  track, 
of  course,  corresponds  to  the  same  arrangement.  It  will  be  understood 
that  the  term  ashes,  as  used  in  connection  with  the  present  subject,  is 
intended  to  include  cinder.-;  and  clinkers  as  well. 

The  ash  pit  most  commonly  found  in  this  country  is  a  pit  in  the 
track,  about  4  ft.  wide  and  3  or  3J  ft.  deep,  enclosed  on  both  sides,  with 
a,  depressed  parallel  track  about  3  ft  lower  than  the  bottom  of  the  pit, 
at  convenient  distance  for  loading  the  cars.  Such  pits  are  walled  up 
with  stone  or  brick  laid  upon  a  suitable  masonry  or  concrete  foundation 
and  coped  with  stone,  timber  stringers,  or  wrought  or  cast  iron  plates. 
'Ordinary  hard-burned  brick  is  the  material  most  commonly  used  for 
paving,  being  set  on  edge,  either  in  concrete  or  in  a  bed  of  sand,  and 
sloped  longitudinally  and  transversely  for  drainage,  which  is  usually 
•effected  by  means  of  4  or  6-in.  sewer  pipe,  with  catch  basins.  Fire  brick 
are  sometimes  used  for  paving  the  bottom  of  the  pit  and  facing  the 
side  walls,  but  they  are  too  soft  to  withstand  the  pressure  from  the 
weight  above  and  the  wear  from  the  workmen  shoveling  in  the  pit,  and 
hence  ordinary  hard-burned  brick  or  ordinary  brick  faced  with  paving 
brick,  arc  preferred.  For  the  bottom,  paving  brick  grouted  with  cement 
are  used  a  good  deal.  It  is  also  very  commonly  the  practice  to  protect 
the  bottom  and  sides  of  the  pit  from  the  heat  of  the  cinders  by  a  lining 
of  old  boiler  plate,  or  cast  iron  plates  about  1  in.  thick,  leaving  an  air 
gpace  of  about  an  inch  between  the  plate  and  the  wall.  Where  timber 
stringers  are  used  for  coping  they  are  usually  anchored  by  bolts  passing 
clown  into  the  masonry,  and  the  rails  are  spiked  to  them  with  ordinary 
spike*  having  the  point  turned  90  deg.,  so  as  to  cut  crosswise  the  grain 
of  the  timber.  To  protect  the  coping  timber  from  fire  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  By.  uses  a  sheet  iron  cover  placed  as  shown  in  Fig. 
4  90 A.  The  material  for  these  covers  is  obtained  by  cutting  up  old 
tank  iron  and  bending  it  to  such  shape  that  when  anchored  against  the 
timber  there  will  be  a  1-in.  air  space  all  around.  To  maintain  this  air 
space  old  nuts  are  placed  between  the  wood  and  iron,  at  intervals,  through 
which  are  run  the  lag  screws  securing  the  plate.  The  air  space  is  closed 
in  by  bending  down  the  edges  of  the  iron  plate,  top  and  bottom,  thus 
preventing  cinders  from  filling  up  the  opening.  Where  an  iron  or  steel 
or  cast  iron  plate  is  used  for  a  coping  the  rail  is  riveted  to  the  plate  or 
fastened  to  it  with  boJis  and  clips  and  the  plate  is  secured  to  the  masonry 
by  anchor  bolts.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  rail  rests  directly  upon  the 
masonry  and  the  fastenings  consist  of  anchor  bolts  and  clips  or  ordinary 
track  spikes  driven  into  wooden  plugs  about  2  ins.  in  diam.,  which  are  set 
in  holes  drilled  in  the  masonry.  , 

At  a  pit  of  this  kind  it  is,  of  course,  necessary  to  run  the  locomotive 
off  the  pit  before  the  ashes  can  be  shoveled  out,  and  in  case  locomotives  follow 
in  rapid  succession  a  small  pit  of  the  kind  is  liable  to  become  clogged 
before  the  shovelers  can  get  into  it.  While,  as  above  stated,  pits  of  this 
type  are  more  numerous  than  any  other,  the  design. does  not  meet  with  as 
much  favor  for  new  construction  as  it  formerly  did.  Figure  518  is  typical 


1022 


MISCELLANEOUS 


of  this  style  of  pit  construction.  For  convenience  of  loading  the  cars  the 
pit  and  loading  tracks  are  laid  at  only  10  ft.  centers.  The  cost  of  loading 
cinders  at  a  certain  pit  of  this  kind  has  averaged  97  cents  per  car-load  of 
27  cu.  yds.  (heaped).  Before  the  depressed  track  was  used  the  cinders 
were  first  shoveled  from  the  pit  to  a  platform,  and  from  this  platform 
into  the  car,  at  an  average  cost  of  $1.77  per  car-load,  same  capacity  as 
stated  above.  This  comparison  shows  the  economy  of  loading  direct  from 
pit  to  car. 

A  style  of  pit  which  meets  with  a  great  deal  of  favor  is  one  that  is 
open  on  the  side  toward  the  depressed  loading  track,  as  then  the  ashes 
may  be  raked  out  of  the  pit  and  loaded  into  the  cars  without  hindrance 
from  locomotives  standing  over  the  pit.  It  is  desirable  to  have  a  clear 
space  or  platform  5  or  6  ft.  wide  between  the  open  side  of  the  pit  and 
the  side  of  the  ash  car,  or  a  spacing  of  14  or  15  ft.  between  the  centers 
of  pit  track  and  loading  track;  and,  to  aid  the  shoveler,  the  bottom  of  the 
pit  and  floor  of  the  platform  should  be  sloped  toward  the  loading  track. 
The  rail  on  the  open  side  of  the  pit  is  usually  supported  upon  cast  iron 
pedestals  or  columns,  or  cast  iron  piling,  and  the  rail  on  the  closed  side 
by  the  same  means  or  by  a  wall  with  suitable  coping  and  fastenings  for 


Fig.  519.— Ash  Pit  and  Depressed  Track,  Northern  Pacific  Ry. 
the  rail.  The  pedestals  are  usually  supported  upon  a  longitudinal  mason- 
ry pier,  or  upon  the  concrete  bed  on  which  is  laid  the  paving  of  the  bottom 
of  the  pit.  Where  the  span  between  the  pedestals  is  more  than  3  ft., 
but  does  not  exceed  6  ft.,  the  running  rail  is  usually  reinforced  for  sup- 
port by  riveting  it  to  an  inverted  rail  fitting  a  suitable  bearing  or  seat  in 
the  casting;  but  where  the  span  exceeds  6  or  7  ft.  the  immediate  support 
for  the  running  rail  is  usually  an  I-beam,  varying  in  depth  according  to 
the  span.  It  is  frequently  selected  from  scrap  bridge  material.  The  rails 
are  usually  held  to  gage  either  by  switch  rods  or  by  long  bolts  and  pipe 
struts.  In  order  to  cause  the  ashes  to  slide  out  upon  the  loading  platform 
as  they  are  dumped  from  the  locomotive,  inclined  plates  are  sometimes 
placed  against  the  back  side  of  the  pit  or  the  bottom,  of  the  pit  is  laid  to  a 
slope.  The  edge  of  the  loading  platform  is  sometimes  curbed  with  a  line 
of  old  rails. 

Figure  519  is  typical  of  the  foregoing  style  of  ash  pit.  The  track 
over  the  dumping  pit  is  carried  on  cast  iron  pedestals  24  ins.  high.  The 
distance  from  the  center  of  this  track  to  the  center  of  the  depressed  track 
is  13  ft.  1J  ins.  The  top  of  the  car  into  which,  the  cinders  are  loaded  is 


ASH  PITS  1023 

5  ft.  4  ins.  above  the  level  of  the  clinker  pit.  The  difference  of  level  be- 
tween the  loading  platform  and  the  depressed  track  is  not  as  much  as 
it  ought  to  be  to  make  the  loading  of  the  cinders  easy.  An  ash  pit  of  similar 
construction  on  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Kiver  E.  K.  has  six 
lines  of  old  rails  embedded  in  the  concrete  under  each  row  of  pedestals. 
To  prevent  the  concrete  floor  from  being  cracked  or  broken  up  by  the  hot 
ashes,  there  is  a  galvanized  netting  of  No.  8  wire,  1x2  ins.  mesh,  embedded 
in  the  concrete  near  the  top  surface. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  deeper  the  depression  for  the  loading  track  the 
better  is  the  work  of  loading  the  ashes  facilitated.  At  East  Tyrone,  Pa., 
on  the  Pennsylvania  B.  R.,  there  is  an  ash  pit  120  ft.  long  and  3J  ft.  deep, 
with  a  loading  track  depressed  8  ft.  below  the  floor  of  the  ash  pit,  the  two 
tracks  being  11  ft.  7  ins.  centers  The  top  of  the  masonry  retaining  wall 
for  the  pit  of  the  loading  track  is  corbeled  out  on  a  level  with  the  top  of 
a  gondola  car,  and  the  ashes  are  loaded  by  raking  them  out  of  the  pit 
and  shoving  them  directly  into  the  car.  The  floor  of  the  pit,  which 
is  paved  with  hard  red  brick  set  in  cement,  slopes  toward  the  car.  In 
cleaning  131  freight  engines  and  21  passenger  engines  at  this  pit,  daily, 
it  was  found  that  on  an  average  1^-  cu.  yds.  of  ashes  were  handled  per 
engine.  At  San  Luis  Obispo,  Gal.,  on  the  Southern  Pacific  road,  there  is 
a  pit  of  this  type  3  ft.  deep  with  the  loading  track  depressed  9  ft.  below 
the  ash-pit  floor,  and  the  loading  and  pit  tracks  are  located  9J  ft.  centers. 
The  rail  on  the  open  side  of  the  pit  is  supported  every  3  ft.  upon  cast  iron 
pedestals,  and  in  each  span  there  is  suspended  across  the  pit  an  iron  chute 
3  ft.  wide,  under  the  pit,  5  ins.  high  and  about  10  ft,  long,  extending 
out  over  the  ash  car.  The  width  of  the  chute  between  the  pedestals 
and  outside  of  them  is  2  ft.  5-J  ins.  and  the  chute  is  set  at  a  slope  of 
1  in  9.  Six  of  these  chutes  are  placed  closely  side  by  side,  making  a  solid 
length  of  18  ft.  under  the  pit.  The  ashes  are  dumped  from  the 'loco- 
motive into  these  chutes  and  washed  down  into  the  car  by  water  from  a 
spray  pipe  under  a  pressure  of  about  80  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  It  is  said  that 
the  arrangement  requires  but  little  water  and  works  successfully. 

Another  very  common  type  of  ash  pit,  and  one  which  requires  no 
special  drainage,  is  formed  by  raising  the  track  above  the  general  level 
of  the  ground,  supporting  the  rails  upon  low  iron  pedestals  or  chairs, 
the  spaces  between  which  are  left  open  on  both  sides  of  the  track. 
At  some  pits  of  this  kind  the  ashes  are  shoveled  and  loaded  into  cars 
standing  on  parallel  tracks  at  the  ground  level,  but  the  most  commendable 
arrangement  is  to  depress  the  loading  track,  as  in  the  cases  aforemen- 
tioned. Cast  iron  pedestals  for  such  pits  are  made  from  12  to  24  ins. 
high,  and  a  common  form  or  arrangement  for  the  foundation  is  to  stand 
the  pedestals  upon  longitudinal  stringers  supported  upon  cross  ties,  or 
upon  cross  ties  supported  upon  longitudinal  stringers,  the  woodwork  being 
protected  from  the  live  coals  by  a  covering  of  earth,  gravel,  concrete,  or  by 
a  brick  paving.  The  pairs  of  pedestals  may  be  tied  across  the  track 
at  their  bottoms  by  riveting  to  channels  or  by  bolts  and  web  pieces, 
or  by  bolting  to  old  rails,  but  the  more  usual  arrangement  is  to  cast  the 
^wo  pedestals  and  the  tie  between  them  all  in  one  piece.  In  pits  of 
this  kind  on  the  Union  Pacific  and  Southern  Pacific  roads  the  pedestals 
are  formed  of  old  rails  bent  to  form  an  "L"  for  each  side  of  the  track, 
each  pair  being  tied  together  across  the  track  by  a  piece  of  rail  bent  into 
?,  TJ-shape.  These  pedestals  are  set  6  ft.  apart  and  the  running  rails  are  sup- 
ported directly  upon  an  inverted  rail  resting  upon  the  vertical  leg  of  the  U- 
shape.  Where  the  running  rail  at  a  pit  of  this  kind  must  be  assisted  in  its 
support  by  another  rail  or  by  an  I-beam  underneath,  some  headroom  is  lost, 


1024  MISCELLANEOUS 

thereby  obstructing  to  some  extent  the  work  of  drawing  the  ashes  out  of  the 
pit  sidewise.  An  arrangement  which  practically  obviates  this  objectionable 
feature  is  in  service  on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.,  where  two  7-in. 
I-beams  are  used  for  the  support  of  each  rail,  over  cast  iron  pedestals  spaced 
at  9  ft.  centers  In  this  case  the  I-beams  are  separated  about  6  ins. 
and  the  rail  is  supported  upon  blocks  placed  between  the  beams  and  bear- 
ing upon  their  lower  flanges,  the  top  of  the  rail  coming  flush  with  the 
tops  of  the  I-beams. 

By  carrying  the  chair-supported  type  of  pit  (above  ground  line)  a 
little  farther  another  type  of  pit  is  recognized,  whereby  the  track  is 
elevated  on  an  iron  trestle,  open  on  both  sides,  underneath,  the  ashes  being 
dumped  on  the  ground  and  shoveled  up  and  loaded  at  convenient  times 
onto  cars  standing  on  parallel  tracks.  The  purpose  of  this  arrangement 
is,  of  course,  to  afford  storage  space  for  the  ashes  and  to  obviate  the  neces- 
sity of  having  to  attend  closely  to  the  removal  of  the  ashes.  A  pit  of 
this  kind  is  in  service  on  the  Central  R.  R.  of  New  Jersey,  at  Jersey  City, 
N.  J.  The  track  is  elevated  7  ft.  above  ground  level,  on  trestle  bentd 
at  15-ft.  spans,  the  rail  being  carried  on  girders,  each  of  which  is  formed 
by  two  15-in.  I-beams  weighing  150  Ibs.  per  yd.  On  each  side  of  the 


Fig.  520. — Ash  Dump,  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry. 

track  there  is  a  plank  walk  supported  upon  brackets  extending  from  the 
girders.  The  loading  tracks  are  located  each  side  of  the  trestle,  the  center 
of  each  track  being  1C  ft.  from  the  center  of  the  trestle.  This  trestle 
is  225  ft.  long,  with  filled  approaches  on  5-per  cent  grades  at  each  end. 
The  loading  tracks  are  at  the  ground  level. 

Figure  520  shows  this  style  of  ash  dump  carried  one  step  farther, 
providing  a  depressed  loading  track  for  the  elevated  dumping  track. 
This  dump  is  at  Reading,  Pa.,  on  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.  Tlie 
pits  into  which  the  ashes  are  dumped  from  the  locomotives  are  arranged 
under  a  track  elevated  to  such  a  hight  that  6  ft.  of  clear  headroom 
remains  between  the  floor  of  the  pit  and  the  under  side  of  the  girders  sup- 
porting the  rails,  while  the  floor  of  the  pit  is  on  a  level  with  the  top  of 
a^  gondola  car  standing  upon  the  loading  track,  at  the  side  of  the  dump. 
The  retaining  wall  for  the  elevated  track  is  444  ft.  long,  of  rubble 
masonry  laid  in  cement  mortar.  The  dump  is  approached  at  each  end 
with  grades  of  5  per  cent,  eased  by  vertical  curves  at  the  points  where  the 
grade  changes.  The  top  of  the  rail  over  the  dump  is  8  ft.  above  top  of 
rail  on  main  tracks,  while  the  loading  track  is  depressed  to  bring  the  top 
of  rail  5J  ft.  below  top  of  rail  for  main  track.  The  dump  is  72  ft.  in 


ASH  PITS  1025 

length,  divided  into  eight  pits,  each  9  ft.  in  length  between  centers  of  parti- 
tion piers.  Each  track  rail  rests  directly  upon  the  top  flange  of  a  12-in., 
l?'0-lb.  I-beam,  in  lengths  of  17  ft.  11^  ins.,  or  long  enough  to  extend 
over  two  panels  and  leave  -J  in.  for  expansion  at  the  joints.  At  the 
panel  points  the  I-beam  girders  are  connected  across  by  a  9-in.  I-beam, 
and  the  joints  are  spliced  by  a  cast  iron  plate  inside  the  girder,  and  a 
wrought  iron  ^plate  outside  the  girder,  tied  together  by  long  bolts  reaching 
across  both  girders.  The  I-beam  girders  at  the  panel  points  rest  upon 
an  inverted  channel  weighing  100  Ibs.  per  yd.,  filled  with  cast  iron  block- 
ing and  supported  upon  a  bent  composed  of  four  Phoenix  columns,  which 
form  the  actual  support  for  the  track.  These  columns  are  bricked  in  to 
form  piers,  but  the  brickwork  has  no  office  to  perform  other  than  to 
protect  the  iron  columns  from  the  heat  and  the  action  of  the  sulphur  in 
the  ashes,  and  to  afford  transverse  support  for  the  bent.  The  top  of  the 
brick  pier  is  coped  with  cast  iron  and  the  columns  are 'filled  and  rammed 
with  concrete.  The  columns,  caps  and  bases  were  of  old  material,  in 
stock,  and  were  used  to  enable  the  construction  of  narrow  piers,  thus 
saving  room.  On  each  side  of  the  track  there  is  a  concrete  walk  3^  ft. 
wide,  formed  upon  three  T-rails  laid  longitudinally  and  cross  connected 
with  bolts  trussed  to  support  the  concrete.  The  length  of  each  brick 
pier  is  12  ft.,  crosswise  the  pit,  and  the  floor  of  the  pit  is  20  ft.  wide, 
or  10  ft,  each  way  from  center,  sloping  from  center  toward  either  side. 
The  pit  and  loading  tracks  are  15J  ft.  centers.  The  floor  of  the  pit  is 
laid  with  brick  set  on  edge  in  Portland  cement  mortar,  floated  with  grout 
as  laid.  The  edge  of  the  pit  floor  next  the  loading  track  is  curbed  with  a 
T-rail  laid  on  side  with  the  base  against  an  upturned  bead  on  the  L-?haped 
coping  of  the  side  wall.  The  brick  used  in  this  work  is  low  in  silica  and 
burned  very  hard. 

With  a  view  to  cheapen  the  cost  of  loading  ashes  where  large  quan- 
tities have  to  be  handled,  as  at  roundhouses,  power  machinery  has  been 
quite  extensively  applied.  One  system  that  is  in  service  on  a  number  of 
roads,  -with  evident  satisfaction,  consists  of  an  ordinary  depressed,  closed 
pit  with  ash  buckets  lifted  out  and  in  with  a  crane.  One  style  of  arrange- 
ment has  buckets  about  8  ft.  long,  3  ins.  narrower  than  the  pit,  and 
holding  about  3  cu.  yds  or  about  5000  Ibs.  of  wet  ashes.  The  bucket  is 
made  of  old  tank  iron,  and  the  top  part  fits  the  pit  so  closely  that  practically 
all  of  the  ashes  dumped  from  the  locomotive  fall  into  the  bucket.  The 
post  of  the  crane  is  usually  located  about  9J  ft.  from  the  center  of  the  pit 
and  the  crane  can  be  swung  to  handle  two  buckets.  In  order  to  obviate 
the  necessity  of  multiplying  cranes  at  a  long  pit  it  is  the  practice  in 
some  cases  to  set  the  ash  buckets  upon  wheels,  which  run  upon  a  narrow- 
gage  track  in  the  pit,  on  which  the  buckets  can  be  pushed  to  a  point 
within  reach  of  the  crane.  In  some  cases  the  crane  is  operated  by  a  hand 
winch,  but  there  are  various  ways  of  securing  power  for  working  the 
crane,  one  of  which  is  to  utilize  the  locomotive  which  has  been  cleaned, 
to  hoist  the  bucket  as  it  leaves  the  pit.  A  chain  is  attached  to  the  loco- 
motive when  it  is  ready  to  leave  and  the  bucket  is  hoisted,  when  the  loco- 
motive is  released.  The  crane  and  suspended  bucket  are  then  swunaj 
around  to  bring  the  bucket  over  a  loading  car  upon  a  parallel  track  and 
the  ashes  are  dumped  by  tripping  the  hinged  bottom  of  the  bucket.  In. 
a  number  of  instances  the  hoisting  and  the  turning  of  the  crane  are 
worked  by  compressed  air  piped  from  the  shops  or  obtained  by  a  con- 
nection with  the  air-brake  apparatus  of  the  locomotive.  In  handling 
and  loading  ashes  by  this  method  no  force  is  needed  besides  the  hostlers, 
or  the  men  who  clean  the  fire-boxes.  According  to  figures  reported  offici- 


!!026 


MISCELLANEOUS 


ally  from  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern  K.  R.  the  cost  of  handling 
ashes  with  buckets  and  cranes,  as  ascertained  by  trial  on  that  road,  was 
only  one  third  the  cost  of  handling  the  same  by  shoveling  from  a  depressed 
pit.  On  this  road  the  cranes  have  been  worked  by  both  systems  6f  power 
— locomotive  and  cable,  and  compressed  air.  One  of  the  plants  operated 
by  air  (at  Chillicothe,  0.)  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  521.  The  hoisting  is 
clone  by  means  of  a  12-in.  cylinder  with  a  14-ft.  stroke  and  the  crane  is 
turned 'by  a  double-acting  clyinder  8  ins.  in  diam,  with  a  stroke  of  4^  ft. 
The  hoisting  cylinder  is  anchored  to  the  ground  in  a  horizontal  position, 
and  power  is  applied  to  the  crane  by  attaching  the  hoisting  chain  to  a  hook 
on  the  end  of  the  piston  rod.  This  cylinder  is  also  used  to  pull  the  cars 
into  position  for  loading  as  the  work  of  filling  them  progresses.  The  air 
pressure  is  65  Ibs.  per  sq.  in. 


Fig.  521.— Ash-Handling  Crane  and  Bucket,  B.  &  O.  S.  W.  R.  R. 

For  lifting  cinder  buckets  in  its  yards  in  St.  Louis  the  Missouri 
Pacific  Ry.  uses  a  portable  crane  mounted  upon  a  truck  or  small  fiat  car. 
The  crane  is  operated  by  air  fromj  a  storage  reservoir  on  the  car.  Instead 
of  using  a  pit  as  a  means  for  placing  the  buckets  under  the  locomotives, 
the  dumping  track  is  elevated  2J-  ft.  above  the  ground  and  supported  on 
cast  iron  pedestals  7  ft.  apart,  on  which  are  placed  two  lines  of  inverted 
rails  to  serve  as  stringers  for  the  support  of  the  track  rails.  The  buckets 
are  of  cast  iron  18  ins.  deep,  and  are  suspended  by  means  of  flanges  at 
each  end  which  rest  upon  the  tie  rods  between  the  track,  rails.  There 
is  a  series  of  buckets  suspended  one  after  another  to  cover  the  length  of 
the  clumping  track,  and  the  portable  crane  is  run  upon  this  track,  lifting 
the  buckets  one  at  a  time  and  swinging  them  into  position  for  dumping 
into  cars  on  a  parallel  track.  The  time  required  to  lift  and  dump  the 
27  buckets  at  one  of  the  roundhouses  is  40  minutes.  The  Robertson 
cinder  conveyor,  in  use  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Western  Ry.,  at  Elsdon,  111., 
consists  of  an  iron  car  running  upon  an  incline  track~  which  enters  the 
ash  pit  at  the  side.  This  incline  track  extends  laterally  over  a  depressed 
track  which  is  parallel  with  the  pit  and  18  ft.  distant"  center  to  center. 
The  ash  car  is  hauled  up  the  incline  by  a  cable  and  compressed  air  cylin- 
der, mid  as  it  arrives  over  the  depressed  track  its  bottom  is  automatically 


ASH  PITS  1027 

tripped  and  the  ashes  drop  into  a  gondola  or  other  car  spotted  under  the 
incline  for  loading. 

Ash  pits  should  be  located  on  a  double-ended  piece  of  track,  ur  a 
siding  which  has  an  outlet  at  both  ends,  so  that  after  an  engine  has  been 
•cleaned  it  may  pull  straight  ahead  off  the  pit  and  not  be  prevented  from 
leaving  by  some  engine  which  has  come  in  behind  it.  The  depressed 
loading  track  usually  descends  into  its  pit  on  a  steep  grade  and  it  usually 
has  a  dead  end.  It  is  not  infrequently  the  case  that  two  short  pits  are 
used  instead  of  a  long  one,  and  in  such  event  the  depressed  loading  track 
is  run  between  the  two  ash  pits.  At  any  style  of  ash  pit  water  should 
be  available,  with  hose  connections  for  wetting  down  the  ashes,  so  as  to 
relieve  the  walls  of  heat  and  enable  the  speedy  removal  of  the  ashes  from 
the  pit. 

Ash  pits  should  not  be  put  in  main  track  outside  of  yard  limits 
or  wherever  trains  run  at  full  speed.  In  such  places  they  are  equivalent 
to  pit  cattle  guards  as  an  ever-present  menace  to  trains  running  with 
a  derailed  truck.  The  standard  main-line  ash  pit  of  the  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  River  E.  E.  is  5J  ins.  deep  from  base  of  rail  The 
foundation  is  a  bed  of  cinder  concrete  12  ins.  deep  and  8  ft.  wide,  on 
which  are  placed  12xl2-in.  longitudinal  creosoted  yellow  pine  sleepers 
to  support  the  rails.  These  sleepers  are  tied  together  at  intervals  of 
3  ft.  with  f-in.  rods,  and  to  protect  them  from  fire  the  top  corners  inside 
the  rails  are  covered  with  angle  irons.  Between  the  sleepers  the  concrete 
bed  is  18 J  ins.  deep,  extending  as  high  as  the  middle  line  of  the  stringers, 
to  cover  the  tie  rods.  The  bottom  of  the  pit  is  faced  with  a  IJ-in.  layer 
of  cement  mortar.  For  further  information  on  ash  pits  of  a  large 
variety  of  designs,  regarding  full  details  of  construction,  cost,  economy 
of  operation  etc.,  the  reader  is  referred  to  a  lengthy  committee  report 
to  the  Association  of  Railway  Superintendents  of  Bridges  and  Buildings*, 
in.  189-i.  The  subject  is  also  treated  quite  fully  in  Berg's  "Buildings 
and  Structures  of  American  Railroads." 

Wherever  ashes  and  •  cinders  .are  frequently  dumped  on  the  ties,  as  at 
stations,  water  tanks  or  in  side-tracks,  it  is  best,  when  cleaning  up  the 
track,  to  leave  a  layer  about  1-J  ins.  deep  to  protect  the  ties  from  being 
burned  the  next  time  hot  ashes  are  dumped.  Where  considerable  quan- 
tities of  ashes  have  to  be  cleared  away  daily  it  is  well  to  keep  coal  scoops 
at  hand  for  this  purpose,  as  it  is  slow  work  handling  such  material  with 
track  shovels.  At  water  tanks  on  busy  roads,  where  ash  heaps  in  the  track 
should  be  cleared  away  promptly,  a  hose  should  be  arranged  for  cooling  off 
hot  ashes. 

Conveyor  Plants. — The  most  modern  arrangement  for  handling  large 
quantities  of  locomotive  ashes  and  cinders  is  a  conve}ror  plant,  which  takes 
the  ashes  from  the  bottom  of  the  pit  and  deposits  them  in  an  elevated 
hopper-bottom  bin  placed  over  a  loading  track,  from  which  they  can  be 
•discharged  into  cars  by  gravity.  Such  facilities  are  frequently  combined 
with  a  coaling  station  plant,  to  be  operated  during  intervals  when  coal  is 
not  being  elevated.  There  is  usually  a  hopper-shaped  pit,  under  which 
there  is  a  spiral  or  a  bucket-and-chain  conve}^or  carrying  the  ashes  to  an 
elevator  line  which  delivers  them  into  the  elevated  bins  or  pockets.  An 
example  of  such  a  plant  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  522.  There  is  an  ash  pit 
70  ft.  long  on  each  side  of  the  house  and  an  elevated  bin  over  each  of  the 
two  loading  tracks  inside  the  house.  There  is  also  a  sand  bin  on  each 
Fide  of  the  house.  The  pits  are  solidly  constructed  with  concrete  walls 
8  J  ft.  deep  and  8  ft.  wide,  out  to  out.  The  walls,  which  are  3  ft.  thick 
at  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  taper  to  a  thickness  of  12  ins.  at  the  top.  The 


1028 


MISCELLANEOUS 


pit  is  4  ft.  wide  at  the  top,  2  ft.  wide  at  the  bottom:  and  3  ft.  deep  to 
the  top  of  the  conveyor.  To  protect  the  corners  of  the  concrete  walls 
from  being  chipped  off  by  bars  and  scrapers  thrown  against  them  they 
are  faced  with  steel  plates  which  hang  down  16  ins.  from  the  top.  A 
view  looking  into  one  of  these  pits  is  shown  in  Fig.  509A.  In  the 
bottom  of  the  pit  there  is  a  cast  iron  grating,  to  prevent  clinkers  of  too 
large  size  from  getting  into  the  conveyor,  and  the  grating  is  covered  with 
steel  plates  provided  with  rings  for  convenient  handling.  The  cinders 
drawn  from  the  fire  boxes  fall  on  these  plates  and  are  quenched,  and  when 
the  pit  is  full  the  plates  are  successively  removed,  allowing  the  cinders 
to  fall  into  the  conveyor  below.  Full  details  and  illustrations  of  the 


Sect/on  throuqh  ash  bin         •  Section  through  sand  bin 

Fig.  522.— Cross  Section  of  Ash  and  Sand-Handling  House,  III.  Cent.  R.  R. 

construction  and  operation  of  typical  modern  ash-handling  plants  were 
published  in  the  Eailway  and  Engineering  Eeview  for  July  29,  1899,  and 
March  15,  1902. 

179.  Track  in  Tunnels. — The  roadbed  in  tunnels  is  usually  a  rock 
surface,  dressed  off  to  give  proper  drainage,  or  an  invert  of  brick  or  con- 
crete masonry  arched  downwards  to  prevent  the  bulging  of  the  bottom 
of  the  tunnel,  in  case  soft  or  yielding  material  is  encountered.  For  the 
track  the  usual  construction  of  cross  ties  and  ballast  is  the  rule  in  this 
country.  In  Europe  longitudinal  wooden  stringers  are  used  to  some 
extent  as  supports  for  the  rails,  without  ballaet,  the  stringers  being  laid 
directly  upon  the  masonry  of  the  invert  or  upon  a  bed  of  concrete. 
Engineers  who  favor  the  stringer  construction  contend  that  the  main- 
tenance work  is  much  facilitated,  particularly  in  renewals;  that  the 
drainage  can  be  better  provided  for  and  better  inspected ;  and  that  where 
ballast  is  dispensed  with  there  is  a  considerable  saving  in  hight  of  tunnel,. 
which  effects  a  saving  in  excavation,  and  also  in  masonry  construction 
if  side  walls  have  to  be  built. 

^  Drainage  of  track  in  tunnels  is  usually  provided  for  by  a  blind 
drain  of  box  form  built  of  stone  and  overlaid  with  flagstones,  placed 
underneath  the  track,  where  there  is  but  one  track  over  a  masonry  invert, 
or  in  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  midway  between  the  two  tracks,  in  case  of 


TRACK   IN  TUNNELS  1029 

double  track.  In  other  cases  there  are  narrow  open  ditches  next  the 
side  walls  of  the  tunnel,  with  curbstones  to  retain  the  ballast,  or  lines  of 
stoneware  pipe  are  laid  and  covered  with  ballast,  so  that  the  floor  is  avail- 
able its  entire  width.  Where  springs  or  large  quantities  of  water  are 
encountered  it  is  customary  to  lay  drain  pipe  behind  the  side  walls.  The 
necessary  fall  for  drainage  purposes  is  usually  provided  for  by  running 
the  tunnel  to  a  summit  at  the  middle  or  by  a  grade  the  whole  length. 
The  St.  Clair  tunnel,  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Ky.,  is  circular  in  section  and 
lined  with  flanged  cast  iron  plates-  or  sections  bolted  together.  In  this 
tunnel  the  ties  are  supported  upon  four  6xl2-in.  longitudinal  sleepers 
laid  directly  upon  a  concrete  bed.  Guard  timbers  are  bolted  to  the 
tiQS,  outside  the  rails,  as  on  a  bridge  floor,  and  a  drain  18  ins.  wide  is 
formed  in  the  concrete  bed,  between  the  two  middle  timbers  supporting  the 
track. 

The  best  ballast  for  track  in  wet  tunnels  is  broken  stone,  as  it  forms 
less  obstruction  to  the  drainage  than  other  kinds.  In  dry  tunnels  gravel 
ballast  does  very  well.  In  tunnels  through  shale  rock  the  disintegration 
of  the  shale  on  exposure  to  air  and  moisture  is  sometimes  a  source  of 
considerable  trouble  in  the  way  of  maintaining  the  ballast.  On  a  wet 
bottom  of  this  kind,  especially  where  water  has  come  through  the  roof,  it 
has  happened  that  the  disintegrated  material  of  the  floor  would  work  up 
through  the  ballast  in  the  form  of  clay  and  mud.  The  remedy  applied 
in  such  cases  has  usually  been  to  remove  the  softened  rock  and  replace 
it  with  a  layer  of  concrete. 

As  a  rule  the  metal  parts  of  track  in  tunnels  deteriorate  rapidly 
from  corrosion,  at  any  rate  much  more  rapidly  than  with  track  in  the 
open.  This  is  due  to  the  corrosive  action  of  smoke  and  gases  from 
locomotives,  and  in  many  cases  also  to  dampness.  The  severity  of  these 
conditions  depends,  of  course,  a  great  deal  upon  the  length  of  the  tunriel, 
which  has  to  do  with  the  ventilation,  and  upon  the  amount  of  water  ' 
dripping  from  above.  The  loss  of  metal  to  rails  takes  place  all  around 
the  section.  In  some  cases  rails  in  tunnels  have  lasted  only  half  to  a 
third  as  long  as  rails  under  the  same  traffic  conditions  out  in  the  open; 
and  some  writers  have  speculated  on  the  rate  of  corrosion,,  but  owing  to 
the  varying  conditions  of  ventilation,  dampness,  nature  of  the  fuel  burned 
by  the  locomotives,  the  frequency  of  the  train  movements  and  the  length 
of  the  tunnel  it  is  not  possible  to  deduce  useful  rules  from  the  data  pre- 
sented. Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  ballast  takes  in  a  good  deal  of  smoke 
and  gas  and  becomes  mixed  with  cinders  it  is  desirable  to  dress  it  off 
clear  from  contact  with  the  rails,  so  that  the  latter  may  get  full  benefit 
of  whatever  ventilation  there  is.  In  wet  tunnels,  where  there  is  usually 
a  bad  rail,  a  good  deal  of  sand  must  be  used,  and  this  causes  excessive  wear 
from  the  top.  To  protect  rails'  in  tunnels  from  rusting  some  of  the  Eng- 
lish railways,  including  the  Midland  and  the  London  &  Northwestern 
roads,  paint  them  with  four  coats  of  red  lead  before  they  are  put  into 
the  track.  A  paper  on  "The  Wear  of  Steel  Eails  in  Tunnels/'  written 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Andrews  and  presented  at  a  meeting  of  the  Institution  of 
Civil  Engineers,  on  April  10,  1900,  treats  of  the  subject  somewhat  thor- 
oughly from  the  standpoint  of  English  railways.  In  one  tunnel  3000  ft. 
long  the  average  loss  in  weight  of  rails  from  corrosion  and  wear  was 
2.S  Ibs.  per  yard  per  annum,  as  compared  with  an  average  annual  rate  of 
0.324  Ib.  per  yard  for  rails  under  the  same  volume  of  traffic  in  the  open 
air. 

The  life  of  ties  in  tunnels  is  also  another  important  matter  for  con- 
sideration.    As  tie  renewing  in  tunnels  is  much  more  expensive  than  in 


1030  MISCELLANEOUS 

open  space,  the  ties  for  such  places  should  be  selected  with  a  view  to  obtain 
the  longest  life  possible.  Undoubtedly  the  best  plan  is  to  use  creosoted 
ties  of  best  quality.  In  damp  tunnels  the  moistened  ties  are  rapidly 
cut  under  the  rails,  and  where  sand  is  frequently  used  this  action  is 
much  augmented.  The  use  of  tie  plates  improves  the  situation,  but. by 
corrosion  and  the  grinding  action  of  the  sand  they  do  not  last  as  long 
as  on  open  track,  and  are  therefore  more  expensive  than  ordinarily.  In 
long  or  damp  tunnels  steel  ties  rust  out  rapidly  and  are  not  found  to  be 
satisfactory.  On  the  St.  Gothard  Ey.,  in  Switzerland,  where  70  per  cent. 
of  the  track  is  laid  with  metal  supports,  wooden  ties  are  used  in  the 
long  tunnels.  Metal  ties  have  been  tried  there  but  in  every  instance 
their  life  was  short. 

Owing  to  the  restricted  space  and  to  darkness,  track  work  in  tunnels 
is  necessarily  more  difficult  of  performance  and  more  expensive  than  is 
ordinarily  the  case  with  track  on  the  outside.  In  renewing  ties  in  single- 
track  tunnels  of  ordinary  width  (15  ft.)  there  are  several  ways  to  get 
the  old  ties  out  and  the  new  ones  in.  The  easiest  method  is  to  draw 
the  spikes  on  one  of  the  rails  and  lift  it  up  and  block  it  or  throw  it  laterally 
oS.  the  ties.  Sometimes  this  is  done  with  both  rails,  as  then  some  digging 
may  be  saved,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  take  the  rails  up ;  that  is,  to 
uncouple  them  at  the  joints.  When  the  work  is  done  in  this  way  it  u 
necessary,  of  course,  to  send  out  flagmen,  but  if  the  frequency  of  the 
traffic  will  not  admit  of  this  the  ties  have  to  be  handled  without  disturb- 
ing the  rails.  By  digging  a  downwardly  slanting  trench  the  old  tie  may 
be  pulled  to  one  side,  one  end  lifted  and  the  tie  pulled  out  between  the 
rails,  and  the  new  tie  may  be  put  in  by  the  reverse  process.  Another 
way  to  get  the  old  tie  out  is  to  dig  a  trench  and  cut  the  tie  in  two, 
when  it  ma}''  be  taken  out  between  the  rails,  in  separate  pieces.  Another 
"way  to  get  tics  out  without  digging  deeply  into  the  ballast  is  to  remove 
the  filling  from  between  them,  bunch  four  or  five  together  and  then  slew 
the  bad  one  at  an  angle  of  about  45  deg.  and  lift  it  out  between  the 
rails.  Kew  ties  may  be  put  in  by  reversing  the  process.  This  plan  of 
renewing  ties  in  tunnels  is  followed  quite  extensively.  If  there  are  no 
obstructions  at  the  £nds  of  the  ties  they  may  be  taken* out  or  in  by  slewing 
them  outside  the  rails.  Two  ties  are  handled  together.  The  ballast  is 
removed  from  three  spaces  between  ties  and  then  one  of  the  ties  is 
pulled  to  one  «de  of  the  track  and  slewed  out  under  the  rail  and  the 
other  tie  is  pulled  over  and  slewed  out  under,  the  opposite  rail.  Both  ties 
may,  however,  be  slewed  out  under  the  same  rail,  by  first  pulling  one 
of  them  back  in  the  opposite  direction  far  enough  to  make  room  to 
slew  the  first  tie  taken  out;  or  only  one  of  the  ties  need  be  taken  out,  the 
other  being  simply  slewed  to  let  the  bad  tie  out  and  the  new  one  in. 
For  reasons  presently  explained  trackmen  are  not  usually  permitted  to 
lift  track  bodily  when  renewing  ties  in  tunnels.  In  single-track  tunnels  it 
usually  pays  to  renew  ties  out  of  face,  as  often  as  conditions  may  require. 
On  this  plan  it  is  necessary  to  engage  in  the  work  only  once  in  a  period 
of  years,  which  is  more  economical  of  labor  than  that  of  renewing  part 
of  the  ties  under  difficulties  each  year.  On  roads  where  the  renewing 
is  done  out  of  face  the  ties  taken  out  that  will  see  further  service  are 
used  in  side-tracks. 

The  work  of  track  maintenance  in  single-track  tunnels  is  also  impeded 
by  the  necessity  for  the  men  to  run  to  cover  when  trains  approach. 
Alcoves,  niches  or  manholes,  as  they  are  variously  called,  are  usually 
built  in  tunnels  at  suitable  intervals  for  workmen  to  secure  a  place  of 
refuge  from  passing  trains.  In  the  Boulder  tunnel/ on  the  Montana 


TRACK   IN   TUNNELS  1031 

Central  branch  of  the  Great  Northern  Ey.,  which  is  6112  ft.  long,  an 
arched  hand-car  recess  7  ft.  wide  is  built  into  the  side  wall  in  two  places, 
oach  2000  ft.  from  either  end  of  the  tunnel,  so  that  a  hand  car  in  passing 
through  the  tunnel  is  at  no  place  farther  than  1000  ft.  from  a  place 
of  safety.  Trackmen  should .  not  enter  dark  tunnels  without  lights 
to  signal  trains,  and  when  engaged  in  such  places  they  must  have  lights 
to  work  by.  Where  only  slight  repairs  have  to  be  done  trackmen  can  get 
along  with  hand  torches,  but  where  extensive  work  is  going  on  it  pays  to 
have  large  pot  torches,  or  lights  of  the  Wells  or  Buckeye  kind.  The  latter 
are  used  a  great  deal.  When  lining  track  in  dark  tunnels  a  torch  or 
lantern  may  be  held  over  the  rail  to  give  light,  but  when  track  is  being 
surfaced  it  is  desirable  to  have  the  tunnel  lighted  up  so  that  150  to  200 
ft.  of  rail  may  be  seen  distinctly.-  It  takes  a  good  many  hand  torches 
to  do  this. 

Methods  of  track  work  in  tunnels  apply  in  a  general  way  to  snow 
sheds,  except  that  torches  or  other  artificial  lights  are  not  usually  needed, 
although  in  winter  the  working  days  are  shortened  an  hour  or  two.  The 
ventilation  openings  or  screens  that  are  sometimes  left  in  the  side  of  the 
shed,  near  the  top,  let  in  a  good  deal  of  light,  and  more  or  less  light 
comes  in  through  cracks  between  the  planks  on  the  roof  and  sides.  For 
lining  track  in  snow  sheds  a  dull  day  is  selected,  as  in  bright  weather 
the  sun  shining  through  the  cracks  strikes  the  track  in  streaks  and  patches 
and  bothers  the  man  sighting  the  rail.  In  snow  sheds  and  at  the  ends 
of  wet  tunnels  it  is  important  to  keep  close  watch  of  ice  that  may  freeze 
and  obstruct  the  ditches  or  accumulate  around  the  rails  from  water 
dripping  from  above.  Whenever  such  danger  is  threatening  a  watchman 
should  be  detailed  to  visit  the  place  at  proper  intervals  to  keep  the  ditches 
open  and  pick  or  chop  the  ice  clear  from  the  rails. 

Clearance. — In  lining  or  surfacing  track  in  tunnels  and  snow,  sheds 
it  is  important  for  trackmen  to  observe  the  established  clearances.  In 
such  places  the  general  surface  of  track  cannot  be  raised  without  reducing 
the  vertical  clearance,  and  as  this  is  of  record  in  the  office  of  the  engineer- 
ing department,  such  changes  should  never  be  made  without  permission 
or  orders  from  that  department.  The  rules  of  the  road  department  of 
most  railways  forbid  trackmen  to  raise  the  general  surface  of  track  in 
tunnels,  or  under  overhead  structures  that  come  anywhere  near  the  estab- 
lished clearing  distances.  This  rule,  of  course,  permits  raising  low 
joints  and  other  low  places  in  the  track,  but  not  higher  than  is  neces- 
sary to  bring  the  rail  to  an  even  surface  on  the  existing  grade.  For 
measuring  clearance  in  tunnels  and  snow  sheds^  at  bridge  openings  and 
at  side  structures  that  are  close  to  the  track  some  roads  use  a  special 
flat  car  carrying  a  templet  or  framework  built  approximately  to  the  out- 
lines of  the  supposed  clearance.  This  is  arranged  transversely  on  the 
car,  with  a  platform  high  enough  to  enable  the  inspectors  to  use  foot  rules 
or  measuring  sticks  to  take  the  clearance,  measuring  from  the  templet 
as  a  reference. 

The  clearance-measuring  car  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  is  a  specially 
constructed  long  flat  car  with  a  platform  about  9  ft.  square  erected  over 
one  of  the  trucks  and  standing  about  5  ft.  above  the  floor  of  the  car. 
Eailed  stairways  lead  to  the  platform  on  two  sides,  and  there  are  sub- 
stantial railings  around  the  platform  and  all  around  the  car.  Bach  end 
of  the  car  is  equipped  with  a  platform  and  steps  of  the  passenger-coach 
pattern.  The  templet  from  which  the  measurements  are  taken  was  built 
approximately  to  the  outlines  of  the  existing  minimum  clearance  records, 
and  stands  15  ft,  high  above  the  rail,  being  graduated  every  3  ins.  The 


1032  -  MISCELLANEOUS 

vertical  leg  of  this  templet,  on  either  side  of  the  car,  extends  as  low  as  the 
ordinary  car  step,  and  is  hinged  so  as  to  trail  with  the  car  in  case  it 
should  meet  with  an  obstruction.  To  provide  against  meeting  with  an 
unexpected  obstruction  overhead,  the  arched  part  of  the  templet  is  also 
hinged  to  fall  backward  in  case  it  should  strike  anything.  To  prevent 
any  possibility  of  passing  an  obstruction  within  the  required  clearance 
without  observation,,  as  might  happen  in  a  tunnel  or  after  dark  when 
the  vision  is  obscured  by  smoke  or  steam,  the  perimeter  is  set  with 
wooden  pegs  about  3  ins.  apart  and  projecting  6  ins.  from  the  edge  of  the 
templet.  Should  any  of  these  pegs  be  broken  off  while  the  car  is  in 
inspection  service  it  is  then  known  that  some  obstruction  has  been  passed 
which  requires  investigation.  Coupled  in  behind  this  car  in  the  clear- 
ance-measuring train  there  is  a  dining  and  sleeping  car  for  the  crew,  and 
there  are  storage  batteries  to  supply  current  to  electric  lights  of  high 
candle  power  on  the  platform  of  the  clearance-measuring  car,  for  use 
when  taking  measurements  in  tunnels,  or  when  work  is  continued  into  the 
evening  in  order  to  reach  some  desirable  point  for  lying  over  night. 
The  measurements  taken  at  any  point  are  recorded  on  a  printed  diagram 
of  the  templet,  and  obstructions  met  with  are  sketched  thereon.  This 
car  is  used  whenever  new  lines,  tunnel  or  through  bridge  work  are 
completed.  Between  times  the  car  is  dismantled,  the  templet  and  plat- 
forms being  stored  in  the  shops  and  the  car  put  into  ordinary  service. 

To  get  measurements  of  the  cross  section  of  a  tunnel  with  reference 
to  the  track  it  is  necessary  to  erect  the  templet  frame  over  the  center 
of  one  of  the  trucks,  but  sharp  curves  sometimes  occur  in  tunnels  and 
quite  frequently  in  snow  sheds,  and  in  such  places  record  should  be  taken 
of  the  clearance  at  the  middle  of  long  cars,  as  affected  by  the  overhang. 
For  this  purpose  there  might  be  an  additional  templet  at  the  middle  of 
the  clearance-measuring  car ;  and  the  length  of  the  car  and  the  position  of 
the  trucks  should  correspond  to  similar  measurements  of  the  longest 
sleeping  car  or  other  car  of  maximum  length  liable  to  be  hauled  over  the 
road. 

In  a  paper  on  "Maintenance  of  Bailway  Tunnels,"  by  Mr.  Arthur 
Watson,  read  before  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  (extracts  were 
printed  in  the  Eailway  and  Engineering  Keview,  Apr.  13,  1901),  that 
author  calls  attention  to  an  instrument  for  measuring  the  contour  of  a 
tunnel  cross  section,  that  is  designed  on  the  pantagraph  principle.  There 
is  a  bar  or  piece  that  is  placed  across  the  rails  of  the  track,  or  across 
the  two  inside  rails  of  a  double  track,  to  center  with  the  center  line  of 
the  track  or  tracks,  and  on  this  there  is  a  fixed  drawing  board  27  ins. 
square  standing  vertically.  Attached  to  this  drawing  board  on  its  ver- 
tical center  line  there  is  a  telescopic  shaft  or  pointer  of  light  construc- 
tion, carrying  a  small  wheel  at  the  end  which  is  passed  around  the  soffit  of 
the  tunnel  arch  and  side  walls.  This  shaft  or  pointer  is  attached  to 
an  arrangement  of  crossed  bars  of  the  familiar  proportional  divider  style. 
'At  a  fixed  place  on  the  drawing  board  there  is  a  piece  of  drawing  paper 
which  shows,  in  firm  lines,  the  minimum  clearance  profile.  Attached 
to  the  pantagraph  bars  (at  the  first  crossing  point)  there  is  a  pencil  held 
to  proper  contact  with  the  paper  by  a  spring.  When  the  cross  section  of  a 
tunnel  is  to  be  taken  at  some  point  a  sheet  of  tracing  paper  is  pinned  to 
the  face  of  the  board,  over  the  drawing  paper  and  diagram  referred  to, 
and  on  it  are  traced  the  rail  level  and  vertical  center  line  of  the  tunnel 
section.  By  traversing  the  telescopic  pointer  around  the  soffit  or  roof 
and  sides  of  the  tunnel  a  correct  contour  of  the  same  is  produced  on  the 
tracing  paper,  one  twelfth  full  size.  Having  the  minimum  clearance 


RESURVEYS  1033 

profile  already  drawn  the  comparison  is  graphically  shown,  and  the  clear- 
ances can  be  readily  scaled  off  the  drawing. 

The  general  purpose  in  taking  car  clearances  is  obvious,  but  one 
specific  purpose  is  to  collect  data  to  govern  the  issuing  of  special  permits 
for  the  transportation  of  merchandise  freight  carried  on  flat  cars,  but 
which  may  be  a  few  inches  wider  than  the  cars  or  slightly  higher  than  the 
general  standard.  The  minimum  clearance  on  each  division  or  between 
certain  points  of  a  division  is  usually  represented  by  a  diagram,  and  the 
various  diagrams  for  a  road  are  of  record  in  the  general  offices  of  the 
engineering  and  transportation  departments. 

180.  Resurveys. — Many  of  the  railroads  of  this  country  were  hur- 
riedly constructed,  without  careful  surveys  or  the  filing  of  proper  records. 
As  a  consequence  irregularities  in  track  alignment  and  surface  become 
more  and  more  noticeable,  with  time,  no  reference  points  being  available, 
so  that  the  re-establishment  of  center  and  grade  lines  becomes  a  necessity, 
if  the  track  is  to  be  maintained  in  good  condition.  It  is  also  to  be  consid- 
ered that  the  attention  of  maintenance  of  way  engineers  is  being  more 
and  more  directed  to  the  relocation,  in  part,  of  many  of  the  old  lines,  to 
secure  more  favorable  grades  and  curvature,  thereby  making  it  possible 
to  increase  the  tonnage  of  trains,  or  to  equalize  the  tonnage  over  all  points 
of  the  same  division  of  the  road,  and  to  increase  the  speed  of  the  trains. 
In  connection  with  work  of  this  character  good  opportunity  is  found  for 
the  establishment  of  the  surveys  throughout  on  a  more  accurate  and  en- 
during plan.  One  of  the  principal  objects  is,  of  course,  to  establish  points 
of  curvature,  which  should  then  be  permanently  marked  with  substantial 
monuments,  which  are  treated  in  §  48.  It  is  quite  common  experience 
that  changes  are  made  which  shorten  or  lengthen  the  line,  as  the  case  may 
be,  after  the  permanent  location  has  been  run,  and  resort  is  had  to 
equated  stations,  in  order  that  each  change  so  made  need  not  affect  the 
station  numbers  of  the  entire  line  beyond.  Such  changes  also  occur  in  the 
relocation  of  a  line  for  the  reduction  or  elimination  of  curvature.  In  the 
resurvey  of  a  railway  such  equations  should  be  taken  out  and  the  line 
measured  continuously  from  the  starting  point,  changing  the  positions  of 
the  mile  posts  as  occasion  may  require.  Such  was  done  in  the  resurveys 
of  the  Detroit,  Grand  Rapids  &  Western  and  the  Chicago  &  West  Michi- 
gan roads,  and  a  piece  of  old  rail  5  ft.  long  was  set  30  ft.  to  the  left  of 
each  mile  point,  the  base  facing  the  track,  with  the  number  of  miles 
stamped  thereon. 

The  resurvey  of  a  railway  should  be  thoroughly  carried  out,  taking 
note  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  roadbed  and  right  of  way  which  are 
liable  to  become  of  use  to  the  company's  officials.  While  it  will  not  be 
necessary  here  to  go  into  the  details  of  surveying  it  should  be  said  that 
all  the  physical  features  of  any  consequence  on  the  right  of  way  and  for 
some  little  distance  off  the  right  of  way,  should  be  located  and  platted 
on  right-of-way  maps,  or  made  matters  of  record  by  descriptive  data  of 
some  sort.  Thus  it  is  important  to  accurately  locate  all  fence  lines  and  the 
boundaries  between  lands  of  separate  owners  adjoining  the  right  of  way, 
as  well  as  state,  county,  township  and  town  boundaries,  and  section  lines 
of  government  surveys.  In  work  of  this  character  it  is  also  customary 
to  locate  all  buildings  within  200  ft.,  on  each  side  of  the  center  line,  and 
in  towns  and  cities  all  property  is  sometimes  mapped  as  far  out  as  400  ft. 
each  side  of  the  line.  Accurate  data  should  be  obtained  regarding  the  im- 
portant features  and  measurements  of  bridges  and  culverts  along  the  road, 
and  in  respect  to  all  tracks,  locating  the  point  of  switch  where  one  track 
diverges  from  another.  High 'and  low  water  marks  should  be  indicated 


1034  MISCELLANEOUS 

on  the  profile  at  points  where  the  line  of  the  road  crosses  streams.  It  is 
customary  also  to  locate  the  banks  of  large  streams  for  a  distance  of  J 
mile  or  so  from  the  point  where  the  track  crosses  the  stream.  It  is  quite 
largely  the  practice  to  make  use  of  photography  in  connection  with  the 
surveys  of  the  line,  taking  a  view  of  every  company  building,  bridge, 
culvert  or  other  structure  and  of  each  road  crossing.  Photographs  are 
mounted  for  filing  and  the  negatives  are  retained. 

In  relining  track  that  has  strayed  from  the  original  center  stakes 
efforts  should  be  made  to  find  as  many  of  the  old  reference  marks  as  pos- 
sible, particularly  the  points  of  curvature.  If  these  cannot  be  found  the 
whole  line  must  be  rerun,  keeping  as  near  the  existing  alignment  as  may 
be  practicable.  Of  course  there  are  many  points  which  it  is  desirable 
or  obligatory  to  consider  fixed^  such  as  the  center  line  at  bridges,  points 
of  crossing  with  other  railways,  the  existing  center  line  opposite  station 
platforms,  at  water  stations,  through  yards,  etc.,  and  these  are  taken  for 
governing  points  on  the  new  line.  When  such  points  come  on  curves  where 
the  original  P  C/s  have  been  lost  some  study  may  be  required  in  order  to 
get  a  true  curve  to  follow  the  old  one  approximately  and  pass  through 
the  required  points.  One  way  to  do  this  is  to  plot  points  on  the  curve  at 
convenient  intervals,  as  offsets  from  one  of  the  tangents  produced,  and  then 
to  cut  and  try  with  various  calculated  curves  until  one  is  found  to  fit 
the  conditions.  In  rerunning  an  old  tangent  that  is  found  badly  out  of  line 
it  may  pay  to  first  plot  it  with  reference  to  a  preliminary  tangent,  using  an 
exaggerated  scale  for  the  offsets  measured  from  this  tangent  to  points  on  the 
track  center  400  or  500  ft.  apart.  By  means  of  this  plat  the  position  for 
the  new  line  which  will  require  the  least  work  of  realigning  the  track  from 
its  existing  location  can  be  readily  determined. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of  resurveys  reference  may  be  made 
to  track  information  or  data  sheets,  which  are  used  by  the  maintenance 
of  way  department  of  most  well  regulated  roads.  These  sheets  or  charts 
consist  of  blue  prints  or  other  drawings  on  which  are  delineated  a  plan 
and  profile  of  the  track,  together  with  all  data  useful  to  the  engineering, 
track  and  bridge  departments,  put  down  in  the  order  in  which  they  come. 
For  instance,  the  width  of  right  of  way  is  shown,  usually  on  an  exaggerated 
scale,  with  intersecting  line  fences  and  the  intersection  angle  in  each 
case,  and  the  names  of  the  landowners;  the  kind  of  right-of-way  fence, 
when  built  or  rebuilt,  and  the  location  of  snow  fences;  the  location  of 
stations  and  other  buildings  on  the  right  of  way,  and  of  buildings  near 
the  right  of  way;  the  location  of  bridges,  with  their  numbers,  and  all  open- 
ings in  the  roadbed;  the  headroom  at  through  bridges;  the  location  of 
highway  crossings,  farm  crossings,  track  signs,  cattle  guards,  cuts,  tunnels, 
culverts,  ditches,  switches  and  turnouts,  with  the  number  or  angle  of  the 
frog,  and  various  measurements  between  side-tracks  and  structures  located 
in  nearness  thereto;  the  true  bearing  of  tangents,  the  data,  relating  to 
curves;  the  dividing  points  between  sections,  with  the  number  of  the  sec- 
tion and  the  name  and  residence  address  of  the  section  foreman ;  the  kind 
of  ballast,  and  its  depth;  the  character  of  the  material  in  cuts  and  fills, 
and  the  slope;  other  important  natural  conditions  on  or  near  the  right  of 
way;  the  weight  of  the  rails  and  the  date  when  the  same  were  laid;  the 
kind  of  joint  fastening,  if  different  kinds  are  used,  or  any  devices  which 
may  be  in  use  for  experimental  purposes;  the  location  of  water  tanks, 
track  tanks,  mile  posts,  mail  cranes,  stand  pipes,  telltales,  signals  and  in- 
interlocking  devices— in  short,  the  location  of  each  thing  along  the  track 
which  can  be  of  interest  in  any  way  to  the  maintenance  of  way  depart- 
ment, should  be  shown  and  the  thing  described  as  fully  as  is  feasible.  For 


RAIL  DEFLECTION  1035 

this  purpose  the  drawings  should  be  made  to  such  scale  as  will  allow  the  data 
to  be  inserted  without  presenting  a  confused  appearance.  The  use  of  con- 
ventional signs  aids  very  much  in  elaborating  on  details  and  in  confining 
descriptive  data  to  the  smallest  possible  space;  as,  for  instance,  the  kind 
of  material  in  buildings  and  other  structures  or  the  kind  of  fence  may 
be  clearly  indicated  by  conventional  signs  or  symbols.  The  profile  is  usu- 
ally drawn  along  the  bottom  of  the  sheet,  and  broken  as  often  as  is  neces- 
sary to  keep  it  from  running  up  on  or  off  the  sheet.  It  shows  the  grades 
and  the  altitude  of  particular  points  above  sea  level.  There  .should  also  be 
shown  upon  the  sheet  the  location  of  bench  marks  for  leveling. 

The  standard  profile  sheet  of  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  division  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Lines  West  shows,  in  addition  to  the  grade  line  of  the  track 
or  top  of  rail,  a  "ground  line"  taken  20  ft.  out  on  each  side  of  the  track. 
The  grade  line  of  the  track  is  shown  in  blue,  the  ground  line  on  the  north 
side  in  full  black  and  the  ground  line  on  the  south  side  in  broken  black. 
Wherever  the  elevation  of  the  track  varies  from  the  established  grade  line 
a  black  dot  is  made  every  100  ft.  to  show  what  that  elevation  is.  These 
profiles  are  made  in  long  rolls,  each  roll  covering  about  20  miles  of  track. 
The  purpose  of  the  ground  lines  is  to  enable  one  to  make  a  rough  estimate 
of  the  grading  to  be  done  in  building  a  second  track  or  a  siding,  or  of  the- 
amount  of  earthwork  necessary  for  a  comtemplated  reduction  of  grades. 

These  drawings,  sheets  or  charts,  as  they  may  be  called,  should  be 
revised  yearly,  or  from  time  to  time  as  changes  are  made.  For  office  work 
such  a  drawing  can  be  conveniently  used  in  the  form  of  a  scroll  in  two 
rolls,  one  rolling  out  as  the  other  rolls  up,  but  for  outside  use  it  may  be 
folded  into  pocket  size  or  preferably  be  divided  into  separate  sheets  which 
are  bound  under  covers.  The  'New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  E.  1?. 
uses  data  sheets  22  ins.  long  and  10  ins.  wide  bound  in  book  form.  They 
are  drawn  to  a  scale  of  300  ft.  to  the  inch,  showing  5000  ft.  of  track  on 
each  sheet.  The  information  shown  on  each  sheet  is  of  a  more  elaborate 
character  than  is  usual  with  most  companies,  giving,  in  addition  to 
features  already  named,  a  great  deal  of  information  useful  to  the  operating* 
department,  such  as  the  taxable  value  of  all  property  adjoining  the  right 
of  way  and  the  character  of  the  land,  as  to  whether  cultivable, 'wooded,  etc.; 
a  list  of  the  names  of  agents  and  other  permanent  employees ;  a  list  of  the 
industries  in  each  towrn  furnishing  business  to  the  road;  the  name?  of 
hotels,  and  whether  express  wagons  or  carriges  may  be  found  at  the  sta- 
tion; a  list  of  the  newspapers,  etc.  The  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  uses  a  long 
sheet  6  ins.  wide,  which  is  folded  into  a  form  4x6  ins.  in  size,  for  the 
pocket.  Drawings  for  a  right-of-way  atlas  are  usually  made  to  a  scale  of 
100  to  200  ft.  to  the  inch.  The  atlases  of  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  are 
made  to  a  scale  of  100  ft.  to  the  inch  They  are  drawn  on  tracing  linen 
sheets,  24x36  ins.,  which  are  mounted  on  thin  cloth,  like  cheese  cloth,  and 
bound  into  books.  When  maps  of  this  kind  are  put  up  in  book  form  they 
should  be  bound  loosely  or  in  such  manner  that  sheets  may  be  easily  re- 
moved for  correction,  from  time  to  time,  and  then  replaced. 

181.  Rail  Deflection. — One  of  the  aims  of  engineering  is  to  reduce 
the  problems  of  practice  to  a  basis  of  computation.  Especially  is  this  true 
of  structures,  where  it  is  desired  to  know  what  duty  each  member  must 
perform,  in  order  that  it  may  be  proportioned  with  a  view  to  the  safety 
of  the  structure  and  economy  of  material.  In  modern  railway  work  all 
construction  is  designed  as  nearly  as  possible  on  this  plan.  There  are, 
however,  certain  structures  environed  by  conditions  so  far  removed  from 
satisfactory  analysis  that  calculation  beforehand  of  the  stresses  from  loads 
imposed  and  the  determination  of  the  behavior  of  the  structure  under 


1036  MISCELLANEOUS 

stress  becomes  impracticable.  In  such  cases  the  investigation  of  the  prob- 
lem is  conducted  along  experimental  lines,  usually  in  observing  the  be- 
havior of  the  structure  and  in  taking  measurements  while  the  same  is 
under  stress.  The  track  comes  within  this  category  of  engineering  prob- 
lems,, for  all  that  we  can  know  about  the  stresses  to  which  the  parts  are 
subjected  is  what  we  are  able  to  see  and  deduce  from  the  behavior  of  those 
parts  in  service.  In  fact  it  may  be  said  that,  so  far  as  railway  engineers 
have  given  attention  to  this  matter,  but  very  little  is  known. 

The  development  of  railway  rails  and  fastenings  has  not  advanced  on 
designs  formed  to  meet  certain  known  requirements  of  stress  and  deflec- 
tion, because  not  until  comparatively  recent  years  was  it  known  what 
these  stresses  and  deflections  were,  with  any  degree  of  approximation. 
From  experience  it  was  known  that  rails  weighing  50  Ibs.  per  yard  were 
strong  enough  for  the  loads  when  that  weight  of  rail  was  in  common 
sejvicc,  and  it  being  known  that  an  increase  in  the  depth  of  the  rail,  with 
a  corresponding  increase  in  the  amount  of  metal,  made  a  stronger  rail, 
it  only  remained  to  increase  the  weight  of  rail;  and  such  has  been  done, 
the  increase  in  weight  of  rails  taking  place  in  about  the  same  proportion 
as  the  increase  in  weight  of  rolling  stock,  although  perhaps  a  little  tardy  at 
times.  During  comparatively  recent  years  some  information  has  been  ob- 
tained concerning  rail  deflection  and  stresses  in  the  same,  but  it  has  had  only 
a  passive  effect,  at  most,  so  far  as  rail  design  and  track  construction 
are  concerned;  for  beyond  the  mere  matter  of  ascertaining  such  stresses 
and  deflections  from  the  few  experiments  performed  no  attention  has  been 
given  to  the  matter  of  making  use  of  the  data  in  practical  ways. 

It  would  seem  that  track  deflection  experiments  could  be  made  a 
fruitful  fleld  of  investigation.  In  connection  with  what  is  said  above 
regarding  development  in  the  weight  of  rails  it  may  be  stated  that, 
generally  speaking,  rails  have  been  strong  enough  against  breakage, 
but  the  main  question  always  has  been,  and  is  still,  as  to  what  is  the 
most  economical  weight  of  rail  for  maintenance  of  track  surface.  There 
is  some  certain  amount  of  money  which  can  be  expended  for  metal 
in  the  rails  which  will  yield  a  maximum  economy  in  track  mainte- 
nance, but  as  to  just  what  the  proper  weight  of  rail  is  for  an  assumed 
volume  of  traffic  is  not  known  with  any  close  degree  of  approxima- 
tion. We  know  that  it  costs  legs  to  maintain  the  surface  of  track  laid 
with  80-lb.  rails  than  track  laid  with  60-lb.  rails,  but  just  how  much  less 
is  not-  definitely  understood.  It  would  seem  that  a  carefully  conducted 
series  of  track  deflection  experiments  with  rails  of  different  weight  per 
yard,  laid  at  different  times  on  the  same  ties  and  roadbed,  taking  observa- 
tion of  the  deflection  and  rate  of  recovery  of  the  ballast  and  roadbed  and 
the  amount  of  permanent  deflection  of  the  same  during  certain  intervals, 
might  lead  to  more  definite  knowledge  of  the  relation  of  rail  deflection  to 
track  settlement  than  we  have  at  present.  There  are  other  matters  of  in-  ' 
vestigation  of  measurable  importance  referred  to  further  along.  In  the 
mechanical  department  of  railways,  tests  are  made  of  fuel,  engine  working, 
axle  grease,  etc. :  why  should  not  tests  be  made  of  the  track  and  roadbed, 
which  represent  a  larger  investment  than  all  other  railway  property? 

A  number  of  track  deflection  experiments  carried  out  under  the 
auspices  of  Mr.  James  E.  Howard,  of  the  United  States  arsenal  testing 
plant  at  Watertown,  Mass.,  are  of  record  and  are  prominently  known.  Tha 
first  of  these  were  made  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  E.  E.,  in  1889,  and  later 
on  others  were  conducted  as  follows :  On  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Ry.,  in  1893;  on  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.,  in  1894;  and  on  the  Boston  & 
Albany  E.  E.  again,  in  1895.  It  is  interesting  to  review  the  data  obtained 


RAIL  DEFLECTION  1037 

from  these  experiments,  not  so  much  in  contemplating  the  actual  deflec- 
tions observed  and  the  ascertained  stresses  in  the  rails,  as  in  the  study 
afforded  by  the  variation  of  the  deflections  under  different  conditions,  and 
the  irregularity  of  the  results  from  like  causes  acting  at  different  points 
on  the  same  rail  and  on  different  pieces  of  track. 

Experiments  on  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  Ry. — The  experiments  conducted  on 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Ky.  were  under  the  supervision  of  Mr. 
Howard,  assisted  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Delano,  at  that  time  superintendent  of 
freight  terminals  of  the  road.  They  were  made  at  Hawthorne,  111.,  during 
the  month  of  October,  when  the  ground  was  in  settled  condition.  The  ex- 
periments in  track  deflection  were  of  two  classes:  First,  the  deflection  of 
the  rail  was  measured  at  a  certain  fixed  point  on  the  same,  under  eacli 
wheel  of  the  locomotive,  which  was  made  to  change  its  position  at  each 
observation,  and  also  when  the  locomotive  was  in  position  to  bring  the 
point  on  the  rail  midway  of  the  space  between  each  two  adjacent  wheel  5. 
In  the  other  class  of  experiments  the  level  of  the  unoccupied  rail  was  care- 
fully taken,  after  which  the  locomotive  was  run  into  position  and  the  level 
of  the  rail  taken  at  various  points  while  under  load.  At  first  the  depression 
of  the  rail  was  taken  by  leveling  with  an  astronomical  spirit  bubble  and 
micrometer  screw  from  bench  marks  established  on  stakes  driven  into  the 
roadbed  31  ins.  from  the  rail,  but  it  was  soon  found  that  the  depression 
of  the  ground  extended  beyond  the  stakes,  when  the  bench  marks  were 
dispensed  with  and  the  leveling  was  done  from  a  cantilever  supported  10 
ft.  from  the  rail.  The  levels  taken  from  the  stakes  were  then  corrected 
for  the  depression  of  the  same  due  to  the  proximity  of  the  locomotive.  As 
the  result  of  careful  measurements  it  was  found  that  opposite  the  main 
driver  of  a  mogul  locomotive  weighing  125,000  Ibs.  the  cinder  ballast  at  a 
point  31  ins.  from  the  rail  was  depressed  .047  in. ;  at  a  point  61  ins.  from 
the  rail  it  was  depressed  .013  in.  and  at  a  point  91  ins.  from  the  rail  the 
ground  was  depressed  .001  in.  At  a  point  10  ft.  from  the  rail  no  noticeable 
depression  could  be  detected.  At  a  point  31  ins.  from,  the  rail,  in  gravel 
ballast,  the  depression  was  .036  in.  The  rail  in  this  track  weighed  66 
Ibs.  per  yard.  It  should  be  explained  that  the  ground  underneath  the 
track  where  these  experiments  were  made  was  of  firm  clay  and  the  spikes 
were  redriven  before  the  experiments  began. 

The  fiber  stresses  in  the  rails  were  determined  by  measuring  the  amount 
of  elongation  or  compression  of  the  rail  flange  by  a  micrometer  (Fig.  523) 
extending  over  a  gaged  length  of  5  ins.  on  the  top  of  the  rail  flange,  obser- 
vations being  taken  of  the  strains  when  the  wheel?  were  directly  over  the 
micrometer  and  in  all  positions  of  the  engine  when  the  micrometer  stood 
midway  of  the  spaces  between  the  wheels.  On  an  assumed  modulus  of 
elasticity  of  30,000,000  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  the  stresses  were  computed  for  the 
fibers  on  the  top  of  the  rail  flange  and  it  was  then  assumed  that  the  fiber 
stresses  on  the  bottom  of  the  flange  (which  are  the  ones  referred  to  in 
connection  with  these  experiments)  were  proportional  to  their  distance 
from  the  neutral  axis  of  the  rail. 

Before  taking  observations  of  the  depression  of  the  rail  under  load 
measurements  were  taken  of  the  wave  in  the  rail  running  in  advance  of 
the  locomotive.  With  a  mogul  locomotive  weighing  125,000  Ibs.,  on  track 
laid  with  66-lb.  rails  on  oak  ties,  in  cinder  ballast  S  ins.  deep  it  was  found 
that  an  upward  movement  of  the  rail  began  when  the  leading  wheel  was 
15  ft.  away  and  the  crest  of  the  same  (about  .0035  in.  high)  was  reached 
when  the  locomotive  was  8J  ft.  away  from  the  point  observed.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  sudden  depression  and  when  the  locomotive  had  approached  to  a 
point  ?£  ft.  from  the  point  of  observation  the  rail  had  subsided  to  its 
normal  level  or  hight. 


1038  MISCELLANEOUS 

One  of  the  locomotives  (No.  336  Class  H)  used  in  these  experiments 
was  a  mogul  weighing  110,000  Ibs.,  with  wheel  spacings  and  weight  dis- 
tribution as  shown  in  Fig.  403.  With  this  engine  standing  in  one  position 
on  main  track  laid  with  66-lb.  rails,,  17  oak  ties  to  the  rail,  gravel  ballast, 
in  such  position  that  the  truck  wheel  and  first  driver  spanned  the  joint, 
the  depression  of  the  rail  was  as  noted  on  the  diagram.  The  maximum 
depression  was  .156  in.,  under  the  main  driver.  The  depression  at  points 
between  the  drivers  is  recorded  on  the  diagram.  The  line  below  the  shaded 
part  of  the  diagram  measures  the  correction  of  each  observation  for  the 
depression  of  the  bench  mark  due  to  the  proximity  of  the  locomotive. 
With  the  same  engine  in  different  positions  on  the  same  piece  of  track 
it  was  found  that  at  a  point  2G  ins.  from  the  joint  the  rail  was  depressed 
.111  in. — .160  in. — .161  in. — and  .151  in.  as  the  truck  wheel  and  each  of 
the  drivers  respectively  were  run  into  position  over  the  point  observed. 
With  the  wheels  spanning  the  point  (that  is  when  the  engine  was  in  such 


Fig.  523. — Micrometer  for  Measuring  Strains  in  Rails. 

position  that  the  point  observed  was  midway  of  a  space  between  wheels) 
the  deflection  was  .035  to  .045  in.  less  in  each  case  than  the  average  of  the 
deflections  under  the  two  adjacent  wheels.  The  bottom  of  the  rail  wa^ 
in  tension  as  each  wheel  passed  over  the  point  observed,  and  either  in  com- 
pression or  in  a  state  of  neutral  stress  as  each  two  adjacent  wheels  spanned 
the  point.  The  deflection  of  the  rail  under  each  of  the  tender  wheels  was 
<juite  uniform,,  the  maximum  being  .112  in.  for  the  first  and  second  wheels 
each  from  the  engine,  and  the  minimum  .092  in.  for  the  rear  wheel.  The 
•depression  of  the  rail  when  each  two  of  the  adjacent  tender  wheels  spanned 
the  point  of  observation  averaged  about  .009  in.  less  than  the  average  of  the 
above  depressions  in  each  case.  With  the  rear  driver  and  front  tender 
wheel  spanning  the  point  the  depression  of  the  rail  was  .097  in. 

With  the  same  engine  on  the  same  piece  of  track,  in  different  posi- 
tions, the  fiber  stresses  per  square  inch,  as  measured  at  a  point  on  the  base 
of  the  rail  9  ft.  9  ins.  from  the  joint,  were  as  follows,  beginning  with  the 


RAIL  DEFLECTION 


1039 


truck  wheel  over  the  point  observed  and  referring  to  each  position  of  the 
engine  when  the  point  observed  was  under  each  wheel  and  midway  of  each 
of  the  wheel  spacings:  7470  Ibs.  tension — 750  Ibs.  compression — 10,450 
Ibs.  tension — 0  Ibs.  stress — 10,450  Ibs.  tension  (middle  driver) — 10,450 
Ibs.  tension  (under  rear  driver). 

With  another  mogul  locomotive  (No.  524)  of  the  same  class  weighing 
125,000  Ibs.,  on  the  same  piece  of  track,  observations  being  taken  at  a 


61201 


I&90  Us. 


. 
iG, 430  lb&\ 


.0002  * 
UOO  Iba. 


point  8  ft.  from  the  joint,  there  was  a  maximum  depression  of  .182  in. 
under  the  middle  driver,  and  about  the  same  deflection  for  each  of  the 
other  two  drivers,  The  distribution  of  the  weight  and  other  details  are 
shown  in  Fig.  476. 

Another  mogul  engine  of  the  same  class  weighing  110,000  Ibs  was  run 
upon  side-track  laid  with  66-lb.  rails  and  oak  ties  (16  to  the  rail  length) 
in  cinder  ballast  8  ins.  deep.  The  depression  of  the  rail  at  a  point  8  ft. 


1040  MISCELLANEOUS 

2  ins.  from  the  joint  was  .218  in.,  .230  in.  and  .206  in.  under  the  three 
drivers  respectively,  front  to  rear.  The  depression  from  the  truck  wheel 
was .155  in. 

With  another  engine  (No.  526)  of  the  same  class  weighing  125,000 
Ibs.,  on  the  same  piece  of  cinder-ballasted  track,  there  was  a  maximum 
deflection  of  .252  in.  at  the  first  driver,  the  point  of  observation  being 
at  a  point  on  the  rail  11  ft.  7  ins.  from  the  joint,  where  a  tie  had  been 
removed,  leaving  a  space  of  33  ins.  center  to  center  of  ties.  It,  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  no  observations  were  taken  at  this  point  before  the  tie  was 
removed.  The  deflections  as  each  of  the  drivers  passed  this  point  were 
practically  the  same,  being  .250  in.  and  .244  in.  for  the  middle  and  rear 
drivers,  respectively,  as  shown  by  diagram  in  Fig.  452.  The  maximum 
stress  in  the  rail  at  this  point  was  16,430  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  tension,  being 
the  same  for  both  the  main  and  rear  drivers  (Fig.  525).  The  tensile  stress 
under  the  truck  wheel  was  10,450  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  The  maximum  com- 
pressive  stress  was  2990  Ibs.  The  data  in  inches  on  the  strain  diagram 
shows  the  amount  of  stretch  or  compression  of  the  rail  flange.  Observa- 
tions taken  6  ft.  4  ins.  from  the  joint  on  the  same  piece  of  track  with  the 
same  engine  showed  a  maximum  tensile  stress  of  13,810  Ibs.  per  sq.  in. 
when  the  middle  driver  was  over  the  point,  and  a  maximum  compressive 
stress  of  4480  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  when  the  front  aiid  middle  drivers  were 
spanning  the  point.  The  tensile  stress  under  the  truck  wheel  was  8960 
Ibs.  per  sq.  in. 

Observations  made  on  rails  weighing  75  Ibs.  per  yd.  were  with 
locomotives  of  different  type  and  weight,  so  that  comparisons  are  not  as 
instructive  as  would  be  the  case  had  the  same  locomotives  been  used  on 
both  the  66-lb.  and  75-Lb.  rails.  Observations  were  taken  with  an  8-wheel 
passenger  engine  weighing  82,800  Ibs.  (Fig.  524).  The  track  was  a 
stretch  of  main  line  laid  withi75-lb.  rails  and  oak  ties  (18  per  rail  length) 
in  gravel  ballast.  The  point  of  observation  was  25J  ins.  from  the  joint 
and  the  depression  under  the  front  and  rear  drivers  was  .160  and  .161 
in.  respectively,  or  the  same  as  were  observed  for  the  mogul  locomotive 
2s b.  336  (Fig.  403),  and  under  practically  the  same  track  conditions,  thus 
showing  the  relative  severity  of  this  class  of  locomotives.  In  all  of  thv3 
above  experiments  the  point  of  observation  was  taken  on  the  rail  midway 
between  ties.  The  depressions  under  a  6-wheel  switch  engine  (No.  466) 
are  shown  in  Fig.  480. 

From  these  experiments  it  appears  that  the  leading  truck  wheel  de- 
velops a  higher  average  unit  fiber  stress  than  the  other  wheels,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  weight  on  the  same,  and  it  is  not  always  the  case  that  the 
greatest  depression  or  the  greatest  stress  takes  place  under  the  heaviest 
wheel  load,  as  either  may  depend  to  considerable  extent  upon  the  spacing 
of  the  wheels,  the  distribution  of  the  weight,  the  spacing  and  tamping 
of  the  ties,  and  earth  conditions.  It  was  found  that  the  recovery  of  the 
roadbed  from  the  depression  was  not  complete  immediately  upon  the  removal 
of  the  locomotive  from  the  vicinity.  While  the  principal  part  of  the  recov- 
ery took  place  at  once  a  small  portion  of  the  depression  was  very  sluggish 
in  returning  to  the  normal  hight.  The  length  of  time  required  for  the 
complete  return  of  the  roadbed  to  its  normal  state  was  not  determined. 

Experiments  on  the  P.  R.  R. — The  track  experiments  on  the  Penn- 
sylvania E.  R.  were  made  during  the  months  of  October  and  November, 
1894,  with  two  eight- wheel  passenger  engines  (Nos.  809  and  1515)  and  a 
consolidation  freight  engine,  No.  557.  Engine  Xo.  809  weighed  127,050 
Ibs.  of  which  87,300  Ibs.  was  about  equally  distributed  on  the  four  80-in. 
drivers.  The  wheel  spacings,  from  front  to  rear,  were  6  ft.  7  ins. — 8  ft. 


RAIL  DEFLECTION"  1041 

<5J  ins. — 7  ft. -9  ins.  (between  drivers).  Engine  No  1515  weighed  145,500 
Ibs.,  of  which  95,200  Ibs  was  carried  on  the  84-in  drivers,  the  first  pair 
carrying  48,500  Ibs.  and  the  second  pair  46,700  Ibs.,  which,  it  will  be 
noted,  is  very  heavy,  the  load  on  the  front  drivers  exceeding  12  tons  per 
wheel.  The  wheel  gpacings,  front  to  rear,  were  7  ft.  8  ins. — 8  ft.  3f  ins. — 
8  ft.  (between  drivers.)  Freight  engine  No.  557  weighed  124,800  Ibs., 
of  which  113,800  Ibs.  was  carried  on  the  50-in  drivers,  distributed  26,500 
Ibs. — 27,500  Ibs. — 31,300  Ibs. — 28,500  Ibs.,  on  first,  second,  third  and  fourth 
-driver  axles,  respectively.  The  wheel  spacings,  front  to  rear,  were  7  ft. 

11  ins.  (between  truck  wheel  and  first  driver)— 4  ft.  7  ins. — 4  ft.  8  ins. — 
4  ft.  7  ins. 

The  object  of  these  experiments  was  to  determine  the  fiber  stresses  in 
the  rails,  measure  the  depression  of  the  rails  and  find  the  slope  or  inclina- 
tion of  the  rails  caused  by  their  depression  under  the  weight  of  the  differ- 
ent wheels.  The  observations  for  depression  and  data  for  the  computation 
of  stresses  were  taken  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  experiments  on  the 
0.,  B.  &  Q.  Ey.  the  year  previously.  The  slope  or  inclination  tests  were 
made  by  means  of  a  sensitive  level  bubble  (Fig.  523)  mounted  on  a  frame 

12  ins.  long,  having  at  one  end  a  fixed  support  drawn  to  a  conical  point 
and  at  the  other  end  a  screw  micrometer,  as  a  means  of  adjustment.    The 
method  of  using  the  instrument  was  to  place  the  conical  points  in  center 
punch  marks  12  ins.  apart  on  the  rail  flange,  adjusting  the  instrument 
to  level  before  and  after  the  rail  came  within  the  influence  of  the  locomo- 
tive pressure,  and  then  note  the  difference  in  the  readings.     The  rails 
examined  ranged  in  weight  from  60  to  100  Ibs.  per  yard,  being  supported 
on  oak  pole  ties,  in  stone,  gravel  and  cinder  ballast.     The  observations  on 
the  various  rails  were  all  made  at  a  point  on  the  rail  quarter,  with  the 
engine  in  different  positions.     Altogether  45  distinct  sets  of  observations 
were  taken  and  diagrams  were  recorded  from  the  data  obtained. 

Among  the  numerous  observations  were  a  number  taken  to  compare 
the  unit  fiber  stresses  on  the  under  side  of  the  rail  flange,  under  the 
wheels  of  the  same  locomotive  on  rails  of  different  weight  per  yard.  Thus, 
the  average  tensile  stresses  per  sq.  in.  under  each  of  the  drivers  of  locomo- 
tive No.  809  for  60-lb.,  70-lb.  and  85-lb.  rails,  respectively,  were  10,985 
Ibs.,  17,930  Ibs.  and  11,820  Ibs.  The  track  in  each,  case  was  ballasted  with 
gravel.  From  these  results  it  appears  that  the  stresses  in  the  60-lb.  rails 
were  less  than  in  either  the  70-lb.  or  85-lb.  rails.  With  the  same  engine 
on  stone-ballasted  tracks  laid  with  60-lb.,  70-lb.,  85-lb.  and  100-lb.  rails, 
respectively,  the  corresponding  average  tensile  stresses  for  each  of  the  two 
drivers  were  19,540  Ibs.,  14,390  Ibs.,  9675  Ibs.,  and  9840  Ibs.,  per  sq.  in. 
The  peculiarity  in  this  set  of  observations  was  that  the  stresses  in  the 
100-lb.  rail  exceeded  those  in  the  85-lb.  rail.  The  average  tensile  stress 
per  sq.  in.  under  each  of  the  four  drivers  of  freight  engine  No.  557  corre- 
sponding to  60-lb.,  70-lb.,  85-lb.  and  100-lb.  rails  in  stone-ballasted  track, 
were  14,125  Ibs.,  7910  Ibs.,  7160  Ibs.,  and  5090  Ibs.,  respectively. 

The  fact  that  the  lighter  of  two  rails  in  the  first  two  sets  of  experi- 
ments underwent  smaller  stresses  for  the  same  loading  is  not  necessarily 
an  indication  of  disproportionate  stiffness.  It  must  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration that  underneath  a  locomotive  or  car  there  are  four  supports 
which  undergo  depression  and  stress:  the  rail,  the  tie,  the  ballast  and  the 
roadbed.  In  view  of  the  variable  stability  of  the  roadbed  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  a  rail  of  given  weight  per  yard  should  undergo  smaller 
stresses  than  a  heavier  rail  on  another  piece  of  track,  for  the  conditions 
of  earth  support  in  the  two  cases  may  have  been  entirely  different,  and  it 
does  not'  necessarily  follow  that  increased  stiffness  in  the  rail  could  pro- 


1042  MISCELLANEOUS 

duce  a  greater  stiffness  for  the  whole  supporting  structure,  as  between  the 
two  locations  compared.  In  fact  such  results  are  just  what  an  experienced 
trackman  would  expect.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  therefore  that  in  any 
investigation  of  the  depressions  in  track  or  stresses  in  the  rails,  not  only 
must  the  relative  stiffness  of  the  rail  be  considered,  but  the  relative  sup- 
porting powers  or  properties  of  the  ballast  and  roadbed,  in  each  case.  As 
a  means  of  illustration,  the  variable  resistance  found  in  driving  piles  at 
different  locations  in  the  same  vicinity  may  be  considered. 

For  the  purpose  of  determining  the  relative  supporting  power  of  var- 
ious kinds  of  ballast  observations  were  taken  of  rails  of  the  same  weight 
laid  on  tracks  ;in  different  kinds  of  ballast,  the  same  locomotive  being  used 
in  each  case.  With  locomotive  No.  809,  on  60-lb.  rails,  the  order  of 
rigidity  was  with  gravel,  stone  and  cinder,  the  corresponding  average  depres- 
sion under  each  of  the  two  drivers  being  .073  in.,  .162  in.,  and  .230  in. 
In  another  set  of  observations  on  tracks  laid  with  70-lb.  rails  the  order  of 
rigidity  was  found  with  gravel,  cinder  and  stone,  the  average  depression 
under  the  drivers,  corresponding  to  the  different  kinds  of  ballast,  being 
.138  in.,  .230  in.,  and  .277  in.  These  observations  would  seem  to  make 
it  appear  that  gravel  is  a  more  rigid  ballast  than  either  stone  or  cinder, 
but  in  some  observations  with  the  same  engine  on  tracks  laid  with  85-lb, 
rails  the  order  of  rigidity  was  stone  and  gravel,  the  corresponding  average 
depression  for  the  drivers  being  .144  in.  and  .233  in.  Thus  again  are  we 
obliged  to  fall  back  upon  the  variability  of  earth  support  at  individual  rails 
in  order  to  account  for  the  phenomena  observed. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  compare  the  stresses  in  the  rails  under  the 
two  passenger  locomotives  Nos.  809  and  1515,  as  showing  the  effect  of 
increase  in  wheel  weights.  On  cinder-ballasted  track  laid  with  85-lb.  rails 
the  average  tensile  stress  per  sq.  in.  under  each  driver  of  engine  No.  809 
was  10,030  Ibs.,  while  under  each  driver  of  engine  No.  1515^  at  the  same 
point  on  the  same  piece  of  track,  it  was  11,820  Ibs.  On  gravel-ballasted 
track  laid  with  85-lb.  rails  the  average  tensile  stress  under  each  driver  of 
engine  No.  809  was  11,820  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  while  under  each  driver  of 
engine  No.  1515,  at  the  same  point  on  the  same  piece  of  track,  the  average 
tensile  stress  per  sq.  in.  was  16,800  Ibs. 

It  is  also  instructive  to  compare  the  stresses  produced  by  the  drivers 
of  freight  and  passenger  engines  of  about  the  same  weight,  and  as  passen- 
ger engine  No.  809  is  but  1.8  per  cent  heavier  than  freight  engine  No. 
557,  a  good  opportunity  for  a  fair  comparison  is  here  afforded.  On  cinder- 
ballasted  track  laid  with  85-lb.  rails  the  average  tensile  stress  per  sq.  in. 
fo?  each  driver  of  the  passenger  engine  was  10,030  Ibs.,  and  the  maximum 
tensile  stress  the  same.  The  average  tensile  stress  under  each  driver  of  the 
freight  locomotive  at  the  same  point  on  the  same  piece  of  track  was  5910 
Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  and  the  maximum  stress  10,030  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  On  gravel- 
ballasted  track  laid  with  85-lb.  rails  the  average  tensile  stress  per  sq.  in. 
under  each  driver  of  the  passenger  engine  was  11,820  Ibs.  and  the  maxi- 
mum stress  12,180  Ibs.,  while  the  average  tensile  stress  per  sq.  in.  under 
each  driver  of  the  freight  locomotive  at  the  same  point  on  the  same  piece 
of  track  was  7700  Ibs.,  and  the  maximum  stress  10,030  Ibs.  On  stone- 
ballasted  track  laid  with  85-lb.  rails  the  average  tensile  stress  per  sq.  in. 
under  each  driver  of  the  passenger  engine  was  9670  Ibs.,  and  the  maximum 
stress  10,750  Ibs. ;  while  for  each  driver  of  the  freight  locomotive,  at  the 
same  point  on  the  same  piece  of  track,  the  average  tensile  stress  was  7160 
Ibs.,  and  the  maximum  stress  10,030  Ibs.  The  compressive  stresses  for  the 
rail  between  the  wheels  are  not  mentioned,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  each 
case  they  were  far  less  than  the  tensile  stresses  under  the  wheels,  the  aver- 


RAIL  DEFLECTION  1013 

age  ratio  of  the  two  kinds  of  stress  for  the  passenger  engine  being  37  to  100 
and  for  the  freight  engine  36  to  100.  It  thus  appears  that  in  each  com- 
parison of  the  effects  produced  by  the  two  engines  on  the  same  piece  of 
track  the  average  stresses  produced  by  the  freight  engine  drivers  were  far 
less  than  those  produced  by  the  drivers  of  the  passenger  engine  (ranging 
from  GO  to  75  per  cent),  while  in  no  case  did  the  maximum  stress  for  the 
freight  locomotive  exceed  that  for  the  passenger  engine.  The  conclusion 
to  be  drawn  from  these  results  is  that  locomotives  of  the  eight-wheel  type 
exert  greater  pressures  upon  track  than  consolidation  locomotives  of  the 
same  weight. 

In  this  series  of  experiments  several  sets  of  observations  were  taken 
to  show  stress  effects  under  special  conditions.  Thus  in  one  instance  a  tie 
was  removed  from  stone-ballasted  track  laid  with  100-lb.  rails,  leaving  a 
space  of  52  ins.,  between  centers  of  tie  supports.  The  maximum  tensile 
stress  per  sq.  in.  in  the  flange  of  the  rail,  developed  under  one  of  the 
drivers  of  engine  No.  809,  was  18,970  Ibs.,  while  the  maximum  stress  per 
sq.  in.  on  another  rail  of  the  same  section  (in  stone  ballast),  where  the 
ties  were  spaced  26  ins.  centers,  was  9840  Ibs.  In  a  test  on  a  34-in.,  six- 
bolt  angle  bar  at~a  suspended  joint  between  70-ib  rails,  with  joint  ties 
21  f  ins.  centers,  the  bottom  leg  of  the  splice  bar  underwent  a  maximum 
stress  of  22,140  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  when  one  of  the  drivers  of  passenger 
engine  No.  809  stood  directly  over  the  joint.  With  the  drivers  spanning 
the  joint  there  was  a  compressive  stress  of  8300  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  In  a  test 
made  with  the  same  engine  on  track  laid  with  70-lb.  rails  and  oak  ties  12 
ins.  apart  in  the  clear,  on  an  iron  girder  deck  bridge,  a  maximum  tensile 
stress  of  18,180  Ibs.,  per  sq.  in.,  was  found  in  the  flange  of  the  rail  when 
one  of  the  drivers  stood  over  a  point  midway  between  ties. 

Experiments  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  R.  R. — The  experiments  on  the 
Boston  &  Albany  E.  E.  were  made  in  February,  1895,  on  track  laid  with 
95-lb.  rails  on  yellow  pine  ties,  with  shoulder  tie  plates,  in  gravel  ballast, 
which,  at  the  time,  was  frozen.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  some  of  the 
results  obtained  with  the  observations  made  on  the  100-lb.  rails  of  the 
Pennsylvania  E.  E.  The  depression  of  the  rail  at  a  point  in  the  rail 
quarter,  under  each  driver  (69-in.)  of  an  eight- wheel  passenger  engine, 
weighing  115,700  Ibs.  and  carrying  37,500  Ibs.  on  each  driver  axle,  was 
.140  in.  It  was  found,  however,  that  by  redriving  the  spikes  before  making 
the  test  at  a  quarter  point  on  another  rail  the  depression  under  each 
driver  was  reduced  to  .085  in.  The  tensile  stress  in  the  rail  flange  at  a 
point  on  the  rail  quarter  midway  between  ties  spaced  24  ins.  centers,  was 
6870  Ibs.  and  9160  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  under  the  front  and  rear  drivers, 
respectively.  The  tensile  stress  under  the  front  truck  wheel  in  this  test 
was  high,  being  6100  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  In  seven  tests  made  at  various 
points  on  a  rail,  including  the  rail  joint,  quarter  and  center,  the  maxi- 
mum tensile  stress  was  found  to  be  11,450  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  under  the  rear 
driver,  at  a  point  on  the  rail  quarter.  In  observations  on  track  in  frozen 
ballast  it  is  doubtful  if  any  finely  drawn  conclusions  are  of  any  value, 
since  the  conditions  of  tie  support  depend  so  largely  upon  the  manner 
of  the  heaving  of  the  ground;  and  then  the  depth  to  which  the  roadbed 
is  frozen,  underneath  the  ballast,  would  make  all  the  difference  imaginable, 
since  if  only  the  ballast  was  frozen  the  support  for  the  track  would  be  only 
partially  affected. 

In  this  account  of  track  depression  and  stresses  in  the  rails  the  spaca 
devoted  to  the  subject  has  permitted  only  a  general  consideration,  making 
use  of  typical  examples.  The  reader  who  wishes  to  go  into  the  subject  in 
detail  is  referred  to  the  government  reports  on  "Tests  of  Metals  and  Other 
Materials/'  at  the  Watertown  Arsenal,  Mass.,  for  the  years  1894  and  1895. 


1044  MISCELLANEOUS 

In  the  track  deflection  experiments  considered  hitherto  the  observa- 
tions of  depression  and  strain  were  taken  with  the  locomotive  at  rest,  so 
that  the  behavior  noted  of  the  rails  and  track  was  with  statically  applied  or 
quiescent  loads.  During  subsequent  years  means  have  been  devised  and 
used  for  measuring  track  depression  and  rail  strains  under  trains  at  speed 
These  experiments  are  of  course  more  interesting,  as  then  the  track  is  put 
to  test  under  more  severe,  but  nevertheless  working,  conditions.  Such 
experiments  in  this  country,  confined  to  the  measurement  of  strains  in 
the  rail  flange,  have  been  conducted  by  Mr.  P.  H.  Dudley,  with  an  instru- 
ment of  his  invention  known  as  the  "stremmatograph."  This  instrument 
consists  of  a  micrometer  clamped  to  the  under  side  of  the  rail  flange,  over 
a  length  of  about  5  ins.,  and  provided  with  a  scriber  point  which  moves  in 
unison  with  the  elongation  or  compression  of  the  metal.  The  record  is 
taken  on  a  strip  of  polished  copper,  which  is  moved  at  right  angles  to  the 
rail  and  across  the  direction  of  movement  of  the  scriber  point,  while  an 
engine  or  train  is  passing  over  the  rail.  In  using  the  instrument  the 
scriber  point  is  set  for  recording,  and  when  the  train  is  within  a  raiPs 
length  the  metallic  strip  is  started  and  moved  continuously  while  the  wheels 
are  passing.  The  fluctuating  movement  of  the  scriber  point,  due  to  the 
stretch  and  compression  of  the  rail  fibers,  traces  upon  the  moving  metallic 
strip  a  curve  whose  ordinates,  measured  to  a  reference  line  drawn  before 
starting,  denote  the  strains  in  the  metal  for  the  various  wheel  loads.  From 
these  strains  the  unit  fiber  stresses  of  the  metal  are  computed. 

By  means  of  this  instrument  Mr.  Dudley  has  obtained  a  great  deal 
of  information  on  rail  stresses  under  moving  trains  which  has  enabled 
comparisons  to  be  made  showing  the  effect  of  speed.  Thus,  for  instance, 
in  comparing  data  obtained  with  the  same  engine,  moving  at  speeds  of 
2  and  10  miles  per  hour,  it  was  ascertained,  from  an  average  of  the  tensile 
and  compressive  stresses  in  the  rail  under  and  between  all  of  the  wheels, 
that  at  the  higher  speed  the  stresses  in  the  rail  were  increased  14.3  per  cent 
over  the  stresses  which  took  place  in  the  rail  at  the  slower  speed.  A  record 
taken  on  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  E.  R.  at  West  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  on  a  5-in.,  80-lb.  rail  laid  on  ties  spaced  25  ins.  centers,  in  gravel 
ballast,  while  an  8-wheel  engine  weighing  118,950  Ibs.,,  with  40,000  Ibs., 
41,950  Ibs.  and  37,000  Ibs.,  on  truck,  main  axle  and  rear  axle,  respectively, 
hauling  five  Wagner  palace  cars  passed  at  a  speed  of  40  miles  per  hour, 
showed  the  following  stresses  per  square  inch  on  the  under  side  of  the  rail 
flange:  Compression  in  front  of  truck  wheel,  1417  Ibs.;  tension  under 
front  tnick  wheel,  13,070  Ibs.;  tension  under  rear  truck  wheel,  12,579 
Ibs.;  tension  under  front  driver,  31,415  Ibs.;  tension  under  rear  driver, 
26,456  Ibs. ;  average  tension  under  car  wheels,  12,720  Ibs. ;  maximum 
tension  under  car  wheels,  16,534  Ibs.;  minimum  tension  under  car 
wheels,  9448  Ibs.;  maximum  compression  between  engine  wheels  (rear 
truck  wheel  and  front  driver),  5433  Ibs.;  average  compression  between 
engine  wheels,  3247  Ibs.;  average  compression  between  tender  wheels, 
1810  ibs.;  average  compression  between  car  wheels,  2057  Ibs.  The  max- 
imum compressive  stress  per  square  inch  found  between  car  wheels 
was  4960  Ibs.— between  the  rear  wheel  of  the  fourth  car  and  the  front 
wheel  of  the  fifth  car.  All  the  compressive  stresses  between  the  trucks 
of  different  cars  were  in  excess  of  the  average  compressive  stresses  be- 
tween wheels  of  the  same  car.  The  weight  of  the  cars  was  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  100,000  Ibs.  each. 

In  view  of  the  above  data  it  is  interesting  to  contemplate  the  severity 
of  the  service  imposed  upon  a  rail,  even  at  that  moderate  speed,  due  to 
the  rapid  reversal  of  the  stresses.  At  a  speed  of  40  miles  per  hour  a  train 


RAIL  DEFLECTION  1045 

runs  58  ft.  8  ins.  per  second — a  distance  which  extends  over  the  entire 
wheel  base  of  the  engine  and  tender  and  past  the  first  wheel  of  the  car  fol- 
lowing, or  past  nine  wheels.  That  is  to  say,  nine  wheels  pass  over  any 
given  point  in  the  rail  per  second,  each  causing  a  reversal  of  stress  amount- 
ing to  thousands  of  pounds  per  square  inch,  as  indicated. 

Comparing  records  obtained  from  an  80-lb.  rail  in  gravel-ballasted! 
track,  with  records  obtained  from  a  100-lb.  rail  in  stone-ballasted  track, 
a  63-ton  engine  moving  at  a  speed  of  20  miles  per  hour  developed  ten- 
sile stresses  of  11,574  Ibs.,  12,046  Ibs.  and  14,172  Ibs.  per-sq.  in.,  under 
front  truck  wheel,  front  and  rear  drivers  respectively,  on  the  80-lb.  rail; 
as  against  stresses  of  10,865  Ibs.,  4960  Ibs.  and  9448  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  for 
front  truck  wheel,  front  and  rear  drivers  respectively,  on  the  100-lb.  rail, 
from  an  engine  of  the  same  weight  and  class  running  at  a  speed  of  19  miles- 
per  hour.  In  all  of  the  experiments  on  100-lb.  rails  in  stone-ballasted  track, 
so  far  as  reported,  the  strains  produced  by  one  or  the  other  of  the  truck 
wheels  (the  front  wheel  in  every  case  but  one)  exceeded  the  strains  produced 
by  either  of  the  drivers;  whereas  on  80-lb.  rails  in  gravel-ballasted  track 
the  strains  produced  by  the  drivers  were  the  larger.  With  switching  en- 
gines having  no  truck  the  maximum  stress  was  found  under  the  front  driver. 
A  comparison  of  the  stresses  produced  by  such  an  engine  on  65-lb.  and  100- 
lb.  rails  is  especially  interesting.  The  engine  was  six-coupled,  carrying  the- 
entire  weight  of  125,000  Ibs.  upon  the  drivers.  The  speed  of  the  engine 
and  kind  of  ballast  are  not  stated,  but  tie  plates  were  in  use.  With  the- 
instrument  between  ties  spaced  at  30  ins.  centers  the  stresses  in  the  65-lb. 
rail  were  51,694  Ibs.,  22,445  Ibs.  and  23,856  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  for  the  front,, 
middle  and  rear  drivers  respectively,  while  in  the  100-lb.  rail  the  stresses 
were  8031  Ibs.,  6849  Ibs.  and  6142  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  for  the  drivers  in  thfr 
same  order. 

The  records  from  the  stremmatograph  show  that  the  dynamic  effects- 
from  the  wheels  increase  with  the  speed  of  the  train  and  with  roughness 
of  the  rails  and  treads  of  the  wheels.  The  record  above  presented  for  the 
speed  of  40  miles  per  hour  shows  that  the  stresses  were  about  double  the- 
static  effects  from  the  same  wheel  loads,  or  about  double  what  they  W3re 
found  to  be  when  the  engine  was  just  moving  over  the  track  without  exert- 
ing much  tractive  force.  With  8-wheel  engines  using  steam  in  accelerat- 
ing the  train  it  appears  that  much  the  largest  stress  takes  place  under  the 
front  driver,  which  is  undoubtedly  due  in  some  degree  to  the  vertical  com- 
ponent from  the  thrust  and  pull  of  the  main  rod,  as  explained  in  connection 
with  the  subject  of  excessive  counterbalance.  With  engines  having  more 
than  two  pairs  of  drivers  the  stresses  under  the  middle  driver  were  usually 
less  than  those  under  the  other  two  drivers.  When  engines  were  working 
hard  the  stresses  were  also  increased  under  all  the  wheels,  compared  with 
their  average  values  for  the  engine  running  at  the  same  speed  but  exerting 
only  a  small  tractive  force.  With  engines  running  at  high  speed  the  posi- 
tion of  the  counterbalance  at  the  instant  the  wheel  passed  the  stremmato- 
graph (as  shown  by  instantaneous  photographs)  had  an  important  effect, 
as  indicated  by  the  strains  measured.  The  tests  further  showed  that  the 
stresses  per  ton  of  loading  were  less  for  engines  having  more  than  two> 
pairs  of  driving  wheels  than  was  the  case  with  the  8-wheel  type  of  engine. 
The  deformation  of  the  roadbed  was  decidedly  less  for  10-wheel  and  con- 
solidation types  of  engines  than  was  the  case  with  the  8-wheel  type.  As  a 
general  thing,  the  closer  the  wheel  spacing  of  the  engine  the  less  the  fiber- 
stresses  per  ton  of  load. 

On  the  whole,  it  appears  that  maintenance-of-way  engineers  in  Europe 
have  given  more  attention  to  track  experiments  than  have  the  engineers  of" 


1046  MISCELLANEOUS 

this  country,  and  as  a  rule  they  have  gone  into  the  subject  with  greater 
elaboration.'  On  this  point  it  will  suffice  to  describe  briefly  a  series  of 
interesting  experiments  performed  on  the  Warsaw- Vienna  Ky.,  by  Mr. 
Alexander  Wasiutynski,  permanent  way  engineer.  In  order  to  eliminate 
as  far  as  possible  the  effect  of  ground  depression  and  vibration  on  the  ap- 
paratus four  brick  piers  5  ft.  3  ins.  square  at  the  bottom  and  3  ft.  3|  ins. 
square  at  the  top,  with  layers  of  felt  at  every  fifth  course  of  bricks,  were 
built  in  timber-lined  pits  7  ft.  square  and  24  ft.  3  ins.  deep,  spaced  13  ft. 
1|  ins.  apart,  c.  to  c.,  in  line,  parallel  with  the  rail,  and  14  ft.  distant  from 
it.  The  brick  piers  were  isolated  from  the  lining  of  the  pits  and  on  top 
of  the  same  were  laid  two  lines  of  rails  46  ft,  long,  on  which  to  slide  the 
observing  apparatus  parallel  to  the  track.  This  arrangement  permitted 
observations  to  be  taken  on  a  stretch  of  track  of  the  same  length,  or  past 
both  joints  on  a  rail  39  ft.  4  ins.  in  length.  In  these  experiments  the  de- 
flections were  recorded  photographically  on  diagrams,  thus  dispensing  with 
mechanical  connection  with  the  track.  The  apparatus  consisted  of  a  cam- 
era arranged  at  the  end  of  a  telescope  tube,  11  ft.  4  ins.  clear  of  the  track. 
The  exposure  was  made  through  a  narrow  vertical  slit  upon  a  sensitized 
film,  about  4J  ins.  wide  and  26.  ft.  long,  unrolled  by  clockwork  from  a 
cylinder  at  a  speed  of  2  to  8  ins.  per  second.  By  means  of  electrical  con- 
nections the  film  was  started  and  stopped  automatically  by  the  wheels  of 
the  train.  The  point  of  observation  in  each  case  was  a  spherical  mirror 
of  polished  steel  -J  in.  in  diameter,  attached  to  the  rail  or  tie,  upon  which 
was  thrown  a  strong  light  from  an  electric  arc  lamp,  which  was  reflected 
as  an  intensely  bright  spot,  or  strong  enough  to  make  an  instantaneous 
exposure.  In  this,  manner  a  wavy  line  was  photographed  upon  the  moving 
film,  representing  the  movement  of  the  point  of  observation  under  the 
weight  of  passing  wheels.  Two  instruments,  electrically  connected,  were 
used  simultaneously  at  a  known  distance  apart,  and  by  means  of  time- 
interval  exposures  upon  the  film  through  a  small  aperture  above  the  ver- 
tical slit,  it  was  easy  to  calculate  the  speed  of  the  train  and  the  distance 
of  a  wheel  at  any  instant  from  the  point  under  observation. 

The  track  at  this  point  was  on  tangent,  on  an  embankment  5  ft.  high, 
and  on  a  grade  of  about  one  tenth  of  1  per  cent.  This  embankment  had 
been  built  37  years  and  consisted  of  clayey  soil  mixed  with  some  sand. 
From  borings  it  was  found  that  the  soil  underneath  the  embankment  con- 
sisted  of  fine  sand  with  a  slight  mixture  of  silt  for  a  depth  of  33  ft.  below 
rail  level,  with  a  layer  of  coarse  sand  mixed  with  pebbles  and  clay  at  a 
depth  of  21  ft.  Water  was  found  at  a  depth  of  24  ft.,  or  at  the  foundation 
of  the  piers.  The  traffic  at  the  time  the  observations  were  taken  amounted 
to  32  passenger  trains  and  24  freight  trains  daily.  The  ballast  consisted 
of  gravel  intermixed  with  coarse  sand,  with  some  earth,  the  depth  of  the 
ballast  being  10  ins.  below  the  ties. 

In  experiments  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  compression  of  the  road- 
bed at  different  depths,  4-in.  holes  were  bored  at  depths  of  20,  39  and  59  ins., 
respectively,  and  cased  with  iron  pipe.  Pieces  of  pipe  of  smaller  diameter 
were  then  placed  within  the  casing,  extending  to  a  point  within  16  ins. 
from  the  top,  and  the  diagrams  of  depression  were  taken  of  the  movement 
of  marks  fixed  to  the  upper  end  of  the  inner  pipe.  The  diagrams  showed 
clearly  a  depression  of  the  roadbed  under  each  wheel  of  the  locomotive  at 
various  depths,  the  maximum  depressions  being  .05  in.  at  a  depth  of  20 
ins.  below  the  rail,  .03125  in.  at  a  depth  of  39  ins.  below  the  rail  and  .025 
in.  at  a  depth  of  59  ins.  below  the  rail.  At  a  depth  of  21  ins.  below  the 
bottoms  of  the  ties  the  depression  was  found  to  amount  to  only  one  fourth 
to  one  third  of  the  depression  of  the  ties.  Notwithstanding  all  the  pre- 


RAIL  DEFLECTION  .       1047 

cautions  taken  there  was  found  to  be  a  slight  vibration  in  the  piers,  the 
amount  of  which  was  ascertained  by  observations  with  the  recording  instru- 
ments during  the  passage  of  trains,  the  film  being  unrolled  first  horizon- 
tally and  then  vertically,  to  get  the  vertical  and  horizontal  oscillations  re- 
spectively. From  careful  observations  it  was  found  that  the  oscillation  of 
each  pier  was  within  .003  in.  vertically  and  .002  in.  horizontally,  showing 
that  at  a  depth  of  24  ft.  below  the  rail  and  at  a  lateral  distance  of  16 J  ft. 
from  the  center  of  the  track  there  was  sensible  elastic  depression  of  the 
ground. 

In  the  experiments  to  determine  the  bending  curve  of  GxlO-in.  oak 
ties  a  six-coupled  switch  engine  was  used  at  a  speed  of  about  6  miles  por 
hour.  The  ties  selected  were  the  two  at  the  middle  of  a  76-lb.  rail  39  ft. 
4  ins.  long,  and  observations  were  taken  on  a  point  at  the  middle  of  the  tie, 
at  the  outside  of  the  rail  seat,  and  at  the  end  of  the  tie.  In  order  to  pre- 
vent the  compression  of  the  wood  fiber  from  affecting  the  record  of  the 
depression  of  the  tie  a  hole  was  bored  through  the  tie  and  a  bolt  of  smaller 
diameter  carrying  the  point  of  observation  was  passed  through  the  tie 
and  made  fast  at  the  bottom.  It  was  found  that  with  the  middle  driver 
of  the  locomotive  midway  between  tie  supports  the  deflection  of  the  rail 
extended  over  three  ties  in  either  direction;  and  with  distances  between 
the  axles  of  the  locomotive  equal  to  two  to  three  times  the  tie  spacing,  the 
maximum  rail  load  amounted  to  39  to  44  per  cent  of  the  wheel  load.  With 
ties  8  ft.  long  the  deflections  at  the  middle  of  the  tie,  at  the  rail  seat,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  tie,  respectively,  stood  in  the  ratio  of  69  to  100  to  124, 
showing  that  the  end  of  the  tie  was  deflected  most  and  the  middle  of  the 
tie  least.  Observations  on  ties  8  ft.  10  ins.  long  showed  that  the  deflec- 
tions for  the  middle  of  the  tie,  rail  seat  and  end  of  tie,  respectively,  stood 
in  the  ratio  of  75  to  100  to  68,  showing  that  on  ties  of  this  length  the 
deflections  were  greatest  at  the  rail  seat  and  least  at  the  end.  Under  63-lb. 
rails  the  deflection  of  ties  8  ft.  10  ins.  long  was  in  the  ratio  of  '91  to  100 
to  78  for  middle  of  tie,  rail  seat  and  end  of  tie  respectively.  These  observa- 
tions are  interesting,  as  affording  data  for  the  determination  of  the  proper 
length  of  tie,  or  a  tie  which  should  deflect  the  same  everywhere  along  its 
whole  length.  From  the  results  of  these  experiments  it  would,  appear  that 
ties  8  ft.  in  length  are  too  short  and  ties  8  ft.  10  ins.  in  length  too  long. 
A  tie  8  ft.  6  ins.  long  (corresponding  to  a  depth  of  6  ins.)  is  probably  not 
far  from  the  theoretical  length,  for  standard-gage  (4  ft.  8J  ins.)  track, 
such  as  was  the  track  experimented  upon. 

Another  series  of  observations  was  made  to  determine  the  depression 
of  the  ties  at  the  rail  seat,  for  different  types  of  track.  The  experiments 
were  repeated  two  or  three  times  at  each  tie  and  an  average  was  taken  of 
the  depressions  of  all  the  ties  under  each  rail,  for  each  type  of  track,  so 
that  the  data  obtained  were  not  the  results  from  chance  observations.  The 
locomotives  running  over  the  experimental  section  were  of  two  types,  ono 
having  six  coupled  drivers  without  truck,  with  a  load  of  about  13  tons 
per  axle,  and  the  other  an  8-wheel  passenger  locomotive  with  a  load  of  15 
tons  on  each  driving  axle.  One  type  of  track  experimented  with  was  laid 
with  62-lb.  rails  19  ft.  8  ins.  long,  on  eight  6xlO-in.  oak  ties  8  ft.  long, 
spaced  19J  ins.  centers  at  the  joint,  26J  and  31J  ins.  centers,  respectively, 
for  the  next  two  ties,  and  33J  ins.  centers  for  the  intermediate  ties.  The 
joint  ties  were  provided  with  tie  plates.  The  average  depression  of  the 
ties  in  this  type  of  track  was  found  to  be  .0184  in.  per  ton  of  wheel  pres- 
sure. The  depression  of  the  ties  at  the  rail  center  exceeded  the  depression 
at  the  joints  and  quarters. 

Another  type  of  track  was  laid  with  76-lb.  rails  39  ft.  4  ins.  long,  on 


1048     '  MISCELLANEOUS 

16  ties  spaced  19J  ins.  centers  at  the  joint,  21J  ins.  centers  for  the  two 
next  ties  and  31 J  ins.  centers  for  the  intermediate  ties.  Tie  plates  were 
used  on  all  ties.  The  average  depression  of  the  ties  in  this  type  of  track 
was  .0113  in.  per  ton,  of  wheel  pressure,  or  40  per  cent  less  than  the  aver- 
age depression  for  the  track  previously  mentioned.  In  this  track  also  the 
depression  of  the  intermediate  ties  exceeded  those  of  the  joint  and  quarter 
ties. 

A  third  type  of  track  was  laid  with  76-lb.  rails  of  the  same  length  and 
8  ft.  10-in.  ties,  with  the  same  tie  spacings  as  in  the  second  type  just  noted. 
The  average  depression  of  the  ties  for  this  type  of  track  was  found  to  be 
.0091  in.  per  ton  of  wheel  pressure,  or  20  per  cent  less  than  the  deflection 
of  the  ties  in  the  preceding  type  of  track  laid  with  the  same  weight  of 
rail.  In  this  type  of  track  the  depression  of  the  ties  was  more  nearly  uni- 
form throughout  the  length  of  the  rail  than  in  the  other  tests,  but  still 
the  maximum  depressions  were  found  with  intermediate  ties.  By  chang- 
ing the  tie  spacing  so  that  the  two  joint  ties  touched  each  other,  with  the 
next  two  ties  spaced  21-J  and  25  J  ins.  centers,  respectively,  and  the  inter- 
mediate ties  spaced  33  ins.  centers,  the  average  depression  of  the  ties  was 
found  to  be  .0111  in.  per  ton  of  wheel  pressure,  or  an  increase  of  22  per 
cent  over  the  average  depression  for  the  type  of  track  with  ties  of  the 
same  length  differently  spaced.  In  this  type  of  track  the  depression 
of  the  ties  throughout  the  length  of  the  rail  was  more  nearly  uniform  than 
was  the  case  in  the  other  experiments.  It  was  found  that  accidental  causes, 
such  as  unequal  tamping  of  the  ties  and  surface  kinks  in  the  rails,  might, 
even  on  well  maintained  track,  affect  the  depression  of  individual  ties  to 
the  extent  of  50  per  cent.  A  large  number  of  quite  careful  observations 
showed  that  the  depresssion  of  the  rail  between  tie  supports  was  only 
slightly  greater  than  its  depression  over  the  ties.  The  difference  did  not 
average  more  than  .0118  inch  or  .3  millimeter  for  any  of  the  tie  spaces 
experimented  with. 

The  report  of  these  experiments  disagrees  on  a  very  important  point 
with  reports  of  almost  all  other  experiments  of  the  same  kind;  namely, 
as  to  the  effect  of  the  dynamic  action  of  the  load.  The  speed  of  trains 
and  locomotives  from  which  these  records  were  taken  varied  from  6  to  37 
miles  per  hour,  and  it  is  claimed  that  the  difference  in  the  deflection  of 
the  rails  per  ton  of  wheel  pressure  at  varying  speeds  was  unimportant.  It 
is  suggested,  however,  that  had  the  speeds  reached  50  miles  per  hour  or 
more  the  dynamic  action  of  the  load  might  have  had  a  perceptible  effect 

In  experiments  to  determine  the  efficiency  of  joint  splices  it  was  found 
that  none  of  the  patterns  experimented  with  could  effect  continuity  in  the 
line  of  depression  of  the  track.  With  no  splices  on  the  joint  the  rails 
were  deflected  independently  of  each  other,  as  would  be  expected.  By  the 
use  of  plain  angl-bar  splices  the  depression  of  the  joint  was  reduced  to 
about  half  of  what  it  was  without  any  splice  at  all.  The  most  efficient 
splice — that  is  the  one  which  permitted  the  least  depression  of  the  joint — 
was  a  6-bolt  Z-bar  splice,  or  an  angle  bar  splice  with  vertically  depending 
flanges  between  the  joint  ties,  resembling  very  much  the  Churchill  joint, 
used  in  this  country,  but  without  the  base  plate  and  lower  bolts  used  with 
that  device.  The  conclusion  reached  was  that  with  any  joint  splice  in 
service  the  depression  of  the  joint  can  be  reduced  only  approximately  to 
the  depression  at  the  middle  of  the  rail,  and  this  only  by  spacing  the  joint 
ties  closer  together  than  the  intermediate  ties. 

It  should  be  explained  that  the  different  types  of  track — i.  e.,  rails 
of  different  length  and  section,  ties  of  different  length  and  variously  spaced, 
different  patterns  of  splice  bars,  etc.,  for  the  different  series  of  experi- 


VARIATIONS  FROM  STANDARD  GAGE  1049 

ments — were  all  laid  upon  the  same  stretch  of  roadbed  at  different  times. 
Subsequently  the  gravel  ballast  was  removed  and  replaced  with  broken 
granite  of  If  ins.  size.  One  reason  for  making  this  change  was  to  inves- 
tigate the  influence  of  the  improvement  of  the  ballast  on  the  stiffness  of  the 
track,  but,  contrary  to  expectations,  the  results  did  not  show  an  increase 
in  this  respect.  Observations  showed  that  the  depression  of  roadbed  under 
the  ballast  was  affected  by  the  type  of  the  rail  and  by  the  length  of  the 
ties,  but  not  by  the  change  in  the  ballast.  It  was  therefore  concluded  that 
the  superiority  of  broken  stone  ballast  depends  upon  other  qualities  than 
that  of  relative  stiffness  imparted  to  the  roadbed  underneath. 

182.  Variations  from  Standard  Gage. — In  the  United  States,  Can- 
ada, England  and  in  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe  (Russia  and  Spain 
excepted)  the  standard  track  gage  is  4  ft.  8J  ins.  or  1.435  meters.  In  this 
country  all  car  wheels  are  gaged  with  reference  to  this  standard,  or  to 
what  is  generally  known  as  the  Master  Car  Builders'  standard  wheel  gage. 
Nevertheless,  aside  from  the  practice  of  widening  gage  on  curves,  there  is 
a  large  mileage  of  track  laid  to  a  gage  of  4  ft.  9  ins.  This  is  the  gage  of 
the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Ey.,  the  Southern  Ey.  and  of  many  other  roads  in 
the  South.  The  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  works  to  the  principle  of  4  ft.  8£ 
ins.  as  the  gage  of  its  passenger  tracks  and  4  ft.  9  ins.  as  the  gage  of  its 
freight  tracks;  that  is,  the  single-track  and  double-track  lines  are  laid  to 
a  gage  of  4  ft.  SJ  ins.,  but  on  three-track  and  four-track  lines,  where  one 
or  more  tracks  are  devoted  exclusively  to  the  freight  service,  the  gage  of 
the  freight  tracks  is  4  ft.  9  ins. 

Nominally,  4  ft.  9  ins.  passes  for  standard  gage,  the  half -inch  varia- 
tion being  regarded  as  an  irregularity  of  standard  practice.  The  reasons 
given  in  explanation  of  this  irregularity  are  various  and  not  without  inter- 
est. So  far  as  the  southern  roads  are  concerned,  4  ft.  9  ins.  has  been  the 
standard  since  1886,  when  the  gage  of  many  thousands  of  miles  of  track 
was  changed  from  5  ft.  to  4  ft,  9  ins.  It  is1,  said  that  the  reason  for  adopt- 
ing this  gage  at  that  time  was  the  impossibility,  in  many  cases,  of  setting 
the  gage  of  locomotive  drivers  back  sufficiently  to  fit  standard  track.  As 
it  was  practicable  to  set  them  back  to  fit  a  gage  of  4  ft.  9  ins.,  and  as  that 
gage  would  accommodate  all  cars  of  standard,  gage,  it  was  therefore  gener- 
ally adopted  by  the  roads  making  the  change.  But  experience  with  this 
gage  has  induced  many  to  continue  using  it.  Concerning  the  amount  of 
side  play  in  the  wheels  that  is  necessary  for  the  proper  running  of  the  cars 
there  are  widely  varying  views,  with  various  shades  of  opinion  coming  in 
between.  The  great  majority  of  railway  engineers  consider  that  f  in.  is 
sufficient,  this  being  the  side  play  of  new  wheels  gaged  to  the  M.  C. 
B.  standard  and  running  on  track  gaged  to  4  ft  8-J  ins.  As  the 
\vheel  flanges  wear,  the  side  play  increases  to  double  or  even  three  times 
this  amount.  On  the  other  hand,  the  people  who  prefer  the  4-ft.  9-in.  gage 
approve  of  f  in.  of  side  play  to  start  with,  and  the  wheel  flanges  are  al- 
lowed to  wear  to  the  limit  of  If.  ins.  side  play, -which  is  certainly  plenty. 
Others  (but  comparatively  few  in  number)  have  taken  the  view  that  a 
compromise  is  obviously  safe,  and  have  accordingly  split  the  difference 
and  made  the  gage  4  ft.  8f  ins.  The  Macon  &  Birmingham  Ey.  was  one 
of  the  roads  which  adopted' this  gage  as  standard. 

At  one  time  there  was  a  good  deal  of  carelessness  in  gaging  freight  car 
wheels,  and  the  tight  running  of  an  occasional  pair  of  wheels  too  widely 
gaged  was  an  argument  in  favor  of  retaining  the  4-ft.  9-in.  gage  for  the 
track.  The  general  observance  of  the  M.  C.  B.  standard,  which  now  pre- 
vails, has  overcome  the  difficulties  in  this  respect.  Some  claim  to  have  as- 
certained by  experiment  that  an  engine  can  haul  more  freight  cars  on  a 


1050  MISCELLANEOUS 

gage  of  4  ft.  9  ins.  than  on  the  standard  gage  of  4  ft.  8J  ins.,  but  that  pas- 
senger trains  run  steadier  on  standard  gage,  although  requiring  a  small  mar- 
gin of  excess  power  to  propel  them.  This  view  concerning  the  easier  run- 
ning of  freight  cars  with  widening  of  the  gage  is  much  disputed,  bub 
with  certain  roads  where  the  freight  traffic  predominates  it  is  the  chief 
consideration  for  retaining  the  4-ft.  9-in.  gage.  Another  consideration , 
which  finds  some  support  is  the  recognized  necessity  for  widening  gage  on 
curves.  It  is  quite  extensively  the  practice  to  widen  gage  as  much  as  J 
in.  on  sharp  curves,  and  som,e  who  incline  to  a  preference  for  standard 
gage  under  ordinary  conditions  have  adopted  it  (4  ft.  8J  ins.)  for  dis- 
tricts where  the  line  is  mostly  straight  and  curvature  light,  but  on  parts 
of  the  line  where  there  is  a  great  deal  of  heavy  curvature,  the  gage  is 
made  4-  ft.  9  ins.  throughout,  and  no  widening  is  done  on  the  curves. 

The  preponderance  of  engineering  opinion  supports  the  view  that 
the  closer  the  track  and  wheel  gages  correspond  the  steadier  the  cars  will 
run;  and  a  considerable  number  make  no  exception  even  with  curves,  ex- 
cept where  it  is  actually  shown  that  widening  of  the  gage  is  made  necessary 
by  the  wheel  base  conditions  of  the  locomotives.  Such  opinion  is,  of  course, 
favorable  to  standard  gage  proper,  and  the  principal  objections  to  a  gage 
of  4  ft.  9  ins.  are  as  follows :  The  increased  side  play  of  the  wheel  flanges 
permits  excessive  side  oscillations  of  freight  cars,  with  the  result  that  the 
track  is  frequently  knocked  out  of  line.  The  increased  side  play  of  the 
wider  gage  permits  a  greater  degree  of  slewing  or  "cornering"  of  car 
trucks,  particularly  under  heavily  loaded  cars  that  are  down  on  their  side 
bearings.  The  result  is  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  obliquity  of  flange 
contact  with  the  rails,  increased  train  resistance  and  more  rapid  wear  of 
wheel  flanges.  The  wider  flangeway  through  frogs  required  by  the  wider 
gage  reduces  the  area  of  possible  wheel-bearing  surface  and  results  in 
more  rapid  wear  than  with  standard,  gage.  A  good  paper  ("Standard  Car 
and  Track  Gages")  which  elaborates  on  some  of  these  points  was  prepared 
by  Mr.  C.  C.  Dunn  and  presented  before  the  Eoadmasters'  Association  of 
America,  in  1899. 

The  tendency  is  all  the  time  toward  standard  gage.  Occasionally  a 
road  which  has  maintained  4-ft.  9-in.  gage  will  decide  to  make  the  change, 
and  as  the  rails  are  renewed  the  gage  is  gradually  drawn  in  without  ap- 
preciable extra  expense.  The  Indiana,  Decatur  &  Western  Ey.,  the  New 
York,  Susquehanna  &  Western  E.  E.  and  the  Atlanta  &  West  Point  E.  E. 
were  some  of  the  roads  that  were  pursuing  this  policy  in  1901.  The  expe- 
rience of  one  engineer  was  stated  as  follows :  "I  had  the  gage  of  our  road 
changed  last  year  from  4  ft.  9  ins.  to  4  ft.  8-J  ins.  I  think  the  standard 
is  much  better  than  the  wider  gage,  and  I  know  that  since  the  change  the 
trains  ride  better.  I  see  no  need  of  4-ft.  9-in.  gage  in  any  case." 

183.  Automatic  Block  Signals  and  Track  Circuits. — Automatic 
block  signals  are  generally*  arranged  to  give  their  indications  under  the 
control  of  a  track  circuit.  The  same  device  is  also  used  in  some  systems 
of  highway  crossing  alarms,  and  to  some  extent  in  connection  with  inter- 
locking, as  explained  in  §  83.  The  basis  of  a  track  circuit  is  a  section  of 
track  in  which  the  two  lines  of  rails  are  insulated  from  electrical  con- 
nection with  each  other  and  also  from  the  abutting  rails  at  the  ends  of 
the  section.  The  circuit  is  completed  by  a  battery  connected  across  from 
rail  to  rail  at  one  end  of  the  section  and  by  a  relay  in  connection  with  the 
two  lines  of  rails  at  the  other  end  of  the  section.  The  circuit  is  thus  seen 
to  be  a  closed  one,  and  normally  there  is  a  current  flowing  through  all 
parts  of  it.  To  insure  good  electrical  connections  throughout  the  circuit 
the  rail  joints  are  bonded  around  the  splice  bars  with  iron  or  copper  wires 


AUTOMATIC  BLOCK  SIGNALS  AND  TRACK  CIRCUITS  1051 

fastened  in  holes  drilled  in  the  web  or  flange  of  the  rails.  To  provide 
against  breakage  it  is  customary  to  use  two  bond  wires  at  each  joint,  and 
as  a  means  of  protection  they  are  .commonly  run  behind  the  splice  bars; 
that  is,  through  the  open  space  between  the  splice  bar  and  web  of  the 
rail.  In  some  locations  they  corrode  more  rapidly  behind  the  splice  bars 
than  outside  them,  and  when  laid  in  this  manner  the  larger  part  of  the 
wire  is  hidden  from  inspection.  For  such  reasons,  pro  and  con,  both  meth- 
ods are  extensively  found  in  practice.  The  insulation  between  the  two 
lines  of  rails  in  the  circuit  is  afforded  by  the  wooden  ties,  and  between 
rails  which  come  in  abuttal  at  the  ends  of  the  section  insulaiecUsplice  bars 
and  joint  filling  are  used. 

To  break  the  cross  connection  between  the  two  lines  of  rails  at  switch- 
es, it  is  sometimes  arranged  to  have  the  open,  point  rail  lift  from  the  slide 
plates  when  the  switch  is  closed.  This  is  done  by  means  of  iron  wedges 
spiked  to  the  ties  alongside  (but  not  touching)  the  slide  plates,  in  two  or 
three  places.  When  the  switch  is  closed  the  open  point  rail  rests  on 
these  wedges  clear  of  the  slide  plates,  but  in  throwing  the  switch  to  open 
it  the  open  point  is  then  moved  off  the  wedges  and  let  down  upon  the 
slide  plates.  In  this  position  of  the  switch  the  track  circuit  is  shunted. 
Another  arrangement  is  to  cut  out  a  section  of  the  through  rail  by  insulat- 
ing a  joint  each  side  of  the  switch,  and  then  connect  around  the  rail  so 
cut  out  by  means  of  an  insulated  wire  run  underground.  By  this  method 
the  track  circuit  is  not  shunted  in  either  position  of  the  switch.  Still  an- 
other arrangement  is  to  insulate  the  switch  rods  and  a  joint  in  the  lead 
rail.  The  switch-rod  insulation  may  consist  of  sheet  fiber  placed  between 
the  clip  and  the  point  rail,  with  insulation  bushings  and  washers  for  the 
bolts;  or  the  switch  rod  may  be  cut  in  two  in  the  middle,  with  the  two 
pieces  joined  by  T-ends  bolted  together  with  insulation  fiber  between 
them.  At  crossovers  the  connection  is  broken  by  insulating  a  joint  in  both 
lines  of  rails  between  the  two  tracks.  At  crossings  with  other  tracks  joints 
are  insulated  on  either  side  of  the  crossing,  on  both  lines  of  rails,  and  jump 
wires  are  laid  underground  to  run  around  the  insulated  section  and  thus 
cut  the  crossing  out  of  the  circuit.  At  sidings  an  insulated  joint  is  placed 
at  or  beyond  the  clearance  point,  on  each  side  of  the  track,  and  between 
this  and  the  switch  there  is  an  insulated  section  in  the  outer  rail  of  the 
turnout  which  is  electrically  connected  with  the  far  rail  of  main  line,  so 
as  to  virtually  form  a  part  of  the  track  circuit.  An  engine  or  car  on  the 
siding  within  fouling  distance  of  main  line  will  therefore  short-circuit 
the  track  relay  in  the  same  manner  as  would  a  train  on  main  line,  and 
hence  would  cause  the  signal  governed  by  this  track  section  to  stand  at 
danger.  Such,  in  brief,  describes  the  methods  of  connecting  and  insulat- 
ing rails  in  simple  track  circuits. 

In  nearly  all  systems  of  automatic  block  signaling,  the  track  is  divided 
into  insulated  sections  or  blocks,  with  a  signal  placed  at  or  near  the  en- 
trance to  the  block  and  a  track  battery  at  the  distant  end,  connected  as 
above  explained.  Normally  there  is  a  current  flowing  out  of  the  battery  into 
one  line  of  rails,  thence  through  the  relay  controlling  the  signal,  and  then 
back  through  the  other  line  of  rails  into  the  other  terminal  of  the  battery. 
When  a  train  arrives  on  the  block  the  rails  of  the  track  circuit  are  con- 
nected across  or  shunted  through  the  wheels  and  axles,  and  as  the  resist- 
ance by  this  path  is  very  low  compared  with  that  through  the  relay,  the 
current  is  short-circuited  and  cut  off  from  the  relay;  that  is  to  say,  prac- 
tically all  of  the  current  flows  across  through  the  wheels  and  axles  and 
almost  none  through  the  relay.  The  relay  then  loses  its  magnetism  and 
the  armature  drops,  opening  or  closing  a  local  circuit  which  operates  or 


1052  MISCELLANEOUS 

directly  controls  the  signal  and  causes  it  to  go  to  danger.  The  agency  for 
operating  the  signal  may  be  gravitation,  compressed  air,  an  electric  bat- 
tery, electricity  from  a  power  circuit;  or  carbonic  acid  gas  stored  under 
pressure,  in  liquid  form,  in  a  tank  at'  the  foot  of  the  signal  post.  The 
battery  for  the  signal  circuit  is  usually  of  higher  intensity  than  the  track 
battery.  In  any  event  the  current  in  the  signal  circuit  must  be  powerful 
enough  to  set  in  motion  the  mechanism  which  actuates  the  signal.  In  one 
system  this  mechanism  is  a  weight  and  clockwork,  in  another  it  is  a  cylin- 
der and  piston  operated  by  air  or  gas  pressure  through  valves  controlled 
by  the  signal  circuit;  in  another  it  is  an  electric  motor  and  in  another  it 
is  an  electro-magnet,  either  of  which  is  usually  operated  by  batteries  in 
the  signal  circuit.  After  the  train  passes  off  the  block  (or  the  overlap 
in  advance  of  it,  in  case  the  overlap  is  used)  the  current  of  the  track  bat- 
tery again  flows  through  its  normal  path,  energizing  the  relay  which  con- 
trols the  signal  and  causing  the  signal  to  be  restored  to  its  normal  position. 
In  one  system  the  signal  stands  normally  at  clear  and  in  another  it  stands 
normally  at  danger.  In  the  "normal  danger"  system  the  signal  stands  at 
danger  at  all  times  except  when  cleared  by  a  train  entering  the  block  in 
the  rear,  and  this  can  be  done  only  when  the  block  in  advance  is  clear; 
if  it  remains  at  danger  the  engineer  is  thereby  notified  that  the  block  is 
occupied. 

The  description  thus  far  has  taken  into  account  only  one  signal  afc 
the  entrance  to  each  block,  and  such  applies  to  practice  quite  extensively. 
It  is  also  common  practice  to  use  two  signals  at  the  entrance  of  each  block : 
one  a  home  signal  for  the  block  (suppose  it  to  extend  from  A  to  B)  and 
the  other  a  distant  signal  for  the  next  block  ahead  (B  to  C).  This  distant 
signal  (at  A)  moves  in  harmony  with  the  home  signal  (at  B)  of  the  block 
for  which  it  gives  the  indications.  The  control  of  the  distant  signal  is  ef- 
fected by  the  movement  of  the  home  signal  with  which  it  belongs,  and  the 
connection  may  be  through  a  line  wire  or  through  the  track  circuit  between 
them ;  that  is,  the  same  track  circuit  (A  to  B)  controls  the  home  signal  of 
its  block  (A  to  B)  and  the  distant  signal  for  the  next  block  ahead  (B  to  C) . 
The  home  signal  (at  A)  is  controlled  by  its  track  circuit  and  relay  in  the  or- 
dinary manner,  but  the  distant  signal  (at  A)  is  controlled  by  a  polarized 
relay  which  is  not  operative  except  when  the  direction  of  the  current  through 
the  track  circuit  is  reversed  by  the  action  of  a  circuit  breaker  on  the  home 
signal  at  B.  In  automatic  block  signaling  various  types  of  signals  are 
used:  the  disk,  the  banner,  the  banjo  and  the  semaphore.  The  foregoing 
discribes  the  purpose  of  track  circuits  and  the  manner  in  which  certain 
arrangements  of  signals  are  controlled  by  them.  It  is  not  intended  to  ga 
further  into  the  subject  of  signal  mechanisms,  their  arrangement  and  their 
operation,  but  as  track  circuits  are  constantly  under  the  care  of  the  track- 
men, if  not  nominally  in  their  charge,  it  is  appropriate  to  consider  them 
in  some  further  detail. 

Owing  to  the  poor  insulation  of  the  rails  from  the  ground  it  is  neces- 
sary to  use  a  track  battery  of  low  voltage.  Usually  it  consists  of  two  cells 
of  the  gravity  type  (ordinary  telegraph  jars)  connected  in  the  circuit  in 
parallel,  giving  the  same  voltage  as  one  cell  but  twice  the  current  capacity. 
To  remove  the  battery  from  the  action  of  frost  it  is  usually  lowered  into 
a  well  5  or  6  ft.  deep,  consisting  of  a  long  wooden  box  or  piece  of  iron 
pipe  sunk  into  the  ground  and  tightly  covered.  As  the  leakage  through 
the  ties  and  ballast  in  wet  weather  is  usually  considerable,  and  in  propor- 
tion to  the  length  of  the  circuit,  it  is  not  practicable  to  operate  track  cir- 
cuits longer  than  2000  ft.  to  a  mile  in  length,  according  to  the  quality 
of  the  ballast.  The  conductivity  of  slag  and  dirt  ballast  are  relatively 


AUTOMATIC  BLOCK  SIGNALS  AND  TRACK  CIRCUITS  1053 

high,  and  these  materials  give  more  trouble  than  other  kinds.  Cinder 
•comes  next,  with  gravel  relatively  low  and  broken  stone  lowest  and  least 
troublesome  of  all.  Where  the  length  of  a  block  exceeds  the, feasible  length 
of  track  circuit,  two  or  more  track  circuits  are  used  in  succession,  each 
supplied  with  a  battery  and  relay.  The  relay  of  one  section  may  be  con- 
nected in  to  open  or  close  the  circuit  next  in  series,  or  the  signal  wire 
•circuit  may  be  run  through  the  relays  of  all  the  sections  in  the  block. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  working  principle  of  a  trackjcircuit  is  the 
demagnetization  of  the  relay  forming  part  of  the  same,  it  is  obvious  that 
-a  break  in  the  circuit  will  accomplish  the  same  result  as  the  presence  of 
a  car  or  train  on  the  circuit.  The  track  circuit  will  therefore  detect  a 
broken  rail  which  pulls  apart,  as  it  is  very  liable  to  do  if  broken  in  cool 
weather.  By  placing  a  circuit  breaker  in  the  track  circuit,  to  be  actuated 
by  the  movement  of  the  point  rails  at  a  switch,  the  opening  of  the  switch 
is  made  to  do  the  same  thing;  that  is,  to  open  the  track  circuit  and  cause 
the  signal  to  go  to  danger.  The  arrangement  in  this  case  is  .to  connect 
the  circuit  breaker  around  an  insulated  joint  in  the  track  circuit,  and 
should  the  insulation  fail  the  circuit  breaker  would  then  be  out  of  circuit 
and  the  opening  of  the  switch  might  not  be  indicated  by  the  signal.  To 
provide  against  such  danger  it  is  usual  practice  to  carry  the  signal  circuit 
through  the  circuit  breaker,  by  means  of  a  line  wire;  and  to  make  doubly 
sure  some  run  both  track  and  signal  circuits  through  the  circuit  breaker 
at  the  switch.  This  circuit  breaker  opens  immediately  the  switch  rail 
begins  to  move  from  its  closed  position.  As  any  metallic  connection  across 
from  rail  to  rail  will  set  the  signals,  the  same  as  a  train  on  the  block,  it  i* 
the  practice  of  some  roads  where  automatic  block  signals  are  used  to  in- 
sulate the  cross  bar  of  iron  track  gages,  and  the  axles  of  hand  cars  from 
the  wheels. 

Insulated  Joints.— The  original  method  of  insulating  joints,  and  one 
that  is  followed  extensively,  is  to  place  a  fiber  "end  piece"  or  templet  of 
the  rail  section  in  the  joint  opening  and  splice  the  rails  with  long  wooden 
bars  3  or  4  ins.  thick.  To  strengthen  the  splice  as  much  as  possible  the 
wooden  bars  are  sometimes  reinforced  with  old  angle  bars  or  fish  plates 
cut  in  two  and  separated  at  the  middle.  For  insulating  purposes  this 
device  is  efficient,  and  the  most  reliable  of  any,  but  it  possesses  no  strength 
vertically,  and  under  heavy  traffic  a  good  deal  of  attention  is  required  to 
keep  such  joints  tamped  to  surface.  The  alternative  type  of  joint  splice 
insulation  consists  in  lining  metal  splice  bars  with  fiber  sheets  and  using 
fiber  bushings  on  the  bolts.  One  plan  is  to  plane  off  ordinary  angle  bars 
to  make  room  for  the  fiber.  Of  the  many  patented  devices  on  the  market 
the  Weber  pattern  is  very  well  known  and  extensively  used.  The  parts 
are  something  similar  to  those  of  the  ordinary  Weber  joint  splice  (En- 
graving F,  Fig.  18).  There  is  a  metal  shoe  angle  or  base  plate  lined  with 
insulation  fiber  plate,  that  is  used  with  wooden  splice  bars  or  "fillers"  and 
fiber  bolt  bushings.  In  principle  it  is  a  wooden  splice  with  a  metal  base 
support  of  L-shaped  section  which  imparts  a  vertical  stiffness  to  the  joint 
that  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  wooden  splice  bars.  The  Wayland 
insulated  joint  splice  is  similar  except  that  the  vertical  leg  of  the  angle 
base  plate  does  not  extend  as  high  as  the  line  of  splice  bolts,  and  it  has  in 
addition  two  bolts  passing  vertically  through  the  outside  wooden  splice 
bar  and  the  base  plate.  The  Neafie  insulated  joint  splice  consists  of  a 
shallow  steel  channel  for  a  base  plate,  with  an  insulation  shim  and  wooden 
splice  bars.  At  the  ends  of  the  base  channel  the  vertical  flanges  are  flat- 
tened out  and  punched  for  spikes.  Each  wooden  splice  bar  is  secured  to 
the  base  plate  by  two  vertical  bolts.  The  Atlas  joint  splice  consists  of  two 


1054 


MISCELLANEOUS 


malleable  iron  bars  fitting  the  rail  like  angle  bars,  but  grooved  to  fish  with 
the  bottom  as  well  as  the  top  of  the  rail  flange,  like  the  Continuous  splice 
(Engr.  E,  Fig.  18).  The  sides  of  the  bars  are  ribbed  transversely,  and 
there  are  depending  lugs  with  two  bolts  under  the  rails  to  draw  the  bars 
securely  together  at  the  bottom.  As  this  splice  is  shaped  by  molding,  it 
is  readily  made  for  step  joints  and  is  much  used  for  a  compromise  splice. 
The  Atlas  insulated  joint  splice  is  of  the  same  pattern,  being  fitted  with 
wood  fiber  insulation  sheets  at  the  fishing  surfaces  and  with  fiber  bushings 
for  the  splice  bolts  which  pass  through  the  rail  web. 

Maintenance. — The  maintenance  of  insulated  joints  is  a  matter  at- 
tended with  no  little  trouble.  Under  heavy  traffic  the  wooden  fillers  or 
splice  pieces  break  and  the  insulation  fiber  is  cut  out  or  broken  up.  Dur- 
ing wet  weather  the  fiber  becomes  water  soaked  and  rapidly  deteriorates. 
Eespecting  the  first  difficulty,  the  service  of  the  insulating  material  can 
be  much  prolonged  by  keeping  the  joint  ties  tamped  up  to  surface.  When 
the  joint  is  allowed  to  get  down  or  the  bolts  to  get  loose  the  working  of 
the  rail  ends  vertically  breaks  up  the  fiber  and  destroys  the  insulation. 
To  make  the  insulating  material  impervious  to  water  it  is  the  practice  on 


Fig.  526.  —  "Standard"  Railway  Crossing  Gate. 


the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.  to  unbolt  the  splice  occasionally,. 
brush  the  parts  clean  of  dust  and  oxide  scale  and  then  coat  the  insulating 
shims  and  liners  and  contact  surfaces  of  the  rail  with  black  oil.  With  a 
view  to  reduce  leakage  from  rail  to  rail  during  wet  weather,  as  far  as  may 
be  practicable,  the  ballast  should  be  dressed  off  clear  of  the  rails.  As  old) 
rails  are  usually  covered  with  oxide  of  iron,  which  is  a  poor  conductor,  the 
leakage  of  current  between,  them  through  contact  with  the  ballast  is  less 
than  from  new  rails.  It  is  said  that  the  leakage  through  ties  treated  with 
chloride  of  zinc  is  considerably  more  than  through  untreated  ties. 

184.  Crossing  Gates.  —  At  busy  highway  crossings  in  towns  and 
cities,  and  in  many  other  places  where  the  view  along  the  track  is  obscured 
by  curves,  buildings,  trees,  etc.,  railroad  companies  are  frequently  required 
to  give  warning  of  approaching  trains.  This  is  done  either  by  a  flagman 
stationed  at  the  crossing,  by  automatic  alarm  bells  or  by  railway  gates. 
Automatic  crossing  alarms  are  usually  worked  by  electricity,  being  con- 
trolled either  by  track  circuits  with  batteries,  like  automatic  block  signals,: 
described  in  the  previous  section,  or  by  a  circuit  opened  and  closed  by  the 
motion  of  a  treadle  that  is  actuated  by  the  wheels  of  the  approaching  train,. 
or  by  the  undulations  of  the  rail  underneath  the  same.  Such  a  treadle, 
known  as  a  "track  instrument/'  consists  of  a  lever  pivoted  to  bring  one 
arm  at  the  side  of  the  rail  head  and  slightly  above  it,  so  that  it  will  be 
depressed  by  passing  wheels:  or  this  arm  may  extend  under  the  base  of 


CROSSING  GATES 


1055 


the  rail  and  receive  its  motion  from  the  undulations  of  the  same  while 
trains  are  passing. 

The  typical  railway  crossing  gate  consists  of  a  light  wooden  arm 
swinging  vertically  on  a  post  at  the  curb  line.  At  narrow  streets  or  roads 
the  arm  may  reach  entirely  across  the  highway,  but  where  this  is  not  prac- 
ticable a  gate  is  placed  on  either  side  of  the  street  and  the  swinging  arms 
meet  in  the  middle.  As  travel  must  be  shut  out  from  both  sides  of  the 
railroad,  this  arrangement,,  which  is  quite  general,  requires  four  gates. 
The  gate  arms  are  sometimes  as  long  as  55  ft.,  and  in  some  cases  where 
trolley  wires  would  interfere  with  the  movement  of  a  straight"  arm,  the 
latter  is  jointed  at  a  suitable  point  and  the  end  section  folds  up  automatic- 
ally like  a  jack-knife,  while  the  arm  is  swinging  past  the  wire,  and  extends 
the  gate  when  the  arm  is  lowered.  To  obstruct  the  sidewalk  behind  the  gate 
post  there  is  usually  a  short  arm  (Fig.  527)  geared  to  swing  in  unison 
with  the  longer  arm  that  extends  across  the  street.  The  gate  posts  usually 
stand  about  4  ft,  high,  and  to  minimize  the  force  required  to  operate  the 
gate  the  arm  is  counterbalanced  ( C,  Fig.  526).  The  simplest  arrangement 
for  operating  the  gates  of  a  crossing  is  a  crank  on  one  of  the  posts  geared 
to  the  arm,  with  underground  chain  or  wire  connections  with  the  other 
posts.  It  is  preferable,  however,  and  most  extensively  the  practice,  to  have 
the  gateman  and  the  means  for  operating  the  gates  in  an  elevated  cabin 
or  tower,  from  which  a  clear  vieAV  may  be  had  along  the  track.  The  means 
for  operating  the  gates  from  a  tower  may  be  a  lever,  with  chain  or  pipe 
line  connections  with  the  posts,  or  an  air  pump  with  pipes  for  conveying 
pressure  to  mechanisms  at  the  posts. 


Fig.  527. — Wilson  Railway  Crossing  Gate. 

Some  lever  gates  have  a  double  connection  or  return  wire  between 
the  tower  and  the  posts,  but  to  avoid  multiplicity  of  parts  the  "Standard" 
gate  (Fig.  526)  is  worked  by  a  "single  connection"  or  one  line  of  wire 
and  chain,  thus  saving  one  line  of  pipe  for  each  pair  of  gates,  and  half 
the  number  of  wires,  chains  and  sheave  wheels.  This  arrangement  is 
accomplished  by  weights  at  the  two  ends  of  the  chain,  the  weight  A  in  the 
tower  counterbalancing  the  weight  B  in  the  post,  so  that  the  same  force 
is  required  to  throw  the  lever  in  either  direction.  The  underground  wires 
and  chains  are  carried  in  IJ-in.  pipes  fitting  into  cast  iron  sheave  boxes 
or  "boot-legs"  extending  up  inside  the  posts  far  enough  to  prevent  surface 
water  from  finding  its  way  into  the  pipe.  In  a  four-post  installation  there 
are  three  lines  of  pipe — one  between  each  pair  of  posts  and  one  under  the 
track.  Number  4  galvanized  steel  wire  and  9/32-in.  short-link  crane  chain 
are  used.  To  prevent  the  gates  from  being  blown  down  by  the  wind  the 
lovers  are  latched. 

The  Wilson  railway  gate  (Fig.  527)  is  a  lever  gate  with  pipe-line  and 
bell-crank  connections  similar  to  those  of  an  interlocking  plant,  and  of 


1056 


MISCELLANEOUS 


standard  sizes.  The  pipe  line  from  tower  to  gates  and  under  the  highway 
is  supported  upon  the  ordinary  pipe  carriers,  and  the  movement  of  the 
pipe  is  transmitted  to  the  arms  through  the  rack  bar  A  meshing  with  the 
segmental  pinion  (7,  shown  in  the  figure.  The  back  of  the  rack  bar  is 
supported  by  the  rollers  B,  and  the  arm  shaft  is  carried  by  the  rocker 
bearings  D.  A  7-in.  stroke  of  the  pipe  line  rotates  the  shaft  a  quarter 
turn  and  raises  or  lowers  the  gates.  As  the  levers  are  provided  with  sectors 
and  latches  the  gates  cannot  be  pushed  up  by  persons  in  the  street  or 
carried  down  bv  the  force  of  the  wind. 

In  pneumatic  gates  there  are  two  designs.  Gates  of  the  Chicago  pneu- 
matic pattern  are  operated  by  cylinders  and  pistons  inside  the  posts.  The 
Bogue  &  Mills  pneumatic  gate  is  operated  by  a  rubber  diaphragm  in  an 
air-tight  () -shaped  chamber  placed  at  the  foot  of  the  post  and  outside 
of  it,  as  shown  in  Fig.  528.  Where  there  is  a  single  arm  covering  the  en- 
tire roadway  (No.  1  pattern)  the  gate  is  raised  by  pumping  air  against 
one  side  of  the  diaphragm  and  lowered  by  pumping  against  the  opposite 


Fig.  528. — Bogue  &  Mills  Pneumatic  Railway  Gate. 

side.  In  the  tower  there  is  a  cock  and  valves  for  each  pair  of  gates  which 
admit  pressure  to  either  side  of  the  diaphragm  and  simultaneously  open 
the  other  side  to  the  outside  air.  In  the  case  of  the  No.  2  gate,  that  is, 
where  the  arms  protecting  the  roadway  are  double,  being  operated  through 
posts  from  each  side  of  the  street,  one  of  these  posts  has  the  function  of 
lowering  the  arms  and  the  other  post  the  function  of  raising  them.  In 
the  first  instance,  the  air  is  applied  on  one  side  of  the  diaphragm  in  the 
down  post,  to  lower  the  gates,  and  to  raise  them  the  air  is  applied  to  the 
diaphragm  in  the  post  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street.  The  gates  are  worked 
at  a  pressure  of  2  to  4  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  and  in  their  down  position  they  are 
locked  fast.  In  operation  it  is  desirable  to  have  the  two  gates  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  street  move  simultaneously,  so  as  to  come  down  together.  The 
tendency,  especially  in  windy  weather,  is  for  the  gate  nearest  the  tower, 
which  receives  the  greater  pressure,  to  respond  more  quickly  than  its  mate, 
arriving  at  the  down  position  while  the  arm  on  the  opposite  post  is  still  at  a 
considerable  angle  from  the  horizontal,  or  high  enough  to  permit  a  team 
to  pass  under.  To  prevent  this  unequal  action  of  the  two  arms  with  pneu- 


CROSSING  GATES  1057 

matic  gates  it  is  necessary  to  have  positive  connection  between  the  two. 
One  plan  is  to  use  an  underground  rod  connection,,  enclosed  in  a  pipe  with 
stuffing  boxes  at  both  ends  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  water  to  freeze  and 
obstruct  the  operation.  The  installation  of  this  arrangement  necessarily 
requires  tearing  up  the  street,  which,,  under  a  street  paved  with  asphalt, 
brick  or  other  carefully  laid  material,  would  be  expensive.  In  order  to 
avoid  trouble  of  this  kind  the  No.  5  gate  of  the  Bogue  &  Mills  system  is 
designed  for  simultaneous  operation  of  both  arms  by  means  of  overhead 
wires,  the  operation  of  which  is  made  clear  in  Fig.  528.  Beside  each  gate 
post,  there  is  a  pole,  usually  6x12  ins.,  tapered  to  6x6  ins.  at"  the  top,  the 
ordinary  length  being  24  ft,  the  pole  standing  19  ft.  above  the  surface; 
although  the  pole  can  be  made  of  any  length  required  to  carry  the  tie  wires 
above  trolley  or  other  wires.  The  pole  is  bolted  to  the  foundation  of  the 
gate  post.  The  overhead  connection  is  by  means  of  galvanized  wires  run- 
ning from  cross  arms  placed  at  the  tops  of  the  poles,  with  turnbuckles 
inserted  for  the  purpose  of  adjustment.  At  streets  of  ordinary  width  this 
overhead  connection  is  used  to  operate  the  arm  on  the  far  side  of  the 
street,  the  post  supporting  the  same  being  "dead,"  so  that  no  underground 
connection,  requiring  the  pavement  to  be  torn  up,  is  necessary.  At  a  wide 
street,  however,  where  extremely  long  gate  arms  are  required,  the  strain 
on  the  overhead  wires  is  too  great  to  operate  the  gate  against  hard  winds, 
and  in  that  case  a  "live"  post  is  put  in  at  the  far  side  of  the  street,  and 
pipe  connections  are  laid,  preferably  between  tracks,  so  as  to  avoid  tearing 
up  the  pavement. 

To  give  warning  when  gates  are  being  lowered  there  is  usually  a  bell 
on  the  gate  arm,  operated  by  a  ratchet,  and  at  much-traveled  crossings  a 
bell  or  gong  is  frequently  placed  on  the  tower.  For  use  at  street  crossings 
where  gates  are  located  one  or  more  blocks  from  the  tower,  or  at  one  or 
more  crossings  where  gates  or  flagmen  are  not  required,  but  wrhere.  it  is 
nevertheless  desirable  to  give  a  signal,  the  Bogue  &  Mills  system  includes 
a  pneumatic  or  distant  gong,  which  is  operated  by  air  pressure  from  the 
tower,  connection  being  had  by  means  of  f-in.  pipe. 

The  foundation  of  a  gate  post  usually  consists  of  pieces  of  sawed  ties 
halved  together  and  buried  in  the  ground  so  that  the  upper  surface  will 
come  level  with  or  a  little  lower  than  the  sidewalk.  In  some  cases,  how- 
ever, as  where  extra  long  arms  are  used,  or  where  the  hight  at  which  the 
post  must  stand  will  not  permit  the  foundation  to  be  laid  deep  enough, 
an  anchor  tie  is  buried  3  or  4  ft.  deep,  with  long  bolts  to  secure  the  founda- 
tion. The  principal  trouble  with  gate  operation  is  the  freezing  of  the 
underground  connections  in  winter.  The  difficulty  arises  from  two  sources 
— surface  water  and  water  of  condensation.  Surface  water  can  be  kept 
out  by  properly  laying  and  connecting  the  pipes,  or  by  substantial  connec- 
tions with  the  sewers  in  case  the  connections  are  run  through  conduits, 
without  pipes.  There  is  usually  less  trouble  with  pneumatic  gates  than 
with  others  in  this  respect,  simply  because  the  pipes  must  be  made  air 
tight  or  the  gates  will  not  work.  The  difficulty  with  water'  of  condensation 
can  be  overcome  by  using  pipes  large  enough  to  obtain  a  proper  circulation 
of  air.  Authorities  recommend  nothing  smaller  than  IJ-in.  pipe  for  wire 
or  rod  connections.  To  guard  a  gate  post  from  wagon  hubs  where  teams' 
turn  a  corner,  a  piece  of  old  rail  may  be  planted  for  a  fender,  being  set 
to  lean  toward  the  post,  in  position  to  keep  the  wheels  at  a  safe  distance. 

It  is  praticable  to  operate  all  the  gate  arms  at  a  crossing  with  a  single 
lever  or  pump,  but  from  the  fact  that  it  is  frequently  necessary  to  hold 
the  gates  open  in  front  of  a  team  while  closing  them  behind  to  prevent 
other  teams  from  coming  on  the  crossing,  the  arrangement  of  operating 


1'058  MISCELLANEOUS 

the  arms  on  each  side  of  the  track  separately  is  preferable.  With  pneu- 
matic gates  there  is  one  lever  but  a  separate  set  of  pipes  and  valves  for 
each  pair  of  gates.  With  lever  gates  there  is  a  separate  lever  for  each  pair 
of  gates.  With  the  "Standard"  gate  it  is  arranged  to  lock  both  levers 
together  whenever  it  is  desired  to  operate  all  the  arms  simultaneously. 
This  is  clone  with  the  latch,  and  if '  independent  movement  is  desired  at 
any  time  the  levers  can  be  immediately  released.  To  economize  in  expense 
of  attendance  crossing  gates  are  sometimes  operated  from  an  interlocking 
tower  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  gates  at  two  widely  separated  highway  cross- 
ings are  frequently  operated  from  one  position.  The  tower  is  sometimes 
located  midway  between  the  crossings,  and  sometimes  at  one  of  them.  Either 
lever  or  pneumatic  gates  may  be  operated  in  this  way,  the  distance  from  gates 
to  tower  being  sometimes  as  far  as  800  ft.  Another  idea  in  highway  crossing 
protection  that  has  been  put  in  practice  to  some  extent  is  the  interlocking 
of  two  sets  of  gates,  one  set  working  across  the  street  and  the  other  across 
the  railroad.  Such  an  installation  is  particularly  desirable  where  the  steam 
railroad  is  crossed  by  a  street  railway,  as  then  the  protection  of  the  crossing 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  railroad  company.  The  gates  are  so  interconnected 
that  one  set  is  always  down  while  the  other  set  is  up,  so  that  either  the 
steam  railroad  or  the  street  travel  is  blocked  at  all  times.  The  prospect  of 
being  reported  for  tardiness  in  clearing  the  steam  road  for  an  approaching 
train  should  also  be  an  incentive  for  the  gateman  to  attend  to  the  gates 
promptly.  At  crossings  with  street  railways  there  should  be  derails  or  stop 
blocks  in  the  street  car  tracks  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  crossing  and  inter- 
locked with  the  gates,  for  street  cars  have  frequently  been  known  to  run 
into  crossing  gates  and  break  them  down. 

It  is  not  supposed  that  arm  gates  will  absolutely  stop  travel  over  a 
crossing.  They  warn  people  that  a  train  is  about  to  pass,  and  this  is  sup- 
posed to  be  sufficient  for  the  safety  of  the  public  and  a  reasonable  fulfill- 
ment of  the  duty  of  the  railroad  company.  Nevertheless  accidents  some- 
times occur  when  the  gates  are  down,  for  pedestrians  are  much  in  the  habit 
of  stooping  ander  the  arms  and  crossing  the  track  in  front  of  approaching 
trains.  Danger  of  accident  is  greatest  where  there  are  yard  tracks  to  cross 
or  two  or  more  tracks  of  any  kind,  for  there  are  people  who  will  thought- 
lessly venture  upon  one  of  the  tracks  while  a  train  is  passing  on  another, 
and  if  a  second  train  happens  to  be  approaching,  the  sound  of  it  is  not 
liable  to  be  distinctly  heard.  To  a  small  extent  gates  are  built  to  com- 
pletely obstruct  the  street  and  sidewalks,  breast  high.  At  a  number  of 
crossings  on  the  Long  Island  R.  E.,  largely  used  by  children  going  to  and 
from  school,  screens  are  hung  from  ordinary  gate  arms  to  reach  nearly  to 
the  ground.  When  the  arms  are  raised  these  screens  fold  up  out  of  the 
way.  Hoisting  gates  on  the  portcullis  idea  are  also  used  on  a  few  railroads. 
Gates  of  this  type  on  the  Long  Island  R.  E.  consist  of  a  light  truss  with 
3^x4J-in.  chords  (in  four  pieces),  vertical  bolts  and  f-in.  iron  pipe  diag- 
onals. The  truss  is  65  ft.  8  ins.  long  and  3  ft.  8  ins.  high,  and  reaches 
within  12  ins.  of  the  ground.  It  is  carried  by  a  braced  bent  (5x8-in.  posts, 
with  3x6-in.  braces)  10  ft.  wide  and  29  ft.  high,  over  the  sidewalk  on  each 
side  of  the  street,  At  the  top  these  bents  are  united  by  light  trusses  across 
the  street  and  across  the  (two)  tracks.  The  gate  is  counterbalanced  and 
is  hoisted  by  means  of  a  shaft  and  pulley  at  the  top  of  the  bent,  at  each 
end.  The  gates  on  both  sides  of  the  track  are  operated  from  one  crank, 
all  the  hoisting  pulleys  being  turned  by  means  of  shafting  and  bevel  gears. 

185.  High  Speed. — High  speed,  which  signifies  higher  speed,  is  M 
favorite  topic  for  discussion  at  railway  club  meetings  and  in  the  daily 
newspapers,  and  of  course  the  track  comes  in  for  its  sharp  of  attention. 


HIGH  SPEED  1059 

Properly  considered,  however,  the  question  of  increased  speed,  in  a  general 
sense,  is  more  appropriately  discussed  by  the  financiers  of  railroads  than 
•by  officials  or  employees  concerned  only  with  the  operating  or  maintenance 
departments;  for  primarily  the  question  of  high  speed  is  a  financial  one. 
Occasionally  a  writer  will  approach  the  subject  with  the  apparent  under- 
standing that  a  problem  is  at  hand  the  solution  of  which  involves  matters 
none  other  than  the  evolution  of  track  construction  and  car  equipment 
•capable  of  accomplishing  the  end  sought,  when  really  the  possibilities  of 
train  speeds  depend  a  great  deal  more  upon  financial  resources  than  upon 
'mechanical  or  engineering  achievements.  It  is  no  rash  statement  to  say 
that  as  soon  as  people  are  willing  to  pay  what  it  costs  they  can  ride  as  fast 
as  they  please;  at  any  rate,  such  will  answer  for  the  general  statement  of 
the  case.  In  writing  on  this  subject  I  lay  no  claims  to  gifts  of  prophecy, 
:and  there  is  no  intention  to  suggest  what  might  be  the  limiting  speed  of 
railway  trains.  It  is  certain  that  train  speeds  have  for  some  years  been 
increasing,  but  the  increase  is  gradual  and  undoubtedly  will  continue  so 
to  be.  The  time  is  past  when  a  speed  of  60  miles  per  hour  (while  run- 
ning) is  considered  wonderful  or  even  noteworthy.  Scheduled  trains  are 
making  upwards  of  50  miles  per  hour,  average  speed,  including  stops,  over 
distances  of  several  hundred  miles.  It  is  no  uncommon  event  to  attain 
an  average  speed  of  80  miles  per  hour  on  a  run  of  considerable  length  on 
some  of  our  best  roads,  and  higher  speeds  are  recorded  of  test  runs,  at  a 
spurt.  For  business  purposes,  however,  it  will  be  looking  sufficiently  far 
ahead  during  the  early  part  of  this  century  to  consider  schedule  speed  of 
'60  miles  per  hour,  including  stops,  or  a  running  speed  of  80  miles  per 
'hour,  as  "high  speed."  Not  until  we  actually  get  to  carrying  passengers 
-over  the  country  at  that  rate,  on  regular  schedules,  will  it  be  timely  to 
•concern  ourselves  about  average  speeds  of  80  and  100  miles  per  hour. 

Mechanically  considered,  the  question  of  high  speed  is  not  primarily 
•one  of  motive  power:  either  steam  or  electricity  will  answer.  It  would 
•call  forth  no  great  amount  of  ingenuity  to  gear  up  a  locomotive  to  run 
at  almost  any  desired  speed,  with  light*  loads,  but  when  it  comes  to  hauling 
such  train  loads  as  would  put  the  scheme  on  a  business  basis  increase  of 
boiler  power  is  in  demand,  and  here  is  where  some  study  might  be  required. 
Thus  the  financial  aspect  of  the  situation  sets  the  pace.  If  the  effect  of 
reciprocating  parts  should  seem  to  put  a  limit  upon  the  speed  of  loco- 
motives of  the  ordinary  types,  resort  could  be  had  to  locomotives  built  on 
the  Heilmann  plan,  where  almost  any  amount  of  boiler  power  can  be  car- 
ried and  where  reciprocating  parts  are  confined  to  slow-speed  engines 
which  drive  the  generators  supplying  current  to  the  electric  motors  driving 
the  axles,  so  that  reciprocating  motion  is  absent  in  the  parts  which  work 
at  high  speed.  So  far  as  means  of  locomotion  is  concerned  there  are  there- 
fore no  insurmountable  obstacles  in  the  way. 

In  the  engineering  field  high  speed  is  first  of  all  a  question  of  rolling 
stock,  and  secondly  one  of  track.  The  improvement  in  rolling  stock  most 
essential  to  meet  the  conditions  of  high  speed  is  unquestionably  that  of 
increased  braking  power  at  high  speed,  with  some  means  of  decreasing 
the  force  applied  to  the  brakes  as  the  train  slackens  in  speed,  so  as  not  to 
skid  the  wheels.  The  increased  distance  necessary  for  stopping  trains  at 
high  speeds,  with  present  means  for  braking,  would  make  it  necessary  to 
place  signals  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  danger  point  than  is  now 
required  in  standard  practice.  Improvement  in  braking  apparatus  for 
high  speed  would  therefore  work  an  economy  in  two  directions.  Another 
improvement  in  rolling  stock  which  would  conduce  also'  to  high-speed 
requirements  would  be  an  increase  in  the  diameter  of  car  wheels.  Such 


1060  MISCELLANEOUS 

increase,  however,  would  set  the  car  bodies  higher,  and  unless  the  gage 
of  the  track  was  widened  correspondingly,  it  would  tend  to  make  the  cars 
top-heavy,  and  top  responsive  to  rough  surface  in  the  track.  Any  proposi- 
tion to  change  the  gage,  however,  would  be  so  revolutionary  that  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  seriously  considered,  so  that  some  sacrifices  in  other  directions 
must  be  expected. 

The  improvements  in  track  necessary  to  meet  the  requirements "  of 
high  speed  can  be  carried  out  on  lines  of  practice  already  settled.  In  this 
field  important  conditions  in  any  case  must  be  smooth  surface  and  align- 
ment, which  are  merely  questions  of  expense.  Improvements  which  will 
involve  change  to  the  most  extent  will  be  the  abolishment  of  grade  cross- 
ings with  highways,  wherever  practicable;  the  fencing  of  the  right  of  way 
in  more  substantial  manner  than  obtains  in  ordinary  practice,  and,  in 
general,  a  more  careful  regaxd  for  conditions  external  to  the  track.  High 
speed  will  mean  the  extensive  installation  of  block  signals,  and  interlocking 
apparatus  at  all  grade  crossings;  the  elimination  of  facing  switches,  as 
far  as  possible,  and  the  interlocking  of  such  switches  with  distant  signals, 
where  they  must  be  retained;  bridge  floors  should  be  solid  and  ballasted; 
and,  drawing  conclusions  from  the  best  results  now  attained,  separate 
tracks  for  passenger  and  freight  trains  will  be  desirable,  if  not  entirely 
essential.  Still  further,  it  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  the  tracks  should 
receive  close  inspection  at  frequent  intervals,  which  means  that  on  at  least 
some  lines  there  would  have  to  be  a  restoration  of  the  track-walker.  The 
limit  of  curvature  for  sustained  high  speeds  will  necessarily  have  to  be 
small — down  to  1  deg.,  say,  for  80  miles  per  hour  and  somewhere  in  the 
neighborhood  of  -J  deg.,  and  few  curves  at  that,  when  we  get  to  the  point 
of  preparing  for  speeds  approximating  100  miles  per  hour.  The  curves 
will  necessarily  have  to  be  elevated  for  the  highest  speed,  which  will 
require  the  spiraling  of  their  ends.  It  will  be  desirable,  although  not 
entirely  essential,  to  have  unbroken  rails  at  the  turnouts,  avoiding  the  use 
of  frogs  of  the  style  now  in  ordinary  service  if  a  substitute  can  be  found 
which  will  be  safer  for  the  main  line,  even  though  it  may  not  answer  so- 
satisfactorily  in  every  respect  for  train  movements  through  the  turnout. 
Some  switch  of  the  Wharton  type  is  undoubtedly  safer  for  main-line  trains 
than  the  point  switch. 

Thus  it  will  come  about  that,  by  carrying  out  improvements  on  lines 
of  established  practice,  discarding  present  loose  methods  for  those  which 
conform  to  system  and  conduce  to  greater  safety,  with  perhaps  no  great 
changes  in  equipment,  such  speeds  as  are  here  considered,  when  justified 
by  business  conditions,  will  be  accomplished  while  people  are  speculating 
as  to  how  it  can  be  done. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


ORGANIZATION. 

186. — In  order  to  fully  comprehend  the  relative  importance  of  the 
track  department  in  railroading  it  is  essential  that  a  just  conception  be 
formed  of  the  magnitude  of  the  railway  industry. in  this  country,  the  mile- 
age of  track,  the  cost  of  its  construction  and  the  annual  expense  of  its 
maintenance.  The  total  number  of  railroads  (corporations)  in  the  United 
States  is  between  2000  and  2100.  As  classified  according  to  organization 
for  operation,  however,  the  total  number  of  "operating"  roads  is  a  little 
upwards  of  1000,  of  which  about  800  are  classed  as  "independent"  roads 
and  about  200  as  "subsidiary"  roads.  The  total  length  of  railroad  in  1902 
was  a  little  more  than  200,000  miles,  and  this  is  being  increased  3000  to 
4000  miles  each  year.  The  total  length  of  track,  however,  was  about 
272,000  mileSj  comprising,  in  round  numbers,  15,000  miles  of  second, 
third  and  fourth  tracks  and  57,000  miles  of  yard  tracks  and  side-tracks. 
Tor  a  proper  investigation  of  the  subject,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  fall 
back  upon  the  latest  available  classified  statistics,  as  contained  in  the 
report  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1901.  The  total  length  of  railroad  on  that  date  was  197,237  miles, 
and  the  total  length  of  track  265,352  miles,  which  included  14,875  miles 
of  second,  third  and  fourth  tracks  and  54,915  miles  of  yard  tracks  and 
side-tracks.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  the  length  of 
railroad  covered  by  the  reports  made  to  the  commission,  and  used  as  a 
basis  for  the  statistics  which  follow,  was  195,562  miles. 

The  total  cost  of  building  and  equipping  182,734  miles  of  this  rail- 
road was  10,405  millions  of  dollars,  of  which  amount  the  cost  of  road 
was  9808  million  dollars  and  the  cost  of  equipment  597  million  dollars. 
Complete  balance-sheet  statements  were  not  obtained  of  all  the  mileage  of 
road  reported,  but  on  the  same  basis  the  cost  of  the  railroads  in  completed 
condition,  with  their  equipments,  on  Jan.  1,  1902,  must  have  been  not 
far  from  11,500  million  or  11J  billion  dollars.  From  the  official  figures 
the  cost  of  the  road  itself  was  $53,700  per  mile  of  line,  from  which  it 
might  be  inferred  that  the  cost  per  mile  of  track  was  about  $40,000,  which 
includes,  of  course,  the  cost  of  roadbed  and  structures.  The  total  operat- 
ing expenses  of  the  195,562  miles  of  railroad  reported  for  the  year  named 
was  $1,030,397,000,  of  which  amount  the  cost  of  maintaining  track  and 
structures  was  $231,056,000,  and  the  cost  of  maintaining  equipment,  in- 
cluding all  rolling  stock  and  shops,  $190,300,000.  The  cost  of  maintaining 
the  track  alone  was  $155,770,000;  the  cost  of  repairs  and  renewals  of 
bridges  and  culverts,  $27,017,000;  the  cost  of  repairing  and  renewing 
fences,  road  crossings  signs  and  cattle  guards,  $5,920,000;  and  the  cost  of 
repairing  and  renewing  buildings  and  fixtures,  $23,928,000.  The  total 
number  of  employees  on  all  the  railroads  reported  for  the  year  named 
was  1,071,169,  of  whom  272,983  were  trackmen,  33,817  being  section  fore- 
men and  239,166  other  trackmen:  204,194  were  engaged  as  carpenters, 
machinists  and  other  shopmen;  209,043  as  trainmen ;O703  as  general  and 
other  officers;  161,919  as  general  office  clerks,  station  agents  and  other 


1063  ORGANIZATION 

station  men;  and  213,327  as  switchmen,,  flagmen,  watchmen,  telegraph 
operators  and  all  other  employees.  It  is  thus  seen  that  trackmen  are  by 
far  the  most  numerous  class  of  railway  employees. 

A  review  of  the  figures  above  quoted  discloses  the  following  facts  r 
The  cost  of  the  track,  roadbed  and  structures  constitutes  about  94  per  cent 
of  the  entire  cost  of  all  railroad  property.  The  expense  of  maintaining 
the  track  alone  for  the  year  1901  was  $796  per  mile  of  line  or  about  $600 
per  mile  of  track.  Track  maintenance  costs  about  15  per  cent  of  all 
operating  expenses  of  railways  and  is  equaled  by  the  maintenance  expenses 
of  but  one  other  department — the  expense  of  maintaining  the  equipment. 
The  number  of  employees  engaged  in  track  maintenance  constitutes  25 -J 
per  cent,  or  one  fourth,  of  the  total  number  of  railway  employees.  The 
proper  organization  of  the  labor  engaged  in  this  department  is  therefore 
a  matter  of  much  consequence. 

At  the  labor  end  the  organization  of  employees  for  the  work  of  the 
track  department  differs  but  little  on  the  various  railways  throughout  the 
country.  On  all  roads  the  unit  of  organization  is  the  section  crew,  which 
operates  over,,  and  looks  after,  a  few  miles  of  track,  the  responsible  head 
being  a  section  foreman  or  boss.  Over  each  division  or  subdivision  of  50 
to  150  miles  of  road  is  placed  an  official  generally  known  as  "road  master/* 
but  in  less  numerous  instances  he  is  called  a  "supervisor."  In  exceptional 
cases  the  length  of  road  in  his  charge  may  exceed  or  fall  short  of  these 
limits.  To  this  official  all  the  section  foremen  are  accountable,  either 
directly,  or  indirectly  through  one  or  more  assistant  roadmasters  or  super- 
visors, the  latter  title  being  equivalent,  on  some  roads,  to  that  of  assistant 
roadmaster  on  other  roads.  Thus  far  the  arrangement  may  be  considered 
pretty  general  throughout  the  United  States.  Likened  to  a  military  organ- 
ization the  roadmaster  might  be  considered  the  lowest  commissioned  officer 
holding  direct  command — the  captain,  with  his  assistant  roadmasters  or 
supervisors  as  lieutenants.  The  section  foreman  would  be  a  non-commis- 
sioned officer,  and  the  crew  the  set  of  four. 

It  is  in  the  arrangement  of  the  positions  above  that  of  roadmaster 
that  railroads  differ  in  their  organization  of  the  track  department,  Logic- 
ally considered,  railway  operation  involves  the  maintenance  of  three  separ- 
ate and  distinct  lines  of  work,  namely,  that  pertaining  to  roadbed,  track 
and  structures,  or  the  fixed  property  of  the  company,  properly  termed 
engineering;  that  pertaining  to  rolling  stock  and  the  repair  shops  there- 
for, commonly  recognized  as  the  property  in  charge  of  the  mechanical 
department;  and  that  pertaining  to  the  movement  of  trains  and  the  hand- 
ling of  traffic,  commonly  understood  as  the  work  of  the  transportation 
department.  The  most  common  organization  of  the  working  forces  of  these- 
three  departments  is  what  is  known  as  the  division  system,  the  heads  of 
the  three  departments  reporting  directly  to  the  division  superintendent,. 
who  reports  to  a  general  superintendent  or  general  manager,  so  that  in 
the  distinct  lines  of  work,  as  outlined,  the  separate  departments  are  car- 
ried no  higher  than  the  division  superintendent.  This  arrangement  virtu- 
ally makes  the  superintendent  the  general  manager  of  his  division.  In 
tins  system  it  is  usually  the  case  that  the  responsibility  of  maintaining 
track  and  structures  is  divided  between  a  roadmaster,  for  the  track,  and 
a  master  carpenter  or  superintendent  of  bridges  and  buildings,  who  has 
charge  of  structures.  Quite  frequently,  however,  the  charge  of  both  track 
and  structures  is  combined  with  one  official,  who  is  called  a  supervisor  of 
track  and  bridges,  or  is  known  by  some  other  convenient  title.  Such 
doubling  up  of  responsibility  is  more  commonly  the  case  on  small  roads 
or  on  roads  where  the  bridge  work  is  comparatively  unimportant.  On 


MAINTENANCE  OF  WAY   ORGANIZATIONS  1063 

sonie  roads  where  the  signaling  and  interlocking  work  assumes  importance 
there  is  a  third  division  of  responsibility  in  the  maintenance-of-way  depart- 
ment, whereby  there  is  a  signal  engineer,  or  a  foreman,  supervisor  or  in- 
spector of  signals,  reporting  independently  of  the  roadmaster  or  superin- 
tendent of  bridges  and  buildings,  to  the  division  superintendent.  In  some 
instances,  however,  as  on  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Ey.,  the  maintenance 
of  the  signaling  and  interlocking  equipments  and  their  operation  are  in 
charge  of  the  division  roadmasters.  On  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 
E.  E.  there  is  a  foreman  of  signals,  reporting  to  the  superintendent  of 
bridges  and  buildings. 

On  perhaps  the  majority  of  roads  where  the  division  system  of  organ- 
ization is  in  force  the  name  "engineering"  is  not  associated  with  the  main- 
tenance of  track  and  structures,  as  in  that  case  the  engineering  depart- 
ment is  usually  limited,  in  its  duties  and  responsibilities,  to  new  construc- 
tion of  track,  bridges  and  buildings,  relocation,  and  work  involving  change 
of  some  sort,  being  represented  on  each  division  by  an  "assistant"  or 
"division"  or  "resident"  engineer,  accountable  to  the  division  superintend- 
ent, perhaps  in  a  nominal  way,  but  reporting  directly  to  the  chief  engineer, 
from  whom  he  receives  his  instructions.  Whatever  duties  he  or  the  chief 
engineer  may  have  in  connection  with  the  maintenance  of  the  track  are 
usually  in  a  consulting  capacity,  and  more  frequently  in  relation  to  stand- 
ard plans  and  specifications,  surveys  of  the  right  of  way,  etc.  The  head 
of  the  mechanical  department  of  the  division  is  the  master  mechanic,  but 
in  this  department,  also,  the  responsibility  is  frequently  divided  between 
the  master  mechanic  and  a  master  car  builder.  The  head  of  the  trans- 
portation department  of  the  division  is  the  trainmaster,  with  his  yard- 
'  master,  train  dispatchers,  etc. 

Examples  of  roads  on  which  the  division  system  of  organization  is  in 
force  are  so  numerous  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  designate,  but  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  the 
New  York,  New  Haven  &  Haxtford,  the  Erie,  the  Northern  Pacific  and 
the  Wabash  roads  may  be  referred  to.  On  the  various  roads  where  this 
system  is  in  vogue  the  relative  standing  of  the  roadmaster  is  about  the 
same,  but  the  scope  of  his  authority  varies  to  some  extent.  Thus,  for 
instance,  on  some  roads,  the  roadmasters  have  an  assistant  engineer  or  sur- 
veyor, with  a  small  party.  On  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford 
E.  E.  the  maintenance  of  track  on  each  division  is  in  charge  of  a  road- 
master,  the  maintenance  of  bridges,  turntables,  coaling  and  water  stations 
under  a  supervisor,  and  the  maintenance  of  signals  and  interlocking  under 
a  signal  engineer,  all  three  of  whom  report  to  the  division  superintendent. 
The  superintendent  of  buildings,  however,  who  has  charge  of  the  car- 
penters, masons  and  painters,  reports  direct  to  the  general  manager. 

Another  distinct  system  of  organization  for  railway  operation  is  the 
department  system,  in  which  the  three  distinct  lines  of  work,  namely,  the 
engineering,  the  work  pertaining  to  rolling  stock,  and  to  transportation,  are 
carried  up  separately  to  department  officers  reporting  to  the  general  super- 
intendent or  general  manager.  Thus,  in  the  track  department  the  division 
roadmaster  may  report  to  an  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way,  a  general 
roadmaster  or  superintendent  of  tracks,  who  reports  directly  to  the  chief 
engineer,  if  the  engineering  department  has  charge  of  track  maintenance,, 
or  to  the  general  superintendent  or  general  manager,  where  iriaintenance 
work  and  construction  are  in  separate  departments.  Division  mastar 
mechanics  report  to  the  superintendent  of  motive  power,  who  reports  to 
the  general  manager;  and  the  division  officer  of  transportation  reports  to- 
the  superintendent  of  transportation,  who  also  reports  to  the  general  man- 
ager. 


1064  ORGANIZATION 

There  are  but  comparatively  few  roads  operated  on  the  department 
system  pure  and  simple.  One  of  these  is  the  Michigan  Central  E.  R. 
On  that  road  the  chief  engineer  has  full  charge  of  both  the  construction 
the  maintenance  of  all  the  fixed  property,  and  the  reports  from  beginning 
to  end  reach  him  by  a  direct  process ;  that  is,  independently  of  any  division 
officer  outside  of  his  own  department.  The  division  roadmasters  report 
to  a  superintendent  of  tracks,  who  reports  to  the  chief  engineer.  Under 
the  division  roadmasters  there  are  assistant  roadmasters  over  sub-division? 
of  about  100  miles  each.  On  each  division  there  are  masons,  carpenters 
and  painters  reporting  to  the  division  foremen  of  buildings  and  water 
supply,  who  reports  to  the  superintendent  of  buildings  and  water  supply, 
who  reports  to  the  chief  engineer.  There  are  division  foremen  of  bridges 
and  assistant  bridge  engineers,  reporting  to  the  bridge  engineer,  who 
reports  to  the  chief  engineer.  Inspectors  of  signals  and  interlocking 
report  to  the  signal  engineer,  who  reports  direct  to  the  chief  engineer.  As- 
sistant engineers,  corresponding  to  division  engineers  or  resident  engi- 
neers, report  to  the  principal  assistant  engineer,  who  reports  direct  to  the 
chief  engineer.  It  is  thus  seen  that  immediately  under  the  chief  engineer 
there  are  five  subordinate  officers  on  apparently  the  same  footing,  namely, 
the  superintedent  of  tracks,  the  bridge  engineer,  the  superintendent  of 
buildings  and  water  supply,  the  signal  engineer,  and  the  principal  assistant 
engineer,  the  first  four  of  whom  are  in  direct  charge  of  all  the  maintenance- 
of-way  work  and  construction  on  the  several  divisions.  The  division  super- 
intendents have  charge  principally  of  train  operation. 

On  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ry.  the  engineering  department 
has  direct  charge  of  the  maintenance  of  way,  the  division  roadmasters 
reporting  to  the  principal  assistant  engineer  (of  the  chief  engineer's  staff)  • 
independently  of  the  division  superintendents.  Formerly  the  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R.  was  another  example  of  a  road 
conducted  on  the  department  system,  the  engineering  department  hav- 
ing charge  of  all  construction  and  maintenance  of  the  fixed  property. 
That  organization,  although  changed,  is  still  of  interest  in  the  present  con- 
nection. On  maintenance  of  way  work  on  each  division  there  was  a  super- 
visor of  track,  in  charge  of  the  track  forces,  wrecking  gangs  and  steam 
shovel  forces ;  a  supervisor  of  bridges,  in  charge  of  iron  men,  masons,  pile- 
driver  crews,  bridge  carpenters  and  bridge  painters;  a  supervisor  of  build- 
ings, in  charge  of  carpenters,  painters,  mechanical  foremen,  scale  men,  water 
supply  and  electrical  mechanics,  etc. ;  and  a  supervisor  of  signals,  in  charge 
of  the  signal  maintenance  forces.  These  officials,  together  with  the  assist- 
ant engineer,  reported  to  the  division  engineer,  who  in  turn  reported 
through  various  staff  officers,  to  the  chief  engineer.  The  heavy  construc- 
tion work  was  handled  by  the  resident  engineers  on  each  division,  reporting 
through  the  principal  assistant  engineers  to  the  chief  engineer.  The  chief 
engineer  had  on  his  staff  certain  assistant  engineers  who  handled  special 
work  assigned  to  them  from  time  to  time,  such  as  mechanical  questions, 
bridge  designs,  track  problems,  etc.  Besides  the  assistant  chief  engineer 
and  the  two  principal  assistant  engineers  there  was  an  engineer  of  track, 
an  engineer  of  signals,  and  an  engineer  of  structures.  The  change  which 
took  place  in  1903  was  the  appointment  of  an  engineer  of  maintenance 
of  way,  reporting  direct  to  the  general  superintendent.  The  duties  of 
this  office  cover  the  execution  of  the  standard  plans  and  the  charge  of  all 
current  maintenance  of  track,  bridges,  buildings  and  signals,  under  the 
direction  of  the  general  superintendent.  The  office  of  engineer  of  track 
was  abolished.  The  chief  engineer  prepares  the  standard  plans  and  has 
charge  of  the  construction  work. 

It  has  come  to  be  quite  largely  the  practice  to  place  the  maintenance 


MAINTENANCE  OF  WAY  ORGANIZATIONS  1065 

of  way  work  in  charge  of  men  of  engineering  training,  with  engineering 
titles,  but  in  most  cases  the  construction  and  maintenance  branches  of 
engineering  are  conducted  separately  and  independently.  Some  roads 
whereon  this  is  the  case  are  organized  on  the  division  system  pure  and 
simple.  Thus,  on  each  division  of  the  Ohio  (grand)  division  of  the  Erie 
E.  E.  there  is  a  track  supervisor  and  a  master  carpenter,  reporting  to  a 
division  engineer,  who  reports  to  the  division  superintendent,  who  reports 
to  the  general  superintendent,  who  reports  to  the  general  manager,  who 
reports  to  the  second  vice-president  on  an  equal  footing  witli  the  chief 
engineer.  The  general  superintendent  is  assisted  by  an  "assistant  chief 
engineer."  On  quite  a  number  of  roads  where  division  engineers  have 
immediate  charge  of  the  maintenance  of  way  work  there  is  nominally,  at 
least,  a  maintenance  of  way  department,  under  an  engineer  of  maintenance 
of  way,  general  roadmaster  or  superintendent  of  tracks,  but  usually  tho 
division  principle  of  control  prevails.  That  is,  the  line  of  authority  passes 
through  the  division  superintendent,  in  whom  all  the  reports  and  business 
of  the  lower  officials  of  the  various  departments  are  first  drawn  to  a  focus, 
and  from  whom  the  digest  is  dispersed  to  the  various  department  officers 
above  him.  In  other  words,  the  reports  of  the  division  officer  in  each 
department  reach  the  superior  officer  in  that  department  second  hand.  In 
such  cases  the  organization  might  be  recognized  as  semi-departmental  or 
as  a  combination  of  the  division  and  department  systems.  On  some  roads 
the  engineer  o£  maintenance  of  way  or  general  roadmaster  is  in  authority, 
and  receives  the  reports  of  the  division  superintendents  respecting  main- 
tenance matters,  while  on  other  roads  he  acts  only  in  an  advisory  capacity 
as  an  assistant  to  the  general  superintendent  or  the  general  manager.  In 
the  one  case  the  departmental  principle  predominates  and  in  the  other 
the  divisional  principle.  And  again,  some  roads  are  organized  on  a  com- 
promise basis,  part  of  the  maintenance  of  way  officers  reporting  to  higher 
authority  through  the  division  superintendents  and  others  reporting  to 
the  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  or  to  the  chief  engineer  direct.  The 
title  of  gerferal  roadmaster,  by  the  way,  is,  on  some  roads,  equivalent  to 
that  of  chief  engineer,  and  carries  all  the  duties  and  authority  of  that 
office.  Such  is  the  case  with  the  Florida  East  Coast  Ey.  and  the  Chicago 
&  Western  Indiana  E.  E.  The  organizations  of  several  roads  will  now 
be  described  in  illustration  of  these  various  arrangements. 

On  the  Pennsylvania  E.  E.  the  chief  engineer,  who  reports  to  the 
second  vice-president,  has  charge  of  the  construction  of  track,  bridges, 
buildings,  turntables,  water  supply,  signals,  interlocking,  etc.,  until  they 
are  completed,  when  they  are  turned  over  to  the  maintenance^of-way 
department,  in  charge  of  the  general  manager,  who  is  assisted  by  the  en- 
gineer of  maintenance  of  way.  On  each  division  there  are  supervisors 
having  charge  of  25  miles  of  road,  to  whom  the  section  foremen  report. 
These  supervisors  and  a  master  carpenter  report  to  a  division  engineer, 
who  is  called  an  "assistant  engineer,^  who  reports  to  the  division  superin- 
tendent, who  reports  to  the  general  superintendent  (of  the  grand  division), 
who  is  assisted  by  a  "'principal  assistant  engineer."  The  principal  assistant 
engineer,  on  the  staff  of.  each  general  superintendent,  and  the  engineer  of 
maintenance  of  way,  on  the  staff  of  the  general  manager,  do  not  have 
direct  personal  control  over  the  engineering  forces  of  the  road,  bmfc  handle 
the  maintenance  of  way  department  through  their  respective  superior 
officers,  who  rely  upon  them  to  watch  all'  the  details  and  keep  matters 
straight.  The  following  abstracts  from  the  organization  rules  of  the  road 
show  a  little  more  in  detail  the  duties  of  the  heads  of  the  two  engineering 
departments :  "'The  chief  engineer  shall,  under  the  direction  of  the  second 


10  66  ORGANIZATION 

vice-president,  have  charge  of  all  engineering  and  construction  work  upon 
the  railroads  owned,  operated  or  controlled  by  the  company  east  of  Pitts- 
burg  and  Erie,  and  be  responsible  for  the  proper  preparation  of  plans,, 
specifications  and  estimates  connected  therewith ;  and  also  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  plans  and  specifications  for  all  bridges  and  other  important  struc- 
tures. He  shall  keep  in  his  office  a  detailed  record  of  the  cost  of  all  new 
work  chargeable  to  construction  account;  prepare  and  certify  to  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  charges  therefor,  and  forward  to  the  proper  officer  for 
approval  and  pa}^nient  the  necessary  bills  and  pay  rolls.  He  shall  keep 
an  account  and  have  charge  of  the  distribution  of  steel  rails  for  construc- 
tion and  renewals.  He  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be  assigned 

to  him  by  -the  second  vice-president,  the  president,  or  the  board 

The  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  shall  act  as  assistant  to  the  general 
manager  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  maintenance  of  way.  It  shall  be 
his  duty  to  thoroughly  inspect  in  person  the  bridges  and  other  structures, 
and  to  make  report  thereon  to  the  general  manager.  He  shall  be  respons- 
ible for  the  preparation  of  maintenance  of  way  plans,  which,  after  approval 
by  the  general  manager,  shall  become  standard,  and  he  shall  see  that  they 
are  properly  adhered  to."  The  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  is  assisted 
by  an  engineer  of  signals.  On  some  of  the  grand  divisions  the  principal 
assistant  engineer  is  assisted  by  an  assistant  engineer,  and  on  some  of  the 
divisions  there  are  assistant  supervisors. 

The  organization  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West  of  Pittsburg  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  "Lines  East,"  The  section  foremen  report  to  a 
supervisor,  the  supervisor  to  an  "engineer  of  maintenance  of  way."  the- 
engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  to  the  division  superintendent,  and  the 
latter  reports  to  the  general  superintendent  of  the  grand  division.  On  the 
staff  of  the  general  manager  there  is  a  "chief  engineer  of  maintenance  of 
way,"  who  communicates  with  the  general  manager,  the  general  superin- 
tendent and  division  superintendents  in  matters  connected  with  the  main- 
tenance of  way  department.  The  chief  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way 
is  responsible  for  the  preparation  of  maintenance  of  way  plans  and  stand- 
ards, subject  to  the  approval  of  the  general  manager,  and  he  has  direct 
supervision  of  construction  work  on  completed  lines,  preparing  plans  and 
estimates  for  the  same. 

On  the  Southern  Pacific  road  the  chief  engineer,  who  reports  to  the- 
president,  has  charge  of  construction  and  important  changes,  while  on 
each  grand  division  of  the  road,  east  and  west  of  El  Paso,  Tex.  (the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  systems),  there  is  an  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way 
reporting  to  the  general  manager  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  in  matters 
relating  to  standards,  and  to  the  manager  of  his  "system"  regarding  other 
matters.  The  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  has  charge  of  track,  bridges, 
buildings,  water  supply,  coaling  stations,  turntables,  signals  and  inter- 
locking. On  the  Atlantic  system  each  superintendent  has  direct  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  mechanical,  maintenance  of  way,  train  and  station  service 
on  divisions  varying  from  300  to  500  miles.  He  has  general  charge  of 
the  maintenance  of  his  division,  reporting  to  the  engineer  of  maintenance 
of  way  in  all  matters  relating  to  track,  bridges,  structures,  water  service  and 
signals.  He  is  assisted  by  a  resident  engineer,  who  has  direct  charge  of 
these  matters  with  the  exception  of  signals.  Each  resident  engineer  is 
assisted  by  a  number  of  roadmasters,  depending  upon  the  length  of  the 
division,  and  by  a  superintendent  of  bridges  and  buildings.  The  engineer 
of  maintenance  of  way  is  assisted  by  an  assistant  engineer  and  by  an 
assistant  engineer  of  signals.  On  the  Pacific  system  of  the  road  the  sec- 
tion, bridge,  and  building  foremen  report  to  roadmasters,  who  report  to- 


MAINTENANCE  OF  WAY   ORGANIZATIONS  106T 

resident  engineers,  who  report  to  division  superintendents,  who  report 
to  the  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  regarding  maintenance.  The  signal 
department  is  headed  by  a  signal  engineer.,  who  reports  to  the  engineer 
of  maintenance  of  way. 

With  the  Lehigh  Valley  E.  K.  there  is  on  each  division  a  supervisor 
(of  track)  and  a  master  carpenter  (or  foreman  of  bridges  and  buildings), 
both  reporting  to  a  division  engineer,  who  reports  to  the  division  super- 
intendent, who  in  turn  reports,  on  matters  relating  to  maintenance,  to  the 
engineer  of  maintenance  of  way,  who  reports  to  the  general~superintendent. 
On  this  road  the  general  superintendent  has  duties  similar  to  those  of  a 
general  manager  on  other  roads.  The  chief  engineer,  who  has  charge  of 
all  construction  work,  bridge  renewals,  special  heavy  structural  work  and 
general  engineering  investigations,  reports  to  the  general  superintendent. 
There  is  a  bridge  engineer  reporting  direct  to  the  chief  engineer,  and  a 
signal  engineer  reporting  direct  to  the  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way. 

The  organization  of  the  Illinois  Central  R.  R.  is  a  combination  of  the 
division  and  department  systems  and  is  more  complicated  than  any  of  the 
foregoing.  The  immediate  assistants  of  the  president  are  a  vice-president, 
who  has  charge  of  the  finances ;  a  second  vice-president,  in  charge  of  opera- 
tion and  traffic;  a  board  of  pensions,  various  officers  constituting  the  legal: 
department,  and  a  secretary.  The  general  manager  receives  the  reports 
of  the  assistant  general  manager,  general  superintendent  of  transportation, 
assistant  general  superintendent,  superintendent  of  telegraph,  chief  sur- 
geon, chief  claim  agent  and  chief  special  agent.  The  assistant  general 
manager  receives  the  reports  of  the  superintendent  of  machinery,  chief 
engineer,  consulting  engineer  and  chief  engineer  of  construction.  The 
maintenance  of  way  proper  is  in  charge  of  the  division  superintendents, 
who  receive  the  reports  of  the  roadmasters,  stations  agents,  trainmasters 
and  master  mechanics,  although  the  last  named  report  on  some  matters 
direct  to  the  superintendent  of  machinery.  Road  supervisors  having 
charge  of  about  100  miles  of  track,  supervisors  of  bridges  and  buildings 
having  charge  of  the  ordinary  repairs  of  bridges  and  buildings,  and 
waterworks  foremen  report  to  roadmasters  of  divisions  350  to  500  miles 
in  length;  and,  as  above  stated,  these  roadmasters  report  to  the  division 
superintendents.  North  of  the  Ohio  River'  the  division  superintendents 
report  to  the  chief  engineer  in  matters  relating  to  construction  and  main- 
tenance of  way,  to  the  superintendent  of  machinery  on  machinery  matters 
and  to  the  general  manager  in  matters  pertaining  to  transportation  and 
other  affairs;  south  of  the  Ohio  river  the  division  superintendents  report 
to  the  same  heads  through  an  assistant  general  superintendent.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  position  of  supervisor  on  this  road  corresponds  to  .that  of 
roadmaster  on  most  other  roads,  and  the  position  of  "roadmaster"  to 
that  of  division  engineer.  On  this  road  special  bridge  construction  and 
renewal  of  bridges  is  in  charge  of  the  superintendent  of  bridges,  and  the 
special  construction  and  renewal  of  large  buildings  in  charge  of  a  master 
carpenter,  both  of  whom  report  to  the  engineer  of  bridges  and  buildings, 
who  reports  to  the  chief  engineer.  Signals  and  interlocking  are  in  charge 
of  a  signal  engineer, '  who  reports  direct  to  the  chief  engineer.  Other 
officers  reporting  direct  to  the  chief  engineer  are  the  architect,  the  general 
foreman  of  waterworks  and  the  supervisor  of  scales.  In  some  matters  the- 
master  carpenter  reports  direct  to  the  chief  engineer  instead  of  through 
the  engineer  of  bridges  and  buildings. 

The  classification  of  systems  of  organization  here  presented  covers 
practice  only  in  a  general  way.  The  details  of  the  various  organizations 
in  existence  among  the  different  roads  are  almost  too  numerous  to  admit 


3068  ORGANIZATION 

of  ready  generalization.  On  some  roads  both  the  division  and  department 
systems  are  in  vogue  on  the  different  grand  divisions,  while  on  others,  as 
already  seen,  there  is  a  combination  of  the  two  systems.  On  some  roads 
there  is  a  semblance  of  the  department  system  where,  for  instance,  the 
office  of  the  general  roadmaster  is  made  an  advisory  one,  the  division 
roadm  asters  reporting  to  the  division  superintendents,  who  consult  the 
general  roadmaster  regarding  standard  plans,  methods,  etc.,  but  to  whom 
they  do  not  report  the  work  and  expenses  of  the  department.  In  fact,  the 
systems  of  organization  of  all,  or  even  a  large  number,  of  the  roads  of  the 
country  are  somewhat  puzzling  to  one  who  attempts  to  draw  comparisons. 
Such  is,  perhaps,  more  liable  to  be  the  case  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
track  maintenance  than  with  the  other  departments  of  railway  operation, 
owing  to  the  relation  thereto  of  the  engineering  department  of  the  road, 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  which,  in  numerous  instances,  are  non- 
descript to  an  outsider,  and  sometimes,  indeed,  to  the  local  officials  them- 
selves; while  with  many  roads  the  sequence  of  authority,  from  beginning 
to  final  report,  involves  a  longer  string  of  individuals  than  the  proverbial 
"house  that  Jack  built." 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  inquire  for  reasons  explaining  the  adoption 
of  this  or  that  system  of  conducting  maintenance  work.  Probably  the  best 
explanation  of  the  differences  existing  is  that  different  men  in  official 
capacities  have  different  views  regarding  ways  of  carrying  on  business. 
The  fact  that  some  general  officers  prefer  to  be  in  close  touch  with  details, 
while  others  assume  to  select  subordinates  who  are  competent  to  shoulder 
such  responsibility,  explains  a  great  many  differences.  -Apparently  there 
are  good  arguments  for  either  the  division  or  the  department  system, 
and  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  either  can  be  conducted  economically 
and  smoothly.  There  could  therefore  be  but  little  profit  in  discussing 
the  relative  advantages  or  disadvantages  of  the  various  organizations  in 
vogue.  The  important  matter  for  consideration  is  that  there  shall  be 
adequate  responsibility  for  the  safe  running  of  the  trains  and  for  the 
economy  of  track  maintenance;  and  that  in  placing  this  responsibility  it 
should  be  equitably  and  consistently  distributed  among  capable  and  relia- 
ble heads  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  list.  But  such  is  an  old  song, 
and  professedly  is  never  departed  from  in  making  appointments;  and  sc 
we  arrive  at  the  starting  point.  So  far  as  track  maintenance  is  concerned, 
it  is  my  opinion  that  it  matters  but  little  how  the  higher  offices  are  ar- 
ranged or  classified,  so  long  as  the  man  who  is  held  responsible  for  each  divi- 
sion or  each  hundred  miles,  more  or  less,  of  the  road,  is  reliable,  under- 
stands "his  business,  and  is  so  supported  that  he  can  carry  it  out — be  he 
called  roadmaster,  division  engineer,  supervisor  or  what  not.  The  ball 
starts  rolling  with  the  section  foremen.  Unless  the  roadmaster  (or  equiv- 
alent officer)  be  competent  to  select  good  foremen  he  cannot  hope  to  suc- 
ceed, and  no  number  of  wise  men  in  the  higher  positions — either  division 
superintendents  or  engineers — can  make  amends  for  deficiencies  in  the 
office  of  roadmaster.  On  the  other  hand  a  competent  roadmaster  can  do 
good  work  whether  the  officials  over  him  are  competent  in  his  line  or  not, 
providing  he  is  not  interfered  with.  If  at  this  juncture  a  suggestion  should 
follow  I  might  venture  to  say  that  over  the  head  of  the  roadmaster  there 
should  be  but  few  officials  in  direct  authority — one  might  almost  say  the 
fewer  the  better,  because  his  position  is  one  of  great  responsibility  and  his 
relations  with  the  chief  of  his  department  should  be  as  direct  as  may  be  pos- 
sible, considering  the  size  of  the  road.  For  the  successful  conduct  of  track 
maintenance  the  roadmaster  must  be  a  man  who  can  be  depended  upon, 
but  to  interpose  a  multiplicity  of  routine  processes  between  him  and  the 


THE  ROADMASTER  1069 

source  of  issue  is  to  encumber  his  work,  discount  his  judgment  and  subor- 
dinate his  position.  More  than  upon  any  one  else  the  responsibility  for  the 
physical  condition  of  the  track  falls  upon  the  roadmaster.  He  must  judge 
of  the  fitness  of  men  to  take  charge  of  sections  of  the  property,  to  look 
after  it  and  to  direct  the  labor  to  be  done  upon  it,  and  he  must  be  respon- 
sible for  the  discipline  of  these  forces. 

187.  The  Roadmaster. — The  roadmaster  is  referred  to  so  many 
times  in  connection  with  various  kinds  of  regular  and  emergency  work  and 
supervision  that  a  list  of  all  his  duties  in  detail  is  hardly  necessar}r  in  this 
place.  In  a  general  way,  however,  we  may  look  at  some  methods  for  the 
government  of  his  work.  The  greater  portion  of  a  roadm aster's  time 
should  not  be  spent  in  the  office — he  should  be  an  inspector  rather  than  a 
bookkeeper.  While  he  should  keep  well  enough  posted  on  the  important 
statistics  relating  to  his  track  to  have  the  run  of  things,  the  clerical  force 
of  his  office  should  be  sufficient  for  routine  matters  and  so  well  instructed 
that  he  need  give  to  such  affairs  only  a  general  supervision.  The  road- 
master  should  manage  to  escape  the  bondage  of  office  routine.  No  execu- 
tive officer  can  exercise  the  best  of  his  ability  if  the  most  of  his  time  is  con- 
sumed in  clerical  duties  of  a  recurring  nature.  Neither  should  he  make 
himself  too  conspicuous  for  his  presence  at  the  rear  end  of  the  passenger 
trains.  The  manner  in  which  the  foremen  and  men  on  some  roads  watch 
the  movements  of  "the  big  boss"  has  become  proverbial.  The  trackmen 
meeting  from  different  sections  seldom  pass  the  time  of  day  without  refer- 
ring to  the  time  and  place  when  the  roadmaster  was  last  seen.  It  is  cus- 
tomary to  either  enquire  or  report  whether  he  is  "up  the  line"  or  "down  the 
line;"  and  should  he  ride  past  without  their  knowledge,  or  fail  to  appear 
on  certain  days,  there  is  then  all  sorts  of  speculation  as  to  what  is  going  to 
happen.  While  with  the  right  kind  of  men  the  habits  of  the  roadmaster  in 
his  calls  should  be  of  little  or  no  concern,  yet  where  there  are  some  of  the 
"watchful"  kind  it  is  wholesome  practice  for  the  roadmaster  to  make  visits 
at  any  and  all  times,  unannounced  and  unexpected. 

On  the  principle  above  stated  roadmasters  should  spend  a  large  part 
of  their  time  at  inspection  of  the  track  and  in  personal  contact  with  the 
section  crews.  Maintenance  of  way  officials  should  lay  stress  upon  daily, 
rather  than  annual,  inspection  of  track.  The  roadmaster  who  gets  nothing 
more  than  a  glance  at  things  occasionally,  as  he  rides  by  on  the  trains, 
will,  upon  closer  inspection  at  the  end  of  the  year,  or  even  after  but  a  few 
weeks,  usually  find  many  things  which  should  have  received  his  attention 
long  before.  He  should  have  accurate  knowledge  of  the  state  of  affairs  at 
all  times,  and  this  can  be  had  only  by  frequent  inspection.  The  many 
forms  of  hand  and  machine-propelled  inspection  cars  make  it  convenient 
for  the  roadmaster  to  do  this.  It  is  wasteful  of  a  good  deal  of  time  to 
encourage  section  foremen  in  the  habit  of  hanging  around  or  working  near 
stations  purposely  to  get  a  chance  to  talk  with  the  roadmaster  while  the 
train  is  stopping.  In  such  cases  it  usually  happens  that  the  foreman  gets 
about  half  the  information  he  wants  by  the  time  the  train  starts,  and  then 
the  conversation  is  cut  short.  Information  regarding  the  work  at  any 
point  is  best  given  or  received  on  the  ground ;  hence  the  importance  to  the 
roadmaster  of  traveling  independently  of  the  trains.  It  is  also  a  good  plan 
to  do  a  good  deal  of  walking,  especially  in  the  summer  time.  It  is  well 
enough  to  make  use  of  the  hand  car  and  section  crew,  or  part  of  the  crew, 
when  time  is  limited  and  it  is1  desired  to  reach  some  certain  point,  but  for 
a  close  observation  of  things  the  best  opportunity  is  to  be  had  by  walking. 
It  is  important  for  roadmasters  to  frequently  investigate  the  wear  of 
material,  and  to  discuss  the  same  with  their  foremen,  and  this  can  best  be 


1070  ORGANIZATION 

•done  by  walking  over  at  least  parts  of  the  sections  where  there  is  occasion 
-for  making  observations.  The  best  method  of  inspecting  a  section  with  the 
foreman  is  to  walk  over  the  track  with  him  alone.  In  this  way  there  is 
time  for  discussing  matters  as  they  come  to  view,  and  opportunit}r  for 
•correcting  the  foreman  in  any  mistakes  or  wrong  methods,  at  a  time  when 
he  will  not  be  embarrassed  by  the  presence  of  his  crew.  It  works  harm 
to  correct  a  foreman  within  the  hearing  of  his  men.  -Even  a  slight  disap- 
proval cf  his  work  subjects  him  to  chagrin  and  tends  to  lessen  the  respect 
which  the  men  have  for  his  authority.  At  times,,  when  it  is  found  that  the 
work  is  not  being  done  satisfactorily,  some  roadmasters  will  go  so  far  as  to 
take  the  work  out  of  the  foreman's  hands  and  issue  orders  to  the  men  direct. 
For  the  sake  of  discipline  such  practice  should  be  avoided,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, for,  if  occasion  requires,  better  results  can  usually  be  had  by  calling 
the  foreman  aside  and  instructing  him  privily. 

Many  railways  require  their  roadmasters  to  make  close  inspection  of 
their  divisions  at  least  once  each  month,  and  some  roads  require  it  oftener. 
The  rules  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Co.  require  the  roadmasters  to  "pass  over 
the  entire  straight  portion  of  their  districts,  either  on  foot  or  on  velocipede 
•cars,  at  least  twice  every  month,  and  over  that  portion  in  canyons  and  in  the 
mountains  at  least  three  times  per  month."  This  method  of  getting  over  the 
work  is  the  most  thorough,  and  instructions  can  be  issued  to  the  foremen 
on  the  ground  more  satisfactorily  than  by  hastily  written  notes  ("butter- 
flies," the  trackmen  call  them)  flung  from  the  rear  of  trains.  On  such  visits 
the  roadmaster  should  be  in  no  hurry,  but  spend  considerable  time  with 
each  crew,  so  that  he  may  observe  and  criticise  methods  of  work.  This 
is  an  important  matter,  and  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  secure  uniform- 
ity of  the  best  methods  of  work  among  all  the  crews.  In  this  way  the  road- 
masters  can  get  acquainted  with  the  men,  and  they  will  comle  to  know  and 
understand  him.  By  keeping  his  office  informed  as  to  his  intended  move- 
ments and  making  himself  accessible  to  telegraph  stations  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, he  can  spend  two  or  three  days  at  a  time  out  on  the  road.  He  should 
get  so  well  acquainted  along  the  track  that  he  will  feel  at  home  wherever 
night  overtakes  him.  The  interests  of  any  railroad  company  may  be 
materially  advanced  by  the  larger  personal  acquaintance  of  some  of  its 
well  disposed  officers  with  the  residents  along  the  line.  By  suitable  pre- 
paration for  the  unexpected,  and  proper  understanding  at  headquarter?, 
-a  roadmaster,  even  if  out  on  the  road  when  emergencies  occur,  can  almost 
always  handle  things  satisfactorily.  While  there  is  a  work  train  engaged 
the  roadmaster  should  aim  to  get  around  to  it  two  or  three  times  per  week, 
or  perhaps  oftener,  if  the  importance  of  the  work  so  demands.  To  ob- 
serve line  and  surface  to  every  advantage  he  should  occasionally  make  a 
trip  over  his  division  on  the  locomotive  of  a  fast  passenger  train.  At 
wrecks  his  presence  is  generally  required. 

The  roadmaster  must  handle  his  men  with  decision  and  firmness,  yet 
with  a  kind  of  firmness  which  conveys  no 'impression  of  obstinacy.  He 
should  be  capable  of  gentleness,  where  such  treatment  answers  best.  He 
must  be  prepared  to  meet  emergencies  promptly  and  effectively  and  with- 
out hesitation.  His  relations  with  his  men  must  be  such  that  they  will 
respect  not  only  his  intelligence  and  his  experience,  but  also  his  disposi- 
tion and  his  character.  He  should  be  an  accurate  and  thorough  observer, 
unhesitating  in  correcting  neglect  and  other  defects  in  his  foremen.  He 
must  be  able  to  look  ahead  and  plan  his  work  and  aspire  to  keep  abreast 
of  his  work,  and  not  let  the  work  do  the  pushing.  Eoadmasters  should 
not  fall  into  the  habit  of  giving  specific  orders  to  foremen  every  time  it 
becomes  necessary  to  take  up  routine  work,  such  as  tie'  renewals,  cutting 


THE  RO  ADM  ASTER  1071 

grass  and  weeds,  mowing,  cutting  brush,  etc.  New  foremen  should  be 
instructed  concerning  the  proper  season  for  the  various  kinds  of  ordinary 
track  work,  but  the  old  foremen  should  be  given  to  understand  that  such 
work  must  be  taken  up  at  about  the  proper  time  without  specific  orders.  The 
•care  of  looking  closely  after  all  such  matters  throws  too  much  work  upon 
the  roadmaster  and  virtually  relieves  the  foremen  of  that  much  responsi- 
bility for  the  condition  of  things  under  their  charge.  In  case  it  is  observed 
that  a  foreman  has  failed  to  do  such  work  as  might  have  been  expected 
of  him,  it  is  more  conducive  to  discipline  to  require  from  him  an  explana- 
tion than  to  forthwith  order  him  to  do  it.  The  section  foremairs  position 
necessarily  carries  with  it  a  good  deal  of  responsibility,  and  this  is  the 
main  thing  to  be  impressed  upon  the  foreman's  mind.  It  cannot  be  done, 
however,  if  the  roadmaster  assumes  to  direct  the  ordinary  work  of  tho 
section. 

The  office  work  should  be  in  charge  of  a  clerk  who  has  a  liking  for  the 
work  and  to  whom  all  routine  matters  can  be  left.  He  should  be  something 
more  than  a  bookkeeper — a  sort  of  private  secretary,  say,  who  understands 
so  well  the  plans  of  his  chief  that  he  can  answer  the  bulk  of  the:  corres- 
pondence on  his  own  responsibility,  leaving  for  the  approval  of  the  road- 
master  only  that  concerning  which  he  has  doubt.  He  should  acquaint 
himself  thoroughly  with  the  track,  especially  concerning  the  physical 
characteristics  along  each  section,  and  he  should  get  acquainted  with  the 
men.  In  order  to  do  this  he  should  be  given  opportunity  to  make  occa- 
sional trips  out  over  the  road,  preferably  in  company  with  the  roadmaster. 
The  position  is  no  mean  one,  for  the  services  of  a  good  clerk  are  invaluable 
to  a  roadmaster,  and  some  discrimination  is  necessary  in  selecting  a  man 
with  the  qualifications  necessary  to  fill  it.  A  trackman  possessing  at  least 
a  common  school  education  should  be  sought. 

A  roadmaster  having  charge  of  100  miles  or  more  of  double  track 
will  usually  need  one  or  two  assistants.  Such  assistant,  sometimes  'known 
as  assistant  roadmaster  and  som times  as  supervisor,  should  be  a  man  in 
whom  the  roadmaster  can  place  entire  confidence,  and  whom  he  can  en- 
trust to  act  in  his  own  capacity  when  sent  to  look  after  special  work,  or 
who  can  act  for  him  on  his  (the' assistant's)  own  judgment  if  present 
where  exigency  demands  decisive  action  without  delay.  One  of  such  men 
will  usually  be  needed  around  the  work  train  most  of  the  time,  and,  on 
many  roads  the  assistant  to  the  roadmaster  is  given  charge  of  the  work 
train.  As  a  rule  it  is  best  not  to  have  much  authority  come  between  the 
section  foremen  and  the  roadmaster,  except  where,  as  is  the  practice  on 
some  roads,  supervisors,  under  the  roadmaster,  or  under  the  official  cor- 
responding to  roadmaster,  are  given  regular  charge  of  portions  of  the  divi- 
sion. Of  course  special  occasions  will  arise  when  circumstances  will  pre- 
vent misunderstanding,  and  it  is  in  such  particular  lines  that  the  assistant 
<?an  be  most  useful,  rather  than  by  trying  to  oversee  those  ordinary 
affairs  where  even  slight  differences  in  judgment  ^between  him  and  the 
roadmaster  are  confusing  to  foremen.  If,  however,  owing  to  a  division  of 
too  great  length,  the  need  of  an  assistant  consists  in  the  multitude  of  regu- 
lar track  duties,  rather  than  in  lines  of  special  work,  it  is  well  to  set  off 
a  portion  of  the  division  to  the  assistant  and  give  him  full  control  as  far 
as  direct  supervision  is  concerned.  This  plan  works  better  than  that  by 
which  two  men  conjointly  try  to  supervise  the  whole  division  as  to  details ; 
because  the  ordinary  duties  are  of  such  nature  as  not  to  require  a  division 
of  the  supervisory  authority.  Where  part  of  the  division  is  in  this  way 
put  under  an  assistant,  the  roadmaster  may  find  in  it  such  relief  that 


1072  ORGANIZATION 

while  looking  after  the  whole,  yet  paying  special  attention  to  the  other  end, 
he  may  be  able  to  get  along  with  one  assistant. 

The  qualifications  for  the  position  of  roadmaster  are  considered  at 
some  length  under  the  heading  "The  Training  of  Headmasters/'  §  11, 
Supplementary  .Notes. 

188.  Section  Foremen. — The  section  foreman  is  employed  to  look 
after  the  safety  of  a  piece  of  track  of  certain  length  and,  with  the  help  of 
a  crew,  to  maintain  it  in  good  condition.  He  should  therefore  be  reliable, 
honest,  competent,  and  intelligent.  No  man,  however  able,  should  be 
placed  in  a  position  of  trust  or  be  allowed  to  retain  it  who  cannot  be  relied 
upon.  Some  men  are  unreliable  out  of  indifference  or  neglect,  while  others 
are  so  because  they  are  dishonest ;  but  as  far  as  there  is  any  dependence  there 
can  be  no  choice  between  the  two.  Much  property  is  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  foremen,  and  the  condition  of  the  track  and  the  economy  of  its 
maintenance  rest  largely  upon  their  ability  and  judgment,  but  no  less  im- 
portant to  the  same  ends  is  integrity  of  character.  In  order  to  be  reliable 
a  man  must  be  willing,  or  he  may  not  be  strong  enough  to  carry  out  his 
professed  motives.  His  first  duty,  above  others,  is  to  at  all  times  satisfy 
himself  that  his  track  is  safe  for  the  passage  of  trains  and,  in  case  of  doubt, 
to  use  all  possible  means  to  ascertain  its  condition  and  make  it  safe.  This 
implies  that  he  must  be  willing  to  go  at  all  hours  and  in  all  kinds  of 
weather  to  threatened  points  on  his  section  whenever,  in  his  most  reason- 
able judgment,  he  thinks  he  might  be  needed  there. 

In  order  to  be  competent  the  foreman  must  necessarily  have  had 
considerable  experience  as  a  track  laborer.,  and  to  have  become  so  skillful 
at  it  that  he  is  able  to  instruct  others.  The  criterion  by  which  some  would 
judge  of  &  man's  fitness  to  take  charge  of  a  section  would  be  his  ability  to 
lay  a  turnout  or  "switch,"  as  trackmen  usually  call  it.  Somehow  there 
seems  to  exist  with  trackmen  pretty  generally  a  sort  of  strange  fancy  that, 
connected  with  "putting  in  a  switch/-'  there  is  some  hidden  secret  or  trick 
of  the  trade,  so  to  speak,  which,  if  once  discovered  or  mastered,  opens 
up  to  one  all  the  supposed  arts  of  the  trackman's  craft,  or  about  all  there 
is  concerning  track  that  is  worth  knowing.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  com- 
ment upon  ill-conceived  notions  of  this  character.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
while  some  good  trackmen  who  have  never  had  opportunity  for  doing 
such  work  might  be  a  little  slow  at  the  first  turnout  attempted,  yet  no  man 
could  be  considered  anything  of  a  trackman  who  could  not  choose  a  fair 
location  for  a  turnout  and  oversee  the  laying  of  it  properly.  And  there  are, 
too,  some  railroad  surveyors  who  will  fuss  around  the  location  of  a  turnout 
for  a  spur  track  as  though  it  must  be  placed  with  mathematical  precision, 
instead  of  proceeding  with  a  view  to  choose  favorable  ground  and  place 
the  headblock  or  frog  with  such  relation  to  the  joints  as  will  reduce  rail 
cutting  to  a  minimum.  And  they  will  also  set  stakes  for  the  curve  of  the 
turnout  between  headblock  and  frog,  when  a  frog  table  gives  all  the  neces- 
cary  measurements  for  locating  the  different  parts  of  the  turnout  and  for 
properly  curving  the  lead  rail.  Competent  track  foremen  do  not  waste 
time  on  such  matters.  It  is  but  stating  what  every  experienced  trackman 
knows,  to  say  that  there  are  scores  of  instances  where  foremen  are  called 
upon  to  use  more  judgment  than  is  ordinarily  required  when  laying  frogs 
and  switches.  It  is  needless  to  attempt  to  give,  even  in  a  general  way,  an 
enumeration  of  the  things  in  track  work  which  a  foreman  should  have 
knowledge  of.  The  entire  treatment  of  section  work  in  the  foregoing 
chapters  relates  only  to  practical  details  which  foremen  should  know 
about.  A  fair  amount  of  knowledge  is  essential,  but  proper  judgment, 
which  must  be  used  with  it,  can  come  only  from  experience.  Knowledge 


SECTION  FOREMEN  1073 

alone,  in  the  sense  of  mere  information,  is  not  always  a  safe  guide,  for  a 
certain  amount  of  that  can  sometimes  be  picked  up  in  a  short  time  without 
learning  the  uses  to  which  it  may  be  put. 

As  for  his  intelligence  or  education,  it  goes  without  saying  that  every 
foreman  should  be  able  to  express  fairly  well  his  thoughts  in  writing  and 
to  be  able  also  to  perform  the  fundamental  calculations  of  arithmetic; 
but  alas,  how  many  are  the  instances  where  foremen  are  unable  to  meas- 
ure up  to  these  simple  qualifications !  Some  can  neither  write  nor  cipher, 
nor  read  plain  language  understandingly,  and  must  consequenily_seek  assist- 
ance from  the  station  agent  or  from  some  of  their  men;  while  others  are 
so  poor  at  ciphering  that  many  a  time  book  goes  in  filled  out  evenly  oppo- 
site all  the  names,  or  with;  a  full  mark  under  each  date  worked,  purposely 
to  avoid  multiplying  fractions  or  picking  them  out  of  the  table  of  wages, 
usually  placed  in  the  back  of  the  time  book.  There  are  many  people  (and 
not  all  trackmen,  either)  able  to  read,  to  whom  tabulated  information  is 
practically  as  difficult  as  hieroglyphics.  Certainly,  roadmasters  are  to 
blame  for  appointing  such  men  to  position. 

Before  any  man  is  appointed  foreman  he  should  succeed  in  passing 
a  thorough  oral  examination  covering  the  principal  duties  he  is  to  assume 
and  the  ordinary  work  of  the  section.  Stress  should  be  laid  upon  ascertain- 
ing his  knowledge  of  the  use  of  signals,  and  his  judgment  as  to  just  what 
ought  to  be  done  in  certain  cases  of  emergency,  such  as  broken  rails,  slides, 
washouts,  etc.  He  should  also,  as  part  of  his  examination,  be  required  to 
make  out  reports  and  fill  out  and  make  up  a  time  book,  from  a  given  diary 
or  memorandum  of  the  daily  work  of  a  section  crew  for  a  month. 

The  best  plan  to  follow  in  selecting  section  foremen  is  to  look  for 
promising  men  among  the  most  competent  track  hands  in  the  different 
crews,  giving  preference  always  to  the  men  oldest  in  point  of  service.  By 
consulting  the  old  time  books  or  pay  rolls  on  file  at  the  headquarters  the 
roadmaster  can  ascertain  who  are  the  oldest  men  in  the  service  without 
making  his  purpose  known.  These  men  should  be  specially  sought  out  by 
the  roadmaster,  who  should  for  a  time  observe  closely  their  work  and 
movements,  with  a  view  to  determine  in  his  own  judgment  the  ability  and 
fitness  of  each,  before  inquiring  of  his  foreman.  It  frequently  happens 
that  an  old  and  well  deserving  track  laborer  is  purposely  withheld  from 
promotion  out  of  jealousy  or  prejudice  on  the.  part  of  his  foreman,  or 
from  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  latter  to  aid  certain  other  of  his  friends. 
And  then,  too,  some  foremen  are  very  cautious  about  allowing  any  oppor- 
tunities for  apprenticeship  under  them  or  of  imparting  information  to 
their  men,  while  other  foremen  have  not  the  ability  so  to  do.  The  road- 
master  should,  therefore,  investigate  for  his  own  benefit  and  to  his  own 
satisfaction,  and  endeavor  to  fill  vacancies  by  drawing  from  the  rank  and 
file  in  preference  to  hiring  outsiders  or  men  from  another  division.  - 

A  good  way  for  the  roadmaster  to  ascertain  the  qualifications  of  men 
as  foremen  is  to  have  an  apprentice  crew  work  as  a  floating  gang,  under  an 
expert  foreman  who  is  known  to  be  a  good  and  impartial  judge  of  men,  and 
whose  disposition  and  characteristics  are  worthy  of  imitation.  Such  a 
floating  gang  is  usually  needed  on  most  roads  and  the  variety  of  work  to 
which  it  is  assigned  furnishes  an  excellent  school  for  prospective  foremen. 
The  aim  of  the  foreman  of  this  gang  should  be  to  hold  up  to  the  men  a 
high  standard  of  duty.  He  should  constantly  impress  upon  their  mind? 
the  importance  of  economizing  time  and  material  and  the  necessity  for 
thorough  work  and  careful  inspection.  They  -should  be  required  to 
familiarize  themselves  with  the  rules  of  the  track  department  and  the 
various  adopted  standards  for  roadbed  sections,  ditches,  frog  and  switch 


1074  ORGANIZATION 

construction,  switch  layouts,  curve  elevation,  etc.;  and  they  should,  of 
course,  acquire  readiness  in  construction  and  repair  work  about  switches 
and  frogs.  Wherever  opportunity  arises  for  comparison  of  different  meth- 
ods or  standards  of  work  the  foreman  should  discuss  with  the  men  the 
advantages  and  the  defects  observable.  When  surfacing  or  lining  track 
the  men  should  be  allowed  to  take  their  turn  at  sighting  the  rail,  and  they 
should  have  instruction  and  practice  in  making  reports.  This  can  be  arranged 
by  permitting  each  man  to  attend  to  the  foreman's  reports  a  month  at  a  time. 
In  time,  therefore,  good  opportunity  is  afforded  to  observe  the  disposition 
and  willingness  of  the  individual  men  to  learn  to  work  for  the  company's 
interests.  Into  this  crew  the  roadmaster  may  call  those  men  whom  he 
considers  suitable  candidates  or  those  old  hands  who  desire  to  make  appli- 
cation. After  working  some  time  a  man's  fitness  will  show  itself  and, 
a?  new  foremen  are  needed,  men  can  be  drawn  from  this  crew  in  turn  and 
given  examination  with  a  view  to  advancement,  but  some  may  have  to  be 
rejected  without  examination. 

In  order  to  test  a  candidate's  ability  for  handling  men  he  can  be  sent 
to  take  the  place  of  some  regular  foreman  who  is  absent  on  account  of 
sickness  or  other  cause,  or  he  can  be  put  in  charge  of  a  gang  to  do  some 
special  work,  if  necessity  arises.  In  such  ways  as  this  there  is  opportunity 
to  work  the  man  in  gradually  and  ascertain  his  qualifications.  This  plan 
places  the  roadmaster  on  an  independent  footing,  for  whenever  it  becomes 
necessary  to  make  a  change  for  the  good  of  the  service  or  when  vacancies 
occur  he  has  satisfactory  men  to  put  in  charge.  If  the  situation  is  other- 
wise he  may  often  hesitate  to  make  n.eeded  changes,  out  of  fear  that 
available  substitutes  may  not  do  any  better,  or  in  cases  of  emergency  he 
may  be  obliged  to  appoint  men  of  doubtful  qualifications.  Incompetency 
that  is  not  discovered  until  after  a  permanent  appointment  has  been  made 
often  results  in  costly  mistakes,  and  such  failures  have  a  demoralizing 
effect  upon  the  service. 

The  system  of  recruiting  foremen  from  among  the  section  laborers 
stimulates  the  ambitious  young  men  and  puts  a  premium  on  faithful  and 
efficient  service.  Inducement  is  then  held  out  to  those  progressively  in^ 
clined,  and  the  company  is  able  to  retain  a  better  class  of  labor  than 
otherwise,  so  that  the  system  is  productive  of  good  results  in  more 
ways  than  that  of  securing  a  desirable  class  of  men  for  foremen.  The 
system  of  training  foremen  in  apprentice  gangs  is  in  force  on  a  num- 
ber of  roads,  and  the  results  are  generally  satisfactory.  For  sake  of 
example  reference  may  be  made  to  the  Oregon  Short  Line  R.  R. 
On  this  road  there  is  a  training  gang  on  each  roadmaster's  division, 
most  of  them  being  located  at  division  terminals.  The  men  for  each  of 
these  gangs  are  employed  by  the  roadmaster  of  the  division,  who  selects 
young  men  seeking  to  make  track  work  their  occupation.  A  foreman  of 
more  than  ordinary  ability  and  intelligence  is  selected  for  the  gang  and 
the  men  are  paid  ordinary  track  laborer's  wages.  The  roadmaster  puts 
in  a  good  deal  of  his  spare  time  with  these  men.  They  are  instructed  in 
track  surfacing  and  lining,  laying  switches  and  turnouts  and  in  general 
track  repairs.  They  are  also  taken  out  to  assist  at  wrecks,  washouts,  etc., 
and  in  this  way  get  a  good  general  knowledge  of  all  kinds  of  track  work. 
A  high  official  of  this  road  has  stated  that  some  of  the  best  foremen  in  the 
service  have  been  trained  in  this  way. 

Another  plan  that  is  followed  a  good  deal  is  to  pick  out  the  best  man 
in  each  section  crew  and  make  him  track-walker,  and  then  when  a  foreman 
is  needed  promote  him  from  the  grade  of  track-walker.  There  is  reason  to 
doubt  whether  this  plan  is  as  satisfactory  as  that  of  the  training  gang,  for 


SECTION"  FOREMEN  1075 

:'the  position  of  track-walker  removes  the  man  from  active  participation, 
in  track  work,  and  he  remains  all  the  time  on  the  "same  old  section."  In 
the  training  gang  the  man  has  opportunity  to  see  more  kinds  of  work 
done  than  he  is  liable  to  find  on  any  one  section,  and  he  sees  the  same 
kind  of  work  done  under  a  variety  of  conditions.  He  also  comes  in  contact 
with  a  good  many  trackmen  and  gets  in  touch  with  their  ideas,  and  the  ten- 
dencies of  such  an  experience  are  broadening.  It  is  also  to  be  remarked 
that  there  are  many  men  well  qualified  in  every  way  for  track-walkers 
who  have  no  capacity  for  handling  a  crew  of  laborers. 

The  importance  of  selecting  good  foremen  cannot  be  overestimated. 
Aside  from  the  roadmaster's  own  fitness  it  is  the  keynote  of  his  success. 
The  test  of  executive  talent  in  any  official  is  his  ability  to  secure  and 
retain  the  services  of  capable  and  willing  men  as  his  subordinates.  This 
for  the  simple  reason  that  good  subordinates,  when  properly  organized, 
can  keep  things  moving.  Many  can  doubtless  call  to  mind  what  excellent 
reputations  some  men  have  built  up  for  themselves  on  the  skill  and  brains 
of  other  men,  simply  by  dint  of  their  executive  ability,  and  nothing  else; 
whereas  other  men  of  far  greater  resources  and  abilities,  without  compe- 
tent subordinates,  or  by  distrusting  their  subordinates,  have  tried  to  ac- 
complish too  much  by  their  own  efforts  and  have  failed.  In  order  to 
secure  men  of  judgment  for  his  subordinates  an  official,  particularly 
when  taking  a  new  position,  must  sometimes  resort  to  the  weeding-oufc 
process.  And  then,  again,  any  one  is  liable  to  be  mistaken,  at  times,  in 
judging  of  men,  and  some  have  not  the  moral  courage  to  afterwards  right 
the  matter  even  though  they  see  the  mistake.  It  is  an  unpleasant  duty  to 
have  to  discharge  a  man  for  incompetency  alone,  especially  if  one  is  dealing 
with  a  man  of  character  or  with  an  old  acquaintance;  yet  such  must  be 
done,  at  times,  if  an  official  is  to  do  right  by  his  position.  The  man.  least 
troubled  in  this  respect  is  undoubtedly  he  who  makes  it  an  unvarying  rule 
not  to  appoint  intimate  personal  friends  to  position.  Eelevant  to  the 
same  subject  is  another  matter  which  should  not  escape  attention,  and  that 
is  the  influence  of  race  prejudice  in  the  appointment  of  men  to  responsi- 
ble positions.  The  policy  which  makes  nationality  the  basis  of  eligibility  in 
filling  positions,  particularly  in  a  country  like  this,  is  short-sighted  and 
weak.  It  is  destructive  of  good  feeling  and  it  is  bound  to  lower  the 
standard  of  fitness  for  position.  It  is  detrimental  to  discipline  and  gives 
to  the  favored  class  a  certain  conceit  of  themselves  which  is  not  promotive 
of  industry.  About  the  least  one  can  say  of  any  man  who  observes  such 
a  policy  is  that  he  is  too  narrow-minded  to  properly  discharge  the  duties 
of  roadmaster. 

Foremen  should  be  given  authority  to  hire  and  discharge  men. 
No  man  should  be  discharged,  however,  except  for  cause,  or  when  forces  have 
to  be  reduced.  In  the  latter  case  it  is  customary,  of  course,  to  retain  the 
oldest  employees.  A  roadmaster  should  not  be  too  willing  to  investigate 
every  complaint  coming  from  discharged  men,  still  it  is  but  fair  that  he 
should  give  earnest  attention  to  those  complaints  when  coming  from  old 
employees.  A  foreman  should  always  be  sure  of  his  position  when  dis- 
charging an  old  employee  for  any  cause,  and  if  so,  any  fair-minded  road- 
master  will  stand  by  him,  and  he  need  not  fear  investigation.  A  roadmas- 
ter cannot  very  well  afford  to  override  the  authority  of  the  foreman  in 
such  matters,  or  compel  him  to  retain  men  in  his  employ  whom  he  does  not 
like :  it  is  easier  to  discharge  the  foreman,  when  it  comes  to  that.  Another 
way  out  of  a  difficulty  of  this  kind,  if  the  roadmaster  is  satisfied  with  the 
merits  of  the  "distasteful"  employee's  case,  is  to  find  opportunity  to  pro- 
mote him. 


1076  ORGANIZATION 

In  order  to  get  along  well  with  employees  it  is  neceesary  to  make  care- 
ful discrimination  in  the  selection  of  theniu  One  discontented,  refractory 
man  will  often  spoil  the  discipline  of  a  whole  gang.  The  only  thing  to  do 
with  such  men  is  to  promptly  discharge  them.  As  soon  as  a  foreman  finds 
that  a  man  is  incompetent,  unwilling  or  disposed  to  stir  up  mischief  he  is 
compromising  matters  by  retaining  him  longer  in  service.  If  a  man  has 
worked  in  the  same  place  a  long  while  it  is  presumable  that  he  is  a  worthy 
employee,  and  the  foreman  who  discharges  him  necessarily  places  him- 
self on  the  defensive.  A  foreman  should  not  be  upheld  in  discharging 
men  because  they  refuse  to  board  with  him  or  because  of  any  wrangling 
springing  out  of  that  or  any  other  personal  matter.  Complaints  of  this 
nature  will  sometimes  bear  close  investigation.  It  is  certainly  to  a  com- 
pany's interest  to  know  whether  the  chief  business  of  any  of  its  foremen 
is  that  of  running  the  section  or  running  a  boarding  house.  In  the  same 
connection,  foremen  should  not  be  permitted  to  use  the  services  of  their 
men  as  wood  choppers,  berry  pickers,  gardeners,  or  at  other  personal  work, 
on  the  company's  time.  Neither  should  foremen  be  expected  to  present 
the  roadmaster  with  turkeys  each  Thanksgiving  or  Christmas,  or  with  a 
mess  of  fish  occasionally.  It  is  usually  the  case  that  such  "offerings"  are 
fully  compensated  for  in  one  way  or  another,  and  by  accepting  such  things 
the  roadmaster  places  himself  in  a  compromising  attitude  toward  a  strict 
enforcement  of  discipline. 

The  rules  of  most  companies  require  that  the  foreman  shall  "engage 
in  the  work,  personally,"  but  it  is  well  understood  that  they  cannot  always 
do  this  and  at  the  same  time  properly  oversee  the  work  of  their  men.  The 
question  is  sometimes  raised,  therefore,  as  to  whether  or  not  foremen  gen- 
erally should  be  expected  to  do  manual  labor  with  their  men.  This 
depends  largely  upon  the  amount  of  oversight  necessary;  upon  the  size 
of  the  crew,  to  some  extent ;  upon  the  skill  of  the  laborers ;  and  upon  the 
character  of  the  work.  In  a  large  crew  the  presence  of  an  overseer  is 
always  necessary.  Human  nature  is  so  constituted  that  men  gathered 
together  in  large  bodies,  for  any  purpose,  lose  more  or  less  their  sense  of 
individual  responsibility.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  expedient  that 
employees  should  have  continually  before  them  visible  evidence  that  this 
weakness  in  humanity  is  known  to  the  employer.  The  business  of  the 
foreman,  then,  while  not  actually  engaged  in  giving  directions,  should 
be  to  stand  around  where  he  can  see  and  be  seen.  But  in  small  crews  this 
is  not  so,  necessarily,  and  a  foreman  should,  in  order  to  be  profitable  to  his 
company,  make  it  a  rule  to  keep  himself  employed  at  something  most  of 
the.  time  when  not  directing  others.  He  need  not  necessarily  be  expected 
to  fill  the  place  of  a  laborer,  at  all  times,  but  to  at  least  do  something 
which  helps  along  the  work  in  some  way.  There  is  always  a  certain 
amount  of  tinkering  or  work  at  odd  ends  to  be  done  in  order  that  all  the 
men  be  kept  at  work  with  reasonable  steadiness.  In  a  small  crew  such 
things  should  usually  be  looked  after  by  the  foreman.  One  might  inquire 
as  to  what  number  of  men  would  in  this  connection,  be  considered  a  large 
crew,  and  what  number  a  small  one.  This  is,  one  of  those  questions  where 
it  is  difficult  to  draw  a  line,  and  one  can  hope  only  to  offer  suggestions ;  for 
very  certainly  no  strict  rule  can  be  laid  down.  In  a  general  way,  a  crew 
of  less  than  six,  besides  the  foreman,  might  be  considered  small,  and  one 
of  more  than  eight,  a  large  one.  Between  these  two  limits,  it  might  be 
left  for  the  foreman  to  debate  in  his  own  mind  as  to  whether  he  should 
exert  himself  little  or  much.  The  rules  of  some  roads  require  that  fore- 
men having  fewer  than  five  or  six  men  must  engage  in  work  personally. 
It  often  happens  that  in  work  where  men  engage  in  pairs,  such  as  tamping, 


SECTION  FOREMEN  1077 

spiking,  tie  renewals,  and  much  other  section  work,  the  foreman  can  pair 
himself  with  the  odd  man,  in  case  there  be  such,  to  good  advantage.  In 
many  cases,  therefore,  roadmasters  make  it  an  aim,  when  reducing  the 
forces,  or  when  assigning  the  number  of  men  allowed  to  each  section, 
where  the  crews  are  small,  to  make  the  number  exclusive  of  the  foreman  an 
odd  number,  like  three  or  five,  so  as  to  give  the  foreman  this  opportunity 
of  employing  himself. 

As  is  elsewhere  stated  in  several  connections,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant duties  of  a  section  foreman  is  inspection,  and  this  includes  bridges 
and  trestles  as  well  as  roadbed,  or  track  on  terra  firma.  He-shcmld  care- 
fully observe  the  surface  and  alignment  of  track  on  bridge  floors,  and  the 
condition  of  the  track  fastenings  in  such  places;  the  condition  of  bank 
sills  and  other  end  construction,  the  action  of  .water  around  foundations; 
and,  in  fact,  every  condition  which  affects  the  safety  of  trains  or  the 
smoothness  of  riding  thereof.  To  this  end  he  should  be  required  to  ride 
over  the  track  on  the  engine  of  a  passenger  train  once  in  about  every 
three  months,  going  over  several  sections,  so  as  to  be  able  to  compare  his 
own  section  with  the  others.  This  gives  a  good  opportunity  to  observe  the 
condition  of  the  curves  with  respect  to  elevation,  and  sometimes  there  are 
"soft  places"  under  the  track  in  such  short  stretches  that  the  track  springs 
back  to  surface  as  soon  as  it  is  relieved  of  pressure  from  the  traffic.  These 
are  known  as  ''blind  sags,"  and  the  yielding  character  of  the  material  is- 
not  apparent  except  while  a  train  is  passing.  The  engine  will  find  all 
such  places,  if  they  exist,  and  when  the  foreman  is  aboard  he  should  take 
note  of  the  vicinity  of  each  and  afterward  make  it  a  point  to  be  them 
while  trains  are  passing,  so  as  to  discover  the  exact  location.  One  remedy 
for  a  case  of  this  kind  is  to  raise  the  track  up  out  of  surface  sufficiently  ta 
allow  for  the  excess  amount  of  yielding  at  the  place.  But  if  the  cause  is 
not  plainly  in  view  it  is  well  to  dig  down  and  find  it.  In  some  instances 
a  "h^rd  place,"  like  a  log  lying  in  a  fill,  just  under  sub-grade  and  diagon- 
ally to  the  center  line,  or  a  rock  under  one  side  of  the  track,  has  been, 
found  to  be  the  cause  of  disturbance,  without  any  sign  of  eneven  surface 
in  the  rails  when  trains  were  not  passing  the  spot. 

Foremen  should  be  encouraged  in  taking  a  lively  interest  in  their 
work  and  in  making  an  economical  showing  in  the  expense  of  keeping  up 
their  sections.  They  need,  however,  in  some  cases,  to  be  taught  the  ill 
economy  of  temporarily  keeping  down  expense  by  ordering  insufficient 
amounts  of  material  for  repairs;  allowing  tools  to  go  too  long  without 
repairing;  failure  to  provide  proper  watchmen,  on  needed  occasions;  and 
possibly  in  some  other  short-sighted  plans.  Foremen  should  cultivate 
watchfulness,  and  the  habit  of  observing  things  closely.  In  order  to  keep 
up  with  the  times  they  should  be  regular  readers  of  periodical  railroad  liter- 
ature. There  is  no  responsible  position  on  railroads  wherein  the  occupant 
is  not  better  fitted  for  his  duties  by  study  and  thinking.  And  then  the  bet- 
ter educated  a  man  is,  so  much  the  better  ought  to  be  his  control  over  the 
men  working  under  his  charge. 

In  the  way  of  educational  advancement  a  few  roadmasters  have  adopted 
the  commendable  practice  of  calling  their  foremen  together  at  regular  inter- 
vals, once  each  year,  or  oftener,  usually  in  the  winter  time,  when  work  is 
not  pressing,  for  a  general  discussion  on  track  questions.  The  meetings 
are  conducted  in  a  manner  somewhat  similar  to  the  procedure  of  the 
annual  meetings  of  some  of  the  railway  associations.  For  example,  the 
roadmaster  acts  as  the  presiding  officer,  and  some  weeks  before  the  meet- 
ing he  selects  certain  questions  for  discussion  and  sends  a  request  to  each 
foreman  to  be  prepared  to  attend  the  meeting  and  discuss  these  questions. 


1078  ORGANIZATION 

At  the  meeting  the  foremen  are  permitted  to  conduct  the  proceedings  pretty 
much  in  their  own  way,  being  free  to  give  their  experience  and  to  criticise 
the  methods  of  work  and  other  matters  brought  out  in  course  of  the  discus- 
sion. The  results  accomplished  where  such  meetings  are  held  regularly  are 
said  to  be  decidedly  beneficial.  In  the  exchange  of  ideas  the  foremen  learn 
of  new  methods  in  practice  and  the  meetings  seem  to  stimulate  a  friendly 
rivarly  which  raises  the  importance  of  the  work  in  the  estimation  of  the 
foremen.  It  also  conduces  toward  a  uniformity  in  methods  of  work  on  the 
different  sections  represented.  A  supervisor  on  one  of  the  large  railway 
systems  of  the  country,  who  introduced  the  practice  of  calling  yearly  meet- 
ings of  his  section  foremen,  has  stated  that  such  meetings  were  greatly  en- 
joyed by  himself  and  were  found  to  be  extremely  interesting.  He  relates 
that  the  discussions  were  entered  into  with  spirit  and  that  progressive  ten- 
dencies were  readily  traceable.  He  claims  to  have  been  much  benefited  on 
his  own  part,  for  in  listening  to  the  proceedings  he  was  enabled  to  pick  up 
many  advanced  ideas  on  the  work  of  track  maintenance.  Mr.  I.  0.  Walker, 
while  roadmaster  with  the  Paducah,  Tennessee  &  Alabama  E.  E.  (now  part 
of  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Ey.),  followed  the  practice  of 
calling  his  foremen  together  four  times  each  year.  Other  roads  have  various 
arrangements  for  the  same  purpose. 

On  the  Chicago  &  Council  Bluffs  division  (in  Illinois)  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ey.  there  is  a  section  foremen's  debating  so- 
ciety, organized  in  1893  by  Mr.  Edward  Laas,  while  roadmaster  of  that 
division.  All  the  foremen  of  the  division,  to  the  number  of  34,  are  mem- 
bers of  the  society,  which  has  a  constitution  and  by-laws,  with  officers 
elected  yearly.  The  object  is  to  meet  and  discuss  questions  pertaining 
to  track  and  track  work.  All  of  the  affairs  of  the  society  are  conducted  in 
a  business-like  manner.  The  meetings  are  held  on  Sunday,  every  two 
months,  at  Elgin,  111.,  in  a  rented  hall,  in  the  business  part  of  the  city. 
Each  meeting  consists  of  two  sessions,  held  during  the  forenoon  and  the 
afternoon.  The  meetings  are  conducted  in  parliamentary  form.  The 
proceedings  usually  consist  in  the  reading  of  papers  on  methods  and  de- 
vices pertaining  to  track  work,  and  in  the  reception  and  discussion  of  com- 
mittee reports.  Preparatory  to  these  meetings  the  roadmaster  usually  sug- 
gests a  subject  or  subjects  to  be  taken  up  for  discussion.  The  roadmaster 
i?  usually  present,  and  occasionally  takes  part  in  the  meetings,  but  the 
foremen  are  supposed  to  feel  free  to  express  their  opinions  and  judgment 
on  aJl  questions  brought  before  the  meeting. 

One  of  the  results  of  these  meetings  is  that  the  foremen  are  stimulated 
to  think  and  study  their  work,  and  from  such  experience  they  are  enabled 
to  discuss  track  questions  in  an  intelligent  manner.  Another  important 
result  has  been  that  diversified  methods  of  doing  certain  kinds  of  work  have 
given  way  to  standards  adopted  after  careful  and  thorough  investigations. 
On  the  other  hand,  by  taking  account  of  the  conditions  existing  on  different 
parts  of  the  division,  explanations  are  found  for  variations  of  practice  in 
certain  cases,  where,  without  looking  into  the  matter  thoroughly,  the  var- 
ious methods  might  not  seem  to  accord  with  the  best  practice  for  the 
case.  The  fact  that  section  foremen  are  at  all  times  upon  the  ground 
and  thus  able  to  observe  conditions  and  results  in  minute  detail  should 
make  them  authorities  on  a  great  many  track  questions.  The  periodical 
meetings  of  the  society  afford  them  the  opportunity  of  analyzing  the  re- 
sults and  forming  conclusions  on  methods  of  work  and  the  efficiency  of 
devices,  which,  without  doubt,  are  valuable  suggestions  to  the  roadmaster 
and  the  purchasing  agent. 

The   division    superintendents    of   the   Philadelphia    &   Eeading   Ey. 


SECTION  FOREMEN^  1079 

have  in  practice  what  are  called  "schools  of  instruction  on  the  book  of 
rules."  In  1900  a  committee  composed  of  superintendents,  division  en- 
gineers and  supervisors  prepared  a  set  of  rules  for  the  maintenance-of- 
way  department.  In  connection  with  these  rules  there  are  illustrations, 
showing  standards,  and  instructions  concerning  the  use  of  material  in 
work  covered  by  the  illustrations.  After  the  rules  had  been  published  in 
book  form  the  company  inaugurated  meetings  on  each  division,  at  which 
section  foremen  and  one  or  two  of  the  more  intelligent  men  from  each 
section  are  required  to  be  in  attendance.  Instruction  is  given  by  the 
supervisors  and  other  competent  instructors.  At  these  meetings  it  is  the 
endeavor  to  ascertain  how  each  individual  understands  certain  rules  taken 
up  for  consideration,  and  his  practice  in  connection  with  the  same,  the 
idea  being,  of  course,  to  have  all  come  to  a  uniform  understanding  of  the 
rules  and  to  hold  discussion  on  all  matters  about  which  there  can  be  any 
question.  In  this  way  the  officers  give  the  foremen  such  instructions  as 
their  talk  would  indicate  to  be  necessary,  and  explain  to  them,  effectively 
any  points  that  may  come  up  in  the  meeting.  These  meetings  are  held  at 
occasional  intervals,  and  the  discussions  cover  not  only  the  rules  laid 
down  in  the  book  but  methods  of  doing  work  in  general,  the  aim  being  to 
illustrate  or  exemplify  the  principles  underlying  the  practice  followed. 
The  meetings  have  resulted  in  more  uniform  practice  and  a  more  strict 
adherence  to  standards. 

Having  been  a  section  foreman,  myself,  I  cannot  resist  the  tempta- 
tion to  criticise  certain  defects  and  odious  practices  that  are  more  or  less 
widely  tolerated  or  winked  at  by  higher  authority.  It  is  my  observation 
that  some  foremen  are  better  qualified  for  the  management  of  a  large 
crew  than  a  small  one,  for  with  the  small  crew  they  quite  overdo  the 
matter  of  overseeing.  A  small  crew  engaged  at  ordinary  section  work, 
especially  if  it  be  made  up  of  experienced  hands,  ought  not  to  call  for 
the  continual  exercise  of  the  foreman's  vocal  powers.  Nevertheless  there 
are  many  foremen,  often  well  disposed  men,  too,  who  seem  to  take  it 
for  granted  that  every  workman  needs  a  certain  amount  of  instruction 
each  day,  notwithstanding  that  the  man  may  be  quite  familiar  with  what 
he  is  doing.  And  so  instead  of  leaving  competent  men  alone,  and  trying 
to  make  themselves  of  some  use  by  their  own  efforts,  as  they  should,  they 
stand  around  fretting  and  actually  hindering  the  work.  Manual  labor 
is  not  nearly  so  tiresome  to  endure  as  is  the  habitual  fault-finding,  irri- 
tating lingo  of  some  peevish  foreman;  for  when  a  man's  mind  gets  tired 
he  feels  tired  all  over.  Men  working  under  such  oversight  will,  in  time, 
grow  hesitant/  lose  interest  in  the  work,  and  strive  to  do  nothing  more  than 
to  in  some  way  meet  the  fancy  of  the  ffboss,"  or  else  to  relieve  their  minds 
occasionally  by  provoking  him  all  they  dare.  It  is  only  telling  the  plain 
truth  to  say  that  hard  taskmasters  are  not  exceptional  among  track  fore- 
men. There  are  men  in  charge  of  English-speaking  track  crews  in  this 
country  who  fall  a  long  way  short  of  being  gentlemen.  Some  foremen 
in  giving  directions  to  their  men  make  habitual  use  of  profane  and  vio- 
lent language,  repeating  their  tirades  occasionally  for  the  sake  of  empha- 
sis. Judging  from  the  language  used,  some  track  foremen  seem  to  act 
on  the  proposition  that  the  men  are  mules  and  themselves  the  drivers. 
Reference  is  not  here  intended  to  words  occasionally  spoken  in  anger,  but 
to  the  every-day  abuse  which  some  foremen  heap  upon  laboring  men,  who, 
under  certain  circumstances,  perhaps,  must  endure  it.  Of  course,  such 
treatment  of  men  can  be  regarded  only  as  an  indication  of  shameful  ignor- 
ance combined  with  a  little  authority.  Out  of  lack  of  confidence  in  them- 
selves such  foremen  usually  stand  in  continual  dread  of  losing  their  posi- 


1080  ORGANIZATION 

tions,  and  they  feel  like  keeping  every  one  around  them  in  the  same  stress 
of  mind. 

Although  such  demeanor  cannot  be  charged  as  typical  of  track  fore- 
men as  a  class,  it  is  nevertheless' too  largely  followed  in  practice  to  be 
overlooked  in  any  general  treatment  of  track  labor.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  add  that  roadmasters  ought  not  to  allow  such  things  to  go  on.  No 
men  working  under  such  foremanship  can  take  a  lively  interest  in  the 
work,  and  the  result  is  damaging  to  the  company  from  a  dollars-and- 
cents  point  of  view,  even  if  there  be  no  concern  for  the  inhumanity. 

189.  Section  Labor. — It  is  a  commonly  accepted  notion  that  track 
work  is  essentially  and  necessarily  the  most  ordinary  type  of  labor — and 
such,  indeed,  some  of  it  is.  It  is  a  great  mistake,  however,  to  regard  all,, 
or  even  the  larger  part,  of  track  work,  especially  section  work,  as  mere 
"puddling  in  dirt."  The  prevalence  of  the  notion  referred  to  may  no- 
doubt  be  expJained  on  the  fact  that  the  occupation  of  the  trackman  is  too 
frequently  thought  of  in  connection  with  the  class  of  men  who  may  chance 
to  be  following  it  in  some  certain  locality,  or  class  of  localities,  as  in  and 
around  the  large  cities,  for  example.  Taking  the  whole  country  into  consid- 
eration, it  is  to  be  admitted  that  track  labor  is  not  up  to  the  standard  it 
maintained  years  ago.  By  this  it  is  intended  to  say  that  throughout  the 
country  there  are  to-day  fewer  expert  trackmen  in  proportion  to  railway 
mileage  than  there  were,  say,  twenty  years  ago.  One  reason  for  this 
state  of  affairs  is  that  of  late  years  the  country  has  been  overcrowded  with 
an  ignorant,  unskilled  foreign  element  eager  to  work  for  a  lower  rate 
of  wages  than  English-speaking  laborers  and  their  families  could  well 
subsist  upon.  As  the  result  the  low  rate  of  wages  paid  has  bid  for  nothing 
better  than  common  labor,  and  but  few  who  could  get  any  other  employ- 
ment would  seek  labor  at  track  maintenance  or  remain  at  it;  and  hence 
almost  any  man  possessing  an  abundance  of  "main  strength  and  awk- 
wardness" has  too  frequently  been  acceptable. 

Such  is  certainly  a  wrong  state  of  affairs,  for,  notwithstanding  that 
it  seems  to  be  the  policy  of  railway  companies  to  pay  track  labor  no  more 
than  the  lowest  rate  that  is  paid  for  labor  anywhere,  there  is  nevertheless 
in  the  occupation  of  the  trackman  as  much  scope  for  the  exercise  of  skill 
and  intelligent  manipulation  as  will  be  found  in  that  of  the  ordinary  me- 
chanic. An  expert  trackman  is  a  skilled  laborer,  a  tradesman — fully  as- 
much  so  as  is  a  carpenter,  a  smith  or  a  mason.  Men  cannot  become  ex- 
pert at  all  kinds  of  track  labor  in  a  few  months.  A  good,  bright  man 
would  do  well  if  he  gained  the  necessary  experience  in  two  years.  In  order 
to  acquire  a  good  knowledge  of  things  in  that  length  of  time  he  would  have 
to  have  more  than  an  ordinary  opportunity,  and  at  all  times  be  prompt 
and  willing  to  learn.  As  a  rule  young  men  do  best  at  track  labor,  but 
unfortunately  for  the  railway  companies  they  do  not  offer  enough  induce- 
ment to  always  hold  those  who  are  most  capable.  In  manufacturing  dis- 
tricts, where  better  wages  are  usually  paid  for  other  labor,  but  few  take 
pride  in  the  work,  and  most  of  those  who  remain  at  it  do  so  from  force 
of  circumstances,  not  being  able  to  do,  or  not  caring  to  do,  more  than 
to  in  some  manner  hold  a  job.  In  short,  it  seems  that  railway  companies 
have  failed  to  raise  track  labor,  generally,  up  to  the  average  efficiency 
which  is  certainly  possible  for  it,  if  indeed  such  labor  has  not,  as  above 
declared,  actually  deteriorated. 

The  same  aptitude  for  the  work  and  the  same  qualities  of  character 
as  were  recommended  in  the  case  of  the  section  foreman  are  of  course  de- 
sirable in  the  section  laborer,  although  it  could  not  be  expected  that  their 
application  would  obtain  so  largely  in  practice,  for  in  many  instances  it 


SECTION  LABOR  1081 

is  a  question  of  getting  men  of  any  kind  or  none.  Nevertheless,  as  far  as 
may  be  practicable,  men  should  be  sought  who  have  a  fair  amount  of  in- 
telligence, who  are  reliable,  willing  to  learn  and  to  do,  and,  of  course, 
men  who  are  physically  able.  Foremen  should  attempt  to  teach  men  all 
they  can  when  the  men  first  begin.  Men  are  always  more  willing  to  learn 
at  that  time,  and,  besides,  it  should  early  be  ascertained  whether  or  not 
the  man  is  going  to  make  a  success.  It  is  a  mistake  to  permit  a  man  to 
work  long  without  ascertaining  what  he  can  or  will  do.  Special  stress 
should  be  laid  upon  the  proper  use  of  tools ;  the  way  to  handle  the  various 
tools ;  and  the  posture  of  the  body  which  enables  a  free  and  -easy  use  of 
nny  particular  tool.  Foremen  should  endeavor  to  explain  the  reason  why 
such'  and  such  things  are  thus  and  so,  and  the  object  to  be  aimed  at  in  any 
given  kind  of  work,  thus  appealing  to  the  man's  intelligence. 

But  willing  men  cannot  always  make  good  trackmen.  A  man  must 
have  some  aptitude  for  the  work.  If  I  was  to  name  any  one  qualification 
which,  above  all  others,  is  essential  to  skillful  workmanship  in  this  line 
1  would  call  it  genius  for  matters  of  adjustment ;  that  is,  the  ability  to 
see  just  what  relation  the  different  parts  of  any  structure  hold  to  one 
another,  so  that  one  may  know  just  where  and  how  to  go  to  work  on  one 
part  in  order  to  put  the  whole  into  proper  order  or  condition.  I  can  refer 
to  some  examples  which  may  set  forth,  more  clearly,  perhaps,  just  what  I 
mean.  Take,  as  an  instance,  the  matter  of  lip  at  a  stub  switch.  Now 
some  men  would  see  right  away  whether  the  lip  was  caused  by  a  wrong 
setting  of  the  stand,  or  by  lost  motion ;  and  whether  that  lost  motion  was 
between  head  rod  and  rail,  or  between  head  rod  and  connecting  rod,  or 
between  connecting  rod  and  crank  pin,  or,  whether  it  might  not  be  due 
to  loose  or  worn  parts  in  the  stand  itself;  or  whether  the  gage  of  the 
moving  rails  corresponded  to  that  of  the  lead  rails;  or  whether  the  cause 
might  not  be  due  to  a  combination  of  two  or  more  of  such  defects.  But 
some  men  would  never  in  all  their  lives  be  able  to  locate  the  trouble,  and 
would  therefore  not  know  where  to  put  in  a  key  or  what  to  change  in  order 
to  right  the  difficulty.  As  other  illustrations  to  the  same  point,  take  the 
lining  of  curved  track ;  the  proper  point  at  which  to  place  the  lifting  power 
in  raising  a  low  rail;  how  to  pull  spikes  with  a  claw  bar;  how  to  most 
easily  and  rapidly  put  on  a  splice;  how  to  secure  the  proper  hold  in  lifting 
with  a  pinch  bar,  etc. 

Good  men  cannot  be  retained  on  the  section  unless  they  can  have 
steady  employment.  This  means  that,  although  it  is  usually  necessary  or 
advisable  to  reduce  the  section  forces  for  the  winter  below  the  allowance 
for  the  summer,  when  most  kinds  of  track  work  can  be  done  to  best  advan- 
tage, it  does  not, pay  to  lay  off  the  entire  crew,  even  if  but  temporarily,  or 
to  put  all  of  the  men  retained  on  part  time.  There  should  always  be 
retained  a  nucleus  of  from  two  to  four  men  working  steadily  the  year 
round.  It  is  certainly  to  be  doubted  whether  in  the  end  anything  is  gained 
by  laying  off  the  entire  section  force  during  the  winter  season.  Good  men 
will  not  remain  at  employment  where  they  are  much  needed  during  the 
hot  weather  only  to  be  laid  off  or  put  on  half  time  during  the  winter. 
The  result  of  the  prevalent  system  of  working  track  employees  is  that 
the  oldest  (in  service)  -and  most  capable  men  are  constantly  drifting  into 
other  kinds  of  employment,  so  that  every  spring  the  foremen  must  break 
in  new  men,  whose  work  in  general  will  not  compare  either  in  quality  01 
quantity  with  the  work  of  experienced  track  laborers.  One  of  the  draw- 
backs in  securing  and  holding  skilled  labor  on  track  is  the  uncertainty 
of  steady  employment.  In  an  address  before  the  Eastern  Maintenance 


1083  ORGANIZATION 

of  Way  Association,  in  1900  (on  "Skill  in  Track  Maintenance"),  I  made 
the  following  comment  on  this  phase  of  the  situation:    , 

"It  is  largely  the  practice,  as  winter  comes  on,  each  season,  to  either 
discharge  trackmen  or  lay  them  off,  or  put  them  on  short  time,  to  reduce 
expenses.  This  practice  causes  the  men  to  thoughtfully  'reflect  on  their 
summer's  earnings',  and  the  most  industrious  among  them  will  look  else- 
where for  steady  employment.  The  higher  officials  give  their  orders  to 
have  the  men  laid  off  and  when  spring  comes  the  roadmasters  and  section 
foremen  must  procure  and  hold  their  labor  the  best  way  they  can.  In 
many  cases  a  much  better  arrangement  would  be  possible,  even  where  re- 
trenchment becomes  necessary.  For  instance,  roadmasters  might  be  per- 
mitted to  distribute  the  labor  among  the  seasons  in  their  own  way,  with  a 
view  to  furnish  steady  employment  to  a  goodly  number  of  the  oldest  and 
most  skillful  section  laborers.  In  very  many  cases  this  could  be  done, 
without  sacrificing  anything  in  economy,  by  postponing  certain  kinds  of 
work  until  the  winter  season.  The  subject  is  worth  a  good  deal  of  study, 
and  in  any  case  an  improvement  of  the  situation  will  call  for  some  read- 
justment of  the  usual  plans  of  doing  work." 

Water  Boys. — In  hot  weather  men  should  have  plenty  of  good  water 
to  drink,  if  it  can  be  had.  Ice  water  is  poor  stuff  for  men  who  are  not 
used  to  it,  having  a  nauseating  effect  on  those  who  are  working  and 
sweating;  besides  it  does  not  quench  thirst  as  well  as  does  cool  spring  or 
well  water.  To  protect  laboring  men  against  ill  effects  from  drinking 
too  freely  of  water  while  perspiring  it  is  quite  generally  the  practice  to 
mix  oatmeal  or  rolled  oats  with  the  water.  When  this  is  done  the  water 
vessel  should  be  emptied  and  thoroughly  cleansed  each  evening,  as  the  oat- 
meal will  sour  over  night.  The  drinking  cup  should  also  be  scalded  or 
scoured  out,  for  obvious  reasons.  Where  the  supply  of  water  along  the 
section  is  not  plentiful  it  is  usually  necessary  to  take  a  half  or  a  full 
day's  supply  on  the  hand  car.  By  carrying  quite  a  large  quantity  in 
a  keg  or  large  jug  wrapped  in  a  wet  blanket  or  covering  it  may  be  kept 
cool  several  hours.  But  where  good  water  is  in  sight  men  always  want  it, 
and  ought  to  have  it.  Where  there  are  as  many  as  six  men  in  the  crew 
it  requires  a  good  part  of  one  man's  time  to  supply  the  rest  with  water,  if 
it  must  be  carried  some  distance,  and  in  such  case  it  pays  to  employ  a 
water  boy  with  each  crew,  during  the  summer  time-  or  during  hot  weather. 
Such  boys  are  usually  paid  about  two  thirds  of  a  man's  wages.  When  not 
occupied  busily  enough  at  carrying  water  he  can  be  useful  at  running  er- 
rands, looking  after  tools,  and  many  kinds  of  light  work,  to  keep  him  out 
of  mischief. 

190.  Watchmen. — Track  watchmen  comprise  track-walkers,  cross- 
ing flagmen  and  gatemen,  and  special  watchmen  detailed  to  watch  por- 
tions of  the  track  liable  to  be  endangered  by  slides,  falling  rocks,  wash- 
outs, forest  fires,  etc.  These  men  usually  report  to  the  section  foremen. 
Track-walkers  are  regular  watchmen  employed  to  patrol  the  track,  and  on 
some  of  the  busiest  roads  such  watchmen  are  constantly  in  service  both 
day  and  night.  The  usual  practice  is  to  walk  over  the  track,  following 
the  freight  trains  in  time  to  clear  the  track  as  far  as  possible  ahead  of 
the  passenger  trains.  Thus  a  passenger  riding  from  New  York  to  Buffalo, 
say,  on  a  through  train,  may  quite  likely  be  preceded  all  the  way  by  watch- 
men on  foot,  each  getting  over  his  beat  a  few  moments  before  the  train 
arrives. 

An  ordinary  day's  work  for  a  track-walker  is  to  walk  from  16  to  20 
miles,  making  two  round  trips  over  a  4  or  5-mile  section  or  beat.  To  do 
the  walking  alone  usually  requires  altogether  about  six  or  seven  hours,  de- 


WATCHMEN  1083 

pending  somewhat  upon  the  way  the  track  is  filled  in.  He  is  required, 
however,  to  be  out  on  the  track,  or  near  by  it,  a  full  day  of  ten  hours,  but 
not  necessarily  busy  the  whole  time.  The  day  track- walker  is  supposed 
to  carry  at  least  one  tool  of  some  kind.  Part  of  the  time  it  may  be  a  light 
steel  wrench,  for  tightening  loose  bolts;  or  a  light  hammer,  referred  to  in 
the  chapter  on  tools,  for  replacing  broken  spikes  or  driving  down  spikes 
which  have  worked  up,  or,  with  the  pick  end  of  the  same,  to  clean  out  dirt 
or  ice  packed  into  the  flangeways  at  highway  crossings  and_behind  guard 
rails.  Sometimes  he  may  carry  a  shovel,  to  drain  puddles  of  water  in  the 
ditches.  During  snow  storms  he  should  carry  a  broom  to  sweep  snow 
from  point  switches  and  spring-rail  frogs.  The  day  track- walker  fills  and 
cleans  the  switch  lamps  along  his  beat,  except  in  yards  where  they  may  be 
too  numerous.  In  winter  time  he  lights  the  lamps  and  puts  them  up 
before  dark,  and  takes  them  down  after  daylight  in  the  morning.  In  the 
summer  time,  however,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  night  track-walker  to  put  up 
and  take  down  the  lamps.  Ashes  dumped  at  water  tanks  on  main  line 
are  usually  cleared  away  promptly  by  both  the  day  and  the  night  track- 
walkers. 

The  track-walker  should  keep  his  eyes  more  or  less  on  the  rails  ahead 
of  him,  and  watch  for  spread  spikes  on  curves.  Spikes  are  most  liable  to 
spread  in  wet  weather,  when  the  ties  are  softened,  and  in  winter  when 
the  ground  is  frozen  and  the  ties  are  held  rigidly  in  their  beds.  It  is  at 
euch  times  that  the  curves  are  most  liable  to  give  trouble.  In  winter  time 
he  should  watch  the  shims  closely,  replacing  any  which  have  worked  out  of 
place.  He  should  take  special  notice  of  each  frog,  guard  rail,  switch,  .switch 
stand  and  connection  therewith,  and  try  the  switch  lock,  to  see  if  it  is  fast. 
In  hot  weather  it  is  important  to  watch  closely  the  moving  rails  of  stub 
switches  and  report  them  when  they  run  tight.  The  replacing  of  broken 
frog  bolts  and  light  repairs  of  this  character  may  be  attended  to  by  the 
track-walkers.  When  telegraph  wires  are  found  down  the  track-walker 
should  try  to  get  at  least  one  wire  connected  through;  if  not,  he  should 
call  upon  the  nearest  assistance  he  can  get,  after  which  he  should  report 
the  break  to  a  telegraph  office  or  to  his  foreman,  giving  an  account  of  the 
condition  of  the  wires,  poles,  etc.  He  must  see  that  cars  left  on  side-tracks 
are  fully  clear  of  the  main  track;  that  derailing  switches  in  side-tracks 
are  properly  set  and  locked;  that  doors  of  loaded  box  cars  are  locked  or 
sealed,  if  not  in  charge  of  an  attendant:  that  farm  gates  or  other  private 
openings  upon  the  right  of  way  are  kept  closed,  and  stock  kept  off  the 
right  of  way;  and  put  out  fires  which  may  get  started  on  or  near  the 
right  of  way.  Wooden  bridges  and  trestles  should  be  closely  inspected  for 
fire.  When  going  off  duty  in  the  morning  the  night  watchman  should 
notify  the  foreman  of  delayed  trains  which  have  not  passed. 

The  principal  duty  of  a  track-walker  is,  of  course,  to  inspect  the 
track.  He  is  given  only  such  other  small  duties  as  cannot  well  be  attend- 
ed to  by  the  section  crew,  and  is  not  supposed  to  do  general  track  work, 
such  as  cutting  grass,  raising  joints,  etc.  Indeed  the  man  who  walks  20 
miles  has  plenty  to  do  at  that  alone.  Where  there  are  numerous  minor 
duties,  20  miles  is  too  much,  and  the  beat  should  be  shortened.  In  any 
case  the  track-walker  should  not  be  burdened  with  duties  too  numerous 
to  distract  his  attention  from  the  real  object  of  his  position — that  of 
carefully  inspecting  the  track.  If  his  time  is  too  largely  occupied  with 
various  other  matters  he  is  compelled  to  hurry  over  the  track  in  order 
to  make  the  end  of  his  beat  on  time,  and  cannot  therefore  be  expected  to 
observe  everything  carefully.  The  night  watchman  is  not  supposed  to 
carry  track  tools  except,  as  above  pointed  out,  a  broom,  during  snow 


1084  ORGANIZATION 

storms.  A  tubular  kerosene  lantern  gives  better  light  on  still  nights  than 
a  railroad  lantern,  but  not  on  windy  nights;  neither  is  it  so  safe  against 
blowing  out.  Some  place  a  guard,  consisting  of  a  band  of  leather,  around 
the  lantern  covering  the  open  space  at  the  top  of  the  globe.  This  will  keep 
it  from  being  blown  out  in  the  wind,  still  in  a  heavy  wind  it  will  nicker 
badly  and  show  poor  light.  It  is  therefore  better  to  carry  a  railroad  lan- 
tern on  windy  nights.  The  best  way  to  light  a  lantern  or  switch  lamp 
in  windy  weather,  without  means  to  shield  it  from  the  wind,  is  through  the 
top,  if  the  top  can  be  taken  off  or  swung  back.  For  this  purpose  a  piece 
of  soft  copper  wire  of  small  size,  6  or  8  ins.  long,  is  a  very  convenient  de- 
vice for  holding  the  match,  if  the  opening  is  not  large  enough  to  admit 
the)  hand.  It  may  be  twined  around  the  lantern  frame  or  doubled  up  and 
carried  in  the  pocket,  and  to  hold  the  match  the  wire  is  wrapped  around  it 
a  few  turns. 

Both  day  and  night  track-walkers  should  carry  a  watch,  train  schedule, 
red  flag  and  torpedoes.  A  pocket  rule  or  tape  line  should  also  be  carried 
to  measure  the  length  of  rail  in  case  one  is  found  broken.  In  lieu  of  such 
the  rail  may  be  measured  as  so  many  lengths  of  a  stick  of  any  convenient 
length.  If  the  track-walker  patrols  past  a  telegraph  office  he  should  keep 
himself  informed  on  the  running  of  the  trains,  so  that  in  case  of  any 
irregularity  in  the  same  he  may  arrange  his  trips  according  to  the  time 
they  will  arrive  on  or  pass  over  his  beat.  After  a  watchman  on  single 
track  has  gone  over  his  beat  it  is,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  useless 
for  him  to  start  back  until  a  train  has  passed  over  it  after  him,  and  he 
should  therefore  wait.  It  is  necessary,  then,  to  have  a  cabin  or  shanty 
at  each  end  of  the  beat,  furnished  with  a  stove,  for  a  man  cannot  be 
expected  to  stand  out  of  doors  and  wait  during  all  kinds  of  weather.  The 
same  protection  should  be  (and  usually  is)  afforded  watchmen  at  slides, 
or  wherever  the  man  is  compelled  to  remain  in  one  place  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time. 

On  double  track,  track-walkers  travel  as  much  as  possible  facing  the 
trains.  They  should  make  it  an  unvarying  rule  never  to  walk  or  stand  on 
one  track  while  a  train  is  passing  on  the  other  track  or  is  moving  near  by. 
Unless  they  are  as  prompt  as  clockwork  about  this  they  are  liable  to  for- 
get, some  time,  and  meet  with  an  accident.  A  track-walker  should  always 
observe  closely  every  train  which  passes,  the  signals  carried  on  the  engine, 
and  whether  or  not  it  is  on  time  and,  if  not,  how  much  late.  Whenever 
he  discovers  a  train  parted,  a  car  or  truck  derailed,  or  a  dragging  brake 
beam,  he  should  by  some  means  try  to  draw  the  attention  of  those  in  the 
caboose  and  signal  them  to  stop.  He  can  sometimes  make  himself  very 
useful  in  this  way. 

Being  under  the  section  foreman's  orders  the  track-walker  is  con- 
sidered part  of  the  section  crew.  His  position  is  considered  a  promotion 
above  that  of  section  laborer  and,  as  he  usually  works  Sundays,  he  makes 
better  pay.  On  account  of  the  greater  responsibility  attached  to  his  work 
he  ought  to  be  paid  10  per  cent.,  or  some  such  amount,  more  per  day  than 
the  common  track  laborer.  A  track-walker  should  be  a  man  who  can  be 
trusted.  He  ought  to  be  a  good  trackman,  temperate,  and  thoroughly  reli- 
able in  every  way.  Without  a  knowledge  of  track  and  track  work  he  may 
not,  under  some  circumstances  be  able  to  properly  judge  of  the  safety  of 
the  track.  He  should  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  train  signals — hand, 
flag,  lantern,  torpedo,  and  whistle  signals.  It  is  usual  to  keep  the  same 
man  or  the  same  two  men  steadily  at  watching,  but  sometimes  a  foreman 
will  allow  the  section  hands  oldest  in  service  to  take  it  by  periods  in  turn. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  the  day  and  night  track-walkers  change  about 


WATCHMEN  1085 

every  month.  Track-walkers  find  it  easier  on  the  feet  to  wear  shoes  having 
very  thick  soles. 

Before  sending  out  a  watchman  or  track-walker  the  foreman  should 
satisfy  himself  that  the  man  will  be  competent  to  act  properly  in  case 
anything  is  found  wrong  with  the  track.  There  are  cases  on  record  where 
watchmen,,  upon  finding  danger,  have  become  so  excited  as  to  run  several 
miles  to  get  the  foreman,  taking  no  thought  about  holding  the  trains. 
When  finding  a  dangerous  place  in  the  track,  which  he  cannot  repair,  a 
watchman  should  stand  by  and  see  that  no  trains  run  onto  it  unawares.  It 
is  the  duty  of  the  trainmen  to  stop  and  call  out  the  foreman-  if  they  are 
going  that  way.  Of  course  it  might  happen  that  on  double  track  the 
watchman  could  reach  the  foreman  by  going  against  the  trains  which  use 
the  track  on  which  the  danger  lies.  There  have  been  instances  where  a 
watchman  on  single  track,  when  trains  were  late,  has  found  danger  at  such  a 
time  as  not  to  know  from  which  direction  or  how  soon  the  first  train  would 
come.  In  such  a  contingency  it  might  not  always  be  possible  to  avoid 
trouble,  especially  if  the  danger  be  found  on  a  curve,  in  a  cut,  and  a  heavy 
wind  be  blowing  at  the  time.  It  would  be  unwise  to  attempt  to  get  tor- 
pedoes out  very  far  in  either  direction,  and  one  might  make  a  mistake  in 
trying  to  get  them  out  at  all.  Under  such  a  consideration  about  the  only 
thing  to  do  would  be  to  stand  at  the  danger  point  until  some  indication  of 
an  approaching  train  is  perceived,  and  then  to  get  out  in  that  direction 
as  fast  and  as  far  as  possible.  One  could  quite  likely  get  far  enough  to 
stop  a  passenger  train  in  time.  In  a  contingency  of  this  kind  at  night  a 
fusee  would  come  handy.  On  single  track  it  is  never  sure  protection  to 
put  signals  out  in  only  one  direction.  Of  course  the  first  thing  to  do  is 
to  put  out  the  stop  torpedo  signal  the  proper  distance  toward  the  first 
train  due.  A  good  rule  to  follow  is  to  then  run  back  to  the  danger  point 
and,  leaving  a  red  flag  (if  by  day)  or  red  lantern  (if  at  night)  in  the 
track  get  a  stop  torpedo  signal  out  in  the  other  direction  a  safe  distance. 
Then  run  back  to  the  danger  point  and  go  a  little  distance  out  toward 
the  first  train  due,  but  not  out  of  sight  of  the  danger  point  after  a  train 
is  due.  As  soon  as  a  train  is  known  to  be  coming  near,  get  out  toward  it 
as  far  as  possible. 

With  a  good  system  of  track  inspection  the  chances  are  mostly  in 
favor  of  the  discovery  of  slides,  washouts,  burnt  bridges,  broken  rails  and 
other  dangers  in  time  to  stop  the  trains.  Nevertheless  railway  companies 
have  been  gradually  falling  away  from  the  practice  of  employing  regular 
track-walkers.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  the  length  of  road  subject  to 
trouble  from  slides,  water  or  fire  is  comparatively  short,  and  danger  is 
most  threatening  when  the  weather  conditions  are  unusual,  at  which  times 
special  watchmen  are  detailed  to  look  after  the  track.  Another  reason  is 
that  broken  rails  are  not  so  common  as  was  the  case  25  years  ago.  When 
iron  rails  were  in  use  it  was  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  for  a  section 
foreman  to  find  as  many  as  three  or  four  broken  rails  in  the  same  day 
during  very  cold  weather,  and  in  those  days  it  was  the  practice  on  some 
roads  to  give  an  extra  day's  pay  for  each  broken  rail  found,  to  the  track- 
man who  first  discovered  it.  Since  stronger  and  better  rails  have  come 
into  use  the  tendency-  has  been  to  dispense  with  regular  track-walkers, 
except  where  conditions  are  unusual  or  during  the  coldest  weather. 

Another  consideration  is  the  cost.  The  expense  of  employing  regu- 
lar watchmen,  or  men  to  patrol  the  track  constantly,  is  very  consider- 
able, amounting  to  about  $90  per  mile  per  year  for  one  watchman  during 
the  24  hours — that  is,  for  either  a  day  watchman  or  a  night  watchman — 
figured  on  the  basis  of  a  five-mile  beat  and  wages  at  $1.25  per  day.  On 


1086  ORGANIZATION 

most  roads  where  the  traffic  is  light  it  is  simply  out  of  the  question  to 
incur  this  expense  except  at  places  where,  or  at  times  when,  danger  is 
threatening.  It  must,  of  course,  be  understood  that  the  number  of  trains 
running  is  one  of  the  factors  which  have  to  do  with  the  condition  of  the 
track  respecting  safety,  for  there  are  many  ways  in  which  a  dangerous 
condition  in  the  track  may  develop  under  traffic  from  a  defect  which  is 
small  at  the  beginning.  Against  trouble  which  arises  in  this  manner  an 
occasional  trip  over  the  track  on  some  roads  would  afford  the  same  meas- 
ure of  protection  as  regular  trips  at  more  frequent  intervals  over  the  track 
on  a  road  carrying  a  correspondingly  larger  number  of  trains.  As  the 
amount  of  traffic  under  consideration  in  this  connection  increases  it  may 
be  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  to  decide  as  to  just  when  the  need  of  regular 
track- walkers  justifies  the  expense.  It  is  one  of  those  cases  where  a  cer- 
tain course  is  always  known  to  be  the  safer,,  yet  where  the  probability  of 
accident  due  to  not  taking  the  precaution  seems  to  be  exceedingly  small. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  absolute  safety  at  any  expenditure.  On  roads 
where  the  traffic  is  light,  and  the  rails  of  good  weight  and  quality  it  may 
not  be  necessary  to  get  over  the  track  every  day  during  summer,  when 
the  weather  is  fair;  and  if  the  section  crews  are  small  it  is  certainly  not 
convenient  to  do  so.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  all  track  should  be  in- 
spected at  least  two  or  three  times  per  week,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 
If  obstruction  or  danger  is  liable  to  arise  from  conditions  exterior  to  the 
track,  such  as  sliding  earth  or  rocks,  fire  or  flood,  that  is,  of  course,  a  dif- 
ferent matter. 

Where  regular  track-walkers  are  not  employed  it  is  commonly  the 
case  that  the  section  foreman  or  one  of  his  trusty  men  is  required  to  walk 
over  the  section,  or  ride  over  it  on  the  hand  car,  at  least  once  each  day. 
In  order  to  economize  time  it  is  sometimes  arranged  to  have  this  man 
return  by  train  and  work  the  remainder  of  the  day  with  the  crew.  On  some 
of  the  long  sections  in  the  West  the  watchman  is  sent  over  the  track  on 
a  velocipede,  especially  where  he  has  to  follow  the  trains  and  watch  wooden 
bridges.  On  the  Boston  &  Albany  E.  B.  the  foreman  or  one  of  his  com- 
petent men  is  required  to  walk  over  the  section  in  both  directions  every 
day  in  summer,  and  in  both  directions  twice  every  day  in  winter.  There 
are  no  night  track-walkers  except  in  stormy  or  rainy  weather,  when,  as  a 
rule,  at  least  two  men  patrol  each  section  at  all  times  day  and  night.  On 
the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  regular  day  track-walkers  are 
in  service  throughout  the  year,  the  length  of  beat  varying  from  two  to  five 
miles,  according  to  the  number  of  tracks.  On  sections  where  the  conditions 
are  unusual,  such  as  track  having  a  large  percentage  of  curvature,  track 
in  dangerous  rock  cuts,  tunnels  etc.,  special  watchmen  are  employed  both 
day  and  night,  their  beats  being  usually  limited  to  one  half  mile  or  one 
mile.  They  are  required  to  patrol  the  track  at  stated  intervals,  usually 
just  ahead  of  the  schedule  time  of  fast  passenger  trains.  In  some  instances 
registering  clocks  are  placed  at  each  end  of  the  beats,  particularly  for 
checking  up  night  watchmen.  On  the  main  lines  of  the  Pennsylvania 
road  both  day  and  night  track-walkers  are  employed.  On  the  Xasbville, 
Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Ey.  day  track-walkers  are  employed  during  all 
seasons.  The  sections  are  from  6  to  12  miles  in  length,  and  the!  usual 
duties  of  the  track-walker  are  to  get  over  half  of  the  section  each  day, 
tightening  all  loose  bolts,  carefully  inspecting  the  track  and  taking  note 
of  all  places  that  need  attention.  And  so  on  it  will.be  found  that  some 
railway  companies  follow  the  old  practice  of  employing  men  to  patrol  the 
track  regularly  both  day  and  night  at  all  seasons,  while  others  have  cut 
this  service  down  to  that  performed  by  day  track-walkers  only;  others 


WATCHMEN  1087 

employ  regular  watchmen  only  during  the  winter  season;  while  on  the 
large  majority  of  roads  only  such  watchmen  are  employed  as  may  he  neces- 
sary to  cover  once  each  day  that  part  of  the  section  which  has  not  been 
seen  by  the  foreman.  On  some  roads,  even  where  regular  watchmen  are 
employed,  the  foremen  are  required  to  get  over  their  sections  at  least  once 
or  twice  each  week. 

Careful  inspection  of  the  track  should  be  the  principal  duty  im- 
pressed upon  the  mind  of  the  section  foreman.  Nevertheless,  it  is  often 
the  tendency,  during  certain  portions  of  the  year,  to  reduce  4he-amount  of 
time  devoted  to  inspection  to  the  lowest  possible  limit  which  appears  to 
be  consistent  with  safety.  Thus  it  sometimes  happens  that  when  hard 
pressed  with  important  work,  such  as  tie  renewing  or  reballasting  the 
track,  a  section  foreman  is  inclined,  during  good  weather,  to  keep  his 
force  at  work  as  steadily  as  possible,  sometimes  sending  a  man  to  patrol 
the  track  each  day,  but  quite  frequently  not.  And  so  it  comes  to  pass  that, 
unknown  to  the  foreman,  the  bolts  in  some  frog  /nay  be  breaking,  one  by 
one,  while  at  some  other  point  on  his  section  cattle  or  other  stock  may  be 
making  a  pasture  field  of  the  company's  right  of  way,  with  now  and 
then  an  animal  killed.  As  a  general  proposition  it  is  desirable  that  the 
section  foreman  should  personally  inspect  his  whole  section  each  day  or 
send  a  trusty  man  to  do  it.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  results  of 
careful  track  inspection  do  not  always  show  plainly,  since,  as  a  rule,  it  is 
only  when  inspection  is  neglected  for  a  considerable  time  that  the  re- 
sults of  such  negligence  are  seen.  For  instance,  the  spreading  of  rails 
on  curves  usually  takes  place  slowly,  and  if  attended  to  when  the  spikes 
first  begin  to  spread  the  difficulty  is  remedied  before  matters  reach  the 
danger  point.  The  foreman  who  neglects  inspection  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time  will  frequently  find  conditions  which  could  hardly  obtain 
under  a  more  frequent  inspection,  when  tendency  to  disarrangement  of 
parts  is  nipped  in  the  bud,  so  to  speak. 

During  very  stormy  or  windy  weather  or  at  times  of  sudden  thaws, 
especially  at  night  time,  when  the  track  is  liable  to  be  flooded  or  washed 
out,  or  during  extremely  cold  weather,  the  force  of  track-walkers  is  cus- 
tomarily doubled.  During  excessively  hot  days  it  is  also  necessary  to 
watch  the  track  carefully,  particularly  on  very  sharp  curves,  as  trouble 
not  unfrequently  arises  from  the  expansion  of  the  rails.  At  dangerous 
cuts  or  sliding  banks,  and  at  streams  which  threaten  to  undermine  the 
track,  watchmen  should  be  stationed  to  remain  at  one  point  or  in  the  same 
vicinity.  On  sections  where  the  switches  are  widely  scattered  it  requires 
a  considerable  portion  of  a  day's  work  for  one  man  to  walk  over  the  track 
and  light  the  switch  lamps  in  the  evening.  On  some  roads  where  the 
track- walker  makes  only  one  trip  each  day  he  goes  in  the  afternoon,  in  time 
to  clean  and  light  any  switch  lamps  that  may  be  distant  from  the  fore- 
man's headquarters.  Men  who  attend  to  this  work  are  frequently  per- 
mitted to  use  a  velocipede  or  light  hand  car.  When  such  a  car  is  used  on 
double  track  it  should  habitually  be  run  in  opposition  to  the  running 
direction  of  the  trains,  as  then  the  safety  of  the  rider  will  not  depend  upon 
his  hearing. 

The  necessity  for  night  track-walkers  depends,  of  course,  upon  the 
number  of  night  trains  running,  particularly  the  number  of  fast  trains; 
and  so  far  as  concerns  the  same  measure  of  protection  to  trains  the  need 
of  night  track-walkers  is  more  urgent  than  for  day  track-walkers,  be- 
cause in  daytime  the  section  men  pass  over  some  portion  of  the  track; 
and  then  there  is  the  greater  probability  that  obstructions  or  defects  in 
the  track  can  be  seen  by  the  engineer  in  time  to  prevent  trouble.  In  warm 


1088  ORGANIZATION 

weather  cattle,  hogs  and  other  stock  are  liable  to  break  into  the  right  of 
way  for  feed  or  to  escape  insects  in  the  bushes,  and  sometimes  they  are 
found  lying  down  or  asleep  on  road  crossings — in  which  event  they  are 
almost  sure  to  derail  a  train  if  struck.  In  some  cases  where  only  one 
track-walker  can  be  afforded  during  the  24  hours  it  would  conduce  better 
to  safety  to  dispense  with  day  track-walkers  and  have  the  track  patrolled 
at  night,  while  in  other  cases  the  arrival  of  the  fastest  trains  on  certain  sec- 
tions might  make  it  advisable  to  have  the  track-walker  employ  half  his 
time  during  the  day  and  the  other  half  during  the  night,  arranging  his 
trips  to  best  protect  the  fastest  trains. 

Crossing  Watchmen  and  Switchmen. — Crossing  flagmen  and  gatemen 
and  switch  tenders  are  required  to  learn  the  schedule  of  the  trains,  the 
code  of  signals  and  the  instructions  in  the  book  of  rules  and  regulations 
regarding  their  position.  On  some  roads  they  are  examined  every  three 
years  for  hearing,  strength  of  vision  and  for-  preception  of  color.  Gatemen 
and  flagmen  are  provided  with  red  and  white  flags  and  lanterns,  torpedoes 
and  a  train  schedule.  They  use  the  white  signals  to  prevent  persons  and 
teams  from  crossing  when  trains  are  approaching.  The  red  signals  are  in- 
tended for  use  only  when  it  is  necessary  to  stop  trains.  Flagmen  and 
gatemen  are  required  to  know  the  exact  time  when  each  regular  train  is 
due  at  the  point  where  they  are  stationed,  take  particular  notice  of  sig- 
nals carried  by  the  trains  and  be  on  the  alert  for  irregular  trains.  They 
must  prevent  cattle  and  other  stock  from  loitering  near  the  crossing  and 
prevent  people  from  walking  or  driving  over  the  track  when  a  train  is 
approaching,  taking  the  same  precautions  for  the  passage  of  hand  cars 
and  gasoline  cars  as  for  trains.  At  crossings  where  the  view  along  the 
track  is  obstructed  the  man  on  duty  should  be  warned  of  approaching 
trains  by  automatic  signal. 

Some  judgment  is  necessary  in  the  time  allowed  for  closing  the  gates 
or  clearing  the  crossing  while  trains  are  approaching.  Gatemen  must  be 
careful  not  to  lower  the  gates  upon  persons  or  teams  passing  under,  par- 
ticular attention  in  this  being  required  at  night  and  while  crowds  are 
passing.  The  proper  station  for  a  flagman  while  trains  are  approaching 
and  passing  is  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  at  the  side  of  the  track,  where 
he  can  be  effective  in  stopping  people  who  may  attempt  to  drive  across 
Gatemen  are  required  to  keep  the  gates  closed  until  the  entire  train  has 
passed  the  crossing,  and  in  case  of  double  track  they  must  not  open  them 
until  they  are  sure  that  no  other  train  is  approaching  from  the  opposite 
direction.  After  the  passage  of  vehicles  the  crossing  should  be  carefully 
observed,  to  see  that  the  rails  are  not  obstructed.  In  case  the  crossing 
becomes  obstructed  by  a  fallen  horse,  a  broken  wagon,  a  street  car  or  by 
any  other  object  not  quickly  removable,  danger  signals  must  be  promptly 
displayed  at  a  safe  distance.  At  crossings  where  the  street  travel  is  slack 
during  parts  of  the  day  the  flagman  or  gateimn  is  required  to  keep  the 
flangeways  clear.  Defective  crossing  plank  should  be  reported  to  the  sec- 
tion foreman  without  delay. 

On  some  roads  the  switchmen  or  switch  tenders  report  to  the  roadma,> 
ter,  and  on  others  to  the  superintendent,  but  in  yards  it  is  usual  for  them 
to  report  to  the  yardmaster.  It  is  the  duty  of  switchmen  to  operate  the 
switches  under  their  charge,  for  the  trains,  and  be  responsible  for  their 
safe  working.  This  requires  careful  inspection  of  the  parts  and  frequent 
observation  of  the  switch  while  trains  are  passing.  In  winter  time  they 
must  keep  the  switches  under  their  charge  clear  of  snow,  and  at  all  times 
promptly  report  defects  which  they  cannot  repair.  They  have  signals 
to  display  by  day  and  by  night,  and  as  soon  as  the  switch  has  been  used, 


LENGTH   OF    SECTION  1089 

each  time,  they  must  set  it  for  main  line  and  see  that  the  switch  signal 
gives  the  proper  indication.  Where  both  day  and  night  switchmen  or 
watchmen  are  employed  at  the  same  point  one  is  not  permitted  to  leave 
the  post  -until  relieved  by  the  other  man.  None  but  a  total  abstainer  from 
liquor  should  be  employed  as  a  switchman  or  a  crossing  watchman,  and 
these  men  should  not  be  permitted  to  entertain  loafers  and  other  unau- 
thorized persons  in  the  watch  house  or  vicinity  thereof. 

Bridge  Watchmen. — Watchmen  stationed  at  wooden  bridges  are  re- 
quired to  walk  over  the  structure  immediately  before  each  train  is  due, 
and  in  time  to  stop  the  train  should  anything  be  found  wrong.  ~0n  such 
trips  they  must  always  have  danger  signals  ready  for  use  in  case  of  neces- 
sity. They  are  usually  required  to  observe  carefully  the  condition  of  the 
rails  and  fastenings  and  to  pass  several  hundred  feet  beyond  the  ends  of 
the  bridge,  to  examine  the  track  for  broken  rails  and  other  defects.  They 
must  see  that  the  water  barrels  are  kept  filled  and  that  the  means  for 
handling  water  in  putting  out  fires  are  maintained  in  good  condition  and 
always  ready  for  use.  After  the  passage  of  a  train  or  engine  the  watch- 
man is  supposed  to  walk  over  the  bridge  and  make  careful  examination  of 
the  floor  and  timbers  for  fires  started,  or.  to  quench  live  sparks.  In  some 
cases  they  are  required  to  carry  a  pail  of  water.  The  rules  of  some  roads 
also  require  them  to  observe  the  ash-pan  dampers  of  engines  and  report 
them  when  they  are  left  open. 

191.  Length  of  Section. — The  proper  length  of  section  on  any  road 
is  a  matter  of  importance  and  requires  some  study.  On  single-track  roads 
the  length  varies  from  4.  to  10  miles,  and  on  double-track,  three-track  and 
four-track  roads  from  2-J  to  5  miles,  being  2J  miles  on  most  of  the  four- 
track  roads.  The  proper  length  depends  upon  many  conditions.  The  vol- 
ume of  traffic,  the  weight  of  rail,  the  quality  of  the  ties,  the  kind  of  bal- 
last, the  number  of  switches ;  the  condition  in  which  the  track  is  expected 
to  be  maintained;  the  condition  of  the  track  with  respect  to  local  ele- 
ments of  danger,  such  as  slides,  falling  rocks,  troublesome  streams,  and  the 
clearing  of  land  adjoining  the  right  of  way — all  these  have  to  do  with 
the  proper  length  of  section.  From  a  labor  standpoint  3  miles  of  double 
track  is  considered  the  equivalent  of  about  5  miles  of  single  track,  condi- 
tions being  the  same  in  either  case,  and  5  miles  of  double  track  to  about 
8  miles  of  single  track. 

An  all-the-year  average  of  one  man  per  mile  of  single  main  track  or 
1-J  men  per  mile  of  double  track,  that  is  working  force,  exclusive  of  fore- 
men and  watchmen,  is  a  general  allowance  supposed  to  be  sufficient  to 
keep  in  good  condition  a  well-used  track  in  gravel  or  equivalent  ballast. 
The  actual  force  allowed,  however,  is  often  regulated  to  correspond  rude- 
ly to  the  earnings  of  the  road,  and  in  perhaps  the  majority  of  cases  the  gen- 
eral excellence  of  the  track  is  determined  upon  that  basis.  A  number  of 
busy  roads  get  along  with  f  man  per  mile,  and  some  manage  to  reduce 
the  allowance  even  further.  Under  ordinary  conditions  it  is  not  profitable 
to  keep  the  force  constant  in  number  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  but  to  re- 
duce it  somewhat,  during  the  winter  and  increase  it  during  the  summer, 
when  tie  renewals,  weeds,  grass  and  low  joints  all  seem  to  need  attention 
at  the  same  time.  Five"  men  for  eight  months  of  the  year  and  two  or 
three  men  for  the  other  four  months,  exclusive  of  the  foreman,  is  an  or- 
dinary allowance  for  5-mile  sections  on  single  track. 

Tt  is  not  always  a  simple  matter  to  compare  the  section  labor  of  one 
road  with  that  of  another,  even  where  the  natural  conditions  appear  to  be 
the  same,  because  some  roads  spend  large  sums  of  money  to  put  the  road- 
bed, track  and  right  of  way  up  to  a  high  standard,  after  which  it  should 


1090  ORGANIZATION" 

be  expected  that  maintenance  expense  can  be  reduced  to  a  low  figure.  To 
illustrate  difference  of  expense  in  relation  to  conditions  of  maintenance, 
consider  that  A.,  B.  &  C.  Ry.  is  laid  with  heavy  rails,  tie  plates,  ties  of  long 
life,  ballast  of  good  quality  and  of  good  depth ;  that  the  roadbed  has  every- 
where been  constructed  to  a  standard  section,  with  wide  shoulders  on 
embankments  and  wide  ditches  through  cuts,  with  surface  ditches  above  the 
cuts;  that  the  right  of  way  has  been  completely  fenced,  snow  fences  con- 
structed, etc.  Now  suppose  that  X.,  Y.  &  Z.  Ry.  is  carrying  traffic  of  equal 
volume  and  of  the  same  class,  and  is  required  to  be  maintained  in  the  same 
condition  respecting  surface  and  alignment,  but  is  laid  with  lighter  rails, 
on  ties  of  shorter  life,  without  tie  plates ;  the  ballast  is  dirty  or  of  inferior 
quality,  and  insufficient  in  quantity;  the  roadbed  is  narrow  on  embank- 
ments and  the  cuts  have  never  been  widened  to  permit  sufficient  ditch 
room,  and  each  season  the  section  crews  must  put  in  several  weeks  extending 
the  right  of  way  fences.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  work  of  maintenance  on 
this  road  is  an  entirely  different  proposition  from  that  of  the  A.,  B.  &  C.  Ry. 

The  number  of  men  required  for  a  section  also  depends  a  good  deal 
upon  the  assistance  which  the  section  crew  is  supposed  to  render  station 
agents,  telegraph  linemen,  bridge  and  building  foremen,  tie  inspectors, 
car  repair  men,  surveying  parties,  fence  crews,  landscape  gardeners  and 
other  of  the  company's  servants;  on  many  roads  the  men  in  charge  of 
these  various  kinds  of  work  are  supposed  to  look  to  the  section  crews  for 
help.  The  labor  is,  <of  course,  charged  up  to  the  proper  account,  but, 
for  a  usual  thing,  it  all  comes  out  of  what  is  generally  supposed,  to  be 
the  allowance  for  the  track.  Again,  some  roads  get  along  with  small 
section  crews  because  the  heavy  work,  such  as  relaying  rails,  construct- 
ing turnouts  and  side-tracks,  reballasting,  raising  sags,  extensive  ditching, 
handling  material,  fence  construction,  and  frequently  tie  renewals,  is 
all  done  by  extra  gangs.  Some  treatment  of  this  plan  of  work  is  con- 
tained in  the  next  section  (§  192). 

According  to  the  reports  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
the  average  number  of  section  foremen  per  100  miles  of  line  has  remained 
almost  constant  at  17  since  the  year  1890;  and  in  1901  each  100  miles 
of  line  represented,  on  the  average,  about  134  miles  of  track,  including 
second,  third  and  fourth  tracks  and  side-tracks.  The  number  of  track- 
men per  100  miles  of  line,  exclusive  of  foremen,  averaged  102  during 
the  same  period  (1890  to  1901  inc.),  the  largest  being  122,  in  1901,  and 
the  smallest  85,  in  1894,  since  which  time  there  has  been  a  gradual 
increase.  These  figures  do  not,  however,  give  a  close  estimate  of  the 
average  length  of  section  and  the  men  employed  thereon,  because  the 
number  of  foremen  and  laborers  employed  on  yard  tracks  is  not  stated. 

On  poor  roads,  where  the  expenditure  on  the  track  must  be  reduced 
to  the  smallest  possible  figure,  the  sections  are  lengthened  out  in  order 
that  the  force  allowed  may  be  collected  into  larger  and  more  effective 
crews,  instead  of  being  scattered  along  in  crews  of  two  or  three  men  in 
a  place.  The  number  of  foremen  needed  is  thus  reduced  and  more  than  a 
proportionate  number  of  laborers  can  be  added  by  the  saving  so  made. 
Up  to  8  miles  the  advisability  of  this  plan  is  certainly  good,  where  tho 
conditions  demand  it;  and  where  the  track  does  not,  for  various  reasons, 
need  an  extra  amount  of  watching,  the  length  may  even  be  made  10 
miles;  and  such  it  is  on  numerous  roads.  The  length  of  section  ought 
not  to  exceed  10  miles  where  the  regular  daily  trains  exceed  four  in 
number,  for  that  distance  is  about  all  one  man  can  make  a  round  trip 
over  in  a  day  on  foot.  But  it  is  difficult  and  perhaps  useless  to  lay 
down  rules  in  such  cases;  for  a  road  which  can  hardly  keep  running  must 


LENGTH   OF    SECTION  1091 

•do  the  best  it  can,  for  the  time  being,  anything  more  than  ordinary 
safety  and  convenience  being  necessarily  secondary  matters,  seeming  good 
policy  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  Expediency  rather  than  precept 
must  be  followed.  On  prosperous  roads  handling  a  fair  amount  of 
traffic,  5  miles  is  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  length  for  single-tracK 
sections,  and  4  miles  for  double-track  sections,  not  taking  switches  or 
side-tracks  into  account.  It  is  quite  generally  considered  that  the  care 
and  labor  of  attending  to  12  or  15  switches  is  equivalent  to  that  of 
attending  to  a  mile  of  single  track.  On  this  point  the  Eastern  Main- 
tenance of  Way  Association  has  recommended  that  15  switches  and  frogs 
(15  turnouts)  should  call  for  an  extra  man  in  the  section  force.  Stub 
switches  give  the  most  trouble  in  summer  and  point  switches  during  snow 
storms.  The  distribution  of  the  switches  makes  a  considerable  differ- 
ence in  the  work  of  keeping  them  in  good  condition  and  attending  to  the 
switch  lights,  as  a  number  of  switches  near  together  are  more  easily 
looked  after  than  the  same  number  scattered  over  the  whole  length,  of 
ihe  section.  Two  miles  of  important  side-track  or  three  miles  of  side- 
track but  little  used  are  considered  equivalent  to  one  mile  of  single  main 
track. 

The  location  of  the  section  house  or  the  foreman's  residence  is  a 
consideration  of  some  importance.  So  far  as  the  duty  of  inspection 
is  concerned  it  is  not  as  convenient,  and  in  some  cases  not  as  economical, 
to  have  headquarters  at  an  intermediate  point  of  the  section  as  it  is  at 
'one  end.  This  for  the  reason  that  in  sending  one  man  to  inspect  the  section 
he  must  first  double  back  on  part  of  the  track  before  he  can  get  over  all 
of  it.  Where  headquarters  is  at  one  end  of  the  section,  the  foreman, 
in  going  to  work  with  his  hand  car  and  crew  in  the  morning,  can,  if 
desirable,  first  run  to  the  end  of  the  section  and  then  on  the  way  back 
«top  at  the  points  where  work  is  to  be  done.  If  the  crew  is  small  this 
plan  is  about  as  economical  as  any.  If  he  has  a  large  crew  he  would 
most  likely  stop  where  the  work  is  to  be  done  and  send  a  trusty  man  to 
walk  over  the  rest  of  the  track.  In  either  case  it  is  not  necessary  to 
lose  time  walking  over  track  that  has  been  covered  by  the  foreman  and 
the  crew.  Where  he  starts  out  each  morning  from  the  middle  of  the 
section  or  from  some  intermediate  point,  the  usual  plan  is  to  send  one 
of  the  men  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  then  if  the  crew  stops  short 
of  the  end  of  the  section  to  work  it  is  necessary  to  send  another  man  to 
inspect  the  remainder  of  the  distance  on  that  end.  This  man  doubles 
that  part  of  the  section,  the  hand  car  or  crew  in  course  of  the  day  doubles 
the  part  between  the  tool  house  and  the  point  where  the  work  was 
done,  and  the  first  man  sent  out  doubles  the  part  of  the  section  in  one 
direction  from  the  tool  house;  and  then,  in  order  to  reach  the  crew,  to 
work  the  remainder  of  the  day,  he  must  walk  over  the  part  inspected  by 
the  foreman.  The  whole  section  is  therefore  inspected  twice  and  part 
of  it  three  times  during  the  day.  The  plan  of  locating  the  section  house 
and  tool  house  at  one  end  of  the  section  therefore  requires  less  walking 
in  order  that  the  inspection  may  cover  the  section  daily  than  is  the  case 
where  headquarters  is  at  some  intermediate  point.  If  regular  track- 
walkers are  employed,  however,  the  difference  in  the  two  arrangements 
is  inconsiderable. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  foreman  located  at  the  middle  of  his  section 
is  ther  easiest  found  in  the  majority  of  cases  of  emergency.  On  sec- 
tions where  slides  are  to  be  frequently  expected  it  might  be  advisable  to 
locate  the  section  house  within  convenient  distance  of  the  seat  of  trouble, 
and  if  this  is  as  liable  to  happen  on  one  part  of  the  section  as  another, 


1092  ORGANIZATION 

then  the  middle  of  the  section  will  be  the  most  convenient  in  the  long 
run.  Where  sections  are  very  long  it  is  not  desirable  to  locate  the  sec- 
tion houses  at  the  opposite  ends,  of  any  two  of  the  adjoining  sections, 
as  that  arrangement  would  bring  a  long  stretch  of  track  between  the 
headquarters  of  section  forces;  on  10-mile  sections  the  distance  between 
section  houses  would  be  20  miles.  Of  course,  in  some  sections  of  the 
country  the  local  conditions  may  be  such  that  an  arrangement  of  this 
kind  cannot  well  be  avoided,  but  in  general  cases  the  rule  can  be  observed. 
Another  important  consideration,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases,  perhaps, 
the  most  important  consideration,  is  to  have  the  section  headquarters  near 
a  telegraph  station,  and  a  night  telegraph  station  if  possible.  In  thickly 
settled  country  it  is  usually  feasible  to  do  this.  This  arrangement  puts 
the  roadmaster  in  quick  control  of  his  track  forces,  and  in  times  of 
emergency,  as  when  wrecks  and  washouts  occur,  he  can,  as  a  general 
thing,  mobilize  them  promptly.  From  the  standpoint  of  hiring  and 
retaining  labor  for  the  section  crews,  the  plan  of  locating  the  foreman  in 
the  towns  and  villages,  or  at  least  in  settled  districts,  generally  gives  best 
satisfaction. 

192.  Floating  Gangs.  On  roads  where  there  are  a  good  many 
turnouts  to  lay,  take  up  or  change,  or  where  there  is  enough  of  any  kind 
of  special  work  on  the  division  to  keep  a  considerable  number  of  men 
busy,  and  still  not  of  a  kind  that  can  be  profitably  done  by  the  work 
train  crew,  it  is  customary  to  have  one  or  more  floating  crews  going 
from  place  to  place  to  do  such  work.  Such  an  arrangement  relieves  the 
section  crews  of  extra  work,  thus  enabling  them  to  attend  more  carefully  to 
the  regular  affairs  of  the  section  than  would  be  the  case  if  this  work 
was  to  fall  to  them.  On  many  roads  it  is  the  policy  to  keep  the  section 
crews  employed  strictly  at  the  routine  work  of  the  section,  such  work  as 
reballasting,  laying  new  steel,  extensive  ditching,  removing  slides,  repairs 
at  washouts,  widening  banks,  grading  for  side-tracks,  laying  new  turn- 
outs and  side-tracks,  etc.,  being  attended  to  by  extra  crews  or  floating 
gangs.  In  times  of  emergency,  as,  for  instance,  when  wrecks  or  wash- 
outs occur,  the  floating  gang  is  generally  in  demand  and  can  be  used 
to  good  advantage,  because  the  men  are  together  and  can  be  brought 
quickly  to  the  scene  of  the  trouble  as  a  reinforcement.  There  is  also- 
more  or  less  night  work  or  work  of  a  special  character  about  the  yards 
which  this  crew  can  perform  to  better  advantage  than  the  regular  crew:*. 
Moreover,  it  is  the  practice  on  some  roads  to  send  the  floating  gang  to  help 
out  section  foremen  who  are  behind  with  their  tie  renewals,  or  who  have 
an  unusual  amount  of  such  or  other  work  on  hand.  The  use  of  floating 
gangs  to  do  common  section  work  under  ordinary  circumstances,  however, 
is  not  recommended  as  good  practice,  for  it  tends  to  relieve  the  section 
foreman  of  some  responsibility,  while  foremen  of  special  gangs  are  not 
usually  disposed  to  assume  any  more  responsibility  in  such  things  than 
the  rules  compel  them  to. 

Just  where  to  draw  the  line  in  the  division  of  work  between  floating 
gangs  and  the  section  crews  is  something  of  an  unsettled  question,  but 
many  difficulties  in  this  respect  can  be  reconciled  on  the  fact  that  the 
necessity  for  floating  gangs  on  different  roads  does  not  always  arise  under 
the  same  combination  of  circumstances.  Local  construction  work  for 
which  the  regular  section  crew  is  not  a  sufficient  force  to  complete  it  in 
the  time  required,  or  which  comes  during  the  season  when  the  regular 
crew  cannot  spare  the  time,  would  seem  to  be  one  case  about  which  there 
could  be  no  question.  Heavy  repair  work,  like  relaying  rails  or  rebal- 
lasting, which  cannot  be  done  economically  by  small  crews,  would  seem 


FLOATING    GANGS  1093 

to  be  another  case  of  the  same  kind,  but  not  many  are  in  favor  of  taking 
ordinary  repairs,  such  as  recur  every  year,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  regular 
section  foremen.  It  frequently  happens,  however,  that  there  is  a  scarcity 
of  laborers  in  localities,  and  the  section  crews  cannot  be  filled  up  to  their 
regular  allowance.  In  that  event  they  must  have  help  in  order  to  get 
the  regular  work  done  in  season.  The  point  on  which  objection  is  most 
frequently  raised  is  in  regard  to  the  poor  quality  of  the  work  sometimes 
done  by  special  gangs.  As  to  this,  much  depends,  of  course,  upon  the 
reliability  of  the  foreman  and  the  kind  of  men  he  has  to  do  the  work;  and 
right  here  it  is  well  to  point  out  the  distinction  between  special  gangs  as 
they  are  differently  organized. 

An -"extra"  gang,  as  commonly  understood,  is  a  party  of  men  organized 
for  temporary  service,  usually  for  some  fi-^«i«i  work  during  the  ousy 
season,  and  is  then  disbanded.  It  is  usually  got  together  quickly  by 
hiring  any  available  laborers,  with  little  or  no  regard  to  skill,  for  skilled 
trackmen  are  seldom  available  for  temporary  employment.  In  the  West 
such  gangs  are  frequently  composed  of  the  migratory  or  "hobo"  class 
of  laborers,  the  most  of  whom  are  not  in  the  habit  of  working  in  one 
place  longer  than  until  the  first  pay  day.  In  other  cases  the  gang  is 
composed  of  aliens  of  the  Dago  or  Polack  nationality,  who  possess  little 
or  no  skill  and  work  in  a  leisurely  and  indifferent  sort  of  way.  Floating 
gangs  are  supposed  to  be  organized  for  permanent  service,  like  the  section 
crews,  and  should  be  composed  of  a  better  class  of  labor  than  extra 
gangs.  Ordinarily  this  gang  is  reduced  when  winter  comes  on,  but  the 
skilled  trackmen  are  kept  at  work  and  the  organization  is  maintained. 
There  is  usually  enough  work  around  the  yards  and  terminals,  such  as 
shoveling  snow,  handling  material,  odd  jobs  about  the  switches  and  cross- 
ings, or  occasional  trips  over  the  road  with  snow  plows  and  flangers, 
assisting  the  wrecking  crew,  etc.,  to  furnish  steady  employment.  On 
some  roads  the  gang  is  emploj^ed  during  winter  time  in  stone  quarries, 
getting  out  rock  for  ballast  or  for  building  purposes,  while  frequently 
there  is  track  work  enough  to  occupy  their  time  the  year  round.  These 
men,  from  their  diversified  experience,  are  supposed  to  be  skillful  at 
all  kinds  of  track  work,  and  even  more  ready  to  grasp  new  situations 
and  adapt  themselves  to  special  conditions  than  ordinary  section  men. 
As  for  track  work  of  a  special  character  the  chances  are  that  the  floating 
gang  will  do  it  more  expeditiously  and  more  economically  than  the  reg- 
ular section  crews.  When  it  comes  to  the  point  of  temporarily  increasing 
the  size  of  a  section  crew  by  hiring  a  number  of  new  men,  in  order  to 
do  some  special  work,  there  could  hardly  be  any  doubt  about  the  advisa- 
bility of  sending  the  floating  gang.  Wherever  the  work  of  the  floating 
gang  will  show  distinctly  for  itself  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
responsibility  would  be  shirked.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  to  this 
extent  there  need  be  no  hesitancy  about  employing  floating  gangs. 

In  view  of  the  aforementioned  advantages  derivable  from  floating 
gangs  properly  organized  and  supervised,  they  should  be  composed  of 
capable,  active  and  willing  men.  Unless  they  are  willing  workers  they 
may  take  offense  once  in  awhile  when  a  "hurry-up"  job  is  on  hand  or 
when,  as  sometimes  happens,  it  becomes  necessary  to  strain  a  point  in 
order  to  complete  the  work  in  time  to  get  off  on  a  train.  The  floating 
gang  as  an  apprentice  school  for  foremen  is  elsewhere  discussed  (§  188). 

Men  in  floating  crews,  including  the  foreman,  are  usually  paid  a 
slightly  higher  rate  of  wages  than  ordinary  section  men — at  least  enough 
higher  to  cover  the  increased  cost  of  living  while  traveling  around.  Such 
crews  usually  make  headquarters  at  the  division  points.  When  the  dis- 


1094  ORGANIZATION 

tance  between  headquarters  and  the  work  is  too  great  to  be  covered  in 
reasonable  time  by  train,  morning  and  evening,  the  crew  arranges  to 
board  temporarily  as  near  to  the  work  as  accommodations  for  transients 
can  be  had,  coming  home  usually  on  Saturday  evening.  On  many  of  the 
western  roads  floating  crews  are  furnished  with  boarding  cars.,  which 
are  set  out  on  the  side-track  nearest  to  the  work,  and  go  to  and  fro  on 
hand  cars.  Floating  crews  are  supplied  with  a  full  set  of  section  tools 
and  a  hand  car.  When  going  to  and  from  work  by  train,  the  work  at 
the  point  being  only  of  short  duration,  the  tools  carried  along  are  divided 
between  the  men,  who  assist  in  loading  them  into  the  baggage  car  at 
the  starting  point  and  in  unloading  them  at  the  stopping  point.  Each 
man  being  accountable  for  certain  tools,  is  expected  to  see  that  they  are 
all  put  into  and  taken  out  of  the  baggage  car.  If  the  work  of  the  crew 
is  to  continue  ia  one  place  for  some  time  the  whole  outfit  of  tools,  with 
A  box  to  keep  them  in,  and  the  hand  car,  should  be  shipped  by  freight, 

The  Ohio  Elver  R.  R.,  before  it  passed  under  the  control  of  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  R.  R.,  adopted  for  one  of  its  divisions  a  system  of  track 
maintenance  in  which  all  the  heavy  work  of  the  sections  was  performed  by 
floating  crews  with  districts  regularly  assigned.  Under  the  previous  sys- 
tem the  sections  were  7  miles  long  and  were  worked  by  a  foreman  and! 
6  men.  Under  the  new  system  the  sections  were  made  8  miles  in  length 
and  were  put  in  charge  of  a  foreman  and  3  men.  In  addition  to  this 
the  division  of  120  miles  was  divided  into  30-mile  sections,  and  each  was 
worked  by  a  floating  gang  consisting  of  a  foreman,  20  men  and  a  cook. 
Each  of  these  gangs  was  provided  with  a  boarding  train  consisting  of  four 
box  cars  and  a  flat  car.  One  of  these  cars  was  divided  and  used  as  a 
kitchen  and  a  living  room  for  the  cook;  another  was  divided  and  used  as 
a  dining  room,  and  a  sleeping  apartment  for  the  foreman;  and  the  other 
two  box  cars  were  used  as  sleeping  apartments  for  the  men.  The  flat  car 
was  used  for  supplies  and  materials. 

The  duties  assigned  to  the  section  forces  were  to  look  after  the  small 
repairs,  including  the  raising  and  tamping  of  low  joints,  or  the  light  sur- 
facing, and  to  inspect  the  condition  of  the  track,  keep  the  right  of  way 
fences  in  repair,  maintain  the  grounds  around  the  depots  in  a  state  of 
neatness,  and  such  other  work  as  the  supervisor  found  it  advisable  and 
most  economical  to  have  this  force  do.  The  position  of  track-walker  was 
abolished  and  the  whole  section  force  was  required  to  go  over  its  section 
every  day  with  the  hand  car,  inspecting  the  track,  tightening  loose  bolts, 
driving  spikes,  etc.;  thus  in  general  doing  all  light  work  and  seeing  that 
the  track  was  in  safe  condition.  The  larger  forces,  covering  the  30-mile 
sections,  performed  all  the  heavier  work  of  repair  and  renewals,  such  as 
placing  ballast,  renewing  ties  and  rails,  widening  banks,  ditching  and 
such  other  work  as  the  supervisor  thought  could  be  done  more  economically 
by  this  force  than  by  the  smaller  section  crews.  The  object  of  this  organ- 
ization was  to  secure  better  inspection  for  the  track  and  to  economize  in 
the  general  work  of  track  repairs.  As  the  foreman  was  required  to  pass 
over  the  track  daily,  and  was  held  responsible  for  the  prompt  repairing  of 
defects,  he  could  not  divide  his  responsibility  with  a  track-walker.  The 
heavier  work  over  each  section  of  30  miles  being  done  by  the  same  force, 
in  charge  of  the  same  foreman,  it  was  thought  that  more  uniformity  in 
the  work  was  secured;  that  the  forces  were  more  nearly  the  size  required 
to  make  such  repairs  economically;  and  that  in  case  of  wreck,  in  most 
instances,  the  force  required  could  be  more  quickly  and  easily  assembled. 
As  the  section  foremen  were  still  held  accountable  for  the  safety  of  the 
track  in  its  minor,  but  not  least  important,  repairs  their  responsibility  was 


DISCIPLINE  1095 

not  lessened  in  any  great  degree.  During  the  winter  the  floating  gangs 
were  cut  down  to  10  or  12  men  and  these  worked  only  such  time  as  was 
profitable.  The  men  who  worked  in  these  gangs  were  young  and  single, 
as  a  rule,  and  as  the  quarters  were  made  comfortable  and  board  was  fur- 
nished practically  at  cost,  the  most  of  them  preferred  to  stay  at  the  camp 
during  the  slack  season.  The  company  thus  had  at  all  times  a  large  force 
for  service  in  case  of  emergency.  The  management  reported  that  the 
working  of  the  system  proved  to  be  very  satisfactory. 

Fence  Crews. — A  man  is  sometimes  employed  to  take  chttrge  of  fence 
construction  and  repairs.  When  new  fence  is  to  be  built  he  is  given  a 
small  crew,  with  tools  and  facilities  for  transporting  material,  as  described 
under  the  subject  of  fence  (§  151).  When  there  is  no  new  fence  to  be 
built  he  looks  after  fence  repairs,  where  such  are  needed  to  any  consid- 
erable extent.  This  arrangement  is  commendable,  for  the  reason  that  he 
can  see  to  getting  the  material  to  place  better  than  any  one  else,  thus 
avoiding  delay.  If  he  has  no  crew  he  is  generally  allowed  to  draw  a  man 
or  two  from  the  foreman  on  whose  section  the  work  is  to  be  done.  '  In  the 
busy  season  it  greatly  facilitates  matters  to  relieve  the  foremen  of  this 
work.  Slight  repairs  should  be  ke.pt  up  at  all  times  by  the  section  crews, 
but  fire  or  flood  will  sometimes  give  them  more  fence  work  than  they  can 
find  time  to  do. 

193.  Discipline. — In  order  to  carry  on  the  work  of  track  mainte- 
nance to  best  advantage  there  must  be  conformity  to  well  established 
business  principles.  The  crew  should  report  at  the  tool  house  promptly 
at  the  time  set  for  starting  out  in  the  morning,  which,  by  universal  custom, 
is  7  o'clock.  Section  men  should  not  be  expected  to  run  the  hand  car  to 
and  from  work  on  their  own  time,  because  there  is  seldom  or  never  a 
permanently  established  place  where  the  work  is  done,  from  day  to.  day, 
and  also  because  one  use  for  the  hand  car  is  to  carry  tools.  It  is  cus- 
tomary, therefore,  to  run  the  hand  car  on  the  company's  time.  Some 
raihvays  allow  5  minutes  per  mile  going  to  and  coming  from  work  with, 
the  hand  car.  The  foreman  and  all  who  habitually  ride  should  help 
pump  the  car,  and  each  should1  be  expected  to  do  a  fair  share  of  the  work, 
too.  Any  foreman  who  is  too  lazy  to  wTork  his  passage  sets  a  poor  example 
for  his  men. 

The  foreman  should  see  that  each  man  does  his  work  thoroughly,  as 
well  as  that  he  does  the  proper  amount  of  it.  Indeed,  at  some  kinds  of 
work  it  were  as  well  not  to  do  it  at  all  if  it  be  not  well  done.  The 
quality  of  the  work  is  first  in  importance,  the  quantity  second.  Ordi- 
narily a  man  should  be  expected  to  do  a  fair  day's  work,  no  less,  no  more. 
Very  truly,  the  meaning  of  a  "fair  day's  work"  is  something  rather  in- 
definite, but  the  term  is  generally  understood  to  mean  an  amount  of  work 
performed  at  such  a  rate  that  an  average  man  can  keep  it  up  steadily  all 
day  long  without  feeling  tired  out  when  night  comes.  The  judgment  of 
men  on  this  point  is  quite  liable  to  vary  according  to  their  physical-  en- 
durance ;  that  is.  a  very  strong,  -active  man  might  naturally  expect  more 
than  would  a  man  of  ordinary  strength.  Now  a  good  deal  of  worry  and 
complaint  on  the  part  of  foremen  often  arises  over  the  fact  that  some 
men  are  physically  able  to  do  far  above  the  average,  and  a  foreman  lacking 
in  good  judgment  will  expect  that  every  man  in  the  crew  .shall  keep  up 
with  his  "favoritie."  Surely  this  is  not  fair  and  it  is  very  unreasonable. 
It  is  highly  important  that  a  foreman  should  know  what  an  average  day's 
work  is.  If  he  has  been  an  observing  man  he  should,  from  his  previous 
experience,  have  learned  how  much  of  the  different  kinds  of  work  ordi- 
nary men  can  do,  and,  consequently,  know  what  to  expect,  The  best  re- 


1096  ORGANIZATION 

suits  are  turned  out  by  a  crew  where  the  men  are,  as  nearly  as  may  be;  on 
a  physical  equality,  provided  they  do  not  fall  below  the  average;  for  men 
do  not  usually  like  to  be  outdone  by  others  in  the  crew,  and  those  less  able 
are  liable  unconsciously  to  slight  their  work  in  order  to  keep  pace  with  the 
best,  This  is  liable  to  occur  in  tamping,  and  it  leads  to  bad  results. 

Having  been  a  track  laborer  myself,  for  many  years,  I  will  venture  a 
few  observations.  Some  men  do  better  at  one  kind  of  work  than  at 
another;  as,  for  instance,  some  are  not  "built"  for  grubbing  weeds  with  a 
shovel,  but  do  well  at  other  kinds  of  work.  And  again,  some  men  ar& 
naturally  a  little  quicker  in  their  movements  than  are  others.  One  cannot, 
therefore,  expect  to  always  get  men  to  work  alike.  As  long  as  a  man  is 
doing  fairly  well  he  is  doing  well  enough,  notwithstanding  that  some 
other  man  may  be  doing  a  trifle  more  than  he.  A  fair-minded  foreman 
can  tell  when  men  are  making  honest  effort,  and  when  each  succeeds  fairly 
well  the  foreman  should  not  try  to  point  out  inequalities.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  I  do  not  favor  the  practice;  of  purposely  placing  men  so  that 
their  work  must  show  in  competition.  Such  practice  in  working  men  ia 
regarded  by  some  foremen  as  a  smart  trick  by  which  the  men  may  be  made 
to  feel  as  though  they  ought  to  outdo  one  another.  In  some  cases  of  the 
kind  which  have  come  under  my  observation,  however,  the  aspect  of  things 
seemed  to  indicate  that  the  foreman  himself  was  a  little  in  doubt  as  to  just 
what  he  should  expect  of  his  men.  Under  such  circumstances  the  foreman 
is  quite  likely  to  select  as  a  criterion  the  pace  set  by  some  man  who  is 
trying  to  curry  his  favor.  While  temporary  results  may  be  accomplished 
by  resort  to  such  tactics  nothing  worth  while  is  gained  in  the  end.  The 
men  soon  "catch  on"  and  come  to  feel  that  they  are  distrusted  and  taken 
advantage  of.  In  order  to  gain  speed  or  make  a  showing  they  will  slight 
the  quality  of  the  work,  and  when  they  engage  in  work  where  each  man's 
part  does  not  show  for  itself  they  are  quite  likely  to  take  advantage  of  the 
foreman  by  doing  as  little  as  possible  without  being  detected.  Thus  it 
goes  "nip  and  tuck"  between  the  foreman  and  his  crew.  Unless  employees 
are  encouraged  to  perform  their  work  in  the  proper  spirit  the  results  are 
likely  to  be  defective  in  some  respect.  But  the  foreman  who  understands 
his  business  can  get  the  proper  amount  of  work  out  of  his  men  without 
setting  up  a  contest  among  them.  A  man  who  cannot  keep  up  a  fair  rate 
of  work  without  hurry  and  worry  is  not  a  good  man  to  retain  in  the  serv- 
ice, and  neither  is  he  who  is  continually  jumping  into  the  work  purposely 
to  show  off  to  disadvantage  the  work  of  some  other  man  who  is  doing 
enough.  Men  of  the  latter  class  will  not  always  keep  up  such  activity 
when  working  alone,  for  in  over-exerting  themselves  they  usually  have 
some  particular  end  in  view. 

Foremen  should  endeavor  to  carry  on  the  work  methodically.  One 
respect  in  which  this  principle  may  be  furthered  is  to  get  men  into  the 
habit  of  so  distributing  themselves  about  the  work  that  they  will  keep  out 
of  one  another's  way,  as  much  as  possible.  Some  men  are  quite  clever  at 
prearranging  things  so  that  they  get  a  chance  to  move  about  often,  or 
perchance  to  so  block  matters  that  they  will  have  to  stand  idle  while 
others  work.  An  instance:  Suppose  that  a  rail  has  been  raised  and  the 
ties  are  to  be  tamped.  If  two  sets  of  tampers  begin  at  the  ends  of  the  rail  and 
work  toward  each  other  they  get  into  each  other's  way  near  the  middle, 
so  that  one  or  the  other  set  must  tamp  the  last  three  or  four  ties  while  the 
other  set  stands  to  look  on,  thus  wasting  time.  Now  if  one  set  had  begun 
at  one  end  of  the  rail  and  the  other  set  at  the  middle  of  it,  and  both  had 
worked  in  the  same  direction,  the  work  would  have  been  properly  divided 
and  there  would  have  been  no  interference.  Men  should  be  taught  the 


DISCIPLINE  1097 

importance  of  making  every  stroke  count.  Some  men  fly  around  and  make 
a  good  deal  of  fuss  without  accomplishing  much.  The  foreman  should 
impress  upon  them  the  importance  of  doing  the  work  with  as  few  move- 
ments as  possible.  It  is  easy  sometimes  to  mistake  exertion  for  achieve- 
ment. In  very  hot  weather  men  cannot  be  expected  to  do  quite  as  much 
as  when  it  is  cooler. 

It  sometimes  becomes  necessary  on  railroad  track  to  do  work  on  Sun- 
day. It  is  not  a  good  plan,,  however,  to  make  a  practice  of  looking  for 
work  to  do  on  this  day.  Men  are  always  able  to  work  more~  cheerfully  and 
energetically  where  they  have  one  day  out  of  the  week  for  rest.  In  cases 
of  emergency  trackmen  should  expect  to  respond  to  call  for  duty,  whether 
it  comes  at  night,  on  Sundays,  or  at  other  times,  but  when  the  work  on 
hand  is  that  of  mere  expediency,  foremen  or  laborers  having  scruples 
against  Sunday  work  should  be  excused  from  such  service  without  preju- 
dice to  their  regular  employment.  Men  should  not  be  obliged  to  work  on 
legal  holidays  unless  the  work  is  very  pressing. 

On  most  roads  section  men  are  forbidden  to  trail  the  hand  car  behind 
the  caboose  of  freight  trains,  as  such  practice  frequently  results  in  a  broken 
hand  car  and  injury  to  some  of  the  men.  Such  damage  or  injury  usually 
occurs  by  the  sudden  stopping  or  slackening  in  speed  of  the  train,  when 
the  hand  car  will  dart  under  the  caboose  platform,  breaking  the  lever  and 
squeezing  the  men  at  the  head  end  of  the  car.  If  proper  precaution  is  taken 
there  is  no  danger,  as  the  men  may  ride  on  the  caboose  and  the  car  can  be 
drawn  by  a  stout  rope  and  prevented  from  running  into  the  caboose  by  a  pole 
planted  against  the  gallows  frame.  On  mountain  roads,  where  the  speed  01 
freight  trains  up  grade  is  slow,  the  section  men  are  much  tempted 
to  hook  on  behind,  for  it  saves  a  good  deal  of  time,  but  unless  the  practice 
is  forbidden  or  regulated  in  some  manner  the  men  are  liable  to  take  risks 
and  get  into  trouble.  Foremen  should  see  that  hand  cars  and  trucks  are 
clear  of  the  track  in  good  season  for  the  regular  trains,  and  they  should 
not  permit  the  men  to  throw  switches  when  trains  are  about  due.  On 
double  track  velocipedes  should  be  run  opposite  the  running  direction  of 
the  trains.  When  visiting  his  foremen  the  roadmaster  or  supervisor 
should  habitually  compare  watches,  to  see  that  correct  time  is  carried  on 
the  work.  Foremen  should  see  that  the  men  get  clear  of  the  track  well  in 
advance  of  approaching  trains.  Carelessness  in  this  respect  causes  no  little 
uneasiness  with  the  enginemen.  And  when  standing  out  of  the  way  of 
trains  men  should  neither  be  required  nor  permitted  to  rush  into  the  track 
to  work  immediately  the  rear  coach  passes.  Such  movements  look  bad  and 
ought  to  be  noted  by  the  roadmaster  with  some  degree  of  suspicion,  for  men 
are  seldom  as  eager  to  work  as  all  that — if  they  were  they  might  sometimes 
forget  themselves  and  leap  into  danger,  as  in  the  case  of  a  break-in-two. 

Foremen  should  be  very  careful  how  they  use  their  switch  keys  and 
very  solicitous  concerning  the  use  of  the  same  when  entrusted  to  their  men. 
It  should  be  an  unvarying  rule  not  to  unlock  switches  for  letting  hand  and 
push  cars  through,  unless  they  are  loaded  so  heavily  that  they  cannot  be 
easily  lifted  over,  near  the  switch.  When  using  a  switch  for  this  purpose 
the  man  who  unlocks  it- should  remain  by  the  stand  to  throw  it  back  to  place 
and  lock  it  for  main  track  after  the  car  passes.  Switches  must  sometimes 
be  thrown  while  working  at  them,  and  on  such  occasions  men  are  more 
liable  to  forget  themeslves  than  in  any  other  way.  There  is  a  rule  which,  if 
followed,  will  save  foremen  much  anxiety,  many  times;  and  that  is  to  al- 
ways run  the  hand  car  over  the  switch,  on  main  line,  after  work  has  been 
done  on  it,  before  leaving.  In  stopping  the  hand  car  for  a  little  while  to  do 
a  piece  of  work  at  a  switch,  the  car  should  always  be  stopped  short  of  the 


1098  ORGANIZATION" 

switch,  so  that  when  leaving  the  place  the  crew  cannot  go  off  and  forget  to 
close  the  switch. 

The  Brown  System. — In  the  operation  of  railways  occasion  frequently 
arises  for  disciplining  men  for  mistakes,  neglect  of  duty  or  other  short- 
comings not  thought  to  be  sufficiently  serious  to  require  the  employee's 
discharge.  A  method  commonly  followed  in  such  cases  is  to  reprimand 
for  slight  offenses  and  to  suspend  the  employee  from  duty,  with  loss  of 
pay,  for  such  other  offenses  as  are  not  thought  to  be  deserving  of  dismissal 
or  discharge.  The  punishment  of  employees  for  offense  of  any  kind  is  al- 
ways an  unpleasant  duty,  and  the  best  course  to  take  in  general  cases  is  a 
large  and  somewhat  intricate  question.  During  late  years  this  question  has 
been  much  discussed  among  railway  officials  of  all  grades,  and  the  tendency 
of  the  times  seems  to  be  toward  the  adoption  of  what  is  known  as  the 
Brown  system  of  railway  discipline  or  "discipline  without  suspension,^ 
first  applied  to  railway  management  by  Mr.  Geo.  E.  Brown,  while  general 
superintendent  of  the  Fall  Brook  E.  E.  In  the  operation  of  this  system 
the  emyloyee  at  fault  is  disciplined  by  record,  and,  as  already  intimated, 
without  suspension.  As  conducted  by  Mr.  Brown,  himself,  a  record  book 
was  kept  in  which  was  written  down  a  brief  statement  of  every  irregular- 
ity for  which  a  man  was  responsible,  this  record  taking  the  place  of  the 
usual  "lay  off."  When  a  man  began  to  "make  a  record"  he  was  called  in 
and  reminded  that  if  the  same  became  too  long  he  would  have  to  be  con- 
sidered a  failure  for  the  service,  but  would  be  given  another  chance.  If 
the  admonition  had  the  desired  effect,  as  shown  by  the  man's  future  con- 
duct, he  was  retained  in  the  service,  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  reasoned 
that  the  record  was  an  easy  way  out  of  the  trouble,  made  light  of  it  and- 
was  frequently  called  on  to  explain  irregularities,  he  was  dismissed  from 
the  service. 

This  original  system  has  been  modified  in  many  ways,  but  the  same 
essential  principle  is  retained.  A  very  common  arrangement  is  one  in 
which  a  system  of  merit  and  demerit  marks  or  a  nominal  suspension  of  a 
certain  number  of  days  is  substituted  for  the  usual  punishment  feature, 
so  that  the  standing  of  the  employee  is  at  all  times  determined  by  the 
record  of  merit  and  demerit  marks  or  nominal  suspensions  entered  on  his 
account.  For  each  offense  requiring  disciplinary  action  the  employee  is 
charged  with  a  certain  number  of  demerit  marks,  after  the  manner  em- 
ployed by  old-time  school  teachers;  and  for  acts  of  special  merit  he  is 
credited  with  merit  marks,  which  may  cancel  a  like  number  of  demerit 
marks.  Employees  having  a  clear  record  for  some  given  length  of  time, 
like  six  months  or  a  year,  are  entitled  to  a  certain  number  of  merit  marks,, 
but  a  bad  record  is  followed  with  dismissal. 

Another  feature  of  the  system,  which  also  was  originally  put  in  prac- 
tice by  Mr.  Brown,  is  a  bulletin  board  on  which  are  posted  at  stated  periods 
brief  accounts  of  mishaps,  irregular  conduct  and  other  occurrences,  point- 
ing out  errors  and  consequences,  with  criticisms  thereon,  but  omitting, 
however,  the  names  of  individuals  or  any  hint  at  their  identification.  This 
bulletin  is  intendel  to  make  accidents  and  other  matters  a  lesson  to  all  the 
trainmen,  and  in  cases  attempts  to  show  how  the  errors  might  have  been 
avoided.  In  usual  practice  meritorious  conduct  worthy  of  special  remark 
is  also  bulletined  and  commented  upon. 

The  Brown  system  of  discipline,  or  modified  forms  of  it,  is  now  in 
force  on  more  than  one  third  of  the  railway  mileage  of  North  America* 
Some  of  the  advantages  of  the  system,  as  applicable  to  the  track  depart- 
ment of  a  railway,  are  well  set  forth  in  a  paper  by  Mr.  H.  W.  Church, 
while  roadmaster  with  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Ey.,  read  be- 


DISCIPLINE  1099 

fore  the  annual  convention  of  the  Koadmasters'  Association  of  America,  in 
1898,  here  quoted,  in  part,  as  follows : 

"In  the  event  of  a  suspension  it  is  necessary  to  put  a  substitute  in 
charge,  who,  as  a  rule,  is  less  skillful,  lacks  knowledge  of  the  locality  and 
conditions,  and  where  the  suspension  is  for  a  considerable  length  of  time 
the  company  would  suffer  because  of  this  lack  of  skill  and  knowledge.  The 
suspended  employee  would  not  only  lose  his  time,  with  the  consequent  hard- 
ship  entailed  upon  his  family,  but  would  form  a  secret  dislike  for  his  supe- 
rior and  the  company  he  serves.  With  the  Brown  system,  instead  of  the 
employee  losing  his  time  and  his  family  being  inconvenienced,  if  not  im- 
mediately suffering  by  reason  of  his  enforced  idleness,  a  given  number  of 
demerit  marks  would  be  entered  against  his  record.  The  company  would 
be  the  gainer  by  his  retention  in  the  service,  not  having  to  educate  a  new 
man,  with  the  possibility  ever  present  of  his  making  a  still  greater  mistake. 
The  retained  employee  would  feel  his  error  more  keenly  and  would,  I  think, 
be  less  likely  to  err  in  the  future,  and  so  far  as  the  others  are  concerned  the 

lesson  would  be  equally  as  good Be  content,  therefore,  with 

moderate  measures  and  moderate  results;  advancement  is  made  only  by 
slow  degrees,  and  not  in  one  jump.  Have  your  men  feel  that  you  are  their 
friend  rather  than  their  natural  enemy;  that  your  interests  are  mutual,, 
and  that  their  acts  reflect  credit  or  discredit  upon  you.  Above  all,  bear  in 
mind  the  truth  that  'The  aim  of  discipline  should  be  to  produce  a  self- 
governing  being ;  not  to  produce  a  being  to  be  governed  by  others/ '' 

Mr.  Brown,  himself,  has  said  :  "It  often  occurs  that  the  disgrace  and 
injury  occasioned  by  a  strict  enforcement  of  a  sentence  does  more  to  ruin 
the  guilty  than  anything  else,  and  a  wise  provision  has  been  made  allowing 
courts  to  use  their  judgment  as  to  carrying  out  punishments ;  this  is  known 
as  'suspending  sentence/  If  the  sometime  offender  does  better,  and  is  not 
guilty  of  the  same  or  other  offenses,  the  judge  conveniently  forgets  the 
indictment  hanging  over  him,  but  should  he  go  on  committing  one  misde- 
meanor after  another,  his  'record'  rises  up  to  condemn  him.  I  believe  in 
the  practice  of  'suspending  sentence'  with  railroad  employees. 

"With  this  system  the  good  men  are  retained,  developed,  benefited  and 
encouraged,  and  the  culls  are  got  rid  of  to  the  betterment  of  the  service  all 

around Every  wreck,  every  accident,  every  mistake,  every  loss 

has  taught  its  lesson,  and  these  are  of  no  less  value  to  the  railroads  and 
to  railroad  men  than  the  successes.  I  practice  making  every  mishap  a 
lesson  to  every  man  on  the  road.  It  often  happens  that  an  accident,  or  a 
'close  shave'  for  one,  is  the  best  kind  of  a  lesson  to  the  man  who  could  be 
blamed ;  and  if  he  is  retained  in  the  service,  he  is  a  more  valuable  man  than 
he  would  otherwise  be  or  one  who  could  be  hired  to  take  his  place." 

In  dealing  with  employees  the  essential  thing  for  the  official  in  author- 
ity to  know  is  whether  the  employee  whose  conduct  has  been  called  in  ques- 
tion is  competent  for  the  duties  with  which  he  is  charged,  is  trustworthy 
and  who  enters  into  the  work  of  his  employer  with  the  proper  spirit.  There 
is  hope  of  any  employee  who  fulfills  these  requirements,  notwithstanding 
a  fault  may  be  chargeable  against  him  for  some  occasion  or  other,  and  in 
the  minds  of  many  or  most  progressive  railroad  men  there  is  hardly  any 
doubt  but  that  with  such  men  the  Brown  system  of  discipline  will  accom- 
plish the  most  satisfactory  results.  On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  fails 
to  measure  up  to  these  qualifications  should  be  dismissed  from  the  service 
as  soon  as  his  employer  or  foreman  is  satisfied  that  his  character  has  been 
correctly  estimated.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  systems  or  meth- 
ods of  dealing  with  men  have  their  limitations;  and  the  benefits  of  any 
scheme  of  retrievement  like  the  Brown  system  should  not  be  extended  to  any 


1 1 00  ORGANIZATION 

man  unless  he  is  earnest,  competent,  straightforward  and  really  capable 
of  improvement.  Neither  the  Brown  nor  any  other  system  can  make  a 
lazy  man  industrious,  or  an  interested  workman  out  of  a  man  whose  chief 
concern  is  "sundown  and  pay  day";  neither  can  it  make  a  careless  man 
careful,  or  a  drinking  man  temperate  or  change  his  character  in  any  mate- 
rial respect.  The  man's  character  and  habits  constitute  the  basis  to  work 
upon,  and  if  it  is  seen  that  these  are  incompatible  with  his  responsibility 
his  dismissal  should  not  await  the  announcement  of  a  formal  record  of 
errors. 

Discipline  should  never  be  so  irrationally  stringent  as  to  discount  the 
manhood  of  the  employees.  Instances  have  been  known  where  subordinate 
employees  or  officials  would  secretly  criticise  some  certain  rule,  pet  no- 
tion, device  or  method  of  a  superior  officer,  which  was  working  trouble  or 
ill  economy,  but  with  evident  solicitude  about  their  views  being  known  at 
headquarters.  Men  in  authority  should  let  it  be  known  that  criticism  of 
existing  rules,  methods  or  other  matters,  from  employees  of  any  rank,  if 
presented  in  reasonable  form,  will  be  appreciated.  If  intentions  to  this 
effect  were  generally  made  known  in  the  printed  books  of  rules  and  instruc- 
tions for  railways  it  is  just  possible  that  some  companies  might  profit 
thereby. 

In  connection  with  the  duties  of  section  foremen  (§  188)  mention  is 
made  of  certain  difficulties  which  sometimes  arise  purely  from  the  personal 
relations  between  a  foreman  and  his  men.  The  rules  and  instructions  of  a 
number  of  roads  suggest  others  of  similar  character.  Not  a  few  railway 
companies  find  it  necessary  to  forbid  such  transactions  as  the  borrowing  or 
lending  of  money  between  an  employee  and  his  foreman;  the  contribution 
of  money  for  the  purchase  of  testimonials  to  superior  officers  or  the  giving 
or  receiving  of  presents  of  any  kind;  or  the  asking  or  receiving  of  money 
or  other  consideration  for  employment  given.  There  are  also  rules  for- 
bidding any  officer  or  foreman  to  prescribe  to  subordinates  where  their 
personal  purchases  shall  be  made.  Such  rules  are  undoubtedly  justifi- 
able, and  it  is  possible  to  extend  their  scope  still  farther.  In  my  own 
experience  I  have  witnessed  many  a  "hot  time"  in  gangs  of  trackmen 
stirred  up  over  gambling  during  the  noon  hour  or  in  the  boarding 
cars  at  night.  Foremen  should  be  forbidden  to  engage  in  such  prac- 
tice or  to  permit  it  among  their  employees,  about  the  work  or  in  com- 
pany buildings  or  cars.  When  the  gambling  fever  strikes  a  crew  it 
seems  that  card  playing  then  becomes  the  chief  occupation  of  some  of  the 
men  for  days  and  nights  at  a  time,  and  sooner  or  later  matters  terminate 
in  a  row. 

Some  of  the  worst  infractions  of  discipline  result  from  a  too  frequent 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Most  railway  companies  have  rules  prohibiting 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  while  on  duty.  It  is  well  known,  however, 
that  this  rule  comes  far  short  of  accomplishing  its  object,  for  it  does  not 
literally  meet  the  case  of  the  man  who  "fills  up"  just  previous  to  coming 
Qn  duty,  or  who  carouses  around  at  hours  when  he  ought  to  be  asleep.  An 
employer  has  a  right  to  expect  that  his  employees  shall  have  clear  heads 
at  all  times  while  on  duty,  and  this  cannot  be  expected  of  men  who  will 
go  on  their  little  sprees  Saturday  nights,  or  on  pay-day  night,  or  "of  a 
Sunday,"  or  of  men  who  drink  with  any  degree  of  regularity,  no  matter 
how  little.  And  then,  in  the  foreman's  case,  his  working  hours  may  occa- 
sionally come  at  any  time  during  the  twenty-four,  and  he  should  therefore 
keep  himself  always  in  fit  condition  to  be  called  out  at  any  time.  It  is, 
perhaps,  not  in  keeping  with  democratic  theory  to  attempt  any  restriction 
upon  an  employee's  drinking  while  off  duty,  and  it  is  certainly  futile  to  so 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  1101 

attempt.  But  there  can  be  nothing  "unconstitutional"  in  the  practice  of 
choosing  foremen  from  among  men  who  do  not  drink  at  all.,  and  it  is  the 
wisest  plan  to  follow.  Then  any  man  found  to  be  in  the  habit  of  drinking, 
after  having  represented  himself  otherwise,  has  shown  cause  for  dismissal; 
for  clearly  he  has  either  misrepresented  or  else  he  has  degenerated. 

194.  Reports  and  Correspondence. — It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to 
say  that  accurate  reports,  embodying  all  work  done  and  all  changing  of 
materials  on  each  section,  and  by  each  working  crew,  should  be  made  out 
on  systematically  arranged  blank  forms  and  sent  to  headquarters" at  regular 
intervals.  The  most  common  reports  regularly  made  are:  Monthly  time 
sheet,  distribution  of  work  (monthly),  weekly  report  of  work,  monthly 
report  of  materials,  monthly  tool  report,  daily  and  monthly  work-train  re- 
port. Besides  these  regular  reports  there  are  a  number  of  special  reports 
in  common  usage,  such  as  report  of  new  side-track  laid,  report  of  side-track 
taken  up,  report  of  stock  killed  or  injured,  report  of  casualties,  fire  report, 
report  on  rail  failures,  report  on  new  buildings  or  other  structures  adjacent 
to  the  track. 

The  exact  wording  of  blank  forms,  as  well  as  the  matter  of  detail  re- 
ported, differs  with  different  companies,  owing  to  conditions  and  circum- 
stances local  or  peculiar  to  each,  and  to  the  different  ways  in  which 
different  officials  choose  to  look  at  statistics — which  usually  amount  to 
matters  of  taste  only.  The  reports  should  be  simple  and  consistent 
and  full  instructions  should  be  noted  on  each  blank,  so  that  foremen 
may  fully  understand  how  it  is  to  be  filled  out.  Trifling  matters  should 
not  be  made  subjects  for  special  report  (as  is  sometimes  the  case) — the 
aim  should  be  to  report  as  many  matters  on  the  same  blank  as  may  be 
practicable.  On  some  roads  all  work  performed  on  main  track  is  reported 
on  a  single  form,  and  likewise  all  materials  accounted  for  are  reported.  OR 
'A  single  form.  Wherever  such  practice  is  possible  without  too  great  incon- 
venience, it  is  a  commendable  one  to  follow.  The  making  of  numerous 
reports  "is  a  weariness  to  the  flesh,"  and  waste  of  energy  thereon  begets  the 
habit  of  attending  to  such  matters  thoughtlessly.  The  adoption  of  a  "set 
of  standards,"  a  code  of  rules  and  a  multiplicity  of  report  forms  does  not 
necessarily  make  for  system  in  track  work. 

Time  Reports. — As  most  railroad  companies  pay  their  employees 
monthly,  the  time  book  or  time  sheet  is  made  out  and  forwarded  at  the  end 
of  the  company  month,  which,  with  some  companies,  by  the  way,  does  not 
correspond  with  the  end  of  the  calendar  month.  It  is,  of  course,  important 
that  all  records  should  be  made  in  ink,  or  with  indelible  pencil.  The  fore- 
man should  make  out  his  time  book  daily,  as  this  is  the  most  businesslike 
method  and  one  the  least  liable  to  incur  mistakes.  A  blank  for  a  time 
sheet  or  page  of  a  time  book  is  shown  as  Form  1,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
explaining  some  points  connected  with  the  transferring  of  time  to  the  dis- 
tribution sheet,  it  is  filled  out.  All  time  worked .  should  be  entered  in  the 
time  book,  and  whenever  a  time  card  is  issued,  note  should  be  made  of  the 
same  in  the  column  for  "Kemarks."  Bad  weather,  which  interferes  with 
the  work  of  the  section,  should  always  be  noted  in  the  time  book.  Some 
roads  require  section  foremen  to  make  note  of  the  weather  daily. 

Owing  to  the  roving  habit  of  railroad  men  in  some  parts  of  the  country 
there  would  be  great  difficulty  in  retaining  employees  in  service  if  there 
was  not  some  security  provided  for  their  board  bills ;  for  but  few  traveling 
men  of  that  class  have  means  to  pay  in  advance.  It  is  customary  on  rail- 
roads to  deduct  board  bills  from  the  pay  of  employees  when  such  bills  are 
presented  at  the  pay  car  or  sent  in  along  with  the  man's  time.  Hospital 
bills  or  dues  are  also  deducted  on  many  roads.  On  some  roads  regular 


1102 


ORGANIZATION 


hospital  dues  of  about  a  half  dollar  per  month  are  collected  from  all  em- 
ployees without  the  formality  of  asking  consent.  In  case  of  accident  or 
sickness  of  any  kind  the  employee  is  then  entitled  to  care  and  medical  treat- 
ment free  of  charge.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,,  whiskey  or  drink  bills  have 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


1103 


been  guaranteed  and  paid  by  some  railroad  companies  in  connection  with, 
board  bills.  No  deduction  should  be  made  from  any  man's  pay  for  board 
unless  a  written  .bill  is  presented.  This  bill  should  be  forwarded  by  the 
foreman  with  the  time  sheet,  and  when  the  account  is  paid  by  the  paymas- 


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1104  ORGANIZATION 

ter  or  other  agent  the  bill  should  appear  and  be  properly  receipted.  In 
some  cases  a  page  of  the  time  book  is  headed  and  ruled  for  explanations 
of  deductions,  the  column  headings  reading  thus:  Name — Board — To 
Whom  Payable — Address — Amount — Hospital — Total — Eemarks.  In  oth- 
er cases  the  time  sheet  itself  or  each  page  of  the  time  book  is  ruled  and 
headed  to  insert  the  deductions  from  each  man's  pay,  if  there  are  any.  This 
arrangement  is  shown  on  Form  1. 

The  time  of  monthly  men  not  working  a  full  month  is  usually  com- 
puted by  multiplying  the  rate  per  month  by  the  number  of  days  worked 
(including  Sundays  and  holidays)  and  dividing  this  product  by  the  total 
number  of  days  in  the  month. 

Men  discharged  before  the  end  of  the  month  are  usually  given  a  "time 
card"  by  the  foreman.  The  customary  routine  is  to  send  this  time  card  to 
the  headquarters,  or  to  the  paymaster,  and  a  check  or  the  cash  is  forwarded 
to  the  nearest  company  agent  with  orders  to  pay  it.  If  the  man  discharged 
is  not  known  to  the  agent,  or  at  the  headquarters,  in  case  he  wishes  to  pre- 
sent the  time  card  there,  he  is  required  to  put  his  signature  to  an  identifica- 
tion card  which  the  foreman  sends  to  the  roadmaster's  or  paymaster's  office 
as  soon  as  the  time  card  has  been  issued.  If  payment  is  made  through  one 
of  the  station  agents  this  identification  card  is  enclosed  with  the  check 
in  the  letter  sent  by  the  paymaster  to*the  agent,  who  is  thus  able  to  identify 
the  man  by  his  signature.  If  the  man  cannot  write,  it  is,  of  course  neces- 
sary for  the  foreman  or  some  other  responsible  party  to  identify  him  in 
person.  Forms  3  and  4  (face  and  back)  show  the  usual  blanks  for  a  time 
card,  and  Form  5  shows  an  identification  card.  On  some  roads  blank 
time  cards  are  not  issued  to  the  foremen  until  an  application  has  been  made 
for  the  exact  number  needed.  This  precaution  is  intended  to  prevent  for- 
gery. In  giving  a  time  card  to  a  man  who  has  not  received  pay  for  work 
done  in  the  previous  month  it  is  usual  to  wire  a  request  to  the  paymaster 
to  forward  the  whole  amount  due  the  discharged  employee  to  the  agent 
nearest  the  section. 


E.  E.  Co. 

,  .Division. 


TIME  CAED. 
To  be  given  only  to  men  leaving  the  service  of  the  company. 

No 

NOT  TRANSFERABLE. 

(Place) (Date) .190. . . . 

TO 

Roadmaster, 

(Place) 

Please  order  pay  sent  to for 

days'  work  as    on   Section   No 

during  the  month  of  190 @ per  day  $ 

Deduct  for  board  to $ 

" $ 

Total   Deduction,  $ 


Balance  due,    $ 

Send    in    care    of at 

He  was  discharged  on  account  of 

Foreman,    Section    No 

Approved 

Roadmaster. 
[Over.] 

Form  3. — Time  Card  (Face). 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  1105 


Instructions  to  Foremen. 

Whenever  you  discharge  a  man  before  the  end  of  the  month  you  must,  in 
case  he  desires  his  pay  at  the  time,  fill  out  this  time  card  and  either  give  it  to 
him  or  send  it  to  this  omce.  Have  Him  sign  his  name  to  an  identification  card, 
which  you  will  send  immediately  to  this  office,  yourself.  If  the  man  is  not  dis- 
charged give  the  reason  why  he  quit.  Men  who  quit  of  their  own  accord  will 
not  be  paid  before  the  regular  pay  day,  unless  removing  to  a  distance  or  because 
of  some  other  extraordinary  circumstance.  When  application  is— made  for  a 
time  card  you  must,  therefore,  use  judgment  accordingly. 

Deduction  for  board  will  not  be  made  unless  an  itemized  bill  from  the  land- 
lord is  sent  through  the  foreman. 


Roadmaster. 


Form  4. — Time  Card  (Back). 

If  special  blank  forms  are  not  furnished  for  it,  two  or  three  pages  of  the 
time  book  should  be  headed  for  a  description  of  new  work,  wherein  should  be 
noted  all  such  work  as  grading  and  the  laying  of  new  track,  or  side-track, 
fully  described  as  to  location,  nature  of  the  work,  etc.  A  convenient  ar- 
rangement is  to  have  the  time  book  and  report  on  distribution  of  work 
under  one  cover.  The  two  are  then  together,  which  subserves  the  conveni- 
ence of  both  the  person  who  makes  out*the  reports  and  the  one  who  checks 
them  over. 

Distribution  of  Work. — The  monthly  report  on  "distribution  of  work" 
or  "division  of  labor"  shows  the  amount  of  labor  chargeable  to  each  kind 
of  work  performed,  in  hours,  each  day,  and  the  amount  of  work  accom- 
plished. The  total  time  worked,  as  shown  by  this  report,  must  of  course 
check  with  the  time  sheet  for  the  same  period.  Form  2  shows  the  ordi- 
nary arrangement  of  this  report.  One  arrangement  where  the  time  book 
and  report  on  distribution  of  work  are  combined  in  the  same  report  is  to 
devote  a  separate  page  of  the  time  book  to  each  laborer,  headed  horizontally 
as  a  time  sheet,  with  a  list  of  the  various  kinds  of  track  work  in  the  left- 
hand  vertical  column.  In  entering  the  time  worked  the  number  of  hours 

(Face.) 

R.  R.  Co. 

Division. 


IDENTIFICATION  CAED. 

This  will  identify discharged  from  Section 

No ,  on  ,  190 

Signature    of 

Foreman. 
[Over.] 

(Back.) 

Instructions  to  Foremen. 

When  discharging  a  man  who  desires  Tiis  pay  at  the  time,  have  him  sign 
his  name  in  tire  blank  space  at  the  left,  on  the  face  side  of  this  card  and  send 
it  to  this  office  by  first  train. 


Roadmaster. 
Instructions  to  Agents. 

To  identify  the  payee  have  him  sign  in  the  blank  space  at  the  left,  on  this 
side  of  this  card;  then  fold  the  card  over  and  see  that  the  two  signatures  are 
alike.  Return  this  card  with  the  receipt  from  the  payee. 

Signature  of 

Paymaster. 

Form  5. — Identification  Card  (Face  and  Back). 


1106  ORGANIZATION 

devoted  by  this  man  to  each  kind  of  work  during  each  day  is  marked  op- 
posite the  kind  of  work  appearing  in  the  left-hand  column,  and  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sheet  the  total  figure  for  the  day  corresponds  to  the  number  of 
hours  worked  that  day.  The  vertical  column  of  totals  at  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  sheet  shows  the  amount  of  time  for  each  labor  account  at  the 
end  of  the  month,  and  as  footed  at  the  bottom  it  checks  with  the  total 
time  worked  by  the  man  during  the  month.  As  above  stated  some  roads 
have  separate  reports  for  many  kinds  of  work,  such  as  laying  rails,  ballast- 
ing, building  fence,  etc.,  instead  of,  or  in  addition  to,  the  inclusion  of  such 
items  in  the  report  on  distribution  of  work.  This  plan,  of  course,  multi- 
plies reports,  in  some  cases  unnecessarily,  and  the  extra  reports  should  be  dis- 
pensed with  as  much  as  possible.  Below  is  a  list  of  items  or  line  headings 
commonly  used  in  reports  on  distribution  of  work.  All  of  these  items 
would  not  likely  be  found  in  the  report  of  any  one  road,  but  the  list  shows 
what  items  are  used  on  some  roads.  It  is  usual  to  leave  at  the  end  of  the 
list  a  number  of  blank  lines  for  the  entry  of  time  worked  on  odd  jobs  of 
work  for  which  no  headings  are  printed. 

1.  General  Repairs.  J9.  Repairs  to  Snow  Fence. 36.  Loading    Rails    and 

2.  Watchman.  20.  Highway  Crossings.  Scrap. 

3.  Line  and  Surface.  21.  Cattle   Guards.  37.  Grading  for  New  Track. 

4.  Ballasting  Old  Track.    22.  Policing.  38.  Laying  New  Track. 

5.  Cutt'g  Grass  Rt.  of  W'y.  23.  Building   Fence  39.  Ballasting  New  Track. 

6.  Cutting  Grass  in  Track.  24  Building  Snow  Fence.   40.  Construction  New  Side- 

7.  Cutting  Brush.  25  Work  on   Sign  Boards.         Track. 

8.  Putting  in  Ties.  26.  Removing     Snow     and  41.  Filling  in  Bridges. 

9.  Replacing  Rails.  Ice.  42.  Widening  Embank- 

10.  Ditching.  27.  Removing   Slides.  ments. 

11.  Laying  Tile.  28.  High  Water  and  Wash-  43.  Riprapping  Banks. 

12.  Repairing    Frogs     and          outs.  44.  Wrecking. 

Switches.  29.  Handling  Materials.  45.  Taking  up  Track. 

13.  Repairs  to  Bridges.  30.  Tightening  Bolts.  46.  Cleaning  Culverts. 

14.  Repairs  to  Culverts.  31.  Shimming.  47.  Removing  Stumps. 

15.  Repairs  to  Tools.  32.  Handling  Freight.  48.  Cutting  Down  Trees. 

16.  Repairs  to  Side-Tracks.  33.  Handling    Fuel.  49.  Disposing  of  Killed  or 

17.  Repairs  to  Fence.  34.  Loading  Ballast.  Injured  Stock. 

18.  Repairs  to  Telegraph.  35.  Loading  Ties.  50.  Work  at  Water  Tanks. 

Many  roads  require  a  weekly  report  of  work,  which  corresponds,  as  to 
items,  with  the  monthly  report  on  distribution  of  work.  As  the  month  is 
a  considerable  portion  of  time  this  gives  the  office  opportunity  to  keep  in  clos- 
er touch  with  the  work  which  is  being  done,  and,  moreover,  it  serves  to  some 
extent,  as  a  check  upon  the  foreman's  punctuality.  For  instance,  a  foreman,  if 
he  chose,  could  fill  out  the  daily  record  of  distribution  of  work  for  a  whole 
month,  by  guesswork,  at  the  end  of  the  month,  and  yet  the  office  might  not  be 
able  to  detect  anything  wrong.  With  weekly  reports,  however,  he  could  not 
neglect  this  longer  than  a  week,  at  farthest.  In  form  this  report  is  usually  a 
summary  of  the  work  only,  omitting  the  daily  record  of  hours  performed  on 
each  piece  of  work.  Following  are  the  usual  column  headings :  Kind  of 
Work— Amount  of  Work  Done  (The  "No.  of,"  "Cu.  Yds./'  "No.  of  Pieces/' 
"No.  Lin.  ft.,"  etc.,  is  indicated  in  writing) — No.  of  Hours — Cost  of  Work 
— Location  of  the  Work — Eemarks.  I  rather  favor  making  this  report 
every  10  days  instead  of  every  week.  The  weekly  reports  in  the  aggregate 
for  each  month  must  tally  with  the  monthly  report  for  the  same  month; 
that  is,  the  monthly  report  must  cover  four  "weekly"  reports,  the  last  of 
which,  in  each  month  (except  February),  sometimes  covers  9  days  and 
sometimes  10  days,  thus  making  the  fourth  report  in  each  month  cover  a 
considerably  longer  period  than  each  of  the  other  three,  and  with  these 
inequalities  it  is  not  an  easy  mental  operation  to  quickly  compare  the  data 
of  the  four  reports.  Reports  made  on  the  evenings  of  the  10th,  20th,  and 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  1107 

last  day  of  the  month  would  cover  periods  more  nearly  equal  in  length. 
Weekly  reports  are  usually  made  on  the  7th,  14th,  21st  and  last  day  of  the 
month. 

In  filling  out  the  report  for  distribution  of  work  there  often  arises  a 
good  deal  of  confusion  and  frequent  mistakes  over  the  matter  of  distribu- 
ting the  cost  of  the  foreman's  time  among  the  various  kinds  of  work  per- 
formed. The  clearest  way  of  handling  this  matter  is  as  follows :  The  fore- 
man is  paid  by  the  month,  with  no  allowance  for  overtime  and  no  deduc- 
tion made  for  time  lost  on  account  of  bad  weather,  etc.  Opposite  his  name 
in  the  time  book  (Form  1),  in  the  column  "Amount,"  will  then  appear  the 
amount  of  his  monthly  pay,  regardless  of  the  time  worked.  Nevertheless, 
the  actual  time  he  spends  with  his  men  should  go  down  on  the  time  book, 
and  he  should  make  a  correct  distribution  of  his  own  time  to  the  several 
labor  accounts  in  the  same  manner  as  that  of  the  laborers  under  his  charge. 
In  the  item  total  hours  for  the  month  there  will  then  be  included  the  num- 
ber of  hours  worked  by  the  foreman.  The  item  "total  amount/''  less  the 
foreman's  pay,  must  then  check  with  the  product  of  two  quantities,  one 
of  which  is  the  total  number  of  hours  less  the  time  actually  worked  by  the 
foreman,  and  the  other  is  the  price  per  hour  paid  the  common  labor.  In 
the  distribution  of  work,  whether  the  foreman  engages  personally  in  the 
work  or  not,  his  time  spent  with  each  kind  of  work  should  be  charged  to 
that  item.  Compute  the  cost  for  each  item,  according  to  the  time  recorded 
and  at  the  rate  per  hour  paid  the  common  labor.  Then  to  the  item  "Gen- 
eral Kepairs,"  or  "Miscellaneous  Work,"  add  the  difference  between  the 
foreman's  monthly  pay  and  the  pay  he  would  receive  if  he  was  paid  for  his 
actual  time  at  the  price  per  hour  for  common  labor.  In  the  case  of  a  week- 
ly report,  use  instead  of  the  monthly  pay  one-fourth  of  it.  This  throws 
all  the  extra  cost  (over  and  above  the  price  of  common  labor)  of  the  part 
taken  by  the  foreman  in  each  piece  of  work  into  general  repairs,  and  thus 
avoids  the  necessity  of  increasing  the  cost  of  each  separate  item  pro  rata 
for  the  time  the  foreman  spent  with  it.  This  is  really  proper,  because  the 
additional  amount  which  the  foreman  is  paid  above  common  labor  is  not 
necessarily  because  every  piece  of  work  he  engages  in  actually  requires  his 
oversight,  but  on  account  of  his  general  supervision  of  the  section  and  for 
his  responsibility.  He  also  draws  pay  for  Sundays  whether  any  work  is 
done  or  not.  This  additional  amount  therefore  belongs  properly  to  general 
repairs. 

The  time  sheet  and  distribution  sheet  (Forms  1  and  2)  have  been 
filled  out  purposely  to  show  this  arrangement.  It  will  be  seen  that  on  the 
time  sheet  the  foreman  is  credited  with  245  hours  for  the  month.  Sub- 
tracting this  from  2218,  the  total  number  of  hours,  we  get  1973  hours,  which, 
at  12  cents  per  hour,  gives  us  $236.76;  and  this  checks  with  $286.76,  the 
total  amount  less  the  foreman's  pay  of  $50.  This  is  clear  and  straight- 
forward. Now  on  the  distribution  sheet  the  cost  opposite  each  item  is  com- 
puted for  the  given  number  of  hours  at  12  cents  per  hour,  the  same  as 
though  no  higher  wages  had  been  paid  the  foreman.  The  item  "General 
Kepairs"  is  26  hours  at  12  cents  per  hour,  or  $3.12.  Adding  to  this  $20.60, 
which  is  the  difference  between  the  foreman's  pay  of  $50  and  his  actual 
time  of  245  hours  at  12  cents  per  hour,  our  total  at  the  foot  of  cost  column 
($286.76)  checks  with  the  total  at  the  foot  of  the  time  sheet.  If  the  watch- 
men were  paid  a  different  rate  from  that  of  common  labor,  their  time  would 
have  to  be  considered  separately.  Some  divide  the  total  amount  by  the 
total  hours  worked,  to  get  a  general  average,  which  is  the  rate  at  which  each 
item  in  the  distribution  of  work  is  then  charged.  But  evidently  the  time 
and  pay  of  watchmen,  flagmen,  etc.,  should  not  be  included  In  this  average ; 


1108 


OBGANIZATIOISr 


besides,  there  is  with  this  method  a  good  deal  of  cent  splitting  to  be  done, 
and  the  totals  will  not  check  exactly;  and  after  all  it  does. not  seem  as  fair 
as  the  method  above  pointed  out. 

Some  roads  seek  to  get  around  this  difficulty  by  instructing  the  fore- 
men not  to  enter  their  time  on  the  report  of  work  distribution,  leaving 
this  to  be  done  pro  rata  in  the  roadmaster's  office  at  the  end  of  the  month. 
By  this  arrangement  the  time  book  and  distribution  report  will  check  by 
leaving  the  foreman's  pay  out  of  consideration,  and  matters  are  simplified 
for  the  foremen,  but  the  method  of  charging  up  the  foreman's  time  to  the 
various  items  does  not  seem  to  afford  an  equitable  distribution.  On  some 
roads  the  foremen  are  relieved  of  all  such  "difficulties"  by  not  being  per- 
mitted to  do  any  computing  in  the  time  books  and  other  monthly  reports. 
This  is  done  by  clerks  at  headquarters,  so  as  to  avoid  errors  which  foremen 
"slow  at  figures"  are  liable  to  make.  This  plan  is,  of  course,  something  of 
a  reflection  upon  the  foremen. 

Some  roads  require  that  the  time  books  and  blanks  for  the  distribution 
of  time  must  be  used  for  original  entry ;  that  is,  that  time  and  the  distribu- 
tion thereof  must  not  be  kept  in  a  separate  book  or  memorandum  and  copier1 
into  the  regular  book  at  intervals.  Some  roads  also  require  foremen  to 
carry  these  report  books  or  blanks  out  on  the  work  with  them,  so  that  they 
may  be  inspected  by  the  roadmaster  at  any  time.  The  purpose  of  rules  of 
this  kind  is  to  prevent  "doctoring"  reports. 

Tool  Report. — The  foreman's  monthly  report  of  tools  is  usually  head- 
ed to  show  the  number  of  tools  of  each  kind  on  hand  at  the  date  of  last 
report,  the  number  received  since  that  date,  the  number  worn  out  or  broken 
and  returned  during  the  same  period,  and  the  number  on  hand  at  the  date 
of  the  report.  Headings  worded  to .  correspond  with  such  information  are 
arranged  horizontally  across  the  sheet,  as  shown  in  Form  6,  while  the 
names  of  the  various  tools  appear  in  the  left-hand  vertical  column ;  or,  as 
the  list  is  a  long  one,  the  report  is  usually  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  double- 
column  sheet.  The  list  includes  every  kind  of  tool  :'.n  common  use  on  track, 
and  blank  lines  are  left  for  writing  in  the  names  of  special  tools.  A  list 
of  the  tools  in  common  use  on  railway  track  is  given  in  Chap.  IX,  §  116. 
On  some  roads  the  monthly  reports  for  tools  and  materials  are  combined 
on  the  same  blank,  one  side  of  a  long  sheet  being  used  for  the  tools  and 
the  other  side  for  the  materials.  The  following  instructions  are  found  on 
the  tool  and  material  reports  of  various  roads: 

Section  and  other  foremen  will  be  held  personally  rep^onsible  for  all  tools 
and  materials  in  their  charge,  and  will  be  required  to  make  this  report  in  full, 
and  send  to  their  division  roadmaster,  with  the  time  sheet,  at  the  end  of  each 
month. 

All  worn-out  tools  to  be  sent  in  for  renewal  must  be  plainly  marked,  giv- 
ing the  number  of  articles  and  the  section  to  which  they  belong.  Notice  of 
number  and  kind  of  tools  sent  for  renewal  should  be  sent  by  letter  at  the  same 
time. 

Broken  tools  must  be  sent  to  the  storekeeper. 

The  quantities  reported  must  be  ascertained  by  actual  count  and  not  esti- 
mated. Keep  an  accurate  copy  of  each  report. 

When  a  foreman  leaves  the  service  of  the  company  the  roadmaster  must 


TOOL  REPORT  FOR  MONTH  OF 


Railway. 

189 SECTION  No. 


TOOL* 

On  tori 

flnt.mo.jh. 

RmM 

0»ri»g    MoM.. 

Uxd  Up,  Wofr,  Out   or  Broken. 

TOTAL 

ON  HAND 
LAST  OF  MONTH 

CONDITION. 

TOTAL 

Replirs. 

Co^io, 

Am.  Slimming.      . 

Hindi**, 

"      Chopping  

Form  6. — Tool  Report. 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


1109 


RAILWAY  Co. 


FOREMAN  s   MONTHLY  REPORT  OF  TRACK  MATERIAL. 


_ 

" 

' 

~ 

MATERIAL 

of  Month 

™*  M°1"11 

T- 

M 

UMd    0 

New  Work 

.£•£. 

M 

O.HJ- 
of  Month 

•SHARKS 

-          ».A    "         " 

Form  7. — Material  Report. 

see  that  all  tools  and  other  company  property  charged  against  him  are  properly 
accounted  for,  and  must  examine  his  time  books  to  see  that  all  account?  are 
correct.  When  such  is  not  feasible  settlement  for  pay  due  him  should  be 
deferred  until  after  the  new  foreman  sent  to  take  charge  has  checked  over  the 
old  foreman's  final  reports  on  tools  and  material  and  forwarded  the  same  to 
headquarters. 

When  a  foreman  takes  charge  of  a  gang  he  must  receipt  for  all  company 
property  delivered  to  him  by  his  predecessor. 

Material  Reports. — The  usual  column  headings  for  the  foreman's 
monthly  report  of  material  are  as  follows:  Material — (In  the  next  column 
to  the  right  the  "No.  ft.,"  "No.  Pairs,"  "Lbs.,"  "Lin.  ft./'  "Ft.,  B.  M.," 
"Cu.  Yds.,"  etc.,  or  whatever  term  is  necessary  to  designate  unit  of  quan- 
tity is  put  down  in  writing) — On  Hand  First  of  Month — Taken  Out  of 
Track  during  Month — Eeceived  during  Month — Where  Received  From — 
Used  during  Month  (with  the  sub-headings  "In  Main  Line  Repairs,"  "In 
Side-Track  Repairs,"  "In  New  Construction") — Shipped  during  Month — 
Where  Shipped  to — On  Hand  End  of  Month — Remarks.  Under  the  head- 
ing "Material,"  in  the  left-hand  column  of  the  report,  appear  the  name* 
of  the  standard  materials,  or  materials  commonly  used  on  the  road,  with 
blank  spaces  for  writing  in  odd  material  not  shown  on  the  printed  form. 
Form  7  is  a  sample  head  for  a  report  of  material.  It  is  usual  to  classify 
steel  rails  according  to  length  and  the  condition  with  respect  to  wear ;  iron 
rails,  being  now  used  only  in  side-tracks,  are  classified  as  "Of  Use"  and 
"Scrap."  The  following  is  an  ordinary  form  of  classification  for  steel  rails,, 
together  with  a  list  of  instructions  that  is  frequently  printed  at  the  bottom 
of  the  report  of  materials : 

Classification  of  Rails. 

First  Class. — Whole  rails  that  have  never  been  in  track. 
Second  Class. — Rails  not  too  badly  worn  for  main-track  use,  which  have 
been  taken  out  to  make  room  for  laying  new  steel  continuously;   also  new  or 
worn  pieces  of  rail  14  ft.  long  or  longer,  fit  for  main-track  repairs. 

Third  Class. — Rails  fit  only  for  use  in  side-tracks,  if  3  ft.  long  or  longer,, 
and  better  rails  in  pieces  from  3  to  14  ft.  long. 

Scrap. — Rails  too  badly  worn  for  side-track  use  and  all  pieces  less  than: 
3  ft.  long. 

General   Instructions. 

All  material  reported  above  is  supposed  to  be  on  hand  and  not  in  use. 
All  ties  and  timber  reported  as  taken  out  of  the  track  during  the  month,, 
if  decayed  too  badly  for  use  again,  should  not  be  accounted  for  as  on  hand  at 
the  end  of  the  month;  but  all  other  material  taken  out  during  the  month,  and 
not  shipped,  if  not  appearing  on  hand  at  the  end  of  the  month,  should  be  ac- 
counted for  in  the  "Remarks"  column;  for  instance,  broken  splices,  when, 
thrown  into  the  scrap  pile,  should  be  so  accounted  for. 

This  report  must  be  made  up  by  actual  count  of  the  quantity  of  material, 
and  not  by  estimation. 

As  with  the  report  on  distribution  of  work,  so  with  the  report  of 
materials,  some  companies  require  their  foremen  to  fill  out  additional 
separate  reports  for  special  kinds  of  material  received  and  used  during- 
the  month,  such  as  rails,  ties,  lumber,  etc. 

The  foregoing  remarks  cover  the  reports  usually  sent  in  monthly  or 
at  other  regular  intervals.  Besides  these  there  are  a  number  of  forms 
or  blanks  in  common  use  for  reporting  construction  work,  accidents  and 


1110  ORGANIZATION 

other  occurrences,  which  are  made  out  and  forwarded  as  occasion  requires. 
Report  on  Rait  Failures.  —  It  is  quite  usual  to  take  careful  records  of 
broken  rails,  or  rails  which  fail  irregularly  in  other  ways,,  and  the  report 
form  on  rail  failures  on  some  roads  calls  for  a  great  deal  of  detail  informa- 
tion. Following  are  column  or  line  headings  that  are  used  on  the  report 
blanks  of  various  roads  :  No.  of  Eails  —  Length  of  Eail  —  Weight  per  Yard  — 
Square  or  Miter  End  —  Brand  and  Marks  —  Date  Marked  on  Eail  —  Length 
of  Time  in  Use  —  Cause  for  Eemoval  —  Nearest  Mile  Post  (with  the  sub- 
headings No.,  Direction  and  Distance)  —  Kind  of  Joint  Fastening  —  Kind 
of  JJallast  —  Which  Track,  North-bound,  South-bound  or  Single  —  On 
East  or  West  (North  or  South)  Side  of  Track  —  Date  of  Breakage  —  At 
What  Hour  Discovered  —  By  Whom  —  Broken  on  or  off  Tie  —  Was  there 
any  Sign  of  Flaw  —  If  Broken,  Give  Length  of*  Pieces  —  Which  End  was 
Broken,  Eeceiving  or  Leaving  —  Approximate  Temperature  at  Time  Break 
Occurred—  When  had  Track  been  last  Patrolled—  What  do  You  Think 
was  the  Cause  of  Break  —  Was  it  on  Curve  or  Straight  Line  —  Condition 
of  Track  Surface  100  ft.  Each  Way  from  where  Break  Occurred  —  When 
Eepaired  —  In  What  Way  Eepaired  —  What  was  Done  with  Eail  Taken  out 
—  Label  Number  of  Stored  Pieces  —  Marks  or  Brand  on  Eail  Put  in  to 
Eeplace  Eail  Taken  out  —  Eemarks.  The  blank  for  record  of  broken 
rails  on  the  Burlington,  Cedar  Eapids  &  Northern  Ey.  has  the  following 
list  of  questions  on  the  back: 

Cause  of  Breakage. 

Was  break  in  cut?  Do   you   think   break   caused   by   flat 
Was  cut  well  ditched?  wheel? 

Was  track  in  good  surface?  What  was  the  number  and  speed  of 
Were  ties  good?  train  when  seen? 

What  was  the  distance  from  center  to  What     was     track     ballasted     with? 

center  of  ties  at  the  break?  (Loam,   Sand,   Gravel  or  Rock.) 

Were  all  the  ties  of  same  thickness?  Was    break    on     straight     tracit     or 
Was  track  heaved  by  frost?  curve? 

Was  rail  full  spiked?  Was  break  on  bridge  or  cattle  guard? 

Was  it  a  cut  rail?  Was  break  at  fish  plate  hole? 

Was  rail   shimmed?  Was  train  ditched? 

Had  any  of  the  shims  worked  out?  What  damage  done? 

The  following  instructions   are  commonly  found  at  the  bottom  of 
reports  on  broken  or  damaged  rails  : 

Instructions. 

Section  foremen  will  send  this  report  to  the  roadmaster  as  soon  as  may  be 
practicable  after  steel  rails  have  been  removed  from  track  and  careful  inves- 
tigation has  been  made. 

Be  careful  to  report  brand  and  marks  correctly,  and  see  that  all  informa- 
tion called  for  in  this  report  is  given  for  each  and  every  rail  taken  up. 

When  two  or  more  rails  of  the  same  length  are  taken  up,  on  the  same  day 
[except  m  the  case  of  rails  damaged  by  wrecks  or  broken  wheels)  for  the 
same  cause,  of  same  marks  and  brand,  and  whose  histories  are  alike  in  every 
particular,  they  may  be  reported  together  by  stating  the  number  of  such  rails 
n  column  headed  "No.  of  Rails,"  but  when  there  is  any  difference  whatever 

6aCh  rail  mUSt  be  rep°rted  ^  itself,  on  a 

fe       thf      f  U  ab°?  \2  ins"  in  length  should  be  cut  from  the  Pie<*s  each 
J  fraCiUre  m  broken  rails"    These  Pieces  should  be  labeled  and  num- 

iS  deBlred  t 


^quired  for  the  purpos-e  of  identifying  failures  in 

must  be  made  ° 


Report  on  BroTcen  Splices.-Tte  Lehigh  Valley  E.   E.   supplies  its 

•t™  IT*  ™Vanks  for  a  monthly  report  of  broken  splices  in  main 

Following  are  the  column  headings   of  this   report:     No    of 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


1111 


Splices  Taken  out— Between  What  Mile  Posts— Date  When  Put  in  Use- 
Inside  or  outside  Splice — On  Curves;  High  or  Low  Eail — On  Straight 
Line — Open  or  Close  Joint— Surface  of  Joint — Kind  of  Ballast — Weight 
of  EaiJs  per  Yard — No.  of  Iron  Splices — No.  of  Steel  Splices  (with  the 
sub-headings  "4  holes"  and  "6  holes")— East  or  West-Bound  Track— 
Description  of  Break — Cause  of  Failure. 

Report  on  Side-Track  Construction. — Form  8  shows  an  ordinary  blank 
for  reporting  labor  and  material  in  new  side-track  construction.  The 
same  form  would  also  answer  for  new  track  construction  of  anyTdnd. 


B.  R.  Co. 


Report  of  New  Side  Track  for at 

Foremen  must  make  out  and  forward  this  report  as  soon  as  the  work  is  completed.  The  making 
of  this  report  does  not  in  any  way  affect  the  Monthly  Report  of  Material.  It  is  a  special  report, 
and  all  regular  reports  are  made  out  just  the  same  as  though  it  had  not  been  made. 


Material  Used    in 

flaterial  Furnished  for 

Exact  Location,  Mile  Post  plus  feet. 

the  Co.'s  Part. 

Private  Part. 

NEW. 

OLD. 

NEW. 

OLD. 

Steel  Rail  in  Track  Ibs.  per  yard,          Feet. 

Iron     "            "               ,.'.**         '4 

Guard  Rails,                                 " 

Splices,  Angle  Bars,                                            No. 

"        Fish  Plates, 

Splice  Bolts,                                                         " 

Nut  Locks,                                                            " 

R.  R.  Spikes,                                                     Lbs. 

Cut         "                                                              " 

Rail  Braces,                                                        No. 

Cross  Ties,  first-class  (what  kind),                  " 

"            second-class,                                      " 

Switch  Timber,                                     Lineal  Feet 

Frogs,                    Kind,       No.  of  Frog,          No. 

Switches,                   " 

Switch  Rods,                                                        Sets 

11       Stands,         "                                           No. 

Ground  Levers,        "                                            " 

Headshoes. 

Crossing  Plank,                                      Feet,  B.  M. 

Stop  Blocks,                                 Complete  Pairs. 

Bunting  Posts, 

Ballast,  Kind  and  Quantity, 

Length  of  each  part,                                       Feet, 

2  £ 

2 

f3   03 

£ 

cfl  >> 

H 

II 

Cost. 

a  >> 
P 

s  § 

a  w 

Cost. 

hj 

^  6 

£>£ 

~& 

IjciDor,  GrrSLQiDgj  Trcick  Alcn. 
1  '            "           Work  Train, 

"        Laying,  Track  Men, 

Work  Train, 

Ballasting,  Track  Men, 

Work  Train, 

'         Taking  Up  Track,  Track  Man, 

"          Work  Train,                   1 

Total  length  of  track  from  headblock feet.     Total  length  of  track  in  clearance feet 

Completed ,  190. . .  Foreman,  Sec.  No 

Correct,.... Eoadmaster. 


Form  8. — Report  ofcNew  Side-Track  Constructed. 


1112  ORGANIZATION" 


Report  On  Structures. — With  a  view  to  keep  informed  on  what  is 
being  built  along  the  line  of  the  road  adjacent  to  the  track,  as  well  as 
to  obtain  a  record  of  all  structures  built  on  'the  right  of  way,  it  is  usual 
to  have  a  report  blank  to  cover  the  information  desired.  Form1  9  is  a 
sample  of  such  a  report. 


E.  E.  Company. 

..Division. 


EEPOET  ON  STEUCTUEES  ADJACENT  TO  TEACK. 

TO  SECTION  FOREMEN: 

•  No  structure  shall  be  erected  upon  the  company's  property  without  the- 
written  consent  of  the  superintendent.  You  must  report  to  the  roadmaster  any 
violation  of  this  order. 

In  all  cases  of  New  Buildings,  Fences,  Platforms  or  any  structure  what- 
ever, commenced  on  your  section  within feet  of  the  center  of  the  main- 
track,  you  are  hereby  required  to  furnish  the  information,  as  noted  below. 
Fill  up  one  of  these  blanks  and  forward  it  at  once  to  the  Roadmaster. 

1.  Name  of  party  building, 

2.  What  is  he  building? 

3.  Distance  from  Center  of  Main  track  or  Side-track;   say  which,  or  give 
both. 

4.  On  which  side  of  Track. 

5.  Name  of  nearest  Station. 

6.  Distance  East  or  West  of  said  Station. 

7.  No.  of  Lot  (if  in  a  town). 

8.  Who  gave  Right  of  Way  to  R.  R.  Co.? 

9.  Any  other  general  information. 

,   Foreman . 

Section  No 

Form  9. — Report  on  Structures  Adjacent  to  the  Track. 

Report  of.  Stock  Killed  or  Injured. — Eeports  of  stock  killed  or  injured 
are  made  by  the  conductor  and  engineer  of  the  train  which  strikes  the 
animals,  and  also  by  the  foreman  of  the  section  where  the  accident  takes 
place.  On  some  roads,  however,  the  report  blank  for  this  purpose  is 
tilled  out  by  the  station  agent,  from  the  verbal  report  of  the  foreman. 
The  agent  is  supposed  to  repeat  the  questions  printed  on  the  blank  and 
then  write  down  the  replies  of  the  foreman.  Both  the  agent  and  the 
foreman  then  sign  the  report.  Where  stock  cannot  be  buried  at  the  point 
where  it  is  killed  it  sometimes  costs  a  good  deal  to  remove  the  carcass 
to  another  point.  One  cheap  way  to  dispose  of  killed  stock,  if  the 
material  is  at  hand,  is  to  pile  old  ties  or  other  waste  wood  on  the  carcass 
and  burn  it.  On  some  roads  such  work  is  attended  to  by  the  track- 
walkers. Form  10  is  a  report  blank  with  the  questions  used  by  various 
railways  regarding  the  particulars  of  accidents  to  stock  struck  by  the 
trains,  followed  by  the  usual  instructions  to  section  foremen . 

.  .EAILEOAD  COMPANY. 


SECTION  FOEEMAN'S  EEPOET  OF  STOCK  KILLED  OE  INJURED. 
To 

Division  Superintendent, 

at 

On  section  No on  the day  of 190. . . 

about o'clock. . .  .M.,  Train  No from ,  Engine  No ~ 

struck  and the  following  stock  : 

What  kind? Number  andColorf 

Brand  or  Mark?  (very  important) _ 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  1113 

Was  the  stock  allowed  by  the  owner  to  run  at  large? 

At  what  place  was  it  struck?  (Give  name  of  and  distance  to  nearest  station.) 

Was  it  north,  south  ,  east  or  west  of  this  station? 

Was  it  in  a  cut,  on  a  curve,  or  where  there  was  a  clear  view  of  the  track? 

Was  it  struck  within  the  switch  limits  of  station? 

Was  stock  struck  on  either  a  public  or  private  crossing? 

Was  the  highzvay  located  straight  or  diagonally  across  the  track   

Was  it  struck  within  the  limits  of  an  incorporate  city  or  town? 

//  so,  what  was  the  speed  of  the  train? -_ . ^_,  ^ 

If  so,  give  name  of  same 

//  on  private  crossing,  when  did  you  last  see  gates? 

Were  the  gates  then  closed? Was  the  track  fenced  at  POINT  where  the  ani- 
mal GOT  UPON  the  track? 

What  is  hight  of  fence,  in  feet  and  inches? 

Of  what  material  is  fence?    How  many  wires  or  boards? 

In  what  condition  and  how  old  is  fence? 

If  in  good  order,  how  did  animal  get  on  the  track? 

If  out  of  repair,  state  in  what  particular,  and  how  long  it  had  been  so,  and  your  rea- 
sons for  not  repairing  it 

Are  all  the  cattle-guards  near  that  point  in  perfect  order? //  not,  why? 

What  is  the  distance  from  cattle  guard  to  cattle  guard? .* 

Give  size  and  depth  of  cattle  guards 

//  possible,  describe  place  where  animal  got  onto  track,  and  how 

Were  any  of  the  section  men  in  sight? 

What  did  you  do  with  the  animal,  after  the  accident? 

Did  you  take  the  hide? 

What  did  the  owner  do  with  the  animal,  after  the  accident? 

What  amount,  if  any,  did  owner  derive  from  sale  or  use  of  carcass  or  hide?  $ 

How  much  did  you  receive  for  carcass?  $ How  much  for  hide?  $ 

Estimated  age  of  animal? Estimated  live  weight? 

Estimated  CASH  VALUE  before  accident,  $ (This  estimate  must  be  made 

independent  of  owner's  statements.') 

Owner's  estimate  of  value  of  the  animal  at  the  time,  if  he  expressed  himself  on  this 
point? $ 

//  not  killed,  state  the  extent  of  injuries 

//  only  injured,  state  amount  of  damage  $ 

Owner's  name,  occupation  and  residence,  if  they  can  be  ascertained 

Owner's  post  office  address. .'. 

How  soon  after  the  accident  did  the  own,;r  know  of  it? 

Who  informed  him? Was  the  animal  in  charge  of  any  person  when 

struck  f 

If  you  know  of  any  persons  who  witnessed  the  accident,  give  names,  residence  and 
occupation 

Names  of  owners  of  land  on  each  side  of  right  of  way  where  animal  was  killed. 
(Spare  no  effort  to  answer  this  question  correctly.) 

State  here  any  particulars  relating  to  the  accident,  not  asked  for  above,  which  you 
consider  the  claim  agent  ought  to  know, 

. . . Section  Foreman* 

This  report  is  made  at 

Date ,190. .. . 


Instructions  to   Section    Foreman. 

You  are  required  on  the  same  day  you  learn  that  any  stock  has  been  killed 
or  crippled  on  your  section,  to  fill  this  blank  with  the  information  required, 
and  deliver  the  same  to  the  Station  Agent,  to  be  forwarded  by  first  train  to 
your  Division  Superintendent.  Be  particular  to  answer  the  questions  correctly. 
Make  no  statements  that  can  be  truthfully  contradicted. 

When  stock  has  been  injured  on  your  section,  if  possible,  notify  owner, 
and  request  him  to  take  charge.  Assist  him  in  removing  crippled  stock 
if  he  requests  it.  When  stock  is  struck  on  a  public  crossing  or  on  station 
grounds  you  should  first  notify  the  owner  to  take  care  of  his  property,  as  the 
company  is  not  liable  for  stock  struck  at  such  places,  but  in  case  he  refuses 
the  animal  should  not  be  skinned,  but  buried  with  hide  on.  When  cattle 


1114:  ORGANIZATION 

are  killed  and  the  owner  cannot  be  found,  or  will  not  take  possession  of  the 
animals,  sell  the  meat  to  the  best  advantage  and  give  the  cash  proceeds  to  the 
agent  or  remit  with  letter  of  explanation.  Salt  all  hides  immediately  and 
thoroughly  as  soon  as  removed  from  stock. 

When  animals  are  injured  by  having  their  legs  broken,  or  otherwise 
wounded  so  as  to  be  past  recovery,  they  should  be  slaughtered  and  sold  to  the 
best  advantage  for  the  company,  and  proceeds  of  sale  handed  to  agent. 

Keep  a  correct  record  of  the  brands  and  marks. 

When  a  number  of  animals  belonging  to  different  persons  are  struck  at  the 
same  time  and  place,  make  separate  reports  relative  to  the  property  of  each 
owner. 

In  case  the  animal  or  animals  are  removed  before  you  are  informed  of  the 
accident,  you  must  report  all  the  information  you  can  obtain  in  reference  there- 
to, as  required  within,  giving  names  of  informants. 

You  are  expected  to  acquaint  yourself  with  the  value  of  different  kinds  of 
stock,  so  that  your  estimate  of  damage  will  be  correct.  Guard  against  placing 
values  too  high  or  too  low. 

You  are  requested  not  to  state  to  the  owner  your  opinion  as  to  what  pro- 
portion of  the  value  of  stock  will  be  allowed  by  the  Company,  or  to  admit  any  lia- 
bility under  any  circumstances. 

Inform  owners  of  stock  killed  that  to  insure  a  prompt  adjustment  of  their 

claims,  they  must  communicate  direct  with  the  general  claim  agent  at 

,  Superintendent. 

Form  10. — Report  of  Stock  Killed  or  Injured. 

Fire  Reports. — Section  foremen  are  expected  to  make  a  report  of  all 
fires  that  start  along  their  sections,  when  property  is  destroyed,  whether 
in  their  opinion  the  company  is  liable  or  not.  Careful  investigation 
should  be  made  concerning  the  origin  of  such  fires  and  the  progress  of  the 
same,  and,  particularly,  whether  reasonable  effort  was  made  to. put  the 
fire  out  or  stop  its  progress.  Form  11  is  the  usual  blank  for  reports  on 
losses  by  fire. 


.RAILROAD  COMPANY. 


SECTION  FOREMAN'S  REPORT  OF  FIRE  LOSSES. 

Immediately  after  a  fire,  the  Foreman  of  the  Section  where  it  occurred  must  notify 

the  Division  Superintendent,  by  telegraph,  of  the  fact,  and  then  fill  out  this  blank 

and  send  it  to  him  by  FIRST  TRAIN.     If  several  pieces  of  property 

are  burned,  make  a  separate  report  for  each  owner. 

To 

Division  Superintendent, 

at  

A  Fire  started  on  Section  No on  the day  of 190. . . . 

Questions  to  be  Answered  by  Section  Foreman. 

Name  and  residence  of  owner  of  the  property  destroyed  

Name  of  tenant,  if  rented 

About  how  far  from  the  property  burned  did  the  fire  originate? 

Was  the  property  located  upon  land  owned  by  the  Railroad  Company? 

Give  name  of  the  nearest  station Post  office  address  of  owner 

Was  it  north,  south,  east  or  west  of  this  station ? How  far  from  station? 

EXACT  time  of  day  or  night  fire  started 

Origin   of   fire 

Distance  from  center  of  track  to  place  where  fire  started feet 

Width  of  right  of  way 

Did  the  fire  start  on  the  right  of  way? Which  side  of  the  track? 

Condition  of  right  of  way  {What  combustible  material} 

Had  right  of  way  been  mowed,  burned  or  cleaned  off? If  so,  when 

//    not,    why? 

What  was  the  extent  of  the  fire? 

Distance  from  center  of  track  to  property  destroyed 

What  had  owner  done  to  protect  his  property  from  fire? , 

Did  owner  assist  or  furnish  assistance  in  putting  out  the  fire? 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  1115 

Was  wind  blowing  high  or  low? From  what  direction? 

Were  there  other  fires  in  the  same  neighborhood  at  the  same  time? 

If  so,  give  the  origin  of  these  fires 

Did  other  parties  lose  by  the  same  fire?.  If  so,  give  their  names.     (Important.) 

Who  was  first  at  the  fire? 

Was  fire  caused  by  section  hands? 

What  was  exact  time  last  train  passed? What  was  No.  of  train? 

Was  it  a  passenger  or  freight? If  you  know-  ^the~iire  was  set 

by  an  engine,  give  the  number  and  state  the  facts  leading  you  to  believe 
that  it  was  set  by  such  engine 

How  soon  after  the  fire  started  did  you  get  to  it? 

Did  you  or  your  men  assist  to  put  out  fire? 

Description  of  Property. 


What  is  your  estimate  of  loss?  $ If  fence,  how  many  boards  or  rails  high?. . . . 

No.  of  panels  burned No.  of  posts If  meadow  or  pasture,  num- 
ber of  acres Kind  of  grass If  standing  grass,  give  number 

of  acres Right  of  grass Kind  of  grass 

If  trees,  give  number kind age approximate  hight 

and  whether  burned  all  around  or  on  one  side,  and  on  which  side. . 


If  hay,  number  of  tons.     (Give  length,  breadth,  number  and  approximate  hight  of 

stacks') Price  per  ton  at  nearest  market  at  time  of  fire,  $ (Important), 

If  straw ^  what  kind Length,  breadth,  number  and  approximate  hight  of 

stacks')    If  grain  tvhat  kind Number  of  stacks 

Dimensions  of  stacks Number  of  shocks Number  of  bushels 

(threshers'  measure) .Price  per  bushel  at  nearest  market  on  day  of  fire, 

$ Had  there  been  any  recent  rains,  or  was  it  dry? Give  the 

names  and  addresses  of  all  witnesses  of  the  fire 

How  much  is  the  owner's  claim  for  damage? 

If  the  building  belonged  to  the  Company,  what  kind?   . ... 

Used  for  ivhat  purpose? 

Dimensions 

Contents 

Extent  of  da-mage , . . . . 

//  wood,  state  space  burned  over  > 

Kind '  of  wood   Amount  in  Cords   .  *~* 

If  ties,  kind  and  number   ^*- , . 

//  piles,  kind,  number  and  length ~.  * 

If  piling,  extent  of  damage  *-. . . 

If  bridge,  number,  kind »* 

"Extent  of  damage **• 

Estimated  cost  of  repairs  or  replacing,  $ . 

Give  any  particulars  here  that  you  have  not  incorporated  in  answers  to  above 
questions,  which  you  think  will  be  of  service  to  the  Company. 


. . .. Foreman  of  Section  No 

This  is  made  from , 

Date 190 

Form  11. — Report  on  Fire  Losses. 

Casualty  Reports. — Section  foremen  are  expected  to  report  to  the 
roadmaster,  by  wire,  every  case  of  derailment  to  engines  and  cars  on  their 
sections,  and  injury  of  any  kind  to  persons,  no  matter  how  trivial,  as  the 
result  of  such  derailment,  or  injury  happening  to  any  person  on  the  track 
in  any  manner.  This  .includes  people  injured  at  road  crossings,  and 
employees  hurt  on  hand  cars  and  in  other -ways.  Tn  case  of  injury  to 
persons  the  name  of  the  person  is  given  and  the  nature  of  the  injury. 
As  soon  thereafter  as  he  is  able  to  do  so  the  foreman  must  write  out  the 


1116  ORGANIZATION 

full  particulars  and  forward  the  report  promptly.  The  reports  of  derail- 
ments should  be  filled  out  as  fully  as  the  information  can  be  obtained, 
and  these  should  be  retained  by  the  roadmaster  in  convenient  shape  for 
future  reference,  in  case  he  is  called  upon  to  defend  the  track  against  the 
reports  of  the  train  men,  Form  12  is  a  sample  of  a  casualty  report  blank. 


Railroad  Co. 

. . . . ,  . .  Division. 


SECTION  FOREMAN'S  CASUALTY  BEPORT. 

No. 

Section  No 

Date  of  accident. 190. . .  No.  Train No  Engine Time 

Engineer   Conductor   

Section  Foreman Location  (distance  from  nearest  station)   

Injury  to  Company's  Property. 

Under  this  head  report  all  accidents  to  trains  resulting  in  any  damage  or  loss 
to  Baggage,  Freight,  Cars,  Locomotives,  Track,  Bridges,  Buildings  or  other  property. 
State  the  amount  of  damage,  the  nature  of  the  accident,  how  caused,  what  action  was 
taken  after  accident  to  protect  trains  and  prevent  further  damage,  and  what  was 
done  towards  repairing  damages  and  placing  track  in  order. 


Details. 

Nature  of  accident 

Cause. 

Result 

Main,  side  or  private  track At  switch  or  frog 

On  straight  line  or  curve,  and  what  was  degree  of  curve,  elevation  and  gageT 

At  what  rate  of  speed  was  train  moving  at  time  of  accident? 

Were  proper  signals  given? 

Damage  to  track,etc • . . 

Cost  of  material Labor , 

Cost  of  zvrecking  done  by  trackmen 

Remarks *•.'•.»• 

Was  track  obstructed  by  accident ? How  long? 

On  what  section? Was  engine  or  cars  off  track? No.  of  cars  off  track. 

Was  a  report  sent  to  you,  and  by  whom? At  what  station  was  it  left? 

Was  the  accident  at  a  Road  Crossing? Was  the  track  in  good  condition 

before  the  accident  occurred? 

Injury  to  Persons. 

Under  this  head  report  every  accident  to  Employees,  Passengers  or  other  persons. 
Use  a  separate  blank  for  each  case. 

Name 

Residence, ...» 

Occupation 

Employee,  Passenger  or  other 

Nature  and  extent  of  injury 

How  caused 

Name  and  Residence  of  Witnesses 

What  disposition  was  made  of  the  injured  person? 

What  was  done  with  the  personal  effects  and  papers  belonging  to  injured  person? 

Signed ,Foreman. 

Form  12. — Casualty  Report.. 

Extra  Gang  and  Work-Train  Reports. — It  is  customary  for  the  foremen 
of  floating  gangs,  extra  gangs,  and  other  parties  of  men  doing  work  upon 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


FENCES  REBUILT  AND  REPAIRED. , 

of ,_189 


RAIL-WAY   CO. 

DIVISION. 


r* 

BOARD  FENCE  RtPAtKED 

WIRE   FENCE  REPAIRED. 

SIDE  OF 

«.» 

g 

-.>"'TS 

MM 

a 

UK. 

s 

«" 

A 

IMM. 

9 

K 

mk 

MM 

*" 

1 

TOW       ««* 

1 

Form  13. — Fence  Report. 

RAILWAY  COMPANY. 


- DIVISION. 

DAILY  REPORT  OF  CONSTRUCTION  TRAIN  SERVICE 


NiS.£ 

MEN    ON    T*»IN 

A*RW80  AT 

•SKM" 

Tiui    LEFT 

y-'Sss 

AM»U  AT 

«™ 

T'*OvMpFT 

o.T£» 

W...V, 

B«««MI. 

U.O»M 

- 

1 

1 

• 

No.  or  ENGINE. 


Form  14. — Work-Train  Report. 

the  right  of  way  that  is  provided  for  in  the  section  foreman's  blanks,  to  use 
the  same  blanks  as  the  section  foremen.  Form  13  is  a  common  style  of 
blank  for  a  fence  report.  Form  14  is  a  common  style  of  blank  for  a 
work-train  conductor's  report,  and  the  following  is  another: 

DAILY  REPORT    OF  WORK  DONE   BY  WORK  TRAIN. 

Date. 190. . 

Number  of  Cars  Dirt  or  Ballast  Unloaded 

Where    Unloaded     

Other    Work    Done * 

Number  of  Engines  Used 

Men  Employed. 

Foremen     Flagmen    

Engineers    ^Trainmen 

Firemen   Laborers    '. 

Conductors    

Time  Worked   by   Pit  Engines Hours Minutes. 

Time    Worked    by    Road    Engine Hours Minutes. 

Amount  of  Coal  Used  by  Pit  Engine " Tons. 

Amount  of  Oil  Used  by  Pit  Engine Gals. 

Pit    Engine    Detained Hours Minutes. 

Cause    

Amount  of  Coal  Used  by  Road  Engine Tons. 

Amount  of   Oil  Used  by  Road  Engine Gals. 

Road    Engine    Detained Hours Minutes. 

Cause    

. .  Conductor. 


Form  15. — Work  Train  Report. 

It  is  also  well  to  observe  that  in  the  work  train  foreman's  daily 
report  (or  conductor's  report,  if  he  acts  as  foreman)  it  is  usual  to  require 
a  report  of  each  car  and  what  was  done  with  it.  Following  are  the  usual 
column  headings:  Car  No. — Whose — Loaded  (when  taken) — Empty 
(when  taken)— Where  Loaded— With  What  Loaded— No.  of  Cu.  Yds.  or 
Pieces — Weight — Amount — Where  unloaded — Where  Left  (with  the  sub- 
headings "Loaded"  and  "Empty").  The  "Remarks"  column  is  headed 
as  follows :  "Work-train  foremen  will  make  a  brief  statement  in  the  space 
below,  noting  all  delays  and  explaining  the  cause,  with  any  other  remarks 
of  a  special  character."  At  the  bottom  the  blank  is  ruled  and  headed  for 
a  summarization  of  the  work  performed,  as  follows : 


1118 


ORGANIZATION 


Engine  No   Engineer   Conductor 

Laid  over  last  night  at Started  out  at a.   m. 

Quit  Work  at p.  m.      Weather  during  the  day 

Lying  over  to-night  at This   report  was 

made  out  at p.  m. 

Summary  of  Work  Done. 

No.   Car-Loads   Iron   Rails  hauled No.  Cu.  Yds.  Ditching  done 

No.    Car-Loads    Steel    Rails    hauled . .       Lin.   Ft.   Ditching   done 

No.    Car-loads    Dirt    hauled New  Rails  Laid,  Lin.  Ft.  track 

No.    Car-Loads    Crusher    Screenings . .       No.  Ties  Put  in 

No.  Car-Loads   Gravel  hauled No.    Men    Employed 

No.  Car-Loads   Stone  Ballast  hauled.       Total   No.   Hours   on   Time   Book 

No.    Car-Loads    Ties    hauled Hours  Consumed  in  Running   (Train) 

No.    Car-Loads    Wood    hauled Actual    Time-  Worked    (Crew) 

No.   Car-Loads   Rip-Rap   hauled 

OTHER  WORK. 


Kind  of  Work. 

Where. 

Amount  of  Work. 

Hours  for 
One  Man 

Lin.  Feet. 

No.  Pieces. 

Cu.  Yds. 

• 

Total. 


Foreman . 


All  work  done  whatsoever  must  be  reported  above,  and  the  time  must  be 
strictly  accounted  for.  Work  for  which  headed  lines  are  not  provided  must 
be  described  under  "Other  Work." 

Form  16  is  a  common  style  of  steam  shovel  report  blank.  In  most 
cases  such  reports  are  made  and  forwarded  daily  to  the  roadmaster  or  engi- 
neer in  charge  of  construction. 

...Ry.  Co. 

DAILY  REPORT   OF  WORK  WITH   STEAM   SHOVEL   NO.. 


Date 190.. 

Where    Working    Number    of    Laborers 

Number  of  "Cars  Loaded Amount  of   Coal   Used    Tons. 

Cubic   Yards   Per   Car "          "Oil        "        Gals. 

Time     Worked Hours Minutes.         Kind  of  Material 

Detentions. 

Waiting    for    Cars Hrs Mins        Fixing    Track     Hrs Mins. 

Moving    Shovel    Hrs Mins.       Bad    Weather     Hrs Mins. 

Repairing   Shovel    Hrs Mins.      Other    Causes  . .  Hrs Mins. 


Foreman. 


Form  16. — Report  of  Steam  Shovel  Work. 

Following  are  the  column  headings  for  the  ordinary  monthly  report 
of  ballasting  done,  to  be  filled  out  by  the  section  foreman:  MAIN 
TRACK  between  Mile  Posts  (—  and— )—  No.  of  Ft.— Depth  in  Inches- 
Kind  of  Ballast— SIDINGS — Location— No.  of  Ft.— Depth  in  Inches— 
Kind  of  Ballast.  Form  17  is  the  ordinary  style  of  blank  for  a  tie 
inspector's  report. 

Form  18  is  a  blank  requisition  for  supplies,  with  a  receipt  attached. 
The  instructions  which  appear  upon  the  blank  explain  the  systematic 
manner  in  which  it  is  used.  On  most  roads  practically  the  same  form 
of  requisition  blank  is  used  by  all  departments.  In  the  track  department 
the  foreman  fills  out  the  blank  for  supplies  desired  and  forwards  it  to 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


1119 


REPORT  NO. 

RAILWAY  Co. 

MAINTENANCE  OF  WAY  AND  STRUCTURES   DEPARTMENT. 

REPORT  OF  TIES  TAKEN   UP  AT                                                                                  DATE  11 

CONSIGNED  TO-  -  AT 


APPROVED, 

ROADMASTER. 

Form  17. — Tie  Inspector's  Report. 


TIE  INSPECTOR. 


the  supervisor  or  roadmaster,  who  passes  upon  it,  scrutinizing  the  items 
carefully  for  unnecessary  requests.  In  cases  he  may  find  it  advisable  to 
make  alterations,  or  he  may  withhold  it  from  issue  pending  an  explanation 
from  the  foreman  concerning  the  need  of  certain  articles  ordered.  He 
then  forwards  it  to  the  storekeeper  or  to  higher  authority  for  approval. 
Foremen  are  usually  instructed  to  send  in  their  requisitions  on  the  first 
of  the  month,  or  at  appointed  times.  This  order  is  not,  of  course,  sup- 
posed to  cover  supplies  needed  in  haste.  In  such  cases  the  foremen  fre- 
quently order  from  the  roadmaster  by  wire,  requesting  immediate  shipment. 
For  such  sudden  calls  the  roadmaster  usually  keeps  at  headquarters,  inde- 
pendently of  the  storekeeper,  a  small  stock  of  the  different  patterns  of 
frogs,  switches,  etc.,  quantities  of  fastenings  and  other  commonly  needed 
supplies,  neatly  arranged  on  skids  or  platforms  conveniently  located  for 
loading  into  baggage  cars  when  the  urgency  of  the  situation  requires  such 
things  to  be  forwarded  by  passenger  train.  Where  considerable  quanti- 
ties of  supplies  are  needed,  as  in  new  construction,  it  saves  a  good  deal 
of  labor  and  unnecessary  handling  to  have  them  shipped  from  the  manu- 
facturer direct  to  the  point  of  use. 

Foremen  should  read  carefully  the  instructions  on  all  reports  with 
which  they  have  to  do,  and  try  to  get  a  clear  understanding  as  to  how  it 
is  desired  they  should  be  filled  out ;  and  try  to  answer  in  a  direct  and  clear 
manner  all  questions  asked.  Information  relating  to  the  matter  of  any 


Detroit,  Grand  Rapids  &  Western  Railroad. 

TRACK  DEPARTMENT 


Detroit,  Grand  Rapids  &  Western  Railroad. 

TRACK  DEPARTrlENT. 


Received  of  Sttirc  Departn 


the  following  articles,  tit  food  order 


«,.,„„ 

nu  »«»,.....•,».,«..«.,,. 

mil 

*«T,C,.«S 

| 

'CBR1CT 

lifn  when  ordering 

Sign  here  when 

foodt  are  reteiveii. 

••H,,,  .„, 

•Or.lin.rv"  OF  "  S,,.,-,.!.     „,  r^niKd 

M.I  ora 

r».,ntrtn<,n.  nn  I,™  of  m,*  *,„»,),  «rt  m*  lo  8«pt  Truck. 

Fill  ont  thin  >h<*t  to  c 
Tin.  iWwt  .ill  l»  rrtu 

om.po.Kl  w»b  order.  »b*n  miming 
net  »b»  good!  •><  .tipped.    When  ligotd  Mod  Ibis  to 

Form  18. — Requisition  for  Track  Supplies. 


1120  ORGANIZATION 

report,  which  is  not  provided  for  by  a  headed  line,  or  by  a  place  for 
"remarks"  or  otherwise,  should,  if  the  foreman  thinks  it  of  importance, 
be  written  on  a  separate  slip  of  paper  and  pinned  to  the  report,  the  fore- 
man signing  his  name  thereto.  It  is  a  good  plan  for  foremen  to  retain 
duplicates  of  such  reports  sent  in  as  include  the  heading  -"On  Hand  at  Last 
Keport."  It  is  usual  to  furnish  each  foreman  with  two  copies  of  time 
rolls,  tool  reports  and  material  reports,  so  that  he  may  retain  a  copy  of 
each  report  sent  in.  Another  plan  is  to  send  the  foremen  their  blanks 
for  the  succeeding  month  in  time  to  copy  off  such  data  as  will  be  necessary 
to  start  the  new  report,  before  the  report  of  the  present  month  is  sent  in. 
It  might  also  be  arranged  to  supply  the  foremen  with  sheets  or  blanks  for 
duplication  of  pen  writing.  In  still  other  cases  the  roadmaster's  office, 
in  sending  out  the  new  blanks  each  month,  fills  in  the  column  calling  for  the 
quantity  on  hand  at  last  report.  It  is  also  convenient  for  the  foreman 
to  retain  duplicate  copies  of  requisitions  sent  in,  and  on  some  roads  the 
requisition  blanks  are  arranged  for  duplicating  by  the  insertion  of  a  carbon 
sheet.  Blank  books  of  pocket  size  with  pages  ruled  for  distribution  of 
work  should  also  be  furnished  the  foreman  for  convenience  of  taking 
note  out  on  the  road  when  the  work  is  performed.  He  can  then  copy  from 
this  to  the  regular  reports  sent  in  and  be  able  to  give  the  information 
with  greater  accuracy  than  otherwise;  for  duties  will  so  press  a  foreman 
day  and  night,  at  times,  that  he  cannot  afterwards  recall  just  how  all 
the  work  was  divided.  This  book  he  may  retain  for  his  own  reference, 
and  very  convenient  he  will  often  find  it,  too.  Changes  of  foremen  or 
transfers  from  one  section  to  another,  except,  of  course,  in  emergencies, 
should  be  made  at  the  beginning  of  a  month,  so  that  the  man  in  the  new 
place  may  start  his  reports  even  with  the  month;  otherwise  there  is  a 
splitting  of  reports. 

The  reports  required  of  roadmasters  by  the  higher  officials  usually 
call  for  summarized  accounts  of  the  items  embodied  in  the  reports  of 
distribution  of  work  from  all  the  section  crews,  j'ard  gangs,  floating 
gangs,  and  work-train  foremen,  together  with  work  performed  at  wreck- 
ing, his  office  and  store-room  expenses,  tool  repairs,  ete. ;  also  a  report  giv- 
ing the  sum  total  of  the  tools  and  track  materials  received,  used,  and 
accounted  for  at  the  end  of  the  month,  for  his  division.  In  other  words 
he  makes  up  an  office  record  giving  the  total  expenditure  under  each 
account  for  the  division,  for  each  month  of  the  year,  with  the  average 
annual  cost  per  mile  for  each  account.  Such  reports  are  made  to  the 
•superintendent,  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way,  or  chief  engineer,  accord- 
ing to  the  organization  of  the  maintenance  of  wray  department.  The 
roadmaster  may  also  be  called  upon  to  fill  out  special  blanks  specifying 
all  changes  in  the  physical  condition  of  the  road  and  right  of  way  during 
the  month,  such  as  new  track  built  or  track  taken  up,  new  rail  laid,  new 
ballasting,  new  fence  built,  etc.,  and  the  location  of  each  piece  of  work; 
all  of  which  may  be  gathered  from  the  reports  of  his  foremen.  Labor 
and  materials  chargeable  to  maintenance  and  new  construction  are  of 
course  kept  separate.  Forms  for  such -reports  are  similar  to  those  used 
by  the  foremen. 

Another  system  that  comes  highly  recommended  is  one  whereby  all 
labor  and  material  reports  are  digested  and  summarized  in  the  office  of 
the  general  roadmaster  or  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way.  At  appointed 
intervals,  usually  every  month,  the  track  foremen  make  their  reports  to 
the  roadmaster  or  supervisor,  who  carefully  examines  the  same;  gives  it 
nis  approval,  if  correct,  and  then  passes  it  on  to  the  general  officer  of  the 
track  department.  Before  forwarding  these  reports,  however,  he  makes  up  an 


REPORTS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  1121 

office  record  of  all  material  on  his  division  and  of  the  total  expenditure 
of  labor  and  material  under  each  account;  this  to  be  retained  in  his 
office  for  reference.  In  the  office  of  the  engineer  of  maintenance  of 
way  or  general  roadmaster  the  force  of  clerks  consolidate  the  different 
section  reports  for  each  division  into  one  summarized  statement  for  the 
division.  One  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  this  system  is  that  it 
reduces  the  clerical  work  of  the  roadmaster's  office  to  a  minimum,  giving 
him  more  time  to  devote  to  the  field  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case. 

On  some  roads  the  engineering  department  requires  yearly  a  per- 
manent record  of  the  right  of  way  and  all  property  and  structures  thereon. 
The  blanks  are  made  to  be  filled  out  by  the  section  foremen,  and  are 
headed  to  show  the  "Number,  Length  or  Amount  at  Last  Report" — "Added 
Since  Previous  Report" — "Removed  Since  Previous  Report" — "Remain- 
ing at  this  Report" — Remarks.  The  left-hand  column  is  worded  to  show 
the  amount  of  all  kinds  of  railway  property,  such  as  the  number  of  miles 
of  main,  single  and  double  track,  the  number  and  total  length  of  side- 
tracks, measured  between  frogs;  the  length  and  kind  of  fence,  number  of 
railway  and  highway  crossings,  the  number  and  kind  of  frogs,  switches, 
cattle  guards,  culverts,  stock  pens,  number  and  kind  of  dwellings,  tool 
houses,  sign  boards,  mile  posts,  water  stations  etc. 

Correspondence. — Correspondence  between  railway  officials  and  their 
agents  or  employees,  known  as  "railway  mail,"  is  carried  in  the  baggage 
service.  Such  matter  is  usually  marked  "R.  R.  B."  (Railroad  Business) 
or  "R.  R.  S."  (Railroad  Service)  and  is  supposed  to  relate  strictly  to  the 
business  affairs  of  the  company,  private  correspondence  being  forbidden 
by  the  regulations  of  the  postoffice  department.  Foremen  should  keep 
well  posted  as  to  the  wishes  of  the  roadmaster  regarding  all  matters 
between  them,  and  when  doubt  arises  they  should  write  and  find  out,  and 
not  delay  a  week  or  more  waiting  for  the  roadmaster  to  come  around,  or 
try  to  catch  him  for  a  moment  on  some  train  while  stopping  at  a  station, 
when,  as  usual,  there  will  be  a  number  of  matters  to*  engage  his  attention 
all  at  the  same  time.  In  cases  of  emergency  they,  of  course,  communicate 
by  telegraph.  When  questions  are  asked  by  letter  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
write  the  answer  on  the  reverse  side  thereof,  or  on  a  separate  piece  pinned 
to  the  question,  so  that  the  question  may  be  returned  with  the  answer. 
This  saves  stating  the  question  over  again  in  the  answer  and  may  make 
the  answer  more  understandable;  for  where  scores  of  notes  are  sent  out 
every  day  from  the  office  it  cannot  be  expected  that  all  can  be  remem- 
bered, and  it  is  too  much  trouble  to  take  copies  of  the  least  important 
ones.  Foremen  should  be  prompt  in  answering  all  correspondence  with 
the  headquarters  and  in  forwarding  their  reports.  If  practicable  they 
should  be  sent  by  the  first  train  after  the  time  arrives  for  the  reports 
to  be  closed.  The  same  promptness  should  be  observed  at  the  head- 
quarters in  corresponding  with  the  employees. 

The  practice  of  using  the  telegraph  service  for  transmitting  informa- 
tion between  the  employees  and  the  heads  of  the*  various  departments  is 
quite  commonly  abused  to  such  an  extent  that  the  wires  are  overburdened 
with  work,  and  delay  in  the  transmission  of  messages  of  importance  is  the 
result.  It  frequently  happens  that  a  message  filed  after  4  p.  m.,  which 
would  not  ordinarily  receive  attention  or  be  answered  before  the  next  morn- 
ing, can  be  sent  by  train  mail  and  reach  the  destination  early  enough  dur- 
ing the  night  or  early  enough  the  next  morning  to  secure  the  desired  re- 
sult, if  special  attention  be  given  to  such  messages  by  the  employees  hand- 
ling the  railway  mail.  To  relieve  the  telegraph  wires  of  messages  of  this 
description  a  number  of  roads  have  adopted  the  use  of  the  so-called  "pink 


1122 


ORGANIZATION 


From by  Train  No,          Date 

AGENTS  AND  TRAIN    BAGGAGEMEN. 


R.R.B. 


WILL  BE   HELD   PERSONALLY    RESPONSIBLE 
FOR    FAILURE  TO   GIVE   THIS 

SPECIAL  AND  PROMPT  ATTENTION 


THIS  ENVELOPE  MUST  BE  USED  FOB 


TRAINGRAMSom 


ALL  TELEGRAMS  NOT  FILED  FOR  TRANSMISSION  BEFORE 
4.00  P.  M.  TO  WHICH  REPLY  IS  NOT  REQUIRED  BEFORE  THE 
FOLLOWING  MORNING  WILL  BE  FORWARDED  BY  TRAIN  MAIL 
WHEN  ADDRESSED  TO  POINTS  WHICH  CAN  BE  REACHED  BY 
TRAINS  AT  OR  BEFORE  9.OO  A.  M  ON  THE  FOLLOWING  DAY. 


Form  19. — Special  Envelope  for  Prompt  Transmittal. 

envelope'''  or  "train gram/'  This  scheme  simply  provides  an  envelope  which 
by  its  color,  plainly  indicates  the  character  of  the  message  enclosed, 
so  as  to  insure  special  attention  at  the  hands  of  the  baggage  men  and  other 
employees  concerned  in  the  prompt  delivery  of  such  mail.  Form  19  is  a 
reproduction  from  one  of  these  envelopes. 

195.  Track  Inspection. — This  subject  brings  us  to  the  dress  parade 
part  of  railroading.  The  kind  of  inspection  that  is  considered  on  previous 
pages  refers  principally  to  observation  of  the  condition,  of  the  track  with 
respect  to  its  safety  for  the  passage  of  trains,  whereas  the  object  at  present 
in  view  is  to  consider  methods  and  means  for  examining  track  more  especi- 
ally for  the  purpose  of  comparing  its  condition  and  the  surroundings  with 
established  standards  or  with  ideals.  Track  may  be  inspected  for  such  a 
purpose  in  two  ways — by  observation  and  by  mechanical  devices  or  record- 
ing instruments.  The  most  thorough  manner  of  inspecting  track  by  obser- 
vation is  to  walk  over  it  and  look  closely  into  all  the  details  which  affect 
its  condition;  but. such  is  necessarily  a  slow  process,  and  such  thoroughness 
is  not  desired  for  all  the  purposes  for  which  track  inspections  are  made. 
For  most  purposes  it  answers  well  enough  to  note  the  condition  of  things 
as  they  appear  from  a  moving  train,  the  smoothness  of  the  track  being 
judged  by  the  riding  of  the  cars.  On  many  of  the  railways  of  the  country, 
especially  on  some  of  the  large  systems,  the  track  is  inspected  annually  by 
the  chief  officers  of  the  road,  in  company  with  the  maintenance-of-way 
officials.  Such  inspections  are  nearly  always  made  by  observation  from 
trains,  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  the  general  condition  of  the  track  and 
company  property  with  that  of  other  years,  or  to  award  prizes  to  the  var- 
ious grades  of  petty  officials  whose  track  is  found  in,  the  best  condition. 
On  such  occasions  it  is  customary  to  appoint  committees  to  carefully  ob- 
serve and  mark  the  several  details  or  features  which  determine  the  stand- 
ing of  each  section  of  track.  To  be  worthy  the  name  of  an  "inspection  of 
track"  the  trip  must  be  systematically  conducted — something  more  than  a 
mere  pleasure  excursion.,  where  the  inspection  party  occupies  the  rear  end 
of  a  finely  upholstered  observation  car  to  gaze  out  upon  the  track  through 
a  haze  of  cigar  smoke,  at  occasional  intervals  between  stories. 

The  usual  arrangement  for  conducting  an  annual  inspection  of  track 
is  to  seat  the  marking  committees  at  the  open  end  of  an  observation  car 
having  the  seats  arranged  in  tiers,  sloping  back  from  the  end  of  the  car. 
In  some  instances  an  outfit  is  improvised  by  placing  seats  in  a  box  car  with 
an  end  knocked  out,  while  some  companies  have  a  coach  with  a  glass  front 
or  end,  permanently  fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  The  observation  car  is 
sometimes  placed  at  the  rear  of  the  inspection  train  and  at  other  times,  and 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1123 

preferably,  it  is  the  practice  to  push  it  at  the  head  of  the  train,  giving  a 
better  opportunity  for  close  observation  of  things.  Such  inspections  are 
usually  made  during  the  fall  of  the  year,  after  the  winding  up  of  the  renew- 
-als  and  other  important  work,  of  the  season.  The  marking  committees 
are  supposed  to  take  note  of  those  conditions  of  the  track  which  stand  in 
relation  to  the  labor  performed  upon  it  and  the  supervision  thereof,  such  as 
line  and  surface,  gage,  level,  elevation  of  curves,  tightness  of  bolts  and  the 
general  condition  of  the  joints ;  the  dressing  of  the  ballast^and  shoulders, 
spacing  and  alignment  of  ties,  the  working  condition  and  alignment  of 
frogs  and  switches;  the  general  condition  of  side-tracks  and  fences;  the 
neatness  of  the  track  and  right  of  way  respecting  the  cutting  of  grass  and 
weeds,  and  all  such  matters  as  come  under  the  head  of  policing;  the 
neatness  of  station  grounds,  section  houses  and  yards,  and  tool  houses; 
drainage  conditions,  which  involve  the  condition  of  ditches  and  culvert 
•ends;  the  condition  of  highway  crossings.  Where  the  awarding  of  prizes 
is  involved  in  the  inspection  it  is  also  customary  to  take  account  of  the 
expense  of  maintenance,  and  on  some  roads  also  the  number  of  failures  of 
signal  lights  reported,  accidents  on  account  of  defective  track,  including 
side-tracks;  obedience  to  orders,  general  attention  to  duty,  and  accuracy 
in  making  reports. 

In  the  practice  of  some  roads  each  member  of  the  inspection  committee 
is  supposed  to  take  note  of  all  features  on  which  ratings  are  desired,  and 
mark  accordingly,  but  more  usually  the  work  of  the  committee  is  systema- 
tized, so  that  one  man,  or  sometimes  two  men,  are  appointed  a  sub-com- 
mittee to  mark  for  each  feature,  being  supposed  to  confine  the  attention 
to  the  single  feature  or  detail.  Thus,  in  the  inspection  of  track  for  align- 
ment, it  is  usual  for  the  sub-committee  on  that  feature  to  take  a  position 
•directly  over  one  or  both  rails,  each  member  confining  his  attention 'solely 
to  one  rail.  In  the  inspection  of  track  for  surface  the  inspector  takes  a 
position  as  far  to  one  side  of  the  car  and  as  low  down  as  he  can  get,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  catch  the  surface  outline  of  the  opposite  rail  to  best  advantage. 
He  then  devotes  his  attention  entirely  to  that  rail.  Switches  are  inspected 
by  stopping  and  making  careful  examination  of  the  parts  and  their  adjust- 
ment and  of  the  alignment  of  the  main  track  and  turnout  lead.  For  test- 
ing the  gage  of  the  track  the  engineer  is  signaled  at  random  to  stop,  and  this 
is  sometimes  done  several  times  on  each  section.  The  level  of  tangents  is 
tested  by  a  level  indicator  on  the  car  or  by  leveling  across  the  rails  when 
stopping.  Stops  are  also  made  at  curves  to  test  for  gage  and  for  curve 
•elevation. 

The  usual  speed  of  an  inspection  train  is  12  to  20  miles  per  hour — 
more  frequently  the  latter  speed.  In  some  cases  it  is  the  practice  to  first 
run  the  inspection  train  over  the  track  at  high  speed,  in  order  to  find  the 
irregularities  in  line  and  surface  to  best  advantage,  and  on  the  return 
trip  to  run  at  slcfw  speed  and  take  close  observation  of  the  condition 
of-  the  ballast,  ditches,  culverts,  switches,  policing,  etc.  On  the  Penn- 
sylvania E.  E.,  where  the  managing  officials  have  always  laid  stress 
upon  an  annual  inspection  of  track,  the  inspection  of  the  main  line  between 
New  York  and  Pittsburg  is  a  somewhat  elaborate  affair.  The  general  mana- 
ger, all  the  general  superintendents,  the  general  superintendent  of  transpor- 
tation, general  superintendent  of  motive  power,  superintendent  of  tele- 
graph, principal  assistant  engineers, "superintendents  of  motive  power,  gen- 
eral agents,  division  superintendents,  engineer  of  maintenance  of  way  and 
assistant  engineers  take  a  train  in  New  York  in  the  morning,  run  through 
at  the  rate  of  about  40  miles  per  hour,  arriving  at  Pittsburg  in  the  evening. 
The  next  morning  the  party,  which  now  takes  in  the  supervisors  and  assis- 


1124  ORGANIZATION 

tant  supervisors,,  is  split  up  into  four  or  five  train-loads,  which  start  back 
toward  the  east  inspecting  matters  in  detail,  a  whole  day  being  devoted 
to  each  of  the  four  superintendent's  divisions  between  Pittsburg  and  New 
York.  The  marking  committees  are  five  in  number,  as  follows :  Committee 
No.  1,  on  line  and  surface ;  committee  No.  2,  on  freight  tracks  and  sidings, 
frogs  and  switches;  committee  No.  3,  on  ballast,  joints  and  tie  spacing; 
committee  No.  4,  on  ditches,  road  crossings,  station  grounds  and  policing; 
committee  No.  5,  on  telegraph  lines  and  fixed  signals.  The  whole  party, 
which  numbers  about  200  men,  is  divided  among  the  five  committees,  each 
class  of  officers  being  represented  on  each  committee.  On  branch  lines 
and  on  the  Lines  West  of  Pittsburg  the  general  inspection  does  not  take 
place  every  year. 

On  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  E.  E.  the  duty  of  inspection  is  divided 
between  five  committees  of  one  member  each,  and  in  addition  a  "revisory" 
committee  composed  of  two  members,  all  of  whom  are  appointed  by  the 
chief  engineer.  The  "five  committees"  are  seated  in  the  rear  row  of  seats 
of  the  observation  car  at  the  rear  of  the  train,  positioned  from  left  to  right 
as  they  would  appear  to  one  standing  in  the  car  and  looking  toward  the 
rear,  as  follows:  Committee  No.  1,  on  line  and  surface;  committee  No.  3, 
on  spiking,  switches  and  sidings;  committee  No.  5,  on  station  grounds  and 
policing;  committee  No.  4,  on  ditches  and  banks;  committee  No.  2,  on 
joints  and  spacing  of  ties.  The  two  members»  of  the  revisory  committee  sit 
in  the  middle  of  the  next  row  of  seats.  The  office  of  the  revisory  committee 
is  "To  interpret  the  instructions  and  specifications  governing  the  annual 
inspection;  to  give  a  general  supervision  to  the  inspection,  watching  the 
work  of  all  the  inspectors  as  far  as  possible,  and  from  time  to  time  to  check 
the  markings  of  the  different  committees.  If  both  members  of  the  revisory 
committee  agree  that  any  committeeman  is  marking  too  high  or  too  low, 
they  shall  instruct  such  committeeman  to  correct  his  marking  accordingly, 
and  their  instructions  shall  be  obeyed.  An  appeal  may  be  made  to  the 
revisory  committee  from  the  markings  of  a  committeeman."  The  car  has 
a  glass  end  extending  over  the  rear  platform,  with  seats  arranged  in  tiers, 
so  that  those  sitting  on  the  back  seats  can  see  over -the  heads  of  those  in 
front  of  them.  In  front  of  each  member  of  the  inspection  committee  there 
is  a  series  of  electric  push  buttons  connected  with  a  number  board  near  the 
top  of  the  car,  the  numbers  on  the  board  corresponding  to  those  on  the  but- 
tons at  the  service  of  the  inspectors.  The  number  boards  are  plainly 
visible  to  all  sitting  in  the  car,  so  that  the  rating  of  each  committeeman  on 
each  mile  can  be  seen  by  all  present.  The  committees  are  composed  of 
roadm asters  and  superintend ents  who  have  been  roadm asters,  with  excep- 
tion of  committee  No.  5,  who  is  usually  a  superintendent.  The  revisory 
committees  are  selected  from  roadm  asters  or  superintendents  who  have 
been  roadmasters,  and  who  are  considered  to  be  the  most  experienced'  men 
available. 

On  this  road  the  committee  on  line  and  surface  occupies  a  position 
directly  over  one  rail  and  inspects  that  rail  for  line  and  the  opposite  rail 
for  surface.  Perfect  surface  requires  that  the  tops  of  rails  be  level  trans- 
versely on  tangents,  except  at  the  entrance  to  curves,  uniform  elevation  of 
outer  rail  on  regular  curves  and  elevation  varying  with  curvature  on 
?mrals.  Short  sags,  within  a  space  of  ten  rail  lengths,  are  counted  as  irreg- 
ularities. When  repairs  to  bridges  or  trestles,  or  other  work  requiring  trains 
to  run  at  a  less  speed  than  ten  miles  per  hour,  are  being  made,  such  piece  of 
•track  is  not  considered  in  the  marking.  In  the  inspection  of  joints  points 
are  counted  off  for  the  following  irregularities :  missing  bolts,  missing 
spikes,  joint  out  of  line,  joint  out  of  surface,  joint  ties  not  properly 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1125 

spaced,  improper  allowance  for  expansion  in  the  rails.  Spikes  must  be 
driven  straight  and  have  a  proper  bearing  against  the  flange  of  the  rail. 
In  the  rating  for  spiking  marks  are  counted  off  for  spikes  missing,  spikes 
not  driven  down,  and  for  improper  position  of  spikes.  In  the  rating  for 
switches  and  sidings  marks  are  counted  off  for  headblock  not  properly 
banked,  point  rail  not  fitting  snugly  against  stock  rail,  rattling  of  frog  or 
switch,  stock  rail  badly  worn  or  bent,  lead  of  switch  not  symmetrical,  guard 
rail  not  in  accordance  with  standard  plans,  siding  not  to  proper,  grade,  bad 
line  and  surface,  space  between  tracks  not  filled  level  with  tops  of  ties, 
targets  of  switch  stands  not  parallel  with  and  at  right  angles  to  the  track 
or  for  colors  not  bright.  In  the  rating  of  ditches  and  banks  points  are 
marked  off  for  roadway  less  than  standard  width,  imperfect  slope  of  em- 
bankment or  cut,  edge  of  ditch  or  fill  not  parallel  with  the  rail,  embank- 
ment supported  by  old  ties  or  timber,  imperfect  drainage  on  embankments 
or  in  cuts,  imperfect  berm  at  foot  of  fill,  lack  of  surface  ditches,  imperfect 
sod  line,  bad  surface  of  roadbed.  In  the  rating  on  policing  points  are 
marked  off  for  failure  to  cut  right  of  way,  old  ties  scattered  around,  rub- 
bish not  burned,  unsightly  holes  dug  in  the  right  of  way,  water  standing 
in  borrow  pits  where  drainage  is  practicable,  earth  not  leveled  off  on  tops 
of  cuts,  scattered  ballast,  stumps  on  the  right  of  way,  sign  and  other  posts 
not  erect  or  in  good  condition,  imperfect  road  crossings. 

In  rating  divisions  or  sections  as  to  expense  it  is  customary  to  deduct 
from  the  total  expense  for  the  year  the  cost  for  new  construction  and  all 
other  extra  work.  The  sections  are  also  credited  with  the  number  of  ties 
renewed,  the  amount  of  ditching  done,  and  the  amount  of  new  rail  laid,  a 
certain  rate  being  allowed  for  each  unit  of  such  work  performed.  Where 
there  are  different  kinds  of  ballast,  such,  for  instance,  as  stone  and  gravel, 
a  higher  credit  is  allowed  for  the  ties  renewed  in  the  stone  ballast.  After  de- 
ducting these  credits  the  division  or  section  showing  the  least  balance  is 
awarded  the  highest  standing  in  the  matter  of  expense,  and  the  other  sec- 
tions accordingly.  On  roads  where  the  rails  on  the  different  sections  are 
of  different  ages  or  of  different  weights  per  yard  it  is  sometimes,  customary 
to  give  some  credit  to  the  sections  laid  with  old  rails  or  with  rails  badly 
worn,  marking  them  one  or  more  points  higher,  arbitrarily,  after  the  rat- 
ings for  joints  and  surface  have  been  made.  The  principle  of  such  practice 
is  proper,  because  it  may  rightfully  be  assumed  that  old  rails  are  splice 
worn  at  the  joints,  as  well  as  that  the  splices  are  worn,  which  conditions 
increase  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  the  joints  in  surface.  Rails  which  have 
been  in  service  less  than  one  year  are  in  such  cases  considered  as  new  rails. 
For  obvious  reasons  credit  should  be  given  the  sections  laid  with  the.  lighter 
rails. 

On  various  roads  the  ratings  are  marked  by  the  roadmasters,  supervi- 
sors, the  assistants  of  these  officers,  assistant  engineers,  division  engineers, 
and  in  some  cases  by  the  division  superintendents,  no  officer  who  is  eligible 
to  a  prize  or  for  special  mention  marking  for  his  own  division.  On  sound 
principles,  however,  no  officer  who  is  liable  to  benefit  by  the  results  should 
be  permitted  to  mark  at  all,  for  one  disposed  to  be  unfair  could  put  rela- 
tively low  marks  on  some  of  the  best  divisions,  which  would  certainly 
inure  to  his  own  .advantage  in  the  general  average.  On  the  Boston  &  Albany 
R.  R.  the  chief  engineer  and  the  division  roadmasters  compose  the  mark- 
ing committee.  On  a  fewer  number  of  roads,  however,  it  has  been  the 
practice  to  compose  the  marking  committees  of  section  foremen,  each 
foreman  marking  every  section  except  his  own.  The  idea  in  this  arrange- 
ment is  to  educate  the  foremen  in  critical  methods,  the  supposition  being 
that  such  a  training  ought  to  make  them  better  judges  of  their  own  work, 


1136 


ORGANIZATION 


and  at  all  events  develop  their  faculties  for  observation.  On  some  roads- 
where  the  prize  system  is  in  force  all  of  the  section  foremen  are  taken  over 
the  road  together,  after  the  prizes  have  been  awarded,  so  as  to  give  them  the 
opportunity  to  see  for  themselves  the  appearance  of  the  prize  section  and 
compare  their  own  sections  with  others. 

On  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  the  official  inspections  of  track  are  made  by 
the  officers  and  section  foremen  together.  The  section  foremen  are  sup- 
posed to  critically  examine  the  track  and  are  required  to  vote  their  opinions 
on  the  section  in  best  condition.  There  has  been  no  prize  system  on  this 
road,  but  inspection  trips  of  this  kind  are  made  over  each  division  twice 
each  year,  during  the  spring  and  fall.  The  car  used  on  these  occasions  is 
illustrated  in  Fig  529.  The  platform  of  the  car  is  mounted  on  easy  riding- 
trucks  and  the  seats  extend  crosswise  the  car  in  tiers,  amphitheater  fashion, 
giving  those  in  the  rear  an  unobstructed  view  over  the  heads  of  persons 
sitting  in  front.  The  car  has  a  canopy  roof  stretched  over  the  tops  of  well- 
braced  iron  posts  and  side  stakes.  The  seats  do  not  extend  entirely  across- 
the  car.  On  the  side  opposite  that  which  shows  in  the  view  there  is  an  aisle 
or  passageway  the  length  of  the  car.  At  the  front  of  the  car  there  is  a  cow- 
catcher and  platform,  with  a  swinging  door  leading  from  the  platform  to- 


Fig.  529. — Track  Inspection  Car,  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 

the  first  row  of  seats.  At  the  front  of  the  car,  at  the  right  side,  there  is  a 
seat  for  the  conductor,  with  an  air-brake  valve,  an  air  whistle  and  an  air 
signal  for  communicating  with  the  engineer.  When  the  car  is  in  inspection 
service  it  is  pushed  ahead  of  a  locomotive,  where  the  best  opportunity  is 
afforded  for  viewing  the  roadbed  and  surroundings,  and  all  discomfort  and 
inconvenience  arising  from  smoke  and  cinders  is  avoided. 

On  the  Pennsylvania,  the  Boston  &  Albany  and  the  Cincinnati,  New 
Orleans  &  Texas  Pacific  roads  a  track  indicator  car  forms  part  of  the  train 
on  annual  inspections.  On  the  two.  roads  first  named  the  records  of  this  car 
are  not  taken  into  account  in  determining  the  standing  of  the  divisions  and 
sections  for  the  awarding  of  prizes.  On  the  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans  &  Texas 
Pacific  Ry.  (Queen  &  Crescent  Route)  two  sets  of  premiums  are  awarded, 
one  of  which  consists  of  a  gold  medal,  for  the  best  roadmaster's  division ;  and 
money  for  the  best  supervisor's  division,  best  second  best,  and  third  best 
sections,  and  best  yard  on  the  road.  These  prizes  are  awarded  according  to 
the  usual  system  of  markings  based  upon  observation.  The  other  set  con- 
sists of  money  prizes  awarded  upon  the  line  and  surface  records  of  the  indi- 
cator car,  to  the  foremen  in  charge  of  the  best,  second  best  and  third  best 
sections  on  the  road  and  to  the  supervisor  whose  track  has  undergone  the 
greatest  improvement  during  the  year.  In  looking  over  all  the  awards  for 
one  of  the  years  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  no  case  did  any  award  as 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1127 

determined  by  the  records  of  the  indicator  car  correspond  with  any  one  of 
the  awards  made  upon  the  basis  of  markings  from  observation ;  which  is  as 
much  as  to  say  that  if  the  registrations  of  the  indicator  car  were  reliable, 
then  none  of  the  divisions  or  sections  awarded  premiums  upon  the  usual 
basis  of  visual  observations  were  found  to  be  best  in  line  and  surface.  On 
this  road  cards  containing  the  averages  of  the  inspection  markings  on  each 
section  are  issued  by  the  superintendents  to  the  foremen,  so  that  they  may 
know  in  what  respect  their  sections  are  not  up  to  standard,^  and  try  by 
another  year  to  make  improvement  in  those  particulars  in  which  the  in- 
spection shows  their  work  to  be  deficient. 

In  striving  to  arrive  at  the  fairest  estimate  of  the  condition  of  a 
piece  of  track  the  relative  value  or  weight  of  the  different  subjects  marked 
upon  is  of  great  importance.  On  this  matter  an  experienced  trackman 
would  be  impressed  that  the  officials  who  have  arranged  the  details  of  the 
markings  in  the  track  inspection  of  many  roads  about  the  country  have  a 
poor  appreciation  of  the  relative  value  of  the  various  conditions  of  excell- 
ence in  track,  for  in  many  instances  each  of  the  whole  list  of  subjects  on 
which  markings  are  made  is  given  the  same  importance  as  line  and  surface, 
which,  as  every  maintenance  of  way  man  ought  to  know,  is  the  highest 
criterion  of  good  track.  By  all  odds  line  and  surface  should  be  given  a 
high  count  in  averaging  the  markings  of  the  various  subjects,  because  the 
condition  of  the  track  respecting  line  and  surface  is  the  condition  which 
has  most,  if  not  all,  to  do  with  the  riding  of  cars  and  the  wear  and  tear  to 
rolling  stock.  Moreover,  to  have  good  line  and  surface  it  is  essential  to 
have  the  ties  properly  spaced  (which,  by  the  way,  does  not  imply  an  even 
spacing,  if  the  ties  be  of  different  sizes  in  width  of  face),  the  bolts  tight  on 
the  splices  and  good  drainage.  As  a  general  proposition  it  may  without 
serious  error  be  assumed  that  the  foreman  who  maintains  his  track  in  good 
line  and  surface  attends  to  numerous  other  details,  such  as  proper  spiking, 
drainage,  tie  spacing,  tightening  bolts,  leveling,  etc.,  which  frequently  re- 
ceive the  same  consideration  in  an  average  of  markings  as  does  the  very 
result  toward  which  the  work  involved  in  these  items  is  devoted.  It  does 
not  follow,  however,  that  good  surface  will  always  be  found  where  the  ties 
are  properly  spaced  and  aliened,  spikes  properly  driven,  bolts  tightened, 
and  the  drainage  conditions  good — indeed  such  conditions  might  be  perfect 
and  still  the  track  surface  very  poor.  Under  ordinary  conditions  the  work 
of  maintaining  track  in  good  surface  is  the  most  laborious  matter  with 
which  trackmen  have  to  contend,  and  its  cost  is  the  most  expensive  part  of 
track  work.  Laying  aside  the  question  of  safety,  line  and  surface  are  the 
most  important  conditions  affecting  track.  The  labor  and  expense  of  main- 
taining track  in  alignment  are,  however,  comparatively  small,  so  that,  as 
between  the  two,  track  surface  should  receive  the  greater  consideration.  In 
my  way  of  thinking,  no  basis  for  determining  the  standing  of  trackmen  as 
to  the  condition  of  the  track  under  their  charge  can  be  rational  which  does 
not  count  line  and  surface  on  a  scale  at  least  as  high  as  50  per  cent.  On  the 
basis  of  100  marks  for  the  whole  list  of  subjects  considered  my  idea  of  an 
equitable  arrangement  would  find  expression  about  as  follows:  Surface, 
40;  line,  10;  drainage  and  banks  12;  switches,  frogs  and  side-tracks,  12; 
expense  20;  dividing  the  remaining  6  marks  between  policing  and  such 
other  matters  as  one  might  think  should  be  included,  in  any  particular  case. 

This  principle  is  recognized  in  the  system  of  marking  in  force  on  the 
Southern  Pacific  road,  where  perfection  in  alignment,  surface,  and  drain- 
age each  receive  12  marks ;  switches  and  frogs,  10 ;  houses  and  grounds,  10 ; 
spiking,  7 ;  alignment  and  spacing  of  ties,  7 ;  ballast,  7 ;  sidings,  5  ; 'material, 
5 ;  grass  and  weeds,  5 ;  road-crossings,  3 ;  fence,  3 ;  and  policing,  2.  On  the 


ORGANIZATION 

Louisville  &  Nashville  E.  E.  also  this  matter  seems  to  have  been  studied 
more  closely  than  is  usually  the  case,  for  line  and  surface  (considered  to- 
gether) have  the  relative  value  of  25  per  cent;  ditches  and  banks  (con- 
sidered together),  25  per  cent;  policing,  10  per  cent;  spiking,  10 .per  cent; 
switches  and  sidings  (considered  together),  10  per  cent;  joints,  10  per 
•cent;  spacing  of  ties,  8  per  cent;  and  station  grounds,  2  per  cent.  In  mark- 
ing;, a  half  point  is  allowed,  such  as  9^  for  a  nearly  perfect  condition,  on 
10  as  a  basis.  On  some  roads  only  full  points  are  used  in  marking  for  track 
inspection.  On  the  Illinois  Central  R.  R.  the  following  ratios  of  relative 
importance  are  assumed  in  computing  averages  of  markings  for  track  in- 
spection :  Line  and  surface,  25 ;  joints  and  spacing  of  ties,  15 ;  drainage, 
ditches  and  banks,  20;  station  grounds  and  policing,  15;  spiking,  10; 
switches  and  sidings,  15. 

The  force  of  the  application  of  this  principle  of  marking  is  illus- 
trated in  a  rating  of  sections  published  by  one  of  the  roads  best  known  for 
its  system  of  yearly  inspections  and  premiums  to  track  foremen  and  super- 
visors. Among  the  sections  of  one  of  the  divisions  that  which  took  the  first 
prize  was  poorest  in  line,  poorest  in  surface,  not  the  highest  in  switches. 
not  the  highest  in  drainage,  not  the  highest  in  "general  condition,"  one  of 
the  two  highest  in  the  rating  for  expense  and  the  highest  in  the  marking 
for  sidings,  the  difference  between  this  section  and  the  next  best  in  the  last 
respect  being  so  large  as  to  make  the  average  rating  of  this  section  foot  up 
the  highest.  In  line  and  surface  this  section  was,  compared  with  all  the 
others,  remarkably  poor,  and  had  these  subjects  received  their  proper  rela- 
tive value,  or  such  value  as  is  given  to  them  by  the  Southern  Pacific,  Louis- 
ville &  Nashville  and  some  other  roads,  the  section  which  received  first 
prize  would,  by  actual  computation,  have  stood  next  the  lowest  on  the  list. 
This  goes  to  show  that  in  the  awarding  of  prizes  to  trackmen  the  system  of 
marking  on  at  least  some  of  the  roads  of  the  country  are  necessarily  based 
upon  an  erroneous  recognition  of  the  relative  importance  of  the  conditions 
which  have  to  do  with  the  excellence  of  track.  The  example  just  cited  illus- 
trates how  a  foreman,  by,  paying  special  attention  to  side-tracks,  which  re- 
quire the  least  expense  for  repairs,  and  which  cut  the  smallest  figure  in 
wear  and  tear  to  trains,  may  take  the  prize,  even  though  he  may  neglect 
those  conditions  which  are  by  all  odds  the  most  important.  Under  some 
systems  of  marking,  a  section  of  track  in  excellent  line  and  surface,  but  with 
a  spear  of  grass  or  a  weed  here  and  there  on  the  roadbed,  and  perhaps  a 
little  ballast  not  trimmed  up  on  the  shoulder,  would  be  rated  considerably 
lower  than  some  other  section  with  no  better  riding  qualities  but  with  the 
weeds  all  cut  and  the  ballast  trimmed  to  an  exact  distance  from  the  rail; 
and  still,  the  material  difference  of  the  conditions  might  be  no  greater 
correspondingly  than  exists  in  the  same  man  before  and  after  having  his 
shoes  polished. 

Track  Inspection  Apparatus. — Mechanical  appliances  for  indicating 
the  condition  of  track  depend  for  their  operation  either  upon  the  relative 
movements  of  car  wheels  or  upon  the  throw  of  the  car  body.  The  most 
primitive  device  for  testing  line  and  surface  is  an  ordinary  water  glass 
filled  about  three  quarters  full  and  set  upon  a  window  sill  over  one  of  the 
trucks  of  a  passenger  coach.  If,  in  running  at  good  speed,  no  water  is 
spilled  the  track  is  considered  to  be  in  good  condition  in  the  respects  noted. 
This  was  a  test  frequently  referred  to  in  the  "old  days/"  but  obviously  the 
record  made  by  an  instrument  of  this  class  is  not  of  a  permanent  character, 
and  rough  places  in  the  track  are  neither  closely  located  nor  readily  trace- 
able. Another  indicating  contrivance  that  is  sometimes  improvised  is  a 
level  board  rested  crosswise  a  hand  car  and  run  over  the  track  to  indicate 


TRACK  INSPECTION 


1129 


places  where  the  rails  are  out  of  level.  At  any  considerable  speed  the  jar 
of  the  car  separates  the  bubble  and  the  scheme  does  not  work  very  satis- 
factorily. 

The  best  known  apparatus  for  track  inspection  is  arranged  in  a  com- 
bined dynagraph  and  track  indicator  car  devised  and  built  by  Mr.  P.  H. 
Dudley,  inspecting  engineer  with  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  Kiver 
R.  E.  This  car  has  been  in  service  since  the  year  1881,  with  more  or  less 
regularity  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  and  the  New  York  Central-&  Hudson 
River  roads,,  but  occasionally  on  other  roads.  It  is  58  ft.  long,  weighs 
72,000  Ibs.,  and  in  its  exterior  appearance  resembles  an  ordinary  day  coach. 
The  interior  is  conveniently  fitted  up  for  the  special  service  to  which  it  is 
devoted,  about  half  of  the  car  being  occupied  by  apparatus  and  the  neces- 
sary facilities  attendant  upon  the  taking  of  records,  and  the  other  half  par- 
titioned off  into  living  rooms.  Under  one  end  of  this  car  there  is  a  6- 
wheel  truck  with  a  wheel  base  of  11  ft.,  and  the  springs  and  side  bars 
are  so  arranged  that  the  load  (39,000  Ibs.)  is  evenly  distributed  among  the 
six  wheels.  This  weight  has  not  been  changed  since  the  first  records  were 
taken,  in  1881,  which  enables  a  comparison  of  results  under  the  same  con- 
ditions of  weight  for  all  the  variations  in  track  construction  since  that 
year. 


Fig.  530. — Part  of  Truck,  Dudley  Track  Indicator  Car. 

The  principle  upon  which  the  car,  with  its  appliances,  indicates  the 
condition  of  the  track  is  that  automatic  records  are  taken  of  the  movement 
of  the  middle  wheels  of  this  truck  relatively  to  the  other  two  pairs  of 
wheels.  Although  the  middle  wheels  sustain  their  share  of  the  load,  their 
connection  with  the  truck  frame  and  with  the  other  wheels  is  such  as  to 
permit  freedom  of  movement  vertically,  so  that  the  middle  wheel  on  either 
side  moves  in  response  to  the  irregularities  in  the  rail  quite  independently 
of  the  other  two  wheels  on  that  side.  The  wheels  on  the  middle  axle  are 
33  ins.  in  diameter,  with  cylindrical  treads  (not  coned),  and  they  are 
mounted  on  the  axle  to  run  snugly  on  standard-gage  track — that  is,  with  less 
side  play  for  the  flanges  than  is  permitted  by  the  M.  C.  B.  standards.  Con- 
sidering one  side  of  the  track,  for  convenience,  it  is  readily  seen  how  that 
the  movement  of  the  middle  wheel  relatively  to  the  other  two  must  indicate 


1130 


ORGANIZATION 


the  amount  of  surface  undulation  in  the  ratf  and  irregularity  of  alignment 
within  any  stretch  of  11  ft.  of  track;  in  other  words,  all  abrupt  irregular- 
ities in  line  and  surface  are  detected.  Sags  or  other  irregularities  extend- 
ing over  a  considerable  stretch  of  track  (comparatively  with  the  wheel  base 
of  11  ft.)  are  not  discovered.  The  middle  axle  is  connected  by  worm 
gear  with  the  recording  apparatus  in  the  car,  which  is  placed  directly  over 
the  truck.  The  journal  box  movement  of  each  of  the  middle  wheels  la- 
transmitted  to  small  levers  or  recording  pens  in  the  car  above,  which  re- 
produce the  movements  of  the  wheel  upon  a  roll  of  paper  drawn  over  an 
iron  table  with  a  convex  top.  This  roll  of  paper  is  20  ins.  wide  and  is 
moved  at  a  rate  proportional  to  the  speed  of  the  train — one  inch  of  paper  to 
50  ft.  of  track.  The  markings  for  the  irregularities  in  the  rail  (vertical 
scale),  however,  are  to  full  scale.  The  gage  of  the  track  is  detected  by  a 
pair  of  small  disks  running  between  the  rails,  each  being  pressed  against 
the  side  of  the  rail  head  by  springs,  which  compel  the  disk  to  follow  the  in- 
equalities in  the  gage  and  cause  the  transmission  of  a  record  of  the  same 
to  the  paper  diagram  in  the  car  above.  The  disks  are  carried  on  an  auxil- 
iary axle  journaled  in  the  pedestal  marked  "B,"  Fig.  530.  This  axle  rises 
when  either  of  the  disks  strikes  the  point  of  a  facing  frog,  and  to  throw 
them  into  gage  again  requires  the  attention  of  an  operator.  As  seen  in 
the  figure,  the  axle  is  in  the  raised  position  and  each  disk  stands  over  the 
rail  head  instead  of  between  the  rails,  as  in  the  service  position. 


5-INCH  80-LB  ftA!L-OLDMOD£L  -  J  TlE JOINTS 
The  ra//s  rere  sfry/0/tfenetf  on  blocfis  of-about  ZO/nch  centers 


-800  Ft. 


Spofc  of pamt  erected  on  ftiqhf  Rail . 


fo  S-ft.per  M//e 


/tf/Af^f/y.SA7/Jwu  tc. 


of  7a/7tre/?f  #  Ct/rr 


Fig.  531. — Complete  Record  of  Track  Inspection  by  Dudley  Indicator  Car, 
New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R. 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1131 

The  recording  pens  are  17'  in  number,  showing  the  surface  irregular- 
ities and  alignment  of  each  rail,  the  gage  of  the  rails,  the  rocking  or  rolling 
of  the  car,  the  spotting  of  each  rail;  the  summation  of  the  undulations  in 
each  rail,  in  feet  and  inches  per  mile,  recorded  in  amounts  of  6  ins. ;  the 
distance  traveled  by  the  car,  the  same  being  indicated  every  twelfth  of  a 
mile  or  440  ft. ;  the  location  o.f  mile  posts,  stations,  bridges,  etc. ;  the  per- 
centage of  tangent  and  curve,  the  speed  of  the  car  during  each  10  seconds,, 
the  speed  at  the  end  of  each  second,  the  elevation  of  the_  outer  rail  on 
curves;  and  the  side  shocks  to  the  car  body,  in  distinction  from  side  shocks 
to  the  truck  in  following  the  rails.  Figure  531  is  a  reproduction,  to  re- 
duced scale,  from  a  complete  record  showing  the  markings  of  all  the  pens 
during  an  inspection  of  a  stretch  of  800  ft.  of  track  on  the  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E. 

The  record  made  on  the  paper  by  each  pen  is  a  continuous  line  traced 
in  red  ink.  There  is  a  chronometer  pen  which  marks  on  the  paper  every 
second,  and  as  the  movement  of  the  paper  is  proportional  to  the  distance 
traveled,  this  time  register  serves  as  a  means  of  determining  the  speed  of 
the  train  at  any  instant.  The  pen  which  marks  the  location  of  stations, 
bridges,  etc.,  is  operated  by  an  observer,  who  presses  a  key  when  the  car 
passes  any  point  the  location  of  which  is  desired  on  the  diagram.  By 
setting  the  mechanism  when  a  mile  post  is  found,  this  pen  can  be  made 
to  record  mile  posts  automatically,  and  in  addition  to  this  a  bell  is  made  to- 
ring  in  advance  of  each  mile  post.  The  change  from  tangent  to  curve,  or 
vice  versa,  is  indicated  by  an  offset  in  the  line  traced  to  show  that  feature. 
The  relative  length  of  the  offsets  determines  the  percentage  of  tangent 
and  curve.  For  each  red  line  giving  information  regarding  some  feature 
in  the  condition  of  the  track  a  number  of  straight  blue  lines  are  marked 
one  tenth  of  an  inch  apart,  which  serve  as  reference  lines  for  the  curved  or 
irregular  red  line  denoting  the  record.  By  an  exceedingly  ingenious  ar- 
rangement the  dropping  and  rising  of  each  end  of  the  middle  axle  is  made 
to  work  a  ratchet  which  sums  up  the  amount  of  the  undulations  in  the 
rail,  however  small — that  is,  whether  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  be  regis- 
tered or  not.  As  soon  as  the  undulations  amount  to  6  ins.  one  of  the  pens 
on  the  recording  table  makes  a  mark  on  the  diagram,  so  that  it  is  possible 
to  get  the  summation  of  the  undulations  in  a  given  distance,  as  one  mile, 
for  instance.  The  apparatus  for  indicating  the  elevation  of  curves  con- 
sists of  a  pair  of  pipe-connected  cylinders,  one  on  each  side  of  the  truck, 
each  cylinder  being  partly  filled  with  water  and  carrying  a  float. 

Of  course  the  exact  location  of  any  irregularity  in  the  condition  of 
the  track  is  determinable  by  the  relative  position  of  the  record  mark  on 
the  paper,  but  a  more  convenient  arrangement  for  the  information  of  the 
trackmen  concerning  the  track  surface  is  provided.  Hanging  against 
each  side  of  the  truck,  on  a  light  frame  supported  by  the  end  wheels,  inde- 
pendently of  the  frame  which  carries  the  weight  of  the  car,  there  is  a  de- 
vice for  marking  the  location  of  rough  track  surface,  known  as  the  "low 
point  marker"  or  "spotter/*'  The  mechanism  consists  of  a  small  force  pump 
or  pneumatic  squirter  in  connection  with  a  tank  of  blue  paint  in  the  car 
above.  This  apparatus  is  supplied  with  pressures  by  a  branch  from  the  air 
brake  system,  and  it  is  fitted  with  an  adjustable  valve  so  arranged  that  it 
may  be  set  to  open  upon  the  depression  of  the  middle  pair  of  wheels  in 
excess  of  any  desired  amount.  The  precision  with  which  the  undulations 
are  measured  is  so  fine  and  the  adjustment  of  this  valve  so  sensitive  that 
the  valve  will  open  or  remain  closed  if  the  depression  is  but  one  thousandth 
of  an  inch  greater  or  less,  as  the  case  may  be,  than  that  for  which  the 
mechanism  is  set.  Upon  the  opening  of  the  valve  a  quantity  of  the  paint 


1133 


ORGANIZATION 


is  splashed  against  the  web  of  the  rail,  opposite  the  point  of  depression, 
thus  indicating  where  rough  places  in  the  track  surface  are  to  be  found. 
As  previously  stated,  a  pen 'on  the  recording  table,  for  each  rail,  makes  a 
mark  on  the  diagram  every  time  paint  is  ejected.  Formerly  the  spotting 
apparatus,  as  used  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  K.  E.,  was  set  to  discharge 
#t  a  depression  of  5/16  in.,  but  as  heavier  and  stiffer  rails  came  into  use  the 
surface  conditions  of  the  track  were  so  largely  improved  that  the  apparatus 
was  set  to  discharge  at  a  deflection  of  -|  in. 

6-iNCH-  IOU-LB.  RAIL  -3-T/E  JOINTS  Jg  -INCH  80-LB.  RAIL  -3-7/c JO/NTS 


Fig.  532. — Partial  Records  of  Track  Inspection  by  Dudley  Indicator 
Car,  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R. 

The  left-hand  diagram  in  Fig.  532  is  a  record  of  the  surface  undula- 
tions and  irregularities  of  alignment  in  a  stretch  of  track  on  the  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.,  laid  with  6-in.,  100-lb.  rails.  *This  may 
be  taken  as  a  sample  of  track  in  good  surface,  the  extreme  undulation  in 
either  rail  being  within  one  tenth  of  an  inch.  The  alignment  of  the  rails, 
as  shown  by  the  diagram,  is  not  quite  as  smooth  as  the  surface.  The  right- 
hand  diagram  in  the  same  figure  shows  the  irregularities  of  surface  and 
alignment  in  80-lb.  rails  5£  ins.  high,  on  the  same  road.  Numerous  features 
of  track  condition,  apparent  upon  inspection  and  comparison  of  the  dia- 
grams in  these  three  illustrations,  are  left  to  the  study  of  the  reader.  It 
should  be  understood  that  the  record  for  "surface  of  rails  and  joints"  makes 
the  track  appear  rougher  than  it  really  is,  because  when  the  head  wheel  of 
the  truck  drops  into  a  low  joint,  for  illustration,  the  middle  or  registering 
wheel  is  high,  relatively  to  the  other  two  wheels.  Again,  after  the  middle 
wheel  has  passed  the  low  joint  the  dropping  of  the  rear  wheel  into  the  sud- 
den depression  causes  the  middle  wheel  to  again  register  high.  Thus,  where  a 
low  joint  or  other  spot  occurs  abruptly  in  a  stretch  of  track  the  surface  of 
which  is  otherwise  smooth,  with  no  point  higher  than  the  general  surface, 
the  record  on  the  diagram  shows  both  high  and  low.  In  studying  the  dia- 
grams this  fact  should  be  borne  in  mind. 

On  the  New  York  Central  and  the  Boston  &  Albany  roads  the  results 
of  an  inspection  of  the  track  with  this  car,  as  shown  by  the  continuous 
record  sheet,  are  plotted  on  a  condensed  diagram  of  the  whole  road,  an 
example  of  which,  portraying  the  condition  of  40  miles  of  double  track, 
on  the  New  York  Central  road,  is  shown  as  Fig.  533.  On  this  diagram 
the  space  between  each  two  vertical  lines  represents  one  mile  of  track,  and 
each  space  between  horizontal  lines  represents  the  one-hundredth  part  of 
an  inch.  The  heavy,  plain,  wavy  line  indicates  the  condition  of  the  track 
surface  as  ascertained  by  one  of  the  annual  inspections,  and  the  broken  line 
the  condition  of  the  track  at  the  inspection  made  four  years  previously. 


TRACK  INSPECTION 


1133 


The  average  condition  of  the  track  for  each  mile  is  indicated  at  the  mid- 
dle of  the  space  for  that  mile  by  the  hight  of  the  line  above  the  base 
line,  which  shows,  in  hundredths  of  an  inch,  the  average  amount  of  undu- 
lation per  rail  length.  It  should  be  explained  that  in  plotting  these 
lines  the  summation  of  the  undulations  in  the  rails  for  a  mile,  as  indicat- 
ed by  the  recording  apparatus  on  the  car,  is  divided  by  176,  the  number 
of  30-ft.  rails  in  a  mile.  Thus  the  results  for  each  mile  are  relative  to 
the  base  line  and  may  be  compared  with  each  other.  The  line  marked 
"Age  of  Steel"  gives  the  length  of  service  of  the  rails,  each  horizontal 
line  representing  one  year.  Thus,  the  diagram  shows  that,  at  the  time  the 
inspection  was  made,  the  rails  in  the  west-bound  track  at  Mile  318  had 
been  in  service  four  years,  and  those  in  the  east-bound  track,  at  the  same 
point,  two  years.  The  line  marked  "Percentage  of  Tangent  and  Curve" 
shows  the  approximate  alignment  of  both  tracks,  per  mile,  the  percentage 
of  tangent  being  marked  on  the  left  side,  and  that  for  curvature  on  the 
right  side  of  the  space  for  the  mile,  each  space  between  horizontal  lines 
representing  10  per  cent.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  the  311th  mile  it  will  be 
noticed  that  there  is  only  one  mark,  which  extends  across  all  the  10  lines, 
at  the  left,  indicating  that  the  entire  length  of  track  for  that  mile  is 
tangent.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the  310th  mile  the  mark  at  the  right 
extends  over  four  lines,  and  the  mark  at  the  left  over  six  -lines,  indicating 
that  40  per  cent  of  the  track  is  on  curve  and  60  per  cent  on  tangent.  The: 
line  marked  "Profile"  shows  the  gradients  of  the  road  which,  of  course,1 
are  common  to  both  tracks.  For  the  profile  scale  each  space  between 
horizontal  lines  represents  10  ft.  of  elevation.  As  the  gage  of  the  track 
was  found  to  be  "perfect"  the  line  showing  this  condition  was,  of  course,! 
straight,  and  therefore  eliminated  from  the  diagram,  as  was  also  the  line 
showing  "side  irregularities  of  the  rails,"  the  track  being  in  "perfect" 
alignment. 


BOUND,  OR  TRACK  No.  2. 


i  —  t   _  i    -  -=t--  —  i  :.i_~r».  r     T      i     T    T  --  it      i      i    -.    -t      t  —  y^-4  —  p—  |  —  ^  —  u  'L    i      t 


%-TnTt^H"^n~rrH 
rn  trf- r  rrt-fa  -1  -  hi  H 


..-. 

Sec.4.  I    8ec.5.    |  Sec.6.  |    8ec.7.   |    Scc.8.   |  8ec.9.  I  See.10.1  Sec.ll.  I    Sec.12.  |  8ec.l3.   |    Sec.14.  |  Sec 


Fig.  533. — Condensed   Diagram  of  Track   Inspection    (40   Miles),   New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  River  R.  R. 

Such  diagrams  are  of  value  chiefly  to  compare  the  condition  of  the 
track  one  year  with  another.  The  roughness  of  the  rail  from  unequal 
wear,  producing  a  wavy  surface,  is  readily  shown,  and  also  the  weakening 
at  the  joints  due  to  the  wearing  of  the  splice  bars.  A  comparison  of  the 
surface  indications  in  Fig.  531  with  those  in  the  right-hand  diagram  in 
Pig.  532  shows  the  effect  of  improper  straightening  of  the  rails,  as  ex- 
plained under  the  head  line  (Fig.  531),  both  rails  being  of  the  same 
weight.  As  to  the  relative  surface  conditions  of  rails  of  different  sec- 
tion, the  sum  of  the  undulations  of  the  100-lb.  rails,  of  which 
record  is  made  in  Fig.  532,  averaged  1  ft.  9  ins.  to  2  ft.  per  mile.  The 
average  for  the  80-lb.  rails,  the  record  of  which  is  shown  in  the  same  fig- 


1134  ORGANIZATION 

ure,  was  2  ft.  6  ins.  to  3  ft.  per  mile.  The  average  for  4^-in.  65-lb.  rails 
was  about  twice  that  for  the  80-lb.  rails.  As  the  track  in  e^ery  case  had  been 
maintained  in  first-class  condition,  the  relative  summations  of  the  undula- 
tions for  the  rails  of  the  various  sections  is  some  measure  of  the  influence 
of  stiff  rails  on  track  surface.  Information  deduced  from  the  study  of 
these  diagrams  from  year  to  year  has  been  an  important  consideration  in 
deciding  upon  the  increase  in  weight  of  rail  by  the  New  York  Central 
road;  particularly  in  the  year  1883,  when  Mr.  Dudley  designed  for  that 
road  an  80-lb.  rail  5  ins.  high.  This  rail  was  put  in  service  the  next  year, 
at  which  time  it  was.  the  heaviest  rail  in  use  on  any  road  in  this  country. 


Fig.  534.— Track  Indicator  Car  No.  609,  C.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry. 

Another  track  indicating  equipment  of  equally  elaborate  construc- 
tion, but  designed  on  a  different  principle,  is  contained  in  Dynamometer 
Car  No.  609  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ky., 
owned  jointly  with  the  railway  engineering  department  of  the  University 
of  Illinois.  This  car  was  equipped  for  dynamometer  tests  of  engine  ca- 
pacity, train  resistance,  tonnage  ratings,  locomotive  road  tests,  air  brake 
tests  and,  in  addition,  for  automatic  inspection  of  track.  The  car  if? 
35  ft.  long,  patterned  after  the  style  of  a  freight  caboose,  and  is  carried  on 
two  four-wheel  passenger  trucks.  The  car  weighs  33,000  Ibs.  The  ap- 
paratus for  track  inspection  is  entirely  separate  from  that  used  in  taking 
train  resistance.  It  was  designed  to  record  autographically  the  following 
conditions:  (1)  irregularities  in  track  surface;  (2)  variations  in  track 
gage;  (3)  superelevation  of  the  outer  rail  of  curves;  (4)  time  intervals. 
The  recording  part  of  -the  mechanism  consists  of  charts  or  long  sheets 
of  paper  drawn  over  rollers,  with  pen  markers  controlled  by  the  motion 
of  the  receiving  apparatus  under  the  car.  The  rollers  or  cylinders  over 
which  this  chart  is  drawn  are  geared  with  the  car  axle,  producing  motion 
in  the  chart  proportional  to  the  speed  of  the  train.  Eef erring  to  Fig.  53-i. 
the  receiving  part  of  the  apparatus,  or  that  which  is  acted  upon  direct  by 
the  irregularities  of  the  rails,  consists  of  two  wheels  of  20  ins.  diameter, 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1135 

one  for  each  rail,  attached,  to  separate  axles  which  are  journaled  to  a 
rectangular  frame  (B),  built  of  channel  irons  and  supported  upon  cast 
hangers  (A)  rigidly  attached  to  the  car  midway  between  the  trucks.  The 
wheel  bearings  and  the  frame  (B)  are  free  to  move  vertically  in  the 
guides  of  the  hangers.  The  axle  of  each  wheel  is  short,  extending  to 
inner  bearings  attached  to  cross  pieces  of  the  frame  B  and  terminating  in 
collars  which  limit  the  outer  motion  of  the  wheels.  These  wheels,  by 
their  weight  and  by.  spring  pressure  acting  outwardly  against  them,  are 
constrained  to  follow  the  rail  in  all  its  irregularities  in  surface,  gage  and 
alignment. 

These  wheels,  through  their  axles  and  bearings,  are  in  communication 
with  cylinders,  the  pistons  of  which  follow  all  the  movements  of  the 
wheels  due  to  changes  in  alignment  or  surface.  These  cylinders,  known  as 
^receiving^  cylinders,  are  connected  by  means  of  f-in  pipes  filled  with 
oil  with  small  recording  cylinders  located  on  a  table  in  the  car  above. 
The  piston  rods  of  these  recording  cylinders  carry  marking  pens  which 
trace  records  of  the  motion  of  the  wheels  upon  the  moving  chart,  as  above 
explained.  The  piston  which  receives  motion  from  each  wheel  due  to 
vertical  undulations  in  the  rail  surface  is  in  a  vertical  cylinder  (C)  which 
stands  directly  over  the  wheel  bearing.  The  piston  rod  is  attached  to  the 
top  of  the  journal  box,  so  that  any  vertical  motion  of  the  axle  sets  the  ap- 
paratus at  work.  The  piston  which  receives  motion  from  the  wheels  due 
to  variations  of  gage  is  in  a  cylinder  interposed  between  the  ends  of  the 
short  axles  of  the  two  wheels.  One  end  of  this  cylinder  abuts  against  the 
axle  of  one  of  the  wheels,  and  the  end  of  the  piston  thereof  abuts  against 
the  end  of  the  other  axle.  The  end  of  this  piston  rod  is  provided  with 
a  collar,  between  which  and  the  stuffing  box  is  a  heavy  helical  spring,  the 
pressure  of  which  serves  to  hold  the  flanges  of  the  wheels  against  the 
rails.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  any  relative  horizontal  movement  of 
the  wheels  causes  movement  of  the  piston  rod,  which  acts  upon  the  fluid 
in  the  cylinder  and  in  this  way  transmits  motion  to  th$  recording  cylinder 
above.  On  the  axles  there  are  collars  to  prevent  the  two  parts  being  forced 
apart  far  enough  to  take  the  wrong  side  of  frog  points  when  passed  in 
the  facing  direction.  The  record  of  the  elevation  of  one  rail  above  the 
other  is  obtained  by  attaching  a  marking  pen  to  a  cord  passed  over  pul- 
leys and  attached  to  two  lignum-vitae  floats  in  iron  mercury  cups  placed 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  car  and  pipe-connected  underneath.  When  the 
apparatus  is  not  in  use  the  receiving  wheels  and  axles  and  the  bearing 
frame  (B)  are  raised  from  the  track  by  an  air  lift  and  locked  in  posi- 
tion, as  shown  in  the  illustration.  The  wheels  can  be  quickly  lifted  out 
of  action  at  any  time.  When  the  car  is  to  be  used  for  track  inspection  it 
is  raised  and  blocks  are  inserted  in  all  the  springs,  giving  the  car 
body  rigid  support  and  preventing  motion  relatively  to  the  wheels.  To 
obtain  good  results  the  car  is  run  at  a  speed  of  10  to  15  miles  per  hour. 
The  record  paper  is  24  ins.  wide  and  the  rate  of  travel  is  26.4  ins.  per  mile. 
The  paper  is  in  rolls  of  sufficient  length  for  inspecting  400  miles  of  track 
and  it  may  be  made  to  feed  ahead  whichever  way  the  car  is  moving.  The 
recording  apparatus  includes  several  pens  electrically  operated,  for  record- 
ing from  the  observation  tower  of  the  car. 

The  Chicago  Great  Western  Ry.  has  used  a  track  indicator  devised  by 
Mr.  Chas.  A.  Stickney,  assistant  to  the  president  of  that  road,  which  was 
put  into  regular  service  in  1896.  This  indicator  is  arranged  to  show 
sharp  defects  in  the  surface  and  alignment  of  the  track;  is  simple  in 
construction  and  is  operated  by  the  lurching  of  the  car  body.  It  con- 
sists of  three  flat  spring  levers  each  about  10  ins.  long,  clamped  at  one  end, 


1136  ORGANIZATION 

and  lying  horizontally  in  a  direction  lengthwise  the  car  or  parallel  with 
the  track.  The  free  end  of  each  lever  terminates  in  a  heavy  tip,  or 
hammer  head,  the  inertia  of  which,  when  motion  is  imparted  to  it  by  the 
throw  of  the  car,  causes  the  lever  to  vibrate.  Two  of  the  spring  levers 
(one  for  each  rail)  are  clamped  so  as  to  vibrate  horizontally,  or  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  side  throw  of  the  car  body,  one  responding  to  a  throw  to- 
ward the  left,  the  other  to  a  throw  toward  the  right.  The  third  lever  is 
clamped  in  a  manner  to  vibrate  vertically,  or  in  response  to  a  jolting 
of  the  car  up  and  down.  Each  lever  is  put  in  tension  by  a  bearing 
screw  so  adjusted  that  the  lever  will  not  vibrate  from  the  usual 
motion  of  the  car  but  will  respond  to  a  sudden  jolt  or  lurch.  The  vibra- 
tion of  the  lever  causes  it  to  strike  against  a  binding  post,  the  con- 
tact so  made  closing  an  electric  circuit  and  setting  in  action  the  register- 
ing apparatus,  which  consists  simply  in  an  electro-magnetically  operated 
needle,  which  punctures  a  paper  ribbon  passed  between  guides  at  a  speed 
proportional  to  that  of  the  train.  This  ribbon  or  strip  of  paper  is  un- 
wound from  one  roller  and  wound  upon  another  and  is  moved  between  a 
a  pair  of  feed  rolls  belted  to  the  car  axle.  It  is  not  possible,  from  the 
mark  registered  on  the  paper  (since  the  vibration  of  all  three  lever?  causes 
the  registration  of  the  same  kind  of  mark),  to  determine  whether  the 
irregularity  in  the  track  at  any  point  where  a  mark  is  registered  is  a 
defect  in  surface  or  alignment,  or  upon  which  side  of  the  track  it  is  locat- 
ed. The  record  simply  indicates  that  the  track  is  rough  at  that  point. 
When  starting  out  upon  an  inspection  trip  a  reference  mark  or  puncture 
is  made  upon  the  paper,  by  a  push  button  arrangement,  and  the  same  is 
done  when  passing  mile  posts,  bridges,  stations  or  other  points  desired  for 
reference.  Irregularities  in  the  track  can  thus  be  located  closely  by  scal- 
ing off  the  distance  from  the  reference  point  marked  upon  the  paper. 

This  instrument  is  placed  in  a  box  or  chest  about  24x24  ins.  x2  ft. 
high,  which  is  set  permanently  upon  the  floor  of  one  of  the  regular  coaches 
of  the  road,  over  a  truck.  When  not  in  service  the  lid  of  this  chest  is 
kept  locked.  This  car  makes  its  runs  on  the  regular  trains  of  the  road, 
and  at  regular  intervals  an  attendant  is  placed  in  charge  of  the  indicator, 
the  intention  being  to  make  an  inspection  of  the  whole  road  twice  each 
month.  During  the  remainder  of  the  time  this  attendant  is  employed 
at  plotting  the  results  of  his  inspection  trips.  Each  indication  of  the 
instrument  for  each  trip  is  plotted  upon  a  diagram,  the  results  of  a  number 
of  trips  being  recorded  upon  the  same  diagram,  the  intention  being  to 
compare  the  condition  of  the  track  as  registered  on  the  various  trips. 
It  is  also  the  business  of  this  attendant  to  notify  the  section  foremen 
as  to  the  location  of  defective  points  in  the  track,  and  if  upon  successive 
trips  an  indication  appears  repeatedly  at  the  same  point,  the  matter  is 
brought  to  the  attention  of  higher  authority  and  an  investigation  is 
made  to  ascertain  the  reason  why  the  defect  has  not  been  corrected,  or 
what  the  difficulty  may  be  at  the  particular  point,  in  case  the  section  fore- 
man has,  made  effort  to  repair  the  track. 

On  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Ry.  use  has  been  made  of  an 
instrument  for  inspecting  the  elevation  of  curves.  This  is  known  as  the 
"equilibristat"  and  was  contrived  by  Mr.  D.  J.  Whittemore,  chief  engineer 
of  the  road.  Briefly  stated,  the  purpose  of  the  instrument  is  to  determine 
whether  the  car  floor  remains  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  rails,  or  in  a 
state  of  equilibrium,  while  rounding  a  curve,  and,  if  not,  to  measure  the 
amount  of  deviation  from  the  position  of  equilibrium.  The  instrument 
is  essentially  a  U-shaped  liquid  level,  the  readings  of  which  are  magnified 
by  causing  the  upper  portion  of  the  liquid,  in  the  two  branches  of  the  "TJ." 


TRACK  INSPECTION 


1137 


to  pass  into  capillary  tubes.  The  instrument  consists  of  a  continuous 
glass  tube  in  the  shape  of  a  rectangle  about  4  ins.  wide  and  10  ins.  high. 
The  tube  is  sealed  and  unobstructed  throughout  the  entire  circuit  of  the 
rectangle  and  has  three  different  calibers  as  follows:  Across  the  bottom 
of  the  rectangle  the  section  (A,  Fig.535)  is  quite  small,  comparatively, 
and  is  known  as  the  "retarding"  portion;  just  above  the  lower  side  of  the 
rectangle  the  section  (B)  on  each  side  is  expanded  to  bulbous  proportions 
for  about  2  ins.  in  length  and  is  called  the  "containing"  portion;  above 
this  the  sides  and  top  of  the  rectangle  are  contracted  to  a  section  of  3/32-in. 
caliber,  or  to  a  size  something  like  that  of  an  ordinary  alcohol  thermome- 
ter; this  latter  portion  of  the  tube  (C)  on  each  side,  is  known  as  the  "in- 
dicating" tube.  The  relative  calibers  of  the  retarding,  indicating  and 
accumulating  sections,  respectively,  are  as  1,  2£  and  10.  The  lower  por- 
tion of  the  rectangle,  up  to  the  middle  of  the  containing  tubes,  is  filled 
with  mercury,  and  above  this  the  indicating  tubes  are  filled  with  colored 
alcohol.  The  mercury  is  free  to  flow  from  one  containing  tube  to  the 
other,  through  the  retarding  tube,  the  purpose  of  restricting  the  diameter 
of  the  latter  being  to  make  the  instrument  insensitive  to  rapid  changes 
of  level  of  small  amount,  or  shocks  caused  by  small  inequalities  in  the 


Fig.  535.— Whittemore  Equilibristat— Fig.  536. 

track  surface.  A  scale  plate  is  hung  within  the  rectangle,  with  zero  marks 
at  the  top  of  the  alcohol  columns  in  the  indicating  tubes.  This  scale  plate 
is  adjustable  by  a  screw,  to  compensate  for  change  of  temperature.  For  an 
obvious  purpose  a  level  bubble  is  attached  to  the  instrument.  The  whole 
is  placed  upright  within  a  glass-covered  case  (Fig.  536),  the  instrument 
complete  occupying  about  the  same  space  as  an  ordinary  cigar  box. 

The  instrument  operates  on  the  principle  that  if  placed  on  the  floor 
of  a  car,  with  the  rectangular  tube  transverse  to  the  axis  of  the  car,  the 
inequality  of  the  liquid  in  the  two  indicating  tubes  will  show  the  inclina- 
tion of  the  car  floor.  Thus  on  track  level  across,  the  liquid  in  the  indi- 
cating tubes  ought  to  stand  at  zero ;  that  is,  at  equal  hights  in  both  tubes. 
On  a  curve,  however,  with  the  car  standing  still,  the  reading  of  the  liquid 
column  in  either  of  the  indicating  tubes  will  give  the  elevation  of  the 
outer  rail  of  the  curve  in  inches,  the  unit  of  the  scale  division  and  the 


1138  ORGANIZATION 

calculation  of  the  instrumental  dimensions  being  arranged  to  this  intent. 
When  the  car  is  in  motion,  however,  the  centrifugal  force  acting  upon 
the  mercury  in  the  tube  tends  to  raise  the  fluid  in  that  side  of  the  rect- 
angle which  is  toward  the  outer  side  of  the  curve ;  and  if  the  curve  is  prop- 
^erJy  elevated  for  the  speed  at  which  the  car  is  moving,  so  that  the  car  floor 
remains  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  rail  surfaces,  the  liquid  within  the  in- 
dicating tubes  will  stand  opposite  the  zero  of  the  scale.  An  improper  ele- 
vation of  the  curve  for  the  speed  at  which  the  car  is  moving  is  indicated 
by  the  reading  of  the  liquid  columns,  on  the  scale,  as  so  many  inches 
excess  or  deficiency,  as  the  case  may  be.  Thus,  to  use  the  instrument  it 
is  only  necessary  to  place  it  on  the  floor  of  the  car  (adjusting  it  so  that 
it  rests  level  transversely  of  the  car  when  the  same  is  standing  on  track 
level  transversely,  if  such  may  be  necessary,  owing  to  an  unequal  loading 
of  the  two  sides  of  the  car  or  by  the  unequal  action  of  the  car  springs) 
and  to  run  the  car  at  the  speed  for  which  the  elevation  is  desired.  If  the 
elevation  in  the  rails  is  suited  for  the  speed  the  instrument  will  read 
zero,  but  if  not,  the  reading  of  the  instrument  will  indicate  the  number 
of  inches  in  the  way  of  correction  which  must  be  made  to  properly  elevate 
the  curve.  Roadinasters  use  the  instrument  and  it  is  placed  at  convenient 
points  in  business  cars. 

Perhaps  a  word  should  be  said  regarding  the  practical  benefits  of 
track-indicating  instruments.  While  the  foregoing  account  shows  that 
such  instruments  undoubtedly  give  reliable  indications  of  the  condition 
of  the  track,  it  is  rather  too  much  to  say  that  the  use  of  such  devices 
is  essential  to  a  high  standard  of  excellence  in  track.  It  is  proper  to  state 
that,  so  far  as  practical  results  are  concerned,  an  expert  trackman  is 
equal  to  any  task  of  track  inspection.  If  such  was  not  the  case  one  would 
be  led  to  inquire  how  track  could  be  put  into  smooth  condition  to  start 
with.  All  that  any  indicator  can  do  is  to  point  out  the  need  of  repairs, 
but  the  final  test  of  line  and  surface  is  always  the  "eagle  eye"  of  the  sec- 
tion foreman.  As  a  means  of  keeping  tab  on  the  work  of  the  section  fore- 
men, these  instruments  may  be  of  some  value.  In  this  connection,  how- 
ever, it  seems  that  the  Stickney  instrument,  on  the  Chicago  Great  West- 
ern Ry.,  is  the  only  one  which  has  been  put  to  regular  use.  For  use  on 
official  inspections  such  devices  undoubtedly  have  their  value.  Thus,  for 
instance,  the  Dudley  car  has  been  used  for  many  years  on  the  Boston  & 
Albany  and  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  roads  to  ascertain 
the  progress  which  has  been  made  on  those  roads  in  reducing  the  amount 
of  surface  irregularities  in  the  rails,  one  of  the  chief  factors  of  which 
has  been  a  more  or  less  gradual  increase  in  the  weight  of  rails,  on  consid- 
erations already  stated.  While  it  was  known  that  an  increase  in  weight 
would  produce  a  stiffer  rail,  the  records  obtained  by  this  car  have  shown 
just  what  the  relative  decrease  in  the  surface  irregularities  has  been  as 
heavier  rails  have  been  laid  from  time  to  time.  In  all  cases  where  there 
is  inaugurated  a  definite  policy  to  progress  toward  some  standard  of 
excellence  in  track  surface  and  alignment  it  would  certainly  seem  worth 
while  to  make  use  of  scientific  apparatus  of  this  kind.  One  trip  over  a 
road  or  division  tells  the  story,  and  no  part  of  the  track  escapes  attention. 
An  inspection  of  the  track  on  foot,  by  visual  observation,  taking  note  of  all 
the  details  disclosed  by  such  apparatus  would  never  be  attempted.  The 
most  convenient  method  of  inspection  for  the  trackman,  and  one  that  is 
sufficiently  accurate  for  every  practical  purpose  coming  within  his  super- 
vision, is  to  ride  over  the  track  on  the  engine  of  a  fast  train,  following 
up  the  trip  by  a  careful  inspection  on  foot  of  the  rough  places  noted  from 
the  engine. 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1139 

There  are  other  track-indicating  devices  that  have  been  in  service. 
The  Pennsylvania  II.  E.  has  a  track  indicating  car  less  elaborate  than  the 
Dudley  car,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West  have  another.  Portable 
instruments  devised  on  the  principle  of  the  pendulum,  for  service  in  pas- 
senger coaches,  have  been  used  on  some  roads.  Paint  squirters,  to  mark 
the  track  at  rough  places,  have  in  some  cases  been  attached  to  ordinary 
business  cars  to  be  operated  by  hand  control.  The  chief  engineer's  car 
on  the  Michigan  Central  E.  E.  is  so  equipped. 

The  Premium  System. — The  premium  system  is  understood  to  mean 
the  practice  of  awarding  prizes  to  division  roadmasters  or  supervisors 
and  to  section  foremen  whose  track  is  found  in  the  best  condition,  as  an- 
nounced by  the  results  of  the  official  inspections.  Quite  frequently  also 
there  are  prizes  for  division  officers  and  foremen  standing  second  best, 
third  best,  etc.  Such  prizes  usually  consist  of  gold  medals;  money,  in 
amounts  from  $25  to  $100,  and  sometimes  more;  gold  watches,  gold- 
headed  canes  and  perhaps  other  desirable  things.  On  the  merits  of  the 
premium  system  the  opinions  of  experienced  maintenance  of  way  officials 
and  employees  differ.  Some  engineers  who  claim  to  have  watched  closely 
the  results  of  the  annual  inspections  and  the  awarding  of  prizes  think 
they  are  a  grand  success,  while  others  who  profess  a  similar  experience 
declare  that,  as  conducted  on  some  roads,  at  least,  they  are  nothing  better 
than  a  "grand  farce."  On  the  part  of  those  who  favor  the  system  it  is 
claimed  that  enthusiasm  in  the  work  is  aroused  among  the  persons  eligible 
to  the  prizes;  that  these  men,  as  well  as  the  employees  working  under 
them,  appreciate  the  recognition  of  the  company  for  the  ability  and  faith- 
fulness displayed;  that  the  pride  of  all  the  men  in  the  work  is  stirred; 
and  withal  that  the  results  of  the  system  certainly  show  -in  better  and 
safer  track  at  a  reduction  of  maintenance  expenses.  Mr.  Geo.  E.  Brown, 
formerly  general  superintendent  of  the  Fall  Brook  Ey.,  has  stated  that 
the  adoption  of  the  premium  system  for  section  foremen  on  that  road 
(three  premiums  of  $40,  $20  and  $10  on  each  division),  resulted  in  an 
improvement  of  at  least  25  per  cent  in  the  condition  of  the  track,  with 
annual  pay  rolls  $37,000  to  $42,000  less  than  the  average  for  eight  years 
before  premiums  were  given.  The  road  was  257  miles  long,  all  single 
track,  the  tonnage  averaged  about  6,000,000  yearly,  and  there  were  no 
conditions  of  maintenance  essentially  different  under  the  two  systems, 
except  that  an  average  of  4|-  miles  of  new  side-track  was  built  each  year 
for  ten  years  under  the  new  system,  and  the  expense  of  maintaining  this 
was  included  in  the  comparison.  Another  idea  which  has  weight  with 
some  managements  is  that  yearly  inspections  and  the  awarding  of  prizes 
surround  the-  work  with  an  aspect  of  form,  and  instills  into  the  minds 
of  the  men  proper  respect  therefor.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended 
that  the  practice  of  giving  prizes  for  excellence  in  the  performance  of 
duty  is  not  promotive  of  a  high  order  of  discipline,  and  in  the  reasons  of- 
fered there  are  evinced  various  shades  of  opinion. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  claimed  that  some  compromise  with  good  reas- 
oning is  essential  to  the  assumption  that  all  section  foremen  or  division 
track  officials  can  compete  on  the  same  footing.  Like  effort,  even  if 
judiciously  directed,  will  not  always  produce  results  which  are  visibly 
alike;  and  it  seems  to  be  quite  generally  admitted  that  the  task  of  deter- 
mining which  is  the  best  piece  of  track,  where  differences  are  slight,  is  a 
difficult  matter.  A  great  many  people  believe  that  close  contests  cannot 
be  decided  with  a  certainty  of  fairness  where  the  decision  is  dependent 
in  large  degree  upon  human  judgment  or  where  the  results  of  the  con- 
test cannot  be  positively  determined.  Where  men  contest  as  in  a  foot 


1140  ORGANIZATION 

race  or  in  shoveling  dirt  the  conditions  may  be  made  equal  and  the  results 
of  accomplishment  show  indisputably  on  the  face  of  things;  but  where  a 
contest  must  be  decided  by  striking  an  average  of  opinions  the  determina- 
tion is  not  positive.  The  reward,  however,  is  something  positive  and 
substantial.  As  an  illustration  of  the  difficulty  of  deciding  upon  the 
relative  condition  of  two  pieces  of  track  one  might  consider  what  fine 
points  of  judgment  would  need  to  be  exercised  to  tell  to  a  certainty  the 
difference  between  two  pieces  of  track  often  found  alongside  of  each  other, 
as  in  comparing  the  two  tracks  of  a  stretch  of  double-track  road.  How 
much  more  difficult  then  would  it  be  to  decide  fairly  between  two  sections 
of  track  in  nearly  the  same  condition,  but  where  some  hours  have  inter- 
vened between  the  time  when  each  was  seen.  On  these  questions  some  quo- 
tations from  a  discussion  before  the  Eastern  Maintenance  of  Way  ASBO- 
ciation  in  1901,  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Stowell,  then  assistant  roadipa^ter  with  the 
Boston  &  Maine  E.  E.,  are  much  in  point.  He  said,  in  part : 

"Much  mystery  has  always  obtained  in  my  mind  as  to  the  possibility  of 
arriving  at  a  just  distribution  of  awards  by  the  method  of  inspection  and 
basis  of  award  commonly  prevailing.  It  is  inconceivable  that  any  number  of 
men,  however  fair  minded,  capable  or  discerning,  can,  as  the  result  of 
a  more  or  less  flying  trip  over  long  stretches  of  track,  pass  detailed, 
comparative  judgment  on  the  numerous  sections  thereof,  without  liabil- 
ity, yes  probability,  to  frequent  and  gross  error.  And  this  is  not  a  suspi- 
cion of,  or  reflection  on,  either  the  efforts,  good  intentions  or  ability  of 
the  judges.  Such  observation  is  bound  to  be  a  too  superficial  basis  of 
judgment,  and  though  it  may  locate  the  prize  or  prizes,  it  will  rightly 
lack  the  respect  of  the  competing  foremen,  and  so  fail  to  encourage  the 
'morale'  intended.  Next,  as  to  the  significance  of  the  conditions  in- 
spected  There  are  a  limited  few  trunk  lines  in  this  country 

being  put  by  tremendous  appropriations  of  capital  in  such  a  state  of 
physical  excellence  that  the  conditions  of  the  various  sections  thereof  are 
approaching  such  a  state  of  similarity  that  it  is  fair,  perhaps,  to  judge  of 
the  merits  of  the  foremen  by  comparison  alone  of  the  physical  condition 
of  their  respective  sections.  But  beyond  these  isolated  examples  the 
great  majority  of  track  mileage  presents  such  dissimilar  physical  con- 
ditions that  the  labor  and  skill  necessary  to  reach  a  certain  state  of  refine- 
ment on  one  section  may  be  much  more  or  much  less  than  that  required 
to  reach  a  similar  state  on  a,  neighboring  section.  What  is  it  for  which  a 
prize  is  awarded?  Is  it  not  for  the  greatest  amount  of  the  most  intelli- 
gently directed  labor  put  forth  per  man?  And  what  should  be  the  evi- 
dence ?  Surely  not  always  the  .best  section  on  the  road.  It  should  rather 
be  the  best  section,  in  view,  briefly,  of  both  the  natural  and  accidental 
obstacles  encountered  in  putting  up  the  same  between  periods  of  inspect- 
tion.  In  other  words,  the  reward  of  merit  should  go  to  the  man  who 
has  wrought  the  greatest  improvement  from  prevailing  conditions.  What 
roadmaster  has  not,  when  accompanying  his  superiors  on  inspection  trips. 
seen  the  most  trivial  circumstances  of  accident  unknowingly  turn  the 
scale  of  opinion  temporarily  against  his  best  foreman,  and  then  perhaps 
some  more  fortunate  circumstance  (also  accident)  bring  undue  compara- 
tive praise  to  a  much  less  worthy  man  on  the  very  next  section?  Such, 
as  it  appears  to  me,  is  the  twofold  mistake  of  granting  the  palm  of  merit 
for  maximum  perfection  of  track  only,  and  based  only  on  superficial 
examination.  I  cannot  dispel  from  my  mind  that  such  awards  should  go 
for  conditions  of  maximum  refinement,  only  when  accompanied  by  equal 
evidence  of  improvement  over  previous  condition.  And  I  admit  that  this 
criterion  of  judgment  makes  the  task  of  justly  awarding  prizes  among 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1141 

foremen  on  the  average  properties  most  unsatisfactory,  if  not  quite  impos- 
sible. It  necessitates  that  the  judges  should  have  the  same  detailed,  day- 
to-day  familiarity  with  individual  conditions  of  maintenance  of  the  par- 
ticular track  under  inspection  as  the  roadmaster  himself,  which  is  hardly 
practicable." 

Again,  it  is  believed  by  many  that  the  customary  awards  for  such  con- 
tests are  too  disproportionate  for  the  close  degree  of  excellence  between 
a  high  record  and  the  highest ;  as,  for  instance,  be  the  average-  markings  of 
a  number  of  section  foremen  as  close  as  can  be  without  being  equal,  one 
foreman,  or  at  most,  two  or  three,  take  the  substantial  recognition  (the 
prizes)  while  the  showings  of  the  other  foremen  count  for  naught,  at 
least  so  far  as  official  recognition  is  concerned.  If  it  was  arranged  to  con- 
duct a  rigid  inspection  of  each  section  by  a  party  of  experts  traveling  all 
the  way  on  foot,  and  then  to  grant  an  increase  of  pay  to  all  foremen 
whose  track  was  found  above  some  certain  standard  or  marking,  the'  in- 
crease to  continue  as  long  as  that  standard  was  maintained,  such  a 
scheme  would  conform  more  closely  to  business  principles,  because  then 
it  would  be  possible  for  each  and  every  foreman  to  secure  substantial 
recognition  for  results  accomplished.  By  the  prize  system,  as  usually 
conducted,  such  a  possibility  is  limited  to  one  or  two  persons  only,  no 
matter  how  high  the  standing  of  all  the  others.  In  the  natural  order  of 
things  effort  is  rewarded  somewhat  in  proportion  to  accomplishment,  but 
in  the  ordinary  prize  system1  the  reward  for  the  efforts  of  all  the  foremen 
combined  goes  to  one  man.  In  its  practical  workings,  therefore,  the 
S3rstem  is,  in  some  of  its  aspects,  like  a  game  of  chance.  On  this  point  an 
engineer  of  much  experience,  connected  with  one  of  the  large  railway  sys- 
tems of  the  country,  where  the  prize  system  has  long  been  in  vogue,  says : 
"Kegarding  the  prize  system,  I  have  long  held  to  the  opinion  that  it  ought 
to  be  abolished.  As  to  the  fixing  of  a  standard  of  excellence,  that  is  quite 
a  different  matter,  and  if  some  substantial  recognition  was  given  to  them 
that  attained  it,  some  good  might  result,  and  there  would  be  at  least  a 
great  deal  less  ill  feeling."  The  justice  of  the  foregoing  proposition  was 
recognized  by  the  Fall  Brook  By.,  as  shown  by  the  annual  report  of  the 
general  superintendent  in  1898,  in  reference  to  this  matter,  as  follows: 
"When  the  annual  inspection  was  made  this  year  it  was  found  that  the- 
condition  of  the  tracks,  compared  with  the  cost  of  maintenance,  was  so  gen- 
erally good  that  in  awarding  premiums  to  section  foremen  for  the  best 
track  it  was  necessary  to  again  depart  from  the  usual  practice  of  giving 
first,  second  and  third  premiums;  and  we  have  divided  the  total  amount 
of  premiums  assigned  to  each  division  equally  among  seven  of  the  best 
sections  on  each  division." 

Men  of  another  persuasion  consider  that  the  offer  of  premiums  for 
excellence  in  work  performed  is  a  reflection  upon  the  integrity  of  the  fore- 
men; that  where  men  of  strong  character  are  selected  and  put  in  charge 
of  work  the  ordinary  wages  are  a  sufficient  inducement  to  attend  strictly  to 
duty,  which  is  all  that  should  be  expected  of  any  employee.  It  is  therefore 
the  opinion  of  some  persons  that  when  there  arises  the  need  of  stimulat- 
ing the  foremen  to  their  work  by  prizes  it  is  time  to  begin  looking  for 
a  better  class  of  foremen.  The  fact  that  many  roads  succeed  in  keeping 
up  good  track  at  economical  expense  without  giving  prizes  is  considered 
evidence  that,  under  good  management,  good  work  can  be  done  indepen- 
dently of  the  prize  system.  The  competitive  feature  necessarily  partakes 
of  the  idea  of  turning  out  work  on  the  contract  plan,  and  men  who  will 
jump  in  and  exert  themselves  for  artificial  rewards  are  not  always  the 
men  who  have  the  interests  of  their  employer  most  at  heart.  It  is  also- 


1142  ORGANIZATION 

said  that,  on  general  principles,  the  giving  of  prizes  to  adult  persons  is 
creative  of  jealousy  and  is  never  satisfactory  except  to  the  beneficiaries 
of  the  system.  The  love  of  prizes  is  "a  root  of  many  kinds  of  evil/'  the 
cause  of  much  misery  among  men  and  the  ruination  of  many  a  man. 
One  of  the  manifestations  of  vanity  is  the  desire  to  always  place  some 
man  or  thing  the  highest  of  a  class. 

It  is  quite  commonly  understood  that  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the 
premium  system  works  a  decided  hardship  upon  the  employees  or  common 
track  hands,  and  some  have  denominated  it  a  "man  killer."  I  have  heard 
this  view  corroborated  by  fair-minded  men  in  position  to  know,  particu- 
larly by  an  intelligent  division  track  official  on  one  of  the  roads  best 
known  for  its  premium  system  to  trackmen.  It  is  proper  to  say  that  this 
man  had  himself,  at  one  time,  been  the  recipient  of  the  highest  prize  to 
division  track  officers.  Considering  that  many  section  foremen  are  men 
of  limited  education,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  a  system  of  awards  in  which 
physical  exertion  is  one  of  the  factors  essential  to  the  showing  of  the 
successful  competitor,  would  lead  to  a  good  deal  of  driving  of  the  men 
in  their  work.  In  this  connection,  also,  the  system  would  seem  to  be 
lacking  fairness  in  the  respect  that  the  men  of  the  section  have  no  par- 
ticipation in  the  prize  which  goes  to  the  section;  which  makes  it  appear 
that  the  result  of  their  extra  effort  is  monopolized  by  the  foreman.  The 
official  distribution  of  prizes  among  track  laborers  is  rarely  or  never 
heard  of.  Drawing  a  mental  picture  with  these  facts  in  the  background 
the  system  appears  like  a  scheme  whereby  the  foremen  are  urged  to  fret 
and  the  track  hands  to  sweat,  all  summer,  in  order  that  the  foreman  may 
"win  the  gold  watch"  in  the  fall.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  work  and 
conduct  of  section  foremen  there  are  aims  more  commendable  than  that 
of  getting  all  the  work  possible  out  of  the  men.  This  fact  might  be  borne 
in  mind  wherever  it  is  the  practice,  in  making  promotions  to  the  position 
of  supervisor,  to  consider  only  those  foremen  who  have  been  recipients 
of  premiums. 

Another  objection  to  the  prize  system  is  that,  in  its  practical  work- 
ings, there  is  a  tendency  to  spend  too  much  time  on  finery  that  should 
be  put  on  track  surface.  Some  interesting  stories  are  told  of  efforts  to 
put  the  gilt  edge  on  things  just  before  the  day  of  inspection.  Section  men 
have  even  gone  to  the  pains  to  sweep  the  track  with  splint  brooms,  and 
foremen  have  been  known  to  get  their  men  out  in  the  night  to  attend  to 
some  ornamental  feature  that  had  been  overlooked  during  the  days  of 
"preparation."  On  the  other  hand  men  have  been  known  to  grow  weary 
of  the  competition  and  fail  to  maintain  the  intended  esprit  de  corps. 
It  has  been  stated  officially  that  on  one  of  the  large  railway  systems  there 
was,  at  one  time,  a  secret  understanding  among  the  supervisors  and  fore- 
men whereby  certain  of  the  forces  would  not  compete  for  the  prizes  every 
year,  thus  conspiring  to  pass  the  honors  around  in  turn,  without  overexert- 
ing themselves.  On  the  real  merits  and  workings  of  the  premium  system 
an  outsider  frequently  finds  roadmasters  or  engineers  non-committal,  out 
of  desire  not  to  contravene  the  opinions  of  higher  authority.  It  is  no 
secret  that  on  some  roads  where  prizes  are  given  for  excellence  in  track 
maintenance  the  system  is  more  favorably  regarded  by  the  general  officers 
than  by  those  of  division  rank,  like  roadmasters  and  division  engineer?. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many  men  who  have  had  experience  with  the 
premium  system  that  the  inspections  should  not  be  made  £t  regular  or 
stated  intervals;  that  to  secure  the  best  results  the  inspections  should  come 
at  varying  periods  and  without  previous  warning,  or  during  any  season 
of  the  year.  It  is  believaJ  that  with  periodical  inspections  the  tendency 


TRACK  INSPECTION  1143 

is  to  devote  too  much  energy  to  a  particular  end  at  the  appointed  time, 
when  the  principal  aim  of  railway  managements  is  to  maintain  the  track 
up  to  a  good  standard  at  all  times.  From  a  business  standpoint  the  rail- 
way company  is  not  so  much  interested  in  what  men  are  able  to  do  by 
way  of  special  preparation  as  in  what  they  are  in  the  habit  of  doing  all  the 
year  round.  A  system  which  approximates  to  this  idea  is  that  of  the  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  Eiver  E.  E.  On  the  main  line  of  this  road,  between 
New  York  and  Buffalo,  the  track  is  inspected  three  times  a^year,  and  the 
standing  for  premiums  is  based  upon  an  average  of  the  markings  of  the 
three  inspections.  In  order  to  obtain  the  best  results  the  standing  should 
be  based  upon  a  general  average  of  all  the  features  marked.  It  has  been 
the  practice  in  some  cases  to  give  several  prizes  on  each  division  of  a  road 
for  excellence  in  different  lines  of  work;  as,  for  instance,  one  prize  for 
best  surface  and  alignment,  another  for  joints  and  spiking,  another  for 
switches  and  frogs,  another  for  ballast  dressing  and  banks,  others  for 
ditches,  policing,  etc.  Such  a  system  might  induce  some  foremen  to 
neglect  parts  of  the  work  in  order  to  make  a  showing  in  others. 

The  practice  which  many  roadmasters  have  of  watching  closely  the 
reports  from  the  various  sections  and  discussing  the  same  with  the  fore- 
men is  considered  to  be  wholesome,  and  many  think  it  exerts  a  sufficient 
moral  effect  to  enliven  the  proper  amount  of  interest.  As  part  of  this 
plan  it  is  well  to  watch  the  distribution  of  the  labor  among  the  various 
kinds  of  section  work,  commenting  upon  the  results  accomplished  and 
upon  comparisons  with  the  showings  of  other  sections,  where  it  is  thought 
that  a  little  urging  is  necessary.  It  is  also  the  plan  of  some  roadmasters 
to  prepare  at  the  end  of  the  year  a  condensed  statement  of  the  cost  of 
the  different  kinds  of  work  on  each  section,  giving  the  length  of  track 
worked,  the  number  of  switches,  length  of  side-tracks,  etc.,  and  send  it 
to  the  foremen  for  their  information,  without  comment.  Many  roadmas- 
ters believe  that  this  method  of  enthusing  the  foremen  is  going  sufficient- 
ly far  to  produce  the  results  desired ;  that  it  touches  the  pride  of  the 
foremen  and,  all  things  considered,  produces  a  better  moral  effect  than  is 
liable  to  result  from  enforced  competition;  that  while  the  prize  system 
may  be  productive  of  immediate  results,  the  incentive  to  excel  lasts  only 
temporarily;  and  that  it  is  wrong  to  force  human  judgment  to  discrim- 
inate minutely  as  to  the  work  of  the  foremen  where  no  necessity  exists. 

The  idea  that  annual  or  other  official  track  inspections  are  advan- 
tageous to  the  work  of  track  maintenance  seems  to  be  quite  deeply  rooted 
with  not  a  few  maintenance  officers,  but  of  these  many  men  of  experi- 
ence consider  that  results  superior  to  those  which  may  be  had  by  the 
giving  of  prizes  may  be  obtained  simply  by  announcing  the  findings^  of 
the  inspection,  without  awarding  prizes,  and  that  in  this  way  good  feel- 
ing among  the  men  is  better  maintained.  On  some  roads  where  this 
principle  is  observed  the  section  which  maintains  the  highest  standing 
receives  a  mark  of  distinction  in  the  form  of  a  "blue  board,"  on  which 
is  inscribed  "The  Best  Section,"  or  words  to  similar  effect.  Such  a  board 
is  also  used  on  some  roads  where  the  prize  system  is  in  force.  Still 
another  class  of  thinkers  favor  omitting  any  mention  of  the  highest  stand- 
ing, but  grade  the  sections  into  first,  second  and  third  classes,  according 
to  the  ratings  of  the  annual  inspection.  And  still  another  class  think 
that  it  answers  the  purpose  sufficiently  well  to  get  the  section  foremen 
together  once  each  year  and  give  them  a  trip  over  the  road  on  an  observa- 
tion car  in  company  with  a  number  of  the  higher  officials,  without  an- 
nouncing results.  On  such  a  trip  the  foremen  are  invited  to  criticize 
the  track  under  one  another's  charge,  and  as  there  is  no  compulsion  in 


1144  ORGANIZATION 

the  matter  of  expressing  opinion,  each  man  feels  a  greater  freedom  in 
forming  his  opinions  than  would  be  the  case  if  a  prize  was  at  stake.  In 
this  way  the  foremen  get  to  see  one  another's  track,  get  the  benefit  of  one 
another's  criticisms,  learn  new  opinions,  and  undoubtedly  receive  a  good  deal 
of  benefit  from  the  trip.  By  winding  up  such  an  affair  with  a  banquet  or 
something  of  that  sort,  with  encouraging  speeches  from  the  officials,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  foremen  would  return  to  their  work  with 
renewed  ideas  as  to  their  importance  in  maintenance-of-way  economy,  and 
with  more  nearly  equal  satisfaction  than  would  be  the  case  were  the  fore- 
men to  remain  at  home  while  the  officials  make  the  trip  and  dismiss  the 
affair  with  the  cold  announcement  that  some  foreman  had  been  selected  to 
receive  a  prize.  '  After  all,  what  does  it  matter  if  there  be  no  formal  decision, 
or  even  united  opinion,  as  to  whose  track  is  the  best?  The  philosopher!? 
tell  us  that  contest  between  man  and  man  is  not  the  ideal  state  of  living 
Why  then  should  it  be  considered  the  ideal  condition  of  labor  ? 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES  AND  TABLES. 


<  1.  Tile  Drainage.* — In  the  construction  of  a  tile  drain  tire  first  thing 
necessary  is  to  have  accurate  levels  run  and  true  grades  'established.  Too 
much  care  cannot  be  taken  in  this  part  of  the  work,  for  if  the  levels  are  not 
accurate  the  best  results  cannot  be  expected.  In  beginning  the  work  it  is  well 
to  stretch  a  line  in  the  direction  of  the  proposed  drain  and  then  take  a  spade 
and  cut  the  earth  to  this  line.  The  line  should  then  be  changed  over  to  the 
other  side  of  tihe  drain,  which  should  be  about  14  ins.  wide  at  the  top,  and  the 
earth  cut  to  the  line  in  this  position.  With  a  drainage  spade  the  drain  is  then 
dug  down  to  within  about  16  ins.  of  the  bottom,  before  grade  stakes  are  set. 

In  setting  stakes  for  grading  the  bottom  my  practice  has  been  to  firstsettwo 
stakes  50  ft.  apart,  one  at  the  outlet  and  the  other  further  back,  or  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  flow  of  water,  and  then  to  wrap  an  envelope  or  piece  of  white  paper 
on  each  of  them  at  convenient  hight.  With  a  leveling  instrument  I  arrange 
the  hight  of  the  envelopes  to  correspond  with  the  grade  of  the  drain;  that  is, 
if  the  survey  calls  for  a  fall  of  3  ins.  per  100  ft.,  I  place  the  envelope  on  the 
stake  at  the  outlet  iy2  ins.  higher  than  the  envelope  on  the  stake  50  ft.  back. 
I  then  take  a  stake  and  notch  it  at  a  hight  equal  to  the  depth  of  the  drain 
below  the  top  of  the  envelop-e  on  the  stake  at  the  outlet.  This  notched  stake 
I  make  use  of  in  sighting  for  the  bottom  of  thex finished  drain,  at  intervals  of 
a  few  feet,  the  requirement  being,  of  course,  to  dig  the  trench  to  such  depth 
that  the  notch  on  the  stake,  when  the  latter  is  stood  in  the  trench,  shall  b-e  on 
the  line  of  sight  with  the  top  edges  of  both  envelopes.  Other  means  are  some- 
times taken  to  maintain  a  uniform  grade,  some  stretching  a  line  over  the  tops 
of  leveled  stakes  along  the  side  of  tire  drain,  and  then  using  a  pole  with  a 
gage  arm  to  reach  out  to  the  line  and  ascertain  if  the  bottom  of  the  trench 
is  at  proper  depth.  One  fault  with  this  method  is  that  a  damp  line  on  a  dry 
day  is  liable  to  sag,  and  if  not  carefully  watched  the  bottom  of  the  trench 
will  be  finished  to  correspond  with  it.  In  tile-draining  a  railroad  cut  where 
the  grade  is  already  established,  a  survey  would,  of  course,  be  unnecessary, 
as  reference  can  be  had  with  the  grade  stakes  or  the  rail. 

The  bottom  spading  is  taken  out  with  a  round-pointed  spade  a  little  over 
4  ins.  wide  at  the  point,  and  every  little  while  the  drain  cleaner,  which  is  a 
scoop  with  a  long  handle  that  pulls  toward  the  operator,  should  be  used.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances  one  should  not  get  into  the  bottom  of  the  trench  with 
his  feet.  With  a  good  drain  cleaner  in  the  hands  of  an  expert  the  bottom  of 
the  trench  can  be  shaved  off  smoothly  and  nearly  as  true  as  a  carpenter  would 
plane  a  piece  of  board.  The  trench  is  <now  ready  for  the  tile  laying  and  should 
never  be  left  too  long  open,  as  the  sides  may  cave  in  or  clods  of  earth  may 
fall  into  it. 

In  laying  tile  one  should  not  stand  in  the  trench,  since  on  soft  material 
one's  feet  will  puddle  up  the  bottom  and  render  it  unfit  to  receive  the  tile. 
For  placing  the  tile  in  position,  an  implement  known  as  a  tile  hook  is  used. 
It  consists  of  a  small  scoop  about  1  ft.  long,  with  a  crane  neck  or  shank, 
attached  to  a  handle  about  7  ft.  long.  This  blade  hangs  not  far  from  a  right 
angle,  with  the  handle,  but  the  angl'e  may  be  adjusted  to  suit  the  user.  The 
blade  will  easily  go  inside  of  a  3-in.  tile.  The  tiles  are  distributed  along  the 
trench  within  convenient  reach  of  the  tile  hook,  and  the  man  who  does  the 
laying  stands  straddle  of  the  trench  and  lowers  the  tiles  to  place  with  the  hook, 
giving  each  length  a  tap  with,  the  heel  of  the  hook,  to  settle  it  firmly  to  place. 
If  the  section  of  tile  laid  does  not  make  a  close  joint  on  top  it  should  be  lifted 
up  and  pressed  against  the  side  of  the  trench,  so  that  by  pushing  down  the 
tile  will  revolve  on  the  hook  until  a  close  joint  is  obtained.  If  there  is  much 
water  in  the  trench  a  small  piece  of  board  should  be  stood  in  front  of  the  last 
tile  laid,  to  prevent  obstructions  from  being  carried  into  the  tile.  Tire  tile  is 


courtesy  of  Mr.  Alexander  Birss. 


1146  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 

then  covered  over,  first  rolling  in  the  material  which  was  taken  from  the  bottom 
of  the  drain.  No  particular  care  is  required  in  doing  this  'except  to  see  that 
stones  do  not  drop  upon  the  tile  and  break  it.  This  is  what  we  call  "securing 
the  tile,"  and  the  rest  of  the  filling  may  be  done  in  any  manner  to  suit  con- 
venience or  to  expedite  the  work,  a  swing  plow  being  much  used  in  filling  in 
drains  in  farm  practice. 

I  shall  now  try  to  say  a  few  things  about  tile  and  explain  the  working  of 
a  tile  drain.  When  tiles  are  burned  they  nearly  always  bend  just  a  little,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  one  side  becomes  a  little  hotter  than  the  other,  the  side  which 
is  burned  the  most  thoroughly  being  the  shorter,  and  slightly  concave.  In 
laying  the  tile  the  convex  or  longest  side  should  be  on  top,  as  then  an  opening 
will  be  left  in  the  bottom  of  the  joint — usually  about  y±  in.  wide.  It  is  through 
this  opening  that  the  water  should,  and  by  nature  does,  enter  the  drain.  Com- 
paratively little  goes  in  at  the  top.  There  are  many  things  that  seem  to  have 
an  affinity  for  water  and  they  will  "root"  down  and  -enter  the  tile,  and  it  is 
always  in  the  bottom  that  they  make  their  entrance.  I  knew  of  a  case  in 
Green  County,  Iowa,  where  a  tile  drain  was  constructed  parallel  to  a  hedge  of 
willow  trees,  33  ft.  distant  and  4  ft.  deep.  The  willow  roots  crept  out  that 
distance  and  'entered  the  tile,  completely  filling  it  inside.  Sunflowers  should  not 
be  permitted  to  grow  over  a  tile  drain,  as  they  will  soon  root  down  to  the  tile, 
enter  it  from  below  and  fill  the  interior  of  the  drain  full  of  fine  roots  much 
resembling  corn  silk,  which  will  in  a  little  while  effectually  choke  the  drain. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  work  to  be  found  in  tile  drainage  is  in  laying 
tile  in  quicksand.  In  such  material  many  a  man  has  worked  hard  all  day 
without  succeeding  in  laying  a  single  section  of  tile  that  would  remain  in  place; 
and  a  man  who  will  not  display  temper  in  laying  a  tile  drain  in  quicksand  is 
too  good  for  this  world.  The  best  time  to  undertake  tile  drainage  in  quicksand 
is  after  a  long  spell  of  dry  weather,  but  one  never  knows  until  he  is  strictly 
in  it  how  quicksand  will  act,  if  once  let  loose.  Ordinary  curbing  is  of  little 
account,  as  the  sand  will  run  into  the  ditch  in  spite  of  it.  I  once  knew  of  a 
bad  case  where  boiler  iron  was  secured  from  the  railroad  shops  and  used  for 
curbing,  but  the  pressure  was  too  great  even  for  that.  My  b-est  success  in 
managing  quicksand  has  been  through  the  use  of  a  sheet  iron  box  about  5  ft. 
long,  without  top  or  bottom  or  rear  end;  that  is  to  say,  a  strip  of  thick  iron 
plate  about  11  ft.  long  bent  into  the  shape  of  a  long  "U."  The  front  end  should 
b-e  rounded,  with  a  handle  attached  to  pull  it  through,  the  quicksand,  and  the 
sides  at  the  rear  end  are  held  apart  by  a  strong  stay  in  the  form  of  an  arch, 
which  resists  the  side  pressure.  Sheet  iron  is  too  thin  and  boiler  plate  too 
thick  for  constructing  this  implement.  In  operation  the  sides  of  th-e  box 
stand  edgewise  and  the  rear  or  open  end  is  always  kept  one  or  two  tile  lengths 
behind  the  last  tile  laid,  to  keep  the  sand  out  of  the  tile  while  at  work,  for  in 
bad  cases  it  floats  around  nearly  as  freely  as  water.  The  box  is  made  wide 
enough  to  permit  clay  to  be  packed  about  tire  sides  of  the  joints  and  remain 
undisturbed  when  the  box  is  pulled  ahead.  The  box  is  pushed  down  into  the 
sand  until  the  material  can  be  taken  out  to  the  proper  depth  and  tlren  two 
lengths  of  tile  are  laid  in  the  open  space  and  covered  over  and  packed  about 
the  sides  b-efore  the  box  is  pulled  ahead  again.  I  have  used  pieces  of  plaster 
lath  to  lay  on  top  of  the  tile  and  keep  them  even  and  continuous  while  covering 
it  over  with  clay.  Filling  material  must  be  placed  upon  the  tile  as  soon  as 
possible,  to  weight  it  down,  for  the  tendency  of  the  sand  is  to  lift  the  tile.  A 
piece  of  board  is  kept  in  front  of  the  tile  to  prevent  the  sand  from  getting  into 
it,  but  a  great  deal  of  sand  does  get  in  and  cannot  be  prevented.  If  th-e  tile  is 
laid  to  uniform  grade,  however,  there  is  no  danger  that  the  drain  will  become 
seriously  obstructed.  When  working  in  quicksand  the  drain  should  be  opened 
but  a  short  distance  ahead  of  the  tile  that  is  being  laid,  especially  if  close  to 
the  track,  as  in  that  case  the  pressure  from  passing  trains  might  cause  the 
trench  to  cave  and  undermine  the  track.  For  the  same  reasons  the  drain 
should  be  filled  in  and  finished  as  close  as  possible  to  the  work  of  laying 
the  tile. 

Collars  on  tile  joints  interfere  with  the  entrance  of  water  at  the  natural 
inlet— the  bottom  of  the  joint.  I  have  sometimes  laid  a  Ix6-in.  fence  board 
on  a  soft  bottom  which  would  not  carry  the  tile,  but  except  in  a  case  of  this 
kind  a  board  under  tiling  is  '-not  a  good  arrangement.  The  accuracy  with  which 
the  tile  is  laid  has  an  important  effect  on  the  capacity  of  the  tile  drain;  as 
for  instance,  if  there  is  a  sag  of  one  inch  the  tile  will  fill  up  that  much  and 


DETAILS  OF  STEEL  WORKING  1147 

its  capacity  will  be  reduced;  and,  of  course,  the  same  result  must  be  expected 
where  one  or  a  few  lengths  of  tile  are  laid  an  inch  too  high.  To  do  a  first-class 
job  in  laying  tile  is  indeed  a  fine  piece  of  work. 

2.  Some  Details  of  Steel  Working  and  Departures  in  Rail  Design. — During 
late  years  various  experiments  have  been  made  with  the  intention  of  adopting 
radical  departures  in  steel  rail  manufacture.  In  order  to  understand  these 
-experiments  and  the  reasons  therefor,  it  is  essential  to  comprehend  some  of 
the  elementary  facts  embraced  in  various  processes  of  steel  production.  To 
such  as  may  not  be  familiar  with  the  metallurgy  of  steel  the  brief  exposition 
which  follows  may  be  of  some  assistance. 

Steel  used  for  construction  purposes  generally  is  manufactured  by  either 
of  two  processes,  the  Bessemer  or  the  op'en-hearth.  The  object  of  either 
process  is  to  regulate  the  amount  of  carbon  and  other  alloys  found  in  the 
cast  iron.  In  the  Bessemer  process  this  regulation  is  "effected  by  forcing  small 
streams  of  cold  air  through  the  molten  metal,  which  is  poured  into,  and  held 
in,  a  large  iron  pot  called  a  converter.  The  presence  of  the  air  within  the  mass 
of  the  heated  metal  oxidizes  or  burns  out  the  carbon,  silicon  and  manganese. 
The  process  may  be  arrested  at  the  point  where  the  desired  percentage  of 
carbon  has  been  reached  (Swedish  practice),  as  indicated  by  the  appearance 
of  the  shower  of  sparks  issuing  from  the  converter,  but  in  the  largest  practice 
it  is  continued  until  all  of  the  oxidizable  elements  are  burned  out  (as  indicated 
by  the  appearance  of  the  flames),  when  melted  spiegeleisen  or  ferro-manganese, 
containing  known  proportions  of  carbon,  manganese  and  silicon,  is  added  to 
recarbonize  the  iron.  In  the  latter  practice  better  control  is  had  in  propor- 
tioning the  alloys. 

In  the  open-hearth  process  the  regulation  of  the  alloys  is  effected  by  the 
.action  of  an  oxidizing  flame  from  a  coal  fire  in  a  reverberatory  furnace,  or 
from  heated  gases  in  a  regenerative  gas  furnace,  the  latter  type  of  furnac-e 
being  the  more  common.  The  iron  is  usually  melted  in  this  furnace.  In  the 
open-hearth  process  the  carbon  is  not  all  burned  out,  as  it  usually  is  in  the 
Bessemer  process,  for  the  oxide  of  iron  formed  while  the  cast  iron  is  being 
melted  down  forms  a  slag  over  the  bath  of  molten  metal  and  protects  the  iron, 
carbon  and  silicon  from  further  oxidation;  in  the  meanwhile,  however,  the 
carbon  and  silicon  have  become  partly  consumed.  It  is  also  possible  to  intro- 
duce foreign  slag  or  to  vary  the  proportion  of  oxygen  in  the  flame,  so  that  the 
metal  can  be  held  in  the  fused  state  without  considerable  change  until  samples 
can  be  taken  from  the  furnace  and  tested,  to  determine  the  extent  of  decar- 
bonization.  These  tests  are  simple,  and  quickly  made,  consisting  merely  in 
dipping  out  a  small  quantity  of  melted  iron  in  a  ladle,  when  a  casting  is  made, 
cooled  and  broken.  By  observing  the  fracture  an  experienced  operator  can 
estimate  closely  the  carbon  ingredient.  The  usual  method  of  reducing  the 
percentage  of  carbon  is  to  introduce  uncarbonized  metal  in  the  form  of  wrought 
iron  and  steel  scrap  in  sufficient  quantity  to  produce  the  desired  mixture,  but 
In  any  case  the  proportioning  of  the  alloys  is  well  under  control,  there 
being  plenty  of  time  to  introduce  modifications.  Excess  of  carbon  may  be 
removed  by  charging  oxide  of  iron  in  the  form  of  ore,  to  supply  oxygen  for 
further  decarbonization,  or,  in  time,  as  the  temperature  rises,  the  carbon 
will  combine  with  some  of  the  oxygen  of  the  iron  oxide  slag  which  becomes 
mixed  through  the  mass  by  ebullition  from  escaping  gases.  This  action  re- 
stores some  of  the  iron  of  the  oxide  to  the  metal  product.  To  remove  the 
remaining  iron  oxide  of  the  slag  spiegeleisen  rich  in  manganese  is  charged,  the 
manganese  uniting  with  the  oxygen  of  the  slag  and  restoring  the  iron  of  the 
oxide  to  the  bath.  In  case  the  percentage  of  carbon  should  at  any  time  be 
found  too  low  recarbonization  is  readily  effected  by  adding  cast  iron. 

It  may  now  be  explained  that  in  the  ordinary  manner  of  operating  a  Bes- 
semer converter  or  an  open-hearth  furnace,  as  above  described,  a  sand  or  (acid) 
silica  lining  is  used  and  the  product  is  known  as  acid  steel.  The  open-hearth 
process  of  making  acid  steel  is  sometimes  called  the  Siemens-Martin  process. 
The  fact  of  particular  significance  about  the  production  of  acid  steel  is  that 
110  phosphorus  or  sulphur  is  eliminated — and  this  applies  to  both  the  Bessemer 
and  open-hearth  processes.  This  means  that  in  the  production  of  acid  steel  of 
good  quality  only  ores  that  are  comparatively  low  in  phosphorus  and  sulphur 
can  be  utilized;  hence  the  terms  "non-B'essemer,"  as  applied  to  ores  high  in 
these  elements,  and  "Bessemer  pig"  as  applied  to  cast  iron  which  is  com- 
paratively free  from  them.  The. removal  of  an  excess  of  phosphorus  and  much 


1148  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 

of  the  sulphur,  thus  making  cheap  ores  available,  may  be  effected  by  fluxing 
the  steel  with  linue,  which  unites  with  the  phosphorus  and  carries  it  off  in 
slag.  As,  however,  this  slag  will  attack  and  chemically  destroy  a  silica  lining 
it  becomes  necessary  in  dephosphorizing  to  equip  the  converter  or  open- 
hearth  furnace  with  a  basic  lining,  which  usually  consist  of  lime,  as  found 
combined  in  magnesite  or  dolomite,  made  into  bricks  or  applied  in  some  other 
form.  Steel  produced  in  this  manner — whether  in  a  Bessemer  converter  or 
in  an  open-hearth  furnace — is  known  as  basic  steel.  In  the  basic  Bessemer 
process  the  elimination  of  the  phosphorus  by  reaction  between  the  charge 
and  the  basic  substances  takes  place  during  the  "afterblow";  that  is,  the 
blow  is  continued  after  the  complete  oxidation  of  the  carbon,  instead  of  ter- 
minating it  on  the  drop  of  the  carbon  flame,  as  in  the  acid  process,  and  the 
very  high  temperature  then  causes  the  phosphorus  to  combine  and  separate. 
As  there  is  no  pronounced  indication  of  the  elimination  of  the  phosphorus, 
the  duration  of  the  afterblow  is  to  a  large  extent  regulated  by  the  judgment 
of  the  operator,  who  stops  the  blowing  when  he  thinks  it  has  continued  for  a 
sufficient  time.  Tests  are  then  made  and  if  the  amount  of  phosphorus  is  too 
great  the  blow  must  be  renewed. 

The  chief  distinction  between  acid  and  basic  steel  is  therefore  the 
elimination  or  the  partial  removal  of  phosphorus  in  the  latter.  As  between 
the  two  the  basic  process,  although  adapted  to  the  use  of  cheaper  ores,  is  the 
more  expensive.  Basic  linings  are  less  durable  than  acid  linings  and  the 
basic  process  wastes  more  pig  iron  than  the  acid  process.  Moreover,  the  basic 
Bessemer  process  requires  a  special  iron  ore  which  must  be  low  in  silicon 
and  comparatively  high  in  phosphorus.  The  adaptation  of  the  process  to  high 
phosphorus  ores  is  therefore  to  some  extent  limited.  In  England  there  is  a 
by-product  from  the  basic  process  which  is  used  as  a  fertilizer.  It  sells  for 
about  $1.00  per  ton. 

As  between  the  Bessemer  and  open-hearth  processes,  the  Bessemer  is 
the  cheaper,  but  the  open-hearth  is  generally  considered  the  more  reliable. 
Open-hearth  steel  is  considered  to  be  more  uniform  in  composition  or  more 
homogeneous  than  Bessemer  steel.  Whatever  differences  may  exist  in  this 
respect  are  explainable  on  the  fact  that  open-hearth  steel  remains  at  all  times 
during  the  process  of  manufacture  more  thoroughly  mixed  with  its  alloys.  As 
the  carbon  is  not  all  burned  out,  and  seldom  burned  to  a  percentage  lower 
than  that  finally  retained,  the  distribution  is  not  seriously  disturbed.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  the  ordinary  Bessemer  process  the  entire  carbon  component 
must  be  added  to  the  metal  after  the  blowing  of  the  metal  has  ceased,  and  the 
only  mixing  operations  to  which  the  metal  is  afterward  subjected  is  when  it 
is  poured  from  the  converter  into  the  ladle  and  drawn  from  the  bottom  of  the 
ladle  into  the  ingot  molds.  Some  think  that  these  operations  do  not  sufficiently 
agitate  the  metal  to  secure  a  uniform  distribution  of  the  carbon  and  that  in- 
jurious segregation  is  liable  to  occur.  At  any  rate  it  is  not  an  uncommon 
experience  to  find  widely  varying  physical  properties,  and  even  chemical  com- 
position, in  test  pieces  cut  from  different  parts  of  the  same  piece  of  Bessemer 
steel.  Mention  of  a  single  instance  will  serve  to  illustrate  possibilities.  Chem- 
ical analysis  of  a  sample  taken  from  the  point  of  fracture  on  a  broken  rail 
showed  the  following  variations  from  the  average  composition  of  the  heat, 
the  latter  being  mentioned  first  in  -each  case:  Carbon,  0.45  to  0.61  per  cent; 
phosphorus,  .09  to  0.20;  sulphur,  .076  to  0.22;  manganese,  0.93  to  1.03.  As 
already  explained,  the  opportunity  to  test  open-hearth  steel  at  any  stage  of  the 
process,  while  such  cannot  be  done  with  the  Bessemer  product,  carries  the 
general  impression  that  the  former  is  under  better  control. 

Comparing  the  expense  of  the  two  processes,  the  open-hearth  plant  is  the 
cheaper,  but  the  longer  time  required  to  produce  a  given  output  by  this  process 
very  much  augments  the  cost  for  labor.  The  capacity  of  Bessemer  converters 
in  ordinary  use  runs  from  5  to  17  tons,  10  tons  being  perhaps  the  capacity  most 
commonly  found.  In  a  converter  of  this  size  the  10  tons  of  metal  is  usually 
blown  in  about  15  minutes,  which  includes  the  time  between  pouring  the  metal 
into  the  converter  and  pouring  it  out  into  the  ladle.  With  metal  which  is  low 
in  silicon  a  heat  is  sometimes  blown  in  8  or  10  minutes.  Speaking  in  a  broad 
and  general  way,  a  Bessemer  plant  of  two  converters  will  average  about  160 
blows  in  24  hours.  The  time  of  blowing  a  15-ton  converter  is  a  little  longer 
than  one  of  smaller  size.  Open-hearth  furnaces  are  built  of  all  capacities  from 
10  to  60  tons  per  heat,  although  for  special  purposes  there  are  some  in  opera- 
tion of  smaller  capacity.  In  American  practice  30  and  40-ton  furnaces  are  per- 
haps the  most  commonly  found.  The  time  required  to  work  a  heat  in  an  open- 


DETAILS  OF  STEEL  WORKING  1149 

hearth  furnace  is  8  to  12  hours,  depending  upon  the  strength  of  the  blast  and 
variations  in  the  raw  material.  In  ordinary  American  practice  an  average  of 
about  16  heats  are  worked  per  week. 

The  unsatisfactory  service  from  the  metal  in  rails  made  during  recent 
years  has  turned  the  attention  of  railway  men  and  manufacturers  toward  basic 
steel.  Both  basic  Bessemer  and  basic  open-hearth  steel  rails  are  used  in 
Europe,  but  in  this  country  basic  steel  rails  have  been  used  but  little,  and  then 
only  by  way  of  experiment.  In  1896  the  Northern  Pacific  Ry.  laid  2000  tons 
of  basic  open-hearth  steel  rails,  of  the  following  composition  besides  the  iron: 
carbon,  0.65  to  0.75  per  cent;  silicon,  0.10  to  0.16  per  cent;  manganese,  0.65 
per  cent;  phosphorus,  .03  per  cent;  sulphur,  .05  per  cent.  At  the  first  reweigh- 
ing  the  results  apparently  indicated  a  rate  of  wear  hardly  exceeding  one  third 
of  that  of  adjacent  Bessemer  rails  laid  at  the  same  time,  in  which  the  carbon 
is  not  in  excess  of  .50  per  cent.  The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R.  also  has  experi- 
mented with  basic  open-hearth  steel  rails,  laid  on  curves  alternately  with  rails 
of  Bessemer  steel.  Comparison  of  results  after  20  months  of  service  under 
heavy  traffic  showed  that  on  the  low  side  of  the  curve  the  rate  of  wear  for  the 
Bessemer  rails  was  about  62  per  cent  greater  than  for  the  open-hearth  rails; 
on  the  high  side  of  the  curve  the  rate  of  wear  for  the  Bessemer  rails  was  about 
50  per  cent  greater  than  for  the  open-hearth  rails.  The  wear  of  both  kinds  of 
rails  on  the  low  side  of  the  curve  (elevation  4  ins.)  was  about  double* the 
amount  on  the  high  side.  The  lateral  wear  on  the  high  side  was  not  abnormal 
for  either  kind  of  rail.  The  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  has  experimented  with  small 
lots  of  open-hearth  rails  laid  in  the  same  way.  The  composition  is  as  follows : 
Carbon,  0.55  to  0.72  per  cent;  manganese,  0.72  to  0.79;  silicon,  0.09  to  0.12; 
phosphorus,  .03  to  .06  The  Louisville  &  Nashville  R.  R.  has  extended  its  rail 
specifications  to  cover  basic  open-hearth  steel.  The  following  tabulation  con- 
trasts the  chemical  composition  of  the  two  kinds  of  metal  for  80-lb.  rails: 

Acid   Bessemer.  Basic    Open-Hearth. 

€arbon    55  to  .65  per  cent.  .62  to     .67     percent. 

Silicon     15  to  .20  per  cent.  .10  to     .20*  per  cent. 

Manganese     .90  to  1.00    per  cent . 

Phosphorus  not  to  exceed .085  per  cent.  .05    per  cent 

Sulphur  not  to  exceed 07    per  cent.  .05    per  'cent. 


*  .15  per  cent  preferred. 

The  Talbot  Process. — As  already  shown,  both  the  open-hearth  and  Bessemer 
processes  are  subject  to  certain  disadvantages.  The  open-hearth  furnace  in 
ordinary  use  is  too  slow  of  operation  to  produce  rail  steel  at  an  economical 
price  and  besides  this  its  output  is  intermittent  and  not  well  adapted  to  the 
continuous  operation  of  a  rail  mill  backed  by  a  convenient  number  of  furnaces. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Bessemer  converter  is  wasteful  of  metal,  the  loss  of 
pig  iron  being  usually  about  13  per  cent  when  converted  into  acid  steel  and 
17  to  19  per  cent  if  converted  into  basic  steel.  In  an  open-hearth  furnace  the 
loss  of  pig  iron  varies  from  five  to  eight  per  cent.  These  considerations  have 
made  it  desirable  to  devise  some  means  of  manufacturing  steel  which  would 
give^  the  continuous  production  of  the  Bessemer  converter  and  reduce  the  loss 
in  metal  to  or  below  that  of  the  open-hearth  furnace.  One  effort  in  this  direction 
which  is  now  receiving  a  good  deal  of  attention  is  a  new  method  of  produc- 
ing open-hearth  steel  continuously,  known  as  the  Talbot  process,  from  the  name 
-of  the  inventor,  Mr.  Benjamin  Talbot. 

This  process  was  first  worked  at  Pencoyd,  Pa.,  in  1899,  where  a  75-ton 
furnace  of  the  tilting  type,  with  basic  lining,  was  set  up.  As  there  are  no  blast 
furnaces  in  this  vicinity  the  pig  iron  is  melted  in  cupolas,  and  the  first  charg- 
ing of  the  furnace,  which  takes  place  on  Sunday  evening,  is  made  with  about 
50  per  cent  of  melted  metal  and  50  per  cent  of  scrap.  This  heat  is  worked  down 
to  steel  with  ore  and  lime  in  the  usual  way,  and  when  the  bath  has  reached 
the  proper  condition  the  furnace  is  tilted  and  about  one  third  of  the  metal  is 
poured  off  through  a  tap  hole  lower  than  the  top  level  of  the  bath,  so  that  no 
slag  is  run  off.  This  metal  is  poured  into  a  ladle  and  cast  into  ingots.  Oxide 
of  iron  in  a  finely  divided  state  is  then  added  to  the  slag,  and  as  soon  as  this  Is 
melted,  about  20  tons  of  molten  cupola  metal  is  poured  in  to  replace  the  steel 
tapped  out.  The  bath  then  begins  a  vigorous  boiling,  much  resembling  the  blow- 
ing of  a  Bessemer  converter,  and  the  carbon  of  the  newly  added  metal  is  rapidly 
burned  out,  the  fuel  gas  being  meantime  cut  off  from  the  furnace.  The  high 
heat  developed  by  burning  the  carbon  of  the  metal  with  the  oxygen  of  the  slag 


1150  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 

supplements  the  effect  of  the  fuel  gases  and  there  is  an  economy  in  fuel  and 
operation  over  ordinary  open-hearth  practice.  In  the  course  of  10  or  15  min- 
utes the  slag,  which  by  this  time  has  lost  most  of  its  iron  oxide,  is  partly  poured, 
off  and  by  the' addition  of  iron  ore  and  lime  the  bath  is  worked  down  to  finished 
steel,  when  about  one  third  of  the  steel  is  again  tapped  off.  '  The  foregoing 
operations  are  then  repeated  and  kept  up  during  the  whole  week,  tire  furnace 
being  completely  emptied  on  Saturday,  for  repairs.  In  this  manner  a  regular 
supply  of  steel  at  frequent  intervals  is  obtained,  with  all  the  advantages  of 
the  open-hearth  process  and  none  of  the  disadvantages  of  that  or  the  Bessemer 
process.  Not  only  is  waste  of  pig  iron  avoided,  but  the  yield  is  actually  in- 
creased from  six  to  eight  per  cent  of  the  pig  iron  poured  into  the  furnace  for 
conversion,  the  gain  being  due  to  the  direct  reduction  of  the  oxides  added  in* 
the  form  of  iron  ore.  Each  furnace  will  cast  about  30  heats  per  week. 

The  Bertrand-Thiel  Process. — The  Bertrand-Thiel  process  of  steel  making,, 
now  being  promoted  in  England,  bids  fair  to  work  some  changes  in  rail  manu- 
facture. This  process  consists  in  refining  pig  iron  by  two  successive  operations, 
in  basic-lined  furnaces  worked  in  pairs.  The  molten  iron  is  poured  into  the 
primary  furrtace  at  a  comparatively  low  temperature,  and  by  additions  of  iron 
ore  and  lime  about  90  per  cent  of  the  phosphorus  and  silicon,  most  of  the  man- 
ganese and  30  per  cent  of  the  carbon  are  eliminated,  in  the  course  of  three- 
hours,  the  phosphorus  uniting  with  the  lime  to  form  slag  and  tire  carbon  being 
burned  out  by  the  oxygen  set  free  from  the  ore.  At  this  juncture  the  bath  is 
tapped  into  the  secondary  furnace,  which  has  previously  been  charged  with 
scrap  and  brought  to  an  oxidizing  heat.  The  primary  furnace  is  usually  set 
at  a  higher  level  than  the  secondary  or  finishing  furnace,  so  that  the  transfer 
of  metal  takes  place  by  gravity.  During  the  transfer  the  slag  is  skimmed  and 
run  off.  The  removal  of  the  slag  protection  causes  the  further  oxidation  of 
the  carbon  from  the  iron,  in  the  secondary  furnace,  where  the  components 
can  be  regulated  at  will,  adding  spiegeleisen  if  necessary.  After  further  treat- 
ment of  about  three  hours  steel  of  any  desired  quality  can  be  obtained. 
Either  all  pig,  or  part  pig  and  part  scrap  can  be  used.  In  the  former  case  the 
process  shows  a  gain  of  2  to  3  p*er  cent  in  yield  on  the  pig  iron  charged,  owing, 
to  the  direct  reduction  of  iron  from  the  ore.  The  slag,  being  highly  phosphoric, 
is  a  valuable  fertilizer  and  sells  for  a  good  price.  Eight  heats  can  be  worked 
every  24  hours  from  each  pair  of  furnaces,  which  cau  be  made  of  any  capacity 
convenient  for  open-hearth  work. 

Nickel-Steel  Rails. — The  hardening  and  toughening  effect  of  alloying  steel 
with  nickel,  so  successfully  practiced  in  the  manufacture  of  armor  plate,  has 
naturally  suggested  a  like  treatment  for  experiments  with  rail  steel.  Such 
experiments  are  now  b'eing  conducted  on  a  small  scale  with  steel  made  by  both 
the  Bessemer  and  the  open-hearth  processes.  On  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg 
division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West  some  nickel-steel  rails  were  laid  on  a 
5-deg.  curve,  and  after  four  years'  service  were  said  to  be  wearing  better  than 
rails  of  ordinary  steel.  Another  quantity  of  nickel  steel  rails  was  laid  in  the- 
west-bound  track  at  the  Horse  Shoe  Curve,  on  the  Pittsburg  division  of  the 
Pennsylvania  R.  R.  These  rails  are  of  100-lb.  section  and  were  rolled  in  an 
order  of  300  tons,  the  metal  being  handled  by  the  Bessemer  process.  Owing  to 
"red  shortness"  the  actual  output  was  only  277  tons  of  rails,  and  57  tons  of 
these  were  of  second  quality.  Following  is  the  average  chemical  analysis: 
carbon,  .504  per  cent;  phosphorus,  .904  per  cent;  manganese,  1  per  cent; 
nickel,  3.22  per  cent.  In  the  straightening  process  the  rails  showed  much 
greater  rigidity  than  is  developed  in  the  cold  straightening  of  ordinary  steel 
rails.  The  rails  were  also  found  to  be  very  hard,  so  much  so  that  ordinary 
drills  were  not  found  equal  to  the  work  of  drilling  the  bolt  holes.  The  price  of 
these  special  rails  is  said  to  have  been  very  high.  These  rails  have  given  good 
satisfaction  from  the  standpoint  of  wear.  Some  of  them  laid  alternately  with 
ordinary  Bessemer  steel  rails  on  6-deg.  curves  had  shown  but  little  wear  in  four 
years,  whereas  the  regular  rails  in  service  the  same  length  of  time  had  been 
turned  and  become  considerably  worn  on  the  other  side  of  the  head.  The  re- 
sult of  these  experiments  was  the  placing  of  large  orders  for  nickel-steel  rails 
by  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  and  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West,  in  1903,  for  fur- 
ther trials.  At  that  time  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R.  began  to  experiment 
with  these  rails.  These  various  orders  were  rolled  by  the  Edgar  Thomson 
Works  of  the  Carnegie  Steel  Co.  The  angle-bar  splices  were  also  rolled  from 
nickel-steel,  the  nickel  content  for  both  purposes  being  3*4  to  3%  per  cent.  It 


DETAILS  OF  STEEL  WORKIXG  1151 

has  been  proposed  that  trial  should  be  made  of  frogs  and  crossings  made  of 
nickel-steel  rails,  to  determine  whether  such  material  might  not  be  found  more 
serviceable  for  the  purpose  and  more  economical,  notwithstanding  the  higher 
price. 

Wheeler-Process  Rails. — The  Southern  Pacific  Co.  has  made  trial  of  rails 
rolled  by  the  Wheeler  process,  whereby  two  grades  of  metal  are  so  manipulated 
that  the  outer  or  wearing  surfaces  of  the  rail  are  of  very  hard  high-carbon 
(0.785  per  cent)  steel,  with  a  soft  steel  core  (0.476  per  cent  carbon).  The-core 
occupies  about  half  of  the  space  in  the  head  and  flange  and  nearly  aj_l  the  space 
in  the  web.  During  1897  thirty-nine  of  these  rails  were  laid  on  the  outside 
of  curves  in  three  places,  30  being  on  10-deg.  curves  and  9  on  a  S^-deg.  curve; 
and  after  a  service  of  a  little  more  than  3  years,  under  traffic  of  12  to  15 
million  tons,  the  rate  of  wear  of  the  Wheeler  rails  was  found  to  be  just  about 
half  that  of  rails  of  ordinary  steel  of  same  weight  and  pattern  laid  immediately 
adjoining  them  on  the  same  curves.  These  rails  were  traversed  by  the  heaviest 
mountain  locomotives  of  the  road.  During  the  three  years  11  of  the  39  rails 
failed  by  pieces  of  metal  breaking  from  the  side  of  the  head,  and  had  to  be 
removed.  The  manner  of  failure  indicated  an  imperfect  union  between  the 
hard  and  soft  steel. 

The  Manning  Unsymmetricai  Rail— Mr.  W.  T.  Manning,  consulting  engineer 
of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R.,  is  the  designer  of  a  rail  with  an  unsymmetrical 
head,  conceived  with  the  idea  of  prolonging  the  life  of  the  rail  on  the  outer 
side  of  curves.  The  section  differs  from  that  of  ordinary  rails  in  having  an 
excess  of  metal  on  the  gage  side  of  the  head,  thus  interposing  additional  metal 
for  wear.  Experiments  with  rails  of  this  design  are  being  tried  on  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  and  Pittsburg  &  Western  roads.  The  form  of  section  is  illustrated 
by  Fig.  15 A,  in  which  A  B  C  D  represents  the  American  Society  section  and 
A  H  G  J  C  D  the  Manning  section.  The  excess  material  includes,  therefore, 
some  metal  added  to  the  top  of  the  rail,  as  well  as  to  the  side  of  the  head.  In 
85-lb.  rails  the  distance  BH  is  %  in.,  and  the  vertical  portion  HI  is  x/4  in.  in 
length  and  runs  into  a  curve  of  1  in.  radius  extending  to  the  lower  corner  of 


Fig.  15  A.  Fig.  15  B. 

the  head.  The  intention  of  the  latter  feature  is  to  delay  a  full  flange  contact 
as  long  as  possible  while  the  side  of  the  rail  head  continues  to  wear  away. 
In  a  comparison  of  the  two  sections  with  respect  to  wear  of  head  the  limit  of 
abrasion  is  bas'ed  upon  the  state  of  wear  when  the  wheel  flange  cuts  the  angle 
bar.  Referring  to  Fig.  15B,  in  which  the  "Society"  section  is  represented 
within  the  lines  BCDGA,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  "Society"  section  is  limited 
for  flange  wear  to  the  portion  BCD  and  the  Manning  section  to  BFD,  thereby 
prolonging  the  wear  in  such  proportion  as  BFC  stands  to  BCD,  which  is  cal- 
culated to  average  66  per  cent.  The  distribution  of  metal  in  the  85  and  90-lb. 
sections  is,  head  45  per  cent,  web  20  per  cent  and  base  35  per  cent.  The  excess 
metal  amounts  to  about  3  Ibs.  per  yard  or  2%  tons  per  mile  of  rail.  Another 
advantage  in  the  use  of  this  rail,  said  to  have  been  shown  by  experience,  is 
that,  owing  to  the  excessive  bearing  on  the  inside  of  the  rail,  the  track  has 
a  greater  tendency  to  hold  to  gage  than  is  the  case  with  rails  of  symmetrical 
section. 

The  first  experiment  with  these  rails  was  with  1000  tons  of  85-lb.  section 
laid  on  heavy  curves  in  the  mountains  in  sections  adjacent  to  rails  of  American 
Society  section  of  the  same  weight  and  material.  After  a  service  of  lQ]/2 
months  at  some  points  a  comparison  of  results  showed  up  very  favorably  to 
the  Manning  rail.  In  that  time  the  rails  of  the  American  Society  section  had 
worn  away  to  the  angle  bar  limit,  thus  rendering  them  unfit  for  further 
service,  whereas  the  wear  on  the  Manning  rails  had  reached  only  to  a  point 
which  would  correspond  to  the  gage  line  of  the  top  corner  of  the  American 
Society  section.  In  ultimate  wear  these  results  indicated  a  service  125  per  cent 
greater  for  the  Manning  section  than  for  the  American  Society  section  on 
curves. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

3.  Material  Yards  in  Track-Laying.* — The  location  of  material  yards  and 
the  handling  of  the  material  on  new  lines  depend  a  great  deal  upon  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  work  is  done.  It  is  a  very  different  matter  in  laying 
track  on  some  new  road  that  is  being  built  in  ten-mile  stretches,  where  it  is 
necessary  to  finish  the  first  ten  miles  in  order  to  pay  for  the  grading  of  the 
next  ten  miles,  from  what  it  is  on  a  long  road  where  the  work  progresses  con- 
tinuously. Then,  again,  there  is  the  small  company  that  gets  only  a  few  cars 
of  rails  at  a  time,  and  begins  to  operate  its  road  before  it  is  built.  (In  this 
connection  I  have  seen  a  road  put  on  trains  to  do  local  business  when  some  of 
the  track,  was  only  half  tied  and  only  two  or  three  ties  spiked  to  a  rail — track 
that  I  would  not  advise  running  a  construction  train  over  at  any  considerable 
speed.)  For  a  road  that  gets  only  a  little  material  at  a  time  and  is  a  long  time 
building,  and  where  only  a  few  miles  of  track  are  laid  each  month,  no  special 
rule  can  be  laid  down  for  placing  material  yards  or  for  handling  the  material 
trains.  For  short  lines  of  this  kind  but  little  need  be  said  about  the  material 
yard,  except  that  what  little  material  is  to  b'e  stored  should  be  unloaded  with 
as  much  regularity  as  possible. 

Where  long  lines  are  being  built  the  material  yard  should  be  planned  out 
in  advance,  and  the  material  should  all  be  unloaded  according  to  this  plan  and 
with  the  object  in  view  that  it  will  have  to  be  reloaded,  probably  in  a  hurry, 
and  that  a  delay  to  the  track-laying  force  for  an  hour  will  amount  to  as  much 
as,  or  more  than,  the  wages  of  the  unloading  gang  for  an  entire  day.  The 
mistake  usually  made  is  at  the  very  first  in  not  providing  sufficient  room,  by 
laying  out  side-tracks,  to  hold  the  material.  Never  unload  any  material  off 
from  the  main  line,  either  the  new  main  line  or  the  old  one,  and  especially  the 
old  one.  Never  unload  material  off  from  a  side-track  on  the  old  main  line 
that  is  being  used  to  operate  the  old  road.  Never  unload  material  off  from  a 
Y-track,  either  old  or  new.  Never  unload  material  into  borrow  pits  or  off  from 
a  high  fill;  and,  above  all  things,  never  unload  the  cars  just  where  the  freight 
train  happens  to  set  them,  unless  it  is  the  proper  place.  Never  send  a  young 
man  out  from  the  engineer's  office  to  "pick  up  a  few  men  and  get  those  cars 
unloaded  as  quick  as  possible."  Never  send  a  section  foreman  on  the  operated 
.road  to  unload  material  for  the  construction  or  engineering  department  unless 
you  tell  him  what  you  want  done,  and  how. 

In  level  country  a  satisfactory  material  yard  can  be  easily  planned  and 
quickly  and  cheaply  laid  out.  The  number  of  tracks  and  their  location  will, 
of  course,  depend  upon  the  conditions  at  hand,  but  have  at  least  two  side- 
tracks. It  is  well  to  have  at  least  two  side-tracks  on  the  same  side  of  the  main 
line,  about  12-ft.  centers  for  about  300  ft.,  when  the  outer  track  should  swing 
out  farther  away  from  the  first.  At  least  one  of  the  tracks  should  be  con- 
nected at  both  ends,  and  if  any  of  the  tracks  are  to  be  "stubs"  or  "spur  tracks" 
(which,  for  temporary  use  are  about  as  good  as  any),  the  switches  should  be 
at  the  end  opposite  from  the  direction  in  which  the  track  is  to  be  laid — that  is, 
'IE  the  road  is  to  be  built  towards  the  west  the  switches  should  be  at  the  east 
end  of  the  yard.  As  many  tracks  should  be  laid  as  may  be  necessary  to  hold 
all  the  material  that  may  be  on  hand  at  a  time.  Temporary  tracks  can  be 
laid  with  about  12  ties  to  a  rail,  and  should  be  surfaced  up  only  as  much  as 
may  be  necessary  in  order  to  prevent  the  rails  from  b'eing  bent.  In  oth«r 
words,  don't  go  to  the  expense  of  laying  a  full  tied,  full  spiked,  full  bolted  and 
surfaced  track  for  a  temporary  one. 

In  unloading  the  ties  pile  them  at  right  angles  to  the  track  and  in  not  more 
than  two  piles  on  one  side  of  the  track.  Do  not  carry  them  away  off,  25  to  100 
ft.  from  the  track,  and  do  not  pile  them  up  in  crib  work  style,  half  one  way 
and  half  the  other.  This  is  sometimes  done  with  the  idea  of  letting  the  air 
get  at  them  to  dry  them  out.  Rails  should  always  be  unloaded  lengthwise  the 
track,  and  do  not  unload  one  car-load  "here"  on  a  couple  of  ties  and  another 
car-load  "there."  I  saw,  in  one  instance,  85-lb.  rails  piled  up  10  or  12  ft.  high, 
with  every  other  layer  at  right  angles  to  the  track.  The  cost  of  unloading  them 
must  have  been  ten  times  as  much  as  it  would  have  been  to  have  done  it  right. 
It  took  20  men  to  load  them  and  it  required  twice  as  long  to  do  it  as  it  would 
have  taken  ten  men  if  they  were  unloaded  properly.  Rails  should  not  be  un- 
loaded and  piled  up  close  to  the  track  when  there  is  plenty  of  room,  but  as  far 
out  from  it  as  possible  without  going  beyond  the  point  where  a  30-ft.  rail  can 
be  used  for  a  skid  to  unload  and  reload  them.  By  doing  this  the  piles  can  be 

*By  courtesy  of  Mr.  John  Smith 


MATERIAL   YARDS    IN    TRACK-LAYING  1153 

made  about  50  per  cent  higher  than  if  the  rails  are  piled  close  to  the  track, 
and  they  can  be  reloaded  in  half  the  time  with  a  smaller  force  than  if  they 
are  piled  close  to  the  track.  Four  men  will  skid  up  rails  from  this  pile  about 
as  quickly  as  ten  or  twelve  men  will  load  them  when  they  are  close  to  the 
track.  Angle  bars  as  well  as  the  spikes  and  bolts  should  be  unloaded  near  the 
rails.  A  crib  work  of  ties  with  a  floor  of  ties  or  crossing  plank  about  2  ft.  above 
the  track  should  be  made  and  the  kegs  unloaded  on  this.  If  the  material  yard 
is  on  a  grade  put  the  spikes  etc.  at  the  down-grade  end  of  the  piles  of  rails, 
so  that  after  a  car  is  loaded  with  rails  it  can  be  started  with  a^  bar  and  run 
down  opposite  the  "trimmings"  (spikes,  bolts,  and  angle  bars).  I  have  seen  a 
few  very  nice  examples  of  this  arrangement. 

I  might  say  that  a  well  arranged  material  yard  is  something  that  is  seldom 
seen,  and  that,  except  on  the  long  western  lines,  where  men  have  learned  from 
experience,  material  is  seldom  unloaded  correctly.  One  great  mistake,  for  a 
small  matter,  is  to  place  kegs  of  spikes  or  bolts  on  the  ground  and  a  thousand 
feet  or  more-  from  the  rails.  I  might  explain  in  this  connection,  even  if  partly 
by  repetition,  that  .each  car  of  rails  should  be  "trimmed"  when  loaded;  that 
is  put  on  all  the  angle  bars  for  the  rails  and  usually  all  of  the  spikes,  bolts  and 
nut  locks  necessary  for  them.  The  exception  in  the  latter  case  is  where  a 
"spike  car"  is  used  in  connection  with  the  track-laying.  When  the  last  method 
is  practicable  it  is  about  the  best,  in  my  opinion,  the  spikes  for  the  "back  work" 
then  being  carried  on  a  separate  car  and  distributed  from  this  car  as  may  be 
required.  At  one  end  of  this  same  car  there  should  be  carried  crossing  plank 
and  surface  cattle  guards,  when  the  track  force  is  putting  them  in.  What  I 
mean  by  properly  unloading  spikes  and  bolts  is  that  they  should  never  be  rolled 
into  borrow  pits  or  be  placed  several  feet  below  the  level  of  the  track;  and 
they  should  never  be  unloaded  directly  on  the  ground,  as  the  dampness,  caused 
by  rains  etc.,  will  rot  the  keg's  and  rust  the  bolts.  The  practice  of  unloading 
them  low  down,  off  a  fill,  will  also  cause  the  kegs  to  be  broken,  so  that  they 
cannot  be  reloaded.  Always  build  a  platform  with  a  cribwork  of  ties  about 
half  the  hight  of  the  floor  of  the  car.  It  will  pay,  as  it  will  save  breaking 
the  kegs  in  unloading  upon  it,  they  are  easily  reloaded,  and  moisture  of  the 
ground  will  not  affect  them.  It  is  my  observation  that  many  men  unload  track 
materials  with  only  one  idea  in  mind,  and  that  is  to  get  them  off  the  cars  with 
the  least  amount  of  work  and  trouble  and  to  unload  every  car  wherever  the 
train  happens  to  leave  it.  For  example,  in  a  material  yard  I  have  in  mind,  the 
spikes  and  bolts  were  unloaded  at  the  west  end  of  the  m'aterial  side-track, 
while  the  rails  were  unloaded  at  the  extreme  east  end  of  the  yard,  1-3  of  a  mile 
from  the  spikes,  with  30,000  or  40,000  ties  piled  up  along  the  track  in  between 
them. 

All  material  loaded  in  the  material  yard  should  be  loaded  properly.  When 
curved  rails  are  being  laid  they  should  be  curved  before  loading  them  to  go 
to  the  front;  and  don't  forget  to  curve  just  enough  "short  rails"  for  them,  and 
don't  load  the  short  rails  all  on  the  bottom  of  the  car  under  the  rest  of  the 
curved  rails — place  them  on  top,  as  it  is  then  easier  to  get  at  them  at  the  front; 
otherwise  it  is  necessary  to  "dig"  for  them  when  wanted.  In  laying  right  and 
left-hand  rails,  that  is,  using  a  certain  side  for  the  "running"  side,  as  when 
laying  old  rails,  for  example,  arrange  them  on  the  cars  so  that  they  will  unload 
properly.  Where  the  Harris  track-laying  machine  is  being  used  they  may  be 
loaded  on  the  right  and  left-hand  sides  of  the  cars,  but  for  other  track-laying 
machines,  where  the  rails  are  all  run  forward  on  one  side  of  the  train,  it  is 
necessary  to  load  the  rails  for  one  side  of  the  track  on  one  car  and  the  rails 
for  the  other  side  of  the  track  on  another  car,  alternating  the  cars  loaded  with 
right  and  left-hand  rails.  It  is  then  always  necessary  to  bring  out  the  cars 
in  pairs. 

Personally,  one  of  the  best  material  yards  I  ever  saw  was  at  Fremont, 
Neb.,  in  1887,  where -the  material  for  more  than  100  miles  of  track  was  piled  up. 
We  laid  this  track  by  contract,  and  on  only  one  instance  was  the  "front" 
delayed  for  failure  of-  the  prompt  delivery  of  the  material  to  the  last  side-track, 
and,  as  a  rule,  we  laid  more  than  two  miles  of  track  per  day.  An  excellent 
illustration  of  modern  practice  in  handling  material  for  long  stretches  of  track- 
laying,  especially  in  the  West,  was  afforded  in  the  methods  employed  by  the 
Burlington  &  Missouri  River  R.  R.  in  the  Guernsey  extension,  in  1899  and  1900. 
The  same  practice  was  also  employed  not  only  on  previous  extensions  of  this 
same  company  but  on  other  western  roads  where  there  was  considerable  work 
to  do  from  one  point.  The  material  yard  on  the  Guernsey  (Wyo.)  line  was 


1154  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

located  at  Alliance,  Neb.,  the  point  where  the  new  work  started.  When  the 
work  of  laying  track  started  there  were  vast  quantities  of  ties  unloaded  and 
piled  up,  not  promiscuously  here  and  there,  but  all  in  one  place,  along  two  or 
three  "tie  tracks."  The  rails  were  unloaded  along  both  sides  of  a  track  used 
only  for  that  purpose.  The  man  who  unloaded  them  did  so  with  the  idea 
that  it  would  be  necessary  to  again  load  them,  and  he  did  it  right. 

On  this  extension  (as  is  the  practice  on  most  of  the  western  roads  in  lay- 
ing new  track)  the  telegraph  wire  was  brought  up  to  the  end  of  the  track 
every  night  and  an  operator  was  employed,  so  that  all  reports  and  orders  could 
be  sent  in  daily.  The  speed  of  track-laying  was  about  l1^  miles  per  day.  The 
supply  train  left  the  material  yard  at  Alliance  each  evening  at  about  7  o'clock, 
carrying  material  for  the  next  day's  track-laying.  The  selection  of  the  late 
hour  for  leaving  was  to  give  opportunity  to  send  in  special  messages  by  wire 
late  in  the  day  and  have  the  things  ordered  brought  out  to  the  front  the  same 
night.  In  making  up  this  train  the  cars  loaded  with  the  material  for  the  next 
afternoon's  work  were  placed  ahead,  with  the  cars  carrying  material  to  start 
the  work  in  the  morning  coupled  in  at  the  rear  of  the  train.  The  purpos-e  of 
this  arrangement  was  to  save  switching  at  the  farthest  side-track,  or  the 
point  where  the  miaterial  was  left,  as  the  car-loads  of  material  for  the  morning's 
work  were  then  pushed  in  at  the  rear  end  of  the  side-track,  in  position  for 
"first  out"  in  the  morning,  leaving  the  other  division  of  the  train  on  sid'e-track 
to  be  taken  out  after  noon.  This  arrangement  of  running  the  supply  trains 
at  night  also  afforded  the  best  economy  in  the  use  of  cars,  as  the  cars  unloaded 
at  the  Tront  during  any  certain  day  could  be  returned  to  the  material  yard  in 
time  for  reloading  early  the  next  morning.  The  ballasting  of  the  track  followed 
close  upon  the  track-laying,  so  that  the  material  trains  were  able  to  make 
good  speed. 

4.  Rules  on  Care  of  Lamps,  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  Ry. — The  following  are  the 
rules  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  issued  to  all  employees  using  or 
caring  for  signal  and  all  other  oil  lamps: 

1.  Standard  headlight  oil,  as  furnished  by  the  company,  must  be  used  in 
all  signal  lamps,  -except  hand  lanterns.     Signal  oil  is  furnished  for  lanterns 
only.    No  attempt  must  be  made  to  improve  the  quality  of  signal  oil  by  adding 
lard  or  kerosene  oil.      Signal  oil  is  rendered  explosive  if  the  lard  and  kerosene 
oils  are  mixed  in  the  wrong  proportions.    If  the  oil  does  not  give  satisfaction 
the  trouble  must  be  reported. 

2.  Lamp  fonts  must  not  be  filled  above  a  point  at  least  yz  in.  below  the 
top  of  the  font. 

3.  The  wick  must  be  long  enough  to  touch  the  bottom  of  the  font,  and 
must  fit  in  the  burner  properly.     Wicks  that  will  not  move  freely  by  turning 
the  ratchet  shaft  are  apt  to  clog  the  burner,  preventing  a  free  flow  of  oil  to 
the  flame,  causing  the  burner  to  overheat,   encrust  the  v/ick,   give  a  smoky 
flame,  and  sometimes  cause  an  explosion. 

4.  When  the  ratchet  wheels  will  not  properly  raise  or  lower  the  wick,  the 
wick  should  be  drawn  up  through  the  wick  tube  with  the  fingers,  and  then 
moved  back  to  place  by  the  ratchet  wheel.    If  a  wick  is  too  large  for  the  wick 
tube  it  can  be  reduced  by  drawing  out  a  few  threads. 

5.  The  wick  must  be  kept  below  the  top  of  the  burner  when  lamp  is  not 
lighted,  to  prevent  oil  flowing  from  the  wick  over  outside  of  font. 

6.  All  lamp  fonts  must  be  emptied  and  drained  once  every  week  and  refilled 
with  new  oil.     At  points  where  a  number  of  lamps  are  used  the  old  oil  thus 
removed  must  be  poured  into  a  can  kept  for  that  purpose,  and  marked  "Old 
oil  only."    When  filled,  this  can  must  be  sent  to  the  nearest  roundhouse  or  car- 
yard,  and  the  oil  used  for  such  purposes  as  cleaning  trucks  'etc.,  but  on  no 
account  must  it  be  used  for  lamps  again. 

7.  Once  a  month  all  oil  cans  and  lamp  fonts  must  be  thoroughly  rinsed 
with  clean  boiling  water  and  then  thoroughly  drained  and  dried.     Soap  or  soda 
must  not  be  used  in  the  water,  as  they  will  leave  a  residue  or  coating  on  the 
font  or  can  that  is  injurious  to  the  oil. 

8.  Lamps  must  be  cleaned,  fonts  filled,  wicks  trimmed  and  burners  cleaned 
daily.    All  vents  in  lamp  body  must  be  kept  open  and  clear  of  soot  and  dirt,  so 
that  lamp  will  receive  the  proper  amount  of  draught.     Special  attention  must 
be  given  to  the  lenses  to  keep  them  clean,  and  to  the  top  of  lamps  where  the 
soot  is  most  likely  to  collect.    Lenses  must  be  kept  clean  of  all  grease,  oil,  soot 
or  dirt.     If  they  cannot  be  cleaned  in  the  lamp,  lenses  should  be  removed, 
cleaned  with  clean  boiling  water,  care  being  taken  to  remove  all  grease  and 
soot  from  the  corners  and  angles  on  the  corrugated  back  of  lenses. 


DISTRIBUTING  TIES  1155 

9.  If  the  burners  become  fouled  with  oil,  soot  or  incrustations  from  the 
wicks,  they  can  be  cleaned  thoroughly  by  dipping  in  boiling  water.     The  gas 
•escape  vent  in  the  burner  must  never  be  allowed  to  become  closed. 

10.  All  Tamps  should  be  lighted  for  a  short  time  before  turning  the  flame 
up  to  its  full  hight,  which  should  not  be  more  than  one  inch  above  the  top  of 
burner.    All  lam'ps  should  be  examined  after  fonts  are  put  in  place  to  see  that 
they  do  not  smoke. 

11.  The  sulphur  must  be  burned  off  the  match  before  it  is  applied  to  the 
wick,  to  avoid  encrusting  the  wick  with  sulphur. 

12.  In  no  case  will  employees  be  allowed  to  make  alterations  in  lamps. 
If  they  do  not  give  satisfactory  service  the  trouble  must  be  reported. 

13.  When  a  lamp  through  any  cause  becomes  unserviceable  a  requisition 
must  be  made  for  a  lamp  to  replace  it,  and  as  soon  as  the  latter  is  received 
the  defective  lamp  must  be  sent  to  the  general  storekeeper  with  a  "Defective 
Lamp  Report"  (Form  No.  872),  properly  filled  in  and  attached  to  the  lamp  as 
a  shipping  tag.    The  stub  of  this  report  must  also  be  filled  in  and  mailed  to  the 
lamp  inspector  at  the  same  time,  care  being  taken  to  quote  the  requisition  num- 
ber on  which  the  lamp  to  replace  the  defective  one  was  ordered. 

14.  In  taking  down  or  replacing  lamps  at  semaphores,  the  glasses  in  the 
semaphore  arm  spectacle  frames  must  be  inspected  to  see  if  they  are  clean  and 
in  good  condition.    A  broken  glass  must  be  reported  by  telegraph  to  the  train- 
master and  the  signal  engineer. 

5.  Distributing  Ties. — (By  courtesy  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Rockhold.)  The  varying 
conditions  which  one  has  to  contend-  with  when  distributing  ties  for  renewal 
make  it  practically  impossible  to  follow  any  set  rule,  or  method,  as  that  would 
call  for  equally  set  conditions.  For  instance,  it  often  happens  that,  on  account 
of  heavy  commercial  business,  we  find  ourselves  short  not  only  of  suitable 
-cars  in  which  to  load  the  ties,  but  power  as  well.  Under  such  circumstances 
the  ties  come  dragging  along  in  small  lots,  and  we  are  not  justified  in  organiz- 
ing a  work  train  for  this  work.  In  such  cases  as  it  is  necessary  to  release 
the  cars  without  delay  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using  the  local  freight  trains 
and  one  or  two  gangs  of  section  men,  or  -enough  to  put  four  men  to  the  car 
if  we  were  handling  oak,  treated  pine,  ior  water-soaked  ties;  or  if  seasoned 
redwood,  or  dry,  untreated  pine,  then  two  me'n  to  the  car  are  sufficient. 

When  ordering  ties  for  renewal  I  always  iriake  it  a  practice  to  go  over  the 
ground  personally  with  the  foremen,  marking  each  tie  with  an  adze  which  it  Is 
found  necessary  to  remove;  and  whenever  possible  to  do  so,  I  make  it  a  point 
to  superintend  in  person  the  distribution  of  tire  ties,  as  I  have  learned  from 
•experience  that  it  is  not  safe  as  a  rule  to  rely  too  much  in  such  matters  on  the 
average  foreman's  judgment.  He  usually  'errs  in  favor  of  his  own  particular 
section,  or  if  he  is  an  extra  foreman,  his  chief  object  is  to  get  the  ties  unloaded. 
Whether  he  gets  too  many  or  not  enough  ties  off  in  certain  limits,  whether  they 
lie  at  the  top  or  at  the  bottom  of  a  30-ft.  embankment,  are  matters  which  chiefly 
•concern  the  man  who  puts  them  in  the  track,  and  for  this  reason  are  a  sec- 
ondary consideration  with  him.  A  great  deal  of  the  expense  of  renewing  ties 
•may  often  be  traced  back  to  careless  or  slipshod  methods  of  distributing.  Ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  high,  narrow  fills,  narrow  cuts,  or  tunnels  there  is  no  good 
reason  why  ties  should  not  be  so  distributed  that  the  push  car  need  never  be 
brought  into  service.  I  always  unload  the  new  ties  on  one  side  of  the  track 
and  take  out  the  old  ties  on  the  opposite  side.  In  this  way  the  men  do  not 
have  to  climb  from  one  side  of  the  train  to  the  other  when  loading  up  the  old 
ties  for  fuel,  fence  posts  etc. 

Whenever  practicable,  ties  for  renewals  should  be  unloaded  on  a  face.  If 
this  is  not  done,  when  the  gaps  are  finally  closed  up  there  is  generally  a 
shortage  or  a  surplus,  and  either  these  places  are  left  short  of  ties  or  else  more 
are  unloaded  than  can  be  used,  and  later  on  have  to  be  redistributed.  This 
takes  time,  and  this  is  one  of  the  cases  where  time  is  money.  Again,  unless 
ties  are  distributed  on  a  face  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  get  an  accurate  check 
of  the  number  unloaded  from  each  car.  This  results  in  no  end  of  trouble  for 
the  office  force. 

The  size  of  the  crew  used  for  unloading  depends:  first,  on  the  grades,  and 
the  number  of  cars  the  engine  can  handle;  second,  upon  the  distance  between 
side-tracks;  and  third,  upon  the  number  of  trains  to  contend  with.  But,  suppose 
•conditions  are  normal:  i.  e.,  plenty  of  power,  no  lack  of  equipment,  and  ties 
coming  along  regularly.  I  find  it  is  then  preferable  to  do  the  unloading  with 
a  regularly  organized  force,  and  work  train.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious: 


1156  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

they  soon  become  expert  in  the  work  of  "opening  up  the  cars"  and  handling 
the  ties,  and  will  easily  unload  a  third  more  in  a  day  than  men  who  are  not 
accustomed  to  the  work.  As  a  general  proposition  it  is  best  to  handle  short 
trains,  say  ten  cars,  as  you  can  start  them  quickly,  stop  them  exactly  where 
wanted,  make  good  time  getting  out  of  the  way  of  trains,  and  a  very  short 
siding  will  hold  them.  My  plan  is  to  put  either  two  or  four  men  in  each  car, 
according  to  the  kind  of  ties  being  handled,  as  already  explained.  I  find  how 
many  rail  lengths  this  particular  train  covers  before  leaving  the  station,  stop 
the  train  one  train  length  short  of  the  point  where  I  intend  to  begin  unloading, 
and  while  the  men  are  "opening  up  the  cars"  go  ahead  and  count  the  number 
of  ties  that  are  to  be  taken  out  in  the  number  of  rails  covered  by  this  train. 
I  then  divide  this  number  by  the  number  of  cars  in  the  train,  the  result  being 
the  number  of  ties  to  be  unloaded  from  each  car.  By  a  prearranged  signal  I 
apprise  the  foreman  how  many  ties  I  require  from  each  car,  and  he  in  turn 
communicates  it  to  the  men.  The  train  is  than  moved  forward  and  while  the 
men  are  unloading  I  again  go  ahead  and  count  the  number  of  ties  to  be 
removed  from  tire  required  number  of  rails,  and  again  signal  the  number  to 
the  foreman.  The  train  is  again  moved  forward  one  length. 

This  plan  is  pursued  until  the  cars  are  all  em'pty.  Should  one  car  become 
empty  before  the  others,  as  frequently  happens,  count  the  full  number  of  rails 
covered  by  the  original  number  of  cars  in  the  train,  but  in  the  division  reduce 
the  number  of  cars  one  or  more  as  the  case  requires,  which  will  of  course  raise 
the  number  to  be  unloaded  from  the  remainder  accordingly.  The  advantages 
of  this  plan  are  as  follows:  First,  each  man  has  to  do  his  share  of  the  work, 
as  there  is  no  possible  opportunity  for  shirking  if  one  was  so  disposed;  second, 
any  number  of  cars  can  be  unloaded  without  confusion,  and  an  accurate  check 
can  be  kept  on  each  car;  third,  you  get  just  the  numb'er  of  ties  unloaded  you 
require — no  more,  no  less. 

6.  Tie  Preservation  in  Europe. — In  Europe,  particularly  in  England, 
France,  Germany  and  Austria,  where  lumber  is  generally  high  in  price,  the 
preservation  of  railway  ties  by  chemical  treatment  has  been  practiced  longer 
than  in  this  country,  and  more  scientifically.  In  the  first  place,  the  timber  that 
is  cut  into  ties  is  more  carefully  selected  there  than  here,  and  the  ties  are 
bought  to  closer  specifications.  After  that  more  attention  is  paid  to  natural 
seasoning  than  is  the  rule  in  this  country.  The  ties  are  carefully  piled  and 
allowed  to  season  6  to  18  months  before  treatment.  An  allowance  of  8  months 
to  a  year  for  seasoning  is  quite  general  practice.  And  then  the  ties  are  more 
carefully  handled  in  other  ways ;  as,  for  instance,  measures  are  taken  to  prevent 
splitting  and  checking,  which  has  never  been  done  in  this  country.  If  tires 
exposed  to  the  sun  show  signs  of  checking  or  splitting  at  the  ends  they  are 
bored  and  bolted,  to  draw  the  fibers  together,  or  S-clamps  are  driven  into  the 
ends.  The  latter  device  consists  of  a  piece  of  sharpened  hoop  iron  or  bar  of 
edge-tool  section,  %  or  %  in.  wide,  bent  into  tire  form  of  a  double  hook  or 
letter  "S,"  in  sizes  3  to  7  ins.  long.  Ties  piled  for  seasoning  are  frequently 
inspected,  and  wherever  there  is  an  indication  of  incipient  cracking  one  of 
these  clamps  is  driven  into  the  end  of  the  tie,  across  the  line  of  cleavage,  to 
hold  the  fibers  together  and  prevent  them  from  opening  further.  Beech  ties, 
like  chestnut  and  some  varieties  of  oak  in  this  country,  are  especially  subject 
to  checking.  And  then  in  Europe  ties  are  generally  adzed  at  the  rail  seats, 
if  necessary,  and  bored  for  the  spikes,  by  machinery,  before  being  treated. 
In  connection  v/ith  boring  holes  for  the  fastenings  at  the  time  the  ties  are 
treated,  it  is  found  that  the  gage  can  be  established  with  greater  precision  than 
results  when  boring  the  holes  at  the  time  the  tie  is  placed  in  the  track.  If 
screw  spikes  are  used  the  spacing  of  the  holes  bored  in  the  ties  does  not  vary, 
the  widening  of  the  gage  for  curves  being  provided  for  by  means  of  adjustable 
clips  or  adjustable  gage  pieces  in  the  fastening  for  the  tie  plate. 

,The  antiseptic  most  largely  used  for  tie  treatment  in  Europe  is  coal  tar 
creosote.  Of  87  railways  reporting  to  the  International  Railway  Congress  in 
1900,  28  were  using  untreated  ties  and  59  had  adopted  some  process  of  treat- 
ment. Of  these  59  roads  38  were  using  creosote,  18  were  using  zinc  chloride, 
four  were  using  zinc-creosote,  three  were  using  copper  sulphate  and  one  was 
using  brine.  Five  were  using  two  processes.  In  Great  Britain  the  creosoting 
process  is  used  exclusively,  and  practically  all  the  ties  are  treated.  The  timber 
is  imported  Baltic  pine  (also  known  as  redwood  and  Scotch  pine)  from  Norway, 
Sweden  and  Russia.  The  ties  are  injected  with  7  to  9.6  Ibs.  of  coal  tar  oil  per 
cubic  foot,  and  the  average  life  is  15  or  16  years.  The  average  life  of  tha. 


TIE  PRESERVATION  IN  EUROPE  1157 

untreated  tie  is  about  8  years.    In  France  about  60  per  cent  of  the  ties  are  oak, 

22  per  cent  beech  and  18  per  cent  pine.     The  beech  is  native  wood,  the  oak 
mainly  so  (some  of  the  supply  b'eing  obtained  from  Italy),  and  the  pine  is  im- 
ported.   The  use  of  oak  is  diminishing  and  the  use  of  beech  and  pine  increas- 
ing.   Creosote  in  large  quantity  is  the  antiseptic  chiefly  used,  but  zinc-creosote 
is  used  on  the  state  railways.    All  of  the  beech  and  pine  and  nearly  all  of  the 
oak  ties  are  treated.    The  oak  ties  take  from  9  to  13  Ibs.  of  creosote  each  and 
the  beech  and  pine  ties  generally  35  to  60  Ibs.  each.    The  standard  tie  is  8.53 
ft.   long,  5.1  ins.  thick  and  10.2  ins.  wide.     The  Eastern  of  France  and  the 
Paris,  Lyons  &  Mediterranean  roads  inject  60  Ibs  of  oil  per  tie,  for  beech  wood, 
and  ttie  Western  Ry.  44  Ibs.  per  tie.    The  life  obtained  is  16  to  30  years,  accord- 
ing to  the  quantity  of  antiseptic  used.    In  a  report  to  the  International  Railway 
Congress,  in  1895,  based  on  data  from  54  railways,  the  average  life  of  creosoted 
oak  ties   was'  placed  at  25   years,   of  creosoted   beech   ties   30   years  and   of 
creosoted  pine  ties  20  years.    A  report  of  the  German  Railway  Union  (which 
includes  the  countries  Austria-Hungary,  Roumania,  Netherlands,   Luxemburg, 
Germany  and  Switzerland)  in  1896  gives  the  life  of  treated  pine  ties  at  20  to 

23  years,  beech  30  to  34  years,  and  oak  24  to  28  years.    The  life  of  untreated 
.>ak  ties  in  France  and  Germany  averages  13%  years;   of  untreated  pine  ties 
7  to  8  years;   and  of  untreated  beech  ties  2y2  to  3  years.     The  Southern  Ry. 
uses  the  sulphate  of  copper  (Boucherre)  treatment,  injecting  solution  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  to  get  0.4  Ib.  of  the  dry  salt  per  cubic  foot.    On  the  Eastern  Ry. 
oak  ties  are  generally  allowed  to  season  15  to  20  months  and  beech  ties  6 
months  or  longer,  before  treatment.    The  piles,  which  are  isolated,  contain  100 
ties  each,  with  10-in.  air  spaces  between  the  pieces  in  eac"h  layer,  and  the  top 
layer  is  made  with  sawed  ties  laid  close  and  sloping.    To  protect  the  ties  from 
rail  cutting  use  is  made  of  creosoted  poplar  tie  plates  about  the  thickness  of 
a  shingl-e,  and  costing  0.8  cent  each. 

In  Germany  native  oak  and  pine  were  the  timbers  mostly  used  for  railway 
ties  in  times  past,  but  owing  to  a  decrease  in  the  supply  of  these  beech  has 
come  to  be  used  on  a  large  scale.  Until  comparatively  recent  years  the  zinc 
chloride  treatment  was  the  one  most  largely  used.  Creosoting  had  been 
practiced  to  a  limited  extent  for  many  years,  but  was  usually  considered  too 
expensive  for  economical  results.  For  som<e  time  extensive  trials  had  been 
made  with  beech  timber  for  railway  ties,  but  so  far  as  beech  treated  with 
zinc  chloride  was  concerned  the  results  were  not  satisfactory.  The  objection 
with  this  method  of  treatment  was  that  the  preservative  solution  leached  out, 
sooner  or  later,  leaving  the  timber  unprotected,  and  the  additional  life  thereby 
secured  was  not  sufficiently  remunerative  for  the  expense  involved.  In  this 
way  attention  came  to  be  directed  to  the  application  of  creosote  to  beech 
timber,  for  it  had  been  demonstrated  beyond  question  by  certain  of  the  French 
railways,  particularly  the  Eastern  of  France,  that  beech  timber  thoroughly  im- 
pregnated with  creosote  becomes  a  durable  and  desirable  material  for  railway 
ties.  The  scheme  is  also  acceptable  from  the  fact  that  a  large  percentage  of 
the  forest  area  of  Germany  is  in  beech  timber,  which,  without  some  effective 
means  of  preservation,  is  of  but  little  use  except  for  fuel.  The  records  of  some 
of  the  railways  of  Alsace-Lorraine  show  in  one  case  that  86  per  cent  of  a  lot 
of  creosoted  beech  ties  were  in  service  after  being  29  years  under  traffic. 

"With  a  view  to  economize  in  cost  of  materials  a  good  deal  of  work  is  being 
done-  in  Germany  with  tire  zinc-creosote  process.  It  is  the  aim  to  reinforce 
zinc  chloride  solution  with  enough  of  creosote  oil  to  prevent  the  washing  out 
of  the  zinc  salt,  and  still  not  use  enough  of  the  creosote  material  to  greatly 
increase  the  expense.  To  the  ordinary  zinc  chloride  solution  is  added  5  to  8 
per  cent  of  creosote  at  a  temperature  of  149  deg.  F.,  and  the  whole  is  thor- 
oughly mixed  together  by  compressed  air.  The  extra  cost  due  to  adding  the 
creosote  amounts  to  about  iy2  cents  per  tie  per  2.2  Ibs.  of  creosote  injected. 
The  amount  of  creosote  actually  injected  per  tie  is  about  4.4  Ibs.,  and  the  tim- 
ber takes  0.50  to  0.55  Ib.  of  dry  zinc  chloride  per  cubic  foot.  The  cost  of  im- 
pregnating a  pine  tie  with  the  mixture  where  4.4  Ibs.  of  creosote  is  used,  is 
about  20  cents,  and  about  25*^  cents  where  13.2  Ibs.  of  creosote  is  used  per  tie. 
In  Germany  the  expense  of  impregnating  a  tie  with  creosote  exclusively, 
where  66  to  80  Ibs.  of  creosote  is  used,  is  50  to  59  cents. 

The  efficacy  of  this  method  of  treatment  is  illustrated  by  statistics  pub- 
lished by  the  Hungarian  State  railway  directors,  whereby  it  is  shown  that  out 
of  9455  be'ech  ties  impregnated  with  chloride  of  zinc  exclusively  and  laid  for 
the  purpose  of  a  test  in  1885,  81  per  cent  of  the  same  had  been  renewed  on 


1158  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

account  of  decay  at  the  end  of  10  years.  In  another  instance,  of  34,175  ties 
so  treated,  59  per  cent  were  renewed  on  account  of  decay  at  the  end  of  nine 
years.  In  another  test  with  25,133  ties  so  treated,  34  per  cent  were  renewed 
after  a  period  of  seven  years,  and  59  per  cent  after  a  period  of  eight 
years.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  batch  of  17,400  beech  ties  treated  for 
the  Prussian  State  railways  with  chloride  of  zinc  reinforced  with  4.4  Ibs. 
of  creosote  per  tie,  there  were  renewed  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  year  on 
account  of  decay,  67  ties,  or  0.4  per  cent;  287  ties,  or  1.6  per  cent,  at 
the  end  of  the  seventh  year;  704  ties,  or  4  per  cent,  at  the  end  of  the  eighth 
year;  1450  ties,  or  8.5  per  cent,  at  the  end  of  the  ninth  year,  and  2280  ties,  or 
13  per  cent,  at  the  end  of  10  years.  Of  79  cubic  meters  of  second-class  beech 
siding  ties  treated  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  manner,  only  2.6  cubic 
meters,  or  3.3  per  cent,  had  been  renewed  on  account  of  decay  at  the  end  of 
10  years.  The  Prussian  State  railways  have  made  extensive  use  of  this  process 
in  treating  pine  ties,  the  work  being  done  under  contract  by  the  well-known 
firm  of  Julius  Rutgers,  of  Berlin.  The  result  of  the  treatment  on  pine  and 
beech  ties  is  a  life  of  15  to  18  years,  and  the  use  of  zinc  chloride  alone  has 
generally  been  given  up.  Following  are  comparisons  of  cost  of  the  two  pro- 
cesses: With  the  zinc  chloride  treatment  the  average  cost  for  pine  ties  is  15.6 
cents;  for  oak  ties,  12  cents;  for  beech  ties,  18.8  cents.  With  the  zinc-creosote 
treatment  the  average  cost  for  pine  ties  is  19.2  cents;  for  oak  ties,  15.6  cents; 
for  beech  ties,  20.4  cents. 

In  European  practice  the  steaming  of  timber  for  the  extraction  of  the  sap 
previous  to  the  injection  of  creosote  has  been  largely  discontinu'ed.  Such  is 
the  case  in  England,  where  use  is  made  of  the  vacuum  only  (Bethell  process) 
before  the  creosote  is  let  into  the  treating  cylinder.  An  explanation  for  the 
English  practice  is  that  the  ties,  which  are  imported,  are  for  the  most  part 
floated  in  streams  after  being  cut  in  the  mountains  of  Norway  and  Sweden,  so 
that  the  sap  becomes  largely  dissolved  and  washed  out  before  the  ties  arrive 
at  their  destination.  Then,  after  arriving  in  port  the  ties  are  carefully  piled 
and  permitted  to  season  for  fully  eight  months  before  they  are  treated,  so  that 
but  very  little  of  the  sap  remains  in  the  timber.  In  other  quarters  considerable 
objection  is  raised  against  the  steaming  or  Blythe  process.  The  only  road  in 
France  which  uses  it  is  the  "Nord."  German  experts  claim  that  while  steam- 
ing may  serve  as  an  effectual  method  of  removing  the  sap,  the  condensed  steam 
will  remain  in  the  cells  to  obstruct  the  penetration  of  the  oil,  and  that  it  will 
also  dilute  the  preservative  solution  to  an  appreciable  extent.  Before  applying 
zinc-creosote,  which  is  an  aqueous  solution,  the  timber  is  sometimes  steamed, 
but  even  then  the  effect  on  the  general  result  is  considered  doubtful.  In  place 
of  steaming,  where  creosote  is  being  applied,  two  methods  of  treatment  are 
resorted  to,  as  productive  of  superior  results. 

The  first  of  these,  and  the  most  expensive,  is  that  employed  on  the  Eastern 
Ry.  of  France,  namely,  that  of  kiln-drying  the  timber  before  the  creosote  solu- 
tion is  applied.  Where  this  method  is  practiced  the  ties  are  first  thoroughly 
dried  in  the  open  air,  being  carefully  piled  for  several  months.  The  ties  are 
then  bored  for  the  fastenings  and  adzed  for  the  rail  seat,  and,  after  being 
run  into  drying  ovens,  are  subjected  to  hot  air  at  a  temperature  varying  from 
95  to  176  deg.  F.  for  about  three  days.  On  leaving  the  ovens  the  ties  are 
straightway  conveyed  to  the  treating  cylinders,  where  they  are  subjected  to 
a  vacuum  of  about  26  ins.,  for  a  half  hour,  when  the  creosote  is  let  in  at  a 
temperature  of  176  F.  and  injected  into  the  timber  under  a  pressure  of  about 
75  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.,  which  is  maintained  for  about  an  hour.  This  method  of  treat- 
ment is  considered  very  thorough  and  is  conceded  to  produce  the  most  effective 
results.  In  some  of  the  German  plants  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  hasten 
the  process  of  kiln  drying  by  raising  the  h-eat  as  high  as  212  to  230  F.,  in  order 
to  cut  down  the  time  of  application  to  eight  or  ten  hours,  but  experience  has 
demonstrated  that  such  treatment  subjects  the  timber — particularly  b'eech — to 
unusual  liability  to  checking. 

The  other  method  of  treatment  consists  in  drying  out  the  timber  in  the 
presence  of  the  impregnating  solution.  It  is  claimed  that  by  this  process, 
which  was  put  forward"  by  Mr.  Rutgers,  of  Berlin,  the  wood  need  not  be 
seasoned  previously  to  treatment.  It  is  placed  in  the  treating  cylinder,  wherein 
is  first  produced  a  vacuum  of  23  or  24  ins.  for  about  10  minutes,  when  the  tank 
is  filled  with  creosote,  covering  the  timber,  and  as  high  as  possible  without 
reaching  the  pipes  communicating  with  the  air  pump.  The  oil  is  then  heated 
by  steam  pipes  for  about  three  hours  to  a  temperature  of  220  to  240  deg.  F., 


TIE  PRESERVATION  IN  EUROPE  1159 

and  this  heat  is  maintained  about  an  hour  longer.  The  effect  of  the  heated 
solution  is  to  evaporate  the  sap  and  other  moisture  in  the  timber.  The  theory 
of  this  action  is  that  the  temperature  of  the  solution  exceeds  the  boiling  point 
of  the  sap.  The  evaporation  of  the  sap  bubbles  to  the  surface  of  the  hot 
creosote  and  is  removed  by  condensing  apparatus,  and  afterwards  measured. 
After  the  sap  has  been  'expelled  from  the  timber  sufficiently  the  tank  is  then 
completely  filled  with  creosote,  and  a  pressure  of  about  105  Ibs.  per  sq.  in.  is 
maintained  for  about  a  half  hour,  in  the  case  of  beech  ties,  injecting  about  20 
Ibs.  of  creosote  per  cu.  ft.  or  80  Ibs.  per  tie.  More  time  is  required  by  this 
method  of  treatment  where  the  timber  is  not  seasoned.  By  ihiS  process  it  is 
claimed  that  the  ties  are  not  liable  to  check  as  when  seasoned  in  drying  ovens; 
that  the  sap  can  be  extracted  from  the  timber  more  thoroughly;  that  greater 
quantities  of  creosote  can  be  injected  into  the  ties  than  ':y  the  other  treatment. 
-The  Rutgers  firm  guarantees  an  absorption  of  at  least  24  Ibs.  per  tie  for  oak 
ties,  79  Ibs.  for  pine  ties  and  79  Ibs.  for  beech  ties,  the  tie  being  8.85  ft.  long, 
6.3  ins.  thick  and  10^4  ins.  wide.  While  it  is  assumed  that  this  process  is 
preferable  to  that  of  the  drying-oven  treatment,  at  least  in  those  cases  where 
there  is  not  time  to  slowly  and  thoroughly  season  the  timber,  or  when  green 
timber  must  be  employed,  experience  is  wanting  to  demonstrate  whether  the 
results  will  be  as  effective. 

Of  all  woods  in  Europe  sound  beech  is  the  most  thoroughly  susceptible 
of  impregnation.  This  fact  is  due  to  the  circumstance  that  beech  is  mostly 
sap  wood,  and  consequently  all  the  pores,  which,  in  their  natural  condition, 
serve  to  transmit  water,  remain  permanently  open;  whereas,  in  the  case  of 
oak  and  pine  the  creosote  penetrates  only  through  the  sap  portion  of  the  wood, 
while  the  heart  wood  absorbs  but  very  little  or  none  of  it.  Beech  wood  con- 
sid'ered  most  suitable  for  ties  is  furnished  by  trees  at  the  age  of  80  to  120  years. 
In  France  all  red-hearted  beech  is  rejected,  as  it  is  found  that  such  timber 
is  in  most  cases  superannuated,  and  that  the  impregnating  solution  cannot  be 
forced  into  the  pores,  which  have  ceased  to  be  of  use  for  conveying  the 
nutritive  fluids  of  the  tree  and  have  become  closed  or  clogged.  Results  reported 
by  certain  of  the  French  roads  show  that  creosoted  beech  ties  harden  with  age 
or  service  and  eventually  surpass  oak  ties  in  both  durability  and  hardne.ss,  so 
that  they  are  preferably  used  on  lines  of  heavy  traffic.  In  consideration  of  the 
foregoing  qualities  and  the  fact  that  the  first  cost  of  beech  is  less  than  that 
of  oak  or  pine,  it  is  therefore  considered  by  all  odds  the  most  suitable  timber 
for  ties. 

One  other  process  which  has  been  experimented  with  in  Germany  is  the 
water-creosote  process.  This  consists  in  injecting  an  emulsion  of  water  and 
creosote.  In  European  practice  the  strength  and  purity  of  the  treating  solu- 
tions are  tested  constantly  and  all  stages  of  the  processes  of  impregnation  are 
watched  with  minute  care.  The  use  of  dating  nails  and  the  keeping  of  careful 
records  are  generally  established.  Thorough  seasoning  before  applying  the 
antiseptic  is  characteristic  of  nearly  all  the  work.  The  specifications  of  some 
of  the  German  railways  require  that  oak  must  be  air-dried  until  it  weighs  not 
to  exceed  49.8  Ibs.  per  cu.  ft.,  beech  45.1  Ibs.  per  cu.  ft.  and  pine  39.2  Ibs.  per 
cu.  ft. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  zinc  chloride  treatment  has  been  abandoned  by 
nearly  all,  if  not  all,  the  railways  of  Germany,  the  records  of  some  of  the 
roads  show  fairly  good  results.  In  1888  and  1889  experimental  sections  of  track 
on  the  Bavarian  State  Railways,  near  Munich,  were  laid  with  ties  of  various 
kinds  of  timber,  both  untreated  and  treated  with  various  processes,  in  sets 
of  121  ties  each.  In  12  years  all  the  untreated  spruce  ties  had  been  renewed 
twice  and  a  few  of  them  the  third  time,  the  average  life  being  slightly  under 
5  years.  In  the  set  of  spruce  ties  impregnated  with  zinc  chloride  none  of  them 
had  been  renewed  at  the  end  of  7  years,  only  16  at  the  end  of  9  years,  and 
43  were  still  in  tire  track  at  the  end  of  12  years.  The  average  life  of  kyanized 
spruce  ties  was  about  9.1  years,  a  few  of  them  lasting  longer  than  12  years. 
The  data  of  the  untreated  beech  ties  are  not  itemized  for  the  early  years  of  the 
renewals,  so  that  the  average  life  cannot  be  computed  with  reasonable  assur- 
ance, but  nearly  all  had  come  out  in  5  years,  and  at*  the  end  of  12  years  all 
had  been  renewed  twice  and  106  of  them  the  third  time.  In  the  set  of  beech 
ties  impregnated  with  zinc  chloride  none  was  renewed  until  the  10th  year,  and 
68  still  remained  at  the  end  of  12  years.  In  some  -extensive  experiments  by 
the  Imperial  Elizabeth  R.  R.,  of  Austria,  the  untreated  beech  ties  were  all 
removed  in  4  years,  the  average  life  being  3.2  years.  Of  the  beech  ties  im- 


1160  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

pregnated  with  zinc  chloride,  50  per  cent  had  been  renewed  in  Viy2  years  and 
82  per  cent  in  15  years,  the  average  life  for  all  being  about  11.4  years.  The 
untreated  spruce  and  fir  ties  were  all  removed  in  7  years,  the  average  life 
being  4.9  years,  but  of  the  spruce  and  fir  ties  treated  with  zinc  chloride  only 
5'0  per  cent  had  been  removed  in  9j/£  years  and  73  per  cent  in  12  years,  the 
probable  average  life  for  all  being  9.8  years. 

7.  Tree  Planting. — Among  various  proposed  measures  for  conserving  the 
supply  of  railroad  tie  timber  tree  cultivation  by  the  railroad  companies  them- 
selves has  long  been  suggested.  Between  1880  and  1890  the  subject  began  to 
receive  some  attention  on  the  part  of  railway  managements,  and  during  those 
years  the  experiment  of  tree  planting  was  taken  up  on  a  few  roads.  On  the 
whole  the  work  then  begun  has  been  rather  disappointing  as  to  rate  of  growth. 
It  is  admitted,  however,  that  at  least  some  of  these  experiments  were  tried 
at  random,  without  investigating  the  conditions  most  suitable  for  the  growth 
of  the  trees,  and  the  results  are  therefore  not  to  be  taken  as  conclusive.  These 
failures  or  partial  failures  led  to  a  closer  study  of  the  conditions  essential  to 
profitable  growth,  and  eventually  the  business  came  to  be  better  understood. 

The  tree  generally  recommended  for  this  purpose  is  the  catalpa,  partic- 
ularly the  variety  catalpa  speciosa  or  "hardy  catalpa,"  as  it  is  commonly  known. 
It  is  indigenous  to  the  valley  of  the  Wabash  river,  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  but 
proven  to  be  hardy  between  latitude  29  and  44  deg.  north,  wherever  the  proper 
conditions  of  soil  and  atmospheric  moisture  obtain.  Tire  utility  of  this  timber 
for  ties  seems  to  be  well  established.  Catalpa  ties  on  the  Erie  R.  R.  and  on 
the  Cairo  division  of  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ry.  are 
reported  to  have  given  a  service  of  20  years.  Under  favorable  conditions  the 
tree  grows  quickly.  Measurements  of  a  large  number  of  catalpa  trees  of  known 
age,  in  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  District  of 
Columbia  and  Indiana,  have  shown  an  average  growth  of  1  in.  diameter  in- 
crease each  year  after  planting.  Trees  six  years  old  were  found  to  be  6  ins. 
in  diameter  and  trees  16  years  old  15  ins.  in  diameter;  trees  20  years  old,  from 
the  seed,  have  measured  21  ins.  in  diameter  and  50  ft.  in  hight.  The  tenor  of 
tire  claims  is  that  wherever  conditions  are  favorable  a  growth  of  16  to  20  years 
will  produce  trees  large  enough  to  make  three  to  five  ties.  It  is  said  that  in 
the  warm  and  moist  climate  of  Louisiana  the  rate  of  growth  for  catalpa  is 
almost  double  the  above  figures. 

The  usual  scheme  of  planting  is  to  set  out  one-year-old  seedlings  in  regular 
rows,  in  deeply  plowed  ground  harrowed  down  smooth.  Until  the  trees  grow 
large  enough  to  shade  the  ground  and  keep  it  clear — say  two  to  four  years — 
the  ground  should  be  loosened  occasionally  by  cultivation  and  the  weeds  and 
grass  should  be  kept  down.  Young  catalpa  trees  will  not  thrive  well  where 
the  surrounding  earth  is  covered  with  sod.  The  contract  price  for  the  young 
trees,  including  the  work  of  setting  them  out  and  taking  care  of  them  two  years, 
has  in  some  instances  been  one  cent  per  tree.  A  number  of  plantations  have 
been  set  out  with  as  few  as  600  to  1000  trees  per  acre,  but  some  forestry 
experts  recommend  planting  them  as  close  as  4  or  5  ft.  apart  each  way,  which 
requires  1750  to  2700  per  acre. 

The  question  as  to  tire  best  distance  for  spacing  the  trees  in  planting  is 
unsettled.  The  thick  planters  hold  to  the  view  that  in  early  life  the  trees 
should  be  grown  close  together,  so  that  their  branches  will  interfere,  causing 
a  straight  and  tall  growth  of  trunk,  clear  of  limbs  near  the  ground,  and  shading 
out  grass  and  weeds.  As  the  trees  increase  in  size  they  begin  to  crowd  one 
another  and  to  shade  off  one  another's  branches,  and  about  this  time  some  of 
the  trees  will  begin  to  fall  behind.  This  is  an  indication  that  the  ground  is 
being  overtaxed,  and  then  the  weak  trees  should  be  thinned  out,  in  order  that 
the  others  may  get  proper  sustenance.  It  is  expected  that  in  six  to  ten  years 
the  trees  will  be  large  enough  for  fence  posts,  and  then  the  thinning-out  process 
should  be  continued  to  the  finish,  leaving  only  600  to  800  of  the  most  vigorous 
trees  to  the  acre,  with  room  to  expand  their  limbs  and  thicken  out  their  trunks. 
Working  to  this  plan  there  will  be,  at  the  time  of  the  final  thinning  down,  a 
forest  floor  of  decayed  leaves  and  branches  to  protect  the  remaining  .trees  from 
growth  of  grass  from  that  time  on.  Those  who  favor  this  plan  do  not  think 
that  natural  forest  conditions  can  be  obtained  in  any  other  way. 

The  thin  planters  claim  that  the  trees  should  not  be  planted  closer  than  8  ft. 
apart  each  way  (680  trees  per  acre)  or  in  rows  8  ft.  apart  with  trees  5  ft.  apart 
in  the  rows,  at  closest,  which  requires  about  1090  trees  per  acre.  Their  argu- 


TREE  PLANTING  1161 

ment  is  that  when  catalpa  trees  are  planted  closer  than  this  the  roots  will  over- 
crowd the  soil  in  a  few  years  and  stunt  the  growth.  Then  it  is  recommended 
that  as  soon  as  the  trees  are  large  enough  for  fence  posts  they  should  b» 
thinned  out  to  16x16  ft.  (170  trees  per  acre)  or  10x16  ft.  or  8x16  ft.  (270  to  340 
trees  per  acre),  at  most,  for  the  trees  intended  for  tie  timber.  To  keep  down 
the  grass  when  setting  the  trees  thinly  it  is  considered  good  practice  to  plant 
corn  or  some  other  subsidiary  crop  between  the  rows  of  trees,  for  a  season  or 
two.  Whatever  is  planted  should  be  in  rows,  so  that  the  trees  may  get  the 
benefit  of  cultivation.  Tc  enforce  a  straight  and  tall  growth  wlth_small  trees 
that  stand  so  far  apart  they  are  cut  back  and  pruned.  After  two  or  three 
years  of  growth  from  the  time  of  transplanting,  the  tree  is  cut  off  at  the  ground 
and  allowed  to  sprout  for  one  season.  The  next  season  all  the  sprouts  are 
cut  away  'except  the  most  vigorous  one,  and  that  is  allowed  to  remain  to  form 
the  final  tree.  These  sprouts  from  the  old  root  shoot  up  amazingly  tall  and 
straight  the  first  season,  and  in  about  four  years  from  the  time  of  cutting  back 
they  will  make  post  timber.  Cultivation  must  be  continued  until  the  trees 
shade  the  ground  effectively. 

The  tendency  late  years  seems  to  be  toward  thin  planting,  or  to  the  extent 
of  about  1000  trees  per  acre,  reducing  the  number  by  thinning  to  about  500 
trees  in  the  period  from  the  eighth  to  the  twelfth  year  from  planting.  By 
whatever  plan  the  trees  are  planted  they  should  be  systematically  pruned,  cut- 
ting the  lower  branches  off  close  to  the  .trunk.  The  first  general  pruning  is 
usually  done  when  the  trees  are  five  or  six  years  old,  and  by  the  tenth  year 
they  need  it  again,  but  dead  limbs  and  a  tendency  to  fork  near  the  ground 
should  be  attended  to  promptly,  as  soon  as  conditions  require.  The  fallen 
branches  should  be  allowed  to  lie  and  decay  on  the  ground,  as  they  assist  in 
forming  the  humus  of  a  forest  floor. 

it  has  long  been  a  favorite  idea  with  many  persons  who  have  given  atten- 
tion to  timber  culture  that  the  spare  land  on  railroad  right  of  way  might  be 
utilized  to  grow  catalpa  trees.  It  has  been  figured  that  trees  could  be  grown 
thickly  enough  along  the  right  of  way  to  fully  supply  all  requirements  for  fence 
posts,  telegraph  poles  and  ties  for  the  adjoining  track  as  such  supplies  would 
be  needed.  The  practicability  of  such  a  scheme  has  not,  however,  been  demon- 
strated, and  so  far  as  there  has  been  any  experience  in  this  direction  the  results 
have  been  disappointing.  The  weight  of  expert  opinion  and  of  experience 
seems  to  be  that  the  width  of  available  right  of  way  on  each  side  of  a  railroad 
track  is  not  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  forest  conditions.  During  the 
year  1883  the  Pennsylvania  Lines  West  set  out  86,000  catalpa  trees  along  both 
sides  of  the  track,  on  the  right  of  way.  Some  of  these  were  planted  on  the 
line  between  Richmond,  Ind.,  and  Indianapolis,  and  others  between  Richmond 
and  Logansport,  Ind.  After  19  years  some  of  these  trees  had  attained  a 
diameter  of  12  ins.,  but  generally  not  exceeding  8  ins.,  and  not  enough  of  them 
worth  speaking  about  were  of  a  size  or  shape  that  would  make  track  ties,  and 
only  about  40  per  cent  of  them  were  suitable  for  fence  posts.  The  experience 
was  that  the  branches  grew  very  rapidly,  and  much  labor  was  required  in 
trimming,  to  keep  them  clear  of  the  telegraph  wires,  but  the  increase  in  size 
of  trunk  was  slow.  But,  after  all,  it  is  not  a  question  of  great  importance 
whether  or  not  the  right  of  way  can  be  utilized  for  timber  cultivation.  What 
railroad  companies  are  most  concerned  about  is  whether  durable  ties  can  be 
grown  in  a  reasonably  short  time,  and  at  moderate  cost,  compared  with  past 
prices,  or  say  40  to  50  cents  apiece.  If  such  can  be  done  there  would  seem 
to  be  but  little  question  as  to  the  proposition  of  maintaining  the  supply  of  tim- 
ber for  track  purposes  indefinitely,  for  if  such  were  once  demonstrated  to  be 
practicable  farmers  would  undoubtedly  go  into  the  business. 

Experience  shows  that  a  satisfactory  growth  of  catalpa  requires  at  least 
a  moderate  amount  of  moisture  in  climate  or  soil.  About  the  year  1880  the 
Southern  Pacific  Co.  planted  catalpa  trees  quite  broadly  over  the  State  of 
California,  and  after  20  years  of  growth  the  average  diameter  of  the  best  speci- 
mens was  only  4  ins.  The  best  growth  was  where  there  was  most  moisture.  In 
dry  places  the  plants  did  not  grow  into  trees  at  all.  In  1882  the  Kansas  City, 
Ft.  Scott  &  Memphis  R.  R.  and  other  parties  finished  planting  a  portion  of 
two  square  miles  of  land  in  eastern  Kansas  with  catalpa  trees  4x4  ft.  apart. 
At  the  age  of  10  years  about  one  fourth  of  the  trees  were  cut  and  allowed  to 
lie  on  the  ground,  not  being  of  any  value.  During  the  next  10  years  500  to  600 
posts  per  acre  were  obtained  by  the  thinning  process,  some  acres  yielding  1200 
to  1500  posts.  During  the  18th  and  19th  years  120,000  posts  were  taken  off  arffl 
some  pole  timber  26  ft.  long,  with  a  tip  diameter  of  6  ins.,  was  obtained.  After 


1162  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

20  years  the  trees  had  been  thinned  to  about  1800  per  acre,  and  some  of  therm 
had  attained  a  diameter  of  12  to  20  ins.  and  a  hight  of  40  to  45  ft.  The  diameter 
of  some  of  them,  however,  was  only  about  6  ins.,  the  largest  trees  being  found 
on  tire  best  soil.  It  was  observed  that  on  parts  of  these  tracts  where  corn  had 
not  grown  well  'in  previous  years  the  trees  did  not  thrive.  It  is  a  point 
emphasized  by  authorities  on  forestry  that  land  for  satisfactory  growth  of 
catalpa  should  have  a  porous  subsoil  and  be  able  to  produce  good  corn  or  wheat. 
The  whole  cost  of  the  land,  the  trees,  the  planting,  the  cultivation,  the  interest 
on  the  capital  and  the  general  attention  for  15  years  was  about  $100  per.  acre. 
The  following  information  regarding  this  plantation  was  kindly  supplied  in 
July,  1902,  by  Mr.  Geo.  E.  Kessler,  superintendent  of  parks  for  the  Frisco 
System: 

"The  catalpa  plantations  along  the 'former  Kansas  City,  Fort  Scott  & 
Memphis  R.  R.,  now  part  of  the  Frisco  System,  are  on  the  prairie  lands  about 
17  miles  south  of  Fort  Scott,  on  the  Joplin  division.  The  property  belonging 
to  the  railroad  company,  at  Farlington,  Kan.,  contains  640  acres,  of  which  about 
400  acres  are  in  catalpa  trees,  the  remaining  lands  in  some  miscellaneous  and 
practically  valueless  plantation,  but  largely  in  grassy  swails.  The  other 
property,  containing  800  acres  and  belonging  to  Mr.  H.  H.  Hunnewell,  of  Boston, 
lies  about  4  miles  southwest  of  Farlington,  and  of  this  something  less  than- 
500  acres  are  planted  in  catalpa  trees.  The  planting  of  both  properties  was 
done  between  the  years  1879  and  1882.  Except  for  a  small  portion  of  the  work 
clone  in  1879,  the  rest  was  planted  afterward  by  Messrs.  Robert  Douglas  &  Sons, 
nurserymen  of  Waukegan,  111.  The  trees  were  planted  in  rows  4  ft.  apart  and 
4  ft.  apart  in  the  rows,  and  were  cultivated  for  a  few  years  until  they  shaded 
the  ground,  and  then  allowed  to  grow  undisturbed.  About  ten  years  ago  the 
first  thinning  was  made,  taking  out  about  one  fourth  at  that  time,  and 'since 
then  a  very  large  amount  of  thinning  has  been  done.  The  first  cutting  was 
valueless,  but  the  next  time  a  small  number  of  posts  were  cut,  and  in  recent 
years  the  entire  cutting  has  been  utilized  for  fence  posts,  largely  by  the  rail- 
road company  for  its  right  of  way  fences. 

"The  trees  now  stand  about  45  ft.  high,  at  maximum,  but  along  the  edges 
of  the  bad  lands  some  of  them  are  not  over  10  ft.  high;  generally,  however, 
about  40  or  45  ft.  high,  and  in  diameter  about  one  third  are  from  12  to  20  ins. 
at  the  bottom,  the  remainder  being  from  6  to  10  ins.  During  the  past  5  or  6 
years  the  trees  have  made  very  slow  growth,  and  have  to  some  extent  suffered 
from  a  fungus  growth  in  the  heart,  as  a  result  of  the  dead  branches  remaining 
on  the  trees,  the  fungus  entering  at  the  points  of  juncture  with  the  trunk.  The 
past  5"  years  have,  however,  been  exceedingly  dry  ones  in  that  region,  and  trees 
standing  out  alone  have  suffered  just  as  much  and  show  the  same  conditions 
of  lack  of  growth,  as  well  as  the  fungus  effects,  as  those  within  the  plantation, 
planted  as  closely  as  they  were.  We  are  cutting  a  large  number  of  trees  in 
the  course  of  systematic  thinning  and  these  will  develop  fence  posts  only.  The 
trees  have  barely  reached  the  size  sufficient  to  make  poles  for  telephone  lines, 
and  are  certainly  very  far  from  supplying  ties.  Both  of  these  plantations  are 
on  very  thin  prairie  soil  underlaid  with  gumbo,  and  this,  together  with  the  dry 
seasons,  has  not  given  the  plantation  the  vigorous  condition  it  should  have  at 
this  time." 

Previous  to  setting  out  this  plantation  the  company  had  experimented  with 

a  100-acre_  tract  near  Farlington,   Kan.,   planted  with  the  following  varieties 

of  trees:  White  ash,  black  walnut,  wild  cherry,  osage  orange,  ailanthus,  catalpa 

bignonioides  and  catalpa  speciosa.     After  carefully  noting  the  annual  growth 

and  general  appearance  of  the  trees  for  some  years  the  decision  as  to  best 

progress  was  in  favor  of  the  catalpa  speciosa.     It  not  only  proved  to  be  the 

strongest  grower,  but  was  also  the  most  tenacious,  standing  dry  weather  better 

than  any  other  species.    The  catalpa  bignonioides,  also  called  catalpa  catalpa, 

is  of  small  growth,  crooked  and  seldom  forms  a  well-shaped  tree.    It  is  native 

to  the  southeastern  states.    The  speciosa  has  heart-shaped  leaves.    The  flowers 

are  2  ins.  long,  nearly  white  but  faintly  spotted,  the  lower  lobe  being  notched. 

The  seed  pods  are  thick,  12  to  14  ins.  long  and  %  in.  in   diameter.    The  flowers 

of  the  bignonioides  are  smaller  than  those  of  the  speciosa  and  bloom  two  weeks 

They  are  much  spotted  with  yellow  and  purple  and  the  lower  lobe  is 

itire.    The  pods  are  thin,  and  of  less  diameter  and  shorter  than  those  of  the 

speciosa.     The  bark  is  scaly,  peeling  off  in  strips  like  that  of  wild  cherry; 

my  of  the  leaves  are  three  pointed.    The  seed  is  plentiful  and  easily  gathered, 

that  of  the  speciosa  is  scarce  on  the  tree,  hard  to  collect  and   com- 


TREE   PLANTING  116-> 

paratively  -expensive.     The  speciosa  has  deeply  furrowed  bark,  like  the  ash, 
and  it  does  not  peel  off  in  scales. 

The  fact  that  there  are  two  varieties  of  catalpa  native  to  this  country  is 
important  to  bear  in  mind,  for  the  bignonioides  is  worthless  for  timber,  and 
there  are  many  hybrids,  all  of  which  are  inferior  to  the  speciosa.  For  a  long 
time  it  was  not  generally  known  that  two  varieties  of  catalpa  existed  in  the 
United  States,  it  being  supposed  that  the  smaller  tree  of  the  Carolinas  and. 
southeastern  states  was  due  to  less  favorable  conditions  of  climate  and  soil. 
The  discovery  was  made  in  1853,  by  Dr.  John  A.  Warder,  of—  Dayton,  Ohio 
(hence  the  botanical  name  "catalpa  speciosa,  Warder"),  but  only  an  informal 
announcement  was  made  at  the  time.  It  seems  that  it  was  not  until  1880  or 
1881  that  the  distinction  was  made  known  to  science  in  a  formal  manner,  and 
it  was  some  years  later  before  it  came  to  be  generally  understood.  This  ex- 
plains why  so  many  experiments  with  catalpa  in  this  country  have  been 
unsuccessful,  and  in  this  connection  the  following  incident  in  the-  history  of. 
railway  tree  planting  is  in  point. 

One  of  the  earliest  railways  to  commence  tree  planting  for  growing  post 
and  tie  timbers  was  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  &  Southern.  During  the  '60's 
this  road  planted  50,000  catalpa  trees  on  the  right  of  way  near  Charleston,  Mo., 
and  a  farm  of  100,000  trees  on  the  Belmont  branch,  18  miles  from  Belmont,  Mo. 
These  trees  were  all  raised  from  the  seed.  In  1880  a  farm  of  150,000  trees  was 
set  out  at  Bertrand,  Mo.,  making,  altogether,  about  200  acres  of  catalpa  trees. 
Some  seed  of  the  catalpa  kempferi  (another  variety  inferior  to  the  speciosa), 
imported  from  Japan,  had  been  planted  along  with  the  rest.  Some  years  later 
large  seed  firms  began  to  collect  seed  from  one  of  these  plantations,  and 
thousands  of  pounds  were  distributed  to  all  parts  of  the  country.  Eventually 
the  distinction  between  the  two  American  varieties  came  to  be  generally  known, 
and  then  it  was  discovered  that  not  one  of  the  trees  of  this  plantation  was 
catalpa  speciosa:  it  had  grown  up  with  the  bignonioides  and  kempferi  varieties 
and  hybrids  of  the  same,  and  in  course  of  time  most  of  the  trees  were  cut 
down  as  worthless. 

On  the  profitableness  of  tree  planting  the  division  of  forestry  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  has  issued  a  publication  treating  of  the  limita- 
tions of  catalpa  growth  as  affected  by  the  soil,  moisture,  etc.,  and  examples 
'  are  cited  in  some  detail  which  show  the  results  of  experiments  in  this  field. 
In  1890  Mr.  L.  W.  Yaggy  started  a  plantation  of  440  acres  of  catalpa  trees  in 
the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  river,  near  Hutchinson,  Kan.,  where  the  natural 
conditions  were  favorable  and  well  adapted  to  tree  growth  (sandy  soil  sub- 
irrigated  from  natural  sources).  The  trees  were  set,  3^x6  ft.  apart,  and  the 
farm  produced,  after  eight  years  of  growth,  fence  posts,  4  to  6  ins.  in  butt 
diameter.  This  time  included  two  years  of  growth  from  which  the  trees  were 
cut  back  to  the  ground  in  order  to  produce  a  straighter  growth.  From  figures 
prepared  by  government  experts  who  investigated  the  products  of  this  farm 
it  appears  that  the  gross  value  of  the  marketable  timber  crop  produced  in  ten 
years  was  $267.15  per  acre.  The  total  cost  of  growing  and  marketing  the 
timber  was  $51.70  per  acre,  and  allowing  6  per  cent  compound  interest  on  all 
expenditures  incurred  from  the  time  of  planting,  including  the  purchase  price 
of  the  land,  $25  per  acre,  the  total  expense  per  acre  was  found  to  be  $69.60, 
leaving  a  net  profit  of  $197.55  per  acre.  The  only  other  of  these  early  planta- 
tions, not  already  mentioned,  which  seems  to  have  been  commercially  success- 
ful is  the  farm  of  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Tincher,  near  Wilsey,  Morris  Co.,  Kan.,  on  high 
prairie  upland.  It  was  started  by  planting  31  acres  in  1885,  with  trees  4x4  ft. 
apart.  After  17  years  this  plantation  was  thinned  out  one  half  by  removing 
every  other  row.  At  that  time  some  sections  of  the  forest  were  able  to  furnish 
2000  fence  posts  to  the  acre,  but  "not  a  single  tie."  The  trees  averaged  an 
annual  increase  in  diameter  of  1-3  to  y2  inch.  The  owner  concluded  that  the 
trees  in  this  part  of  the  farm  were  set  too  close,  and  in  1899  nine  acres  were 
planted  with  trees  5x7^  ft.  apart,  and  in  1900  twenty  acres  with  trees  5x14  ft. 
apart,  which  give  promise  of  better  growth. 

From  the  foregoing  it  appears  that  more  than  30  years  of  experimenting 
wUh  forest  cultivation  has  failed  to  produce  tie  timber.  Experience,  has,  how- 
ever, shown  some  bad  mistakes  and  no  small  deficiency  in  knowledge  of  timber 
cultivation  in  general,  and  the  results  are  not  by  any  means  considered  final. 
About  the  year  1900  the  question  was  revived,  and  the  result  was  that  a  number 
of  railroads  started  catalpa  plantations  for  the  purpose  of  growing  tie  timber. 
In  1899  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Ry.  set  out  30  acres  of 
land  with  some  30,000  catalpa  trees.  At  Brightwood,  Ind.,  this  company  has  a 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 

farm  of  20  acres,  1000  trees  to  the  acre,  planted  in  1900.  Besides  these  it  has 
other  small  tracts  planted  with  catalpa.  In  April,  1901,  the  Rio  Grande  Western 
Ry.  planted  a  nursery  of  60,000  catalpa  trees  on  irrigated  land  near  Provo, 
Utah.  The  trees  made  a  strong,  healthy  growth  of  6  to  8  ft.  during  that  season 
and  the  next  year  were  transplanted  at  points  along  the  line  of  the  road.  In 
1901  the  Michigan  Central  R.  R.  had  25,000  catalpa  trees  growing  at  various 
points.  In  1902  the  Boston  &  Maine  R.  R.  set  10,000  catalpa  trees  on  waste 
land,  out-side  of  location,  in  the  Merrimac  river  and  Shawsheen  river  valleys, 
2U  to  30  miles  from  Boston.  The  trees  were  set  8  ft.  apart  each  way,  with  the 
intention  of  thinning  to  16  ft.  apart  when  large  enough  to  make  fence  posts. 
At  that  time  the  company  had  about  10,000  chestnut  seedlings  in  tire  nursery 
to  be  transplanted  the  following  year.  Chestnut  is  a  rapidly-growing  tree  that 
is  hardy  in  all  of  southern  New  England  and  is  found  abundantly  in  the  middle 
Atlantic  states.  It  will  grow  on  a  great  variety  of  soils,  and  as  it  makes 
excellent  ties  the  experiment  of  this  company  should  b'e  watched  with  interest. 
During  the  same  year  the  West  Virginia  Central  &  Pittsburg  Ry.  set  out  5900 
catalpa  trees,  3500  near  Kerens,  W.  Va.,  and  the  remainder  near  Shaw,  W.  Va. 

The  Illinois  Central  R.  R.  has  two  catalpa  plantations  set  out  in  1902:  one 
of  225  acres,  at  Harahan,  La.,  near  New  Orleans,  and  a  smaller  tract  at  Tucker, 
111.,  planted  with  20,5oo  trees.  In  the  scheme  of  planting,  seedling  trees  were 
set  8  ft.  apart,  with  the  intention  of  thinning  them  out  when  sufficiently  grown 
to  make  fence  posts.  At  the  Harahan  farm  cultivation  during  the  early  years 
was  provided  for  by  allowing  market  gardeners  to  work  the  land  between  the 
rows  of  trees,  without  charge  for  rent,  upon  the  condition  that  the  weeds  should 
be  kept  down  and  no  injury  done  to  the  trees.  At  the  Louisiana  State  Experi- 
ment Station,  which  directly  adjoins  this  tract,  catalpa  trees  have  grown  at 
the  rate  of  2  ins.  increase  of  trunk  diameter  per  year.  Near  Newton  Hamilton, 
Pa.,  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  has  a  grove  of  15,000  locust  trees  planted  in  1902. 
The  trees  were  set  out  10  ft.  apart.  It  is  estimated  that  a  growth  of  15  years 
will  be  required  to  make  tie  timber.  The  Michigan  Central  R.  R.,  during  the 
years  1900-02,  planted  some  34,000  catalpa  trees  at  various  points  along  the 
Canadian  division.  Some  experimental  planting  has  also  been  done  by  this 
company  at  Glenwood,  Mich. 

8.  Metal  Ties  in  Foreign*  Countries. — As  elsewhere  stated  in  this  volume, 
the  results  of  extensive  and  long-time  experiments  with  metal  ties  are  not  to 
be  found  in  the  United  States.  In  many  of  the  foreign  countries,  however,  the 
use  of  metal  ties  is  beyond  the  experimental  stage,  and  the  mileage  of  track 
laid  with  such  ties  is  increasing.  In  countries  where  suitable  timber  is  scarce 
and  costly  the  use  of  metal  ties  has  been  found  economical,  and  in  some  parts 
of  Asia  and  Africa  the  destructive  work  of  white  ants  on  wood  ties  practically 
compels  the  use  of  some  form  of  metal  track  support.  About  1889  the  Forestry 
Division  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  went  into  the  subject 
of  metal  railroad  ties  very  thoroughly,  inquiring  into  the  extent  to  which  such 
ties  were  used  in  all  the  countries  of  the  world,  the  practical  experience  in  the 
use  of  such  ties,  and  data  were  collected  on  their  durability,  efficiency,  the 
economy  in  their  use,  methods  of  manufacture,  etc.  These  investigations  were 
made  by  Mr.  E.  E.  R.  Tratman,  by  direct  inquiry  of  official  sources,  and  the 
results  were  published  in  detail  in  Bulletin  No.  4  of  the  Forestry  Division, 
issued  in  1890.  Again  in  1894  the  matter  was  taken  up  and  thoroughly  investi- 
gated by  Mr.  Tratman,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  progress  and 
experience  in  the  use  of  metal  ties  and  longitudinals  subsequently  to  the 
previous  investigation.  The  results  of  this  investigation  were  published  at 
length  in  Bulletin  No.  9  of  the  Forestry  Division,  as  supplementary  to  Bulletin 
"No.  4.  The  report  of  1890  shows  that  24,802  miles  of  track  was  laid  with  metal 
ties  and  longitudinals,  or  13.2  per  cent  of  the  mileage  of  the  entire  world  at 
that  time,  excluding  the  United  States  and  Canada.  The  report  of  1894  shows 
that  the  length  of  track  laid  with  metal  ties  and  longitudinals  had  increased 
to  34,9"78  miles,  or  17.2  per  cent  of  the  entire  mileage  of  the  world  at  that 
lime,  outside  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  By  continents  the  mileage  of 
metal  track  in  1894  was  divided  up  as  follows:  Europe,  13,404  miles  (longi- 
tudinals 3645  miles,  plates  257  miles,  cross  ties  9502  miles),  out  of  a  total  of 
137.000  miles  of  track;  Asia,  14,586  miles,  out  of  a  total  of  22,000  miles  of  track; 
Africa,  2326  miles,  out  of  a  total  of  5675  miles  of  track;  Australia,  234  miles, 
out  of  a  total  of  12,000  miles  of  track;  South  America,  Central  America,  West 
Indies  and  Mexico,  4416,  out  of  a  total  of  21,500  miles  of  track.  The  general 
summary  in  1894  stood  as  follows:  Metal  longitudinals  3645  miles;  metal 
bowls  and  plates,  12,375  miles;  metal  ties  proper,  18,958  miles.  It  is  known 


METAL  TIES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES  1165 

that  since  1894  the  mileage  of  all-metal  track  in  foreign  countries  has  been 
increasing,  but  since  a  general  summary  of  subsequent  date  has  not  been  made, 
'the  data  of  the  total  mileage  at  the  present  time  are  not  available. 

The  countries  that  were  using  all-metal  track  most  extensively  in  1894 
were  Germany,  with  11,60?  miles,  including  3580  miles  of  track  laid  with  metal 
longitudinals;  British  India,  with  13,655  miles,  including  7595  miles  of  track 
laid  with  bowls  and  plates;  and  the  Argentine  Republic,  with  3638  miles,  in- 
cluding 3438  mires  of  track  laid  with  bowls  and  plates.  Ten  other  countries 
had  between  200  and  900  miles  of  track  laid  with  metal  ties  and-six  more  had 
between  100  and  200  miles  so  laid.  In  nearly  all  of  these  countries  the  mileage 
of  track  laid  with  metal  ties  had  materially  increased  between  the  years  1890 
and  1894.  On  54,742  miles  of  line  of  the  German  Railroad  Union,  in  Germany, 
Holland,  Austria,  Hungary  and  Roumania,  in  1897,  15,774  miles  of  track  was 
laid  with  metal  supports,  of  which  2095  miles  was  metal  longitudinals.  This 
was  an  increase  of  about  3600  miles  of  all-metal  track  over  the  mileage  so 
laid  in  1894,  but  the  mileage  of  track  supported  on  metal  longitudinals  had 
decreased  1547  miles. 

Metal  Longitudinals. — In  1894  tire  use  of  metal  longitudinals  was  confined 
to  two  countries,  namely,  Germany  and  Austro-Hungary.  A  common  type  in 
use  is  an  inverted  flanged  trough,  placed  longitudinally  under  tire  rails  and 
held  to  gage  transversely  by  tie  bars.  The  Haarmann  compound  "self-bearing" 
girder  rail,  8  ins.  in  hight  and  12  ins.  wide  at  the  base,  is  laid  upon  the  ballast 
without  intermediate  supports  and  is  held  to  gage  with  tie  bars.  The  rail  is 
rolled  in  two  halves,  separable  through  the  middle  vertical  plane  of  the  web, 
and  to  hold  the  two  halves  in  their  proper  relative  positions  a  tongue  and 
groove  are  provided  along  the  middle  line  of  the  surfaces  in  contact.  The 
halves  are  put  together  to  break  joints  and  are  held  with  bolts  12  ins.  apart, 
on  a  line  just  under  the  head.  The  joints  are  spliced  with  long  angle  bars. 
The  bottom  or  base  is  held  together  by  small  transverse  channel-iron  clamps 
bolted  to  the  under  side.  The  edges  of  the  base  or  flange  have  depending  ribs 
or  beads,  and  the  rail  weighs  116  Ibs.  per  yd.  In  laying  the  rail  it  is  buried  to 
the  head  in  ballast.  The  Haarmann-Vietor  rail  is  another  that  is  laid  on  the 
"self-bearing"  plan.  It  is  8  ins.  high  and  8  ins.  wide  on  the  base  and  weighs 
127  Ibs.  per  yd.  The  rail  is  rolled  with  an  unsymmetrical  head,  or  with  the 
"web  aside"  with  respect  to  the  head,  so  that  the  webs  may  lap  at  the  joints. 
The  lap  joint,  which  is  10  ins.  long,  is  made  by  scarfing  the  head  and  base  of 
each  rail,  on  line  with  the  side  of  the  web,  so  that  no  part  of  the  web  is  re- 
moved. The  splices  are  6-bolt  angle  bars  29^  ins.  long. 

The  expense  of  maintaining  track  surface  with  longitudinal  supports  is 
excessive  and  it  is  also  difficult  to  detect  defects  in  the  ballast  support,  unless 
it  is  watched  while  a  train  is  passing,  as  the  combined  stiffness  of  the  rail 
and  sleeper  frequently  causes  the  track  to  spring  to  even  surface  as  soon  as 
the  load  passes.  It  is  also  difficult  to  obtain  proper  drainage,  particularly  on 
grades,  where  the  water  tends  to  follow  the  lines  of  the  rails.  At  frogs  and 
switches  the  construction  is  complicated.  The  roads  which  have  experimented 
with  metal  longitudinals  to  greatest  extent  are  the  Alsace-Lorraine,  Bavarian 
State,  and  Prussian  State  railways.  The  report  of  1894  showed  that  the  use  of 
longitudinal  supports  was  being  gradually  abandoned,  as  was  also  the  case  with 
bowls  and  plates,  which  were  in  service  mainly  in  tropical  countries.  In  the 
evolution  of  railroads  it  seems  to  have  become  quite  definitely  settled  that  the 
cross-tie  system  is  destined  to  remain  vthe  leading,  if  it  does  not  become  the 
exclusive,  system  in  use. 

Metal  Cross  Ties. — Generally  considered,  the  predominating  type  of  metal 
tie  in  use  in  foreign  countries  is  of  inverted  trough  section,  with  closed  ends, 
designed  on  the  principle  of  the  Vautherin  tie,  invented  by  a  French  engineer 
of  that  name  and  first  used  on  the  Paris,  Lyons  &  Mediterranean  Ry.,  in  1864. 
(The  first  metal  cross  ties  were  used  in  1860,  by  Mr.  Le  Crenier.  The  form 
of  tie  was  U-shaped  in  section,  7  ft.  10  ins.  long,  10  ins.  wide,  weighed  52  Ibs. 
and  was  laid  under  T-rails  )  The  original  Vautherin  tie  was  sectionaliy  an 
inverted  trough,  with  flaring  sides,  having  a  rib  or  narrow  horizontal  flange  on 
each  lower  edge.  In  1894,  104  miles  of  the  State  Railways  of  France  were  laid 
with  Vautherin  ties  of  uniform  section,  first  put  down  in  1887.  These  ties  are 
8.2  ft.  long,  about  10  ins.  wide  over  all,  with  a  top  width  of  4.8  ins.,  and  the 
average  weight  is  about  125  Ibs.  In  1901  this  railway  system  had  600,000  metal 
ties  in  the  track. 

The  Post  Steel  Tie. — The  Post  steel  tie  is  very  well  known  in  foreign  coun- 
tries and  is  quite  extensively  used  in  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  in  the 


1166 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 


East  Indies,  South  Africa  and  the  Argentine  Republic,  1,500,000  of  these  ties 
having  been  in  .service  since  1894.  This  tie,  which  was  designed  by  Mr.  J.  W. 
Post,  divisional  chief  engineer  with  the  Netherlands  State  Railways,  is  shown 
.at  the'  right,  in  Fig.  485.  It  is  of  rolled  steel,  with  closed  ends,  and  has  a 
thickened  rail  seat  with  an  inclination  of  1  in  20.  The  standard  tie  of  this 
design  is  8.36  ft.  long.  ^The  tie  is  of  "variable  profile."  The  cross  section  at 
the  rail  seat  is  polygonal,  4.4  ins.  wide  on  top,  10.2  ins.  wide  across  the  bottom 
and  about  3  ins.  deep.  The  cross  section  at  the  middle  is  an  inverted  V,  4.38 
ins.  deep,  with  a  top  radius  of  1  in.  and  a  bottom  width  of  5.4  ins.  The  sides 
of  the  tie  are  about  %  in.  thick  at  the  lower  part  and  %  in.  thick  at  the  upp-er 
part.  The  thickness  of  the  top  table  varies  from  .52  in.  at  the  rail  seat  to  .24 
in.  at  the  middle.  The  intention  of  deepening  and  narrowing  tire  section  of 
the  tie  at  the  middle  is  to  give  transverse  strength  and  to  decrease  the  bearing 
area  where  it  is  not  needed,  thus  decreasing  the  tendency  to  center-binding. 
The  fastenings  consist  of  bolts  and  clips.  The  weight  of  tire  tie  of  these 
dimensions  is  118  Ibs.,  but  as  used  on  some  roads  it  is  made  considerably 
heavier. 


L  onqttudfial Section 

-8-3-  Long 


A 


Section  a  t/rto//Se0f    SectionafMitfd/e 


Jectionat  RbilSeaf     Sect  ion  at  Me/die 


STEEL  T/E        POST  STEEL   T/E 


Fig.  485.  —  Types  of  Steel  Ties  Used  in  Foreign  Countries. 
The  Post  tie  as  used  on  the  Liege  &  Limburg  division  of  the  Netherlands 
State  railways,  in  Belgium,  takes  two  forms  respecting  the  middle  portion,  one 
being  belly-shaped,  as  shown  in  the  figure,  and  the  other  straight  on  tire  bottom 
and  humpbacked  on  top,  and  known  as  the  "dromedary"  type.  According  to 
official  reports  the  latter  form  gives  the  better  satisfaction,  as  the  middle  por- 
tion of  the  tie  is  not  bedded  in  the  lower  and  firmer  portions  of  the  ballast, 
and  therefore  not  so  liable  to  center-bind  the  track.  On  this  road  metal  ties 
have  been  in  use  since  1865.  In  an  official  report  of  the  road  published  in  the 
Bulletin  of  the  International  Railway  Congress  for  July,  1898,  an  account  is 
given  of  the  experience  had  with  steel  ties  on  27  trial  sections,  during  the 
preceding  17  years.  The  trial  sections  were  all  single  track,  ballasted  with 
slag,  sand  or  gravel,  and  laid  with  rails  weighing  76  Ibs.  per  yard,  ties  3  ft. 
apart  centers.  The  heaviest  engine  weighed  68  tons,  with  a  maximum  axle 
load  of  13.9  tons;  the  traffic  over  the  lines  was  from  14  to  29  trains  per  day,  the 
highest  speed  47  miles  per  hour,  and  tire  ultimate  traffic  100,000  to  150,000 
trains.  The  steel  tie  most  favorably  reported  upon  was  of  the  Post  pattern, 
first  laid  in  1884,  and  the  conclusion  was  that  the  life  of  a  steel  tie  equals 
s-everal  times  that  of  an  oak  tie.  Cracks  and  breaks  in  steel  ties  noticed  in  the 
beginning  were  due  to  the  fact  that  the  holes  for  the  fastenings  were  punched. 
When  these  holes  were  drilled  the  -evil  disappeared.  A  plate  between  rail  and 
tie  increased  the  durability  of  the  latter.  It  was  also  found  that  with  steel 
ties  of  the  Post  design  there  was  less  danger  of  the  rails  spreading  than  with 
oak  ties.  Some  exceptions  are  cited  where  preference  should  be  given  to  oak 
ties,  such  as  on  badly  drained  lines,  on  new  track  that  has  not  fully  settled,  on 
swampy  ground,  and  on  clay  or  other  ballast  which  has  a  high  tendency  to 
etain  water.  In  1901  the  St.  Gothard  Ry.  of  Switzerland  had  in  use  400,000 
iron  and  steel  ties  (about  70  per  cent  of  all  ties),  the  most  approved  type  being 
the  Post  steel  tie.  As  there  made  the  tie.  was  8  ft.  10  ins.  long,  15-32  in.  thick 
and  weighed  163  Ibs.  The  maximum  locomotive  axle  load  was  15%  tons  and 


METAL  TIES  IX  FOREIGX  COUNTRIES  llf)7 

the  maximum  speed  53  miles  per  hour.     On  the  German  railways  which  use 
steel  ties  the  maximum  locomotive  wheel  load  is  8  tons. 

The  Rendel  Steel  Tie. — Another  familiar  design  of  steel  tie  is  the  Rendel 
pattern,  shown  at  the  left  in  Fig.  485.  It  is  in  extensive  use  in  India  (where 
it  is  known  as  the  "peapod  sleeper")  and  in  Mexico.  As  made  for  the  Indian 
State  railways  it  is  8  ft.  9  ins.  long  (gage  5%  ft.)  and  weighs,  -exclusive  of 
fastenings,  120  Ibs.  The  tie  is  stamped  from  a  steel  plate  %  in.  thick  on  the 
sides  and  13-32  in.  thick  at  the  middle  portion,  which  forms  the  top  table, 
uniformly  4y2  ins.  wide.  At  the  rail  seat  the  depth  is  4^  ins.  and-the  bottom 
width  9i/2  ins.;  at  the  middle  the  bottom  width  is  8%  ins.  and  the  depth  5  ins. 
The  fastenings  consist  of  two  lugs  stamped  up  out  of  the  top  table,  for  each 
rail,  and  a  flat"  tapering  key,  which  is  driven  between  the  outer  lug  and  the  rail 
flange.  As  made  for  the  Mexican  Ry.  the  ties  are  8  ft.  3  ins.  long  and  weigh 
124  Ibs.,  'exclusive  of  fastenings.  In  1900  this  road  had  287  ^  miles  of  track 
(including  all  of  the  main  line)  laid  with  steel  ties.  With  the  ties  in  use  on 
this  road  a  key  fastening  is  used,  but  the  lugs  punched  out  of  the  tie  are  rein- 
forced by  a  small  rib.  This  road  is  standard  gage  and  the  locomotives  in  use 
are  of  Rogers,  Brooks  and  Baldwin  make,  of  good  weight.  There  are  also  in 
use  a  number  of  Fairlie  double-ended  bogie  mountain  engines,  weighing  100 
tons  each,  all  the  weight  being  carried  on  the  drivers.  Each  of  these  engines 
has  two  boilers  which  rest  upon  two  trucks  having  three  pairs  of  drivers  each, 
or  twelve  wheels  in  all.  The  ballast  in  use  is  a  kind  of  volcanic  substance 
called  "tisontli."  ,This  material  is  porous,  rather  light  and  not  hard,  and  is 
said  to  answer  the  purpose  of  ballast  excellently. 

The  Mexican  Southern  Ry.  has  139  miles  of  track  laid  with  Rendel  steel 
ties,  the  oldest  of  which  were  put  down  in  1891,  and  after  11  years  of  use 'no 
appreciable  corrosion  could  be  detected  except  in  alkali  soils.  The  ties  laid  on 
most  of  the  line  are  of  the  design  illustrated  in  Fig.  486.  They  are  of  pressed 
steel,  5  ft.  5  ins.  long,  the  gage  of  the  track  being  3  ft.  and  the  weight  of 
the  rail  50  Ibs.  per  yard.  The  top  of  the  tie  is  not  exactly  straight,  the  middle 
portion  being  depressed  9-16  in.  below  the  ends,  which  gives  the  rail  an  inward 
cant  of  1  in  24.  The  weight  of  the  tie  is  64  Ibs.  The  rail  fastening  consists  of 
two  lugs  3  ins.  wide,  struck  up  out  of  the  top  table,  and  a  tapering  key  '6  ins. 
long,  1%  in.  wide  and  %  in.  thick  at  the  larger  end,  and  %  in.  wide  and  y2  in. 
thick  at  the  smaller  end,  as  shown  by  the  plan  and  s-ectional  drawings.  The 
small  end  of  the  key  is  split,  so  that  it  may  be  opened  out  and  resist  any 
tendency  to  work  loose.  In  laying  track  to  gage,  the  key  is  driven  under  the 
lug  on  the  outside  of  the  rail,  but  in  widening  the  gage  on  curves  the  adjust- 
ment is  effected  by  changing  the  key  from  the  outside  to  the  inside  of  the  rail. 
Experience  with  this  tie  has  shown  that  it  is  weakest  at  the  rail  seat,  owing 
to  the  large  amount  of  metal  stamped  out  of  the  top  table  to  form  the  lugs, 
and  to  correct  this  evil  a  new  tie  was  designed  in  1899,  with  an  improved 
fastening.  This  tie,  shown  as  Fig.  487,  is  6  ft.  long  and  5  ins.  deep  at  both  the 
ends  and  the  middle.  The  width  of  the  tie  at  the  -end  is  13  ins.,  the  width 
across  the  bottom  at  the  middle,  Sy2  ins.,  and  the  width  of  the  top  table  4% 
ins.  The  weight  of  the  tie  is  84  Ibs.  The  rail  fastening  consists  of  a  U-bolt, 
passed  up  through  the  tie  from  underneath,  and  clips.  These  clips  are  reversi- 
ble, but  unsymmetrical  with  respect  to  the  bolt  passing  through  the  same,  so 
that  by  turning  the  clips  over,  an  adjustment  of  the  gage  may  be  effected,  thus 
providing  for  widening  the  gage  on  curves.  On  this  road  steel  ties  are  not 
used  on  bridges,  in  switch  leads  or  in  and  around  shops  or  roundhouses. 
Experience  has  shown  that  around  such  buildings  metal  ties  corrode  very 
rapidly.  Before  laying  the  ties'  it  is  the  practice  to  coat  them  heavily  with 
coal  tar,  to  prevent  oxidation.  On  curves  the  ties  are  spaced  at  2-ft.  centers 
and  on  tangent  a  little  farther  apart. 

Concerning  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  in  the  use  of  steel  ties,  as 
learned  from  experience  with  the  same  on  this  road,  the  following  are  some 
of  the  points  observed.  It  is  found  that  a  longer  time  is  required  to  obtain 
good  alignment  and  surface  than  is  the  case  on  track  laid  with  wooden  ties. 
Against  the  steel  tie  there  is  the  disadvantage  of  increased  first  cost.  On 
the  other  hand  the  steel  tie  is  considered  safer  than  the  wood'en  tie,  especially 
on  curves,  as  no  rail  braces  or  tie  plates  are  required,  and  spreading  of  the 
gage  or  tilting  of  tire  rails  is  impossible.  It  has  been  found  that  with  steel 
ties  there  is  a  reduction  in  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  fully  50  per  cent,  com- 
pared with  track  laid  with  wooden  ties.  The  ties  are  of  uniform  size,  and,  so 
far  as  this  matter  is  of  any  importance,  they  afford  uniform  support  to  the  rails, 
l^ine  and  surface  are  better  preserved,  and  there  is  a  reduced  cost  of  handling 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

and  laying  track,  as  compared  with  wooden  ties;  and  there  is  said  to  be  less 
noise  in  the  running  of  the  trains.  The  ties  cannot  be  burned  and  the  damage 
to  track  in  case  of  derailment  is  less  than  occurs  with  derailments  on  wooden 
ties. 

The  most  suitable  ballast  for  steel  ties,  as  ascertained  through  experience 
with  the  same  on  this  road,  has  been  found  to  be  gravel  or  very  coarse  sand. 
Broken  rock  or  slag,  especially  when  broken  as  coarsely  as  it  usually  is  for 
track  laid  with  wooden  ties,  does  not  give  satisfaction.  In  fact,  the  difference 
between  the  relative  merits  of  gravel  or  sand,  and  broken  rock,  as  a  ballast 
for  track -laid  with  steel  ties  is  regarded  by  the  officials  of  this  road  as  amount- 
ing to  the  difference  between  success  and  failure  in  the  us-e  of  such  ties.  The 
ballast  is  filled  in  to  cover  the  tops  of  the  ties,  and  to  keep  down  the  dust  in 
the  dry  districts  the  track  and  shoulders  are  covered  with  a  layer  of  broken 
stone  about  2  ins.  deep.  The  heaviest  engines  in  use  on  this  road  are  eight- 
wheel  English  engines  weighing  56,000  Ibs.,  one  class  of  ten-wheel  English 
engine  weighing  68,000  Ibs.,  another  class  of  ten-wheel  English  engine  weighing 
76,000  Ibs.,  and  Baldwin  consolidation  locomotives  weighing  88,000  Ibs.  The 
engines  of  the  latter  class  have  14,000  Ibs.  on  each  of  the  rear  driving  wheels. 
These  engines  pull  net  train  loads  of  120  tons  up  4  per  cent  grades  on  a  very 
crooked  mountain  division  40  miles  long.  In  this  distance  the  road  rises 
through  an  elevation  of  4300  ft.  The  maximum  grades  are  4  per  cent,  com- 
pensated on  curves  sharper  than  9  deg.  Many  of  the  curves  are  as  sharp  as 
ny2  deg.  It  is  claimed  that  the  steel  tie  has  nearly  every  advantage  over  oak 
ties  on  these  steep  grades. 

Since  both  oak  and  ste'el  ties  have  been  used  on  this  road  under  the  same 
conditions  of  climate,  soil  and  traffic,  there  has  been  good  opportunity  to 
observe  the  relative  merits  of  each.  The  following  interesting  statement  of 
the  cost  of  track  maintenance  with  the  two  kinds  of  ties  was  prepared  by  Mr. 
T.  A.  Corry,  resident  engineer  of  the  road.  The  oak  ties  referred  to  were  §y2 
ft.  long,  8  ins.  wide  and  7  ins.  thick. 

Mexican  Southern  Ry.,  Ltd.,  Puebla,  Mexico,  Jan.  8,  1900. 
Comparison   of   Maintenance   Expenses — Steel   with    Oak   Ties. 
1  kilometer=1000  meters=3280.87  ft. 

Track  with 
Steel          Oak 
No.  Items.  Ties.        Ties. 

1.  Number  of  kilometers  of  track  (main  line) 223.9      143.1 

2.  Number  of  ties  per  kilometer  (1300  to  1600)  average 1400       1400 

3.  Estimated  duration  of  ties  in  years  not  less  than 30  5 

4.  Original  cost  (1891)  in  Mexican  currency $1.42      $0.62 

5.  Original  cost  (1891)   per  kilometer $1988       $868 

6.  Annual   renewals   per   kilometer *46  2-3    280 

7.  Annual  renewals  cost  per  kilometer $65.27  $173.60 

8.  Daily  renewals   per   section    (approximate) 2.4        10.7 

9.  Lengths    of    sections — kilometers 16     ,      12 

10.  Number  of  foremen  per  section,  daily 1  1 

11.  Number  of  laborers  per  section,  daily 3  5 

12.  Cost  of  foremen  per  section,  daily $1.50  $1.50 

13.  Cost  of  laborers  per  section,  daily $1.50  $2.50 

14.  Total    wages    per    section,    daily $3.00  $4.0'0 

15.  Total  wages   per  day  per  kilometer — cents 18.75  33.33 

16.  Cost  of  tie  renewals  per  day  per  kilometer — cents 17.06  47.56 

17.  Total  wages  and  tie  renewals  per  day  per  kilometer— cents  35.81  80.89 
Saving  in  favor  of  steel  ties=55.73  per  cent. 

Supposing  oak  ties  to  last  6  years  instead  of  5,  and  price  of 
steel  ties  to  be  $3  each,  then  item  No.  16  would  be,  in 

cents    38.36      39.63 

And  item  No.  17  would  be,  in  cents "      57.11       72.96 

Saving  in  favor  of  steel  ttes=21.72  per  cent. 
*None  have  been  removed  since  first  put  in  (1891). 

N.  B. — (1)  The  assumed  life  of  steel  ties  (viz.,  30  years)  is  evidently  too 
short. 

(2)  The  original  cost  of  steel  ties  in  1891  was  $1.42  each,  delivered  at 
Puebla.  The  Mexican  silver  dollar  was  then  worth  38  pence — or  about  79  cents 


METAL  TIES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES 


11G9 


S'-S' 
Q 


^linZ4 


m. 


Section  0/Vw^S*2/___ 

'IE    "^-ywfr 


/%7/  Sections  of  Key 


Fig.  486. — Rendel  Steel  Tie,  Mexican  Southern  Ry. 

U.  S.  currency.    The  Mexican  silver  dollar  is  now  worth  about  23%  pence,  or 
say  47  cents  U.  S.  currency. 

(3)  Original  cost  of  oak  ties  (in  1891)  was  actually  95  cents  each,  Mexican 
silver.  Same  tie  can  be  bought  now  for  62  cents,  but  the  price  is  getting 
higher. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  this  statement  that  the  expense  for  labor  reported  for 
maintaining  track  laid  with  steel  ties  is  very  much  less  than  that  employed 
in  connection  with  the  oak  ties.  The  length  of  sections  where  the1  steel  ties  are 
used  is  about  ten  miles,  whereas  the  sections  on  track  laid  with  oak  ties  are 
about  754  miles  long.  The  working  force  on  the  10-mile  sections,  laid  with 
steel  ties,  is  a  foreman  and  three  men,  while  on  the  Tj^-mile  sections,  laid  with 
oak  ties,  it  is  a  foreman  and  five  men,  or  50  per  cent  larger  for  a  section  of  track 
only  three  fourths  as  long.  It  is  the  disparity  in  the  amount  of  labor  actually 
employed  on  the  two  kinds  of  track  and  the  high  cost  of  new  oak  ties  for 
renewals  which  overbalance  the  additional  investment  required  by  the  first 
cost  of  the  steel  ties,  which,  at  the  time  these  ties  were  laid,  was  about  130 
per  cent  greater  than  the  cost  of  oak  ties.  Taking  interest  charges  (say  4  per 
cent)  into  account,  there  is  still  a  saving  of  40  per  cent  in  favor  of  the  steel 
tie.  Mr.  Corry  then  compares  the  cost  of  maintenance  with  the  two  ties  on 
an  assumed  price  of  $3  for  each  steel  tie,  which  was  the  price  of  these  ties 
unloaded  from  the  ship  at  Vera  Cruz  at  the  time  he  prepared  his  statement, 
there  being,  just  about  that  time,  a  remarkable  advance  in  the  price  of  steel. 
Even  at  this  high  price  there  is  a  saving  of  current  expenses  in  favor  of  the 
steel  ties,  but  figuring  interest  charges  at  4  per  cent  there  is  a  showing  of  about 
21  cents  per  kilometer  per  day  in  favor  of  the  oak  ties,  which  illustrates  the 
advantage  of  buying  metal  ties  when  the  price  of  steel  is  down.  Mr.  Corry 
states  it  as  his  belief  that  if  steel  ties  laid  in  a  wet  climate  are  coated  with 
coal  tar  once  in  about  every  10  years,  or  ties  laid  in  dry  climate  once  every 
15  or  20  years,  they  will  last  indefinitely,  so  far  as  the  matter  of  corrosion  is 
concerned. 

In  1900  the  Interoceanic  Ry.  of  Mexico,  the  gage  of  which  is  3  ft.,  had  163 
miles  of  track  laid  with  R-endel  steel  ties  weighing  90  Ibs.  each.     The  design 


Plan 


Fig.  487. — Improved  Rendel  Steel  Tie,  Mexican  Southern  Ry. 


1170  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

is  similar  to  that  of  the  Mexican  Southern  ties,  and  the  experience  extends 
back  to  about  1890.  After  being  in  service  10  years  there  were  no  visible  signs 
of  deterioration.  The  total  life  is  estimated  by  the  officials  of  the  road  to  be  at 
least  30  years.  Regarding  the  question  of  economy  Mr.  W.  T.  Ingram,  chief 
engineer,  has  stated  as  follows:  "Unquestionably  they  are  a  great  boon  to 
us,  with  very  heavy  grades  and  curvature  and  a  rail  weighing  only  40  Ibs.  to> 
the  yard — in  fact  there  are  portions  of  the  road  running  through  a  zone  of 
an  almost  perpetual  rainy  season,  which  could  only  be  maintained  at  very 
great  expense,  were  it  not  for  the  steel  ties.  The  cost  of  maintenance  is  also 
an  item  of  considerable  importance,  since  the  .steel  tie  once  laid  and  bedded 
on  almost  any  kind  of  ballast,  except  coarse  rock,  keeps  the  track  in  good 
line  and  surface  with  but  very  little  attention.  Of  course,  their  first  cost  is 
heavy,  but  unquestionably  they  are  highly  economical  from  all  points  of  view." 
In  1898  the  Interoceanic  Ry.  purchased  90,000  of  these  ties,  costing  £6,  English 
money,  per  ton  at  Glasgow,  the  sea  freight  and  charges  bringing  the  price  up 
to  $2.32j/£,  Mexican  money,  per  tie,  at  the  ship's  -side  at  Vera  Cruz.  During 
the  succeeding  year,  however,  the  price  gradually  advanced  until  it  was  £iy2 
per  ton  at  Glasgow,  or  about  $3  Mexican  money,  per  tie,  at  Vera  Cruz.  It  thus 
appears  that,  after  all,  tire  "rapidly  vanishing"  wooden  tie  is  a  much  steadier 
article  in  price  than  the  metal  tie. 

The  Boyenval-Ponsard  steel  tie  is  of  corrugated  shape,  the  section  being 
that  of  three  united  parallel  troughs,  the  middle  trough  open  at  the  top,  the 
two  outer  ones  open  at  the  bottom  and  closed  at  the  ends  with  riveted  angle 
pieces.  The  size  is  8.2  ft.  long,  8  ins.  wide  on  top,  10.2  ins.  wide  across  the 
bottom  and  2.8  ins.  deep.  The  upper  face  is  made  up  of  two  bearing  surfaces 
each  2.4  ins.  wide,  with  a  channel  3.2  ins.  wide  between  them.  The  outer 
channels  have  flanges  0.7  in.  wide.  The  thickness  of  top  and  bottom  is  .32  in., 
of  the  sides  .20  in.,  and  the  weight  is  130  Ibs.  In  1894  this  tie  was  used  on  375- 
miles  of  railway,  in  a  number  of  countries,  including  France,  Algeria,  Egypt, 
Argentine  Republic  and  Brazil. 

The  Webb  Steel  Tie. — The  metal  tie  that  has  been  used  most  extensively 
in  England  has  been  the  Webb  pattern,  which  in  1890  was  in  use  on  about  56 
miles  of  track.  These  ties  are  of  inverted  trough  section  and  straight,  with 
open  ends,  flaring  sides  and  small  flanges  on  the  bottom  edges.  They  are 
of  rolled  steel  5-16  in.  thick  and  9  ft.  long.  The  top  width  is  6  ins.  and  the 
bottom  width  11  ins.,  the  depth  2^  ins.  and  the  weight,  exclusive  of  fastenings, 
136  Ibs.  The  fastenings  consist  of  chairs,  for  the  double-headed  rails,  the  chair 
being  in  three  parts  (a  base  plate  and  two  jaws)  riveted  to  the  tie.  The  rail 
is  secured  by  a  wooden  wedge  driven  in  between  the  rail  and  the  outside  jaw 
of  the  chair.  These  ties  are  in  use  on  the  London  &  Northwestern  Ry.,  where 
1738  were  laid  as  early  as  1880  and  enough  to  lay  9  miles  of  track  were  put 
down  between  that  year  and  1883,  when  15,882  were  in  service.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1900,  13,418  of  these  ties  had  been  taken  up,  10,479  being^ 
scrapped  and  2939  relaid  in  sidings.  Of  those  scrapped  7454  were  cracked  or 
broken,  2481  had  'either  loose  rivets  or  broken  or  loose  chair  jaws,  and  544 
had  failed  by  corrosion.  The  age  of  the  ties  taken  up  was  1  to  19  years,  and' 
the  average  age  8  years.  Out  of  100,000  steel  ties  laid  on  this  road  between 
1880  and  1890,  54,000  had  been  scrapped  or  relaid  in  sidings,  and  46,000  were- 
still  in  main-track  service,  in  the  early  part  of  1900.  No  steel  ties  were  laid 
after  1890.  The  officials  are  not  in  favor  of  extending  the  use  of  steel  ties. 
Those  in  use  are  rather  light  for  the  service,  and  if  any  more  were  used  a. 
heavier  pattern  would  have  to  be  adopted.  The  first  cost  of  the  steel  ties  is 
more  than  that  of  creosoted  pine  ties,  and  the  average  life  not  so  long.  One 
consideration  in  adopting  this  design  was  that  the  open  ends  offered  better 
facilities  for  tamping  than  ties  of  similar  section  with  closed  ends,  like  the 
Rendel  tie,  for  instance.  But  notwithstanding  this  point  in  its  favor,  the  section 
men  have  found  that  rather  more  labor  has  been  necessary  to  maintain  the 
steel-tie  track  in  line  and  surface  than  that  laid  with  wooden  ties.  The  above 
record  shows  that  corrosion  has  been  only  a  minor  cause  of  failure.  Trouble 
from  this  cause  has  been  experienced  only  in  thickly  populated  districts,  in 
tunnels,  in  manufacturing  areas,  or  where  the  ballast  was  of  such  character 
that  rapid  corrosion  might  be  expected.  About  800  of  these  Webb  steel  ties 
were  experimented  with  on  the  Pennsylvania  R.  R.  for  some  years  (including 
the  year  1889),  but  the  results  were  not  satisfactory. 

Iron  Plate  Ties. — 'The  Denham-Olpherts  cast  iron  plate  tie,  used  on  a  num- 
ber of  railways  in  India,  notably  the  East  Indian;  Delhi,  Umballa  &  Kalka; 


METAL  TIES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES 


1171 


Eastern  Bengal;  Indian  State;  and  Northwestern  roads,  consists  of  two  flat- 
bottom  cast  iron  ribbed  plates  2  ft.  long,  10  ins.  wide  and  9-16  in.  thick,  weighing 
176  Ibs.,  united  by  a  tie  bar  y2  in.  thick  and  2  ins.  deep.  The  fastening  consists 
of  two  cast  iron  jaws  weighing  26  Ibs.  and  two  pairs  of  gibs  and  cotters  weigh- 
ing 3.8  Ibs.  The  outer  jaw  is  cast  integral  with  the  plate  and  the  inner  one 
is  adjustable.  (These  ties  are  said  to  give  good  satisfaction.  On  the  East  Indian 
Ry.,  where  they  are  the  standard  form  of  track  support,  2,483,600  of  them  were 
in  service  in  1895.  On  this  road  the  plates  are  cast,  and  the  tie  bars  are  rolled, 
from  scrap  metal.  The  annual  breakage  has  averaged  0.64  per  cent.  ~ 

Pot  Sleepers. — Another  form  of  metal  track  support  that  is  in  extensive 
use,  particularly  in  India,  consists  of  cast  iron  pots  or  bowls  laid  open  side 
downward.  Locally  they  are  known  as  "pot  sleepers."  The  gage  is  main- 
tained by  tie  bars  transverse  to  the  track,  uniting  pairs  of  bowls,  and  adjust- 
ment of  the  gage  is  made  by  variations  in  the  widths  of  the  keys  which  secure 
the  tie  bar  to  the  bowl.  The  style  of  rail  fastening  on  the  India  Midland  Ry. 
consists  of  a  lug  cast  on  the  bowl,  to  'engage  the  flange  of  the  rail  on  the  out- 
side, and  for  the  gage  side  there  is  a  jaw  or  clamp  which  is  held  to  its  work 
by  a  wrought  iron  key.  Each  bowl  weighs  92  Ibs.  and  the  weight  of  the  tie 
complete,  including  tie  bar  and  fastenings,  is  217  Ibs.  On  the  Great  Indian 
Peninsula  Ry.  this  style  of  track  support  is  used  almost  exclusively.  In  1901 
'the  whole  of  the  main  line,  aggregating  1750  miles  of  single  track,  was  sup- 
ported upon  pot  sleepers,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  sidings,  aggregating 


Fig.  488. — Cast  Iron  Pot  Sleepers,  Great  Indian  Peninsula  Ry. 

260  miles  of  single  track,  was  of  similar  construction.  Wooden  ties  were  then 
used  only  upon  bridges,  and  over  such  arches  as  had  only  a  thin  cushion  of 
ballast  between  the  crown  and  the  rail  level;  and  on  two  ghats,  or  mountain 
passes,  aggregating  26  miles  in  length,  where  they  were  used  mainly  because 
the  roadbed  was  rock.  Just  previous  to  the  adoption  of  pot  sleepers  exclusively, 
in  1900,  the  proportions  of  the  various  kinds  of  ties  in  the  track  were  as  follows: 
timfier  cross  ties  (92  per  cent  of  which  were  teak,  having  an  average  life  of 
13  years),  9.17  per  cent;  cast  iron  round  pot  sleepers  laid  prior  to  1866,  11.36 
per  cent;  cast  iron  oval  pot  sleepers  laid  since  1866,  79.47  per  cent.  It  is  seen 
that  many  of  the  pot  sleepers  originally  laid  in  the  line,  more  than  34  years, 
previously,  although  of  an  inferior  pattern  to  those  then  adopted  as  the  stand- 
ard, were  still  in  use.  A  great  many  of  these  had  been  transferred,  from  time 
to  time,  from  main  line  to  sidings,  in  the  course  of  continuous  renewals  of  the 
former  with  the  latest  patterns  of  track  material,  and  had  thus  passed  through 
the  "severe  test  of  removal  and  relaying." 

The  pattern  of  pot  sleeper  now  standard  with  the  Great  Indian  Peninsula. 
Ry.  is.  shown  in  Fig.  488.  It  is  known  as  the  "R.  &  L."  (right  and  left)  sleeper 
and  is  laid  under  82-lb.  steel  rails  36  ft.  long.  The  pots  are  oval  in  plan,  24% 
ins.  over  the  long  diameter  and  20%  ins.  over  the  short  diameter.  When  used: 
on  double  track  the  style  of  construction  of  these  pots  (right  and  left)  per- 


3  17  3  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

tnits  of  both  keys  being  driven  in  the  same  direction  as  the  traffic.  They  have 
large  "packing"  holes  in  the  top  (for  tamping)  and  the  rail  seats  are  cast  on 
the  pots.  The  weight  of  a  "sleeper"  is  made  up  as  follows:  2  pots,  each  101 
Ibs.,  202  Ibs.;  1  wrought  iron  tie  bar,  25.75  Ibs.;  2  wrought  iron  gibs,  0.41  lb.; 
2  wrought  iron  cotters,  1  lb.;  total,  229.16  Ibs.  This  sleeper  was  introduced 
in  1884,  since  when  no  other  kind  has  been  laid.  The  wrought  iron  tie  bars 
used  to  connect  the  pots  withstand  corrosion  very  well,  as  none  have  been 
rejected  on  account  of  corrosion  except  at  a  few  places  near  the  sea,  where 
they  were  placed  in  dirty,  moisture-bearing  ballast.  At  the  Joints  (suspended) 
the  pots  are  spaced  32  ins.  centers,  and  under  all  other  portions  of  the  rail 
36%  ins.  centers.  Under  the  heaviest  traffic  the  ballast  used  is  broken  stone, 
but  over  a  large  mileage  the  ballast  is  sand  of  various  qualities.  In  1900  there 
were  in  service  on  this  road  four  other  patterns  of  pot  sleepers,  as  follows: 
(a)  one  having  plain  round  pots  22^  ins.  in  diam.,  with  large  packing  holes, 
introduced  prior  to  1858;  (b)  one  having  ribbed  round  pots  22*4  ins.  diam., 
similar  to  the  foregoing,  except  for  ribbing,  introduced  prior  to  1858;  (c)  one 
having  original  "old"  oval  pots,  27x20 %  ins.,  without  packing  holes  and  with 
cells  for  wooden  rest  pieces,  introduced  about  1866,  being  made  up  of  2  pots, 
each  weighing  93.3  Ibs.,  and  a  wrought  iron  tie  bar  weighing  25%  Ibs.,  or  a 
total  weight,  including  gibs  and  cotters,  of  213.8  Ibs.;  (d)  one  having  "new" 
pattern  oval  pots  25x20%  ins.,  with  large  packing  holes,  cells  for  wooden  rest 
pieces,  and  strengthened  chair  jaws.  The  complete  sleeper  of  this  pattern  is 
made  up  of  2  pots,  each  weighing  100  Ibs.,  and  a  wrought  iron  tie  bar  weighing 
25%  Ibs.,  or  a  total  weight,  including  gibs  and  cotters,  of  227.2  Ibs.  This 
sleeper  was  introduced  about  1877.  It  thus  appears  that  some  of  the  oldest 
sleepers  had  been  in  service  42  years.  Records  on  file  since  1872  show  the 
half-yearly  renewals  of  pots,  and  the  percentage  per  annum  of  breakages,  as 
ascertained  from  them,  is  1.66.  This  figure  includes  breakages  due  to  derail- 
ments, and  some  removals  due  to  regrouping  of  the  several  patterns  of  pots 
(different  patterns,  round  and  oval,  having  been  laid  promiscuously  in  the  old 
clays),  so  that  the  percentage  is  higher  than  that  of  actual  failures  due  solely  to 
ordinary  wear  and  tear,  and  therefore  represents  the  pots  as  having  a  shorter 
life  than  they  really  have. 

In  1901  the  Madras  Ry.  had  897  miles  of  main  track  and  149  miles  of 
sidings  laid  with  cast  iron  pot  or  bowl  sleepers.  The  total  number  of  pots 
then  in  service  was  3,318,427,  and  the  renewals  for  the  preceding  two  years 
averaged  2.88  mires  or  9135  pots  per  annum,  which  was  0.275  per  cent  renewed 
per  annum.  Timber  ties  of  many  descriptions  of  local  wood  were  originally 
tried,  but  their  life  was  very  short,  being  only  4  to  5  years.  These  were 
replaced  by  creosoted  pine  ties  sent  from  England,  and  these  were  after  some 
years'  trial  replaced  by  cast  iron  pot  sleepers,  which  are  now  used  almost 
•exclusively  on  this  road,  timber  sleepers  being  used  only  on  bridges,  including 
masonry  arches,  and  under  switches  and  frogs.  Cast  iron  pot  or  bowl  sleepers 
were  first  laid  on  this  road  in  1861,  and  after  40  years  of  service  most  of  these 
were  still  in  tire  track.  Prior  to  1892  six  patterns,  varying  in  weight  from  89 
to  110  Ibs.  each,  were  used,  but  in  that  year  a  large  number  of  drop  tests  were 
made  on  the  pot  sleepers  then  in  use,  by  Chief  Engineer  E.  W.  Stoney,  the 
results  of  which  were  described  in  a  report  by  that  gentleman  in  1892,  In  1894 
he  designed  a  stronger  sleeper,  with  pots  weighing  112  Ibs.  each,  which  is 
now  standard,  and  is  used  to  renew  the  older,  lighter  and  weaker  patterns  as 
they  become  unserviceable.  The  details  of  the  design  of  this  sleeper  are  illus- 
trated in  Fig.  489.  The  heaviest  engines  in  use  are  6-coupled  freight  loco- 
motives, with  a  wheel  base  of  IS1^  ft.,  carrying  14^  tons  on  each  axle,  and  a 
total  load  of  73  ^  tons.  Mr.  Stoney  states  that  these  cast  iron  sleepers  joined 
with  wrought  iron  tie  rods  make  an  excellent  road.  To  insure  this,  however, 
it  is  necessary  that  they  be  tamped  with  good,  clean  sand,  ballast.  Broken 
stone  has  been  found  to  be  unsatisfactory  for  ballast.  The  standard  ballast 
material  is  sand,  covered  with  a  layer  of  broken  stone  1M$  ins.  thick  to  keep 
down  the  dust.  The  rails  are  of  the  bullhead  pattern,  30  ft.  long,  and  the 
sleepers  are  spaced  2%  ft.  centers  at  the  joints  (suspended)  and  36.66  ins. 
centers  throughout  the  intermediate  parts  of  the  rail.  The  following  extracts 
from  a  report  by  Mr.  Stoney  dated  Aug.  5,  1899,  on  the  relative  life  and  cost 
of  timber  and  cast  iron  sleepers,  give  some  further  information  of  interest: 

"About  898  miles  of  the  total  912  on  the  Madras  Ry.  are  now  laid  with 
old-pattern  pots  weighing  from  90  to  98  Ibs.  each,  and  14  miles  with  the  new 
pattern,  112  Ibs.  each.  No  person  can  at  present  say  what  the  ultimate  life  of 


METAL   TIES   IN   FOREIGN   COUNTRIES 

the  component  parts  of  our  cast  iron  sleeper  road  is,  the  oldest  portion  put 
down  in  1861,  or  38  years  ago,  being  much  too  short  a  time  laid  for  any  portion 
to  have  reached  its  life  limit.  In  the  absence  of  such  positive  data  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  only  way  to  arrive  at  a  fair  conclusion  as  to  the  ultimate  ages 
required  is  to  take  the  actual  renewals  per  annum  of  each  item  for  the  past 
few  years,  and  compare  those  with  the  total  number  of  each  article  laid  during 

this  time From  personal  observation  extending  over  a  period  of  30 

years,  in  charge  of  permanent  way,  I  can  say  that  almost  all  renewals  of  pots 
were  owing  to  their  being  found  cracked  or  broken,  hardly  any  bcfng  removed 
owing  to  rust  or  wear,  those  so  taken  out  being  chiefly  in  the  salt  depot, 
Madras,  where  the  jaws  dropped  off.  During  inspections  the  road  has  been 
often  opened  out  in  all  sorts  of  soil,  and  the  pots,  tie  bars,  etc.,  found  practically 
free  from  rust,  chiefly  due  probably  to  the  use  of  sand  ballast.  Although  our 
present  average  renewals  show  the  probable  life  of  a  pot-sleeper  to  be  304 
years,  I  have  assumed  an  age  of  60  years,  only  one  fifth  of  this,  in  the  calcula- 
tions. The  age  of  tie  bars,  gibs  and  cotters  has  been  taken  at  30  years,  very 
much  below  that  given  from  actual  renewals.  Keys  have  been  assumed  to  last 
6  years,  steel  rails  only  36  years,  fish  plates  36  years  and  fish  bolts  24  years. 


COTTER  -SBLBS  pmioo  GIB  -22LBS/&tMO 

Fig.  489. — Cast  Iron  Pot  Sleeper,  Madras  Ry. 

"The  relative  capital  cost  at  4  per  cent  compound  interest  at  the  end  of 
56  years,  of  a  pair  of  pot  sleepers,  with  tie  bars,  gibs,  cotters  and  keys  costing 
Rs.  9.25,  a  jarrah  sleeper  costing  Rs.  5.8,  and  lasting  14  years,  and  a  jungle- 
wood  sleeper  costing  Rs.  5.0  and  lasting  7  years,  is  as  follows:  Rs.  166.45  for 
the  junglewood,  Rs.  109.71  for  the  jarrahwood  and  Rs.  83.18  for  the  pair  of  pot 
sleepers,  no  allowance  being  made  for  the  scrap  value  of  the  sleepers  at  the  end 
of  their  lives.  This  takes  into  account  four  renewals  of  the  jarrah  sleepers, 
and  eight  renewals  of  the  jungtewood  sleepers,  with  compound  interest.  An- 
other way  of  looking  at  the  question  is  to  compare  the  price  which  might  be 
paid  for  the  pots  to  make  them  equal  in  final  capital  cost  to  junglewood  and 
jarrah.  The  result  is  that  if  Rs.  5  be  paid  for  a  junglewood  sleeper  lasting 
7  years,  Rs.  18.51  would  be  the  value  of  a  pair  of  pots  lasting  60  years;  and 
compared  with  a  jarrah  sleeper  lasting  14  years,  costing  Rs.  5.8,  then  Rs.  12.20 
could  be  paid  for  a  pair  of  iron  sleepers.  Thes-e  results  show  very  forcibly  the 
enormous  influence  the  life  of  a  sleeper  has  on  its  cost." 

A  comparative  statement  of  the  total  annual  cost  per  mile  of  2000  sleepers 
represents  the  cost  to  be  Rs.  1660  for  the  junglewood,  Rs.  1100  for  the  jarrah- 
wood and  Rs.  653  for  the  pot  sleeper  (pair  of  pots),  taking  account  of  the 
value  of  the  scrap  at  the  end  of  56  years.  If  the  value  of  the  scrap  be  not 
taken  the  cost  for  the  pot  sleeper  is  Rs.  832.  The  process  of  these  computa- 
tions, together  with  other  information  in  detail,  is  shown  in  the  Railway  and 
Engineering  Review  for  Apr.  6,  1901. 

The  pot  sleeper  is  also  in  extensive  use  in  the  Argentine  Republic.  The 
form  in  use  on  the  Buenos  Ayres  Great  Southern  Ry.  consists  of  two  cast  iron 
bowls  of  oval  plan,  each  26  ins.  long,  parallel  with  the  rail,  and  18*4  ins.  wide 


1174  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

transverse  to  the  track,  connected  by  a  wrought  iron  tie  bar  passing  through 
the  upper  part  of  each  bowl  and  secured  by  flat  cotters  1%  ins.  wide  and  x/4  in. 
thick.  The  length  of  the  bowl  on  top  is  21%  ins.,  the  middle  of  the  bowl  being 
depressed  like  a  saucer.  The  thickness  of  metal  is  %  in.  on  top,  5-16  in.  on 
the  sides  and  11-32  in.  in  the  middle.  The  rail  is  secured  by  lugs  and  taper 
keys.  The  depth  of  the  bowl  under  tire  rail  is  5  ins.  There  are  eight  pairs 
of  bowls  per  25-ft.  rail  length. 

Bowls  or  pots  were  at  the  first  designed  for  use  in  sand  ballast,  under 
which  condition  they  are  said  to  give  good  satisfaction,  as  is  also  the  case 
when  laid  on  earth  ballast  or  gumbo.  On  broken  stone  ballast  they  have  in 
some  cases  been  reported  less  successful,  as  already  noted. 

Features  of  Design  and  Maintenance. — M'etal  cross  ties  are  usually  made 
of  mild  steel,  containing  about  a  tenth  of  1  per  cent  of  carbon,  and  they  are 
usually  rolled,  like  rails,  or  pressed  to  shape  from  flat  plates.  Ties  of  the  pot 
or  bowl  pattern  are  usually  made  of  cast  iron,  although  some  of  the  ties  of 
this  type  in  India  are  of  pressed  steel.  To  preserve  the  ties  against  corrosion 
it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice  to  dip  them  in  some  preservative  like  boiling 
coal  tar  mixed  with  turpentine  or  tar  oil.  After  applying  the  coating  the  tie 
is  sometimes  dipped  in  sand,  to  give  it  a  rough  surface,  so  as  to  increase  the 
friction  of  the  tie  in  the  ballast.  Corrosion  is  most  troublesome  usually  in 
tunnels,  owing  to  the  usual  dampness  in  the  bedding  of  the  tie  and  to  the 
corrosive  effect  of  acids  and  gases  from  the  smoke  and  the  engine  cinders. 
Ties  laid  in  slag  or  cinder  ballast  or  in  salt  or  alkaline  earth  are  also  subject 
to  corrosion  of  greater  or  less  severity. 

Bolts,  with  clips,  clamps  or  jaws,  and  wedges,  are  quite  common  forms 
of  fastenings,  and  there  are  various  ways  of  effecting  the  adjustment  or  widen- 
ing of  the  gage,  as  on  curves.  In  some  cases  the  adjustment  is  made  by  the 
use  of  different  sets  of  clamps  and  bolts.  In  other  cases  the  adjustment  is 
effected  by  bolts  with  eccentric  necks  or  eccentric  washers.  By  making  the 
bolt  hole  of  a  square  washer  out  of  center  on  two  axes  tire  four  edges  of  the 
washer  will  be  at  different  distances  from  the  hole,  and  thus  provide  for  four 
adjustments  of  the  gage.  With  the  R-endel  tie  the  gage  may  be  adjusted  by 
placing  keys  on  both  sides  of  the  rail,  inside  and  out,  or  by  placing  a  packing 
piece  between  the  inner  lug  and  the  edge  of  th-e  rail.  On  this  tie  the  space 
between  the  tips  of  the  fastening  lugs  is  narrower  than  the  width  of  tire  rail 
base,  so  that  the  rail  must  be  canted  in  order  to  set  it  to  place  on  the  ties  or 
remove  it  from  its  seat.  It  cannot  therefore  become  detached  from  the  ties  by 
straight  lifting  should  the  keys  slip  out  of  place.  In  removing  these  ties  from 
the  track  the  rails  must  be  taken  up.  The  small  end  of  the  taper  key  is  some- 
times -split,  so  that  it  may  be  spread  open,  to  resist  any  tendency  to  work  loose 
and  slip  out  of  place.  With  the  clip  fastening  it  is  quite  commonly  the  practice 
to  use  a  bolt  with  a  "T"  head,  secured  to  the  tie  by  inserting  it  through  a 
slot  in  the  top  table.  The  usual  method  of  laying  track  where  bolt  and  clip 
fastenings  are  used  is  to  splice  the  rails  and  block  them  up  high  enough  to 
leave  sufficient  clear  space  beneath  to  run  the  ties  under.  Men  working  in 
pairs  then  raise  the  ties  to  the  rails  and  secure  the  fastenings,  after  which 
the  track  is  ballasted.  Under  frogs  and  in  switch  leads,  in  connection  with 
metal  track,  it  is  usual  to  lay  wooden  ties,  but  in  some  instances  metal  ties 
are  us-ed,  such  being  the  case  with  some  roads  in  Germany  and  Switzerland. 

As  with  wooden  ties,  so  with  metal  ones,  the  question  of  maintaining  a 
firm  connection  between  tie  and  rail  is  in  dispute.  In  order  to  prevent  wear 
at  the  rail  S'eat  and  resist  creeping  of  the  rails  it  is  desirable  to  hold  the  latter 
down  tightly  to  the  ties.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  undesirable  to  have  any 
vertical  movement  of  the  ties  in  the  ballast.  One  of  the  standing  complaints 
in  the  use  of  metal  ties  in  Germany  is  that  the  ties,  held  securely  to  the  rail 
'by  their  fastenings,  rise  and  fall  with  the  rail  in  its  undulations  and  "grind 
the  ballast  to  dust."  To  overcome  this  trouble  the  engineers  of  the  Prussian 
State  railways  have  made  various  -experiments  with  loose  fastenings.  In  one 
arrangement  the  fastening  allows  of  a  certain  amount  of  vertical  play  (about 
2  inch)  between  the  rail  and  its  seat,  so  that  the  undulating  motion  of  the 
rail  does  not  disturb  the  -embedment  of  the  tie  in  the  ballast.  Another  arrange- 
ment consists  of  a  wooden  shim  or  cushion  1.3  ins.  thick  placed  between  the 
tie  and  a  tie  plate,  with  an  allowance  m  the  fastenings  of  about  0.2  in.  (5  milli- 
meters) of  relative  vertical  movement  for  the  rail.  Both  of  these  experiments 


METAL   TIES    IX    FOREIGN    COUNTRIES  1175 

are  said  to  have  resulted  satisfactorily.  The  Eastern  Ry.  of  France  has  used  a 
tarred  felt  pad  between  the  tie  and  the  rail,  to  take  the  wear,  keep  the  sand 
out  and  diminish  the  noise  and  jarring  of  the  tie. 

The  tie  with  closed  ends  seems  to  meet  with  most  favor,  because  it  presents 
an  end  surface  to  resist  lateral  displacement.  An  inverted  trough  tie  with 
closed  ends  offers  a  greater  resistance  to  lateral  displacement  than  a  tie  of 
solid  section  throughout,  as  the  tie  is  then  resisted  not  only  by  ballast  piled 
against  the  end,  on  the  exterior,  but  also  by  the  core  of  ballast  inside.  Regard- 
ing the  best  ballast  material  for  metal  ties  there  is  some  disagreement  in  prac- 
tice. Broken  stone  of  the  usual  sizes  is  quite  widely  recommended  and  is 
extensively  used  for  metal  cross  ties.  The  experience  of  the  Mexican  roads  in 
this  respect,  however,  is  contrary  to  what  is  reported  of  results  obtained  in 
many  other  countries  where  steel  ties  are  extensively  used.  On  each  of  the 
three  roads  in  -Mexico  whereon  steel  ties  are  used  the  officials  emphatically 
declare  that  broken  stone  ballast  of  any  size  ordinarily  in  use  is  not  suited  to 
the  maintenance  of  track  laid  with  steel  ties.  How  well  a  finer  size  of  broken 
stone  ballast  might  answer  is  not  intimated,  but  gravel  and  sand  seem  to  be 
preferred  in  any  case.  The  explanation  which  most  readily  suggests  itself  is 
that  broken  stone,  being  less  mobile  in  character  than  gravel  or  sa*nd,  is  not 
so  readily  tamped  into  the  hollow  of  the  inverted  trough  tie.  In  some  quarters, 
as  elsewhere  mentioned,  broken  stone  has  also  been  reported  to  be  an  unsatis- 
factory ballast  for  pot  sleepers,  which,  for  ordinary  lifts  in  surfacing,  are 
tamped  through  holes  in  the  top. 

In  the  work  of  ballasting,  the  material  must  b'e  packed  hard  at  the  ends 
of  the  tie  and  under  the  rail  seats,  leaving  the  middle  but  loosely  tamped.  One 
method  of  accomplishing  this  is  to  place  the  ballast  in  two  rows  of  heaps,  spaced 
to  correspond  to  the  spacing  of  the  ties.  In  laying  the  track  the  ties  are  placed 
across  pairs  of  heaps  and  an  engine  is  run  over  the  track  to  settle  them  down 
into  the  ballast,  which  has  the  effect  of  packing  and  tamping  it  hardest  under 
the  rail  seat.  The  ballast  is  usually  filled  in  flush  with  the  tops  of  the  ties  and 
frequently  over  the  tops  of  them.  It  is  said  that  after  Boyenval-Ponsard  steel 
ties  have  been  some  time  under  traffic  the  cores  of  ballast  formed  inside. the 
two  channels  which  open  downward  adhere  to  the  tie,  and  are  lifted  with  it 
when  the  tie  is  raised,  thus  giving  virtually  a  flat  under  bearing  surface  which 
can  be  tamped  as  readily  and  as  thoroughly  as  the  bottom  face  of  a  wooden  tie. 

On  track  laid  with  metal  ties  the  expense  of  maintaining  line  and  surface 
during  the  first  two  or  three  years  is  usually  more  than  that  for  wooden  ties, 
but  as  the  ballast  becomes  compacted  under  the  ties  the  maintenance  expense 
gradually  decreases,  and  after  some  years  the  showing  on  some  roads  favors 
the  metal  tie,  while  on  others  the  reverse  obtains.  On  the  Netherlands  State 
railways  the  average  annual  cost  of  track  work  has  been  $141  per  mite  where 
wooden  ties  were  used  and  $97  per  mile  where  steel  ties  were  in  service.  On 
some  of  the  French  lines  the  track  labor  accounts  of  six  places  for  a  period  of 
11  years  showed  an  average  of  $112  per  mile  for  track  laid  with  wooden  ties 
and  $83  per  mile  for  track  laid  with  steel  ties.  The  volume  of  the  traffic  over 
the  ties  is  not  stated.  On  other  lines  where  steel  ties  have  been  tried,  particu- 
larly where  the  traffic  has  been  heavy,  comparisons  of  maintenance  costs  have 
brought  the  steel  tie  into  disfavor.  Persons  interested  in  the  maintenance  of 
track  on  steel  ties  should  read  an  article  by  A.  Flamache,  on  "Uses  of  Metallic 
Ties,"  published  in  the  Railway  Review  for  Oct.  14,  1893,  wherein  are  pointed 
out  some  of  the  difficulties  which  stand  in  the  way  of  economical  maintenance 
with  metal  ties  of  inverted  trough  section. 

Duration. — The  life  of  steel  ties  is  generally  estimated  at  30  years.  So  far 
as  the  matter  of  corrosion  is  concerned  this  is  probably  a  fair  estimate  for 
ties  laid  in  favorable  soils  or  ballast,  but  of  course  the  design  of  the  tie,  par- 
ticularly with  respect  to  its  vertical  stiffness,  should  greatly  affect  its  strength, 
which  is  important  as  bearing  upon  the  question  of  failure  by  breaking  or 
cracking.  Twelve  years  is  the  estimated  average  life  of  large  numbers  of 
pressed  steel  ties  doing  service  in  India,  but  the  conditions  of  exposure  are 
not  stated.  There  are  but  few  reports  of  metal  ties  which  have  actually  been 
in  service  as  long  as  30  years,  which,  however,  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  early  ties  have  probably  in  most  cases  been  displaced  by  ties  of  improved 
design.  In  the  year  1900,  10,000  iron  ties  of  the  Cosijns  type  (an  I-beam  laid 
with  the  web  horizontal)  which  had  been  in  use  35  years  between  Deventer 
and  Olst,  on  the  Netherlands  State  railways,  under  a  traffic  of  210,000  trains, 
were  still  in  good  condition,  and  the  oak  rail-bearing  blocks  in  the  top  channel 


1176  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

were  being  replaced  by  metal  blocks,  with  the  expectation  that  the  ties  would 
last  many  years  longer.  These  ties,  which  weighed  125  Ibs.  in  1865,  had  lost 
only  about  9  Ibs.  each  by  corrosion  and  wear  in  the  35  years.  The  ballast  was 
gravel  and  sand,  the  maximum  locomotive  wheel  loads  7  tons,  and  the  speed 
of  trains  46  miles  per  hour.  Some  Vautherin  iron  ties  weighing  74  to  98  Ibs., 
in  the  line  from  Algiers  to  Oran,  in  northern  Africa,  were  still  in  the  track 
after  26  years,  under  a  traffic  of  70,000  trains,  maximum  speed  31  m.  p.  h. 
Some  Post  ties  on  the  Netherlands  State  railways  were  still  in  service  after 
25  years,  under  a  traffic  of  137,500  trains. 

Cast  iron  corrodes  far  less  rapidly  than  wrought  iron  or  steel,  under  the 
same  conditions  of  exposure,  and  cast  iron  ties  are  noted  for  their  durability. 
Cast  iron  pot  sleepers  in  India  have  been  found  to  be  serviceable  after  being 
under  traffic  more  than  40  years,  as  elsewhere  stated.  It  is  of  interest  to  note 
that  in  the  experience  on  foreign  railroads  no  s-erious  loss  of  steel  ties  occurs 
from  derailed  cars.  Ties  which  become  bent  from  such  cause  are  removed 
from  the  track  and  are  usually  straightened  by  hydraulic  press  without  difficulty 
or  without  fracture.  The  wear  at  the  rail  seats  of  steel  ties  is  said  to  be  not 
serious,  but  for  heavy  traffic,  especially  on  curves,  tie  plates  are  recommended. 
In  calculating  the  economy  of  the  metal  tie  it  is  important  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  fact  that  when  worn  out,  if  not  thoroughly  corroded,  they  have 
considerable  value  as  scrap,  whereas  old  wooden  ties  can  seldom  be  disposed  of 
to  any  profit. 

9.  Locomotive  Counterbalance  Experiments. — In  the  mechanical  laboratory 
at  Purdue  University,  Lafayette,  Ind.,  there  is  an  ordinary  8-wheel  passenger 
locomotive  mounted  to  run  a  tread  mill,  each  pair  of  drivers  being  supported 
upon  a  pair  of  wheels  of  about  the  same  size  turning  together  upon  an  axle 
journaled  in  a  pit.  The  locomotive  is  held  fast,  and  as  the  driving  wheels 
revolve  they  turn  the  supporting  wheels  in  the  pit,  so  that  similar  conditions 
obtain  as  would  be  met  with  in  running  upon  ordinary  track.  By  applying  brak- 
ing power  to  the  pit  wheels  the  conditions  imposed  are  similar  to  those  which 
obtain  when  the  locomotive  is  pulling  a  load.  The  locomtive  tested  had  drivers 
63  ins.  in  diameter,  fully  counterbalanced  for  both  revolving  and  reciprocating 
parts.  The  weight  of ,  the  reciprocating  parts  on  each  side  of  the  engine  is  812 
Ibs.,  including  the  main  rod,  weighing  344%  Ibs.  Four  tenths  of  the  weight  of 
the  main  rod  was  considered  as  a  reciprocating  weight,  so  that  the  excess  bal- 
ance for  each  side  was  taken  at  605.3  Ibs.,  204.5  Ibs.  being  placed  in  the  main 
wheel  and  400.8  Ibs.  in  the  rear  wheel,  or  practically  66  per  cent  of  the  balance 
for  reciprocating  parts  in  the  rear  wheel.  The  weight  of  the  side  rod  is 
278  Ibs. 

The  method  of  testing  the  behavior  of  the  wheels  at  high  speed  was  to 
pass  a  soft  iron  wire  of  .037  in.  diameter  under  the  drivers  while  they  were  in 
motion.  The  wire  was  straightened  and  cut  into  lengths  of  20  ft.  and  fed  under 
the  wheels  through  a  %-in.  pipe  fixed  in  place  just  in  advance  of  the  point  of 
contact  of  the  driver.  To  connect  the  phase  of  the  driver's  motion  with  the 
effect  produced  on  the  wire  the  tread  of  the  driver  was  nicked  with  a  cold 
chis-el,  so  as  to  stamp  the  wire  at  the  point  passing  under  that  part  of  the  wheel. 
The  results  of  greatest  interest  were  obtained  under  the  rear  wheel,  which  was 
the  one  most  heavily  counterbalanced.  At  a  speed  of  59  miles  per  hour  this 
wheel,  for  an  instant  in  each  revolution,  barely  touched  the  wire,  as  indicated 
by  the  absence  of  any  flattening  effect.  At  a  speed  of  63  miles  per  hour  it  was 
found  that  the  driver  did  not  touch  the  wire  for  41  ins.  in  each  revolution;  and 
at  65  miles  per  hour  the  length  of  wire  not  touched  by  the  driver  was  46  ins., 
or  corresponding  to  about  y±  revolution  of  the  driver.  The  maximum  lifting 
effect  was  found  to  take  place  just  after  the  counterbalance  had  passed  its 
highest  point.  As  recorded  by  the  marks  on  the  wire,  the  rise  of  the  wheel  from 
the  track  was  more  gradual  than  the  descent,  which  would  be  expected  from 
the  inertia  in  the  mass  to  be  lifted.  The  flattened  portion  of  the  wire  was  uni- 
formly about  .01  inch  in  thickness  for  about  half  the  revolution,  and  rolled  so 
thin  by  the  normal  pressure  of  the  wheel  as  to  be  not  visibly  affected  by  further 
increments  of  pressure.  For  this  reason  the  damaging  effect  produced  by  the 
dropping  of  the  wheel  when  the  counterbalance  passed  below  the  center  could 
not  well  be  determined  or  estimated. 

Under  the  forward  driver  no  results  were  obtained  which  gave  evidence  that 
the  wheel  had  left  the  track,  although  the  wires  used  showed  some  variation 
in  thickn-ess,  indicating  that  the  wheel  pressure  had  varied.  From  calculation 
it  was  estimated  that  the  forward  wheel  ought  not  to  lift  from  the  track  at  a 


TRACK  ELEVATION  AND  DEPRESSION 


1177 


speed  less  than  80  miles  per  hour,  but  this  speed  could  not  be  attained.  It  was 
ascertained  that  the  rocking  of  the  engine  upon  its  springs  affected  considera- 
bly the  vertical  lift  of  the  drivers,  sometimes  acting  with  them  and  accentuat- 
ing tne  lift  and  sometimes  opposing  them  and  counteracting  the  lift;  while  at 
other  times  the  rocking  seemed  to  have  no  effect  on  either  driver,  as  shown  by 
wires  passed  under  both  at  the  same  time.  Observation  was  also  made  of  a 
vibration  in  the  driver  of  .002  to  .004  inch  in  amplitude  within  10  ins.  of  wire, 
or  corresponding  to  .01  second  in  time. 

Some  of  the  conclusions  drawn  from  this  series  of  experiments  were  sum- 
med up  by  Prof.  Goss,  in  substance,  as  follows:  (1)  Wheels  counterbalanced 
according  to  the  usual  rules,  where  the  revolving  parts  and  from  40  to  80  per 
cent  of  the  weight  of  reciprocating  parts  are  balanced,  the  counterbalance  being 
equally  distributed  among  all  the  connected  wheels,  are  not  likely  to  leave 
the  track  unless  the  spreed  is  excessive;  (2)  A  wheel  and  load  weighing  14,000 
Ibs.,  carrying  a  counterbalance  of  400  Ibs.  in  excess  of  that  required  for  the 
revolving  parts  alone,  will  lift  from  the  track  at  a  speed  of  310  revolutions  p'er 
minute;  (3)  The  rocking  of  the  engine  on  its  springs  may  assist  or  oppose  the 
action  of  the  counterbalance  in  lifting  the  wheel;  (4)  The  contact  of  the  mov- 
ing wheel  with  the  rail  is  a  succession  of  impacts. 


Fig.  510. — Section  of  Subway,  P.  &  R.  Ry.,  Philadelphia. 

As  the  locomotive  in  these  experiments  was  supported  over  masonry  foun- 
dations, some  engineers  have  raised  a  question  as  to  whether,  under  the  con- 
ditions, the  results  can  be  considered  applicable  to  track  on  roadbed  of  the 
ordinary  yielding  character;  and  it  has  been  asserted,  without  any  offer  of 
proof,  however,  that  on  account  of  the  elasticity  of  the  track  a  locomotive  driver 
could  not  lift  from  the  rail.  I  fail  to  see  the  force  of  these  points.  The  exper- 
iments certainly  show  what  the  tendencies  are  when  the-  counterbalance  is 
excessive  or  improperly  distributed,  and  as  long  as  we  know  that  great  pressure 
and  damage  are  caused  by  this  overbalance  it  is  of  relatively  small  consequence 
whether  or  not  the  wheel  actually  lifts  from  the  rail. 

Those  who  may  desire  to  study  the  subject  of  locomotive  counterbalance 
more  in  detail  are  referred  to  papers  by  Mr.  David  L.  Barnes  and  Prof.  W.  F. 
M.  Goss,  presented  before  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  in 
December,  1894,  and  published  in  Vol.  16  of  the  proceedingo  of  that  association 
for  1894-95;  also  to  Vols.  29  and  30  (1896  and  1897)  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
American  Railway  Master  Mechanics'  Association,  pages  148  and  117,  respec- 
tively. 

10.  Track  Elevation  and  Depression. — Some  of  the  most  intricate  work  of 
track  depression  which  has  been  performed  in  this  country  was  the  lowering 
of  the  tracks  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Ry.,  in  Pennsylvania  Ave.  and  Noble 
street,  between  Poplar  and  Thirteenth  streets,  in  Philadelphia,  completed  in 
1899.  This  work  accomplished  the  abolishment  of  17  grade  crossings  at  street 
intersections,  by  the  construction  of  a  subway  and  tunnel  for  the  tracks,  which 
involved  also  the  reconstruction  and  lowering  of  about  3y2  miles  of  sewers, 
much  of  which  had  to  be  done  by  tunneling  25  to  45  ft.  under  the  surface. 
Between  Thirteenth  and  Twenty-second  streets  there  is  4180  ft.  of  open  subwav 
80  ft.  wide,  carrying  six  tracks  (Fig.  510).  widening  out  at  points' into  depressed 
freight  yards.  West  of  this  there  is  a  4-track  tunnel  2711  ft.  long,  west  of 
which  there  is  another  open  subway  2150  ft.  long,  the  total  length  of  the  depres- 
sion thus  being  nearly  two  miles. 


1178 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 


While  the  work  on  the  eastern  half  of  this  depression  was  being  carried 
on  (between  Thirteenth  and  Twenty-second  streets)  traffic  was  maintained  on 
a  system  of  temporary  tracks  laid  in  Hamilton  St.,  running  parallel  and  one 
block  distant.  From  Twenty-second  St.  westward,  or  over  the  western  half  of 
the  depression,  comprised  by  the  tunnel  and  the  open  subway  beyond,  traffic  was 
maintained  while  work  was  in  progress  by  shifting  the  old  tracks  to  the  south 
side  of  the  avenue  until  the  north  wall  of  the  tunnel  or  subway  had  been  con- 
structed in  a  trench  33  ft.  deep,  after  which  the  temporary  tracks  were  shifted 
to  the  extreme  north  side  of  the  avenue  and  supported  partly  upon  the  newly 
constructed  wall.  The  material  was  then  excavated,  the  south  wall  of  the  tunnel 
built  and  the  open  space  arched  over  to  form  the  tunnel,  as  illustrated  in  Fig. 
511.  This  tunnel  is  52  ft.  wide  and  the  headway  over  the  top  of  the  rail  is  22 
ft.  The  rise  of  the  arch  is  8  ft.  8  ins.  and  the  radius  of  the  arch  43  ft.  4  ins. 
The  ring  of  the  arch  is  of  brick,  3  ft.  thick  at  the  crown  and  4  ft.  thick  at  the 
skewbacks.  The  clearance  between  top  of  rail  and  bottom  of  girders  at  street 
viaducts  (Fig.510)  is  20  ft. 


Fig.  511. — Method  of  Constructing  Tunnel  Arch,  P.  &  R.  Subway,  Philadelphia. 

In  the  construction  of  the  retaining  walls  along  some  parts  of  the  subway 
'the  fronts  of  high  buildings  had  to  be  underpinned,  and  along  other  portions  of 
the  subway  it  was  found  necessary  to  construct  temporary  fronts  inside  the 
buildings,  remove  the  old  front  walls,  construct  retaining  walls  upon  the  build- 
ing line,  and  then  reconstruct  the  front  walls  of  the  buildings.  At  still  other 
points  the  retaining  wall  passed  within  the  foundations  of  some  of  the  buildings 
adjoining  the  avenue,  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  remove  a  portion  of  the 
building,  construct  a  temporary  front,  and  after  building  the  retaining  wall  coi> 
struct  a  new  front  with  the  retaining  wall  for  a  foundation.  The  entire  work  of 
lowering  tire  sewers  and  constructing  the  subway  was  in  progress  five  years 
and  cost,  including  damage  to  property,  $6,000,000.  Full  details  of  the  work, 
with  illustrations,  were  published  in  the  Railway  Review  of  May  23,  1896,  and 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  Engineers'  Club  of  Philadelphia  for  February,  1899. 

In  depressing  3.65  miles  of  four-track  road  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  R.  R., 
in  Newton,  Mass.,  completed  in  1897,  traffic  was  diverted  during  the  excavation 
of  the  subway  to  two  temporary  tracks  laid  along  one  side  of  the  right  of  way, 
part  of  the  distance  on  trestle.  Excavation  was  first  made  for  two  of  the  perma- 
nent tracks,  which  were  laid,  and  traffic  transferred  to  the  same,  after  which 
the  excavation  of  the  subway  was  completed  and  the  remaining  two  tracks 
were  laid. 

The  Sixteenth  Street  Subway,  in  Chicago. — Another  very  complicated  piece 
of  work  of  changing  the  elevation  of  tracks,  perhaps  the  most  difficult  ever 


TRACK  ELEVATION  AND  DEPRESSION 


1179 


Fig.  512. — Sixteenth  Street  Crossing  and  Subway,  Chicago. 


undertaken  in  this  country,  was  the  combined  elevation  and  depression  of  a  net- 
work of  tracks  in  the  vicinity  of  Sixteenth  and  Clark  streets,  in  Chicago,  in  1898. 
The  complicated  nature  of  the  conditions  encountered  at  this  point  may  be 
appreciated  to  some  -extent  if  the  reader  will  picture  to  his  mind  four  main 
tracks  (Fig.  512)  running  north  and  south*,  paralleled  by  a  double-track  street 
railway  a  few  feet  distant,  all  of  which  were  crossed  at  grade  by  four  main 
tracks  running  east  and  west**,  and  all  of  the  foregoing  tracks  again  crossed 
diagonally  at  grade  by  six  main  tracks  running  from  northeast  to  southwest***, 
which  for  brevity  and  convenience,  will  be  called  tire  "northeast"  tracks.  The 
tracks  crossing  one  another  in  this  vicinity  enclosed  a  triangular  area  measur- 
ing from  300  to  400  ft.  on  each  side.  Beside  these  14  main  tracks  there  were 
numerous  interconnecting  tracks  used  for  switching  purposes,  so  that,  alto- 
gether, within  a  space  covered  by  a  radius  of  300  ft.  there  were  found  113  sin- 
gle-track crossings  of  steam  roads  and  seven  slip  switches.  Tire  various  lines 
of  tracks  were  used  by  the  trains  of  15  different  railroads,  and  the  records  show 
thai  the  traffic  passing  this  crossing  averaged  5000  cars  and  500  locomo- 
tives daily,  not  to  consider  that  one  of  the  busiest  street  car  lines  in  the  city, 
crossing  13  of  these  tracks,  was  operating  cars  and  trains  of  cars  on  two  min- 
utes' headway  over  the  crossing,  and  the  congestion  of  vehicular  traffic  in  the 
street  (Clark  St.)  was  very  great. 

The  plan  decided  upon  and  carried  out  was  to  depress  the  six  northeast 
tracks  about  9  ft.  in  a  subway  about  1000  ft.  long,  elevate  the  four  north  and 
south  tracks  and  the  four  east  and  west  tracks  about  10  ft.,  and  to  carry  the 
street  with  its  street  car  tracks  over  the  depressed  northeast  tracks  en  a  4^ 
per  cent  grade  and  down  under  the  elevated  east  and  west  tracks  en  a  5  per  cent 
grade.  The  first  work  undertaken  was  to  lay  foundations  for  the  concrete  re- 
taining walls  and  to  build  stretches  of  wall  in  such  places  as  the  tracks  could 
be  temporarily  diverted  for  the  purpose,  the  uppermost  consideration  which 
governed  the  work  from  beginning  to  end  being  to  keep  the  traffic  moving.  After 

*  Operated  by  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  and  the  Lake  Shore  & 
Michigan  Southern  roads,  and  used  also  by  the  trains  of  the  New  York,  Chicago 
&  St.  Louis  Ry. 

**The  St.  Charles  Air  Line  (two  tracks),  operated  by  the  Illinois  Central, 
Michigan  Central  (freight),  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  (freight),  and  Chi- 
cago &  Northwestern  (freight)  roads;  and  the  Chicago,  Madison  &  Northern 
Ry.  (two  tracks). 

***The  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.  (two  tracks)  and  the  Chicago  & 
Western  Indiana  Ry.  (four  tracks).  The  tracks  of  the  latter  road  carried  also 
tire  trains  of  the  Chicago  &  Erie,  the  Grand  Trunk,  the  Wabash,  the  Chicago, 
Indianapolis  &  Louisville  and  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  roads. 


1180 


SUl'PLEMEXTAKY    NOTES 


Fig.  513. — Progress  View,  Sixteenth  Street  Crossing  and  Subway,  Chicago. 

the  retaining  v/all  along  the  northerly  side  of  the  northeast  tracks  had  been  con- 
structed (except  where  crossed  by  the  'east  and  west  and  the  north  and  south 
tracks),  two  or  the  north  and  south  tracks,  two  of  the  east  and  west  tracks, 
three  of  the  northeast  tracks  and  both  of  the  street  railway  tracks  were  aban- 
doned and  all  of  the  remaining  tracks  vvere  elevated  simultaneously  on  sand 
filling,  to  the  final  elevation.  The  north  and  south  and  the  east  and  west 
tracks  were  to  remain  elevated,  while,  as  previously  stated,  the  northeast 
tracks  were  to  be  depressed,  the  scheme  of  elevating  them  being  to  carry  the 
traffic  until  part  of  the  subway  should  be  excavated  and  tracks  put  in  order 
therein. 

The  northerly  side  of  the  filling  for  the  elevated  northeast  tracks  was  re- 
tained by  timber  cribbing  based  on  the  second  northeast  track  from  the  north 
side.  The  elevation  of  all  the  tracks  was  accomplished  while  traffic  was  being 
moved  over  them,  and  as  soon  as  the  final  elevation  was  reached  piles  were 
driven  through  tne  filling  ior  the  support  of  the  north  and  south  and  the  east 


Fig.  514.— Depressed  Tracks  of  the  C.  &  W.  I.  and  the  A.,  T.  &  S.  F.  Roads  at 
Sixteenth  Street  Crossing,  Looking  Northeast. 


TRACK  ELEVATION  AND  DEPRESS  1OX 


1181 


and  v/est  tracks  where  they  crossed  the  space  to  be  excavated  for  the  subway. 
In  the  meantime  excavation  had  been  made  along  the  northerly  retaining  wall 
of  the  subway  for-  one  track,  and  as  soon  as  the  elevated  tracks  crossing  the 
site  of  the  subway  had  been  supported  upon  piling  the  filling  underneath  the 
same  was  removed  and  the  track  was  connected  through  the  subway.  One 
of  the  elevated  northeast  tracks  was  next  abandoned,  the  filling  material  un- 
derneath it  removed,  using  the  track  through  the  subway  as  a  working  track, 
when  a  second  track  was  laid  through  the  subway  and  part  of  the  traffic  trains 
over  the  northeast  tracks  were  diverted  through  the  subway.  Onc^y  one  the 
elevated  northeast  tracks  were  abandoned,  as  the  excavation  through  the  sub- 
way was  widened  out,  until  all  of  the  northeast  tracks  were  relaid  in  the  sub- 
way, when  the  principal  object  of  the  scheme  was  accomplished.  The  retaining 
walls  for  the  subway  had  been  carried  up  simultaneously  with  the  elevation  of 
the  tracks,  so  that  the  work  which  now  remained  to  be  done  was  the  placing 
of  permanent  bridges  in  substitution  for  the  pile  trestles  across  the  subway. 


Fig.  515. — Elevated  Tracks  at  Sixteenth  Street  Crossing  and,  Subway,  Chicago. 
Figure  512  shows  the  location  of  the  various  tracks  of  the  crossing  after 
the  subway  was  pompleted.  The  heavy  lines  represent  plate  girders.  The 
tracks  through  the  subway  were  depressed  to  an  elevation  of  only  3  ft.  above 
city  datum.  The  other  elevations  noted  in  the  ..lustration  refer  to  city  datum. 
Figure  513  is  a  view  looking  southwest  along  the  subway  while  the  tracks 
across  it  were  still  on  temporary  pile  supports.  The  tracks  in  the  foreground 
aie  those  of  the  C.,  R.  I.  &  P.  and  the  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  roads;  those  on  the  pile 
trestle  are  the  St.  Charles  Air  Line.  Figure  514  is  9,  view  looking  in  the  opposite 
direction  (northeast)  through  the  subway  after  the  plate-girder  bridges  had 
been  put  in  to  carry  the  elevated  tracks.  The  tracks  on  the  lower  level  are 
those  of  the  C.  &  W.  I.  R.  R.  The  girders  supporting  the  tracks  rest  upon 
two  lines  of  columns  intermediate  between  the  side  walls  of  the  subway,  the 
tracks  each  side  of  each  line  of  columns  being  ±6  ft.  between  centers;  otherwise 
the  spacing  between  the  tracks  is  12  V2  ft.  The  distance  from  the  face  of  each 
side  wall  to  the  center  of  the  nearest  track  is  8.3  ft.  Later  on  the  column  sup- 
ports for  elevated  tracks  were  walled  in  with  concrete  piers,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
445.  which  is  another  view  of  this  subway.  Figure  515  is  a  view  taken  when 
the  work  was  nearly  completed,  showing  all  the  lines  of  railway  involved  in 
the  elevation  and  depression  of  the  tracks,  but  not  all  of  the  points  of  crossing. 
Beginning  at  the  extreme  left  of  the  figure  a  view  is  had  of  Clark  street,  the 
portion  of  the  street  devoted  to -vehicular  traffic  being  separated  from  the  por- 
tion utilized  by  the  street  railway  tracks  by  a  girder.  The  street  railway  tracks 


1182  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

appear  next  on  tire  right.  The  street  is  carried  over  the  A.,  T.  &  S.  P.  and  C.  & 
\v .  I.  tracks  and  under  the  tracks  of  the  St.  Charles  Air  Line,  the  latter  appear- 
ing on  a  temporary  trestle  crossing  the  street-car  tracks.  Next  to  the  right  of 
the  street-car  line  is  seen  the  four  traciis  of  the  L/.  S.  &  M.  S.  and  C.,  R.  I.  & 
P.  companies,  each  track  running  between  a  pair  of  girders.  The  track  at  the; 
extreme  right  is  a  branch  line  connecting  the  C.  &  W.  I.  and  L.  S.  &  M.  S. 
roads . 

All  of  the  important  details  involved  in  the  work  are  too  numerous  to  re- 
ceive attention  in  a  volume  of  this  kind,  it  being  sufficient  to  point  out  the 
ruling  principle  in  the  plan  of  the  work,  which  was  to  first  elevate  simultan- 
eously the  tracks  running  in  all  of  the  three  directions,  in  order  to  keep  the 
enormous  traffic  moving  unimpeded,  when  piles  could  b'e  driven  through  the 
sand  filling  for  the  support  of  all  the  tracks  crossing  the  space  to  be  excavated 
for  the  subway,  after  which  the  subway  could  be  'excavated,  first  for 
one  track,  and  gradually  widened  a  sufficient  amount  for  one  track  at 
a  time,  until  finally  the  subway  was  completed  and  all  of  the  tracks  to  be  de- 
pressed were  laid  therein.  The  details  of  the  work  are  exceedingly  interesting 
to  persons  wishing  to  study  methods  of  moving  a  very  large  traffic  over  tempo- 
rary tracks  in  the  presence  of  extensive  and  complicated  engineering  opera- 
tions. For  a  full  account  of  the  whole  undertaking  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
Railway  and  Engineering  Review  for  May  29,  1897,  Nov.  19,  1898,  and  March  11, 
1899;  the  Railway  Age  for  July  29,  Aug.  12,  Aug.  26  and  Nov.  25,  1898;  the 
Engineering  Nev/s  for  July  14,  1898  and  Apl.  13,  1899;  and  the  Journal  of  the 
Western  Society  of  Engineers  for  December,  1898.  The  files  of  these  publica- 
tions for  the  years  1895  to  1902,  inclusive,  and  the  October  and  December,  1898, 
numbers  of  the  Journal  of  the  Western  Society  of  Engineers  contain  a  pretty 
complete  account  of  all  the  track  elevation  work  performed  in  Chicago  up  to 
the  end  of  the  year  1901. 

fl.  The  Training  of  Roadmasters. — In  the  introductory  section  of.  this  vol- 
ume it  is  stated  that  the  maintenance  of  railway  track  is  engineering,  from 
which  it  may  be  reasoned  inferentially  that  the  man  who  is  master  of  such 
work  is  an  engineer.  The  trend  of  things  late  years  has  been  to  associate  the 
work  of  track  maintenance  more  closely  with  the  engineering  department  of 
railways,  or  at  any  rate  more  closely  with  engineering  methods,  which  is,  of 
course,  a  move  in  the  right  direction,  being  in  line  with  progress  both  for  effi- 
ciency and  economy.  Growing  out  of  this  change  of  affairs  there  has  arisen  no 
little  discussion  and  some  question  as  to  which  of  two  classes  of  men,  each 
alone  considered,  is  better  qualified  for  the  position  of  roadmater — the  engineer 
or  the  trackman.  Most  readers  are  familiar  with  several  definitions  for  the 
term  engineer,  or  civil  engineer,  but  as  pointed  out  in  this  connection  we  readily 
understand  that  reference  is  had  to  a  man  trained  in  mathematics  and  in  the 
handling  of  surveying  and  drafting  instruments,  as  applied  to  railway  location, 
construction  and  measurements.  When  vre  speak  of  a  trackman  as  a  competitor 
with  the  engineer  for  the  position  of  roadmaster  we  are  understood  to  mean  a 
man  having  at  least  a  good  common  school  education,  whose  experience  has 
covered  all  the  detail  operations  of  track  work,  but  particularly  track  mainte- 
nance. It  goes  without  saying  that  he  should  be  competent  not  only  as  a  sec- 
tion foreman,  but  be  capable  of  supervising  the  work  of  a  number  of  foremen 
in  charge  of  track.  As  track  maintenance  is  an  important  branch  of  engineer- 
ing it  is  worth  while  to  consider  the  relation  of  these  two  classes  of  men  to 
Ihe  work. 

Since  most  engineers  in  these  days  are  college-trained  men  it  is  well  to 
analyze  their  antecedents,  for  on  the  part  of  the  so-called  "practical"  men  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  prejudice  against  college  men  in  general.  As  usual,  enthus- 
iasts on  the  subject  carry  matters  to  extremes  in  making  comparisons.  It  re- 
quires only  ordinary  powers  of  observation  to  discover  that  there  are  two 
types  of  so-called  educated  men.  There  are  men  of  the  ornamental  variety  who 
apparently  never  survive  the  pedantic  influences  of  their  college  days,  and 
among  this  class  may  be  found  some  men  who  can  parade  the  degree  of  civil 
engineer.  They  are  usually  much  concerned  about  matters  of  "esprit  de  corps," 
"ethics,"  etc.,  and  they  lament  the  fact  that  engineers  are  not  able  to  maintain 
a  professional  standing  on  a  level  with  lawyers  and  physicians.  By  such  and 
Jther  characteristics  they  are  easily  recognized,  and  their  attitude  undoubtedly 

some  tendency  toward  lowering  the  popular  estimation  of  college  men  in 
general.  Many  who  undertake  to  defend  the  college  standpoint  handle  the  truth 


TRAINING  OF  ROADMASTERS  1183 

too  timidly.  It  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  many  college  graduates,  in  scien- 
tific or  technical  as  well  as  in  classical  lines,  have  neither  capacity  nor  dispo- 
sition for  business  responsibility.  It  is  needless  to  remark  that  there  is  no  de- 
mand for  men  of  this  type  on  railroads,  where,  above  ail  things  else,  success- 
ful men  must  be  practical.  But  such  shortcomings  are  personal  qualities,  and 
they  should  not  operate  to  prejudice  the  opportunities  of  college-bred  men  as  a 
class,  the  majority  of  whom  are  serious-minded,  industrious  men,  who  could 
succeed  in  spite  of  a  colleg'e  education,  but  to  whom  such  a  training  has  been, 
much  of  an  opportunity  and  who  have  been  broadened  and  benefited  in  many 
ways.  Any  man  who  is  worth  a  college  education  will  always  be  the  better 
for  it.  There  can  'be  no  doubt  about  that.  This  type  of  man  is  inclined  to  make 
the  best  of  any;  opportunity  he  can  get,  he  will  seek  to  apply  his  knowledge  to 
business  ends,  and  in  time  he  will  become  well  acquainted  with  business  affairs 
and  methods.  There  need  be  no  concern  about  college-trained  men  who  are 
the  right  kind  of  men  to  start  with. 

The  roadmaster  should  be  an  educated  man;  at  least  educated  along  the 
lines  of  his  work;  not  necessarily  a  man  of  learning,  in  a  strict  sense  of  the 
term,  but  a  man  who  has  a  trained  mind,  who  reads  and  thinks,  and  who  can 
comprehend  at- least  the  elementary  facts  of  science;  a  man  who  is  able  from 
his  breadth  of  view,  to  seek  out  knowledge,  judge  of  it  fairly,  and  know  just 
how  to  apply  it  to  his  ov/n  'ends.  In  favor  of  the  engineer  it  may  be  said  that 
his  knowledge  of  mechanical  principles,  the  resolution  of  forces,  the  strength 
of  materials,  the  location  of  roads,  the  elements  of  curves  and  their  computa- 
tion, and  other  kindred  information  possessed  by  one  worthy  to  be  called  an 
engineer,  can  be  of  service  to  any  man  having  charge  of  track.  While  such 
knowledge  is  not  called  upon  constantly  in  discharging  the  duties  which  engage 
thf  roadmaster's  attention  for  the  most  part,  there  are  occasions  wh'en  it  is  in 
demand;  and  it  certainly  broadens  his  conception  of  things  and  enables  him  to 
comprehend  all  of  the  principles,  calculations  and  manipulations  which  enter 
into  roadbed  and  track  construction.  The  man  who  has  a  knowledge  of  funda- 
mentals is  also  better  able  to  adapt  himself  to  changing  conditions  than  one 
not  so  informed  and  he  is  therefore  so  much  the  more  independent  of  circum- 
stances. In  order  to  do  accurate  and  reliable  engineering  work  one  must  be 
able  to  check  up  computations,  but  a  person  who  cannot  comprehend  the  mathe- 
matics involved  in  engineering  formulas  or  who  cannot  understand  their  demon- 
stration, is  not  generally  able  to  check  either  himself  or  his  work. 

Tire  true  engineer  is  a  man  trained  to  think  with  mathematical  precision, 
who  has  an  instinct  for  searching  out  the  true  relations  of  things  and  for  prop- 
erly weighing  his  facts  in  making  comparisons;  who  is  able  to  discriminate 
between  cause  and  effect  and  able  to  judge  of  the  proper  limits  of  precision  in 
his  computations  and  in  his  measurements.  If  with  such  a  training  he  has 
opportunity  for  combining  with  it  the  practical  experience  of  any  line  of  work, 
it  ought  to  follow  that,  taking  men  as  they  are  found,  he  should  develop  more 
rapidly  and  achieve  a  higher  usefulness  in  the  chos-en  calling  than  the  man 
without  an  engineering  training.  TVith  his  ideas  regarding  system  and  his 
direct  processes  of  thought  he  ought  to  be  able  to  grasp  readily  a  great  deal 
of  knowledge  which  the  man  not  so  trained  is  obliged  to  learn  by  slower  pro- 
cess in  the  hard  school  of  experience.  These  after  all  are  the  most  valuable 
qualifications  of  an  engineer  for  the  management  of  track  maintenance.  While 
there  are  some  questions  of  live  interest  in  maintenance  of  way  affairs  which 
any  engineer  or  surveyor  ought  to  comprehend  more  readily  than  the  trackman 
who  does  not  possess  a  knowledge  of  the  application  of  mathematics,  still  they 
are  but  relatively  few  in  number.  The  advantage  enjoyed  by  the  engineer  in 
respect  of  his  -education  is  derived  not  so  much  from  his  knowledge  of  technical 
matters  as  from  his  training  in  accurate  and  systematic  methods  of  thinking; 
for  no  man  who  is  not  a  careful  thinker  can  expect  to  solve  readily  the  problems 
which  constantly  arise  in  conseauence  of 'the  changed  conditions  of  train  equip- 
ment and  the  general  progress  which  comes  about  through  modifications  in  track 
materials. 

Such  qualifications  are  therefore  all  very  good,  and  undoubtedly  essential 
to  the  highest  usefulness,  but  by  themselves  they  do  not  necessarily  enable 
the  possessor  to  assume  executive  control  of  parties  of  laborers  on  work  which 
involves  so  many  important  details  as  does  the  maintenance  of  track.  On  any 
well  constructed  road  surveying  is,  comparatively,  but  a  small  part  of  the 
maintenance  work,  and  but  little  knowledge  of  the  work  and  details  of  track 
maintenance  can  be  gained  with  the  transit,  or  at  the  drafting  board.  The  cost 


1184  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

of  hand  labor  in  most  lines  of  engineering  work  is  many  times  the  cost  of  the 
head-work,  and  in  track  maintenance  this  is  particularly  so.  The  largest  item 
in  track  maintenance  is  labor,  constituting  mor;e  than  60  per  cent  of  the  entire 
expense.  Therefore,  one  of  the  most  important  things  the  roadmaster  must  over- 
see is  labor;  and  men  who  have  stood  toil  and  exposure  are  usually  considrered 
the  most  competent  in  this  line.  It  is  natural  to  infer  that  the  man  who  has  had 
an  outlook  upon  life  from  the  laborer's  point  01  view  would  bre  expected  to 
possess  some  qualifications  for  overseeing  and  instructing  laborers  which  would 
not  ordinarily  be  found  with  men  who  have  not  had  this  experience. 

It  is  frequently  asserted  that  engineers  as  a  class  are  so  accustomed  to 
precise  figuring  and  exact  methods  of  work  that  their  training  affords  but  little 
opportunity  to  develop  capacity  for  handling  men,  who  are  not  exact  instru- 
ments; and  it  is  a  standing  criticism  of  engineers  that  they  are  lacking  in 
executive  ability,  and  in  capacity  for  handling  ordinary  business  affairs.  How- 
ever this  may  be  there  can  be  scarcely  a  doubt  on  one  point,  and  that  is  that 
trackmen  are  in  possession  of  a  vast  amount  of  knoV/ledge,  gained  from  experi- 
ence, which  every  man  ought  to  have  who  assumes  to  take  direct  charge  of 
the  track  forces.  Some  occasions  under  which  a  demand  for  special  knowledge 
of  track  work  is  liable  to  arise  are  the  selection  and  appointment  of  competent 
and  reliable  section  foremen;  the  selection  and  purchase  of  suitable  track  tools; 
and  in  judging  as  to  the  progress  and  results  which  should,  be  expected  of  the 
different  forenren.  In  order  to  pass  upon  the  matter  last  named  the  road- 
master  must  be  able  to  estimate  closely  the  amount  of  work  a  man  can  accom- 
plish in  a  given  time,  at  any  of  the  multitudinous  kinds  of  track  work,  and  in 
this  he  can  hardly  succeed  unless  he  is  familiar  with  all  kinds  of  track  work. 
And  then,  to  be  fair,  he  must  understand  the  nature  of  the  difficulties  which 
trackmen  sometimes  have  to  encounter  in  their  work.  He  will  also  be  called 
upon  at  times  for  instructions,  which  he  cannot  give  intelligently  unless  he 
is  familiar  with  track  work.  The  most  useful  roadmaster  is  the  man  who  can 
combine  with  executive  talent  the  ability,  upon  occasion,  to  "set  a  pattern"  for 
his  foremen,  or  put  himself  in  their  place.  He  then  ranks  as  a  teacher,  whereas 
if  the  case  be  otherwise  he  will  be  regarded  nrerely  as  a  critic,  and  his  men 
will  respect  his  opinions  accordingly.  On  such  considerations  as  these  the 
experience  of  the  trackman  should  not  be  ignored  in  appointing  roadmasters. 

In  favor  of  the  trackman  it  may  be  said  that  the  man  who  has  worked  up 
from  the  bottom,  had  charge  of  a 'section,  and  who  has  been  with 'work  trains,  is 
able  at  the  start  to  take  hold  of  things  which  he  has  done  himself  and  of  which 
he  ought  to  have  knowledge  superior  to  that  of  the  average  of  his  subordinates; 
while  the  man  without  such  experience  must  necessarily  rely  largely  upon  the 
judgment  of  his  subordinates,  until  they  teach  him  how  to  maintain  track.  He 
cannot,  therefore,  take  hold  at  once  and  "push  business"  as  the  trackman  can, 
for  it  takes  some  experience  to  enable  one  to  discriminate  wisely  in  the  use 
of  knowledge  acquired  from  others.  As  between  the  two  men,  both  being 
capable  in  their  lines,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  trackman  is  far  more 
competent  to  assume  the  duties  of  roadmaster  than  tire  engineer  who  is  inex- 
perienced with  track  work.  The  logical  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  that 
men  are  needed  who  can  combine  the  training  of  the  engineer  with  the  experi- 
ence of  the  trackman. 

In  justice  to  many  roadmasters  who  have  succeeded  well  in  charge  of  track 
—the  old  school  of  roadmasters,  if  you  choose — it  must  be  conceded  that  among 
th-eir  number  may  be  found  men  of  fine  judgment,  well  informed  on  matters 
pertaining  to  their  work,  men  who  think  arid  study  and  who  are  able  to  reason 
straightforward  and  arrive  at  conclusions.  Still,  of  these  men  it  should  be 
said  that  could  they  have  had  the  advantage  of  a  technical  education  they 
would  have  advanced  to  higher  positions  than  that  of  roadmaster.  All  depart- 
ments of  railway  work  are  progressing  along  scientific  lines  and  coming  road- 
masters  who  hope  for  the  largest  success  must  fall  in  with  the  general  advance. 

Although  railway  officials   are   coming  to   recognize   more   and   more   the 

5ity  of  employing  men  of  engineering  training  in  the  track  department 

there  seems  to  be  no  united  opinion  as  to  the  best  method  these   men  can 

pursue  to  sufficiently  acquaint  themselves  with  the  details  of  track  maintenance 

One  idea  which  prevails  to  some  extent  is  that  young  men  of  this  class,  can' 

*  a  few  years  observation  of  track  work,  either  as  surveyors  in  the  regular 

£ft;°<r  f  ??erlcal/mPloyees  in  the  maintenance  of  way  department,  -  or  as 

5  to  the  roadmasters,  in  some  capacity,  qualify  for  positions  in  charge 

of  the  work  of  maintenance  of  way.    Another  idea  is  to  appoint  engineers  from 


TRAIXING  OF   ROADMASTERS  1185 

the  regular  corps,  with  supervisors  as  assistants,  who  eome  in  direct  charge  of 
the  section  foremen.  The  supervisor  is  supposed  to  be  an  expert  trackman,  so 
that  any  man  who  passes  for  an  engineer  may,  with  the  support  of  one  or  more 
supervisors,  get  along  for  a  time  whether  he  knows  anything  about  track  from 
experience  or  not.  In  many  cases  of  this  kind  the  apprenticeship  or  the 
arrangement  is  of  the  nature  of  an  extra  or  specially  created  position,  tending 
toward  an  overabundance  of  officials.  In  course  of  time  some  of  these  men  do 
well,  but  it  costs  a  railway  company  something  to  educate  to  the  duties  of  road- 
master  a  man  who  has  not  been  a  practical  trackman,  and  in-some  cases  it 
costs  more  than  the  man's  technical  education  ever  amounts  to.  While  it  is 
true  that  engineers  in  charge  of,  or  associated  with,  construction  work,  such 
as  is  found  in  connection  with  change  of  grades  and  location,  and  work  of  this 
character,  where  some  .study  must  be  given  to  the  organization  of  the  working 
forces,  and  the  devising  of  plans  to  avoid  delay  to  the  traffic,  ought  to  learn 
some  things  of  practical  value,  still  they  do  not  come  in  direct  contact  with  the 
laborers,  and  many  of  the  most  important  lessons  for  a  young  roadmaster  are 
absent.  It  is  also  too  frequently  the  case  that  the  laborers  engaged  on  such 
work  are  unfamiliar  with  the  language  of  the  country,  and,  possessing  no  skill 
in  th'e  use  of  track  tools,  are  driven  around  like  so  many  cattle,  direction  as  to 
the  work  being  given  in  a  broken  tongue,  more  or  less  violently,  perhaps,  or 
partly  by  means  of  signs,  gesticulations  and  other  crude  methods  of  communi- 
cation. /The  engineer  in  contact  with  such  a  horde  has  but  little  opportunity 
to  learn  the  character  of  English-speaking  trackmen  and  how  they  should  be 
dealt  with — which  knowledge  is  of  inestimable  value  to  a  roadmaster,  who 
must  be  an  executive  officer  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  tendency  of  the  times  is  to  divide  up  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  falling  to  the  office  commonly  known  as  that  of  roadmaster. 
This  system  is  recognized  wherever  the  organization  comprises  a  supervisor 
of  track  and  a  master  carpenter  reporting  to  a  division  engineer  who  reports  to 
the  division  superintendent.  Where  formerly  there  was  a  roadmaster  and  a 
master  carpenter  (or  superintendent  of  bridges  and  buildings)  both  reporting  to 
the  superintendent  direct,  by  the  arrangement  referred  to  the  engineer  now 
fills  an  intermediate  position,  being  an  "extra  official,"  so  to  speak.  The  super- 
visors are  recruited  from  the  most  intelligent  and  most  industrious  class  of 
section  foremen,  and  the  master  carpenter  likewise  from  the  bridge  foremen 
of  carpenters  or  of  erection  gangs.  So  far  as  the  position  of  either  of  these  is 
concerned,  a  technical  education  is  not  necessary — the  man  with  the  broadest 
experience  in  track  or  bridge  work,  with  a  fair  common-school  education,  is, 
generally  speaking,  the  best  fitted.  The  division  engineer  to  whom  they  report 
must  be  no  other  than  a  thoroughly  trained  engineer,  whose  duty  it  is  to  work 
out  those  technical  matters  which  the  supervisor  and  master  carpenter  are 
not  supposed  to  b-e  able  to  do,  or,  at  any  rate,  are  not  expected  to  do.  Of 
course  it  goes  without  saying  that,  according  to  the  theory  on  which  the  organ- 
ization is  based,  neither  (the  "practical"  men  or  the  engineer)  can  be  dispensed 
with.  Although,  the  practical  operation  of  many  of  the  large  railway  systems 
of  tire  country  .seems  to  controvert  this  proposition,  the  tendency  is  neverthe- 
less as  stated  at  the  outset.  An  unfavorable  aspect  of  the  situation  is  that  the 
so-called  modern  tendency  presumes  upon  the  necessity  for  multiplying  offices. 

Having  followed  the  situation  up  to  this  point  one  is  readily  led  to  inquire 
whether,  in  this  land  of  opportunities,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  men  will 
undertake  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  both  track  work  and  engineering;  that 
is,  on  any  such  general  scate  as  will  meet  the  demand  for  this  dual  training. 
So  far  as  opportunity  exists  there  is,  of  course,  every  opening  possible  for  any 
civil  engineer  who  wishes  to  acquaint  himself  with  methods  of  track  construc- 
tion and  maintenance,  and  there  is  no  hesitation  In  saying  that  the  man  who 
aspires  to  the  position  of  roadmaster  could  employ  his  time  for  a  year  or  two 
to  no  better  advantage  than  by  willingly  engaging  in  the  actual  work  of  hand- 
ling track  tools.  The  man  who  will  apply  himself  assiduously  in  this  manner 
must  without  doubt  become  better  fitted  as  a  supervisor  of  track  maintenance, 
in  all  its  particulars,  than  he  could  hope  to  attain  in  any  other  manner.  But 
good  advice  as  this  may  be  there  are  but  few  engineers  who  have  ever  resorted 
to  such  a  course  of  preparation.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  after  gradua- 
tion at  college,  whence  .most  engineers  come,  the  student  of  track  engineering- 
is  beginning  rather  late  to  learn  methods  of  work  so  thoroughly  grounded  in 
manual  labor.  To  a  person  at  this  period  there  is  a  natural  dislike  to  the  per- 
formance of  menial  service,  notwithstanding  the  nature  of  the  inducement. 


1186  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

Nevertheless  such  courses  of  instruction  have  been  inaugurated  on  a  few  roads 
of  the  country,  notably  on  the  Illinois  Central  R.  R.  On  this  road  there  is  a 
system  of  track  apprenticeship,  introduced  in  1897,  by  Mr.  John  F.  Wallace,  later 
general  manager,  whereby  young  civil  engineering  students  and  graduates  from 
colleges  or  technical  schools,  and  others  from  high  schools  or  manual  training 
scnoois,  are  taken  into  the  track  service  as  ordinary  section  laborers.  After 
a  year  or  two  of  practice  those  who  show  the  right  kind  of  ability  are  advanced 
to  the  position  of  section  foreman  or  are  taken  into  the  engineering  corps  as 
rodmen,  chaiamen  or  transitmen.  They  then  stand  in  line  of  promotion  for 
such  positions  as  asstant  engineer,  supervisor  and  roadmaster.  The  position 
last  named  is  equivalent  to  that  of  division  engineer  or  engineer  of  maintenance- 
of  way  on  other  roads,  and  from  it  men  have  been  frequently  promoted  to  the 
grade  of  division  superintendent.  •  On  this  road  track  apprenticeship  is  the 
"doorway  to  the  engineering  department,"  and  success  by  this  route  means  "the 
survival  of  the  fittest,"  for  there  have  been  many  who  have  dropped  out  after 
beholding  the  serious  aspect  of  a  railroad  career.  A  similar  system  was  in- 
augurated on  the  Southern  Pacific  road,  in  Texas,  by  Mr.  E.  B.  Gushing,  while 
resident  engineer,  some  years  ago. 

In  a  general  sense,  this  process  of  "natural  selection"  has  been  but  little 
tried,  as  yet,  owing  quite  likely  to  the  disinclination  of  both  college  men  and 
railway  officials  to  try  the  experiment,  and  the  results  have  not  been  numerous 
enough  to  warrant  any  prediction  as  to  the  extent  to  which  it  may  be  put  in 
practice  in  the  future.  The  subject  has  been  discussed  a  good  deal  by  college 
professors,  solicitous  of  opportunities  for  their  students,  but  on  their  part  there 
seems  to  be  a  desire  that  railroad  companies  should  bind  themselves  to  some 
agreement  promising  college  students  who  undertake  apprenticeships  in  track 
work  some  desirable  position  as  soon  as  they  have  shown  their  fitness.  On  the 
face  of  things  such  an  agreement  could  hardly  be  expected  of  a  railway  com- 
pany. Young  men  .seeking  positions  in  maintenance-of-way  work  should  not 
expect  to  be  nursed.  Men  looking  for  such  positions  should  have  stamina 
enough  to  go  to  v/ork  with  a  will  and  take  their  chances  of  promotion  with  the 
rest  of  the  employees.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that  railway  companies  will  seek 
the  most  capable  men  for  promotion  to  the  responsible  positions,  for  where 
such  a  policy  is  not  followed  any  plan  will  fail. 

A  plan  which  1  would  propose  would  be  for  railway  companies  to  pick  what 
material  it  can  from  among  college  men  who  will  demonstrate  their  fitness 
by  taking  hold  with  their  hands,  and  at  the  same  time  give  equal  opportunity 
to  trackmen  to  qualify  as  engineers.  If  bright  young  men  a.mong  the  track 
laborers,  possessed  of  a  common-school  education,  were  given  opportunity  to 
work  with  the  surveying  parties  and  at  various  kinds  of  engineering  work  they 
would  readily  pick  up  the  use  of  instruments,*  and  a  little  encouragement  might 
induce  many  of  such  men  to  later  pursue  a  college  course  in  engineering,  Tills 
seems  like  hitching  the  horse  at  the  right  end  of  the  cart,  for  then  the  college 
graduate  is  ready  and  well  able  to  take  hold  of  any  position  in  maintenance 
work  where  he  can  get  the  opportunity,  and  he  need  not  then  become  the  sub- 
ject of  ridicule  among  track  laborers.  He  would  also  effect  a  considerable 
economy  in  time,  both  in  and  out  of  college,  for,  knowing  methods  of  work  and 
the  practical  limitations  which  have  to  be  met,  he  would  be  less  inclined  to 
waste  time  and  energy  on  so  many  of  the  hair-splitting"  niceties  and  adjust- 
ments which  originate  with  inexperienced  trackmen.  It  is  a  fault  with  many 
young  engineers  that  they  attempt  an  undue  refinement  in  applying  mathe- 
matics to  simple  track  problems. 

Why  not  such  a  plan?  In  the  transportation  department  telegraph  oper- 
ators and  station  agents,  with  no  better'fundamental  education  than  some  track- 
men, have  every  opportunity  for  promotion,  and  for  a  common  thing  such  men 
reach  the  highest  positions  possible  on  railroads.  To  deny  trackmen  equal 
opportunities  for  promotion  is  to  discourage  honest  effort  and  drive  capable 
men  from  the  field.  If  the  line  of  promotion  to  positions  in  charge  of  track 
was  open  to  engineers  exclusively  it  would  not  be  long,  wherever  such  a  policy 
should  become  established,  until  there  would  be*  no  trackmen  worthy  of  the 
name.  On  the  other  hand  if  trackmen  were  -encouraged  in  some  such  manner 
as  is  here  recommended  there  would  be  some  inducement  for  young  men  of 
ambition  and  energy  to  remain  with  the  work.  There  is  no  getting  around  the 
fact  that  the  best  prepared  candidate  for  the  position  of  roadmaster,  other 
oualifications  aside,  is  the  man  able  to  qualify  at  least  for  the  duties  of  a  sec- 
tion foreman.  It  is  from  a  class  of  men  so  qualified  that  the  great  majority  of 


CAPACITY  OF  SINGLE  TRACK  1187 

Toaclmasters  now  holding  positions  have  been  selected.  The  most  commendable 
plan  would  then  seem  to  be  to  make  it  a  requisite  that  candidates  for'  the  posi- 
tion of  roadmaster  should  have  handled  track  tools  for  at  least  two  years  and 
be  able  to  qualify  as  civil  engineers.  If  such  a  rule  were  adhered  to  as  rigidly 
as  possible  there  can  be  scarcely  any  doubt  that  but  little  time  would  elapse 
before  eligible  candidates  would  be  forthcoming  in  sufficient  numbers  to  fill 
all  positions  for  which  openings  might  exist. 

Capacity  for  the  performance  of  executive  duties  requires  knowledge,  judg- 
ment and  decision.  Judgment  is  proper  discrimination  in  the  usej)f  knowledge, 
and  decision  is  courage.  General  knowledge  without  particular  application 
under  specific  conditions  is  called  theory.  Practice  is  the  application  of  judg- 
ment to  theory,'  or  to  general  principles,  which  is  only  another  name  for  theory. 
Now  general  knowledge  or  theory  or  general  principles,  and  judgment  are 
acquired  by  different  processes.  Knowledge  of  things  and  principles  may  be 
acquired  without  seeing  the  thing  or  seeing  an  application  of  the  principle,  but 
judgment  on  the  application  of  principles  and  how  to  establish  things  in  their 
right  relations  is  rarely  if  ever  acquired  except  through  experience  of  some  sort. 
Again,  knowledge  and  judgment  are  different  in  another  respect,  in  that  the 
former  may  be  more  or  less  a  composite  of  what  different  men  have  made 
known,  and  may  be  acquired  by  an  effort  of  the  mind;  while  judgment  is  indi- 
vidual, and  is  the  result  of  one's  own  habits  of  thought;  and  there  is  nothing 
which  will  clarify  one's  thinking  better  than  experience.  The  safest  judgment 
is  that  which  is  built  on  its  own  foundation.  The  management  of  affairs  is 
best  learned  through  the  management  of  lesser  affairs;  and  the  study  of  nren, 
especially  as  related  to  business  affairs,  is  not  a  .study  of  books.  Techpieal 
learning  facilitates,  but  it  does  not  originate.  It  sets  up  a  standard  of  what 
things  ought  to  be,  but  it  does  not  always  point  the  way  for  bringing  those 
things  about.  It  does  not  make  up  for  defects  of  ability  or  for  incapacity  to 
move  things  with  the  facilities  at  hand.  Technical  education  aims  at  the 
ideal,  but  it  requires  judgment  to  deal  successfully  v/ith  realities.  In  railroad- 
ing, no  more  than  elsewhere,  are  ideal  conditions  the  rule.  Generally  speaking, 
the  most  successful  railway  officer  is  he  who  can  combine  the  education  which 
seeks  the  ideal  with  that  which  enables  him  in  any  situation  to  meet  the.  real 
conditions  at  hand — in  other  words  he  who  can  combine  a  technical  'education 
with  business  experience.  This,  after  all,  is  but  a  simple  matter,  easily  accom- 
plished if  the  right  kind  of  men  are  appointed  to  positions  where  they  belong 
and  are  advanced  on  their  merits. 

12.  Limit  of  Capacity  of  Single  Track. — An  important  question  with 
heavy-traffic  single-track  roads  is  the  limit  of  capacity  for  economical  operation. 
There  are  so  many  varying  conditions  with  different  roads  that  theories  of  train 
movements  in  relation  to  assumed  passing  points  are  of  but  little  value  except 
as  a  rough  guide.  Exact  rules  cannot  be  laid  down  that  will  apply  to  all  cases, 
for  the  investigation  of  the  matter  is  largely  a  special  problem  for  each  in- 
dividual road.  Nevertheless,  it  is  evident  that  there  must  be  certain  principles 
of  construction  and  operation  which  have  a  general  bearing  on  the  question. 
When  the  management  of  a  single-track  line  is  confronted  with  a  congestion 
of  train  movements  it  is  .seasonable  to  enquire  into  the  possibilities  of  relieving 
the  situation,  and  some  of  the  lines  of  improvement  which  may  be  considered 
with  a  view  to  increase  the  traffic  capacity  of  the  road  and  put  the  question  of 
the  construction  of  a  second  track  farther  off,  are  as  follows:  More  passing 
sidings;  extension  of  siding  ca.pacity;  a  better  distribution  of  sidings;  extension 
or  rearrangement  of  terminal  facilities;  installation  or  extension  of  inter- 
lockings  or  block  signals;  power  units  of  larger  capacity;  a  more  advantageous 
system  of  train  loading;  a  better  system  of  train  dispatching;  a  better  arrange- 
ment of  water  supply  facilities  in  relation  to  stations  stops,  or  the  making  of 
such  facilities  accessible  to  trains  while  standing  on  side-track ;  more  systematic 
attention  to  locomotive  repairs;  better  discipline;  better  management,  etc. 
Such  matters  and  perhaps  others  are  of  general  application,  even  though  they 
must  be  considered  from  different  points  of  view,  and  a  discussion  of  the 
question  on  these  lines  should  bring  out  valuable  information.  The. issue  of  the 
Hallway  and  Engineering  Review  for  March  15,  1902,  contained  a  lengthy  sym- 
posium on  the  limit  of  capacity  of  single-track  roads,  consisting  of  the  opinions 
of  26  railway  officials,  and  the  following  are  brief  extracts  from  these  expres- 
sions of  opinion: 

"The  problem  concerning  the  capacity  of  single-track  roads  is  governed 
by  special  conditions  rather  than  general  principles.  Theoretically,  this 


1188  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

capacity  is  reached  when  every  passing  track  is  occupied  by  a  train  or  trains 
in  one  direction,  meeting  with  uniform  movement  at  each  of  these  sidings, 
trains  going  in  the  opposite  direction.  This,  of  course,  is  an  imaginary  con- 
dition, and  would  never  be  attained  in  actual  practice.  The  nearest  approach 
to  it,  with  the  number  of  hours  required  to  make  the  trip,  together  with  tire 
number  of  trips  times  the  number  of  cars  or  tons  per  train,  are  data  which  give 
the  capacity  of  the  road  for  each  24  hours. 

"The  capacity  is  greater  on  a  level  road  than  on  a  mountainous  one.  On 
the  level  road  trains  can  generally  be  depended  upon  to  move  at  a  certain 
speed.  On  heavy  grades  one  cannot  always  tell  what  speed  they  will  make 
up  hill;  consequently  there  will  be  more  delay  to  opposing  trains,  and  the  more 
numerous  the  trains  the  more  delay,  and  the  need  of  double  track  becomes 
apparent.  At  the  same  time  the  greater  cost  of  the  improvement  on  a  mountain 
road  confronts  the  officials  and  deters  the  building. 

"In  a  general  way,  the  number  of  trains  has  more  to  do  with  this  question 
than  the  freight  tonnage.  For  this  reason,  a  low-grade  line  can  be  operated  as 
single  track  with  heavier  tonnage  than  would  be  possible  with  a  heavy-grade 
line.  Stock,  perishable  freight  and  merchandise  trains  must  be  hurried  forward 
at  greater  speed  than  lower  classes  of  freight,  and  a  road  having  a  big  per- 
centage of  the  former  class  would  require  double-tracking  sooner  than  one 
having  the  same  tonnage  but  consisting  of  ore,  grain,  or  similar  commodities. 
The  speed  of  the  trains  also  cuts  a  considerable  figure.  A  few  fast  mail  trains, 
the  speed  of  which  is  very  much  greater  than  that  of  anything  else  on  the  road, 
will  hasten  the  necessity  for  double  track,  in  order  to  prevent  too  much  delay 
to  slower  trains.  The  more  uniform  the  speed  of  all  trains  the  larger  the 
movement  that  can  be  handled  with  a  given  number  of  passing  tracks.  Un- 
balanced traffic  has  a  bearing  on  the  subject,  as  this  condition  increases  the 
number  of  trains  for  the  same  number  of  tons  over  what  they  would  be  if  the 
traffic  was  balanced. 

"The  prime  factor  in  double-tracking  railways  is  to  expedite  the  move- 
ment of  freight,  the  railway  officials  of  to-day  invariably  seeing  that  passenger 
trains  are  kept  moving,  no  matter  how  great  the  sacrifice  to  the  freight  service. 
Where  competition  is  so  great  that  the  speed  of  freight  trains,  and  prompt 
movement  thereof,  becomes  a  serious  factor  in  getting  and  maintaining  busi- 
ness, it  may  be  better  to  double-track  a  road  for  much  less  volume  of  traffic 
than  would  be  thought  necessary  where  there  was  no — or  very  little — competi- 
tion. Some  roads  seem  to  be  able  ta  constantly  increase  a  growing  business 
and  yet  not  make  as  good  time  with  freight  as  their  competitors.  I  have  in 
mind  one  road  with  heavy  grades,  fairly  good  power  and  facilities,  that  handles 
about  1500  trains  a  month  over  each  division  of  the  line  that  might  be  said 
to  have  reached  the  limit  of  its  capacity,  because  at  times  the  trains  get  over 
it  only  after  considerable  delay  and  difficulty;  yet  it  seems  possible  to  further 
increase  the  capacity  of  that  line  by  improving  its  facilities.  The  capacity  and 
condition  of  the  power  on  a  railroad  must  also  be  considered. 

"Whether  the  traffic  is  fairly  well  distributed  throughout  the  day  and  night, 
or  whether  it  has  to  be  handled  during  a  short  space  of  time  is  another  phase 
of  the  question.  On  a  line  where  the  passenger  traffic  is  light  and  freight  traffic 
heavy  and  of  such  nature  that  it  can  be  distributed  throughout  the  24  hours,  a 
greater  density  of  traffic  may  be  handled  satisfactorily  on  a  single  track  than 
otherwise. 

"The  fact  that  a  single-track  road  may  be  blockaded  with  traffic  is  not 
necessarily  an  indication  that  it  is  being  worked  up  to  or  beyond  the  limit  of 
economical  capacity.  The  matter  really  turns  upon  the  question  as  to  whether 
proper  facilities  are  at  hand,  and  whether  train  operation  in  conjunction  with 
these  facilities  is  being  properly  directed.  Ample  terminal  facilities  are  neces- 
sary, so  that  trains  can  be  run  in  large  numbers  in  one  direction,  meeting  in 
the  opposite  direction  only  passenger  and  perishable  freight  trains:  and  if  these 
trains  are  late,  time  orders  should  be  given,  and  not  detain  them  at  telegraph 
offices  to  give  meeting  orders;  giving  passenger  and  perishable  freight  trains 
the  preference  to  insure  their  making  schedule  time,  letting  opposing  trains 
make  where  they  can  for  them.  With  a  large  number  of  trains  bound  in  op- 
posite directions  delays  are  unavoidable,  whereas  if  they  could  be  run  in  groups 
in  one  direction  there  would  be  no  delay.  Trains  would  reach  terminals  on 
time,  motive  power  would  be  ready  for  other  trains  on  time,  less  consumption-' 
ot'  coal  and  other  supplies,  less  overtime  to  trainmen,  less  liability  of  acci- 
dents, etc. 


CAPACITY  OF  SINGLE  TRACK  1189 

"On  roads  having  a  large  number  of  passenger  trains,  if  it  can  be  arranged 
to  have  the  movement  of  freight  at  the  time  of  day  when  the  least  number  of 
passenger  trains  are  moving,  it  will  be  found  that  the  necessity  for  double-track 
arrangements  can  be  postponed  for  a  considerable  length  of  time. 

"Train  dispatching  has  largely  to  do  with  the  volume  of  business  which 
can  be  moved  over  single-track  railroads,  and  actual  experience  in  the  matter 
of  what  can  be  accomplished  by  one  s«t  of  dispatchers  using  certain  methods, 
as  compared  with  another  set  of  dispatchers  with  other  practices,  is  as  day  and 
night  when  compared  with  results.  If  too  many  miscellaneous  duties  are 
required  of  a  dispatcher  train  movements  are  more  than  likely  to  be  slighted. 
This  is  no  theory.  His  office  should  not  be  public.  He  should  not  be  required 
to  act  as  operator  and  deliver  orders  to  trains.  It  takes  time  to  fix  manifold 
and  carbon  sheets  as  well  as  to  fill  in  all  the  notations  on  the  order-  blanks,  to 
say  nothing  of  leaving  his  desk  to  deliver  them  when  other  trains  out  on  the 
line  may  be  demanding  attention.  Under  these  conditions  he  is  called  upon 
to  answer  all  sorts  of  questions  and  engage  in  conversation,  and  these  inter- 
ruptions are  many  times  detrimental  to  the  proper  performance  of  his  work. 

"Side-tracks  four  to  five  miles  apart  are  facilities  essential  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  full  capacity  of  single  track,  These  side-tracks  should  be  long 
enough  to  hold  at  least  two  trains,  and  in  connection  with  this  feature  It  Is 
important  to  have  facilities  for  taking  water  while  the  trains  wait  on  side-track. 
Another  important  matter  is  that  sidings  should  preferably  be  located  where 
it  will  not  be  necessary  for  trains  to  cut  for  crossings,  as  the  necessity  to  do 
this  is  a  matter  of  considerable  bother  and  takes  time.  Lap  sidings,  with  tower- 
men  to  throw  the  switches,  are  also  much  in  favor.  The  A.,  B.  &  C.  Ry.,  for 
instance,  handles  a  larger  regular  tonnage  than  some  of  the  roads  in  its  terri- 
tory that  have  double  track;  yet  it  still  has  considerable  single  track.  They 
have  accomplished  this  by  a  system  of  sidings  four  and  five  miles  apart  con- 
structed on  the  lap  plan,  with  an  operator  to  throw  the  switches  for  incoming 
trains.  At  each  station  there  are  two  sidings,  many  of  them  of  sufficient  length 
to  accommodate  three  60-car  trains. 

"I  believe  that  with  lap  sidings  and  interlocking  towers  at  each  lap,  the 
sidings  being  located  from  three  to  four  miles  apart,  and  trains  required  in  all 
cases  to  head  up  to  the  tower  when  using  the  sidings,  a  single  track  could  be 
operated  more  satisfactorily  than  a  double  track  without  siding  facilities  and 
where  trains  are  required  to  cross  over  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  faster  trains 
following.  I  also  believe  that  such  an  arrangement  of  single  track,  with  an 
absolute  block  in  both  directions,  as  would  be  entirely;  feasible,  would  be  safer 
to  operate  than  a  double  track  not  blocked. 

"The  distribution  of  side-tracks  is  governed  by  special  conditions.  It  is 
found  that  on  certain  parts  of  roads  trains  more  frequently  meet  than  on  other 
parts,  and  the  modern  method  of  blocking  trains  makes  the  need  of  frequent 
sidings  felt.  Where  trains  frequently  meet  they  should  be  close  together, 
serving  as  a  basis  for  sections  of  double  track  in  the  end  by  joining  them 
together.  For  heavy  volume  of  business  passing  tracks  should  not  be  more 
than  five  miles  apart,  and  for  low-grade  lines,  where  h-eavy  tonnage  is  being 
handled  in  the  trains,  three  to  four  miles  will  be  found  much  better. 

"I  think  a  passing  track,  of  not  less  than  150-car  capacity,  should  be  located 
every  5  or  6  miles  on  single  track;  and  in  addition,  where  the  traffic  Is  heavier 
in  one  direction  than  in  the  other,  more  passing  tracks  should  be  located  mid- 
way between  the  regular  passing  tracks,  to  accommodate  the  heaviest  traffic. 
The  valu-e  of  a  long  passing  siding  can  often  be  increased  by  the  construction 
of  a  crossover  track  midway  between  the  switches,  so  that  if  two  trains  are 
headed  in  they  can  both  pull  out,  whereas  without  the  crossover  one  is  required 
to  back  out.  Where  there  is  not  room  for  a  long  passing  siding,  a  second  siding 
can  p-erhaps  be  constructed  outside  of  and  parallel  to  the  first  one. 

"In  the  handling  of  heavy  business  I  greatly  favor  the  double  passing  track, 
i.  e.,  one  on  each  side  of  main  line,  or  side  by  side,  as  the  case  may  be,  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  long  passing  track,  even  where  the  latter  has  intermediate  switches. 

"Passing  sidings  where  there  is  no  telegraph  office  are  sometimes  sources 
of  unexpected  and  serious  delays,  and  there  should,  if  possible,  be  a  telegraph 
office  at  all  such  sidings.  They  should  be  located  as  near  the  sidings  as  it  is 
possible  to  get  them.  Where  they  are  at  a  distance  too  much  time  is  con- 
pumed  by  conductors  getting  to  the  office  for  orders  or  by  the  dispatcher  send- 
ing the  operator  out  to  get  the  train.  Something  unforeseen  is  liable  to  occur 
at  any  time,  and  if  the  train  is  lying  at  or  very  near  the  telegraph  office,  the 
•  dispatcher  can  very  soon  get  it  moved  to  another  meeting  or  passing  point. 


1190  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

"Yards  at  division  termini  should  have  a  capacity  equal  to  half  the  entire 
capacity  both  ways  of  the  divisions  terminating  at  the  point  considered,  besides 
the  necessary  room  for  switching.  Terminal  stations  should  have  a  capacity 
equal  to  the  incoming  business  multiplied  by  the  average  time  required  to  place 
the  cars,  discharge,  reload  and  place  again.  Where  the  facilities  are  good  this 
can  be  done  in  four  days,  which  would  make  the  capacity  four  times  the  incom- 
ing business,  exclusive  of  the  switching  room. 

"An  arrangement  deserving  careful  attention  is  the  double-tracking  of  the 
line  for  one  station  interval  out  from  terminals,  so  as  to  permit  trains  made 
up  and  ready  to  start,  to  leave  the  terminal  without  waiting  for  the  arrival  of 
some  train  which  may  be  delayed  just  long  enough  to  hold  the  train  about  ready 
to  start,  but  not  long  •enough  to  permit  a  meeting  at  the  first  siding  out  on  the 
line.  This  arrangement  also  helps  out  where  the  capacity  of  the  terminal 
yard  tracks  is  not  sufficient  to  accommodate  all  in-bound  trains  that  might  seek 
to  enter,  before  out-bound  trains  can  make  ready  to  leave,  in  which  case  the 
in-bound  train  must  take  some  outlying  side-track  and  wait  for  the  departure  of 
some  of  the  trains  from  the  yard.  Water  and  fuel  stations  should  be  so  planned 
as  to  enable  engines  to  replenish  supplies  from  either  main  track  or  sidings, 
the  water  cranes  being  so  placed  that  passenger  trains  may  take  water  while 
making  station  stops. 

"The  effect  of  block  signals  on  single  track  sometimes  expedites  and  some- 
times handicaps  traffic;  yet  on  some  roads  block  signals  have  increased  tire 
capacity  of  short  divisions  of  single-track  lines. 

"I  should  say  that  the  capacity  of  single  track  would  depend  on  the  number 
of  preference  or  passenger  trains ;  second,  the  limit  of  time  necessary  between 
passing  tracks;  third,  the  question  of  whether  it  is  necessary  to  block  in  one 
or  both  directions.  For  instance:  On  certain  divisions  of  the  D.,  E.  &  F.  Ry., 
where  we  have  five  important  passenger  trains  each  way  and  where  we  use 
located  stations  wholly  for  passing  tracks,  and  where  heavy  tonnage  trains  are 
handled,  necessitating  slow  speed  and'  an  absolute  block  maintained  in  both 
directions,  we  have  found  it  difficult  to  get  twelve  freight  trains  'each  way  over- 
the  road,  in  addition  to  passenger  trains,  without  very  serious  delay  to  freight 
traffic;  while  it  has  come  under  my  observation  that  on  roads  where  block 
signals  are  not  in  use  and  where  passing  tracks  are  located  with  a  view  to 
handling  heavy  traffic,  that  more  than  twice  this  number  of  trains  are  handled 
without  serious  delay  to  freight  traffic. 

"The  influence  of  block  signals  on  this  question  can  be  none  other  than  the 
best.  They  go  a  long  way  towards  making  single  track  both  safe  and  profitable. 
I  cannot  conceive  how  a  thoroughly  modern,  properly  installed  and  properly 
maintained  automatic  block  signal  system,  or  any  other  block  signal  system, 
for  that  matter,  if  properly  observed  by  train  men,  can  operate  to  the  detriment 
of  traffic,  either  on  single  or  double  track. 

"Where  traffic  is  heavy  on  a  single-track  road  there  should  be  a  tower 
block  system  or  an  interlocking  staff  system,  in  order  that  it  should  be  impos- 
sible for  more  than  one  train  at  a  time  to  be  between  two  stations.  Or  at  points 
where  the  traffic  is  not  so  heavy,  a  staff  system  ought  to  be  used,  so  that  the 
staff  or  a  ticket  must  be  carried  between  one  station  and  the  other. 

"I  cannot  see  how  block  signals  can  facilitate  train  movements,  and  they 
will  reduce  the  number  of  train  movements  on  single  irack  in  every  instance. 
I  have  never  been  in  favor  of  single-track  blocking,  as  I  have  always  been  of 
'the  opinion  th#t  the  proper  way  is  to  have  a  positive  telegraph  block.  With 
this  system  any  block  signals  between  stations  would  be  useless.  By  using  a 
permissive  block,  however,  I  should  think  that  it  would  not  be  safe  without 
block  signals  between  stations.  My  idea  of  handling  trains  on  a  singl'e-track 
road  is:  First  a  positive  telegraph  block  system  with  sufficient  siding  capacity 
at  each  station;  to  have  all  passenger  sidings  handled  by  the  operator;  to  have 
electric  automatic  station  protective  signals  to  indicate  the  condition  of  the 
main  track  throughout  the  station  and  yard  limits,  where  the  view  is  not  good. 

"It  might  be  considered  necessary  to  double-track  a  road  when  the  time  of 
getting  freight  trains  over  the  line  was  twice  as  long — caused  by  meeting  trains 
and  allowing  superior  ones  to  pass — as  it  would  be  were  there  na  trains  to 
contend  with  whatever. 

"A  railroad  should  not  be  double-tracked  until  the  grades  and  curves  have 
been  reduced  to  the  lowest  practicable  limit;  the  roadbed  thoroughly  ballasted 
and  equipped  with  80  to  100-lb.  rails;  the  limit  of  weight  and  capacity  of  power 
for  economical  freight  train  operation  supplied :  and  passing  sidings  of  sufficient. 


CAPACITY  OF  SINGLE  TRACK  1191 

length  t>  accommodate  two  of  the  longest  trains,  which  sidings  should  be  placed 
six  or  seven  miles  apart  and  arranged  so  that  they  will  form  pan  of  th«  second 
track.  Then  when  the  traffic  justifies  the  running  of  over  eighteen  trains  in 
each  direction  daily,  or  one  train  every  90  minutes,  the  second  track  should  be 
put  in,  especially  if  the  heavy  traffic  is  regular  throughout  the  year,  or  for  a 
period  of  over  four  months. 

"My  opinion  would  be  that  50  trains  could  be  handled  each  way  on  a 
division  successfully,  not  to  'exceed  from  100  to  110  miles,  where  everything  is 
favorable,  such  as  weather,  grades  not  too  heavy  and  long,  engines  properly 
rated  and  in  good  condition,  track  in  good  shape,  water  tanks  at  least  every 
20  miles,  good  long  side-tracks  not  over  6  miles  apart,  capable  of  holding  any 
two  of  these  trains. 

"In  a  general  way,  my  opinion  is  that  a  road  having  60  trains  within  24 
hours,  even  with  ample  side-track  facilities,  and  an  average  number  of  passengei- 
trains,  should  be  considered  as  requiring  double  track.  Of  course,  if  there  are 
many  fast  "through  passenger  trains  and  fast  through  freight  trains  it  would 
likely  be  found  advisable  to  provide  double  track  when  the  total  number  of 
trains  reaches  50. 

"I  have  seen  cases  where  a  single-track  road  was  capable  of  handling,  under 
the  best  conditions,  70  trains  a  day,  ten  being  passenger.  If  25  or  30  were 
passenger  it  would  change  the  situation  very  materially. 

"On  a  road  on  which  I  was  once  employed  as  dispatcher,  we  handled  in 
twelve  hours,  over  13  miles  of  single  track,  70  local  passenger  trains  and  from 
10  to  15  extra  freights,  and  yet  there  was  but  very  little  delay.  There  were 
six  sidings — two,  'each  one  mile  long,  and  four,  each  a  half  mile  long,  and  train 
order  offices  at  each  siding. 

"Thi-3  company  is  now  building  some  double  track  where  the  train  density 
is  from  fifty  to  sixty  trains  per  day  both  ways,  but  where  the  traffic  is  largely 
composed  of  live  stock  which  must  have  quick  movement  and  must-  move  at  a 
certain  time  of  the  day,  and  where  the  fast  freight  in  the  opposite  direction 
moves  over  the  same  districts  at  about  th-e  same  time  of  day, 

"In  commencing  to  double-track  a  road  the  work  should  begin  where  the 
largest  amount  of  traffic  is  handled,  which  is  usually  at  one  of  the  terminals 
of  the  line.  But  if  the  volume  of  traffic  is  on  the  middle  of  the  line  the  double- 
track  work  should  "be  begun  at  thk  point. 

"I  would  say,  in  a  general  way,  that  double-tracking  ought  to  be  done  before 
the  limit  of  capacity  for  single  track  is  reached,  as  the  work  of  double-tracking 
itself  involves  a  large  number  of  additional  trains  upon  the  single  track,  and 
the  double-tracking  can  be  done  only  at  an  enormously  increased  expense  if  it 
is  postponed  until  the  full  capacity  of  single  track  has  been  reached.  I  have 
Had  as  many  as  five  or  fcix  trains  in  a  district  of  20  or  30  miles,  held  out  all 
day  long  without  a  minute's  use  of  main  track,  and  gangs  idle  in  consequence. 
I  would  say  that  in  a  stretch  01'  25  miles  an  increased  expense  in  train  service 
of  $50,000  might  be  caused  by  postponing  double-tracking  until  the  single 
track  was  crowded  to  its  fullest  capacity  with  regular  trains.  In  place  of  about 
$1000  per  mile  train  service  in  double-tracking,  we  have  figures  running  up  to 
$3000  per  mile,  or  somewhat  over,  the  cauf?e  being  idle  time  of  trains." 

13.  Hand  Cars  of  the  Manitou  &  Pike's  Peak  Ry. — The  average  grade  of 
the  cog  road  from  Manitou,  Colo.,  to  the  top  of  Pike's  Peak  is  844.8  ft.  per  mile, 
and  in  several  places  it  is  as  steep  as  25  per  cent,  or  at  the  rate  of  1,320  ft. 
per  mile.  In  order  to  insure  traction  for  the  locomotives  rack  bars  are  laid 
in  the  middle  of  the  track,  as  seen  in  the  illustration  on  page  703.  For  rapid 
transit  down  grade  the  officers  and  employees  of  this  road  use  what  are 
known  as  "slide  boards,"  on  which  they  can  coast  down  the  track  at  great 
speed.  The  device  consists  essentially  of  a  plank  12  ins.  wide  and  3  ft.  in 
length,  along  the  middle  of  the  under  side  of  which  there  is  a  cleat  which 
runs  between  the  rack  bars  and  holds  the  vehicle  thereon.  On  either  side 
of  the  middle  cleat  there  are  brake  shoes,  bolted  to  the  plank  at  one  end 
and  bearing'  against  the  outside  surfaces  of  the  rack  bars  or  cog  teeth. 
These  brake  shoes  are  applied  by  clamps  bent  over  the  sides  of  the  plank 
and  operated  by  a  lever  which,  as  appears  in  the  illustration,  the  rider  holds 
within  his  grasp.  The  plank  bears  upon  the  upper  edges  of  the  cog  teeth 
by  steel  runners,  which  consist  of  two  straps  bent  over  the  ends  of  the 
plank.  To  hold  the  device  in  balance  a  bar  or  pole  is  bolted  to  the  top  of  the 
plank,  crosswise,  extending  over  the  track  rail  on  either  side.  Across  the 
front  end  of  the  plank  there  is  bolted  a  rest  for  the  rider's  feet.  The  weight 


1192 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 


of  the  slide  board  entire  is  but  35  Ibs.  The  position  of  the  rider  when  in 
motion  is  clearly  apparent  in  the  illustration,  and  the  method  of  operating  the 
device  is  simply  to  place  it  on  the  track,  sit  down  and  attend  to  the  brake. 
The  speed  attainable  depends  upon  the  pleasure  of  the  rider.  A  record  of  a 
fraction  under  a  mile  a  minute  has  been  made,  and  a  ride  at  this  speed  over 
the  rack  rails  is  said  to  be  stimulating  if  not  exciting.  The  entire  stretch  of 
track  from  the  top  of  the  peak  down  to  Manitou — 9  miles — is  used,  except 
at  four  points  where  the  rack  rails  diverge  at  sidings.  At  these  points  the 
rider  must  come  to  a  stop  and  carry  his  board  about  40  ft.  On  one  occasion 
an  employee  of  the  company  made  the  trip  over  the  9  miles  in  11  minutes. 
The  friction  of  the  runners  on  the  rack  rails  causes  the  former  to  heat,  and 
on  the  lighter  grades  of  8  to  12  per  cent  the  heated  runners  have  been  known 
to  adhere  to  the  rack  rail  and  stop  the  vehicle.  For  the  purpose  of  lubrication, 
and  to  prevent  the  runners  from  unduly  heating,  the  rider  carries  a  bar  of 
soap  which  he  applies  to  the  top  of  the  rack  teeth  by  reaching  over  in  front 
of  the  board.  Even  then,  the  friction  is  so  great  that,  at  very  high  speed,  on 
the  long  grades,  streams  of  fire  follow  the  flight  of  the  rider. 

EXPLANATION    OF    TABLES. 

Table  V. — The  sine,  cosine,  tangent,  co-tangent,  or  external  secant  of  an 
angle  greater  than  90  degrees  is  numerically  the  sine,  cosine,  etc.  of  the 
difference  between  that  angle  and  180  degrees. 

The  versed  sine  of  an  angle  greater  than  90  degrees  is  equal  to  2  minus 
the  versed  sine  of  the  difference  between  that  angle  and  180  degrees. 

Table  XI. — The  lower  frog  numbers  are  inserted  in  the  table  for  use  on 
street,  railways. 

Tables  XIII  and  XIV. — These  tables  have  been  worked  out  to  give 
measurements  for  point  switch  turnouts,  having  switch  points  of  various 
lengths,  corresponding  to  different  values  of  spread  at  the  heel.  The  turn- 
out curve  in  every  case  is  tangent  to  the  point  rail  at  the  heel,  and  to  the 
frog  at  the  point  of  frog.  For  the  change  in  middle  ordinate  of  outside  rail 
of  turnout  when  the  main  track  is  curved,  see  §  68,  chapter  VI. 

Table  XIV. — Measurements  for  Point-Switch  Turnouts. 
Gage,  4  feet  8  y%  inches.      Spread  at  Heel,  5^  inches.      Figure  140. 


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6ft 

,9     15     20 

6.18 

53.66 

9 

6     21     35 

' 

It 

726.70 

7     53 

80.19 

8 

6 

8     46     32 

6.52 

55.12 

9  2 

6     01     32 

' 

11 

814.91 

7     02 

82.98 

7§f 

8     20     30 

6.86 

56.56 

10 

5     43     29 

' 

u 

909.09 

6     18 

85.71 

7*5 

5fl 

7     56     12 

7.21 

58.00 

10  2 

1  0  '  > 

5     27     09 

' 

(t 

1009.50 

5     41 

88.38 

7% 

5H 

7     35     54 

7.53 

59.29 

1  1 

5     12     18 

' 

(I 

1116.33 

5    08 

90.99 

7& 

5^ 

7     17     12 

7.85 

60.55 

II 

HH 

12 

4     58     45 
4     46     19 

t 
i 

H 

:c 

1229.72 
1350.35 

4     40 
4     15 

93.56 
96.08 

1 

^ 

6     59     12 

6     43     42 

8.19 
8.51 

61.84 
63.01 

12  2 

10 

5     43     29 

20 

1     18     47 

897.12 

6     23 

89.11 

8 

63¥ 

7     52     48 

7.26 

61.33 

10 

10^ 

5     27     09 

5     12     18 

« 

tt 

994.78 
1098.38 

5    46 
5     13 

91.90 
94.63 

7« 

511 
5!i 

7     32     24 

7     13     42 

7.59 
7.92 

62.71 
64.06 

12  2 

4     58     45 
4     46     19 

« 

te 

1207.98 
1324.18 

4     45 
4     20 

97.31 
99.96 

7?? 

5ft 

6     55     48 
6     40     12 

8.26 

65.44 

,v 

1193 


Table  XIII. — Measurements  for  Point-Switch  Turnouts. 
Gage  of  Track,  4  feet  8>£  inches.      Spread  at  Heel,  5  inches.      Figure  140. 


5 

5^2 

6 

6^ 

7; 

8 

s; 

9 
10 


14  15 

12  40 

11  25 

10  23 

9  31 

8  47 

8  10 

7  37 

7  09 

6  43 

6  21 

6  01 

5  43 


Deg      Min      Sec 


00 
49 
16 
20 
39 
51 
1C 
41 
10 
51 
3-r 
32 
29 


15 


Deg    Min     Sec 


1     59     23 
1     35     3C 


Ft 
139~92 


218.69 
265.75 
317.72 
374.80 
437.11 
504.75 
577.88 
656.80 
741.72 
832.82 


Deg     Min 


41     53 


178.07  32  37 


26  26 

21  41 

18  07 

15  20 

13  08 


930.35J  6     10 


42.08 
45.34 


52.63 
55.90 
59.09 
62.21 
65.25 
68.23 
71.13 
73.97 
76.75 
79.47 
82.13 


Table  XI. — Measurements  for  Stub-Switch  Turnouts. 
Gage  of  Track,  4  feet  8^  inches.    Figures  67  and  1 5d. 


S* 

5H 


8 

:* 


IOH 
II 

12 


14  15 

12  41 

11  25 

10  23 

9  32 

8  48 

8  10 

7  38 

7  09 

6  44 

6  22 

6  02 

5  43 

5  27 

5  12 

4  59 


46 


150.66 
190.67 
235.40 
284.83 
338.9.8 
397.83 
461.38 
529.65 
602.62 
680.31 
762.70 
849.79 
941.60 
1038.11 
1139.34 
1245.27 
1355.90 


38  46 
30  24 
24  32 
20  13 
16  58 
26 
27 
50 
31 
26 
31 
45 
05 
31 
02 
98 


For  5-in.  Tbnnr 


TT 


26.45 
29.76 
33.07 
36.38 
39.69 
42.99 
46.29 
49.60 
52.91 
56.22 
59.52 
62.83 
66.14 
69.45 
72.76 
76.05 
79.36 


h  of  Stu 
ch  Rail. 
A  B 


TT 


11.21 
12.61 
14.01 
15.41 
16.81 
18.21 
19.62 
21.02 
22.42 
23.82 
25.22 
26.62 
28.02 
29.42 
30.82 
32.23 
33.63 


ForSH-in.  Thnw 


Ft 


37.66 
42.37 
47.08 
51.79 
56.50 
61.20 
65.91 
70.62 
75.33 
80.04 
84.74 
89.45 
94.16 
98.87 
103.58 
108.28 
112.99 


Ft 


25.91 
29.15 
32.39 
35.63 
38.87 
42.11 
45.35 
48.59 
51.83 
55.07 
58.30 
61.54 
64.78 
68.02 
71.26 
74.49 
77.73 


11.75 
13.22 
14.69 
16.16 
17.63 
19.09 
20.56 
22.03 
23.50 
24.97 
26.44 
27.91 
29.38 
30.85 
32.32 
33.79 
35.26 


I** 


14* 
14* 
14* 
14* 
14* 
14* 


is 


10% 

10  s| 


IOJ 

11)1 

H'J 
101 

loti 


OH 


So 


2.82 
3.17 
3.53 
3.88 
4.24 
4.59 
4.94 
5.30 
5.65 
6.01 
6.36 
6.71 
7.07 
7.42 
7.77 
8.13 
8.48 


H 


^~^ 


20  08 

17  55 

16  08 

14  41 

13  28 

12  26 

11  33 

10  47 

10  07 

9  31 

9  00 

8  31 

8  06 

7  43 

7  22 

7  02 

6  45 


1*9 


15.53 
17.44 
19.36 
21.28 
23.20 
25.13 
27.05 
28.97 
30.90 
32.82 
34.75 
36.67 
38.60 
40.53 
42.45 
44.38 
46.30 


II 

ii« 


Table  XVI. — Direct  Distances  Between  Frogs  on  Ladder  Tracks. 
Distances  AB,  BC,  etc.,  in  Figure  212. 


Frog 
No. 

Distances  between  Track  Centers. 

Frog 
No. 

10 

10.5 

II 

11.5 

12 

12.5 

13 

I3..5 

14 

14.5 

15 

4 

40.62 

42.66 

44.69 

46.72 

48.75 

50.78 

52.81 

54.84 

56.87 

58.91 

60.94 

4 

4H 

45.56 

47.83 

50.11 

52.39 

54.67 

56.94 

59.22 

61.50 

63.78 

66.06 

68.33 

4y2 

5 

50.50 

53.02 

55.55 

58.07 

60.60 

63.12 

65.65 

68.17 

70.70 

73.22 

75.75 

5 

5^ 

55.45 

58.23 

61.00 

63.77 

66.54 

69.32 

72.09 

74.86 

77.64 

80.41 

83.18 

5^ 

6 

60.41 

63.44 

66.46 

69.48 

72.50 

75.52 

78.54 

81.56 

84.58 

87.60 

90.62 

6 

6^ 

65.38 

68.65 

71.92 

75.19 

78.46 

81.73 

85.00 

88.27 

91.54 

94.81 

98.08 

6^ 

7 

70.31 

73.88 

77.39 

80.91 

84.43 

87.95 

91.47 

94.98 

98.50 

102.02 

105.54 

7 

71A 

75.33 

79.10 

82.87 

86.63 

90.40 

94.17 

97.93 

101.70 

105.47 

109.23 

113.00 

T1A 

8 

80.31 

84.33 

88.34 

92.36 

96.37 

100.39 

104.40 

108.42 

112.44 

116.45 

120.47 

8 

8^ 

85.29 

89.56 

93.82 

98.09 

102.35 

106.61 

110.88 

115.14 

119.41 

123.67 

127.94 

8^ 

9 

90.28 

94.79 

99.30 

103.82 

108.33 

112.85 

117.36 

121.87 

128.39 

130.90 

135.41 

9 

9^ 

95.26 

100.03 

104.79 

109.55 

114.32 

119.08 

123.84 

128.61 

133.37 

138.13 

142.89 

9^ 

10 

100.25 

105.26 

110.28 

115.29 

120.30 

125.31 

130.33 

135.34 

140.35 

145.36 

150.38 

10 

IOH 

105.24 

110.50 

115.76 

121.03 

126.29 

131.55 

136.81 

142.07 

147.34 

152.60 

157.86 

10^ 

II 

110.23 

115.74 

121.25 

126.76 

132.28 

137.79 

143.30 

148.81 

154.32 

159.83 

165.34 

II 

11^ 

115.22 

120.98 

126.74 

132.50 

138.26 

144.02 

149.78 

155.54 

161.30 

167.06 

172.82 

\\1A 

12 

120.21 

126.22 

132.23 

138.24 

144.25 

150.26 

156.27 

162.28 

168.29 

174.30 

180.31 

12 

1194 


Table  V. — Natural  Sines,  Cosines,  Tangents,  Etc. 


Oeg.  Min. 

Sine. 

Cosine. 

Tangent. 

Cotangent. 

.Ver.  Sine. 

Ex.  Secant. 

Deg  Min. 

0 

.00000 

1.00000 

.  00000 

Infinite. 

.00000 

.00000 

0 

0  30 

.00873 

.99996 

.00873 

114.589 

.00004 

.00004 

0  30 

1 

.01745 

.  99985 

.01746 

57.2900 

00015 

.00015 

1 

1  30 

.02618 

.  99966 

.02619 

38  .  1885 

.00034 

.00034 

1  30 

2 

.03490 

.99939 

.03492 

28.6363 

.00061 

.00061 

2 

2  30 

.04362 

.99905 

.04366 

22.9038 

.00095 

.00095 

2  30 

3 

.05234 

.99863 

.05241 

19.0811 

.00137 

.00137 

3 

3  30 

.06105 

.99813 

.06116 

16.3499 

.00187 

.00187 

3  30 

4 

.  06976 

.99756 

.06993 

14.3007 

.00244 

.00244 

4 

4  30 

.07846 

.99692 

.07870 

12.7062 

.00308 

.00309 

*4  30 

5 

.08716 

.99619 

.  08749 

II  .4301 

.00381 

.00382 

5 

5  30 

.09585 

.99540 

.09629 

10  .  3854 

.00460 

.00463 

5  30 

6 

.  10453 

.99452 

.10510 

9.51436 

.00548 

.00551 

6 

6  30 

.11320 

.99357 

.11394 

8.77689 

.00643 

.00647 

6  30 

7 

.12187 

.99255 

.  12278 

8.14435 

.00745 

.00751 

7  30 

.  13053 

.99144 

.13165 

7.59575 

.00856 

.00863 

7  30 

8 

.13917 

.99027 

,  .  14054 

7.11537 

.00973 

.00983 

8 

8  30 

.14781 

.98902 

.  14945 

6.69116 

.01098 

.01111 

8  30 

9 

.  15643 

.98769 

.  15838 

6.31375 

.01231 

.  .01247 

9 

9  30 

.  16505 

.98629  . 

.  16734 

5.97576 

.01371 

.01391 

9  30 

10 

.  17365 

.98481 

.17633 

5.67128 

.01519. 

.01543 

10 

10  30 

.  18224 

.98325 

.  18534 

5.39552 

.01675 

.01703 

10  30 

11 

.  19081 

.98163 

.  19438 

5.14455 

.01837 

.01872 

11 

11  30 

.  19937 

.97992 

.20345 

4.91516 

.  02008 

.02049 

11   30 

12 

.20791 

.97815 

.21256 

4  .  70463 

.02185 

.02234 

12 

12  30 

21644 

.97630 

.22169 

4.51071 

.02370 

.02428 

12  30 

13 

.22495 

.97437 

.23087 

4.33148 

.02563 

.02630 

13 

13  30 

.23345 

.97237 

.24008 

4.16530 

.  02763 

.  02842 

13  30 

14 

.24192 

.97030 

.24933 

4.01078 

.02970 

.03061 

14 

14  30 

.25038 

.96815 

.25862 

3.86671 

.03185 

.03290 

14  30 

15 

.25882 

.96593 

.26795 

3.73205 

.03407 

.03528 

15 

15  30 

.26724 

.96363 

.27732 

3.60588 

.03637 

.03774 

15  30 

16 

.  27564 

.96126 

.28675 

3.48741 

.03874 

.04030 

16 

16  30 

.28402 

.95882 

.29621 

3  .  37594 

.04118 

.04295 

16  30 

17 

.29237 

.95630 

.30573 

3.27085 

.04370 

.04569 

17 

17  30 

.30071 

.95372 

.31530 

3.17159 

.04628 

.04853 

17  30 

18   . 

.  30902 

.95106 

.32492 

3.07768 

.  04894 

.05146 

18 

18  30 

.31730 

.94832 

.  33460 

2.98868 

.05168 

.05449 

18  30 

19 

.32557 

.94552 

.34433 

2.90421 

.  05448 

.05762 

19 

19  30 

.  33381 

"  .94264 

.35412 

2.82391 

.05736 

.06085 

19  30 

20 

.34202 

.93969 

.36397 

2.74748 

.06031 

.06418 

20 

20  30 

.35021 

.93667 

.  37388 

2  .  67462 

.06333 

.06761 

20  30 

21 

.35837 

.93358 

.38386 

2.60509 

.06642 

.07115 

21 

21  30 

.  36650 

.93042 

.39391 

2  .  53865 

.06958 

.07479 

21   30 

22 

.37461 

.92718 

.40403 

2.47509 

.07282 

.07853 

22 

22  30 

.  38268 

.92388 

.41421 

2.41421 

.07612 

.  08239 

22  30 

23 

.  39073 

.92050 

.42447 

2  .  35585 

.07950 

.08636 

23 

23  30 

.  39875 

.91706 

.43481 

2.29984 

.08294 

.09044 

23  30 

24 

.40674 

.91355 

.44523 

2.24604 

.08645 

.09464 

24 

24  30 

.41469 

.90996 

.45573 

2.19430 

.09004 

.  09895 

24  30 

25 

.42262 

.90631 

.46631 

2.14451 

.09369 

.10338 

25 

25  30 

.43051 

.90269 

.47698 

2.09654 

.09741 

.  10793 

25  30 

26 

.43837 

.80879 

.48773 

2.05030 

.10121 

.11260 

26 

26  30 

.44620 

.89493 

.49858 

2.00569 

.  10507 

.11740 

26  30 

27 

.45399 

.89101 

.  50953 

.96261 

.  10899 

.  12233 

27 

27  30 

.46i75 

.88701 

.52057 

.92098 

.11299 

.  12738 

27  30 

28 

.469*7 

.88295 

.53171 

.88073 

.11705 

.  13257 

28 

28  30 

.47716 

.87882 

.54296 

.84177 

.12118 

.  13789 

28  30 

29 

.48*81 

.87462 

.55431 

.80405 

.  12538 

.  14335 

29 

29  30 

.49242 

.  87036 

.56577 

.76749 

.  12964 

.  14896 

29  30 

30 

.50000 

.  86603 

.57735 

.73205 

.13397 

.  1  5470 

30 

30  30 

.  50754 

.86163 

.58905 

.69766 

.  13837 

.  16059 

30  30 

31 

.51504 

.85717 

.60086 

.  66428 

.14283 

.  16663 

31 

31  30 

.  52250 

.85264 

.61280 

.63185 

.14736 

.17283 

31  30 

32 

.52992 

.84805 

.62487 

.60033 

.15195 

.17918 

32 

32  30 

.  53730 

.84339 

.63707 

.56969 

.15661 

.  18569 

32  30 

33 

.54464 

.83867 

.64941 

.53986 

.16133 

.  19236 

33 

33  30 

.55194 

.83389 

.66189 

.51084 

.16611 

.  19920 

33  30 

34 

.55919 

.82904 

.67451 

.48256 

.17096 

.20622 

34 

34  30 

.56641 

.82413  * 

.68728 

.45501 

.  17587 

.21341 

34  30  , 

35 

.  57358 

.81915 

.70021 

.42815 

.18085 

.22077 

35 

35  30 

.  58070 

.81412 

.71329 

.40195 

.18588 

.  22833 

35  30 

36 

.58779 

.80902 

.  72654 

.37638 

.  19098 

.23607 

36 

36  30 

.59482 

.80386 

.73996 

.35142 

.19614 

.24400 

36  30 

37 

.60182 

.  79864 

.  75355 

.  32704 

.20136 

.25214 

37 

37  30 

.60876 

.  79335 

.76733 

.30323 

.  20665 

.26047 

37  30 

38 

.61566 

.  78801 

.78129 

.27994 

.21199 

.  26902 

38 

38  30 

.62251 

.78261 

.  79544 

.25717 

.21739 

.27778 

38  30 

39 

.62932 

.77715 

.80978 

.23490 

.  22285 

.28676 

39 

39  30 

.63608 

.77162 

.82434 

.21310 

.22838 

.  29597 

39  30 

40 

.64279 

.76604 

.83910 

.19175 

.23396 

.30541 

40 

40  30 

.649*5 

.76041 

.85408 

.17085 

.23959 

.31509 

40  30 

41 

.65606 

.75471 

.86929 

.  15037 

.24529 

.32501 

41 

41  30 

.66262 

.  74896 

.88473 

.  13029 

.25104 

.33519 

41   30 

42 

.66913 

.74314 

.90040 

.11061 

.25686 

.  34563 

42 

42  30 

.67559 

.73728 

.91633 

.09131 

.26272 

.  35634 

42  30 

43 

.68200 

.73135 

.93252 

.07237 

.26865 

.36733 

43 

43  30 

.68835 

.  72537 

.94896 

.05378 

.  27463 

.  37860 

43  30 

44 

.69466 

.71934 

.96569 

.03553 

.28066 

.39016 

44 

44  30 

.70091 

.71325 

.98270 

1.01761 

.28675 

.  40203 

44  30 

45 

.70711 

70711 

1  .00000 

1  .00000 

.  29289 

41421 

45 

Deg.  Mm. 

Sine. 

Cosine. 

Tangent. 

Cotangent. 

Yer.  Sine.  1 

Ex.  Secant, 

Deg.  Min. 

1195 


Table  V,  Continued. 


Deg.  Min. 

Sine. 

Cosine. 

Tangent. 

Cotangent. 

Ver.  Sine, 

Ex.  Secant. 

Deg.  Min. 

45 

.70711 

.70711 

.00000 

1.00000 

.  29289 

.41421 

45 

45  30 

.71325 

.70091 

1.01761 

.98270 

.29909 

.42672 

45  30 

46 

.71934 

.69466 

1.03553 

.96569  ' 

.30534 

.43956 

46 

46  30 

.72537 

.68835 

1.05378 

.94896 

.31165 

.45274 

46  30 

47 

.73135 

.68200 

1.07237 

.93252 

.31800 

.46628 

47 

47  30 

.73728 

.67559 

1.09131 

.91633 

.32441 

.48019 

47  30 

48 

.74314 

.66913 

1.11061 

.  90040 

.33087 

.49448 

48 

48  30 

.74896 

.66262 

1.13029 

.88473 

.33738 

.50916 

48  30 

49 

.  75471 

.65606 

1  .  15037 

.86929 

.34394 

-:  .53425- 

49 

49  30 

.76041 

.64945 

1  .  17085 

.85408 

.35055 

.  53977 

49  30 

50 

.76604 

.64279 

1.  19175 

.83910 

.35721 

.  55572 

50 

50  30 

.77162 

.63608 

1.21310 

.82434 

.36392 

.57213 

50  30 

51 

.77715 

.62932 

1.23490 

.80978 

.37068 

.  58902 

51 

51  30 

.  78261 

.62251 

1.25717 

.  79544 

.37749 

.  60639 

51   30 

52 

.  78801 

.61566 

.27994 

.78129 

.38434 

.62427 

52 

52  30 

.79335 

.60876 

.  30323 

.76733 

.39124 

.64268 

52  30 

53 

.  79864 

.60182 

.32704 

.  75355 

.39819 

.66164 

53 

53  30 

.80386 

.59482 

.35142 

.73996 

.40518 

.68117 

53  30 

54 

.  80902 

.58779 

.37638 

.  72654 

.41221 

.70130 

54 

54  30 

.81412 

.58070 

.40195 

.71329 

.41930 

.  72205 

54  30 

55 

.81915 

.  57358 

.42815 

.70021 

.42642 

74345 

55 

55  30 

.82413 

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55  30 

56 

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56  30 

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56  30 

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58  30 

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58  30 

59 

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59 

59  30 

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59  30 

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60 

60  30 

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60  30 

61 

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1.80405 

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61 

61  30 

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1.84177 

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61  30 

62 

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1  .  88073 

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62  30 

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62  30 

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64  30 

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75  30 

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76  30 

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4.33148 

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77  30 

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78  30 

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78  30 

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INDEX. 


Note.— Pages  marked  with  a  star  (*)  contain 
an  illustration  of  the  subject  referred  to. 


Abutment,    bridge,    concrete   coping,    855.* 
Abutment,  bridge,  T-type,  854,*  855.* 
Accident  caused  by  track  jack,  635. 
Acid    steel    process,    1147. 
Action  car  wheels  on  curves,  235. 
Adams  &  Westlake  switch  lamps,  364.* 
Adjustable  connecting  rod,  396.* 
Adjustable    switch    arrangements,    384. 
Adjusting    bolts,    583. 
Adjuster,    creeping   rails,     Eads      bridge, 

595.* 

Advantages  in  double  track.  622. 
Aid   to   injured   in   wrecks.   772.   784. 
Air  blast  for  tamping  track,  526,  972.* 
Ajax   rail   brace,   273.* 
Ajax   style   G   frog,   308.* 
Alarms,    crossing,    1054. 
Allardyce   process   tie   treatment,   961. 
Alexander  wrecking  frog,   766.* 
Alignment    of    track,    530. 
Alkins    rail    brace,    272.* 
Allowance   for   expansion,    177. 
Allowance   for   shrinkage,    earthwork.    10. 
Altoona  yard,  P.   R.  .R..  458.  459,  461,  465. 
American   nut  lock.    122.* 
American  Ry.  ditcher,  712.* 
Am.    Soc.    C.    E.    stand,    rail    sections,    72, 

79,    80.* 

American  woven  wire  fence.   824.* 
Anchor  block  for  frogs,  305.* 
Anchor  posts  for  fence.  822.* 
Anderson   track   jack,    667.* 
Andrews,   Geo.   W..    track   tanks,   1018. 
Andrews.    Thos.,    wear    of    rails    in    tun- 
nels, 1029. 

Angier,  P.  J.,  tie  loader,  957.* 
Angle  bar  guard  rail.  D.  &  I.  R.  R.,  330.* 
Angle   bar  splices.   106. 
Angle    bar  .  straightener.    690. 
Anti-creepers,    Laas,    592.* 
Anti-,creepers,    for   rails1.    589. 
Anti-creeping  casting,   slip  sw.,  442.* 
Anti-creeping   device   for   frogs,    306.* 
Anvil-faced    frog,    312.* 
Apron   for   trestlp   fiPinar.   746,*   753. 
Arch    culverts,    58.*    59.* 

Reinforced  concrpfp.  65,*  66,*  67. 

'Stone.    60,*    61,*    62.* 
Armspear  switch  lamps,  364.* 
Ash   conveyor  plants,   10?7    1028.* 
Ash    handling    crane.    1026.* 
Ash  pits,   463,   1014,*   1020. 
Aspen  tunnel,  snow  fen^e  protection,  885. 
Ass    back    switching.    458. 
Assistant   roadmastpr,    1071. 
Assn.    Ry.    Supts.,    B.    &   B.,    culvert   dis- 
charge,  41. 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Ry.— 

Arch    culvert,    62.* 

Ash   pit,    1024. 

Creosoted   bridgp   floors,    873. 

Filling  bridges,  754. 

Mattress  for  bank  protection,  918.* 

Rail   trimming,    998,*   999,*   1000. 

Rerolled  rails,   996. 

Rules  on  care  of  lamps,   1154. 

"Weed   burning   car,   544. 
Atlantic    Coast   Line,    double   trestle  cap, 

855. 

Atlas   insulated   joint   splice,    1054. 
Atlas    joint    splice.    1053. 
Augers,  posthole,   820.* 
Automatic  block   signals.   1050. 
Automatic   locking   switch   stand,   358.* 
Automatic    point    switches,    391. 
Automatic  rail  joint  spring,  122.* 
Automatic    switch     446.* 


Automatic  switch  stand,  B.   &  M.  R.   R. 

R.,    356.* 

Automatic  switch  stands,  393. 
Auxiliaries   to  interlocking,   501. 
Avalanches,    887,    888,    889.* 
Axes,    638,    689. 

Axel   automatic   switch  stand,   396.   397.* 
Bad  order  tracks,   457. 
Baldwin,    S.    W.,    instrument    meas.    rail 

wear,    101.  * 
Ballast,  141. 

Anthracite  coal  dust,  155. 

Broken   stone;  141. 

Broken  stone,  working  over,  538.  547. 

Burnt  clay,  153. 

Burnt  shale,  156. 

Chatts,   156. 

Cinders,   151. 

Cinders,    dumped    in   place,    539. 

Combination  material.   150. 

Conductivity  and  track  circuits.  1052. 

Cost    of,    146,    150. 

Crushing  machinery.   143,   145.* 

Decomposed  rock,   156. 

Depth  of  on  diff.   roads,  24. 

Dirt.   153. 

Dredging  gravel  for,  735,  736.* 

Filling   in   and    dressing,    226. 

Granite,  decomposed,  TJ.  P.  R.  R..  156. 

Gravel,  148. 

Handling,    730. 

Hauling    away,    741. 

Oil  coated,  598. 

Oyster   shells,   156. 

Quantity    reciuired,    228. 

Renewing,   538. 

Sand,   152.  , 

Screened  gravel,  149. 

Slag,  147. 

Tamping  of  different  kinds,  220. 

Tisontli,    in   Mexico,    1167. 

Volcanic  cinder,  156. 

Washing   gravel    for,    149. 
Ballast,    cars,   221,    742. 

Coal    cars    for,    224. 

Gondola  cars  for.  224. 

Goodwin,    224.*    225,*    748. 

Haskell   &   Barker,   747.* 

Pratt,  N.  Y..   N.  H.  &  H.  R.   R..  752. 

Rodger,    222,*   223. 

Rodger,  convertible,  223. 

Side    dumping,    748. 

Thatcher,  air  operated,  C.  P.  Ry..  749. 

Torrey,    Mich.    Cent.    R.    R.,    738.*    750, 
751.* 

Womelsdorff,   St.   L.    S.   W.   Ry..   222. 
Ballasted  bridge  floors,  871,  872,*  873.*  874.* 
Ballast  -fork.  221,  659.* 
Ballasting,    213. 
Ballasting  car,  Scott.  620. 
Ballasting  track  in  Baluchistan.   22S.* 
Baltic  pine  ties.  1156. 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  R.— 

Block  sig.  and  side  tracks,  518. 

Long  rails,  992. 

Manning  unsymmetrical  rails.  1151. 

Open-hearth   rails,    1149. 

Passing  sidings,   636. 
Baltimore   &   Ohio   Southwestern   R.   R.— 

Ash    handling    crane,    1026.* 

Creese  track  thrower,  924.* 

Harp  switch  stands,  334. 

Monitor  switch  stand,   352.* 

Spreader  cars,  Boutet.  629.* 
Baluchistan,   ballasting  track,    228.* 
Banjo    signals,    1052. 
Bank-edging,   616. 
Bank  protection,  916,   918.* 


1498 


INDEX 


Banner   signals,    1052. 

Banner  switch   stand,   343.* 

Barbed   fence  wire,   821. 

Barglon   rails,    S.    P.    Co..  994. 

Barnhart  ditcher  car,  712. 

Barnhart   unloading-  plows,   742,*   743.* 

Barrel  brick  culverts,  56. 

Barrett    track    jacks,    664,*    665.* 

Bar    tamping,    524. 

Bars- 

Bridge,  651. 
Claw,   646,   648.*  650.* 
Crow.    638,    651. 
Lining,    651. 
Pinch,    651.* 
Raising,   669. 

Sterling  worth    holding-up,    184.* 
Timber,  651. 
Tamping.   524,   653,    654.* 
Base  plate  for  joint  splices,  117. 
Basic  steel,   process    1148. 
Batteries,    track,   1051. 
Beech  ties,  1159. 
Bender,    rail    hydraulic,    675.* 
Bent  rails,  572. 

Berg,  W.  G.,  ch.  engineer  ,L.  V.  R    R.— 
Ash  pits,  1027. 

Buildings  and  structures,  703. 
Harlem  transfer  yard,  467.* 
Berms,    required   width  of,   16. 
Bermuda  grass,  153. 
Bertrand-Thiel    steel    process,    1150. 
Bess  &  Lake   Erie  R.   R.,   Hurley  track- 

laying    machine,    28.* 
Bess.   &  Lake  Erie  R.   R.,   steel  ties    971 

972.* 

Bessemer  process,  1147. 
Bessemer   steel   rails,    70,    88. 
Bessemer,   switch   lamp,  364.* 
Bethell  process  of   creosoting,    945,   1158. 
Big  Four  road,  see  C.,  C.,  C.  &  St    L   Rv 
Birss..   Alex.,   tile   drains,   32,    1145. 
Bishop,  G.  J.,.  repairing  at  washouts,  914 
Bland,   J.   C.,   on  strength  of   rail  joints, 

loo. 

Block  signals,   automatic,  1050,  1190. 
Block    sig..    automat.,    placing    switch    in 

circuit,   517. 

Block  sig.,  at  passing  sidings    518 
Block  for  turning  rails,  557.* 
Blundell.  E.   C.,  weeding  hoe,  546.* 
Blythe  process   creosoting,   945,   1158 
Boarding  accomodations    707 
Boarding  trains,   707. 
Boards,    sign,    898. 
Bog  land,  roadbed  on,  17. 
Bogue  &  Mills,  pneu.  crossing  gate,  1056  * 
Bogue,  V.  G.,  stand  rail  section,  79. 
Boiler  tube  fence  posts,  818  * 
Bolt  locks,  503. 
Bolts,    120. 

Adjusting,  583. 
Splice,  120. 

Track,  cost  of  tightening.  124. 
Bonding   rails,    drill   for,    674.* 
Bonzano    joint    splice     115  * 
Boone   cut-off,    754. 

Beone  viaduct,   C.  &  N.  W.  Ry.,  848,*  860 
Boring  for  spikes,  982. 
Borrow  pits,  16. 
Boston  &  Albany  R.  R.— 

Exper.    track   deflection,    1043. 
Rail,  95-lb..  72. 
Relaying  rails.   564. 
Track  inspection,  1125,'  1132 
Track-walkers,   1086. 
Boston  &  Maine  R.   R.— 

Bridge  floor.   842,*  843,*  844  * 
Oil   sprinkling    car,    598.* 
Portable   STIOW   fence,    879  * 
Spreader    car,    616. 
Standard  tool  houses,   695.* 
Tree   planting,    1164. 
Wing  snow  fence   in  cuts    884 

Elevated    Ry-    laying   tie  plates, 


Boucherizing.  962. 

Bouscaren,    G.,    stand,    rail    section,    79. 

Box    culverts,    stone,    40,    57. 

Box   drains,   wooden,   38. 

Boyenval-Ponsard  steel  tie,  1170,  1175. 

•Boyer   &   Radford   track  'jack    664  *   666 


Braces,  broken  splices  "used  for,  553. 
Braces   for  rails,    271,   273.* 
Bracing   rail   when   shimming,   553. 
Brake   for   push    car,    688.* 
Breakage  of  splice,  bars,   111. 
Brick  arch  culverts,  57,  58,*  63.* 
Brick   barrel   culverts,   56,   57. 
Bridge  end  construction,  850. 
Bridge  floors,  841. 

Ballasted,    871. 

Curve  elevation  on,  856. 

Elevated    railways,    875. 

Fire  protection,   865. 

Floor  beams  and  stringers,  841. 

Guard    rails,    for,    859. 

Over  streets,  867. 

Ties  for,  847. 
Bridge  lamps,  365. 
Bridge   for   signals,    490.* 
Bridge    ties,    847. 
Bridge    watchmen,    866,    1089. 
Broken   joints,    171. 
Broken   rails,   572,   1084,  1110. 
Broken  splice  bars,  111. 
Broken   stone    ballast,    141. 
Broom  post.  U.   P.   R.  R.,  597. 
Brown.    Geo.,    M.,    tie    spotting   machine, 

612*  613.* 

B'rown,  Geo.  R.,  on  premium  system,  1139. 
Brown,  Geo.  R.,  system  of  discipline,  1098. 
Brush   ax,   642.* 
Brush,  cutting,  549. 
Bryant   rail    saw.   655,    656.* 
Buckeye  torch,  764.* 
Buckley.   J.    M.,   wood  cushion  for  splice 

bolts,  121. 

Buda  angle-bar  straightener,  690.* 
Buda   hand    cars,    659,*    677,    683.* 
Buda  switch  stand.  342.* 
Buda  track  drill,  673. 
Buffalo,    Rochester    &   Pittsburg    Ry.— 

Curve   sign   board,   901. 

Long  rails,  991. 

Miter  joints,  991. 

Tie  plate  laving,  604.  615. 

Ties,    selection  of.   128. 
Buffers,    see  bumping  posts,   890. 
Buhrer,   C.,  concrete  ties,  977. 
Buhrer  C.,  steel  ties,  973. 
Building    fence,    819. 

Bulkhead,   bridge  end   construction,   850. 
Bumping  posts,  890. 
Bunched   rails,    583. 
Burke,    Jas.,    track-laying   machine,    194,* 

Burlington  &  Missouri  River  R.  R.— 
Automatic    switch    stand.    356.* 
Boiler  tube  fence  posts,  818,*  819. 
Material    yards,    1153. 
Tie   loader,   957.* 

B.,   C.    R.   &   N.    Ry.,   traingrams,   1122. 

Burlington   replacer,    767.* 

Burnettizing,   948,   1156. 

Burnham  track  drill,   659.* 

Burning   old    ties,    932. 

Burnt  clay  ballast,  153. 

Burnt  clay  ballast,  how  tamped,  525. 

Burnt   shale  ballast,   156. 

Bush   cattle  guard,   838. 

Bush    interlocking   bolts.    979,    980.* 

Butting   back   process,    583. 

Byers,   rail  unloader,    726. 

Cable    stretchers,    731,*    746.* 

C.   A.   C.   tie  plate,  138.* 

Cafferty-Knox    locking   sw.    stand,    357.* 

Cafferty,  T.   S.,  automatic  locking  switch 
stand,    357.* 

Caffrey,   Richard,   track  gage,   658. 

California  privet  for  snow  fence    882. 

Caliper   for   rail   head,    1005.* 

Calumet  Impvt.   Co.,   loading;  gravel  with 
teams  and  scrapers    739. 

Calvert.    T.    E.,    boiler    tube    fence    post, 

Calvert,  T.  E.,  locking  switch  stands,  355. 

356.* 

Cambria  angle  bar,  122. 
Canadian  Pacific  Ry.— 

Cedar  timber  culverts,   39. 

Creeping  rails,  590. 

Landslides,    23. 

Rubble   masonry   arch   culverts,   59. 

Snow    sheds,    887.* 


INDEX 


1199 


<:ant  hook,  659.* 
Canted    rails,    77,    241. 
Canted   rails,    righting,   578. 
Capacity  of  single  track,  622,   1187. 
Carbolineum  avenarius,  964. 
•Card,  J.  P.,  tie  preservation,  949. 
Care  of  switch  lamps,  368. 
Care  of  tools,   690. 
•Cars.— 

Ballast,   221. 

Ballast,    Pratt   type,    222. 

Ballast,   Rodger  type,   222.* 

Ballast,  use  of  coal  cars  for,  224. 

Ballast,   Womelsd9rff,  222. 

Clearance  measuring,  1031. 

Derrick,   773. 

Ditching.  712.*  713,*  714,  715,*  716,*  717.* 

Gasoline,  685. 

Goodwin    dump.    224,*   225.* 

Hand,  see  hand  cars. 

Haskell  &  Barker,   747.* 

Iron,   169.  - 

For   longer   rails,    992. 

Oil  sprinkling1.   B.  &  M.  R.  R.,   598.* 

Pony,    684,*    688. 

Push,  686. 

Rail,    169. 

Shouldering    and   spreader,    616,*    618  * 
619.* 

Track   inspection,    C.,    C.    C.    &   St.    L. 
Ry.,   1134.* 

Track  inspection,  U.  P.  R.  R.,  1126.* 

Weed    burning,    541,*   542,*   543.* 

Work  train,  709. 

Wrecking,  see  derrick  cars. 
Car  stop  on  trestle,  897,*  898.* 
Car  stops.  890. 

Car  wheels1,  action  on  curves.  235. 
•Carter,    E.    C.,   double   signal  light,    488. 
Cascade   rock  fill,   Erie  R.   R.,   69. 
Cast  iron  bulkheads,   852.* 
Cast  iron  culvert  pij>e,  51. 
Casualty   reports,    1115,   1116.* 
Catalpa  ties,  1160. 
Catch   sidings,   420. 
Cattle    guards,    832. 

Metal,   837,    838,*   839.* 

Pit,    833,    834.* 

Surface,    835. 

Standard,    Wabash   R.    R.,    836. 
Cattle   killed,   report  on,   1112.* 
Cattle    passes,    68. 
Caution    signal.    513. 
Cedar   timber   in   culverts,    39. 
Center-bound  track,  529. 
Center   stakes   for  laying  track,    158. 
Central    Pacific,    snow    sheds,    886.* 
Cent.  R.  R.  of  N.  J.,  ash  pit,  1024.* 
Centrifugal  snow  plow,  805. 
Ceredo   tie  hoist,   936,*  938.* 
Chains  for  wrecking,  763. 
Chamier,  Geo.,   culvert  formulas,  35. 
Champion   nut  lock,    122. 
Change   of   grade   in  cities,   1011. 
Change    of    line,    920. 
Changing   gage,   566. 
Changing   gage,    P.    M.    R.    R.,    614. 
Channel   split   switch,    389,    390.* 
Chanute,  O.,  area  of  wheel  contact,  95. 
Chanute,  O.,  tie  preservation,  949. 
Chatts  ballast,  156. 
Chemical   compositio.n   of   rails,   81. 
Chemical   treatment,    ties,    1156. 
Chesapeake   &   Ohio   Ry.— 

Ballasted    top    bridges,    871. 

Bridge    floor.    844.* 

Long  rails,  992. 
Chestnut  tree   planting,   B.    &   M.   R.   R., 

1164. 
Chgo.    &    Alton      Ry.,     ballasted     bridge 

floors,    873. 

Chgo.  &  Alton  Ry.,  revetment  work,  918. 
Chgo.     &    Eastern    111.    R.    R.,     portable 

snow  fence,  880. 
Chgo.   &  Eastern  111.   R.   R.,   treated  ties, 

966. 
Chicago   &   Northwestern   Ry.— 

Bridge  floor,  848.* 

Double   signal  light,  488. 

Earth   car  stop,   891. 

Standard  frog  measurements,  402.* 

Street    viaduct    floor,    868,*    869. 

Track    elevation,    1014.* 


Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  R.  R.— 

Experiment    with   steel    ties,   970. 

Organization    for    wrecking,    760. 

Protection   walls   for  bridge   supports, 
865.* 

Renewing  cross,  and  slip  sw.,  564,*  565, 
566.* 

Standard   frog,    307.* 

Standard    slip    switch,    443. 

/Steam  wrecking  car,  777.* 
Chgo.    &  W.   Mich.   Ry.,    stone   arch  cul-> 

vert,   59,   60.* 
Chgo.  Burl.  &  Quincr  Ry^ 

Ash  pit,  1020.* 

Bridge   end  construction,   852. 

Burnt    clay   ballast,    155. 

Cast  iron   bulkhead,   852.* 

Concrete    culvert,    64.* 

Cost    of    laying   tile,    32. 

Experiments,    rail    deflection,    1037. 

Handling  filling   material,    data,   748. 

Lift  rails  for  drawbridge,  448.* 

Old  ties  for  fuel,   931. 

Rail-top  culverts.  43. 

Side-dump  cars,  748. 

Sign   boards,   901.  902. 

Street  viaduct  floor,   868. 

Sunken  embankment,   21. 

Timber'  barrel    culverts.    40. 

Track   elevation    and   depression,    1011. 
Chicago   clearing   yard,    460.* 
Chgo.,   Ft.    Mad.   &   Des   Moines   ditching 

car,    713. 
Chicago  Great  Western  Ry. — 

Ditching   car,.  713,*   714.* 

Grade  reduction,   1008. 

Holcomb    hill    cut,    1008. 

Track   indicator,    1135. 

Weed    burning    car,    543.* 
Chi.,    Ind.     &    L'ville    Ry.,     sunken    em- 
bank..   19,    20.* 

Chgo.,  Mad.  &  Nor.  Ry.  bridge,  floor,  871. 
Chicago,  Milw.  &  St.  Paul  Ry.— 

Arch  culverts,  61. 

Bridge  floor,   842.*  844.*   845,*  866,* 

Burnt    clay   ballast,    155. 

Center  bridge  guard,  862. 

Concrete   retaining   walls,   33. 

Handling   rails,    724.* 

Hedge  snow  fence,  882. 

Inspection   curve    elevation,    1136. 

Maintenance   of  insulated  joints,   1054. 

Meetings  for  track  foremen,  1078. 

Rerolled   rails,   996. 

Signal  for  diverging  routes,  489. 

Standard   iron   pipe   culverts,    51. 

Standard  section  house,  701.*  702. 

Street  viaduct  floor,  869. 

Switch  and  lock  movement,  479. 

Track   elevation,    1013. 

Track   tank,    1016,*   1019. 
Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Ry.— 

Allowance   for   culvert    openings,    34. 

Concrete   bumping   post.    896.* 

Concrete  culvert  pipe.  49,  50.* 

Section  house,   700,*  702. 

Street   viaduct    floor.    868. 

Track   elevation,   1012. 

Treated   ties,    948. 
Chicago    Tie    Pres.    Co.,    practice    in    tie 

treatment,  958. 

Childe-Latimer  bridge  guard,  861,  863,  864.* 
Chisels,   track,  654. 
Chloride  zinc  tie  treatment,  948,  955. 
Church,    H.    W.,    on    Brown    system    dis- 
cipline, 1098. 

Churchill,    C.    S.,    joint   splice,   118. 
Churchward    tie    plate,    138.* 
Cin.,    New   Orleans  &  Tex,   Pac.  .Ry.— 

Ambulance   chests',    wreck   trains,    772. 

Sign  boards,   901. 

Track  inspection,  1126. 

Cincinnati  Southern  Ry.,  brick  arch  cul- 
vert,   63.* 

Cinder   ballast,    151. 
Circuits,    track,    1050. 
Cities,   change  of  grade  in,   1011. 
Clamps,  guard  rail,  327.- 
Clarke-Jeffery  pt.  switch,  376,  378. 
Clarke,  L.  H.,  switch  design,  376. 
Classification  loco,   wheel  bases,  247. 
Classification  of  rails..  1109. 
Classifying    rails,   matching  box,   1004.* 


1200 


INDEX 


Claw   bars,    646,   648,*   650.* 

Bull's   foot,    648.* 

Hamm.,  640.* 

Mogul,    642,*    650. 
Cleaning  ditches,  550. 
Clearance   posts,    370. 
Clearance   in  tunnels,    1031. 
Clearing   up   wrecks,   784. 
Clerks  for  roadmasters,   1071. 
Cleveland,  Cin.,  Chgo.  &  St.  Louis  Ry.— 

Block    sig.    and    side-tr.,    518. 

Concrete,  girder  culvert  tops,   43. 

Reinforced  concrete  culverts,  66.* 

Tree   planting,    1163. 
Climax   cattle  guard.   830. 
Coal  tar  creosote,   945. 

Coates,  F.  R.,  air  blast  tamp,  mach.,  526. 
Coates,    F.    R.,    portable   crossover,    787. 
"Coffin,"    for   laying   tile,    31. 
Collet,    Albert,    tie   plugs,    578. 
C9lumbia  &   Puget   Sound  R.    R.,   chang- 

ing   gage,     568. 
Columbia    &    Western    R.    R.      changing 

gage,   570. 
Columbia  college,   exper.   vulcanized  tim- 

ber,   944. 

Combination  ballast,   150. 
Combination  frogs,   303.* 
Commissary  car,  P.  L.  W..  771.* 
Compensator,   lazy  jack,    477.* 
Composite,   ties,  974,   :??&.* 
Compound  curves,   269. 
Compound    rails.    993,    994.* 
Compromise  splices,   182,   552.* 
Concrete    bumping    post,    896.* 
Concrete    culverts,    62. 
Concrete    culvert    pipe,    49,    50.* 
Concrete  end  const.,  pipe  culverts,   55,* 
Concrete  fence  posts,  818.* 
Concrete    girders,    culvert    tops,    43. 
Concrete    mile    posts,    899. 
Concrete    ties,    974,    P76.* 
Conduits,    sig.    and    interlock,    pipes'   and 

wires,  508.*  509.* 
Coned  wheels,  236. 
Connections,    in    relaying   rails,    561. 
Constructing   double    track,    623,    525. 
Construction  of  pt.   switches,  375. 
Construction    of    side-track,      report     on, 

1111.* 
Construction   under  difficulties,   W.   P    & 

Y.  Route,  69.* 
Contents,    table    of,    vii. 
Continuous  door,  freight  house,  467. 
Continuous  joint  splice,   115.* 
Continuous  rail  crossings,  437. 
Continuous   rail   frogs,   319. 
Cook   cattle   guard,    838.* 
Cook  for  work  trains,  708. 
Correspondence,    1121. 
Correspondence  and  reports,  1101. 
Corry,    T.    A.,    steel   ties,    1168. 
Cosijns    iron   ties,    1175. 
Cosines,  table  of,  1192,  1194. 
Cost   of  tie   renewals,   532. 
Cotangents,   table  of,  1192,   1194. 
Couard,  M.,  on  creeping  rails,  588. 
Couard,   on  rail    wear,   98. 
Coughlin   swing  rail  frogs,   320.* 
Counterbalance,  effects  of,  983,  986,*  987.* 
Counterbalance    experiments,    loco.,    1176. 
Cox  J.  B.,  bumping  post,  895. 
Crandall,  C.  L.,  transition  curve,  288 
Creeping  rails,  585. 
Creeping  rails  on  Eads  bridge,   595  * 
Creese    D.    C.,    track    thrower,    924.* 
Creo-resinate  process  tie  treatment,  964. 
Creosote,  German   specifications,   946. 
Creosoted   bridge   floors,   873. 
Creosoted    ties,    piling   of     935. 
Creosoted    ties    in    tunnels,    1030 
Creosoting,   945,   1156. 
Crews,   fence,   830,   1095. 
Crews,  floating,  1092. 
Crews,   rail  renewing,   563. 
Crews,    track-laying    187. 
Crews,    work-trains,    705. 
Orop  end  joint  splice,  119.* 
Cropping  rails,  see  rail  trimming 
Cross  binding  spikes,   595.* 


Crossing     drainage,    211 


Crossing    flagman,    1054. 
Crossing    frogs,      reversible      and     inter- 
changeable,   435.* 

Crossing  gates,  491,*  1054,*  1055,*  1056.* 
Crossings,    428.* 

Continuous   rail    devices,    437. 
Construction   of,   429. 
Easer  block  angle  splice,  433.* 
Fontaine    pattern,    436.* 

Highway,  206. 

Long  angle   construction,   429. 

Renewing,     564,*    565,     566.* 

Short  angle  construction,  429. 

Steam  and  street  ry.  tracks,  430,   432.* 

Support  for,   437. 
Crossing  watchmen,   1088. 
Crossovers,    425.* 

Portable    emergency,    787. 

Table      of      dist.     between    points    of 
frogs   on,    1196'. 

Formulas   for,   426. 
Cross   sections,   roadbed,   7. 
Crowell,  Foster,   standard  rail  section,  79. 
Crushed    stone    ballast,    141. 
Crushing  machinery,   ballast,   143,   145.* 
Cubic   parabola,    275.* 
Culverts,    33. 

Arched,     58. 

Area  of  opening,   34,   35. 

Barrel,    timoer,   39. 

Bottoms,    45,    46. 

Brick    barrel,    56. 

Cattle  passes,  68. 

Concrete,   62. 

Concrete  pipe,  49,  50.* 

Data  on  cost  of,   57. 

End    construction,    44. 

Floors,  45. 

Foundations,  41. 

Grade   of  bottom,    45. 

Nichols  portable,   56. 

Open,    38. 

Paving,   of,  44. 

Pipe,  46,  50,*  55.* 

Reinforced   concrete,   65  *  66  * 

Steel  plate,  55. 

Stone  arch,  60.* 

Stone   box,    40,   57. 

Timber,  39. 

Tunnel,  to  avoid,  U.  P.  R.  R.    68 

Vitrified  clay  pipe,  46    48 

Wing  walls,  45. 

Curtis,  L.,  tie  plate  gage,  602.* 
Curtis,  W.  G.,  switch  rod,  343. 
Curved  rails,  handling  of,  176. 
Curve  elevation,  261. 

Bridges,   856. 

.    Inspection  apparatus,  C.,  M.   &  St    P 
Ry.,   1136,  1137.* 

Reference  to  grade  line,  268. 

Rules  for,  263. 
Curve  posts,  900. 
Curves,  229. 

Action  of  wheels  on,  235. 

Compound,   269. 

Cubic  parabola,  275. 

Degree  of,   to  find,  234. 

Derailments    on,    259. 

Easement,    274. 

Elevation  of.   261. 

Guard  rails  for,  257. 

Holbrook    spiral,    286.  >\ 

How  to  avoid  switches  on,   439. 

Laying   rails    on,    170. 

Laying   by   tang,    offsets,    233.* 

Method  of  mid.  ordinates,  231. 

Monuments  for,  269. 

Morenci   Southern  Ry.,   290 

Mud  tunnel,  257. 

Reverse,    269. 

Righting  canted  rails  on,  578. 

Searle.s    spiral,    285. 

Sharp,  257. 

Sign  board  for,  901. 

Simple,    229. 

Smooth,  530. 

Some  ways  of  laying  out    231. 

Spiral,    274. 

Tapering,  278,*  281. 

Transition,   274. 

Transposing  rails   on,   555. 

Vertical,  215.* 

Widening    gage   on,    245. 


1201 


Curving-   hook,    174,*    689. 

Curving   machine  for  rails,  173.* 

Curving]  rails,  172. 

Curving1  rails,  lever  and  hook,  174.* 

Cushing,    E.    B.,      track      apprenticeship, 

1186. 

Cushion  ties,  857. 
Cutting-  brush,  549. 
Cutting-    grass    and    weeds,    540. 
Cutting  rails,   579. 
Cyclone   snow  plow,  804. 
Dailey,  A.  G.,  cut-out  switch,  417.* 
Danger  to  workmen,  double  tr.,  634. 
Data  on  culverts1,  N.  C.  &  St.  L».  Ry.,  57. 
Dating  nails   for  ties,  135,  968. 
Day    track-walkers,    1083. 
Dead   oil.    in   creosoting,   945. 
Decay    of    timber,    942. 
Deflection,   track,    experiments,   791,*  874,* 

950,*    953,*    1035,    1039.* 
Degree  of   curve,   229.  230,*  234. 
Delano.    F.    A.,    tr.    deflect,    experiments, 

1037. 
Del.,  Lack.   &  W.   R.  R.,  flanged'  drivers, 

255. 
Del.,    Lack.    &    W.    R.    R.,    self    turning 

snow  plow,  798.* 

Denham-Olpherts   iron   ties,    1170. 
Denver  &  Rio   Grande  R.   R.— 

Gantlet  lead  for  switch,  411,*  440. 
Snow   sheds,    886.* 
Weeding  hoe,   546. 

Department  system   of  organization,   1063. 
Depression  of  track,  1006,  1009,*  1177. 
Derailing    switches,    414. 
Dailey    cut    out,    417.* 
Scotch   blocks,   418.* 
Derailing  turnout,   419.* 
Derailments  on  curves,  259. 
Derails,    interlocked,    in   side-track,    518. 
Derails,  interlocking,  for  a  crossing,  492.* 
Derrick    cars,    773,   774,*   775,*     776,*     777,* 

778,*  7SO.* 

Design  of  frogs,  313. 

Detachable  tram  bar.  high,  crossing,  184.* 
Details   of  steel   working,   1147. 
Detector  bar,   479,   480,*  493. 
Detour  tracks',  G.   T.  W.   Ry.,   1009. 
Detroit  &  Milw.  Ry.,   sunken  embank,  22. 
Det.   Gr.   Rap.   &  W.   Ry.,  resurveys,  1033. 
Detroit   United   Ry.    spiking  machine,   187. 
Diagram    track    inspection,    N.    Y.    C.    & 

H.    R.    R.    R.,    1133.* 
Diamond   spike,   126. 
Diamond    tie    plate,    139.* 
Dickson,  J.  B.,  renewing  rails,  564. 
Diggers,    post   hole,    820.* 
Dirt  ballast,  153. 

Dirt   ballast,    how   tamped,    525,    654. 
Discharging  employees,  1104. 
Discipline,    1095. 

Discipline,   Brown  system  of,   1098. 
Disintegrated   granite  ballast,    156. 
Disposition  of  old  ties.  930. 
Distances    between    points    of     frogs     in 

crossovers,  table  of.  1196. 
Distant  and  home  signals,  493,  511. 
Distant  signal  arrangement,   C.   &  N.  W. 

Ry..   510.* 
Distant    signal,    disc     interlock,      ground 

stand.  512.* 
Distant   sw.   and   sig.   stand,    L.    S.    &   M. 

S,   Ry.,   515,*   516.* 
Distributing   ties,   repairs,  718,  1155. 
Distribution  of  ties  in  track-laying,  162. 
Distribution    tracks,    yards,    455. 
Distribution    of    work,    report    on,    1103,* 

1105,    1106. 
Ditches,    22. 

And   roadbed     cross   sections,   26,*   27,* 

28.* 

Blind,    32. 

Cleaning  out.  550,  710.* 
Forms   of.    24. 
Size   of,    25. 
Surface,    22. 
Tile   drainage.   1145. 
Ditching,    550,    710. 
Ditching  machines,   712*  to  717.* 
Ditching  scaffold.    So.    Ry.,   710,*  711. 
Ditching  with   trains,   710. 
Ditch    paving,    32. 


Division   system   organization,   1063. 
Doddridge,  W.  B.,  ditching  car,  716,*  717.* 
Donovan,   M.    J.,   spreader   car,   630.* 
Oouble-ended    turnout,    406.* 
Double   interlocked   switch   stand,   511.* 
Double    slip   switch,   441.* 
Double  spring  rail  frog,  311.* 
Double    track,    6%. 

Advantages  of,  622. 

Construction   of,    625. 

Cost,    construction    and    maintenance, 
623. 

Danger  to   workmen,   63-TT 

Mileage  of,  622. 

Preparation   for,    624. 

Sidings    for,    634,*    635,    636.* 

Track-walkers    on,    1084. 

When    to    build.    1187. 
Double-tracking,   622. 
Douglas,    Robt.     &    Sons,    tree    planting, 

1162. 

Doyle  &  Williamson  track  drill,  670.* 
Drainage,    22. 

And    land-slides,    23. 

Borrow-pit  drainage,   17. 

Highway  crossing  drainage,  211.* 

Sub-drainage,  14. 

Tile  drainage,  30,   1145. 

Tunnel  drainage,  1028. 

Yard   tracks,    drainage   of,   474. 
Drains,    tile,    30,    1145. 
Drains,    wooden    box,    38. 
Drawbridge    end   rails,    447. 
Drawbridge  joints,  446. 
Drawbridge  stop  sign,  901. 
Dredging   gravel   ballast.    735,    736,*   737.* 
Dressel   switch    lamp,    364.* 
Dressing  track,  226. 
Drills,    rail,    670. 
Drinking,   habit  of,   1100. 
Driving    wheels,    flanged,    M.    M.      Ass'n 

test,  253. 

Drop  tests   on  rails,   89. 
Dry   retaining   walls,    852. 
Dudley,  C.  B.,  on  rail  wear,  99. 
Dudley,    P.   H.— 

Effect   of   cold   on  rails,   572. 

Indicator   car,   1129.* 

Rail    design,    1134. 

Rail  temperature  t^st,  177. 

Splice   bolt  tests.   584. 

Strains. in  rails,  71,  111,  522,  1044. 

Track  inspection,    1129.* 
Dudley  switch  lamp  burner,  364,*  366. 
Duluth    &    Iron    Range    R.    R.,    standard 

bumping  post  for  ore  docks,   897.* 
Duluth,  S.  Shore  &  Atl.  Ry.,  three-throw 

switch  lights.  354.* 
Dump    cars,    749. 

Dunn,   C.   C.,   on  standard  gage.   1050. 
Dunn,    C.    C.,    straightening   rails,    576. 
Duplex  track   level,   662.* 
"Durable"  fence  post,  819. 
Dust.   Bermuda  grass,  to  keep  down,  153. 
Dutch    State    Rys.,    experiments    in    rail 

wear,  99. 

Dwarf   signals,    487. 
Dwarf  switch   stands.  347.* 
Dynagraph   car,    Dudley,   1129,*   1138. 
Dynamite,    use  of   in   slides,    910. 
Eads  bridge,  creeping  rails  on.  595.* 
Earth  car  stop,   891.* 

Earthwork,  quantities  by  different  meth- 
ods of  excavation.   10. 
Easement   curves,    274. 

Cubic   parabola,   275. 

Holbrook    spiral,   286.* 

Railroad  spiral,   285. 

Searles'    spiral,   285. 

Tapering   curves,    281. 

Torrey  type,  284. 

Easer  block  for  crossing  frogs,  433.* 
Eastern    Ry.    of    France,    tie    treatment, 

1158. 

Eccentric   rail    bender,    676.* 
Eccentric  switch  pt.  adjustment,  387.* 
Eclipse  hand  car,    684.* 
Economy   bumping   post,    894.* 
Economy  of  treated  ties,  989. 
Edwards  guard  rail  brace.  326.* 
Edwards    rail    brace,    273.* 
Effects  bad  counterbal.,  983,  986,*  987.* 


1202 


INDEX 


Elastic  curves,  see  easement  curves,  274. 

Elbowed  .joints,  531. 

Electric  locking,   501. 

Electric  switch  lamps,  366,  367,*  501. 

Electro-pneumatic    switch    machine,    465, 

474,   481.* 

Elevated  railway  floors,  875. 
Elevation    of   curves,    261.- 
Elevation,    running1  out,    266. 
Elevation  of  track,  1006,  1008,*  1177. 
Elgin,  Jol.  &  East.  Ry..  bridge  floors.  846. 
Elliot   crossings,    429,    #30.* 
Elliot,    frog  filling,    300. 
Elliot  headshoe,   333.* 
Elliot  rock,  shaft  opr.  slip  switch.  330  * 
Elliot  safety  end  switch  connection,  S41.* 
Elliot  snow  cap  sw.  stand,  345.* 
Elliott,  W.  H.,   electric  looking.  Pf2. 

Elec.   lock,   switoh   si  rind.   517. 

Sw.   and  lock  movement,   47:^. 
Ellis  bumping  post.  Sn2. -: 
Ell  wood  woven  w:re  fence.  s?-l.* 
Embank,   rock   fill,    Cascade,   Erie   R.   R., 

69. 

Embankments,   shrinkage  of,   1C. 
Embedment,   disturbance  of,   523. 
Emerson  rail  bender,  676.* 
Emery,    W.    E..    switch    point    lock,    384, 

397.* 
Emperor  Ferdinand's  Nor.   Ry    liners  for 

splice  bars,  110. 
Employment,   steady.  1081. 
End  construction,  bridges,  850. 
End  of  double  track,   625. 
End   rails    for  drawbridges.    447. 
Engineering,    and   org.    of  rys.,   1063. 
Engineering,   track,  1. 

Engineers,    main,    way,    training   of,    11S2. 
Engines,    types   of  wheel   bas^,   247. 
Equilibristat,  Whittemore,  1136,     1137.* 
Erie   R.   R.— 

Bridge  floor.  845,*  853.* 

Interchangeable  i°ros?'ng  frogs,  435.* 

Steel  plate  culverts.   55. 

System    of    organization,    1065. 

Tool   house,   694.* 
Eureka    nut    lock,    122.* 
Eureka    spriner    r.    frog,    308  * 
Even  joints.   171. 
Excelsior  nut  lock.  122.* 
Expansion    joint,    450.* 
Expansion  in  rails.   580. 
Expansion,    rails,    allowance,    177. 
Expense,   pf  track  maintenance.  519. 
Expense,  yearly,  rais.  and  tamp,  tr.,   520. 
Experiments,  loco,   counterbalance.  1176. 
Experiments  in  track  deflection,  791,*  874,* 

1039. 
Experiments,  track,  Warsaw-Vienna  Ry 

1046. 

Explanation  pf   tables,    1192. 
External  secants,  table  of  1192    1194 
Extra  gangs,    1092.   1093. 
Extra  gang  reports,   1115. 
Facing-point  lock,  477.* 
Facing-point  switches,  lock  for    509. 
Fairbanks-Morse  bumping  post,'  894. 
Fairbanks-Morse   rail    bender,    676. 
Fairlie  locomotives,   1167. 
Fall    Brook    Ry.,    track    premiums,    1139, 

Farlington.    Kan.,    tie   plantations,    1162. 
Feldpauche,  A.,  on  ballast,  146. 
Felling  trees,  926. 

Felton,   S.  M.,  Jr.,  stand,  rail  section,  79. 
Fence,   816. 

Anchor  posts  for,  822.* 

Building  of,  819. 

Car,  fence  bid?..  T..  P.  &  W.  Ry.,  831.* 

Crews    for,    830,    1095. 

Durability   of,    829. 

Labor  data  of,  823. 

Machines.   828,    866.* 

Posts,   817. 

Posts,   concrete  base,   818.* 

Posts,    old    boiler  tubes',   818.* 

Posts,   tools  for  setting,   818.* 

Reports,  1117.* 

Snow  fence,   876. 

Wire    fence,    use    for   telephone    lines. 

832. 
-  Woven  wire  fence,  824,*  S2.'. 


Fighting  snow,   796. 

Filling  material,    handling.   730. 

Filling;  track,   226. 

Filling    trestles,    752. 

By  dredging,  757. 

By  hydraulic  method,  756. 
Fills,    how    to    construct,    13. 
Find.  deg.   of  curve,  table,  224. 
Fire  guards,  889. 
Fire  protection,   bridges,   865,  866. 
Fire   reports,   1114.* 
Fisher  joint  splices,   115.* 
Fisher  track  jack,  669. 
Flagmen  at   crossings,   10S8. 
Flamache,  A.,   metal  ties,  1175. 
Flanged-drivers,    M.    M.    Ass'n.    test.    253. 
Flanger,  snow,  hand,  P.  R.  R.,  597.* 
Flangers,    snow,   800,*   806,*   809.    810,*   811.* 
Flanges,    sharp    on    curves,    259. 
Flanges,  worn,  M.  C.  B.  rules,  259. 
Flat  arch   culvert,   59.* 
Flickinger  switch   stand,   340.* 
Flint  &  Pere  Marq.  Ry.,  change  gage,  568. 
Flint  &  P.  M.  Ry.,  taking  up  track,  933. 
Floating    gangs,    1092. 
Floor  beams,   841. 

Florida  East  Coast  Ry.,   covered  pit  cat- 
tle   guard,    834.* 

Fly-back  switch  stands,   393,   419. 
Fontaine  crossing,  436.* 
Forces,   organization  of  for  track-laying,, 

161.   . 

Foremen,   meetings  for,   1077. 
foremen,    methods    of   work,   1096. 
Foremen,    section,    1072. 
Foremen,    selection    of,    1074. 
Foremen,    watch    encroachment      rt.      of 

way,  926. 

Forestry  division  and  metal  ties,  1164. 
Formaldehyde  in  tie  treating,  964. 
Forney,  M.  N.,  on  coned  wheels,  237. 
B'orney,  M.  N.,  on  rail  design,  78. 
Ft.   Steele,  tunnel  to  avoid  culverts,  68. 
Fort,  W.  A.,  ditching  scaffold,  710,*  711. 
Foot  guards,  360. 
Foot  guards,  Sheffield,  353.* 
Foundation  of  track,  1. 
Foundation,  track,  W.  P.  &  Y.  Route,  69.* 
Four  rails  for  three  tracks,  409,  411  * 
Fox    tie    plate,    139.* 
Framed   bumping   posts,    892. 
Francis1  &  Dawley  bridge  floor,  872.* 
Freight,  terminal,  Harlem  transfer,  467.* 
Freight  houses  in  yards,  466, 
Frogs,  298. 

Ajax  style  G,  308. 

Allowance  for  on  sections,  1091. 

Anchor  block  for,   305.* 

Angle  of,  299. 

Anti-creeping  device  for,  306.* 

Anvil    faced,    312.* 

C.  &  W.  I.  standard,  307.* 

Clamps    for.    302.* 

Combination   bolted-plate,    303.* 

Continuous  rail,   319. 

Coughlin   swing  rail,  320.* 

Double    spring    rail,    311.* 

End  of  double  track,  625. 

Eureka   spring   rail,    308.* 

Features   of  design,   313. 

Holding-down  devices,  306. 

In  ladder  tracks,  452. 

Jordan   spring  rail,  312.* 

Laying  of,   316. 

MacPherson,   319,   320.* 

M.  C.  B.  Stand,  gage.  317,  321.* 

Movable   point,   433,   434.* 

Number  of,   299. 

Price  pattern,   318.* 

Promiscuous  designs,  310. 

Ramapo  yoked,   302.* 

Reversible    and     interchangeable     for 
crossings,  435.* 

Rigid,    299,   300.* 

Split    twin    rail.    313.* 

Spring-rail,  304*. 

Standard   measurements,   C.   &   N.  W. 
Ry.,    402.* 

Standard  terms,  298.* 

Strom    pattern,    302.* 

Tyler    &    Ellis    pattern,    31C. 

U-plate  pattern.   303.* 
(Continued   on  next   page) 


INDEX 


1203 


Frogs,   continued  — 

Unequal   legs,    314.* 

Vaughan  sliding  rail,  310.* 

Vaughan  spring  rail,  309.* 

Weir  clamps  for  302.* 

Wood   sliding   rail,    310.* 

Wrecking,    764,*   765.* 
Fuel,    old   ties'   for   931. 
Furring  strips,  bridge  end  const.,     851. 
Fusee   signals,    906. 
Gage.— 

Changing,  566.  614. 

4-ft.   9-inch,   1049. 

Tie  plate  gage,  601,  602,*  603.*  604.* 

Variations  from  standard,  1049. 

Widening   on   curves,    245.   252. 
Gages,    track,    656,    657,*    658.* 
Gagging  rails,  87. 
Gaging  point  on  rfiils,  77. 
Gangs,  floating,  1092. 
Gantlet   lead   for   switch,    D.   &   R.   G.    R. 

R.,   411.* 

Gantlet    tracks,    438.* 

Gantlet  tracks,  L,.  V.  R.  R.,  tunnel,  412.* 
Gasoline  cars,  685. 
Gatemen,   1088. 
Gates  for  fence,   829,  830.* 
Gates,  interlocked  at  a:  crossing.  491.* 
Gates,    railway    crossings,      1054,*      1055,* 

1056:.* 

German  R.  R.  bureau,  rail  wear,  98. 
German  Railway  Union.  1157. 
German  Ry.  Union,  vertical  curves,  216. 
Gibbs  switch  stand,  516. 
Gibraltar   bumping   post,    894. 
Gleaves,    R.    T.,    on    Noonan    experiment, 

990. 

Glendon    tie   plate.    139.* 
Goldie    spike   point,    126.* 
Goldie   tie   plates,    138.* 
Goodwin  dump  car,  224.* 
Goodwin.    H.    S.,    stand,    rail   section.   79. 
Goss',  W.  F.  M.,  loco,   counterbal.  exper., 
*  988.  1177. 

Grade  line  and  curve  elevation,   268. 
Grade,    raising   of.    1008.* 
Grade  of  repose,  216. 
Grading,    9. 

Grading   down    cuts.    883. 
Grading  machines,   10. 
Grading  roadbed  for  ties,  163. 
Grading  for  yard  tracks.  475. 
Graham.    J:   E.,    stability    strut,      derrick 

car.  780.* 

Gr.  Rap.  Hoi.  &  L.  M.  Ry.,  sink  hole.  21.*. 
Grand  Trunk  Ry.— 

Ash   handling   apparatus,   1026. 

Bridge   guards.    861,    863. 

Moving  track  Ltidg.  unloader,  922,*  923. 

Rail   section,    90-lb..   87. 

St.    Clair  tunnel.  1029. 

Grand  Tr.  West  Ry.,    grade   reduc.,   1009. 
Grand  Trunk  West.  Ry.,  reinforced  con- 
crete culverts,  66. 
Grand    Trunk    Western    Ry.,     Robertson 

cinder  conveyor,  1026. 

Grass  and  weeds1,   cutting  in  track,   540. 
Grass.    Bermuda,    153,    755. 
Grasshopper  shims,  179. 
Grass,  killed  by  electricity,  541. 
Grass,   killing  by  steam,   541. 
Gravel  ballast,"  148. 
Gravel,    loading   of,    732. 
Gravel,   loading  moderate   quantities,  738. 
Gravity  yard  tracks,  458,  459. 
Gray  switch  Clamps.  363,  364.* 
Great  Indian  Pen.  Ry.,  pot  sleepers,  1171.* 
Great  Northern  Ry.— 

Guard  rail,  324. 

Organization    for    wrecking.    759. 

Record   in   track   laying,    189. 

Steam  wrecking   car,  776.* 
Green  foot  guard.  361. 
Gridiron  tracks,  456. 
Ground  lever  for  sw.  and  sig..  510.* 
Ground  lever  switch  stands,  347.* 
Grubhoe,   642.* 
Guard  rail  braces,   327. 

Edwards    pattern.    326.* 

Graham  design,  327.* 

Southern  Pacific  Co.,  326.* 


Guard   rail    clamps,    327.* 
Guard  rail  distance,  322. 
Guard  rail  gages,  322.* 
Guard    rails,    321. 

On   bridge   floors,    859. 

On  curves,   257. 

D.  &  I.  R.  R.  R.,  angle  bar,  330.* 

M.    C.    B.    standard,   321.* 

Sloped  end  piece  for,  326.* 

Standard  Me.  Cent.  R.  R.,  328.* 

For   switch   points,   380. 
Guernsey   extension,  TS.-rfe  -M.   R.    R.   R.r 

1153. 

Gulf,  Colo.  &  S.  F.   Ry.,  treated  ties,  949. 
G.   C.   &  S.    F.   Ry.,  steam  wrecking  car, 

777.* 

Gumbo,    burnt  for  ballast,   153. 
Gutelius,   F.   P.,   changing  gage,   570. 
Guttered   tires,    effect   of,   318. 
Haarmann  compound  rail,  1165. 
Haarmann-Vietor  rails,   114,  1165. 
Hack  saws,   655,   659,*  682. 
Haley  bumping:  post,  894.* 
Hamm   claw  bar,   640,*   647. 
Hammers,  643. 

Pittsburg  pattern,  642.* 

Spiking,   642.* 
Hand   cars.   676. 

Buda,   659.*  680. 

Donovan  wheel  for,  659,*  678.* 

Cutting   weeds,    548.* 

Hartley  &  Teeter,  685.* 

Insulated    axles.    1053. 

Keep    clear   of   track,    1097. 

Pike's   Peak  cog  road,   703,*  1191. 

Rail    driver  truck,   582.* 

Refuges  for  on  bridges,  848.* 

Sheffield.    659,*    678.* 

Speed  wheel  for.  659.* 

Wheels  for,  659.* 
Handling  ballast  and  filling,  730. 
Handling   curved   rails,   176. 
Handling  rails,  723. 
Handling  ties,   935. 
Harrell,    J.    J.,    concrete   tie,    974. 
Harris,  J.  H..  dredging  gravel,  735.  736.* 
Harris  track-laying  mach.,  198,*  199,  203.* 
Hart  foot  guards,  "360. 
Hart  tie  plate,   140. 
Hartford  steel  tie,   968.* 
Hartley  &  Teeter  hand  car,  685.* 
Harvey  grip  bolt,  122,*  990. 
Harvey  ribbed  washer,  122.* 
Haskell  &  Barker,  cars,  747.* 
Haskell,   B.,  bumping  post,  895.* 
Hasselmann  process  tie  treatment.  963. 
Hauling  away   ballast,   741. 
Hawks,    J.    D..    stand,    rail    section,    79. 
Headblocks,    358. 
Headchairs,    333.* 
Headshoes,  333.* 
Heat  treatment,  rails,   83. 
Heaved   track,   551. 
Heavy    traffic,    72,    520. 
High  speed,   1058. 
High  speed,   effect  on  rails,  986.* 
High  switch  target,  512. 
High   target   sw.    stands,    345.* 
High  targets,  355. 
Hight  board,  219. 
Highway   crossings,   206. 

Flangeways   of  old  rails,   209.* 

P.   R.    R.   crossing.   208.* 

Sign   boards   at,   900. 

Tram  bars   and  tile  drains  for.  210.* 
Hinge    splice    for   drawbridge    rails,    450.* 
Hitches  and  knots,  793,  794.*  795.* 
Hocking  Valley  Ry.   tie  hoist,  m1 
Hoisting    crossing    gates,    1058. 
Holbrook,   E..  spiral  curve,   286.* 
Holman  track-laying  mach.,   192. 
Holman-Burke    track-laying    mach.,    194.* 
Home  and  dist.  signals,  493,  511. 
Hood,  Wm.,  tapering  curves,  283. 
Hook,   curving,   689. 
Horses  •  for   spotting   cars,    steam   shovel, 

734. 
Horse  shoe   curve,   P.   R.   R.,   nickel-steel 

rails,    1150. 

Houston  &  Tex.  Cent.   Ry.,  ballasted  top- 
trestle,  873.* 


1204 


INDEX 


Houston  &   Tex.    Cent.   Ry..,    treated   ties, 

948. 

Howard,    J.    E.,    experiments,    rail   deflec- 
tion,  1036. 

Howe  truss,   deck,   covering,    866.* 
Hump  yards,  458. 
Hung-arian      State      Ry.      creeping      rails 

checked,   591. 

Hungarian  State  Ry.,  tie  treatment,   1157. 
Hunnewell,  H.  H.,  tree  planting,  1162. 
Huntington,  W.   S.,  track  gage,  657,*  658. 
Hunt,  Robt.  W.,   stand,  rail  section,  79. 
Hurley    track-laying    machine,    28,*    101,* 

202. 

Hydraulic  dredging  for  filling  trestles,  757. 
Hydraulic  jacks,  crane  for  handling,  771.* 
Hydraulic  jacks  for  wrecking,  765.* 
Hydraulic    method    filling   trestles,    756. 
Hydraulic   rail  bender,   675.* 
Hydraulic  rail  punch,   675.* 
Hynes,   P.  W.,   on  wrecking  tackle,  773. 
Ice  houses,   tracks  for  in  yards,  464. 
Identification    card,    form    of,    1105.* 
Illinois  Central  R.  R.— 

Ash    and   sand    house,    1028.* 
Buckled  plate   bridgie   floor,   870.* 
Concrete  coping  bridge  abutment,  855.* 
Concrete  culverts,   67. 
Grade  reduction,   1007. 
Roadbed   cross   sections,   29. 
System    of    organization,    1067. 
"T"  bridge  abutment,  854.* 
Track    apprenticeship,    1186. 
Track    elevation,    1012. 
Tree   planting,  1164. 
Imperial  Eliz.  R.  R.,  beech  ties,  1159. 
Inbound  freight  houses,  466. 
Indicator   car,   track,    C..   C.    C.    &   St.    L. 

Ry..  1134.* 

Ingram,  W.  T.,  steel  ties.  1170. 
Inspection  of  bridges,   1077. 
Inspection   car,   Dudley,   1129.* 
Inspection   cars,    track,    1128. 
Inspection    of    rails,    93. 
Inspection  of  ties,    532. 
Inspection  of  track,  1069.  1082,  1085,  1122. 
Inspection  of  ties,   937. 

Instrument  for  measuring  rail  wear,  101.* 
Insulated  joints,.  465,  1053,  1054. 
Interchangeable  'crossing  frogs,  435.* 
Intercolonial  Ry.,  snow  fence,  877. 
Interlocking,  486. 
Auxiliaries,  501. 
Cross  connection,  506.* 
Electro-pneumatic,  465,  474,  481.* 
Interlock,  gates  at  a  crossing,  491.* 
Selectors,  504. 
"Standard."    482. 

Subways  for  pipes,  505,  506,*  507.* 
Taylor    electric,    484,    485.* 
Thomas,  483,*  484,*   486.* 
Interlocking   machines,   495. 

Electro-pneumatic,   496,*  498.* 
Johnson,  497. 
Mechanical,  476.* 
Saxby  &  Farmer,  495. 
"Standard,"    482,*   499.* 
Stevens,  495. 
Taylor,  500.* 
Thomas,  484.* 

Interlocking  signals,  simple  crossing,  492.* 
Interlocking  sw.  and  sig.,  486. 
Interlocking  switch  and  sig.  stand,  N.  C.' 

&  St.  L.  Ry.,  513,*  514.* 
Interlocking  tower,   location  of,  493. 
Interoceanic   Ry.    Mex.,    steel   ties,    1169. 
Interstate    Commerce    Com.,    cost    of   re- 
pairs, 519. 
Interstate     Commerce     Com.,      data     on 

mileage,   1061. 
Intoxicating  drinks,  1100. 
Iron  car,  169. 

Iron   pipe   culverts,   51,   57. 
Iron-plate  ties,   1170. 
Iron  rails,  70. 
Jacks,  track.— 
Anderson,  667.* 
Barrett,  664,*  665.* 
Boyer  &  Radford,  664,*  666. 


Jacks,  track,  continued  — 
Fisher,  669. 
Jenne,   663.* 
Norton,    665,   667.* 
Q.    &   C.    compound,    663,*    666. 
Union,    666.* 
Verona,   665.* 

Jacks,  Pearson  wrecking,  765.* 
Jacks,   toe  lifting,   765.* 
Jackson   shovel   handle  tip,   640.* 
Jackson  tamping  bar,  654.* 
Jeffery,   E.   T.,    switch   design,   376. 
Jenne   track   jack,   663.* 
Jim-crow  rail   bender,   675,   676.* 
Jim-crow,  in  cutting  rails,   579. 
Johnson  interlocking  machine,  497. 
Johnson,  J.  B.,  area  of  wheel  contact,  95. 
Johnson    wrecking    frog,    764.* 
Joint  opening,   effect  of,   112. 
Joints,— 

Broken,  171. 
Drawbridge,    446,    448.* 
Even,   171. 
Insulated,    1053. 
Skew,  113,  449.* 
Lap,    113. 
Miter,  113. 
Spacing  ties  at,  165. 
Square,   171. 

Supported  or  suspended,   166. 
Turntable  and  drawbridge,   446,  448.* 
Weir   expansion,   450.* 
Joint  splices,  102. 
Atlas,  1053. 

Atlas,   insulated,   1054. 
Auxiliary    fishing   plates,    110.* 
Axle   steel,    120. 
Barschall,   115.* 

Base  plate,   C.   &  N.  W.  Ry.,  117. 
Bonzano,  115.* 
Breakage  of,  111. 
Bridge,    115.* 
Churchill,  119.* 

Compromise  splices,  182,  552.* 
Continuous,  115.* 
Crop  end,  119.* 
Finish  of,  109. 
Fisher,  115.* 
Heath,     118. 

Hinge  splice  for  drawbridge,  450.* 
Hundred  per  cent,   116. 
Insulated,   1053. 
Length  of,   108. 
Lining   pieces    for,    110. 
Long,    115.* 

Maintenance   of  insulated,   1054. 
M.    W.    100   per   cent.   116.* 
Neafie  insulated,  1053. 
Nickel  steel,  120,  1150. 
"Permanent,"    115.* 
Price,  115.* 

Prussian  State  Rys.,  110.* 
Punching  of,  182. 
Quality  of  metal,   109. 
Samson,  115.* 
Strength    of,   168. 

Tapering  bars,  C.,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.,  115. 
Thomson  100  per  cent,  116.* 
Torrey,  crop  end,  119.* 
Wayland  insulated,  1053. 
Way  to  test,  120. 
Weber,  115.* 
Weber  insulated,  1053. 
Wooden  insulated,  1053. 
Jones  locked  wire  fence,   824.* 
Jordan,   O.   F.— 

Bridge  guard   rails,   862. 
Spreader    car,    626,*    627. 
Spring    rail    frog,    312.*          , 
Jull  snow  plow,   804. 
Junction  stop  sign,  901. 
Kainit,  in  tie  treating,  964. 
Kalamazoo  cattle  guard,  873. 
Kalamazoo  gasoline  car,   686. 
Kanawha  &  Mich.   R.  R.   tie  hoist,  938. 
Kan.  City,  Ft.  Scott  &  Mem.  R.  R.,  tree 

planting,   1161. 

Kans.  City  So.  R.  R.,  ditching  car,  713.* 
Kans.  City  So.  R.  R.,  spreader  car,  621. 


INDEX 


1205 


Katte,  W.,  compound  rail,  994. 
Kelly,   H.    G.,   data  on   slides,   12. 
Kennedy-Morrison    process   rail    mfg.,    86. 
Kersey  R.    R.    track-laying   record,   190. 
Kerwin,  J.,  spiking  machine,  187. 
Kessler,  Geo.   E.,  tree  planting1,   1162. 
Kicking  Horse   Pass,   sharp  curve,   257. 
Kicking  Horse  Pass,  snowfall,  886. 
Kiley,   Jno.,   tie  plate  gage,   603,   604,*   611. 
Kimball     concrete   tie,    975,    976.* 
Kinder,  C.  W.,  compromise  splices,  562.* 
Kirkaldy,    W.    G.,    deterioration    of    rails, 

100. 

Kitchen    car,    707. 
Knots  and  hitches,  793,  794,  795.* 
Knox,  Wm.  F.,  automat,  sw.  stand,  358. 
Kyanizing,   962. 

Kyan,  J.  H.,  timber  treating-.  962. 
Laas,   E.,   C.    M.   &    St.   P.    Ry.— 
Anti  creeper,  592.* 
Loading  rails,   727,   729.* 
Meetings  for  foremen,  1078. 
Unloading   rails,   724.* 
Laborers,    section,    1080. 
Ladder  tracks,  453,  454,*  463. 
Ladder   tracks,    table   of   dist.    bet.    frogs 

on,  1193. 

Lag  screws,  vs.   spikes,  978. 
Lake    Erie   &     Det.      River     Ry.     bridge 

guard,   862. 

L.    Erie   &   Det.    R.    Ry.,    reinforced    con- 
crete   culvert,    65.* 
Lake  Shore  &  Mich.  Sou.  Ry.— 
Bridge  guard  rails,  860. 
Concrete   ties,    977. 
Conduit   for   sig.    and   interlock,    pipes 

and   wires,   508.*  509.* 
Dept.   system  organization,  1064. 
Dist.    sig.   switch   stand,   515,*    516.* 
Highway  crossing   sign,   900. 
Steel    ties,    973. 
Track  elevation,   1012. 
Track   tanks,    1020. 
Tree  planting,   928. 

Lake  Term.  R.  R.,  cars  for  long  rails,  992. 
Lakey,  J.  H.,  Victor  track  drill,  671,  673.* 
Lamb  woven  wire   fence,  824.* 
Lamps,   rules   on   care   of,   A.   T.    &   S.   F. 

Ry.,   1154. 

Lamps,   switch,  see  switch  lamps. 
Lap  joints,  113. 
Lap  sidings,  423,  424,*  1189. 
Lap    switch, -291,    409.    410.* 
La  timer  bridge  guard,  861,  864.* 
Laying  frogs,  316. 
Laying  out  curves,  231. 
Laying  point  switches,  402. 
Laying  rails,  169. 
Laying  tie  plates,  600. 
Laying  tie  plates,  cost  of,  615, 
Layouts,   yard,   460,*  464,*  467,*  469. 
Lazy  jack  compensator  477.* 
Lead  distance,  pt.   switch,  371. 
Lead  distance,  stub  switch.  292. 
Lead,    found    without    computation,    374. 
Lead   rails,   291. 
Leader  tracks,   452. 
Le   Crenier,   first  metal   ties,   1165. 
Lee,  W.  B.,  point  switch  formulas,  373. 
Lehigh  Valley  R.  R,— 

Flanged  driver  test,   254. 
Gantlet   tracks    for   tunnel,   438,    439.* 
Long  rails  and  miter  joints,   991. 
Miter  joints,   113. 
Numbering  telegraph  poles,  902. 
Organization  for  wrecking,  761. 
Rail   sections,    77. 
Report  on  broken  splices,  1110. 
Standard  frogs  for  yards,  453. 
System   of  organization.   1067. 
Length  of  joint  splices,  108. 
Length  of  section,   1089. 
Lenses  for  switch  lamps,  365. 
Leslie  snow  plow,  803. 
Level   boards,   660,*   677.* 
Duplex,   662.* 
Involute,    660,*  661. 
McHenry.    660,*    661. 
Use    of,    218,    527. 
Level-fall  snow  sheds,  887.* 


Lidgerwood  unloader,   731,*  745. 

Lidgerwood    unloader,   throw   track,    922.* 

Life  of  ties,  127. 

Life  of  treated  ties,  960. 

Lift  rails,  for  drawbridges.  448,*  449.* 

Limit  capacity  single  track,  1187. 

Line,  change  of,  920. 

Linemen,    telegraph,    929. 

Lining   new    track,    225. 

Lining   old   track,   529. 

Lining  pieces  for  splice  bars,  110. 

Lining  track  by  mid.   er44«ates,  530. 

Loader  for  ties,  957.* 

Loading   gravel,   732. 

Loading    gravel    by    dredging,    736.*    737.* 

Loading  gravel,  moderate  quantities,  738. 

Loading    logs,    729,    730.* 

Loading  rails,  727. 

Loading  rails,   platform  truck,  728. 

Loading  track   material,   932. 

Lock    for    switch    point,    372.* 

Locking,   electric,   501. 

Locking  sheet,  494. 

Locks,   bolt,   503. 

Locks   for   switches,    355. 

Locks,  time,  502. 

Loco,    counterbal.    experiments,    1176. 
Locomotive   pilot    trucks,    247. 
Locomotive,    raising   a   sunken.    790,    791,* 
792.* 

Loco,   wheel  base,   classification  of,   247. 
Locomotive  wheel  loads,  521.  983. 
Locomotives,  increase  in  weight,  71. 

Locust    tree   planting,    P.    R.    R.     1164. 
Logs,   loading,   729,   730.* 
London  &  Northwestern  Ry.,  Webb  steel 
ties,  1170. 

Long  automatic   switch   stand,   394.* 
Longer  rails,    988. 

Long    Island    R.    R.      hoisting      crossing 
gates.  1058. 

Longitudinal,  metal  supports,   track,  1165. 

Looped  metal  foot  guard,  361.* 
Loop  on  Morenci  Southern  Ry.,  290.* 

Loop  yard.   467.* 

Lorenz   switch   spring,   392,*  400,   513. 

Louisville  &  Nashville  R.  R.— 
Ballasted   trestle   floor,    874.* 
Ditches  standard,  29. 
Fire  protection   for  bridges,   866. 
Rail   specifications.   1149. 
Track  inspection,  1124,  1128. 
Use  of  Bermuda  grass,  153. 

Lowering   track,    528,    1010.* 

Low-pressure  interlocking,  482. 

Low  track,  raising  and  tamping.  519. 

Luten  type  reinforced  culverts,  66.* 

Lynchburg   &   Durham   Ry.,   Noonan   ex- 
periment, 989. 

Machine  operation  of  switches,  465,  475. 

Machines  for  plating  ties,  605,*  607,*  610,* 
611. 

Machine  snow  plows',  802. 

Macon  &  Birmingham,  compromise  gage, 
1049. 

MacPherson,   D.,    frog  design,  319.   320. 

MacPherson,  D..   switch  design,  413.* 

Madras  Ry.   pot  sleepers,  1172. 

Mahl,  J.  T.,  tie  plate  driver,   612. 

Mail,    railway    business,    1121. 

Me.    Cent.    R.    R.   stand,    guard  rail,   328.* 

Maintenance,  chapter  on,  519. 

Maintenance  double  track,   cost  of,  623. 

Maintenance  of  insulated   joints,   1054. 

Maintenance   of   sign   boards',    903. 

Maintenance,  skill  in  track,  1082. 

Maintenance   track   in   tunnels.    1030,    1032. 

Manila  rope,  793. 

Mnmtou  &  Pike's  Peak  Ry.,  slide  boards, 
1191. 

Manning,  W.  T.,  unsymmetrical  rail,  1151. 

Mansfield,    M.    W.,   interchangeable   cros- 
sing frogs,  435.* 

Markers  for  snow  plows,  812. 

Marking  tools,   691. 

Mark  switch  stand,  341. 

Martin,    E.    P.,    frog  design,    313. 

Mast.  Mech.  Ass'n.,  flanged  drivers,  253. 

M.  C.  B.  standard  frog  gage.  317,  321.* 


1206 


INDEX 


M.   C.  B.   stand,   wheel  and  flange,  238.* 
M.  C.   B.  stand,  wheel  gage,  1049. 
Matching  box,  classifying-  rails,  1004.* 
Material    reports,    1109.* 
Materials,   track,   70. 

Material,    unloading   in   track-laying,   161. 
Material  yard  in   track-laying1,  159,  1152. 
Mathews  woven  wire  fence,  824.* 
Mathews  metal  sign  post,   824,*  903. 
Mattress  for  bank  protection,  918. 
McCann,   E.,   spreader   car,   618.* 
McDonald,   Hunter,   on   culverts,   56., 
McHenry,  E.  H.,  level  board,  660,*  661. 
McHenry,  E.  H.,  track  gage,  657. 
McKenna,   E.  W.,  rerolled  rails,  995. 
McManama,   J.   W.,   tie  plate  gage,   610. 
McMullen  woven  wire  fence,  824.* 
Meaning  of  track  terms,  4. 
Measurements  for  stub  switches,  292. 
Mechanical  interlocking  machine,  476. 
Meetings  for  foremen,   1077. 
Merrill-Stevens   cattle  guard,   838. 
Messages,    prompt    transmittal    of,   1122. 
Metal  cattle  guards,  837,  838,*  839.* 
Metal    longitudinals,    track    s^ipport,    1165. 
Metal  sign  boards,  899. 
Metal   sign  posts,   903. 
MetaJ   for  splice  bars,  ]09. 
Metal   ties,    968. 

Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie  R.  R.,  971,  972.* 

Bidwell,   973. 

Boyenval-Ponsard.  1170,  1175. 

Buhrer,   L.   S.   &  M.    S.   Ry.,   973. 

Chester,  973. 

Cosijns  iron.   1175. 

Denham-Olpherts,    1170. 

Design    of,    1174. 

Duration  of,  1175. 

Hartford,  968,*  969. 

In   foreign   countries1,    1164. 

Iron  plate,  1170. 

Maintenance    of,    1174. 

Post      1165.   1166.* 

Rendel,  1166.* 

"Standard,"   968,*   970.   971. 

Tamping  with,    air  blast,    972.* 

Tratman's  report,  1164. 

Tunnel,  metal  ties  in,  1030. 

Vautherin,    1165,    1176. 

Webb,  Lond.   &  N.  "W.  Ry.,   1170. 
Methods  of  switching,   457. 
Methods  of  track  work,  1096. 
Mexican  Ry.,   steel  ties,  1167. 
Mex.  Sou.   Ry.,  steel  ties,  1167,  1168,  1169.* 
Michigan  Central  R.  R.— 

Ballasted-top   bridges,    871. 

Bridge    guard    rails,    861. 

Curve  records,  289. 

Depart,  system  organization,  1064. 

Distant   switch   signal.   512. 

Experiments,    long   rails.   990. 

High-carbon  splice  bars,  109. 

Nut  lock  on  frogs.  .123. 

Rail  trimming,  1000,  1001,*  1003. 

Rail  wear,   rate  of,  99. 

Report,   switch   lamp  repairs,   370. 

Spike   punch,    554. 

Tie   plate    driver,    610.* 

Torrey  ballast  cars,  725,*  750,  751.* 

Torrey  ballast  loader,  738.* 

Tree  planting.  1164. 
Micrometer,  strains  in  rails,  1038.* 
Middle  ordinates,  curves,  530. 
Middle  ordinates,  curving  rails,  175. 
Mileage  of  double  track,  622. 
Mile  posts,   899. 
Mile  posts. — 

Concrete,   C.   &  E.  I.   R.  R.,  899. 

Granite.  B.  &  M.  R.  R.,  898.* 

Iron,  900. 

Stone.    L.    V.    R.    R.,    899. 
Miller,   Henry,   car  replacer,   768. 
Mills   for  rerolling  rails.   995. 
Mine   cinder  ballast.   156. 
Minn..  St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Ry.— 

Ditching   cars,    713. 

Stockade  snow  fence,  878. 

Weed-burning  car,  541,  542.* 
Minn.    &    St.    L.    R.    R.(    sliding    banks 
cured,   12. 


Miscellaneous,    Chap.    XI,    816. 
Missouri   Pacific  Ry.— 

Allowance   for   culvert   openings,    35. 

Bridge  floor.  842,*  845.* 

Rails  damaged  by  high  speed,  986.* 
Mo.  River  Com.,  revetment  work,  918. 
Miter  joints,  113. 

Mobile  &  Ohio  R.  R..  changing  gage,  571. 
Mogul  claw  bar.   642.* 
Monitor  switch  lamp,  363. 
Monitor  switch  stand,  352.* 
Monuments  for  curves,   269. 
Morden  slip  switch  U-bars,  443.* 
Morenci  Southern  Ry.,   sharp  curves  and 

loop,  290.* 
Morison,   Geo.    S.,    stand,   rail  section,   79, 

80. 

Morrison,   A.,    on  long  rails,  991. 
Moscow-Nijni-Novgorod  Ry.,  snow  fence, 

882. 

Movement,    switch   and   lock,   478,*   482.* 
Moving  track,  Lidgerwood  unloader,  922.* 
Mowing,  548. 

Mud  tunnel  curve.   Can.   Pac.  Ry.,  257. 
Musconetcongt  tunnel,  gantlet  tracks  for, 

438,  439.* 
Myers,   E.  T.   D..   R.  F.   &  P.   Ry.— 

Culvert  formula,.  35. 

On   discharge    of    culverts,    41. 

Standard   rail    section,   79. 
Narrow-gage  track,  changing,  566. 
Nashua  &  Acton  R.  R.,  bridge  floor,  845.* 
Nashville,,    Chatt.   &  St.   Louis  Ry.— 

Brick  culverts,  56.  58.* 

Distant  signal,  513.* 

Filling  trestles,   755. 

Interlock,    sw.    and    sig.    stand,    513,* 
514.* 

Numbering   telegraph   poles,    902. 

Trackwalkers,    1086. 
National  cattle  guard,  837. 
National  elastic  nut.  122.* 
National   foot  guard,   361. 
National  lock  washer,   122.* 
Neafie   insulated   joints,   1053. 
Netherlands   State  Rys.,   iron  ties,   1175. 
Nevens  foot  guard,  361. 
New  Century  sw.  stand,  349,  350.* 
New  Era  grader,  10. 
New   side-track,   report   on.   1111.* 
New  York  Central  &  Hud.  River  R.  R.— 

Allowance    for   culvert   openings,    35. 

As'h   pit,   1023. 

Culvert  tops,  873. 

Experiments  with  steel  ties,  969. 

Practice   in    curve   elev.,    263. 

Rail   section,   100-lb.,  72. 

Rail-top  culverts,  43. 

Rail    wear,    rate    of,    99. 

Reinforced     concrete    culverts,    65. 

System   of   organization,   1064. 

Track  inspection,  1129. 

Track  inspection  records,   1130,*   1132.* 

Track    premiums,    1143. 

Track   tanks,    1018,*    1019. 

Track    walkers,    1086. 
N.    T..    New  Haven   &   Hartford   R.    R.— 

Air  blast  tamping,   526. 

Arch   culvert,   63.* 

Ballasted  bridge  floor,   872. 

Data   sheets,   1035. 

Houses  over  switch  stands,  509. 

Rails,     100-lb.,     72. 

Switch  protection,  509. 

Track  elevation,  1012. 

Track  tanks  for  fght.  trains,  1017. 

Unloading  rails,   723. 
Nichol,  J.  H.,  oil  coated  ballast,  598. 
Nichols   portable   culvert,   56. 
Nickel-steel   rails,   1150. 
Night    track-walkers.    1084,    1087. 
Nipping   ties,    183,    187. 
Noonan,    P.,    exper.    riveted   joints,    989. 
Norfolk  &  Western  Ry.— 

Long  rails,  992. 

Stability  strut  for  wrecking  car,  780.* 

Standard  section  house,  699,*  701. 

Trimming  rails,   1006. 
Norfolk   creosoting  plant,   946. 


INDEX 


120" 


Northern   Pacific   Ry.— 

Ash   pit,   1022.* 

Filling    trestles    hydraulically,    757. 

Masonry  box   culverts,  41. 

Open-hearth   rails,    1149. 

Warner   unloading-   plow,    737. 

Wrecking   supply   car,   769.* 
Norton  track   jack,   665,   677.* 
Nut    locks,    121. 

American.    122.*    123. 

Automatic  rail  joint  spring,  122,*  123. 

Cambria   angle  bar,   122. 

Champion,    122. 

Eureka,  122.* 

Excelsior,    122,*   123,    124. 

Harvey   grip  bolt,   122,*  124. 

Harvey  ribbed   washer,   122,*  123. 

National  elastic  nut,   122,*  124. 

National  lock  washer,   122,*  123. 

Oliver  lock  nut,    122,*   124. 

Positive,   122.*   123. 

Reed,   H.   W.,   expense  data,   124. 

"Standard,"    122,*  123. 

Stark  grooved  bolt,  122. 

Verona,   122,*   123,    124. 

Young  gravity,   122,*  124, 
Odenkirk    switch    stand,    350.* 
O'Donnell,  Pat.,  sw.  connecting  rod,  393. 
O'Dowd  sw.  stand  connection,  341.* 
Offset   splices,    182. 
Ogden  IT.  Ry.  &  Dep.  Co.,  electric  switch 

lamp,   367.* 

Ohio  River  R.  R.,  floating  gangs,  1094. 
Ohio  River  R.  R.,  tie  hoist,  936.*  938.* 
Oil-coated    ballast,    598. 
Oil   for   burning   weeds,    541. 
Oil   sprinkling  car,   598.* 
Oil    of   tar    (creosote),    945. 
Old  Colony  R.  R.  wreck  caused  by  track 

jack,  635,  668. 

Old    rails,    hgw.    cross,    flangeways,    209.* 
Old  rails  for  steel  ties,  973. 
Old   ties,    disposition   of,    914,*    930. 
Oliver    lock    nut,   122.* 
Oliver  tie  plate,   139.* 
Open-hearth    process,    1147. 
Open-hearth  rails,  88,  1149. 
Operation  of  rys.,  expense  ofr  1061. 
Ore  docks,  bumping  post  for,  897.* 
Oregon    Short    Line,    killing    grass    with 

salt   water,    540. 
Organization,  Chap.  XII,  1061. 
Organization   of  forces,   track-laying,  161. 
Outbound  freight  houses,  466. 
Out   of   face,    tamping,   522. 
Out  of   face  tie   renewing,   536. 
Outfit   train   in   track-laying,    158. 
Overhead  structures,  raising  track  at,  523. 
Oyster    shell    ballast.    156. 
Pacific   Elec.    Ry.,     tie-plating     machine, 

607.* 

Page  woven  wire  fence.  824.* 
Paige  Iron  Wks.    crossings,  430,   431.* 
Parabola,    cubic,    275.* 
Parabolic    curves,    see    easement    curves, 

274. 

Parapets,  bridge,   C.  B.  &  Q.   Ry..  852.* 
Paris,    Lyons    &   Mediterranean    Ry.— 

Hump    yards,    458. 

Snow  fence,   881. 

Tie    plugs,    577. 

Park.  W.  T,.,  use  of  l^vel  board,  527. 
Parsons,  W.  B.,  Jr.,  checking  track  tools, 

697. 

Passing  sidings,  1189. 
Paulus   track    drill,    672.*   673. 
Paved  streets,  track  in,  211,  976. 
Paving    for    culverts,    44. 
Paving  for  ditches.  32. 
Peapod  sleepers,   1167. 
Pearson  jacks,  765.* 
Pearson  king  bolt  clamp,  764.* 
Peavy,   659.* 

Peck.   R.   M.,   repairing  at  washouts,   914. 
Pennsylvania   Lines  West.— 

Old   ties   for  fuel.   931. 

Semaphore   switch   signal.   354.* 
Standard    profile    sheet,    1035. 

System   of  organization,   1065. 

Tree   planting,    1161. 

Wrecking  tool    car,    770.* 


Pennsylvania   R.    R. — 

Clearance    measuring,    1031. 

Ditch   paving,    33. 

Experiments,    track    deflection,    1040. 

Highway  crossing,   208.* 

Long    rails,    992. 

Nickel-steel    rails,    1150. 

Open-hearth    rails,    1149. 

Rail,    100-lb.,    72,    116.* 

Rail    specifications,    88,    89. 

Rt.  of  way  maps,  1035. 

Snow  flanger,  hand,  597.* 

Slow   and   stop   signs,   90tr    - 

Standard    spike,    126. 

System  of  organization,  1065. 

Track    inspection.    1123. 

Track-walkers,  1086. 

Tree   planting,    1164. 

Trimmed    rails,    1005. 

Tyrone  ash  pit,  1023. 
Pere    Marquette    R.    R.— 

Changing  gage^,   614. 

Concrete  ties,  975,  976.* 

Righting    canted   rails,   578. 

Stone  arch  culvert,  60.* 

Taking  up  track,  933. 

Tie-spotting  machine,   612,*  613.* 
Perfection   track   drill,    671,*   672. 
"Permanent"    joint    splice,    115.* 
"Permanent  Way"   defined.   5. 
Petroleum   for  tie  treatment,   965. 
Philadelphia    &    Reading    Ry.— 

Ash  pit,  1024.* 

Hedge   snow   fence,   882. 

Long   rails,    992. 

Meetings    for    foremen,    1078. 

Track   depression,    1016. 
Photographs,  use  in  resurveys,  1034. 
Physical   properties   of   rails,    83. 
Picking   up    wrecks,    784. 
Picks,   641.   642.* 

Eyeless,  651.* 

Tamping,    642.* 

Pikp'si   Peak,    "hand    cars."    703,    1193. 
Pilot   snow   plows,   800,*   801.* 
Pinch  bars,  651.* 
Pink   envelopes,    1122.* 
Pipe,  cast  iron  for  culverts,  51. 
Pipe    culverts,    46. 
Pit  cattle  guards,  833,  834.* 
Pits,   borrow,  16. 
Pittsburg  &   Lake   Erie   R.    R.,   first   aid 

to    injured,    784. 
Pgh.  &  West  R.  R.,  Manning  unsymmet- 

rical  rails,    1151. 
Pgh.     &    West.     R.     R.,     portable    snow 

fence,   880. 
Pgh.,    Cin.,    Chgo.    &    St.    L.    Ry.,    steam 

derrick  car,  778.* 
Pgh.,    Cin.,    Chgo.    &   St.    L.    Ry.,    track 

elevation,   1015. 
Pittsburg,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chgo.  Ry.— 

Ballasted  bridge  floors,  872. 

Concrete  ties,  974. 

Numbering  telegraph  poles,  902. 

Pile  bumping  post,  892. 

Track    elevation,    1013. 
Placing    rails,    169. 
Placing    ties,    162. 
Planting  trees,  1160. 

Platform   truck   for   loading  rails,    728.* 
Plows,   snow,   push,   796. 
Plows,    unloading,    742,*    743,*    747.* 
Plugs   for   spike   holes,    559,    577. 
Pneumatic    crossing   gates,    1056.* 
P.   O.  D.   spring  sw.  rod,   392.* 
Point  of  frog,  298. 
Point    rails,    adjustable,    384. 
Poifit   switches,   291,    370. 

Automatic,    391. 

Changed   from   stub   sw.,   403. 

Construction   of,   375. 

Laying,  402. 

Table  of,    1192,   1193. 

Three-throw,    406,*    407.*   409.* 
Policing.   925. 

Poling  cars,   457.  « 

Poling  tracks,   462. 
Pony   car,    684,*   688. 

Portable  tie  treating  plants,   948.   949,   956. 
Portcullis  gates,   L.   I.  R.  R.,  1058. 
Portl.    &   Rumf.   Falls   Ry.,   culvert   tops, 
42. 


1208 


INDEX 


Positive  cattle  guard,   838. 

Positive  nut  lock,  122.* 

Post  hole  diggers,   820.* 

Post,   J.   W.,   steel   ties,   1165,*  1166.* 

Posts.— 

Anchor,    for   fence,    822.* 
Clearance,    370. 
Fence,    817. 

Protection    against   decay,    903. 
Sign   posts,    see   sign    boards,    898. 
Pot    sleepers,    1171,*    1173.* 
Pratt    ballast    car,    222,    752. 
Pratt,    Wm.    A.,   table   on   deg.    of   curve, 

235. 

Premium  system,   1139. 
Preparation  fo>r  double   track,   624. 
Preservation   of   ties,    938. 
Preservation  of  ties,  in  Europe.  1156. 
Price,    C.    B.,    frogi  design,   318,*    319. 
Privet.    California,    for  snow   fence,   882. 
Prompt  transmittal  of  messages,  1122. 
Protection    of    banks,    916,    918.* 
Protection,  posts  against  decay,  903. 
Protection    of    switches,    508. 
Provisions,    supply    for   work    trains,    708. 
Prussian   State   Rys1.,    tie  treatment,   1158. 
Punch,  rail,  hydraulic,  675.* 
Purchasing    ties,    935. 

Purdue   University,   loco,    counterbal.    ex- 
periments,   1176. 
Push  cars,  686. 
Push  car  with  brake.   688.* 
Push    snow   plows,    796. 
Q.    &   C.    track   drill,    670,*   673. 
Q.   &  C.  track  jacks,  663,*  666,  668.* 
Q.    &   W.    tie   plate,    139.* 
Quantity  of  ballast,   filling  in  track,   228. 
Queen   &   Crescent   Route,    see   C.,    N.   O. 

&  T.  P.  Ry. 
Rail   benders,    675. 
Eccentric,   676.* 
Emerson,  676. 
Hydraulic,    675.* 
Rail  bender,    Samson,,   676,   677.* 
Rail  bonding,   drill  for,  674.* 
Rail  braces,  271,  273.* 
Rail  braces,  broken  splice  bars  for,  553. 
Rail    caliper.    for   head,   1005.* 
Rail    car,    169. 

Rail  curving  machine,  173.* 
Rail    drills,    670. 
Rail    driver  truck.    582.* 
Hail    fork,    192,    642.* 
Rail    grade   stakes,    215. 
Rail   joint   splices,    see   joint   splices. 
Rail   punch,   hydraulic,   675.* 
Rail    renewing    crews,    563. 
Rail    rests,    572,*    573.    574,*    575.* 
Rail   s'aws,    655,    656,* 
Rail    tongs    665.*    669. 
Rail-top    culverts,    42. 
Rail    trimming.    997,    1002.*   1006.* 
Rail-turning  block,   557.* 
Rail  wear,   94,   95,*  98,   259. 
Rail  wear  in  tunnels.  1029. 
Rails,  70. 

Am.    Soc.    C.    E.    sections.    72,    79,    80.* 

Area  of  wheel   contact,  95. 

Bargion.   S.   P.   Co.,  994. 

Bent,     574. 

Broken,   572,   1084,   1110. 

Caliper  for  head,   1005.* 

Canted,   righting  of,   578. 

Canting   of,    77,   241. 

Chemical  composition,  81. 

Classification    of,    1109. 

Compound,  993.   994.* 

Creeping  of,  581,  585. 

Curving  of.  172. 

Cutting  of,  579. 

Damaged  by  hie-h  speed,   986.* 

Deflection    of.    1035. 

Design  of  section.  73,  1147. 

Details    of    working.    1147. 

Deterioration   of.    100. 

Drop   tests  on,   89.  \ 

End   for  drawbridges,   447. 

Expansion   in,   580. 

Failures,  report  on,  1110. 

Gagging,    87. 

Gaging  point  on.  77. 

Handling,   723. 

Haarmann-Vietor,    1165. 

Heat    treatment   of,   73,   83. 


Rails,    continued  - 
Hundred-pound.    72. 
Inspection,    93. 

Instrument  for  meas,  wear.  101.* 
Inverted  for  loading  track,  731.* 
Iron,  70. 

Kennedy-Morrison  process,  86. 
Laying  on  curves,  i70. 
Loading  and    unloading   devices,    724,* 

725,*    726.*    729.* 

Loading  over  platform  truck,  728.* 
Longer,     988. 

Manning    unsymmetrical,    1151. 
Matching  box   for  classifying!,   1004.* 
Measuring   strains   in.   1038,*   1044. 
Mills   for   rerolling,   995. 
Nickel-steel   rails,   1150. 
Open-hearth   rails,    1149. 
Physical  properties,  83. 
Placing   of   in    track-laying,    169. 
Relaying,    555. 
Rerolled,    994,*    995. 
.Running   of,    581,    585. 
'  Sayre   section,   77. 
Specifications,  88. 
Splicing  of,  181. 
Spreading  of,  577. 
Straightening,    87,    574. 
Stretching,   581. 
Transposing  on  curves,   555. 
Trimming.    997,   1002,*   1006.* 
Unsymmetrical,   114,   1151. 
Wear  of,    94,    95,*  98,   259,   1029. 
Wear  of.    German   R.    R.   bureau,    98. 
Weight  of,  7p. 
Wheeler    process,    1151. 
Ry.    gates     1054.*    1055,*    1056.* 
Railway  mail,   1121. 

Ry.    Switch    &    Crossing   Co.,    frog,    313. 
Raising  bars,    669. 
Raising  grade,   1008.* 
Raising    low    track,    519. 
Raising   sunken   loco.,   790,*   791,*   792.* 
Raising    track,   217. 
Raising    track,    at    overhead    structures, 

523. 

.Ramapo  aut.  switch  stand,  395,  396'.* 
Rarnapo  crossings,  429.* 
Ramapo   headshoe,   333. 
Rea,  Saml.,  stand,  rail  sections,  79. 
Receiving  tracks,   yards,   455. 
Record  nails  for  ties,  135,  968. 
Record,   track  inspection,   N.  Y.   C.   &  H. 

R.  R.  R.,   1130,*  1132.* 
Records    in    track-laying,    189. 
Redwood  ties,  use  of  for  fence  posts.  931. 
Reed,    H.    W.,    cost    of    tightening    bolts, 

124. 

Regaging,    576. 

Reinforced    concrete    culverts,    65. 
Reinforced   switch    points,   388,*   389. 
Refrigerator    cars,    tracks'   for    in    yards, 

464. 

Refuge  for  hand  cars  on  bridge,  848.* 
Relaying  rails,    555. 
Rendel   steel   tie.    1166,*   1167,   1169.* 
Renewing  ballast,  538. 
Renewing  ballast,    cost   of   work,   539. 
Renewing  crossings,  564,*  566.* 
Renewing  rails,  557. 
Renewing    slip    switches,    564.*    566.* 
Renewing  ties,  532. 
Repairs,  roadway,  cost  of,  519. 
Repairs,   telegraph  wires,  928. 
Repairs  of  tools,  696. 
Reports  and  correspondence,   1101. 
Reports   of. — 

Broken   splices,   1110. 

Casualties,    1115.    1116.* 

Extra  gangs,   1116. 

Defective   lamps,   1155. 

Distribution    of  work,   1103,*    1105. 

Fence,    1117,* 

Fires,  1114.* 

Material,   1109.* 

Rail  failures,  1110. 

Side-track    construction,    1111.* 

Steam  shovel.  1118.* 

Stock  killed,   1112.* 

Structures,    1112.* 

Tie  inspector,    1119.* 

Tools,  1108.* 

Work    distribution.    1103,*    1105. 

Work  train.  1116,  1117.* 


INDEX 


1209 


Requisition,  track  supplies,  1119.* 

Rerailing  frogs,  see  wrecking  frogs. 

Rerolling    rails,    994,*    995. 

Resoirveys,    1033. 

Retaining   walls,   33,   851.* 

Reverse  curves.   269. 

Reversible   crossing1   frogs,   435.* 

Revetment  work,  918. 

Right  of  way.  policing,  925. 

Rigid  frogs,  299. 

Rio  Grande  Southern  R.  R.,  avalanche, 
889.* 

Rio  Grande  West.  Ry.,  tree  planting,  1164. 

Riprap,   work,   916. 

Roadbed,    6. 

Roadbed    cross   sections,   7. 

Roadbed   over   marsh   land,   17. 

Roadbed,  sunken  on  marsh  land,  19. 

Roadway,   cost  of  repairs,  519. 

Roadmaster,  position  of,  1069. 

Roadmaster.    assistant.    1071. 

Roadmasters'    clerks,    1071. 

Roadmasters.    training  of,    1182. 

Roberts  track-laying  mach.,   196,*  212.* 

Robertson  cinder  conveyor,  G.  T.  W.  Ry., 
1026. 

Robinson.  A.  A.,  switch  stand,  338. 

Rock    ballast,    see   ballast,    stone. 

Rock  fill,  Cascade,  Erie  R,  .R.,  69. 

Rockhold,  J.  C.,  tie  distribution,  721,  1155. 

Rockhold,  J.  C.,  tamp,  track,  dirt  bal- 
last 525. 

Rodd,  Thos.,  stand,  rail  sections,  79. 

Rodger  ballast  car,   222.* 

Rodger  ballast  spreader,   222.* 

Roller   rail   bender,   173.* 

Ropes  for  wrecking1,   763. 

Ropes,  knots  aJid  hitches,  794.* 

Rotary   snow  plow,   802,*   803.* 

Rough  track,  how  to  find.  1077. 

Rowe,  S.  M.  tie  preservation,  949. 

Rowell-Potter    interlocking,    492.      . 

Run-by  tracks,   462. 

Running   out    elevation,    266. 

Running  railsi,  585. 

Punning   to   wrecks,    781. 

Russel  snow  flanger,   810. 

Russell   snow   plow,   797.   799.* 

Russel  wing  snow  plow,  808.* 

Rutgers,   J.,    tie  treatment,   961,    1158. 

Safety  arrangements,  sw.  stand  cranks, 
342* 

Safety   sw.    rail   connections,   341.* 

Sags,   raising!  track  in.   524. 

Salt  for  killing  grass  in  track,  540. 

Somson  joint  splice,   115.* 

Samson    rail    bender,    676,    677.* 

Sand    ballast,    152. 

Sand   ballast,    how   tamped,    525. 

Sandberg,  C.  P.,  compromise  splices,  562.* 

Sandberg,    experiments  on   rails,   572. 

Sand,    drifting    on    track,    885. 

Sand   house,   111.   Cent.   R.    R.,   1028.* 

Sand   tracks,   420.* 

Savannah,  Fla.  &  West  Ry.  double'  tres- 
tle cap,  855. 

Saws,  rail,  655,  656.* 

Saxby  &  Farmer  interlocking  mach.,  495. 

Say  re,    Robt.    H.,   rail   section,    77. 

Schubert,  H.,  on  ballast  exper.,  213. 

Schuttler,    track   drill.   672. 

S-clamps  for  ties,  1156. 

Scotch  blocks,  418.* 

Scotch    pine   ties,    1158. 

Scott,   W.    R.,   ballasting   car,    620.* 

Scrap  rails   for   steel   ties,   973. 

Scraper  work.  10. 

Screened  gravel  ballast,  149. 

Screws,  lag,  vs.  spikes,  978. 

Scuffle   for    cutting   weeds,    546. 

Searles'    spiral,    285. 

Searles,  W.  H.,  widening  gage,  curves, 
249. 

Seasoning  ties,  967. 

Secants,   external,   table   of,   1192,   1194. 

Section  foremen,   1072. 

Section  foremen,  encroachment  rt.  of 
way,  926. 

Section  house,   one  story,  700.* 

Section   house,    698. 

Section  labor,   1080. 


Section,    length   of,    1089. 

Section  limit  posts,  901.' 

Section  men,   1080. 

Seeding  and  sodding,   15. 

Segmental  iron  culverts,  51. 

Selection   of   foremen,    1074. 

Selectors,   504. 

Semaphore   castings,    480.* 

Semaphore  signals,  478,*  480,*  486,   1052. 

Semaphore  switch  stand,  353,*  354.* 

Semberg,  C.,  rail-turning  block,  557.* 

Servis   tie   plates,.  138.* 

Set-over  switch  stands,   393,   419. 

Sewer,  for  yard  tracks,  474. 

Sharp    curves,    257. 

Sharp  flanges,  259. 

Shea,    W.,    burnt   clay  ballast,   155. 

Sheds,    snow,   see   snow   sheds 

Sheffield   cattle  guard,   839.* 

Sheffield    foot    gtoard,    353,*    361 

Sheffield  gasoline  car.  6'85,  686.*' 

Sheffield  hand  car    678.* 

Sheffield  push  car,  688.* 

Sheffield  track  gage,   657,   668.* 

Fheffipid  weed  cutting  hand  car.  548.* 

Shepard,    D.    C..    track-laving    190. 

Sherman    Hill   ballast,    156. 

Primming,    551. 

Shimming,    bridge    floors,    856. 

Shimsi,  expansion,  for  lay.  rails,  179. 

Shooflv  in   track-laying.   191. 

Shouldering  car,   B.   &  M.   R.   R..  616.* 

Shouldering  car.   G.   C.  &  S>    F    Rv     618  * 

Shovel  nost.   U.   P.   R.   R.,   597.' 

Shoveling  snow,  596. 

Shovels,  639. 

,'Shovel  tamDing,   221,  524. 

Shrinkage  in  earthwork,  10. 

Siri^-track   construction     report   on    1111  * 

Side-tracks,    420. 

Catch    sidings.    420. 

Tvap    sidings.    423.    424.* 

For    single   track.    1189. 

In  tracklaying,   159. 

Sidings   for    double    trark.    634,*    635,    636.* 
Siemens-Martin    steel    process     1147 
Sighting   blocks,    219. 
Fightinsr    boards.     219. 
Signal  bridge,  490.* 
Signal,    caution,    513. 
Signal,  distant,  C.   &  N:  Ry.,  510.*     . 
Signal    light,    double,    C.    &    N.    W.    Rv 

488. 

Signal  tower,   typical,  475,*  476.* 
Signals.— 

Automatic  block,  1050. 

Banjo,  1052. 

Banner,    1052. 

Block.  1190. 

For    diverging    routes,    489. 

For  grade  crossings,   491. 

Interlocking  for  simple  crossing    492  * 

Semaphore,   478,*  1052. 

For    trackmen,    903,    1085. 

Use  of  fusees,   906. 

Use    of    torpedoes,    905. 

Wire   connections,    495. 
Sign  boards,  898. 

Sign   boards,    maintenance   of,   903. 
Simple   curves,   229. 
Sines,   table  of,   1192,   1194. 
Single   slip   switches,    440.    441.* 
Single  track,  capacity  of,  622,  1187. 
Sink  hole,  G.  R.,  H.  &  L.  M.  Ry.,  21.* 
Skew  joint  for  drawbridge,  449.* 
Skew  joints,   113. 
Skill  in  track  work,   1081,  1082. 
Slag    ballast,    147. 
Sledge  hammer,  642.* 
Sleepers,   pot,   1171,*   1173.* 
Slide  boards,    for   steep   grades,    1191. 
Slides,    909,    1087. 
Slides   and   drainage,   23. 
Sliding  embankments,  12. 
Slip    switch,    Elliot    design,    330.* 
Slip    switches,   330,*   440,   441.* 
Slip  switches,  renewing,  564,*  566.* 
Slope  of  embankments  and  cuts,  14. 
Slow  signal,  906,  909. 


1210 


INDEX 


Smith  rail  saw,  656.* 
Smooth  alignment,  530. 
Snowfall,  Can.  Pac.  Ry.,  886,  887. 
Snow  fence.   876. 
Hedge,   881. 
Portable,    879. 

Protection  for  Aspen  tunnel,  885. 
Stationary,  876. 

Wing,  in  cuts,  B.  &  M.  R.  R..  884. 
Snow,    fighting,   796. 
Snow  flanger,   hand.    P.   R.    R.,  597.* 
Snow    flangers,    800,*    806,*    809,    810,*   811.* 
Snow  flurries.  888. 
Snow  plow.— 

Markers,    812. 

Rotary,   802,*  803.* 

Russell,    797,    799.* 

Russell  wing,   808.* 

Self  turning,  798.* 
Snow  plow  work,  813. 
Snow  plows. — 

Machine,  802. 

Pilot,   800.*  801.* 

Wing,    806.* 
Snow  sheds,  886.* 
Snow,    shoveling,    596. 
Snow  wrecking  frog,  766.* 
Sodding  and  seeding,  15. 
Somerville  tie  treating  plant,  950*  to  953,* 

956.* 

Sorting   tracks,   455.   456. 
Southern    Pacific   Co.— 

Ash  pit,  1023. 

Bargion   rails,   994. 

Ballasted   top  trestles,   873.* 

Bridge  floor.  842,*  843,*   873.* 

Clearing  slide,  hydraulic  mach.,  910. 

Creosoting  plant  at  Houston,  945. 

Distribution   of  tie  supply,   960. 

Earth  car  stop,  891.* 

Fire   protection   for  bridges,    867. 

Guard  rail  chair  and  brace,  326.* 

Open  culverts,  38. 

Organization    fo>r    wrecking,    759. 

Snow  sheds,  886.* 

Standard  roadbed  section  for  drifting 
sand,   885. 

Standard  switch  stand,  398.* 

System   of  organization,   1066. 

Tie  plate   driver,    610.* 

Timber  barrel,  culverts,   39. 

Track    apprenticeship,    1186. 

Track  inspection,   1127. 

Wheeler   process   rails,    1151. 
Southern    Ry.,     Fort     ditching     scaffold, 

710.*  711. 

Southern  Ry..  stand,  whistle  post,  900. 
Spacing  ties,  164. 

Spacing  ties,   European  practice,  166. 
Specifications   for  rails.  88. 
Speed,  high,   1058. 

Spicer,   V.    K..    electric   locking,   502. 
Spider  expansion  shims,  179. 
Spiegeleisen,    1147. 
Spike   points.    126.* 
Spike   plugs,    559. 
Spike    puller,    Verona,    648.* 
Spikes,  125. 

Boring    for.    982. 

Diamond  pattern,  126. 

Experiments,   tenacity,   981. 

General  discussion  on  use  of,  978. 

Goldie,  126. 

How  to  pull,   648. 

P.  R.  R.  standard,  126. 

P.  R.  R.  stand,  for  hgw.  cross.,  207. 
Spiking,  183. 
Spiking  machine,  187. 
Spiral  curves,  see  easement  curves,  274. 
Spiral,   the  Holbrook,   286.* 
Spiral,   the  "Railway,"   285. 
Splice  bar  straightener,   531. 
Splice  bolts,   120. 
Splices,  see  .ioint  splices,  102. 
Splices,   broken,   report   on,   1110. 
Splicing,  181. 

Split  switch,   reinforced,   388.* 
Splitting   switches,   381. 
Split  twin  rail  frog,  313.* 


Spreader  cars. — 

Boston  &  Maine  R.  R.,  616. 

Boutet,   629.* 

Chgo.  clearing  yard,  631.* 

Donovan,  630.* 

Duluth  &  I.  Range  R.  R.,  627. 

High  bank,  M.  C.  R.  R.,  632.* 

Jordan,   626,*  627. 

Jordan,    adjustable   by   air,    628.* 

Gulf,    Colo.    &   S.    F.    Ry.,    618.* 
Spreading  rails,  577. 
Spring-rail  frogs,  304.* 
Square  or  broken  -joints,   171. 
St.  Charles  Air  Line,  track  elev.,  1012. 
St.   Clair  tunnel,   track  in,  1029. 
St.  L.,  I.  M.  &  S.  Ry.,  tree  planting,  1163. 
St.    L,.    So.    Western    Ry.,    ditching    car. 

716,*  717.* 
St.  L.   S.   W.   Ry.,  grade  reductions,   1009, 

1010.* 

St.  Lucie  grass,  158. 
St.  P.   &  Duluth  R.   R.,   washout  repairs, 

915. 

Stakes,   center,   for  track-laying,  158. 
Stakes,  rail  grade,  215. 
Staking  cars,  in  yards,  457,  462. 
"Standard"  cattle  guard,  838. 
Standard  frog  terms,  298.* 
Standard  gage,  1049. 
Standard-gaging,  566. 
'Standard"    interlocking,    482.* 
'Standard"  interlocking  mach.,  499.* 
'Standard"  nut  lock,  122.* 
'Standard"   Ry.,   crossing   gate,   1054.* 
'Standard"    steel  tie.   968,*  970. 
Stark,   F.   H.,   cars  for  'Ions  rails,   992. 
Stark  nut  lock,  121. 
Station  work  by  trackmen,  927. 
Statistics,   cost  ry.   operation,  1061. 
Steam    shovel    expense,    733. 
Steam  shovel  report,  1118.* 
Steam  shovel  work,  732. 
Steel  plate  culverts,  55. 
Steel  ties,  see  metal  ties,  968. 
Steel  ties  in  tunnels,  1030  . 
Steelton  switch  stand,  400.* 
Rtepl    working,    details,    1147. 
Sterlingworth  holding-up  bar,   184.* 
Stfvens   Inst.    Tech.,    tests  'on  vulcanized 

timber,  944. 

Stevens  interlocking  mach.,  495. 
Stickney.    Chas.    A.,   track   indicator,    1135. 
Stock  killed,  report  on,  1112.* 
Stombaugh  guy  anchor,   766.* 
Stone  arch,   concrete  faced,  P.   &  R;   Ry.. 

67. 

Stone  box  culverts,  40,  57. 
Sfone  crushers,  143. 
Stone  wall  snow  fence,  877. 
Stoney,  E.  W.,  pot  sleepers,  1172. 
Rtoney.   E.   W.,   switch  stand,  351.* 
Stop  blocks  on  switches,  390. 
Stop  signal,  905. 

Storey,  W.  B.,  Jr.,  laying  tie  plates,  607.* 
Stossfangschiene,   joint  splice,   120. 
Stowell,   F.   C.,   on  premium  system,  1140. 
Strains  in  rails,  1038,  1044. 
Strappers,  in  track  laying,  181. 
Street   railway   crossings.   430,   432.* 
Streets,   bridge  floors  over,  867. 
Sremmatograph     522,   1044. 
Strength  of  joint  splices,  168. 
Stretchers  for  cables,  731,*  746.* 
Stretching-  steel,  581. 
Stringers   in   bridge   floors.    841. 
Strom,  Axel  A.,  switch  adjustment,  387. 
Structures  adjacent  to  track,,   report  on, 

1112.* 

Stub  switch,   changing  to  pt.   switch,  403. 
Stub  switch,  stop  dev-ce,  339. 
Stub  switches,   291. 
Stub  switches,  laying,  294. 
Stub  switches,  table  of,  1192,  1193. 
Sub-drainage,  14. 

Subway,   Sixteenth   St.,   Chicago,  1016. 
Subways,  mterlock.,  pipes  and  wires,  505. 

Sullivan,    Jerry,    on    crossing   foundation, 

437. 
Sullivan,  Jerry,  point  and  stub  switches, 

375. 


INDEX 


1211 


Sullivan,  J.  D.,  wire  cattle  guards,  839. 

Sulphate   of   copper,    tie   treatment,   962. 

Sunday  work,  563. 

Sunken  roadbed,  19,  20,*  21.* 

Superelevation,     see    curve    elevation. 

Supplementary  notes  and  tables,   1145. 

Supplies,   requisitions  for,  1119.* 

Support  for  crossings,  437. 

Supported  joints,   166. 

Surface  cattle  guards,  835. 

Surface  of  track  at  bridge  ends,  528. 

Surfacing  track,  214. 

Surfacing  track,  cost  of,  519. 

Surfacing  track  at  washouts,  914.* 

Surgical  aid   at  wrecks,   772,   784. 

Suspended  joints,  166. 

Swing   center,    loco,    trucks,    248. 

Switch  adjustments,  384,  386.* 

Eccentric,   387.* 

Lorenz  spring,  513. 
Switch  box,  517. 
Switch   crank,    478.  * 
Switch  houses,  N.  Y.,  N.  H.  &  H.  R.  R., 

509. 

Switch  instrument,  517. 
Switch  lamps,  362. 

Care  of,    368. 

Color   of  lenses,   362. 

Construction  and   design,   363. 

Electric,    366,   367.* 

Electric,    Chgo.   clear,   yd.,   367. 

Electric.   Taylor,   501. 

Lenses  for,  365. 

Oil  and  burners.  365. 

P.  R.  R.  standard,  364.* 

Rules  on  care  of,  1154. 
Switch  and  lock  movement,  478,*  482.* 
Switch  lock,  Emery,  384,  397.* 
Switch    locks,    355. 
Switch  point  guard  rails,  380. 
Switch  point  lock,  372,*  509,  510. 
Switch    points    for    connection    in    relay. 

rails,  561. 

Switch   protection,   508. 
Switch   rods,   331,    332.* 
Switch  rods,  adjustable,   384. 
Switch  and  signal  ground  lever,  510.* 
Switch  stands,  334. 

Allentown    rolling    mill   pattern,    516. 

Automatic,  393. 

Automatic  locking,  B.  &  M.  R.  R.   R.. 
356.* 

Axel,    396.    397.* 

Banner  pattern,  343.* 

Buda,   342.* 

Cafferty-Knox   locking,    357.* 

Curtis    sw.     stand     connection,    343 

For  distant  sig.,   L.    S.    &   M.    S.    Ry.. 
515,*  516.* 

Double  interlocked,    511.* 

Double,   for  slip   switches,   444.* 

Dwarf   pattern,   347. 

Elliot  snow  cap,  345.* 

Elliott  elec.   lock.,  517. 

Plickinger,   340.* 

Gibbs,    516. 

Globe,,    349. 

Ground  lever  type,   347.* 

Hasty  triple,  408"  * 

High  semaphore,  353.* 

With  high  targets,  345.* 

Locating  and  setting,   337. 

Mark  pattern,  341.* 

Monitor  pattern,  352.* 

For  movable  pt.  frog,  434.* 

New  Century,  349,  350.* 

Odenkirk,  350.* 

O'Dowd  connection,  341.* 

Ramapo  automatic,  395,  396,* 

Safety  arrangements,  339,  342.* 

Southern  Pacific  Co.,  343,*  398.* 

•Stetelton,  400.* 

Stoney,  351,* 

Targets    for.    344.* 

Three-throw,  348,*  349.* 

Three-throw  point,   408.* 

Weir  automat,  for  pt.  rail  cross.,  434. 

Weir  geared  target,  349.* 

Wharton  automat.,  397.* 
'Switch    tenders,    1088. 
Switch   ties,    359. 


Switch  tower,  typical,  475,*  476.* 
Switches.— 

Adjustable    rods    and    point   rails,    384, 
385,    386,*   387.* 

Allowance  for  on  sections,  1091. 

Automatic  point,  391. 

Channel  split,  389,   390.* 

Definitions  of,  291. 

Derailing,   414. 

Facing  point,  381. 

How  to  avoid   on   curves,   439. 

Lap,  291,  409,  410.* 

Laying  stub  sw.,   294. 

Machine  operation  of,  475. 

MacPherson,   413.* 

Point,  291,  370. 

Point  construction,   375. 

Point,   table  of,   1192,   1193. 

Reinforced  split,  388.* 

Rods  for,  331. 

Safety    connections,    341.* 

Slip,    330,*    440,    441.* 

Split,  370. 

Spring  split,  385.* 

Stop  blocks  on,  390. 

Straddling,   381. 

Stub,  291,  292.* 

Three-throw,   403,   404.* 

Throw  of,   291. 

Throwing  of,   1097. 

Track  circuit  connection  with,  1061. 

Transit,   385.* 

Vaughan  pt.,  381,  382.* 

Weir  adjustment,   387.* 

Wharton,   291,   410,*   412.* 
Switching  arrangements,  291. 
Switchmen,  1088. 

Switching  movements  in  yards,  456,  457. 
Tables.— 

Contents  of  book.  VII. 

Explanation  of,  1192. 

I,  cost  cast  irQn   a.nd   steel   pipe   cul- 
verts, 56. 

II,  data  on  culverts,    N.    C.   &  St.    L. 
Ry.,  57. 

III,  stand,  rail  sections,  80. 

IV,  prd.    curving  rails,    175. 

V,  sines,   cosines,   etc.,    1192,   1194. 

VI,  tang,   offsets,    etc.,   231. 

VII,  finding  deg.  of  curves,  224. 

VIII,  widening  gage,  253. 

IX,  tapering  curves,  283. 

X,  Holbrook  spiral,  288. 

XI,  stub   switches,    1192,    1193. 

XII,  stand,    frog    dimensions,    315 

XIII,  point  switches,  1192,  1193. 

XIV,  point   switches,    1192,    1193. 

•    XV,    dist.   between  points   of   frogs  in 

crossovers,    1196. 
XVI,    direct    dist.    between    frogs    on 

ladder  tracks.  1193. 
Taking  up  track,   932. 
Taking  UD  wear  in  splice  bars,  110 
Talbot,   A.   N.,  transition  spiral,  288. 
Talbot,    Benj.,    steel   process.    1149. 
Talbot    formula    for    culvert    areas     35 
Tamping,    air  blast    mach.,    526,    972. 
Tamping  bars,  653,  654.* 
Tamping   low   track.    519. 
Tamping  new  track,  219. 
Tamping  pick,  use  of,  525. 
Tamping   tools,   524. 
Tamping  track,   out  of  face,  5'22. 
Tangents,  table  of.  1192,  1194. 
Tanks,    track.    1016. 
Tape  lines,  689. 
Tapering   curves.    278,*   281. 
Targets,   high,   355. 
Targets  for  switch  stands,  344.* 
Taylor,  D.  M.,  mention  in  preface,  V. 
Taylor,  D.  M.,  proposed  guard  rail  brace. 

o29.  * 

Taylor  elec.  interlocking,  484,  485.* 
Taylor    interlocking    machine     500  * 
Team  tracks,   465. 
Team   work   in   grading,    10. 
Tearing   up   track,    932. 
Telegraph  poles,   numbering  of,   902. 
Telegraph  poles,  tools  for  setting,  818.* 
Telegraph    service,    abuse   of,    1121. 
Telegraph    wires,     repairs,    928. 
Telephone  lines  on  fence  wire,  832. 


1212 


INDEX 


Tennessee    Cent.    Ry.,    terrace    retaining 

walls,  851,*  852. 
Terminals,  450. 
Terms,  meaning  of,  4. 
Terrace  retaining  walls,  851.* 
Tests,   dror>,   on  rails,   89. 
Theory,  remarks  concerning,  4,  1187. 
Thilmany  process  tie  treatment,  963. 
Thomas,   J.  W.,  Jr.,  interlocking  system, 

483,*    484,*    486.* 

Thomas,  J.  W.,  Jr.,  dist.  sw.  signal,  513.* 
Thompson  river,  slides  along,  23. 
Thomson, 'M.  W.,  joint  splice,  116.* 
Three-throw    point    switches,     406,*     407,* 

409.* 
Three-throw     switch,     signal    ligiits    for, 

354.* 

Three-throw  switches,  403,  404.* 
Three  tracks  on  four  rails,  409,  411.* 
Throw  of  switches,   291. 
Throwing,    track    with    Lidgerwood     un- 

loader.  922.* 

Throwing   switches.    1097. 
Tie  hoist,  O.  R.  R.  R.,  936,*  938.* 
Tie  inspector,   937. 
Tie  inspector's  report,  1119.* 
Tie  line,  163. 
Tie  plate  drivers,  610.* 
Tie  plate  gage,   601,  602,*  603.* 
Tie  plates,  135. 

On  bridges,  850. 
C.  A.,   C.   (Churchward),  138.* 
Cost  of  laying,  615. 
Diamond.  139.* 
Fox,   139.* 
Glendon,   139.* 
Goldie,   138.* 
Hart,  140. 
Laying,   600. 
Oliver,  139.* 
Q.   &  W.,   139.* 
Report  of  laying,   615.* 
Servis,    138.* 
In    track-laying,    190. 
Wolhaupter,    138.* 

Tie  plating  machines,  605,*  607,*  610,*  611. 
Tie-plating',  old  track,  607. 
Tie  plugs,  577. 
Tie  preservation,  938. 

Allardyce  process,  961. 

Boucherizing   (copper   sulphate),   962. 

Burnettizing,  948. 

Carbolineurn,  964. 

Creo-resinatp  process,  964. 

Creosoting,  945. 

Decay  of  timber,  942. 

Economy   of,   939. 

In   Europe,  1156. 

Experiment  at  Waukegan,  Tex.,   966. 

Hasselmann  process,  963. 

Kyanizing,   962. 

Petroleum  treatment,   965. 

Plant    at    Somerville,    960,*    951,*    952,* 

953,  956.* 

Portable    plants,    948,    949,    956. 
Process   01,   943. 
Spiriting  966. 
Sulphate  of  copper,   962. 
Thilmany  process,  963. 
Vulcanizing,  944.  964. 
Wellhouse  process,  953. 
Woodih'ne,    964. 
Zinc-creosote    process,    961. 
Zinc-tannin  process,  959. 
Tie    renewals,    532. 

Comparison,   out   of  face  and  promis- 
cuous work,  537. 
Cost   of,    532. 
Methods  of,  533. 
Tie  spotting,    rail    seats,    578.* 
Tie    spotting    machine,    612,*    613  * 
Tie  treating  plants,  949. 
Ties,  126. 

Beech,  1159. 

Black   oak   on  C.    &   E.    I.    R.    R.,   961 

For  bridges,  847. 

Checking    and    splitting,    1156. 

Concrete  and  steel,  974. 

Conditions  affecting  life  of    127 

Cultivation   of,   1160. 

Cushion,  for  bridges,  857. 


Ties    continued.— 

Dating  nails  for,   135,   968. 
Dimensions   of,   131, 
Distribution   of,    718,    1155. 
Distribution  of,   in  track-laying,   162. 
Inspection   of,    532. 
Kinds   of  timber,   133. 
Life  of,   129. 
Life  of  treated,  960. 
Life  in  tunnels,  1029. 
Loading  apparatus,   957.* 
Manner    of    cutting.    130. 
Metal,   968. 

Metal   in   foreign   countries,   1164. 
Metal   longitudinals,    1165, 
No.    of,    per   rail    length,    164. 
Placing    in    track-laying,    162. 
Preservation  plants,  949. 
Purchasing,    935. 

Redwood,   used   for  fence   posts,   931. 
S-claniDs  for,  1156. 
Seasoning  of,   967. 
Spacing  of.   164. 
For  switches,   359. 
Systems  of   marking.   135. 
Tildein    wrecking   frog,    764.* 
Tile  drainage  tools,  31.* 
Tile  drains,  15,  30,  32,  1145. 
Tile  drains  at  herw.  crossings,  21U.* 
Tilting  of  rails,  241. 
Timber  culverts,  39. 
Timber,  decay  of,  942. 
Time   card,   form  of,   1104.* 
Time  locks,  502. 
Time  reports,  1101,  1102.* 
Tincher,   Geo.  W.,   tree  planting,  1163; 
Tip  for  shovel  handle,   640.* 
Tires,    guttered,    318. 
Ti&ontli  ballast,  1167. 
Toledo,  Peoria  &  Western  Ry.— 
Fence  car,  831.* 

Segmental   cast  iron   culverts,  51. 
Standard   fence,   828.* 

Toledo,  St.  L.  &  W.  R.  R.,  standard  tool- 
house,  693. 

Tongs,   rail,  642,*  665.*  669. 
Tool   cars   for   wrecking   trains     769,   770.* 
Tool  houses,  692. 
Tool   repairs,   696. 
Tool  report,  llto.* 
Tools,  track,  637. 

For  laying1  track    192. 
Marking,  891. 
Outfit   required,    638. 
For  setting  posts  and  poles,   818.* 
For   tile   drainage,    31.* 
Use  and  care  of,  690. 
For  wrecking,  762. 
Torpedo   signals,    905. 

Torrey,  A.,   ch.  eng.,  Mich.   Cent.  R.  R.— 
Ballast  cars,   725.*  750.   751.* 
Ballast    loader,    738,*    739.* 
Crop  end  joint  splice,   119.* 
Easement  curve,  284. 
High  bank  spreader  car,  632.* 
Long  rail  experiments,  ;991. 
Rail    trim,    and    calipering,    1003,    1004.* 
Temp,    observations   on   rails,    177. 
Track    apprenticeship,    111.    Cent.    R.    R., 

1186. 

Trackbarrows,  550. 
Track  batteries,  1051. 
Track  circuit,  517,  1050. 
Track    deflection    experiments,    950.*    953,*^ 

1039. 

Track    depression,    1006,    1009.*    1177. 
Track  ditches,  24. 
Track  drill,  Burnham,  659.* 
Track  elevation.  1006,  1008,*  1177. 
Track  embedment,   disturbance  of,   523. 
Track  experiments,  Warsaw-Vienna,  Ry., 

3046. 

Track  foremen,  1072. 
Track  foundation,  1. 
Track  foundation  building  on  W.  P.  & 

Yuk.  Route,  69.* 
Track    foundation,    concrete    bed     P     M. 

R.    R.,    2.LZ. 

Track  gages  656,    657*  658* 
Track  hands,  1080. 
Track  indicators,   importance   of,   1138. 


INDEX 


1213 


Track    indicator,    Stickney,     C.  v     G.     W. 

Ry.,   1135,  1188. 
Track    inspection,    1069,    1077,    1082,    1122. 

Apparatus,  1128. 

Bost.   &  Albany   R.   R.,   1125. 

Car,  Union  Pacific  R.  R..1126.* 

C.,  M.   &  St.  P.  Ry.   (curve  elevation), 
1136. 

C.,  N.  O.  &  T.  P.  Ry.,  1126. 

C.  C.  C.   &  St.  It.  Ry.,  1134.* 

Cost  of,   1085. 

Diagram,    N.    Y.    C.    &    H.    R.    R.    R., 
1130.*  1132.*   Ilo3.* 

L.&  N.  R.  R.,  1124,  1128. 

N.  Y.   C.   &  H.  R.   R.   R.,  1129. 

Penna.  R.  R.,  1123. 

Premium    system,    1139. 

Southern  Pacific  Co.,  1127. 

Union  Pacific  R.   R.,  1126. 
Track  jacks,  663. 
Track  jacks,  in  ballasting-,  217. 
Track   laborers,    1080. 
Track  laborers,  number  of,  1090. 
Track-laying,  157. 
Track-laying,    cost   of,   191. 
Track-laying,  crews,    187. 
Track-laying   machines,    192. 

Harris    machines,    198.* 

Harris    improved,    203.* 

Hoi  man   machine,   192. 

Holman-Burke  mach.,   194.* 

Hurley  mach.,   28:*  101,*  20^ 

Roberts   mach.,   196,*   212.* 
Track-laying,  material  yards  for,  159,  1152. 
Track-laying,    rate    of,    188. 
Track-laying  records,  189,  198. 
Track-laying,   side-tracks   for,  159. 
Track-laying   tools,   192. 
Track,  lowering  of,  528. 
Track  maintenance,  519. 
Track   maintenance,    average   cost,    519. 
Trackman's  cattle  guard,   839.* 
Track  materials,  70. 
Trackmanship,  qualifications  for,  1081. 
Track  in  paved  streets,  211. 
Track  premiums.  1139. 
Track,    "self -surfacing",    990. 
Track  shouldering  car.  616.* 
Track  supplies,  requisition  for,  1119.* 
Track  surface  at  bridge  ends,   528. 
Track   taking   up,    932. 
Track   tanks,    1016,   1017. 
Track   thrower.   Creese,   924,* 
Track  tools,  637. 
Track    in    tunnels,    1028. 
Track   velocipedes,    683. 
Track-walkers,  1082. 

Track-walkers,   B.   &   O.   R.    R.,    blocking- 
trains.  908. 

Traffic,   heavy,   72,   520. 
Training   of    roadmaste'rs,    1182. 
Traingrams,    1122.* 
Transfer  platforms.  468. 
Transfer    turnout,    446.     ' 
Transit  split  switch,   385.* 
Transition   curves,    see    easement   curves, 

Transposing  rails  555. 

Trans-Siberian   Ry.,    drifting  sand,  '885. 

Traps,  for  loading  gravel,  738. 

Tratman,    E.    E.    R.,    report,    metal    ties, 

1164. 

Travis   derailing   switch.   417  *   418. 
Treated  ties,  938,  939,  1156. 
Treated  ties,  life  of,  960. 
Trees,   felling,   926. 
Tree  planting,   1160. 

Tree  planting,   L.   S.   &  M.   S.  Ry.  928. 
Tree    planting    for    snow    breaks.    888. 
Trees  trimming  of,  right  of  way,  930. 
Trestle   filling,    752. 
Trestle  filling,  apron  for,  746.* 
Trestles,  car  stops  on,  897,*  898.* 
Triangular    bumping  post    893. 
Trimming1  rails,  997,  998,*  999,*  1002,*  1006.* 
Trimming  trees,  rt.  of  way,  930. 
Trolley  for  laying  stone,  1014.* 
Trough-shaped  ditches,   25. 
Truck,   rail   driver,    582.* 
T-type  bridge  abutment,   854,*  855,* 


Tunnels — 

Clearance  in,  1031. 

Instrument    for   meas.    contour,    1032. 
Life   of   ties  in,   102S. 
Metal   ties   in,   1030. 
Track   in,    1028.     ' 
Wear   of   rails   in,   1029. 
Turnout,   double-ended,  406.* 
Turnouts,     291. 
Turnout  tables,  1192,   1193. 
Twin  rail  frogs,  Midland  Ry.,  313.* 
Typical  divn.   freight  yd.,  460,*  464.* 
Typical  interlock,  tower,  475,*  476.* 
Union  Pacific  R.  R.— 
Ash  pits,  1023. 

Ballast,   disintegrated  granite,  156. 
Bridge  floor,   844,*  845.* 
Cattle  guard,  841. 
Concrete  arch  culvert,  64.* 
Hand   derrick   car,   774.* 
Inspection  car,  track,  1126.* 
Pilot  snow  plow,  801.* 
Snow  flanger   car,    811.* 
-Standard  snow  fence,  878,*  880. 
Steel  plate  culverts,  55. 
Stone  arch  culvert,  61.* 
Taking  up   track,    934. 
Track  inspection,  1126.* 
Treated  ties.  948. 
Union   track  drill,   671.* 
Union  track  jack,  666.* 
Univ.   of  III.,   track  indicator  car,   1134.* 
Unloading    material,    track-laying,    161. 
Unloading  plows,  737,*  742,*  743,*   747.* 
Unsymmetrical  rails,  114. 
Unsymmetrical  rails,   Manning,  1151. 
U-plate   frog,    303.*  ' 
Use  of  tools,  690. 

Variations  from  standard  gage    1049. 
Vaughan,  D.  F.,  pt.  switch,  381,  382,*  383. 
Vaughan  sliding  r.  frog,  310.* 
Vaughan  spring  r.  frog,  309.* 
Vautherin  metal  ties,  1165,  1176. 
Velocipede    cars.— 
Buda,  683.* 
Eclipse,     b&4.* 
Hartley  &  Teeter,   685.* 
Sheffield,    682.* 
Velocipedes,   track,  683. 
Verona  nut  locks,  122.* 
Verona   spike   puller,    648.* 
Verona  track  jack,  665.* 
Vermont    Val.    R.    R.,    pilot    snow    plow, 

800.* 
Vermont  Valley  R.   R.,   wing  snow  plow, 

806,*    807.* 

Versed  sines,   table  of,  1192,   1194. 
Vertical    curves,    215.* 
Vietor  rails,  114.      , 
Victor  track  drill,   671,   673.* 
Vitrified  clay   culvert  pipe,   47,   57. 
Volcanic  cinder  ballast.  156. 
V-shaped  ditches,  25. 
Vulcanizing,   944,   964. 
Wabash   R.    R.— 

Bridge  floor,   844  *  853.* 
Rails   damaged   by   high   speed,   987. 
Rail-turning  block,   557.* 
Rerolled    rails,    996. 
Standard  cattle  guard,  836.* 
Standard   section  house,   702.*     ' 
Walker,  I.  O..  meetings  for  foremen,  1078. 
Walker,  I.   O.,   trestle  filling,  755. 
Wallace,  J.  F.,  track  apprenticeship,  1186. 
Wallace,   J.   H.,   on  derailments,   259. 
Wallace,   J.   H.,    switch   stand,   399. 
Walls,    protection    for     bridge     supports, 

865.* 

Walls,  retaining,  33,  851.* 
Walls,  stone,   for  snow  fence,  877. 
Warder,   J.   A.,    catalpa  trees,  1163. 
Ware,  H.,  tie  plate  gage,  604,  608,*  615. 
Warner,   H.   H.,   unloading  plow,  737,*  743. 
Warner,  H.  H.,  wrecking  supply  car    769.* 
Warren   track  drill,   672,    673.* 
Warren   track  gage,   658.* 
Warsaw- Vienna.   Ry.  trac*.  exper.,  1046. 
Washouts,   911,   1087. 
Wasiutynski,  A.,   length  of  ties,  131. 
Wasiutynski,    A.,    track   exper.,   1046. 


1214 


INDEX 


Watchmen,  1082. 

B.   &  O.   R.   R.,   blocking'  trains,   908. 
For  bridges,  866,  1089. 
At  crossings,  1088. 

Water  barrels,   bridges,   865. 

Water  boys,  1082. 

Water  pipe,   for  culverts,   51. 

Water  supply,   single-tracK   roads,    1187. 

Water  for  workmen,  1082. 

Waterman  track  drill,  673. 

Watertown     arsenal     track   experiments, 
1036.   1043. 

Watertown  arsenal  rail  tests1,  100. 

Water  vessel,  689. 

Watson,  Arthur,  maintenance  of  tunnels, 
1032. 

Watt  draft  for  switch   lamps,   364.* 

Wayland  insulated  joint,   1053. 

Wear  of  joint  splices,  110. 

Wear  of  rails,   94,  95,*  101,  259. 

Weather  conditions  in  Rocky  Mts.,  375. 

Webb  hydraulic  bumper,   897. 

Webb  steel  ties,   1170. 

Weber  insulated  joint,   1053. 

Weber  joint  splices,  115.* 

Weed-burning  cars,  541,  542,*  543.* 

Weed-cutting  hand   car,    548.* 

Weeding  hoe,  Blundell,  546.* 

Weed  scuffle,  546.* 

Weeds,   cutting  in  track.   540. 

Weight  of  rails,  70. 

Weir  automatic  sw.  stand.  394.* 

Weir  crossings,  429.* 

Weir  expansion  joint,   450.* 

Weir    rail    brace,    272.* 

Weir  "single  pointed"  No.  25  frog,  411.* 

Weir  sw.  pt.  adjustment,  387.* 

Weir  3-throw  pt.   sw.   stand,   408.* 

Wellhouse  process,  959. 

Wellington,  A.  M.,  position  of  wheels  on 
curves,  239. 

Wellington,    A.    M.,    stand,    rail    section, 
79,  81. 

Wellington,  A.  M.,  on  vertical  curves,  216. 

Wells  torch  light,  764. 

West  Shore  Ry,,   bridge  floor,   846. 

West  Va.   Cent.   &  Pgh.   Ry.,   tree  plant- 
ing, 1164. 

Western   Ry.    of   France,    trimmed    rails, 
1006. 

Westinghouse    electro-pneu.     sw.     mach., 
465,    474,    481.* 

Wharton  automat,  switch  stand,  397.* 

Wharton   switch,    291,    410,*    412.* 

Wharton  throw-off,  416.* 

Wheelbarrow  work,   in  grading,   9. 

Wheelbarrows,  689. 

Wheelbarrows,  double  flanged,  550. 

Wheel  loads,   loco.,  521.    983. 

Wheel,  M.  C.  B..  standard,  238.* 

Wheel    stops.    891. 

Wheeler  process  rails,  1151. 

Wheels,  car,  action  on  curves,  235. 

Whistle  posts,  900. 

Whittemore,    D.    J.,    curve    elevation,    in- 
spection, 1136. 

Whittemore,  D.  J.,  on  rail  mfg.,  84. 

Whittemore,    D.    J.,    area    of    wheel    con- 
tact, 95. 

Whittemore  switch  stand,  343,  344.* 

Whyte,  W.,  creeping  rails,   590. 

Widening  gage,   curves,  245. 

Wilder,  F.  M.,  stand,  rail  section,  79. 

Williams,   Price,   frog  design,  313. 

Williams,   R.   P.,   on  rail  wear,  98. 


Wilson  ry.   crossing  gate,  1055.* 

Wilson    track    drill.    674.* 

Wing  snow  plows,  806.* 

Wing  walls  for  culverts,   45. 

Wire,    barbed,    for    fence,    821. 

Wire  cattle  guard,  839. 

Wires,  telegraph,  repairs,  928. 

Wirley,  J.,  angle  bar  straightener,  690.* 

Wis.  Cent.  Ry.,  standard  ballast  car,  747. 

Wis.    Cent.    Ry.    steel  (pipe  culverts,   56. 

Wolhaupter  cattle   guard,    838. 

Wolhaupter  tie  plate,  138.* 

Womelsdorff  ballast  car,   222. 

Wood    creosote,    945. 

Wooden  box   drains,   38. 

Wooden    joint    splice,    1053. 

Wood   sliding  r.    frog,   310.* 

Woodiline,  964. 

Work,  distribution  of,  1103,*  1105,  1106. 

Workmen,   track,   1080. 

Work  trains,  704. 

Crews  for,   705. 

Reports,  1116,  1117.* 

Supply  of  provisions  for,  708. 
Woven  wire  fence,  824,*  825. 
Wreck,  caused  by  track  jack,  635,  668. 
Wrecking,    758. 

Wrecking,  aid  to  injured,  772,  784. 
Wrecking  cars,  774,*  775,*  776.*  777.*  778,« 

780.* 

Wrecking  car,  stability  strut  for,  780.* 
Wrecking  frogs,  764.* 

Alexander,    766.* 

Burlington,  767.* 

Johnson,  764.* 

Snow,  766.* 

Tilden,    764.* 

Wrecking  supply  car,   N.  P.   Ry.,  769.* 
Wrecking   tools.    762. 
Wrecks,    clearing  up,  784. 
Wrecks,    running   to,   781. 
Wrenches,  644. 

Wrigley   sig.    wire    conduit,    508.* 
Yaggy,  L.  W.,  tree  planting.  1163. 
Yard  arrangements.   461. 
Yard,   material  in   track-laying,   159. 
Yard  movements.   456. 
Yard  tracks,  450. 

Accessories,   464. 

Altoona,   P.   R.   R..   458,   459.   461,   465. 

Chicago  clearing,  460,*  471. 

Design   of,   452. 

Edge  Hill,    England,   456. 

Galewood,  C.   M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.,  459. 

Gravity  hump,  458. 

Harahan.   Ill,   Cent.   R.   R..  469,   470.* 

Harlem  Transfer  Co.,  467.* 

Layouts  in   service,   469. 

Lighting   of,    469. 

Loop  type,  467.* 

Passenger  car  tracks.  469. 

Spacing   of,   453. 

Transfer  platforms,  468. 

Typical  divn.  freight  yd.,  460,*  464.* 
Yards,    cleaning  up,   925. 
Yards,    material,    1152. 
Yaz.  &  Miss.  Val.  R.  R.,  rail  driver  truck, 

582.* 
Yaz.  &  Miss.  Val.  R.  R.,  killing  grass  by 

electricity,  541. 

Young   gravity  lock  nut,   122.* 
Y-tracks.    445,    446.* 
Z-bar  splice,   110.* 

Zinc  chloride  tie  treatment,  948.   955,   1151. 
Zinc-creosote,  tie  treating,  961,   1158. 
Zinc-tannin   tie  treatment,   959. 


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